Game Session Recaps

[frenzied67]

Highlights of Episode One Hundred Five
Quenid 11th - Malad 7th (training) - Draman 7th (Research and projects) CE 1032

*This episode only seems sparse. A lot of papers and paychecks occurred because of training.

Seddaran Magistrates and swindlers descended on the party with a vengeance, each one wanting to dip into the massive treasure recovered from Naahsheera's cave. Over the two months that they trained in Anstarre, Anar Anjalin, the party's barrister, worked overtime trying to get the best deal possible, while staving off pretend tax collectors and other scam artists. Through means unknown to Anar and the heroes, the magistrates knew exactly how much treasure they had hauled out. This included the value of the magic items recovered. Was there scrying against the party?

As foreigners salvaging in Seddara, the magistrates wanted to take eighty five percent of the total, which was over two million gold in value. Anar worked hard to reduce that tax burden but all he was able to do was get it dropped ten percent, to seventy five percent. However, with help from his allies and a few decent magistrates, Anar was able to offer the group some alternatives to help them keep more coin. If they renounced all ties to their homelands and became full citizens, they would only be taxed fifty percent of their gains.

They could also choose dual citizenship and lower the burden to sixty five percent. None of these choices sat well with the party. They chose to go the dual citizen route and thus were taxed sixty five percent of their wealth. This took up every coin they had acquired and left them owing over eighteen thousand gold. So they sold the Oil of Sharpness to cover the cost and got six thousand gold in change and kept the potent magic items to divvy or sell. Enkili vowed, then and there, that he would never assist a single Seddaran for free again.

While training, members of the party had hired people to inquire into the Onastian slave trade, and/or research other interests they had. Enkili had the skull of Al'marihm shipped to him so he could appeal to the restless spirit to stop rampaging through his dreams. When it came to what treasure was left (the magic items), the party started to parcel out the items they wanted. Jolrael took a fancy to the Ring of Air Elemental Control, which required him to shift attunement from an older item to the new ring.

Leiya did not crave any item for herself, but she did take the short sword known as the Luckblade; this was a gift to their friend Hubert who was still trying to reunite freed slaves with their people. Enkili petitioned for Sayfir Almarihm's Ring of Djinni Summoning (Riah's Ring) so that he would have all three of main items carried by the last bearer of The Sainted Sword. Grynn picked through the remaining items and chose....

In the dazed days after being pillaged by Seddara, Blaylock set himself to learning how to play a lyre; an instrument far different than any of the musical instruments he already knew. Everyone else also set themselves tasks that would consume eight more weeks....

*Here is where we leave off. Ghosttusk was unable to join us today, having fun with his friends rather than having fun with his friends, which is why his character has not taken a piece of the hoard. We will reunite Sunday, June 22nd for him to level up Grynn and choose a magic item. We only noted Blaylocke's training but did not get around to anybody else and their downtime activities. As a reminder, Jolly needs a magic item to pay his guild dues with, and other characters are eyeing items that have not been chosen yet.

*Note, Enkili discovered that he does not have an Everfull Purse, but rather a Purse of Spending. If the coins are not spent, they vanish after an unknowable time. The purse is currently empty. Double gut punch.

***Note: Though we were scheduled to play June 22nd, certain setbacks have forced us to wait until July 6th. Evidently all the DM's notes on our campaign vanished when our VTT underwent another update. Years of organization vanished faster than a fart in a wind tunnel.

Highlights of Episode One Hundred Six
Draman 7th CE 1032

While training, Grynn discovered the sad history of Melana's followers. During the Nazrek wars, the mostly female priesthood of the love goddess had been decimated; her shrines and churches ransacked if not burned. When it came time to choose a magic item he remained silent until the last. Instead of taking something for himself, he chose the Hammer of Thunderbolts, an item that was part of an incomplete set. He sold the magic hammer for tweenty five thousand gold pieces, which he gave to the priestess of the Anstarre shrine of Melana; his hopes were to restore the lost prestige of Melana's faith.

