Jul 29, 2018

1st Day of Brewfest, CY 580 - The Party Divides

While the party was in Verbobonc, each of the player characters went about taking care of separate business. The next two days in the city were played online so that we could have a more productive session in person. A summary of events over these two days were:

Jarrus

  • Jarrus accepted knighthood and lands granted by Lord Wilfrick. He specifically requested the lands surrounding the Temple of Elemental Evil and Nulb so that he could build a keep and convert the once evil place into a prosperous town
  • Jarrus also met with the high priests at the Temple of Trithereon and managed to convince them to restore an ancient order of knighthood associated with the church called the Guardians. Jarrus was named First Guardian and committed to recruiting others to the cause. The church, in return, agreed to shift its focus to take a more active role in combating the growing threat of Iuz. Additionally, he gave the church enough gold to arrange the transportation of Janziduur, the High Priestess of Trithereon in Greyhawk (with whom Jarrus had developed an intimate relationship) and the refugees that were under Janziduur's care. The church agreed to send a replacement priest to take over Jaziduur's position in Greyhawk, and to send four clerics with him to his new lands to help get the keep established and spread the word of Trithereon.
  •  Jarrus asked some dwarven builders to build his keep and that required doing a land survey so that a proposal could be put together. Jarrus was now responsible for escorting 4 dwarven surveyors and 6 assistants to his lands, in addition to the refugees that arrive from Greyhawk
  • Jarrus also commissioned the building of a boat that would allow travel from Verbobonc, along the Velverdyva, and south down Imeryd's Run to Nulb (or what used to be Nulb)
Sarril

  • Sarril turned over the names of all of the Temple of Elemental Evil agents that were operating in Verbobonc to the Viscount through Otis (a document previously uncovered in the temple had this information)
  • Prince Jimm
  • Additionally, Sarril met with Prince Jimm, the gnomish ambassador and showed him the gnome friendship ring that was given to him by the gnome merchant. The prince invited him to dinner and Sarril was able to ask about why so many agents of Iuz and the Temple were asking about a gnome named Lysander. Prince Jimm was able to tell the story of Lysander - a gnomish adventurer who made bold claims about the discovery of mythical places and things. Some time ago, Lysander took an expedition party to some ruins or dungeon somewhere in Perrenland and when he returned, he wasn't the same - unable to speak or care for himself. The gnomes of the Kron Hills took him in, until agents of the temple started showing up looking for him. When no answers were given, gnomes started getting kidnapped and tortured. Prince Jimm took it upon himself to hide Lysander somewhere in Verbobonc where he could be cared for in secret. This is something that very few people know, and that was only shared with Sarril due to the trust instilled by the ring.
Pontus
    Callista Thornheart - Seer
  • Pontus went in search of a seer that he was told may be able to scry on his people and show him what is happening in his homeland. He was shown many things, one of which was a heavily tattooed man handing over what looked like a black shard to men in black robes. The man accepting the shard had tattoo of a fang with a teardrop under it on his forearm. The black robed man handed something back to the heavily tattooed man, but when Pontus tried to look closer at it, a black spider leaped toward him, and the water in the scrying pool was disturbed. The seer then said “There are powerful forces at play. Someone does not want you to see something. You should not have come here. Leave my home. NOW!" as thousands of black spiders began filling the room. Pontus ran from the hut, deeply disturbed by the experience.

Cadwin

  • Cadwin went in search of druids of the Gnarley Forest, which led him to Oakvein (technically in the Welkwood) where he met the sylvan elf protectors of the great tree. They told him the story of the black shard that once poisoned the trees nearby and how the Enchantress Alyndra and her apprentice, Athan, once took the shard to Jaroo in Hommlet. Interested in learning more, Cadwin then flew toward Hommlet.
  • On his way to Hommlet, an extremely large, ancient green dragon named Chausticlorinus intercepted Cadwin. The great dragon was prepared to consume Cadwin, who was trying to talk his way out of the situation. Eventually, the dragon realized that Cadwin could be useful in delivering a message, and so gave a message to Cadwin to give to the Lords Rufus and Burne. It turns out that the green dragon that the two supposedly slew to that earned them their titles and lands was never actually slain. Rufus and Burne had been paying off the dragon to keep it satiated, but recently have been missing payments, and the dragon was planning retribution if payments were not caught up soon.
  • In Hommlet, Cadwin met with Jaroo and learned that most of the village had been rebuilt. He also asked about the black shards and was told about the large black bubble in Istivin that Delvin and Kella were sent to investigate, believing it to be related.
The Great Chaustichlorinus - ancient green dragon

