7th Day of Brewfest, CY 580 - Jarrus and crew explore further into the ToEE ruins

Part 1 - The Temple Ruins

After retreating from near death by black pudding, Jarrus, Othmar and Dardac returned to camp where Janziduur was able to apply some healing. Jarrus inspected his armor and weapon and saw the damage the pudding had wrought to the metal. It was still functional, but some of the magic had been worn away, making it less effective than it once was. Perhaps there is a way to restore its luster, but for now, he would have to make due. After discussing what to do next, the party decided to rest overnight and then delve in again, hoping to find the source of the evil that still taints the land and whatever was creating these monstrous undead.

Before venturing back into the temple, Janziduur cast Negative Plane Protection and Protection from Evil on each of the three party members. They then went exploring. Whatever was left of the black pudding was gone. Exploration of the remaining, accessible portions of the third level of the temple seemed clear, though there were plenty of track marks around to indicate zombie bugbears have been roaming around. The upper levels were completely collapsed, as were portions of the third level, so, after exploring as much as they could, the party took the steps down to the fourth level.

"This is where we fought Hedrack and came face to face with Iuz," Jarrus told a skeptical Othmar. The air down at this level was very cold, though not quite freezing. Luckily Othmar was able to find some clothing and an extra cloak in a storage room on the level above, after the pudding burned away what he had been wearing before. Six more bugbear zombies were found on this level, and they were as tough as ever. They were slow and didn't hit very often, but they sure packed a punch, as Jarrus lost more than half of his hit points in a tough fight. But the group eventually prevailed and were able to move on.

Further up the hall, as they approached the altar where Iuz had been summoned, a crack appeared in the middle of the floor and widened as it went down the hall. The party had to choose to be on one side or the other and chose the left side. On either side of the altar, the statues of Iuz and Zuggtmoy still stood, looking as menacing as ever. The four hallways that led to the demi-planes were completely collapsed and inaccessible. The crack in the floor, now a wide fissure, continued past the altar into the room beyond, where the treasure chests were located (which had previously triggered demons to be summoned). There were still four chests in the room. One was open and empty (having been previously looted by the party the first time through), one was broken across the floor with its contents spilled out, just as the party left it when they ran away to escape the demons. One was still closed and another was now open, showing the 25,000 or so platinum pieces ready for the taking. Othmar was about to start filling his pockets when Jarrus shouted for him to stop. "Messing around with these chests is what got us in trouble last time," he said. "Don't touch anything." As if they needed more warning, there were two new, sinister additions to the room. On opposing walls, two human bodies were nailed, their skin peeled away and tacked to the wall in a gruesome display. Their cloaks were intact, black druid cloaks, similar to ones worn by mysterious men the party had seen before. Their blood was dry, but otherwise these bodies were reasonably fresh.

The party moved forward, now entering an area never explored before. A round room and a dias that previously held a throne. Both were ripped apart by the fissure that ran through the middle of the floor. Here, the air was even colder, coming up from the hole now in the floor, where a strange purple glow could be seen. The fissure exposed a staircase below the temple, though this appeared to be the work of someone or something entirely different. Dardac noticed that there were human footprints here, going down, and the party decided to follow into the depth far below the Temple of Elemental Evil.

The stairs went down more than 100 ft. into the cold darkness. Only a very faint purple glow illuminated anything, and the continual light the party had been using seemed only to brighten an area of 5 feet around them. At the bottom of the stairs, they came to a hall leading south to an octagonal room with four exits (north, south, east and west) including the way they came in. Inside that room, laying against the wall on the east side, were two dead bodies. These bodies also seemed somewhat fresh, and were dressed in the black druid cloaks that have become familiar. As the party began to look around, a voice boomed out of nowhere saying "LOOK ABOVE YOU TO KNOW YOUR FATE."

Jarrus looked up and the domed ceiling became translucent, revealing an infinite violet hue through which floated glowing black runes. Jarrus was immediately able to understand the runes, which said:

"Those whom I find unfit, I place on my left"

"Those who succeed, I place on my right"

"The chosen may come before ME!"

The ceiling then faded to black and became opaque again.

(DM's Note: Clearly there is a dungeon on top of which the Temple of Elemental Evil was built. Which dungeon this is might seem obvious to some, but I'd like it to remain a mystery for my players, so no discussing it in the comments, please.)

Jarrus decided this meant they should go right (west), and off they went down a short hallway into a hexagon shaped room. Within this room were five strange formations, resembling small trees. An opalescent black tree, a deep green tree, a metallic crimson tree, and indigo blue tree and a smoky purple tree. Each tree had fruit-like growths on it. Jarrus picked one of the fruits and it crumbled to dust in his hand, and he took some form of damage. Othmar tried to do the same and the fruit again crumbled, but Othmar didn't take damage and instead seemed, somehow, changed for the better. Jarrus tried again and took damage again, and decided it was best to stop messing around with the trees and brought everyone back to camp for healing and rest. Othmar, now curious, decided they should return and start picking multiple fruits to experiment with and, so, the next morning they returned to experiment. Othmar's experimentation did not go so well, as, after picking one particular fruit, a blackness started to crawl up his arm, disintegrating him as it went. Jarrus, acting quickly, cut-off Othmar's arm before the mage was entirely disintegrated. Othmar was now one-armed, unconscious and barely hanging on to life. But this didn't stop Jarrus and Dardac, both of whom picked fruits of their own without taking damage and felt much better about themselves for it. NOW, they were done with this place, and decided it was time to abandon this dungeon and go to Furyondy.

And so they carried Othmar's unconscious body to the surface where Janziduur healed him (though she couldn't fix his arm) and they took their boat back to Verbobonc. In Verbobonc, Jarrus put up money with the Temple of Trithereon to advertise for adventurers to come down to the area around the temple and help clear it out of monstrous infestations (though no words about the temple itself). After that, they took the boat up to Stalmaer in the Gold County of Furyondy.

Part 2 - Off to Furyondy

It has been known to the party for a while that Jarrus' mother is Countess Kyaren Rhavelle of the Gold County in Furyondy. She left her adventuring partner and lover, Jarrus' father, Correal Sunleaf, when Jarrus was still pretty young. The Countess' older brother had died, leaving no heir, and so she left her family behind in order to take her place in the political landscape and protect her family's legacy. Jarrus stayed with his father, who was now a cavalier without a lord, being trained in the ways of warfare and chivalry. With his father dead, Jarrus was now returning to the only family he has.

