Game Session Recaps

[frenzied67]

Highlights of Episode Thirty Six
Erath, Bardan Endrest the 22nd.  CY1031

Immediately after running off the slaver assassins, the party could hear the guards barging through the Cat and Badger’s interior.  From the roof, Enkili notices three sets of clotheslines, one line too far for his plan.  Even though they stripped two lines of clothes, and the cloaks off of dead bugears, they were not afforded the time to change their dress.  The guards spotted them through the inn’s window and set to tootling their whistles.  Clutching their textile booty they set off down the north east alley and lost their pursuers through luck and a little bit of illusion.

Several blocks away they took the time to change their dress, dress their wounds, and realize that the Chained Heart slavers had them in a corner.  They had no idea where the slavers headquarters were, they had no friends or resources except what they carried.  Hoping that they could come back for their horses at some point, they set out for Rivan and the Broken Bottle Inn.  At least they could find a sanctuary, gain allies, and draw upon local thieves guild resources.  Breaking into two teams, Jolrael, Hubert, and Riardon found an outdoor place to loiter and watch as Blaylocke, Leiya, and Enkili entered the bar to initiate contact with Rivan.
Eight city watch soldiers broke cover, six rushing for the Busted Bottles front doors and two heading for the back entrance.  Those guards failed to spot Hubert, Riardon, and Jolly in their place of hiding.  In an effort to warn their friends in the tavern, Rodor used magic to sound a lion’s roar into the courtyard; which of course set the six guardsmen on their scent.  Jolrael set to cool the soldier’s ardor with a magical wall of water.  Five of the six were not moving after the Tidal Wave spell washed over them.

Leiya, Blaylocke and Enkili entered the Broken Bottle and did not see any person inside.  On the tables were half consumed meals and drinks and the smell of copper tinged the air.  Fearing what he would find, Enkili moved over to the bar and peaked behind the counter.  A dead man greeted his eyes, a pair of crossbow bolts jutting from his torso.  Blaylocke covered them with his bow as Leiya and Enkili poked about.  Leiya checked Rivan’s body and found a bloody parchment and a signet ring.  Enkili moved into the kitchen and found the cook and server propped up with the life ending quarrels still in their bodies.

As a wash of water cracked the big front windows and sloshed through the doorway, out back Enkili saw two guards move to the door.  He shoved a table to block that entrance then left with the guards ordering him to let them in.  The three of them dashed out of the inn into the street out front.  A sodden guard was just pushing himself too his knees, so Enkili slapped him upside his squamosal sutures with the flat of his big sword; knocking him cold and as inert as his drowned friends.  Joining up, the six heroes fled back into the alleys and streets, avoiding the watch yet again.

Wandering almost aimlessly, they sought a guild hall of Wizard’’s Peak, then a Melwenite temple to seek sanctuary in.  Along the way, Riardon noticed the signs of a native thieves guild being crossed out by the Chained Heart’s symbolism.  When they neared the temple Leiya had her friends hide out so she could enter the temple and make contact with the local Milosta/Melwen adherents alone.  At first Father Patreus feared the young priestess, but as she addressed his fears he let her know that they were wanted for the slaughter of the Broken Bottles staff and customers and the drowning death of five guardsmen.

Assuring the head priest that the Chained Heart was responsible for (ahem) all the mayhem, he agreed to give the party sanctuary for the night.  He told Leiya of a secret passage installed during the Temple Wars that allowed access to an underground room in the temple’s basement; access was through the alley down a grate covered drain hole then through a secret passage into the basement.  Of course he did not want the refugees to wander around and mix with the local congregation, they would be better served by remaining in their room.

After memorizing the hidden route, Leiya left the temple and lead her friends to their underground refuge.  There, as they prepared to rest for the night, they began to share the details of their separate adventures at the Broken Bottle.  Leiya produced the bloody parchment and ring, and thought that the missive she held was just a list of random things.  Riardon asked to see the writing and became engrossed in the subtle ebb and flow of the thieves cant hidden in the note.  With a curse he stood up, face draining to white.  “We have to leave, now!  This instant!” Riardon declared.