Luapan

  • Luapan left the group for a few days to visit with the Temple of Celestian in the nearby Kron Hills (his player has out doing fun summer things).
The party also met three new players characters - Othmar the magic user, apprentice of Juehlim who also has some sort of association with Drawmij, Dalron Sharpe, the ranger, and Dardac Kosk, the other ranger. Both rangers were part of Gareth's party back in the day, but had broken up after Gareth's disappearance. Having heard that the party rescued Gareth and adventured with him for a while (before he was eventually killed), they wanted to meet the group.

During this time, Jarrus also confronted Rufus and Burne about their scam related to the dragon. They insisted they had no choice, as the dragon proved far too powerful to be slain, and any attempts to do so now would only enrage it and it would take vengeance out on the people of Verbobonc. They did agree that it was wrong of them to keep this information from Lord Wilfrick and that they were now in over their heads. They agreed to come clean with the Viscount and accept whatever he decides. Cadwin spied on the meeting in the form of a bat. It was certainly uncomfortable for the two petty nobles, but in the end, Lord Wilfrick agreed to make the payments to the dragon while sending Rufus and Burne on a mission to discover a weakness so that it may eventually be slain.

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Sarril was not interested in helping Jarrus establish his keep and felt the mission to Istivin was too important and could no longer be delayed. Pontus, after having experienced the vision with the seer, agreed to go with Sarril, as did Luapan, for reasons provided by his temple. After speaking with Jaroo and learning about the black shards, Cadwin expressed interest in going with Sarril, as did one of the new rangers, Dalron Sharpe. Sarril turned in his favor with Lord Wilfrick to have the archmage Juehlim teleport Sarril, Cadwin, Pontus, Luapan and Dalron to Hochoch on the border between the Dutchy of Geoff and the Gran March, where they could take the Javan River south to Istivin.

This left Jarrus, Othmar and Dardac to escort the surveyors and clerics down to Nulb. So this brings us to the 1st Day of Brewfest, the day after the ship building was complete. Janziduur and the refugees had arrived a week earlier and were being sheltered at the Temple of Trithereon. One of the refugees turned out to be a ship captain, and was able to help oversee the completion of the boat and help coordinate the ordering of supplies.

Jaziduur (an NPC, but I left her in control of the player characters so they could have four PCs) decided to accompany Jarrus on his first trip, which Jarrus characterized as a scouting and surveying mission. That brought the total to three party members, Janziduur, the boat captain and crew, four clerics, four surveyors and six assistants. The trip was two days down the Velverdyva, then four days upriver on Imeryd's Run to Nulb.

Imeryd's Run goes through a nasty swamp called the Fens of Tor. One reason pirates were able to establish Nulb and keep it as a hideaway is because no one wants to navigate through that extremely dangerous area. During a place on the river where the water was low on a shelf, the boat got stuck.
Eight people had to get out and attach ropes and use a pulley system to dislodge the boat and pull it over the low shelf and back into the deep water. Of course this made for a perfect ambush opportunity. Lizardmen surrounded the boat, staying back just far enough to keep cover with the trees, and started throwing spears. While these lizardmen were no problem for the party members, they were able to pick off quite a few of the crew. Thanks to the clerics, most people were able to be brought back from the brink of death, but one of the surveyors died, which wasn't a great outcome.

Eventually, they got the boat to Nulb and saw that it was still mostly destroyed and uninhabited. Dardac was able to determine that lizardmen and other humanoids had been through the area and ransacked the remaining buildings that still stood. Jarrus decided to lead the group directly to the Temple of Elemental Evil - something that the surveyors and assistants started to protest, as they did not expect to actually be building there. Still, the area was mostly swamp, and the temple was built on solid ground, so it makes some sense. The state of the area around the temple was still how it has been since the temple was operating. Everything within a quarter mile is gray and dead-looking. The skies over the temple are permanently cloudy, and an ominous feeling seeps into everyone. The surveyors and crew were unable to further approach the place, so the party went on ahead to scout. They found that where the temple once stood, there was now only rubble. Still, the presence of evil was not gone.