The first stop was the town of Stalmaer, along the Att River (a tributary to the great Velverdyva). Jarrus tried asking around there about the whereabouts of the countess, which only drew suspicions from the local militia. They then decided to travel up to Libernen, the seat of government for the Gold County. There, they approached the palace gates and, after some discussion with the guards regarding who Jarrus was, were let in to meet with the chamberlain/butler, a tall man in colorful garb named Jorgen. Jorgen informed Jarrus that the countess was not in the palace, but was currently at her country estate. A carriage was summoned, along with servants for the trip and four knights to escort the party (not that they needed an escort, but protocol for VIPs was being employed).

After a few days, the party arrived by coach to the Ravelle estate, nestled in the beautiful countryside of the Gold County. Upon pulling up to the estate, they were greeted once again by Jorgen (who must have used some form of magical teleportation to beat them here) and they were led inside to the great hall. Inside were several people who looked like nobles or other people of importance, drinking wine eating food. Soon, Countess Ravelle came down the stairs, eager to greet her long lost son. Jarrus bowed to her formally, rather than embrace her as she wished. Nonetheless, the countess was pleased to see her son and began introducing him to the others in the room with great pride. Some of the folks in the room were:

• Baron Jemian of Littleburg
• Gellain, Ambassador from Veluna
• Rafendyl, "Gildentongue" - Half-elf bard from Highfolk
• Schyzer - a human mage who seemed uninterested in socializing
• Jelleneth - a young human woman who serves Trithereon and appears to be a fighter of some repute
• Sir Kiprien Rahlden - Knight of the Hart from Castle Hart
• Tobian Rushkane - A flamboyant Backluni man

There were several other petty nobles and merchants in the room, but Jarrus was not introduced to them all.

DMs Note: It is now the 10th Day of Patchwall, CY 580. Jarrus and his group will move to an online game as they do a lot of social interaction with the countess and her guests. These interactions will likely not make it into the blog, so we will pick-up with this group again when and if they get back into a tabletop-worthy adventure.

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.

3rd Day of Harvester, CY 580 - The Conclusion of Dieg Manor

We had some players absent this week (World Cup Final) and one of those player's had a character die. I don't like it when a PC dies and their player wasn't present for it, but this was a tough situation that was unavoidable. As the players are starting to learn, priests of Iuz don't seem to conform to the cleric rules they are used to, and they have some unique and terrible spells. I have the advantage of running this campaign more than 20 years after the publication of all first and second (and some third) edition Greyhawk material was produced, and recombining it as needed. So the Iuz the Evil supplement has been helpful in retrofitting the priests of Iuz with some interesting stuff. Some of that was used in the battle with the Falcon. Some more got used today, much to the detriment of a certain barbarian.

Starting where we left off, Luapan was out of spells, and Sarril was also starting to get low. Pontus had some unhealed damage, but otherwise, the party was reasonably ready for action. They followed a short hallway beyond the secret door from the treasure room to find a door. Pontus opened the door to find a large cavern. Inside the cavern were some long crates, some barrels, and a pentagram on the floor. The long crates were being used as tables and had books and papers splayed out across them. At the far end of the cavern, behind one of the crates, was an old man reading some books.

Being a barbarian, Pontus decided the best course of action was to make a full run at the old man, then use his barbarian leaping ability to jump over the crate and bring his sword crashing down on the man's head in proper Cold Crow fashion. Initiatives were rolled because, despite that the man appeared to be busy reading books, he was fully aware of the party approaching and was prepared to act if they didn't want to speak. He was ready to cast Blade Barrier on the entire party as his first combat action, but since the rest of the party was still in the hallway and Pontus was rushing in full barbarian rage, he used it to surround Pontus as soon as he came through the door. This had the dual effect of both forcing Pontus to run through the Blade Barrier for full damage, while also blocking the door so the rest of the party couldn't get through. A bloodied Pontus took a massive amount of damage from the spinning blades, but in his rage he hardly noticed and leapt, screaming, over the crates and connected with the man, who, at this point, had shapeshifted back into his original form - that of Hellthrax, high priest of Iuz (the same man depicted in a statue the party encountered earlier). While the blow did not kill him, it was, nonetheless, significant.

The next significant move came from Sarril, who cast Dimension Door, grabbed Jarrus, and stepped through to appear immediately behind Hellthrax with Jarrus in tow. Jarrus, who had held his action, immediately attacked Hellthrax, laying on more significant damage. Generally, at this point, most enemies drop, and the toughest ones know they have only one more round to live, and the choice of which one of a long list of prepared spells to use becomes crucial. Escape is generally contemplated, if possible, but Hellthrax had a panic button already prepared in the form of a Type IV demon (a nalfeshnee) whom he seemed to have some kind of relationship with. He called its name and it stepped through a gateway formed over the pentagram, and immediately closed in on Jarrus.

The first thing everyone who encounters a Type IV demon must do is roll a save vs. wand or succumb to fear (unless they are immune). Everyone saved except Luapan, who immediately ran back up the hallway and was now out of the fight. The demon used Levitate to attempt to levitate Jarrus to the ceiling, and thus out of the fight, but Jarrus managed to make his saving throw and hold fast to the ground, forcing the demon to resort to old fashioned melee attacks (I skipped the psionics, as I figured making Luapan run away was good enough). Jarrus, used to not being hit with his superior magic armor and defender sword, found himself starting to take damage. The fight had returned to even.

Though Cadwin was still stuck behind the Blade Barrier, he wasn't completely helpless. He has a Lightning Bolt at the demon, but unfortunately, failed to penetrate its magic resistance. It looks like it would be up to Jarrus to take this demon down, which he was willing to do, but he wanted to kill Hellthrax first. Hellthrax, however, was focused on Pontus, and unleashed a devastating spell - Lifebane. This spell, unique to clerics of Iuz, drains the victim of 1-4 points of constitution and heals the cleric in return. Unfortunately for Pontus, the attack hit and I rolled a 4. The devastation of this spell is only truly realized on a barbarian. Pontus has a natural 18 constitution, and gets double HP bonuses every level. At level 7, he has 54 extra hit points that come solely from his constitution score, and he just lost them all. He found his altered body suddenly unable to handle all of the damage it had sustained, and he dropped completely and utterly dead.

(At this point, I don't remember all of the details of what happened in each round, so I'll cover what each character did, which may not be in exact order)

Both Sarril and Cadwin attempted to dispel the Blade Barrier and failed.