In the weeks following training, Enkili attuned himself to Riah's Ring (Djini summoning), but he did not summon the Djin. When the skull of Al'Marihm (Safir Al'marihm Harbhamit) arrived, the specter of Enkili's dead relative harangued him in dream. That communication became clearer after Riah was summoned and questioned. Between the skull and the Djin the old tale was finally told, but before the the history was told by those who had lived it, the fighter asked Riah if she were compelled by the ring.

Riah admitted she was bound to serve the wearer of the ring, which made her a slave. However she did impart a cryptic message "I am the key to breaking your curse, but I may not tell you how I may do that. Discovering the means of your release from Marib's curse is in your hands." Enkili was acutely aware that he owed the entire race of Djin for his rescue from the city of brass as a child. Between his ancestor and the Djin, Enkili discovered the [u]true[u] history of the Sainted Sword.

While wandering the desert for a home for his people, Safir approached the Efreet Haqim (Marib) for the creation of a great samshir. The Efreet agreed to the job, but the spells Haqim wove were inspired from his malice for Humans. The sword he created would eventually consume those who wielded it. In the following years, armed with the Sainted Sword, Safir helped found the city Al'Madii. In olden times the word Al'Madii actually translated out to mean Sacred Oasis. At that later point in his life, Safir realized that the sword was slowly killing him, but it was too potent as a weapon and symbol for his people that he could not set the Sainted Sword aside.

There was a Djinni sorcerer named Malaq who had Safir quest in order to "pay" for his services. What the first Harbhamit (leader) wanted was a means to remove the curses from off his sword. When the services had been performed and the proper materials had been assembled, the Djin (Riah's father) Malaq began to weave protections into the Sainted Sword. This tampering alerted Haqim which set off a series of unfortunate events. Before the sword was made safe, the Efreet struck. Before slaying Malaq, Haqim bound Riah into the ring, bound the meddlesome Gnomish woman Maata with a curse to wander forever knowing how to free herself, but being unable to express her plight. Before his death, Malaq cursed Haqim/Marib to be bound in the city of Dharsta (part of the last kings curse on his own city).

Though spared somewhat from all the curses that had flown that day, Safir did not come away unscathed. His own son, Hazim, poisoned him which trapped his soul in Erath, but only after Maata had gifted him with Riah's Ring. Maata had not been able to tell Safir that his bloodline and Riah would be the catalyst for the end of all these curses, even the Efreet's. Hazim did not possess the Sainted Sword for long. The blade was stolen by persons unknown, and after the search proved fruitless he commissioned a false Sainted Sword to be crafted. The real Sainted Sword came to Dharsta after all this had transpired.

In later centuries this false blade was also stolen, and it was this Not Sainted Sword that Enkili had been sent on quest to find. Serendipity led the fighter to the real Sainted Sword and not the fake. When told that the power to break the curse could be achieved from the wish he would make, Enkili did not heed those words. When he learned that Riah was bound in servitude by the ring, and his war against the slavers still being waged, the fighter could not use the wish for himself. He would find another way to break his curse. He wished for Riah to be free....

Not only had serendipity brought the skull of his ancestor to him, the real Sainted Sword, and eventually Riah's Ring, but his wish was the "answer" to all those centuries old curses that had afflicted so many for so long. The tears of joy Riah wept within her maelstrom of wind fell upon Enkili, freeing him to return home. A tear landed on the true Sainted Sword and the fires of Marib's malice died, breaking the swords curse and changing it's aspects.

A tear fell upon Safir Al'marihm Harbhamit's remains, and the ghost of Enkili's ancestor was freed to go into the afterlife at last. And the final tear summoned Maata to the party's gathering, where she too was at last freed from her eternal wanderings and selective muteness. Only Haqim/Marib had been freed earlier, by the party's efforts in Dharsta; just not happily-ever-after for the Efreet.

Near the end of Blaylocke's training, Leiya put aside her old breastplate, for she had been granted the vestments of her goddess Melwen/Melosta. These pure white garments proved to be a better armor for her, and much lighter than the steel she had worn. In an attempt to contact Miria, the enslaved little orphan girl, Leiya actually got through. The girl spoke of a banner that had a falcon on a crimson field, and that she was in a castle that overlooked the water. The search narrowed....