Quickly they gathered their belongings as the Elven man filled them in on what he had found.  He had read that Father Patreus sold people to the Chained Heart slavers, by tricking the “merchandise” into an underground room.  After a short debate on whether to go through the front door, fighting their way out, or dashing back through the hidden tunnel to climb back up to the street, they chose the back entrance.  There they found that a cart had been parked on the grate and guards were hastening into that alley.  Turning about they dashed to go through the front doors only to find guards pushing into the basement with good Father Patreus leading the way.

Jolrael tried to drown these guards with another casting of his Tidal Wave spell.  Grinning, almost gloating even, Patreus negated the spell with muttered words and a hand wave; the spell casters in the party readily realized that spell negating magic was all arcane in nature, proving Father Patreus was more than he seemed.  Enkili wondered aloud on whether the priest was a follower of Thurm, who liked to infiltrate other churches to corrupt the followers of other beliefs.
Riardon had remembered a water drain near the rungs back up to the street, so he prevented his friends from attacking the guards.  Instead they locked Father Patreus and his friends out of the secret room and dashed back the way they had come.  The drain was small but lead to The Freehold’s sewers.  As they made their escape the group wondered aloud how the Chained Heart had known that Rivan was to have been their contact.  Did Jade in Anstarre have an enemy agent in her midst?  Where could they find support in this city?  Where could they hide just to get a good night’s rest?

P.S. It has rightfullly been brought to my attention that I have forgotten to mention an important detail on our party's escape.  Leiya wisely entered the small drain last.  Using one of her preciously few remaining spell slots, the lady priestess cast Create Food and Waterto choke the crawlspace.  Forty five pounds of fruitcake, pastries, etc. created an imposing mound that cost the guards time to clear, thus allowing the entrepid adventurers time to lose themselves in the sewers.

P.S.S.  My friends, always feel free to correct my errors, point out that which I forgot, or add to this memory aid.  This is our story which we create together.    

Highlights of Episode Thirty Seven
Erath, Bardan Watersday the 23rd.- Bardan the 24th Windsday, CY1031

Crawling through the drain soon brought the company into the sewers proper.  Before them was an upward slope straight ahead and to the south was a ten foot drop off in the direction the waters ran; they could hear the miniature waterfall of the sluice in that direction.  Every party member looked up, so they headed up the slope.  They reached a dead end, with another drain above them, this one barred even though rungs ran up to the inset barrier.  There was a brief discussion of trying to force their way through those bars, but the sound of guards crawling through the drain made them realize that time was not on their side.

Racing back down they took the south turn, Enkili fell down the drop off then helped his friends down.  Seconds later they found a natural underground pond that had become part of the sewers, the deep waters were flanked by people made walkways and side tunnels.  Everyone but Enkili noticed the sound of something plopping into the water.  Blaylocke and Leiya decided on taking the western flank dashing along the walk and sheltering in the mouth of the nearest side tunnel.  Everyone else followed the eastern walks, arms and spells ready for the large monster creating a swell in the deep waters.

Resembling a frog with three eye stalks at the crown of its head, the hulking creature surfaced; its size greater than the party had expected.  From the center of the pond, it lashed one of four tentacles at Blaylocke, wrapping the poor Dwarven bard up.  The creatures tongue darted out to the east, pulling Hubert off the walk right up to its snapping fang lined mouth.  An ice spell from Jolrael struck the creature slowing it momentarily, but a sussurrus of crazed whispers sped over the waters from Blaylock.  The water beast’s eyes flew wide, it dropped its prey and sped away from the Dwarf for several seconds.  Since the creature was covering the western walk, Leiya and Blaylocke were forced to dash back around to join everyone on the eastern walks.  Leiya shouted out that the monster was a froghemoth, a creature from another world but not extraplanar.

Before the group was able to fully reunite the froghemoth was back.  It struck with two tentacles grappling Riardon and Leiya.  With a thunderous boom, Jolrael smacked the creature with a spell that heaved the beast to the western side of the waters, forcing it to drop its captives.  City guardsmen began to shout in consternation as they caught sight of the froghemoth.  Riardon was caught one more time by a tentacle as everyone began to dart down a side passage.  Despite being miffed at his friends for darting down the other side of the walk ways abandoning him, Blaylocke still cast another Dissonant Whispers spell.  Frightened, the monster dropped the Elf and decided to go after the juicy looking city watch.