The demon gated in another demon - luckily for the party, it was only a Type I (a vrock), which are fairly weak as far as demons go. Nonetheless, with Pontus dead and Luapan still out of the fight, it was a distraction for Jarrus and Sarril.

Sarril cast Boccob's Rolling Thunder on Hellthrax and the vrock, but both were kept safe by magic resistance.

Hellthrax cast a spell that seemed to enhance both himself and the nalfeshnee demon, though its unclear what, exactly, it was.

Cadwin decided to unleash another lightning bolt, this time at Hellthrax. It was enough damage that it triggered a Word of Recall that he somehow had setup as a contingency. Hellthrax was teleported away to somewhere to recover (or suffer punishment for failure, who knows). Having no more ranged spells available, Cadwin decided the best option would be to turn into a bat and fly through the blade barrier, taking the damage, and then healing himself upon transforming on the other side. Since the barrier was in a circular column, he took damage once going in, and once coming out, leave him with only 4 hit points, but still alive. He was able to transform back to human form, healing another 24 damage.

Pontus' dead body re-animated as a juju zombie, and joined the fight (a direct result of the Lifebane spell, so this is one of the higher HD Iuz juju zombies)

The nalfeshnee demon used telekinesis to grab Jarrus and send him over into the still-spinning blade barrier and hold him in it until dead. Telekinesis can only move him at 20 ft. per round, and the blade barrier was 45 feet away. This gave everyone two rounds to kill the demon before Jarrus was turned into a smoothie. The good news was, the demon could do nothing else while focused on the telekinesis, so everyone who was able to attack the demon, did so. The bad news was that Sarril was the only one able to do anything at this time.

One round before reaching the blade barrier, Sarril managed to kill the demon, releasing Jarrus, who immediately rushed at the vrock and cut it down. That same round, an earth elemental that Cadwin had previously summoned, managed to appear, but was no longer needed. Luapan also returned that round and, with the demon gone, was able turn the Juju-Pontus. Once turned, the party decided to have the earth elemental pick up the juju zombie while the party experimented with it by poking it, slicing it, and hitting it with spells. They learned that it takes half damage from blunt and piercing weapons, half damage from fire, and is completely immune to magic missiles. They then killed it and kept the body in the hopes that Pontus could still be raised.


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A search of the cavern revealed a lot of interesting details. First, many of the books Hellthrax was reading were books related to the Isles of Woe and related mythology and history. Some of the books Sarril recognized from his own research into that place. There was also a short letter which read:

Hellthrax,
The Falcon has been freed and no doubt is going to attack the Temple of Cuthbert in Greyhawk. I am going there to make sure she doesn’t make a mess of our plans. It is up to you to finish what Hedrack failed to do.
- Maskaleyne

The party guessed that Maskaleyne must be the vampire they encountered in the fight with the Falcon.

Finally, they discovered that the entire southern wall of the cavern was actually freshly mortared rock. Cadwin had the earth elemental smash through the wall to reveal a crypt and a long hallway. The long hallway was lined with hundreds of weapons and armor - enough for a small invading force. In the crypt was a man who looked like the form Hellthrax had taken when the party first encountered him. This must be Carlan Dieg, the party determined. The man was in stasis inside what looked like a Forcecage. Sarril determined that if it was a forcecage, as per the spell of the same name, it has a limited duration and should wear off soon. The party decided to wait two hours, but the cage did not dissipate. At this point, the party decided it was best to go get help, and left the dungeon to go to the Temple of Trithereon.

Jarrus grabbed the body of the dead Juju-Pontus and everyone headed to the temple. It was morning now, and the temple compound was open for visitors. Based on the magnitude of their story, the party was able to get the attention of the one of the high-priests, a patriarch named Balthazar. After confirming their story had merit, Balthazar agreed to bring some of his priests into the manor to examine it for themselves. As for Pontus, the priests took the body to another room to study it and learn what they can. It was not clear whether or not he could be resurrected from such a state, but they would try to find out.

The first thing the high priest did was dispell the forcecage around Carlan Dieg, which also removed the stasis around him. Carlan Dieg was able to tell the party that he had been captured about three months ago, and Hellthrax was keeping him prisoner and pulling him out of the cage to question, and sometimes torture him. Most of the questions were mundane, asking about his daily routine and what he likes to eat, where he likes to go and who he associates with. Other questions were more obscure, such as asking if he knows a gnome named Lysander (DMs note: its been a long time, but the party last heard about Lysander from a gnome prisoner during the Temple of Elemental Evil adventure, as the TOEE inhabitants were asking the same question). Dieg also revealed that his business is real-estate in the city, and he owns several properties that he rents out. This led the party to determine that he was targeted by Hellthrax for this very reason, and it was possible that the renters of his other properties could now be agents of Iuz as well, or planned to be replaced by agents (who seem to be able to shapeshift). After a thorough search of the place, Balthazar took the party to see the Viscount, Lord Wilfrick.

Although the party already had an appointment for an audience with Lord Wilfrick in a few days, the urgency of the current situation demanded an immediate visit. Balthazar, being one of the high-priests of Trithereon, is an important enough figure that he was able to get an emergency audience with the Viscount. The party met with Lord Wilfrick briefly in private chambers and recounted their story. Wilfrick, in turn, ordered his city watch, along with clerics of Trithereon (armed with Detect Lie spells), to investigate each of the properties owned by Dieg. The party also handed over the staff they found so that Lord Wilfrick's mages can attempt to identify it.

On a brief side expedition, Cadwin decided to spend a few days investigating a cult of Pholtus worshipers who have both been harassing people in the city, and, apparently, healing people who were suffering from the Red Death plague. This cult has been showing up in other cities and have been little more than a nuisance, but their ability to heal the plague when no other clerics are able, was something worth investigating. There wasn't enough time to go thoroughly undercover (as that would be another side quest the party was not prepared to undertake), but Cadwin was able to determine that they were, in fact, healing people - for a price. Everyone who agreed to be healed were themselves converted to become members of the cult. They would disappearing for a few days, and then emerge, fully plague free, but wearing the plain tunic the cultists were known for, and having the symbol of Pholtus branded into their foreheads. Every member of the cult, regardless of their previous lot in life, now espoused absolute fanatical devotion to the pale one. They even went so far as to take on new names and, in many cases, shaving their heads to blend in and remove all traces of their former life. To the best of Cadwin's knowledge, these were the only known cases of anyone being able to cure the disease.