*I apologize for this one character (mainly) story. Ghosttusk's character, Grynn had to be leveled up. On top of that, he had to choose his magic item. The only topic of substance covered was that of the Sainted Sword and the old Harbhamit curse(s). Our game ended just as we were reaching the meat and potatoes after the exposition.

*We are now on a weekly schedule folks, so we will see you all on the 13th; two days before frenzied67's birthday. That will be the beginning of his 58th year, and he's been gaming since the age of 11. That is 47 years of Dungeons and Dragons. The first thing to go was his math skills.

Highlights of Episode One Hundred Seven
Draman 7th - 11th CE 1032

Leaving Anstarre on the 7th of Draman, the party took the road too Elvold. Small hamlets and towns encountered along the way seemed festive, as the oppression of Naahsheera was no longer a blot on the peoples lives. Not so the party, for they still considered themselves fleeced by the government of this land. Without any odd encounters, they reached the small city of Elvold on the tenth of Draman. As usual they took the overgrown ten mile long road north of the city to the Pilgrim's Rest, the secret way station for Wizard's Peak Guild members.

Irial and Ranella Anem greated them warmly, but immediately inquired if they had heard anything from Wizard's Peak; the exact question they had wanted to ask the caretakers. During the course of their conversation it was discovered that the living book, the Tome of Ebanin, had been found and returned to the way station. Jolrael was relieved at this news, feeling guilty for accidentally freeing the book from the only room in the ranch that could hold the wayward chronicle.

When neither Ranella nor Irial were able to tell them of any ways to infiltrate Wizard's Peak without the besieging army knowing, Leiya volunteered to try her Sending spells to contact Wellborne Huxley. Unfortunately there was no answer, and no way to determine if the man was ignoring them, or if the Wizards Guild had wards to prevent such spells from making it through. Remembering that Huxley was friends with Lord Campbell Cromleigh they decided to contact him instead.

This proved somewhat problematic however. Lord Cromleigh was older, verbose, and did not understand that Sending had a word limit. Seven Sending spells had to be used before they wrinkled out an answer from the nobleman. A possible way to skirt Sedaran troops was by following an old mill road up the flank of the mountain to the "Gnarly Stoop". The Gnarly Stoop was a rock feature of the mountain itself, they were to cut south.... It was at this point that Leiya stopped using her spells up talking to the well meaning but clueless lord Cromleigh. Going to Solare to speak with the lord was out of the question, as the man would be visiting relatives outside of the city proper.

Several party members perused the estates library in an attempt to fill in the many gaps in their information. Leiya discovered that the Gnarly Stoop had a cave system that may be an alternate gate to the Guild Hall. The information ended in a riddle: "Facing the deep, left by left, then three o'clock, right by right, nine." When she relayed that riddle to the party it sparked a memory of an old song that had been loved by an archmagi. The song was about two lovers lost and trying to make their way to each other. Guided by the song, this archmagi fashioned a secret way into the mountain.

Inspired by this find they decided that they should try an overland route to the mountain, as the roads would be watched by Sedara's soldiery. Not being versed in wood craft they knew they had to hire a guide or two in order to make this trek through the thick wilderness. So they traveled back to Elvold where they separated in order to make their inquiries. Leiya and Grynn asked the representatives of their regional religious clergy.

Blaylocke and Jolrael tried their charm in several drinking establishments through town. Enkili, who had tried really hard to not visit the brothel he liked, ended up going there, where he mixed business with his pleasure. In all, the party ended up interviewing four different guides. An Angierthan named Routhetor wanted thirty gold for the two week journey that he had never taken before. Uglurtz was a seasoned Halforc who did know the proper paths. He also knew and had ties to the wild Orc tribes living in those woods. He would only charge them twenty eight gold for the two week journey; he recommended they bribe the Orcs with something shiny and expensive.

Lanuu Whisperhair was a Gnomish guide. He wanted thirty five gold for a circuitous route into the western hills skirting the deep forest and the pesky Orc tribes. He said that seventeen days would be safer than the direct route. The last contender was a Woodelf, Tarator. He claimed that he could get them through the direct route in two weeks for thirty gold. While few liked the Elf's personality and animosity for the forest Orcs, the majority felt that Tarantor was the best choice. However, the idea of also hiring Routhetor as a back up guide was advanced and agreed upon.