Their last look at the froghemoth before running on showed them guards being stuffed into the beast’s greedy maw, even as Jolly taunted the guards one last time.  Fear and frustration fueled the groups flight, all of them tormented by the straights afflicting them.  Not even realizing they had lost their immediate pursuit, they continued to run until they had passed entirely from under The Freehold and to the great Inland Sea.  They found themselves in early afternoon sunlight, though they thought many more hours had fled by them.  Too the east they could see the shanty towns that surrounded The Freeholds docks.  Arguing on whether they should rent a shack for the night from a fishmonger or boat worker, the party stumbled on a shelter hidden in the shore’s shrubs.  This is where they decided to camp.

Dejected and barely talking one to the other, they took turns walking to the shore to clean themselves of the sewers nastier muck.  That night, keeping watches, the party was able to get a full nights rest.  The arguing broke out before the sun was fully up.  Some wanted to try to get their horses from the Cat and Badger inn, while others wondered how they would be able to hide with their animals in tow.  Some wanted to leave The Freehold and pursue another adventure.  Some wanted to disguise themselves and question the fisher folk on the docks, which was a course of action that Jolrael eventually took upon himself.

Upset by all the finger wagging and growls of her companions, Leiya prepared herself to cast two Sending spells, and an Augury.  She was able to warn the priesthood in Solare of the corrupted priest in The Freehold.  They suggested they seek out the local Tazenites who had their headquarters near the city’s coliseum.  Enkili had to point out that their only clue pointing a finger at the child stealing priest was written in thieves cant.  Leiya’s message to Wellborne Huxley had a return message that also prompted them to seek out the Tazenite’s and also a person named Lukoss of Selna.  Selna was an extraplanar city that would appear in Bhel every century.  The wizard failed to tell them where to look for this “friend” of his.

As Jolrael donned his disguise, with Blaylocke’s slightly belligerent help, Enkili used his curved dagger to cut away his own hair; Laeya’s magic indicated that Jolly’s endeavor would bear some fruit.  Jolrael limped his way to the shanty town overlooking the docks and found some fishermen conversing outside a series of shacks.  He introduced himself and claimed he sought work mending nets, unfortunately, they only spoke Sedarran and did not understand Common Speech.  So using sign language he tried to make his pitch, but he had to resort to picking up a net, pretend to untangle a damaged section while actually casting a Mending cantrip.  Seeing his handiwork the two fishermen seemed interested in having his help, though none of them spoke of a price.  Instead of hand signing a work contract, Jolrael mentioned Lukoss of Selna by name.

Suddenly terrified the two Freehold natives pointed up at a bluff overlooking the Inland Sea.  A worm eaten two story house seemed to lean out over the bluff’s drop off.  Jolly returned with his news.  His information and the nearness of their goal brought heart back into the company.  Fifteen minutes of taking an uphill gradient brought them to the door of the diminutive spell caster, a Sneferneblin of milky white eyes and slate gray skin.  Gruff and unfriendly the deep gnome seemed only interested in sending the party off, but the group wore him down by invoking Wellborne’s name.  When Lukoss discovered they were out to stop the Chained Heart Slavers he became more cooperative, though no less taciturn.  He told them that the evil priest was actually a warlock named Lareg, and hinted at other crimes the fake priest may have been party too.

Warning the party that he wanted them gone in the morning, he intimated that Lareg was wanted and that might be enough to set the Tazenite’s off on the war path.  Lukoss also informed them that he would provide them with a list of Chained Wing hideouts in the morning.  Suddenly, the heroes realized they had enough support in this small deep gnome that they could begin to lay plans and dream of success!

Highlights of Episode Thirty Eight
Erath, Bardan 25th Midweek, CY1031

Tentative plans were laid to deliver messages to the Tazenites, then to put surveillance upon some of the locations Lukoss promised to feed them.  Then the party was able to get a full night's rest in peace.  Good for his word, the Svirfneblin Lukoss told the group of a warehouse that belonged to the Chained Wings slavers.  He also mentioned that he had a connection who could clear the party’s names if they brought proof that the corrupt city guards worked with the slavers.  Everyone believed that proof could be found in the warehouse.  So, they ate a mediocre porridge their host prepared then the party decided to divide their forces.
Hubert, Leiya, and Enkili dressed in their stolen garb and headed for the Tazenites near the coliseum.  Also dressing down, Riardon, Blaylocke, and Jolrael moved out to put an eye on the warehouse.
 