A few days later, the party was invited to the castle for a ceremony to honor their good deeds for the city. Present were many people of importance in the city, as well as several of the petty nobles from around the countryside. Those in attendance included Rufus and Burne (nobles from Hommlet) and Otis (brother of Elmo from Hommlet and agent of Lord Wilfrick). Lord Wilfrick proclaimed the great deeds that the party had performed, including the destruction of the Temple of Elemental Evil, and, most recently, exposing a cult of Iuz in the city and foiling their plans for an invasion. As thanks for their service, Lord Wilfrick has offered a gift to each of the surviving party (which the players are still contemplating). Additionally, the priests of Trithereon brought forth a living, breathing Pontus, stating that it was no simple resurrection, but they were able to bring him back after applying a number of rituals to cleanse the body and undo the curse that was laid upon him. Because this was not a normal resurrection, and possibly due to some strange effects of divine magic recently, rather than lose a point of Constitution, as is normal, Pontus instead lost two points of Wisdom.

Wilfrick was able to confirm that several co-conspirators of Hellthrax have been found and brought to justice thanks to the party's efforts. He also confirmed that sages studying the staff have determined that it is a unique Staff of Curing that they believe can be used to cure the Red Death, but that its power seems limited based on location, and that location seems tied to the lands surrounding Dorakaa. Nonetheless, having it is useful, as they will continue to study it in the hopes of making their own version of it that will work elsewhere.

Finally, Lord Wilfrick informed that party that a little more than a year ago, a newly freed Prince Thrommel came through Verbobonc and paid him a visit. Lord Wilfrick gave him a meal, a fresh horse, and a contingent of guards to accompany him on his trip to Chendyl. Prince Thrommel was riding a strange Ebony Fly, which he left with Wilfrick, should he be able to return it to its owner. He was pleased to hand it back to Sarril (DMs Note: The party now has two Ebony Flies. It is their goal to eventually have five of them and paint them in a matching color scheme so they can ride into town on them like a biker gang. They are now one step closer to this goal).

It is now the evening of the 6th Day of Harvester, CY 580. The party is in the company of Lord Wilfrick, Viscount of Verbobonc, figuring out what they want to request of him as their gift.

3rd Day of Harvester, CY 580 - Continuing the Investigation of Dieg Manor

After having skipped the last two sessions, and a month and half between playing, we finally managed to get back together (well, enough of us that we were able to form a quorum, anyway). The meantime, my D&D miniature collection has exploded. I bought several bricks of the newer D&D and Pathfinder miniatures, a ton of singles, and I've started painting my own in earnest. Playing with miniatures really makes it so much easier. There's no question about who is in line of sight, what gets caught in the fireball, or whether or not the fighter can manipulate himself into melee position.

But it also means I've had to adjust maps to 5 ft. squares instead of 10 ft., and the maps are much bigger now. The good news is that the table is big. I'll post a picture of it for one of these posts at some point, but not today. Today, I need to catch us up on the story so far.

We left off with Pontus staring down a vicious guard dog, which immediately started barking and attacking. It bit down on Pontus' leg, but its hard to do any serious damage to the huge barbarian. He retaliated with a blow from his sword, killing the dog and silencing it. The dog had already done its job, however, in alerting the guard behind the door, who ran away to alert the brigands holed up further down in the dungeon. By the time the party reached the room with the brigands, they were ready, with 9 archers, arrows drawn, prepared to fire on whoever walked through the door. Around the corner were another 6 archers, 7 spearmen, and four high-level fighter.

The archers unleashed their arrows on Pontus as soon as he opened the door, but only a couple of arrows could hit him with his ridiculously low armor class. He endured two full rounds of that before Sarril was able to launch a fireball into the room, wiping out all of the low-level brigands.

After some geometry and group discussions (that involved much beer) concerning how to calculate the volume of an irregular room, we determined that Pontus would indeed be hit by the fireball. Still, the barbarian could take it, and made his saving throw so I didn't try to destroy his items. This inspired what may become a future tactic for the party, which is to cast Spell Immunity: Fireball on the barbarian, and send him running into the middle of a room in order to get as many creatures around him as possible before the wizard drops a fireball right on him. Ideally, if they could figure out a way to get the barbarian to trigger the fireball himself, it would be even better. (There are some creature from the lower planes who employ this same tactic. . . it does make me wonder sometimes).

The only living things left in the room were the four higher level fighters who, while on fire, rushed at the party. They did a good amount of damage to both Pontus and Jarrus before being killed, but the party has three healers, and were back up to par immediately after the encounter.

The party continued to search through the dungeon and eventually came into a room where a man in yellow robes immediately disappeared as the room went dark. Drawing another Continual Light coin from his pocket, Sarril immediately restored light before casting Detect Invisibility, and seeing the invisible cleric that Cadwin already sensed. Cadwin cast Faerie Fire at the cleric, outlining him in a glow that allowed Jarrus and Pontus to close in on him and quickly finish him off before he could cast anything really nasty. The most he was able to effectively do was a Cause Serious Wounds on Jarrus, which didn't do much to the fully healed fighter.

The group decided to search this room and found a staff with demonic carvings on it (not magical that anyone could tell) and a secret door that led down a twisting hallway. At the first turn in the hallway, they encountered a statue that was clearly of Iuz, and another of a man with reptilian features wearing a crown of Furyondy, in a subservient position. This was definitely a clue as to what they were up against, and Jarrus immediately realized that they needed to alert the Church of Trithereon and thus earn some favor with Lord Wilfrick. Continuing down the hall, they party came across some pools of water that cast no reflection. They avoided the pools. Then they came to another pool - this one dark and acrid smelling. Pontus decided the best way to investigate the pool would be to spit in it. A moment after he spit in the pool, a splash of water shot back out at him, striking him in the chest, withering it and paralyzing him. The clerics and druid immediately cast Remove Paralyzation, Cure Disease and Neutralize Poison. It was a good attempt, but none of those things worked. Lucky for Pontus, the DM rolled very low, and the paralyzation only lasted 1 round, which prevented his death. The affect also aged him 6 years, which, raised his biological age from 18 to 24, which everyone agreed suited him better.