As the others sent their horses back to the Pilgrim's Rest, Leiya took it upon herself to take coin from the Everfull Purse to compensate the Gnome and Halforc for their time... with a request for their discretion....

* Here we end this weeks game. More could have been accomplished, but the early part of our game was consumed by tech issues. We will resume next week, the 20th of July. Congratualations to Ramsay Cowlishaw for his acquisition of a new computing device, may it serve him long and well.

Highlights of Episode One Hundred Eight
Draman 11th - 14th CE 1032

After the agreement with Tarator and Rauthetor had been confirmed by all parties, the group rode back out to Pilgrim's Rest. In the morning they left the animals at the Wizard's Peak Guild House and walked back to Elvold where they met back up with the guides. While they had to head back down the same road that led to the Pilgrim's Rest, the heroes agreed that with current tensions between Sedaria and Wizard's Peak, it was best not to let outsiders know about the way station's existence.

Jolrael's Druidcraft indicated that the 12th would be overcast, but no rain would fall; which held true through the day. That night was also uneventful except for the awesome wildness of the forest they were moving into. A world so raw that it seemed no intelligent hands had ever touched such verdant splendors. The sorcerer's next use of Druidcraft showed another overcast day with intermittent showers and drizzles. At the middle of the 13th day of Draman, the guides discovered signs of a great cat living in the area; a chance for the two guides to begin bonding and earning each other's respect.

Other than scaling down some precipitous hillsides the day would have been uneventful. However, as the dense canopy of the wilderness was promising another early nightfall, both Grayhill and Rauthetor discovered that they had wandered off course; the Elf's memories of the trail made him certain that they were not where they were supposed to be. Both guides were positive that they could course correct through the next day. That night, due to the drizzles, Blaylocke erected his Leomund's Tiny Hut. They slept in dryness and comfort all night long.

In the division of labor, both Enkili and Tarator Grayhill held middle watch. Because the magic of their shelter made them undetectable to creatures from the outside, the guide and fighter watched a stalking panther come to the domes outer wall. Thwarted, the animal soon wandered off seeking prey that did not use magic to conceal itself. The 14th of Draman dawned, and the divination foretold of another overcast day with periods of rain. At mid day the guides were certain that they were where they should be, but a chance discovery excited Tarator.

Brushing moss and grime off of a partially buried rock showed the Elf that the stone underneath was worked. Elven markings from a very old Elven city made Tarator believe that they had found part of a stone that had been a mile marker for an old nigh forgotten civilization. As the guide and Enkili were scraping another moss covered boulder clean (another part of the mile marker), they were interrupted by five very tall beings that looked like an anthropomorphic mass of sticks, leaves, and moss. These five beings had the party surrounded, and with pitiless eyes they constricted their encirclement.

Jolrael seemed to throw a cone shaped snow storm at the being approaching from the south east, the Rhimes Binding Ice damaged the thing but did not stop it. the sorcerer then tried to dart south between his victim and another of the five. (At this point clever word play introduce the term mossquatch, which was applied to these plant like assailants.) Unable to determine a group leader with these mossquatches, Enkili charged the northern most one (north mossquatch). All three of his attacks savaged north mossquatch, but did not kill it.

Rauthetor drew his hand ax and charged south east mossquatch, doing little damage to the thing. Manifesting his Spiritual Weapon, Grynn set it on south east mossquatch, then followed up with a bullet from his sling onto the same creature. Only light damaged was achieved. Speaking a tongue no one but herself could understand, Leiya sought dialogue with these plant monsters. Their lack of a reaction told Leiya that other action was required of her, so she manifested a field of Spiritual Guardians full of thumb sized fairy like shapes.

South east mossquatch pushed in and opened a misshapen mouth to let out a shriek that was part amplified creaking wood, boiling sap venting through bark, and part malevolent bird call. That insane cry shriveled up the Angierthan guides courage and almost unnerved Grynn at the same time. The northern mossquatch also made a frightening cry and Enkili's blood ran clear; his knees shaking in his black plate armor.

