17th Day of Goodmonth, CY 580 - Seeking the Falcon

Not wanting to wait two weeks to pick up the dungeon crawl, we decided to play online to see how far we could get. Since some of the missing players would be coming back, everyone agreed it was important to try to finish this "side adventure" and get the group back together in Greyhawk. Unfortunately, online play is very slow because we are adults and we have lives. We did get further than I expected, however.

The party decided to turn left into tunnel where the otyughs came from. Avoiding the trap of a net on the ceiling, they were able to get there safely and explore that large, empty cavern. Two exits to the north were only 3 ft. high, and the party thought it best not to go crawling on their hands and knees just yet (little did they know they would be doing a lot of that soon). Backing up, they headed out to explore the first tunnel on the right that they were originally headed for.

This led into a series of caverns inhabited by a tribe of trolls. There were 10 "regular" trolls, and one big, mean, two-headed troll wielding a great sword. The party did not encounter them all at once. These trolls were hiding, waiting to ambush the party when then got further into the cavern so they could surround them and cut off their escape. It worked. The trolls attacked, starting with four, and with a new one coming in to the fill the ranks each time another fell. This kept the party locked in
place and, although Jarrus was dealing immense damage due to a previously case Strength spell, the sheer numbers of the trolls made the battle last a long time, and giving dead trolls an opportunity to regenerate before Sarril would have a chance to burn them. And although all three PCs were difficult to hit, each troll attacked three times per round, meaning a few critical hits were landing every couple of rounds, quickly wearing everyone down.

The one thing that really saved the party from a quick death was an Earth Elemental that Sarril had summoned earlier. The elemental needed magic weapons to hit, and the regular trolls didn't have enough hit dice to be able to affect it. The elemental itself wasn't very effective in attacking the trolls, but it managed to keep a few of them busy, and that was important. But soon, the two-headed chieftain came out, and immediately started hacking the elemental to pieces. Jarrus hatched a plan to clear a path so the party can move south and form a triangle, with Sarril and Luapan as the base, with the base of the triangle against a wall. This maneuver limited the number of trolls that could attack the party at one time, and gave Sarril and opportunity to cast some fireballs and flaming hands spells, with a Boccob's Rolling Thunder in there for good measure. A few rounds later, and the exhausted, wounded party enjoyed a hard-earned victory. After spending some time searching the caverns and burning any remaining troll bits, they headed back to the 3 ft. tunnels to see where they would lead.

Concerned about traps, they decided to tie a rope around Luapan and let him crawl into the first tunnel. It was a natural trap, as the tunnel quickly turned into a water slide that wound into a small pond below. The others were able to pull Luapan back up, thus avoiding an uncertain fate. The next tunnel appeared safer. The only danger being the small goblin creatures (Jermlaine) which had holes all along the tunnel where the party would be crawling. But since these holes were part of a tunnel network that Sarril had previously filled with cloudkill, all they could see were little dead Jermlaine bodies everywhere, in various states of horror, clutching their tiny necks, or frozen clawing their way out of the tunnels as they tried in vain to escape the deadly gas.

After a series of dead-ends, the group reached some vines hanging from the ceiling - Strangleweed. Jarrus got too close, and realized quickly that he could not cut down the vines faster than they could wrap around his body. Sarril was able to cast Flaming Hands to set the vines on fire, causing them to release Jarrus, but the party had to backtrack to escape the toxic smoke. After waiting for an hour for the smoke to clear, and losing the Strength spell and other buffs that were in place, the group was able to move again. The tunnel, while still narrow, rose between 4 ft. and 15 ft., making most of it

Strangleweed

walkable. They eventually came to a set of double doors, which opened without trouble, leading to another set of similar doors a little further down the tunnel. The went through 5 such doors before coming to a 6th, which was trapped with a fire trap. Jarrus took the first one, but there was another behind that. It turns out there were many such doors through these tunnels, and the party realized that their best option was to have Sarril open the doors, as he could regenerate his wounds. So, at each door, Sarril would remove his clothing and all of this gear, open the door, then put all of his stuff back on - thus not having to worry about having his equipment destroyed. But this method took time, and the party soon decided they have to rest, and setup a Leomund's Hut in one of the many dead-end tunnels.