The party then continued to trek through the dungeon until they came across an earth elemental stomping around in a room. It tried to attack Pontus but missed. Rather than fight it, they backed out of the room and sent Cadwin in. The elemental saw Cadwin and calmed down, and then started making gestures - a form of sign-language. Cadwin, who is completely blind, was oblivious as to this attempt at communication, and left the room. The party moved on, skipping the traditional searches for secret doors, trying to make time before the Detect Traps spell wears off.

The room to room searching eventually led to three clerics in yellow robes (much like that other guy they killed). These clerics had a funny trick up their sleeves. Each of them changed shape to resemble one of the party members, hoping to cause confusion. But such a trick was useless on the blind druid, who responded with Faerie Fire to make each of the enemies glow. A Silence 15' radius in the middle of the room shut down anything else these three might have been able to do, and Pontus and Jarrus quickly cleaned up. It turned out these clerics weren't quite so invested in their work, and tried to surrender, but being silenced limited them hand gestures, which Jarrus interpreted as attempts to cast spells. Luckily, one of the party members caught on before the last cleric was killed, and they managed to keep him alive for questioning. The cleric was willing to trade information in exchange for his life, but suspected the party may kill him anyway, so he revealed just enough to pique their interest, offering the rest of the information to Lord Wilfrick directly in exchange for immunity. The information he revealed so far was that they were recruited by a priest named Margus (described as the man the party already killed earlier), who was preparing Verbobonc for an invasion by Iuz's forces. Seeing the power of Iuz directly, and not wanting to be caught on the wrong side, they reluctantly agreed to go along. But now that he sees the power of the heroes, there is hope, and he would be more than happy to renounce Iuz and cooperate with the party and give details of the plans to Lord Wilfrick. Sarril responded with a couple of magic missiles, killing the cleric and proclaiming that the party has learned all that they are going to learn from this man.

And so the party determined that they have already killed the "boss," and now they just need to finish searching the dungeon and tie up any loose ends. They eventually charged down a wide hallway that led into a room containing this fun beast.

Dracolisk

The Dracolisk was hiding in the corner of a large room at the end of the wide hallway. As soon as Pontus burst through, it took the air, centered itself in front of the group, and spewed acid on everyone. The acid wasn't so bad, but the gaze attack that went with it was a little rough as Jarrus turned to stone (everyone else made their save - Rings of Protection are no joke). The Dracolisk was not prepared for Pontus, who could jump high enough to reach it with his two-handed sword. It did take Pontus a couple of rounds and some more saving throws to realize that he should probably avert his gaze, which he joined the rest of the party in doing.

The next round, however, the dracolisk's keeper, a 6 HD troll came charging into the room, leading a hoard of really pumped up JuJu zombies. Juju zombies are normally really nasty 3 HD zombies with fire resistance, immunities and other special properties, but these were Iuz's special Juju zombies inside his own temple (6 HD, with attack bonuses). Eight of them came flooding into the room. Cadwin cast Summon Elemental, and rolled randomly for a 16 HD fire elemental (very lucky), which made short work of the troll as Pontus finished off the dracolisk. Unfortunately, the fire elemental couldn't do very much damage to the juju zombies, which are resistant to fire. Luapan attempted to turn the juju zombies without any success. They had to be finished off by the fighters. The good news is that Sarril had one extra Stone to Flesh spell tucked away, and was able to burn it to bring Jarrus back into the fight. It was a tough battle, but the party was victorious.

We were at the end of the session but the party wanted to first search the room where the zombies and trolls came from. They found a room with 20 regular zombies in it. Luapan brandished the holy symbol of Celestian and bellowed something apocalyptic and they were all turned to dust. They did find a secret door with a room filled with treasure, and another secret door beyond that which led to another part of the dungeon, which is where we will pick up next session.

It is approaching dawn on the morning of the 3rd Day of Harvester, CY 580.

3rd Day of Harvester, CY 580 - Poking Around Dieg Manor in Verbobonc

Since we are playing an old-school Greyhawk campaign, using much of the original 1st & 2nd edition source material, the events of the original Fate of Istus module have been in play for some time, though our heroes haven't really been in the thick of it. It has been mostly plot elements crossing over into the other modules they are playing. Since the events of the module are part of the overall story, so I have weaved it into the background up until now. Since the party decided to go to Verbobonc this week, it was time to dive in.

We left off on the first day of Harvester when the party was finally reunited in Greyhawk. After a couple of days of getting reacquainted, the party decided to head to Verbobonc to see Lord Wilfrick about the former Temple of Elemental Evil, and the Temple of Thrithereon about Jarrus and his former squire's knighting. They chose horseback and the road as the best route, which, for lower level characters, would have been dangerous, but for the Badass Motherfuckers, it was an easy trip. Bandits could easily tell they should leave them alone and wandering monsters were no challenge. The entire trip took 14 days, during which Luapan and Cadwin were able to create food and water. Having clerics and druids and barbarians with outdoor skills in the party pretty much means I get to skip the Wilderness Survival Guide as a DM and just let travel happen. The players appreciate that, as our sessions are time constrained.

Verbobonc City Gate

As the party approach the city gate of Verbobonc, they could see a long line of merchants and other travelers trying to get into the city. It took 2 hours of waiting before they could get to the front, where they were informed that everyone entering the city had to submit to a "plague check." They were looking for signs of the Red Death, which has been plaguing the area. The check required a full strip down and examination by a cleric, which the party agreed to do without complaint (Pontus the barbarian actually thought it was fun). Once through the gates, it was late, and they decided to seek an inn and secure a room. They were able to nice inn called The Jewel of the Velverdyva and get two rooms for the night.

Jarrus immediately headed to the Temple of Trithereon, which was closed for the evening, but he put in word with a cleric that he was in town at the request of the high priest. He then returned to the inn and had dinner and enjoyed some entertainment, being sure to inform the tavern bard about their great deeds and offering to regale him with stories of their adventures as material for new songs. Pontus enjoyed a night of drinking and the company of several ladies, roping Luapan into being his "wingman" for the evening. It was an unlikely pairing, but it worked.

Cadwin decided to kick-back and use his listening skills to eavesdrop on conversations going on inside the inn. He heard a couple of local men complaining about their neighbor, a man named Carlan Dieg, who used to be their friend, but has become quite an unpleasant recluse recently, and letting his house fall into disrepair. "Dieg" was a name mentioned in a cryptic message that Jarrus has received in back in Greyhawk from a old man on the street. The full message, the party recalled, went like this:

"Are your ears a-prickle? Good! 

Then know that there are ways to win your victory before the son’s aware but be stealthy! 