Jarrus then led the entire group north, just outside the radius of the ominous feeling, and made camp in a field. During the night, something surrounded the camp, remaining just outside of the campfire light. Othmar, who was on watch at the time, did not see it, but Dardac, when he was woken up for his turn at watch, immediately asked why Othmar did not sound the alarm for the dozen or so bugbears that were obviously present. Dardac then shouted for everyone to wake up, starting the fight.

These were no normal bugbears. They moved slowly and made strange sounds. Othmar, removed the leather cover from the orb tip on his staff, bathing the area in continual light, and revealing the zombified nature of the bugbears closing in on the camp. Dardac started shooting his bow, but quickly realized these things were tougher in death than they ever were in life. Othmar struck a whole
line of them with a lightning bolt, injuring many, but killing none. They both quickly realized this was going to be a long fight and the problem was not whether or not they could kill these things, it was whether they could kill them fast enough. It was only three rounds total before Janziduur was able to wake up, get out of her tent and turn undead, but those three rounds were enough for the undead bugbears to slaughter several more people - another of the surveyors and some more assistants. Once turned, however, the party was able to chase them down and kill them all.

The next morning, the party decided to have Dardac track the zombie bugbears back to where they came from. The tracks led to a cave in a nearby hill. Leaving Janziduur behind to protect the remaining survey team, Jarrus, Othmar and Dardac proceeded into the cave. The cave had several passages, but the tracks led a clear path to one of the side tunnels that came up to a large crack in a wall. On the other side of the large crack was what looked like a carved hallway. The party made their way through and began to walk around. Jarrus was soon able to recognize that they were in the Temple of Elemental Evil.

Pushing through a door, the party entered a room called The Room of Eyes, which is where the previous party had once fought a hill giant, several ogres and some bugbears. There was no sign of those bodies, though not because they were reanimated, but because Pontus had unleashed the black pudding he was keeping in order that it consume the bodies and hide the evidence of their presence. It worked, and the bodies were gone, but unfortunately, the now enormous black pudding was still here, clinging to the ceiling. Dardac noticed it as they were going to leave the room. Othmar decided the best thing to do would be to hit it with a fireball, which he did. The fireball did some damage, but not enough, as the pudding dropped to the floor in front of the party, blocking their exit.

Jarrus charged forward and hit the pudding twice with his +5 defender sword, doing no damage, but dividing the pudding twice. Now there were three. Soon, Jarrus was covered in pudding, which was beginning to dissolve his magic sword and armor. Dardac threw some flaming oil on one of the puddings and then struck with a flaming arrow, lighting it on fire. Othmar tried a lightning bolt which had no affect, and he soon had a pudding on him, trapping him in the corner. Jarrus, in a futile attempt, punched the pudding for no damage as his armor and sword continued to dissolve. Dardac then doused Jarrus with flaming oil and lit him on fire. This seemed to stop the black stuff from dissolving his equipment, though Jarrus was still helpless to do any damage to the thing. Back in the corner, Othmar began to hurl magic missiles at the pudding that was now covering his body and which just dissolved his own staff (this killed the continual light, but the fire still provided light). The magic missiles did damage, but not enough to kill the pudding.

The party realized this was about to be a TPK (and, honestly, the DM thought it was about to be as well). Dardac decided to make a running leap for the door, smashing another bottle of flaming oil on the pudding on his way out. Jarrus, still on fire, ran after him, lighting some more of the pudding on fire as he did. Othmar felt his backpack straps dissolve away, and in a desperate attempt to save the valuable spellbooks inside, he reached in and threw the spellbooks in the air as the pudding lashed out at him again, then caught the spellbooks on their way back down as the rest of his backpack and its contents dissolved away. He then immediately cast Dimension Door and stepped through to join Dardac and Jarrus in the hallway.

It is now morning on the 7th Day of Brewfest (for this branch of the Badass Motherfuckers). Jarrus, Othmar and Dardac are now in a dark hallway inside the ruins of the ToEE. Next session will either be a continuation of this adventure, or picking up with Sarril and party at Hochoch.

2 comments:

  1. Jarrus got way ahead of himself on the lordship thing and it's bitten him on the ass. He needed to put more focus on pacifying the area before bringing in surveyors and new peasants to build up the area. That and all the politicking also distracted him from being prepared as an adventurer for dealing with what remains in the TOEE. We'll see if he can recover from these initial blunders.

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    Replies
    1. Jarrus never had much patience for nobility, and now he is one. I wonder if this experience will give him more or less of an appreciation for the role.

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