The High priest of Tazen proved to be a burly old fighting man named Berreth.  Using Leiya’s credentials as a Melosta/Melwenite priestess, and reminding the Tazenite priest that “Damuzid of the Whispering Waste” (Enkilis’s monicker for the Shieldmeet games) had placed well in the games, Berreth gave them time to lay out their request.  The veteran was mostly compelled to give them this time since Melwen and Tazen are brother and sister twin deities, whose clergy has supported one another since before recorded history.  Leiya told Berreth of their plight of being framed by the Chained Wings and how the supposed High priest of Melwen had tried to sell them to the slavers.

Enkili warned Berreth that Lareg (the false high priest) was a warlock with a bad reputation.  Berreth pondered for a moment then declared that he and his fellow Tazenites would deal with Lareg but could not help against the slavers.  Berreth informed Hubert that his near brush with death should not discourage him from being brave; the old warpriest had detected the young man's current uncertainty in himself.  Walking back to the waterfront the trio spoke of moments where they had momentarily lacked confidence in themselves, and how they had found strength in watching the other members of their party step up and pull off heroic acts.  They also bought a bottle of cheap booze to help foster their disreputable disguises

For several hours, Jolrael, Blaylocke, and Riardon maneuvered around the warehouse noticing the door and window locations and the lack of external guards.  They all pondered various gimmicks and ruses that would allow them to study the warehouse from a closer vantage, then they realize that the north to south alley on the western side of the building was perfect for them to explore close in.  Finding that the ground floor windows were not locked they got the bright idea to try sneaking in there and then.  No need to wait for the other half of the party to show up.

Finding the aperture unlocked and free of traps, they opened the window and Riardon slipped in asking the others to wait until he gave them a signal to enter.  Listening then slowly creeping forward, Riardon began to hear various people moving about him both on the ground floor and on the catwalks above.  Hugging the stacks of crates, he wormed his way deeper into the warehouse somehow avoiding detection.  A bugbear noticed the open window and moved to investigate and see if there was a guilty party outside.  When it poked its head out of the window, Blaylocke and Jolrael grabbed the creature and dragged it caterwauling out of the aperture.  They managed to knock the bugbear prone and hit it with a Frostbite spell, what they did not do was silence the humanoids shouts for help, though they did close the window.

Nearby, Hubert froze up with indecision, his courage as yet not fully bolstered after his near-death experience with the froghemoth.  Enkili did not hesitate, with the bottle of booze in one hand, the Mandagan produced his heavy mace and ran up to smack the creature in the face twice in quick succession.  Though he silenced it, the damage had been done.  As Blaylocke and Jolrael pasted themselves on either side of the window, Enkili rose up to see three or four more bugbears through the glassy pane.

Brandishing the bottle too the bugbears he burst into an off-key song and put on a drunken act.  He hoped to put these guardians at their ease thinking the noise had been nothing but another wailing drunk on the docks.  One of the humanoids stepped out of the open main entrance to the north to deal with the disturber of the peace, only to find Hubert and Leiya waiting at the alley’s entrance.  Enkili stumbled through them to offer the creature a drink, trying to hide his mace behind his back.  Confused, the bugbear hesitated, and in that moment of consternation, Blaylocke stepped around the corner and put an arrow in its midriff.

Howling in pain, the bugear let its friends know that he needed help.  Four of them piled out of the warehouse to mix it up with the heroes and throw javelins.  After they dropped the injured bugbear the remaining three creatures disengaged and fell back into the warehouse.  Jolrael remained near the window, suspecting that some bugbears might use it to sneak up on his friends, or come through the alley door at the far end of the alley.  This was not a tactic the bad guys tried to use however, so the sorcerer cast a Tidal Wave spell through the window, bringing wet woe to three of the creatures.

Enkili mashed a second noggin with his mace then decided to pursue one of the fleeing bugbears upstairs, he had the idea that the offices would be up above.  However, he was spotted by two or three beings (not bugbears) who were acting as snipers on the catwalks above.  The fighting man had to withdraw severely damaged, as he was not in his armor.  Healing spells hit him from Blaylocke and Leiya, but another bugbear leaped from the shadowed crates to engage him.  Blaylocke and Jolrael, who had joined the group were caught in a sniper fight with bugbears that would randomly jump out of the crates and hurl javelins at them.