Ask the neighbors, do not go knocking; for announcements now work against you! Dieg is the answer, for Dieg is dead, yet Dieg is not! That's the riddle, and yet there's more. For when are neighbors who were once friends no longer both yet both? Eyes can see yet be blind .... "

The group knows an adventure hook when it hits them in the face, and so they decided they would investigate this man, Dieg the next day after concluding some other business. So the next day, they first headed to the Temple of Trithereon. On the way, they saw alleyways full of sick and dying people - the Red Death. They also saw some cultists they have seen before. These cultists wore rags and had the symbol of Pholtus branded into their foreheads. In some cases, they were harassing people, and Jarrus put a stop to that, but in other cases, they seemed to be recruiting from the sick and dying folks, claiming they had the only cure. Some of the cultists claimed to have been stricken with the disease before they converted to the light, and could testify to healing power of Pholtus. It seemed to be working for their recruiting effort to a certain extent. At the temple, Jarrus made an appointment for 3 days from now to meet with the high priest and then went to Lord Wilfrick's castle and managed to get an audience with him scheduled in six day's time (using his credentials as a member of the church of Trithereon to smooth the process). The party then moved on to investigate Dieg.

They started the investigation with a house that was for rent next door, hoping to use it as a base of operation. The owner informed them that it had already been rented and would not provide any details about who rented it. Cadwin was able to use "Speak with Nature" to divine that there was an underground tunnel system (read: dungeon) under Dieg Manor. Physical scouting of the place showed that it was freshly, but hastily painted over, all of the windows were boarded shut and the house really was being neglected - with weeds growing everywhere and dust and cobwebs around the front. Based on some information they obtained from the neighbors, Dieg started acting strangely about 2 months ago, and while he has been rude to people when he is seen, for the most part, he is rarely seen at all.

The party then decided to scout the place from the inn across the street. They were able to get their nice rooms downgraded in order to move to the front of the building and get a view of the house. They then began watches that night, keeping an eye on what was going on. During Sarril's watch, he saw a figure in black and red robes - colors often associated with evil clerics, approach the front door and go inside. The party decided not to wait any longer and go immediately inside the manor.

Choosing a place on the north side of the house, Sarril cast Passwall in order to get the party inside while avoiding the front door. They saw a bedroom on the other side of the wall, and surprised a sleeping merchant (Cadwin recognized his voice as a patron of the inn earlier) who immediately woke up and drew a knife to defend himself. Jarrus and Pontus were too fast, however, and they cut the man down before he could act. After searching the body and recovering very little, the party

headed west, where a group of six men with scimitars had prepared an ambush, having been woken up but the noise in the next room a few minutes ago. Jarrus and Pontus swept through and took out these men with almost no effort. The party was convinced now that the man in the other room was no mere merchant, and this home was being used as a base of operations for some nefarious activity. They searched the rest of the first level and the upper level, finding no other people or monsters. Pontus, however, found a golden skull under a pillow in the master bedroom - very similar to the artifact in the Temple of Elemental Evil, though without the gem slots. When he uncovered it, he, Sarril and Jarrus were forced to avert their gaze as they could not stand to look at it. Luapan was so overwhelmed by it that he ran from the room. Cadwin seemed unaffected, and so he wrapped it up in a pillowcase and put it his bag.

The only place left to go was down a staircase, and so down they went. After going down about 50 feet, they came to a secret door. Pontus opened the door and confronted by a raging war dog standing in front of a trash heap. The dog was clearly angry and starving and ready to attack.

And that is where we left off. It is about 3:30 am in the early morning of 19th Day of Harvester, CY 580

21st Day of Goodmonth, CY 580 - The Falcon Attacks, Part 2

Trigger warning: The following blog entry describes a TPK (Total Party Kill)

When we left off, the Falcon had just landed in the rear (northeast) corner of the temple. Jarrus, Janziduur and their crew were at the northwest corner. As the fight began, Jarrus led his team east toward the Falcon in order to close the distance. Unfortunately, the Falcon was holding her action, waiting for that exact move. In response, she cast an Enlarge spell on the balcony over the group's head. The sudden change in size caused the balcony to collapse, bringing the massive stone structure

The Falcon - and her many forms

down on the party, causing extensive damage and trapping Jarrus and Janziduur underneath tons of rubble. The mage who was standing on the balcony was even less lucky, as the damage caused by falling into and among the rubble was too much for his frail body to handle.

Luckily, a couple of the lower-level clerics were able to make a save to jump clear of the collapse. On the next round, despite Jarrus and Janziduur both having 18 strength, they could not make the rolls necessary to free themselves. Miraculously, however, one of the lower-level clerics with them was able to make a Bend Bars roll and free Jarrus, who immediately drank one of his two potions of healing (the other was smashed in the fall). But the Falcon wasn't done. As the group struggled to free itself from the rubble, the Falcon followed up with a Cloudkill spell, hoping to finish off anyone who was left. Everyone, including the lower level clerics, all made their saves as they finished freeing themselves.

At this point, the Falcon was forced to turn her attention south, as a Talasek, Luapan, and their clerical crew was charging north to intercept her. The Falcon saw Talasek's face and was horrified, believing him to be be Talasek's grandfather who had taken part in imprisoning her so long ago. In response, she unleashed her most devastating spell - Death Spell, which killed the clerics, including Luapan. But Talasek continued forward to intercept her.

In the meantime, Sarril was out front dealing a mage, two priests, and several cultists by himself while everyone else focused on the Falcon. But the most fearsome of the enemies appeared moments later. After having killed the mage on east balcony, a flying magic user soon showed up to give Sarril some trouble. The mage on the south balcony came back out to assist, as did the mage on the west balcony. The front of the temple soon became an epic magic battle, with lightning bolts, magic missiles, cones of cold and ice storms flying from every direction. The two clerics were soon dispatched, but the two mages were protected by Minor Globes of Invulnerability, limiting what the defending magic users could use against them.

Whoever this new threat was, however, he seemed to be able to take a lot of punishment. After trying, and failing, to kill the mage on the south balcony with magic, he flew over in a rage, raked the mage once with a clawed hand, the grabbed him around the throat as he drained the life away from the hapless wizard. That's when Sarril realized that this man was no mere magic user, but a vampire as well. In response, Sarril pulled out a scroll of Chain Lightning and read it, shooting a 16-die lightning bolt at the mage on the ground, killing him instantly. The chain lightning the arced to vampire now on the balcony, doing substantial damage and putting him near death, but not quite killing him. Since the original target was now dead, the spell ended as it had no more targets to arc to. This severely limited the affect the devastating spell, but it did allow Sarril to reduce the fight down to one enemy, buying him a few more rounds.