Blaylocke cast a look at all the chaos around him, then he targeted Enkili with a Haste spell. The Bard then place a Bardic Inspiration on Leiya, hoping the boon would keep the cleric from being influenced by the mossquatch's unnerving shrieks. North east mossquatch closed in on Grynn and Rauthetor and added its inuman shriek to the mix. Again the guide was affected by the call, but Grynn shook off the frightening effect of the sound. Plying his bow, Tarator Grayhill angled to the north east to get a clear shot at the north east mossquatch; his second shot hit but the arrow did little harm.

Jolrael found his run south made him vulnerable to the mossquatch from the south west. It closed on him and issued that eerie shriek, and Jolly's bravado nose dived. Only Grynn had proven sturdy or crazy enough to withstand that noise to this point. The last mossquatch moved in from the north west, crashing through the Spiritual Guardians in order to confront Leiya. It's shriek frightened Grayhill and Blaylocke, but Leiya winced and ignored the fearsome sound; also proof against the fear.

A Guiding Bolt from Grynn missed south east mossquatch, but his Spiritual Weapon landed a solid whack to it. Scared out of his wits by north mossquatch, Enkili still swung The Sainted Sword, and to his surprise more than anyone else, he hit two of three times and killed the incarnation of wood and malice. Freed of the fear, the fighter then dashed over to help the Human guide with north east mossquatch. His last attack drew that mossquatch's attention away from the fear filled guide.

North west mossquatch lashed out with two claw like branches, hitting Leiya once, but with such savagery that she staggered back. This despite the damage it was taking from the Spiritual Guardians. Twinning his spell, Jolrael threw a Firebolt at the south western and the north western mossquatch, yet he was so unnerved that both sizzling spells missed. Bracing himself, the sorcerer then bolted back to the cluster of his friends, getting swatted by south west mossquatch in the process. Two clawed branches lashed out at Rauthetor, one blow ripping into the guide's flesh, nearly crippling the Human.

Though filled with fear from the nearby mossquatch, Blaylocke still set himself to cast Immolation on south western mossquatch. For once the spell landed true, and the plant monster flared up as though doused by fuel. Hurting, Routhetor disengaged from both south east and north east mossquatch, seeking shelter amid his allies. Tarantor missed with both arrows on north west mossquatch. Upcasting her Cure Wounds spell, Leiya applied the magic on poor Rauthetor, who could not have taken much more hurt.

South west mossquatch also waded into the Spiritual Guardian field in order to get revenge on Blaylocke; hitting the bard once with two tries. The spell wrought fairies ignored the fire as they tore into the plant based fiend. That was the last action of southwest mossquatch, Blaylocke's Immolation consumed it to the point that it fell apart. Charcoal and smoldering sticks. North east mossquatch slammed Enkili twice with its rending branches, but the fighter easily shrugged off the damage.

Grynn healed Blaylocke with a cantrip, then he cast Beacon of Hope so that everyone's healing would be at maximum. His Spiritual Weapon continued to harass south eastern mossquatch, but did not hit this time. Now hale, Rauthetor closed in on north west mossquatch hitting it once with his hand ax. Grayhill had one hit and one miss on north east mossquatch with his arrows. A Word of Radiance from Leiya hurt north west mossquatch, but did not drop it. Risking taking another hit, Leiya moved over so that north west and north east monsters were both covered in her Spiritual Guardian sphere.

Seeing his opportunity, Enkili found he could trip a mossquatch. Dropping north east mossquatch to the ground, he then rained two more blows on the thing, killing it. He then closed the fifteen feet to south east mossquatch and hit it once. Not satisfied, the fighter went into frenzy mode raining two more sword strokes onto this foe (action surge). When it dropped, he used his spell fueled speed to close with the last one, north west mossquatch. His final two attacks were all that was necessary to end the mossquatch threat to them all. Blaylocke buffed his nails against his shirt for a Haste spell well cast....

*This was how tonight's game ended. Will the intrigue of an ancient Elven civilization's ruins distract the heroes for a time? The answer to that will be revealed next Sunday, July 27th. Unfortunately Ghostusk will not be joining us for that game, may his world be broadened and enriched with that which pulls him from our side.
**P.S. It escaped my attention, but Ramsay Cowlishaw also missed the July 27th game.