The next morning, Sarril and Luapan took spells they thought would help their situation best. Find Traps, Spell Immunity (for Fire Trap), and Dispel Magic. It was a good plan, but there were so many of these doors, and so many long tunnels with dead-ends, that, like the night before, they were burning through the buffs by running the durations out. During this time, however, they did come across what appeared to be a laboratory (complete with its own fire traps), but the lab provided little information about where the Falcon is or what she was up to.

More dead ends and rigorous searching eventually led to a series of secret doors (and more fire trapped doors), that revealed what was most likely the Falcon's living quarters. There were three main areas, connected by tunnels. The first area the party explored was a circular room with a nest on a pedestal. There was a hole in the ceiling that they determined led to a small tunnel going somewhere. The second room was full of tapestries and chairs, with a large round pillow on one side of the room.

The Falcon's bedroom - She collects skulls as trophies

Under the pillow they found an escape tunnel. Jarrus would later try to climb into the tunnel and get stuck, as it was too small for a human being. The last area appeared to be a bedroom. All of the rooms, including the laboratory, were empty of any living beings, and everything was covered in dust and deteriorated. The exception was a magically sealed bookcase with some well preserved books inside. Some of the books appeared to be missing. The party decided they should rest another night, and in the morning, do a thorough search of the entire place, checking for secret doors in dead-ends that were previously un-searched. And so they setup the Leomund's hut as they did previously.

They next morning, the party did a thorough search of everything, and unfortunately came up with nothing more than they had before (this was when Jarrus got stuck in the hole, but Sarril and Luapan were able to get him out). Having spent almost another whole day, and getting nowhere, the party decided to go back to the entrance to the cavern and look around there. When they got there, Sarril's familiar, who had been keeping watch outside, sensed Sarril's presence and flew in to tell him what he saw. A falcon flew out of hollow stump nearby on the previous day. He tried to follow but it was too fast. He then explored the hollow stump and described coming into the nest room, though before the party had entered, as the door was still closed and trapped. Not knowing where Sarril was (Sarril wears an Amulet of Non-Detection which makes it hard for his familiar to find him if they get out of telepathic range), he waited at the entrance for Sarril to return so he could deliver the message. Based on the description, it sounded like the Falcon was headed back to Greyhawk with some of her belongings. The party decided they needed to rest one more night so that they can get the proper spells for a quick return to the city.

The quick return took the form of Sarril polymorphing into a pegasus and carrying Jarrus and Luapan. Flying in a straight line, even slowly, reduced the 3-day walking trip to one day. They reached Greyhawk on the evening of the 20th. The scene in Greyhawk was chaotic. People were fleeing the city en-mass. Refugees from the war who had come to Greyhawk for safety, were now leaving, along with other long-time residents. After questioning some of the fleeing citizens, the party learned that a cult of Iuz was threatening citizens into joining, and those who went to the authorities were subsequently killed, along with their families. Apparitions and other supernatural things were seen around the city, scaring folks into leaving.

Citizens and refugees fleeing Greyhawk

The party went first to the Temple of St. Cuthbert, where the High Priestess, Eritai, met with them right away. She explained that the Cult of Iuz, led by the Falcon, was busy within the city. Spies working for the temple tipped them off that she was plotting an attack against the temple to get revenge for its part in imprisoning her so many years ago. Eritai explained that she sent a message to the temple paladins up north, as the siege of Admunfort had just been broken and they will be able to return. But the party knew they would not get back in time, and they would need to help Eritai. Jarrus also realized that if the Falcon wanted revenge on St. Cuthbert, she very well may want revenge against Tritherion's temple as well, for their part in disrupting the cult's activities a few week's ago. They then rushed to the Temple of Tritherion and found the High Priestess, Janziduur, decked out in her armor, carrying a spear, ready to defend the temple. Jarrus' former squire, Tonya, who normally serves as temple security, had her team out combing the sewers looking for the cultists. Jarrus took Janziduur and the refugees from the temple and, after Jaziduur placed a Glyph of Warding on the door, the group headed to the Bath House in the Foreign Quarter, where the remaining refugees under Tritherion's care were held. After gathering those refugees, everyone headed back to the Temple of St. Cuthbert, where they prepared for the coming attack.

It is midnight on the 21st Day of Goodmonth, CY 580, and something wicked this way comes. . .