Back at the rear of the temple, Nestor Morden and his City Watch guards moved in on the Falcon, and protected her with a phalanx, proving what the party already suspected about his intentions. Talasek started a fight directly with Nestor Morden, knowing he would have to cut through him to get to the enemy. This bought the Falcon a few more rounds to cast spells. Her first spell was Evard's Black Tentacles, to the west, to try to stop the approach of Jarrus and Janziduur. The spell was effective in that it killed the remaining clerics, and slowed down Jarrus, who had to cut at tentacles to free Janziduur. Jarrus had Janziduur cast Silence 15' Radius on him so that when he moved close to the Falcon, it This bought the Falcon enough time to transform back into a bird and fly to the south, giving her space to unleash more spells. As Talasek turned to rush at her from the south, the Falcon unleashed a lightning bolt at him, though he was able to save for half damage end keep coming. In the meantime, Jarrus and Janziduur finished off the guards as Jarrus rushed at the Falcon and Janzduur took cover behind a stone wall in order to use Spiritual Hammer.

Soon, Jarrus and Talasek were both on the Falcon and, due to the silence, she was unable to cast most spells on her own. Her only move left was to use a Lightning Bolt she had stored in a Ring of Spell Storing, which she was able to hit both Jarrus and Talasek with. Both saved, and since Jarrus had just recently been healed by Janziduur, he was able to survive. The Falcon took some brutal hits and was barely hanging on to life when she turned into a bird once again and flew up to the east balcony to escape the Silence spell. From this vantage point, she was confident she would be able to finish off the troublesome melee fighters below.

Meanwhile, at the front of the temple, Sarril, with only a few hitpoints left, was having a showdown with the vampire, who seemed equally wounded and barely holding on to (un)life. Realizing that the vampire could attack him and potentially drain as many as four levels per round, Sarril put up a Mirror Image spell to protect himself. In response, the vampire used a Wand of Frost to hit him with a Cone of Cold. Sarril saved for half damage, which put him a -6 hit points, dropping him to the ground.

The vampire then lowered himself to the ground and started toward Sarril's body (which, thanks to his otherworldly familiar, was actually regenerating). Talasek, seeing this, began to rush at the vampire, forcing him to unleash his most devastating spell yet, which he had been holding in reserve. The spell was his own Chain Lightning, which he cast at Talasek. The bolt arced through Talasek, Jarrus, Janziduur and the Falcon, killing all of them utterly and completely.

The most tragic part about this TPK is that the vampire wasn't even interested in doing it - but self-preservation when facing down a paladin was more important. Once everyone else was dead, he approached Sarril on the ground, who was laying there drifting in and out of consciousness. Expecting to have his life forces drained, Sarril was surprised when the vampire reached down and grabbed Sarril's Bag of Holding, reached inside, and pulled out a bundled up cloak. As he unwrapped the cloak to reveal the black Ebony Skull of Iuz (which has the power to summon the fiend), he said "I'm not here to kill you. The time will come soon when you will need to call upon my master for help. When that day comes, I want you to be prepared." He then placed the skull down on Sarril's chest before grabbing the Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location and ripped it off of Sarrils neck, saying "You won't need this anymore."

As he did this, Sarril could see what looked like a purple and gray dragon flying toward the temple. As a final act, the vampire cast Banish at Sarril's familiar and scoring the extremely unlikely number needed to penetrate its magic resistance. With that, Krek blinked away, sent back to Concordant Opposition - not dead, but far enough away to be useless to Sarril. The vampire looked surprised and proud of himself before teleporting away.

Along with the dragon came Derider Fanshen, Constable of Greyhawk and cleric of St. Cuthbert, along with a large contingent of the City Watch. Soon Eritai emerged from the temple and began using her Rod of Resurrection to successfully bring everyone back to life (with the exception of the lower level clergy). The dragon was soon revealed to be Mizaab, the mage who originally imprisoned

Mizaab Zalen - Greyhawk Dragon

the Falcon, who is also a Greyhawk Dragon - the very same one that intercepted Jarrus and Sarril when they first entered the city. He thanked the party for permanently defeating the Falcon, acknowledging his mistake in believing that her previous entrapment could be permanent. Derider also thanked the party for their service to the city. She had long suspected corruption within the city watches ranks but was unable to get support from the Mayor or the Captain of the Watch to do anything about it. Nestor Morden, who used a Ring of Mind Shielding to hide his alignment from Derider, now provided proof of the traitors. Sarril gave her the Ring of Truth that the party had previously recovered, which would empower Derider to do an even better job in her role as Constable.

Over the next few days, the party assisted in clean-up efforts and divided the magic items they found between themselves and the Temple of St. Cuthbert. They discovered that the Falcon's shapechanging abilities were due to a Collar of Change (a Ring of Change enlarged into a collar) and that the Falcon's true form was that of a Naga. As a Naga has no hands, this severely limited her spellpower, so she used the collar to take human form, thus advancing to become a 12th level mage.

Two of the church's paladins returned, Bartholomew and Torval Mishka, both of whom had been fighting in the war up north. They told the story of how a black tower suddenly appeared outside of Admunfort and started blasting the enemy with spellpower, devastating their ranks enough that they were able to mount a charging offensive and break the siege. They could not say for certain that the war is over, but the Shield Lands have the upper hand at the moment, and are able to pull their armies back together, though the countryside has been lain to waste, with crops burned, so it will be a long and slow recovery. They expressed frustration that Furyondy never sent its forces to help its ally, to which Jarrus responded that they will be visiting there soon and plan to do something about that.

Finally, Janziduur informed Jarrus that her superiors in Verbobonc will not grant her the authority to bestow any knighthoods, but that the high priest of Tithereon has requested Jarrus to visit personally for evaluation. It seems that there was some skepticism over the story involving the Tarrasque that the church wants to verify before they deem him worthy of a knighthood. She warned that a title granted by the church may be more than just an honorific - that it may come with expectations. Jarrus agreed to go to the temple in Verbobonc and discuss the matter there.

And so it soon came to be the first day of Harvester, CY 580, on the Feast of Ralishaz, that a merchant ship came into the city carrying Pontus, Cadwin and Cassius. They arrived in time for the "ceremony" - whatever that was supposed to be. What adventures await the now reunited party? We shall soon find out. . .