Hearing Enkili report on snipers up above, Jolrael used a feature that allowed him to fly a short distance before or after casting a spell.  He flew up and tried to Aganaazer’s Scortcher one of the bow wielding beings, none were in range so he set a catwalk on fire.  Meanwhile, one of the shadowy rooftop snipers that had survived the ambush on the party at the Cat and Badger inn walked in on Riardon.  The Rogue had found a room and was searching fruitlessly for anything that might resemble papers or books.  It tried to stab the Elven man a couple of times and only got a Firebolt for its efforts.  It fled Riardon.  Giving chase, Riardon discovered the slight masked figure had exited the warehouse through an east facing side door and was dashing to the south east.

Highlights of Episode Thirty Nine
Erath, Bardan 25th Midweek, CY1031

Seeing the Bugbear try to attack Enkili from behind, Hubert slipped by Leiya and skirted around the humanoid.  From a flanking position he plied his scimitar well and left a deep wound in their foe.  Unfortunately for Hubert a second Bugbear slipped up behind him, running hard to get into position.  A third one stepped out and lobbed a javelin at long range at the priestess, but missed due to range and Leiya’s instinctive movements.  Simmering because he thought the party plans had not been observed, Enkili still had the presence of mind to drop the Bugbear that had first come at him, then he bounded around both Hubert and the second interloping Bugbear to put that inhuman creature in a dire position; the Mandagan left an impression with his mace, which set Hubert up to drop it.  Leiya moved up her Spiritual Weapon and provided healing and radiant attacks to the fray.

Racing after the mysterious figure he had faced in the linen room, Riardon observed the being's movements and saw an affinity with his own pilferer’s training.  They both leaped outside of the warehouse then up some curving stairs to the south east of the building.  The Shandeeran male rounded some crates to witness his quarry with an Elven archer drawing bead on him from inside the warehouse.  Seeking discretion, Riardon turned about to find some cover.  Arrows pierced his body and brought him down, unconscious and bleeding out.

Inside, Jolrael noticed a ladder in the north western side of the warehouse.  Having had a glance when he had flown up and tried to fire the catwalk overhead, the sorcerer ascended at speed then tried to get into an office before the Elven snipers pinned him.  Despite his best intentions, an arrow did find his flesh before he crowded into the windowed little room.  Below the sorcerer, Blaylocke felt being left behind to be less than ideal, so he dashed through an aisle under the main catwalk and joined up with Leiya, Enkili, and Hubert as those three dealt with the last of their nuisance Bugbears.

Seeing the archer lumbering closer to his office, Jolly stepped out and hit sniper with a Thunderwave spell.  His aim was to knock the Elf out of a nearby upstairs window, however the archer was too nimble to be dislodged so easily.  His next effort was to close himself in the office and bar the door with his body; Jolly saw papers on the desk but was not in a position to check or even take them.  The Elven archer’s might proved to be inexorable to the former sailor and the androgynous being pulled a shortsword to threaten our hero after forcing the door open.  Again, Jolrael’s Thunderwave spell failed to throw the archer.  He was quickly cut down by the sexually ambiguous Elf and lost consciousness.

From the main catwalk, another archer and Bugbear tried to rain death down on Hubert, Leiya, and Blaylocke but their angle of fire proved slightly problematic.  Enkili plucked a shield from a dead bugbear, hoping that might be enough armor to face the archers up top.  Asking for a volunteer to go upstairs with him, Enkili eschewed the stairs and scrambled up the shelves and crates creating aisles on the ground floor, he crawled up onto the catwalk to find himself nose to nose with the archer harrowing his friends below.  Fifty feet away was the Bugbear also menacing those heroes still below.

Hubert sprinted for the stairs to join his friend and mentor up above, however the young man found that another Bugbear had come through the main door facing north (where the bulk of the party had initially entered the warehouse), they wounded each other when Hubert altered his route to clash with the humanoid.  Both Leiya and Blaylocke noticed Hubert’s confrontation and they moved up to lend healing and martial aid to him, dropping the Bugbear in moments.
 