21st Day of Goodmonth, CY 580 - The Falcon Attacks, Part 1

Going into today, I knew things would be a challenge. The Falconmaster module provides details (though not complete details) on 20 to 30 of the cultists forces, and about half that for St. Cuthbert's forces. The instructions in the module say to give the PCs a handful of enemies to fight that is appropriate for their level in one isolated part of the of the temple, and just narrate the end result of what happens in the rest of the battle, with some choices to pick from based on how well the PCs do, whether or not we plan to play the third module, etc. Well, I didn't like that idea. I wanted to play out the entire battle. After all, this series of modules came with 3-D buildings so you can arrange a massive battle. I pulled together every miniature, including Lego mini-figures, I could to properly put troops on the field. I spent a full week building character sheets, with selected spells, etc., for every single character depicted in the book so that I could distribute them to the players. I wanted to do something new. Something different. Something that would be difficult, but fun.

And boy was it ever challenging. We started at noon, as we always do, but for the first two hours we were just getting things organized. It really didn't help that two players were missing, and one player was dialing-in remotely over video conference (something that works mildly well, but it is limited in a situation like this). With only two players present, it was very slow to sort through all of the characters and select the best miniatures - some of which needed to be assembled from Lego parts. If I had more time, I would have had all of this prepared, but I just had to shrug and say that I can't do it all. I need the players to help. Once the fighting got underway, I knew it would be slow, because I wanted to do everything in initiative order, thinking that failure to do so might speed things up, but wouldn't allow people to effectively use spells. In the end, we had a long, exhausting battle, and we didn't finish by 5 pm. So once again, we end on a cliffhanger. . .

The party took control of St. Cuthbert's defenses, dividing themselves into two squads, with Jarrus leading one and Talasek leading the other. Four mages were placed on balconies in the north, south, east and west points of the temple, while Sarril planned to fly around invisibly, but waited until the attack started to actually cast the spells. They did some extra steps, such as covering all of the sewer grates with horse carts, making it so anyone trying to come up through the sewers would have a hard time. That turned out to be a pretty good tactic.

The attack came just before 2 am. First, a large cloud of over 50 ravens swooped in from the south (Claw Cloud - a specialty spell for priests of Iuz from the "Iuz the Evil" supplement). The ravens were instructed to harass and disrupt all spellcasters, and they immediately began dive bombing the mages on the balconies, who were forced to run inside. Next, about 20 rats started pouring out of each of the sewer holes - they were small enough not to be bothered by the carts over top of them. While both the rats and the ravens could do very little damage, if at all, they managed to keep everyone distracted and busy while the real attackers rushed in under the protection of a Wall of Fog.

This is where Sarril proved how versatile he really is. He was able to dispel the Wall of Fog, completely foiling that part of the plan and forcing the first wave of attackers to rush up the road toward the temple completely in the open. Because it was very dark outside, I still allowed the attackers to be up on the temple before anyone could act, but Sarril's familiar, Krek, was able to provide regular reports about numbers coming in, which was helpful. Sarril was also able to summon some flying creatures of his own to engage the ravens, and while he couldn't get them all, he made a serious dent in the numbers. Once down to a manageable number, the four mages were able to step back outside and use Magic Missiles to bring down the rest of the ravens. And while it took a few rounds, the people on the ground were able to get rid of the rats (with only a couple of first level clerics getting killed). This allowed everyone to fully focus on what was coming in.

At the same time, Eritai sent invisible messengers out. One to the citadel to alert the constable, and another to chapel in the the Old City to get clerical reinforcements. It was estimated it would take a turn for this help to arrive, though it didn't seem like they were needed, as the party quickly dispatched the first wave, which consisted of 1st level cultists, 2nd level fighters, and 4th and 5th level clerics leading. None of clerics were able to get any spells to land. Sarril must have had 6 to 8 "Silence 15' Radius" spells thrown at him and he saved against every one (DMs Note: I have a house rule for Silence 15' Radius. If it is cast on an object that is not on a person, then there is no save, but the caster can just move out of the radius. However, if it is cast at a person, then I give that person a save. If they make their save, they are able to dodge the spell. If they fail it, then the silence is stuck on them and it doesn't matter where they move to. In this case, because Sarril was flying, they had no choice but to cast it on him because casting in on the ground at his feet would not do any good). In return, Luapan managed to silence the only two clerics who had Dispel Magic spells ready, and they were planning to use them against Sarril. This is a common occurrence, where PCs rarely fail their saves, yet NPCs almost always do. It must be all of those rings of protection being passed around with the party. As a result, this first round really fell apart for the attackers.

The next wave was some much tougher guys. These consisted of 7th and 8th level fighters and clerics, backed up by 1st through 3rd level cultists of various types. There was even a magic user in this group. Also appearing was Nestor Morden, Deputy Constable, along with a handful of City Watch guards. They didn't engage the cultists immediately, which everyone found suspicious, claiming that it looked like Talasek had things under control and moved around to the back, where Jarrus confronted them. Janziduur detected evil on the regular guards, but not on the Deputy Constable, and Jarrus called him out on it. Nestor replied that they are obedient to him and that's all that matters. The two argued for some time, with Nestor reminding Jarrus that he represents the law.

The party did pretty well against the next wave of attackers as well. Very little injuries had been sustained by any of the good guys so far, but one of the new clerics was finally able to dispel Sarril's spells (which at this point included Flight, Fire Shield and Detect Invisibility). Sarril was now slightly more vulnerable than before, but still doing okay. The mages up on the balconies were able to blast with lightning bolts and fireballs. No one spell was able to kill anyone, but they quickly added up, and the next wave began to drop. In the front of the temple we were left with just two clerics and a magic user, while at the back of the temple Jarrus continued to verbally argue with the deputy constable, whom he assumed was actually a Falcon agent waiting to strike. Jarrus told Nestor to get his men back to the front of the temple where the fight was. That's with the deputy constable pointed into the sky at a Falcon flying in toward the rear of the temple and said "no, this is where we are needed."

And that's where we were forced to end. The Falcon landed at the rear corner of the temple, facing Jarrus and Janziduur, while Sarril, Luapan and Talasek continued to deal with attackers in the front. All four mages were still alive, and Eritai is inside the temple, so things are still looking good for our heroes. We will attempt to finish this battle when we reconvene in two weeks.

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. . .