Drawing a short blade, the archer facing Enkili could not breach the unarmored man’s purloined shield, but the Elf called a Bugbear to its aid.  Having to resort to a full out sprint, the Bugbear slipped around the fighter to surround him.  Enkili side stepped the pair, then simply shoved the bugbear over the edge.  There was no railing along that portion of the catwalk to halt the humanoids fall, so it ended up with a broken back amid its own pooling blood.  Promising havoc with his eyes, Enkili then laid a mighty blow on the androgynous being that remained.  Instead of fighting Enkli toe to toe, the Elf skillfully extracted itself and ran east across the crosswalk.  Leiya ran up the stairs then positioned herself to cut off this archer’s escape, he/she put aside the shortsword and pulled their bow out.

Before the Elf could choose a target, Enkili closed with it, mauling the being with punishing and tricky attacks.  Hurt, but still hale enough to think clearly, the Sylvan-like being broke away from Enkili and Leiya, slipped over the railing and scrambled down the goods-laden shelves to the ground floor.  At this point the two heroes noticed the archer that had downed Jolrael step out of the office, its tunic stuffed with scrolls and papers (No one else knew that either Riardon and Jolrael were down and possibly bleeding out at this point.), Leiya made the intuitive leap that the papers the party was after were with that far archer.  She/he moved to climb down the ladder Jolly had used to climb up, attempting to escape with the slaver's intelligence.

Enkili dashed back to where the catwalk had no railing, then leaped across empty space to land on top of the tall stacks of goods in the warehouses northern section, he then nimbly bounding across the crates and shelves to lower himself to the ground floor where he could cut off the laden archer.  Leiya, being smart enough not to hurl herself through the upper reaches of the warehouse chose to heave a Slow spell instead, the burdened archer began to run as though through thick molasses.

Blaylocke had heard the priestess’ call and turned to face the ladder.  Though he had a poor angle to fire from, the Dwarven bard cast a strengthened Dissonant Whispers spell at the party’s main target.  Grasping its head, the Elf fell with a horrified expression stretching across its face, still at the landing on the floor above.  In the office, poor Jolrael had been faring poorly, his wounds spilling forth his vital fluids at a rate that had not boded well.  However, the former sailor-turned-sorcerer was made of determined stock.  His body pinched off the blood flow and pulled the Endelian from death’s brink into full (if painful) wakefulness.

Pulling himself painfully to his feet, Jolrael glanced over at the desk and realized the papers he had seen before were now missing.  Tottering over to the door he met Hubert who had come up to determine if the archer Elf was truly dead.  The two of them glanced at the papers as they took them and realized they had hit pay dirt.  Amazed by Blaylocke’s arcane display, Enkili remembered the acrobatic Elf who had slipped down to the ground floor before the advent of the paper laden archer.  Since he no longer had to worry about their papers getting away Enkili turned about and raced back under the catwalk to look for his former prey.  The nimble Elf was going out through the eastern loading doors, sprinting as if death was at his/her feet.  Enkili pulled his bow, but was unable to keep his eyes on the archer.

Seeing a set of stairs on the outside of the warehouse (after realizing he had no idea where the slaver had run to) in the south eastern corner, Enkili began to climb just to see what was there.  Blaylocke had climbed the interior stairs and dashed back to the south eastern corner.  He found Riardon laying in a commingled pool of blood, next to the dead body of the Elven archer who had dropped the rogue.  A Word of Healingspell was enough to revive Riardon, who tried to thank Blaylocke for stopping his would-be killer.  After teasing Rodor for having body odor enough to kill the archer, the bard confessed that he had not slain the Elven foe.  Enkili arrived to chew Blaylock and Riardon out for not sticking to the plan.  Pouting, the Mandagan turned about and found a staircase leading to a basement level in the warehouse.
Not only did the party have the mystery of the Elven slaver’s death to ponder, but Jolrael wondered aloud where the water level was compared to the warehouse.  Several party members began to worry about the slave pens being flooded, if the slave pens were truly down below….

P.S. At this point, we are going to have a hiatus from our 40th game in this campaign.  We will discover the fate of the slaves and our intrepid adventurers on the 3rd of April (tentatively).  Until then, keep the love in your heart and the mayhem in your brain.

P.S.S. Our game is back on for March 20th.  Our 40th game will occur on the first day of spring.  Please ignore the first post script.