Highlights of Episode One Hundred Nine
Draman 14th - 15th CE 1032

Polling each other and the guides did not reveal what the Mossquatches actually were. The closest guess was that they were malevolent Ents, however most of the group and guides doubted that they had actually been Ents. Continuing with their hour long rest, the subject shifted to the ancient mile marker. Grayhill, the Wood Elven guide, insisted those marked stones indicated a path to lost Tarthil; a great Elven civilization that was even a myth to the elder races.

While dispensing the sparse lore of Tarthil that he had, Grayhill mentioned that there was supposedly a path from the lost city to the Gnarly Stoop. In the old days this path was supposed to have been quicker than the routes people had to use in this current age. Since this was the true destination of the party, Enkili fabricated "The Old Woman" whom they were to meet after they arrived at the lake. He was hoping that they could use this made up person as a pretext to not travel the entire route to Westfolk.

The shorter route was not the only excuse to draw the party into following the ancient road marker to what remained of Tarthil; curiosity was not a trait exclusive to cats. Their Woodelven guide was overjoyed when they chose to go into his peoples past. The rains that evening forced Blaylocke to use his Leomund's Tiny Hut spell. The next day they worked their way into the foothills and discovered an area where obviously worked stone blocks lay scattered hither and yon. Tumbled walls of long extinct buildings.

Further climbing, and a bit of distance from the fallen walls they had initially found, their eyes beheld a standing structure. Covered in ivy and missing a good portion of its roof, this was still a mostly hale building. That light entered everyone's eyes, even the two guides; curiosity a fickle mistress with a tight grip on everyone's imaginations. Approaching from the south they observed two entrances, doors or archways, at the extreme west and east of the southern wall. They advanced on the east entrance.

Inside they found a hall running into shadow heading into the west, with one visible entrance in the north wall. North was another straight hall, it had open arches, most of them being along the west wall, but one standing open along the east. Heading north, they peered into the closest western arch and saw a ziggurat made of a duller stone than the rest of the complex. This seemed the central part of this building. Shadows moved unnaturally to conceal most of the stepped pyramid, though the whole structure had been visible for the first few moments.

Impulsively Enkili began to climb the ziggurat finding that the shadows and light allowed him to see the level he was on, but not those above or below. He climbed three of the 'steps'. A grinding noise of stone on stone, but accompanied by sloshing noises, greeted the fighter just before he started to hoist himself to the pinnacle. Down below the rest of the group heard the same thing.

Weapons were drawn and spells readied, as everyone felt their spirits sink a little. Clambering down, Enkili found Grynn had already produced his Spiritual Weapon, the fighter had deliberately come down west of where he had started his climb; in the direction the sound of slapping bare feet was coming from. The Angierthan, Routhetor, moved over to join Enkili, his hand ax brandished and ready. Thinking it wise, Blaylocke placed a Bardic Inspiration on Enkili, then he moved to Leiya's side in the back ranks.

Meanwhile Jolrael made sure his Armor of Shadows was on himself, as his robes were not proof against blades or arrows. Then they had to wait. A mournful moaning came from the shadows to the west, a sound that induced both sympathy and raised the hairs on neck and arm. Glancing back the way they had come, Grynn realized that the entrance they had used to enter the building was gone; a blank wall with no sign of egress. The priest made his way into the ziggurat room with his manifested mace in tow.

Equally as observant, Leiya noticed that the rooms ambient light had gone down, as if storm clouds were covering the sun and helping the canopy of the forest to block even more illumination. This triggered her to cast her Spiritual Guardians spell and move closer to the front ranks of her friends and allies so they were covered by the tiny cherubs. Placing preparatory tension on his bow string, Grayhill nocked an arrow and waited for the moaning horror to reveal itself.

Promising peace if they were allowed to leave, Enkili still raised the Sainted Sword in anticipation of an attack. A nightmare rounded the corner, with distended mouth agape in a pale lifeless face. Overly long arms ended in webbed hands that sported knife long claws. Cadaverous feet slapped stone as the thing advanced, a sinister light in its eyes. Before it closed on Routhetor and the fighter, the cherubs of the Spiritual Guardians tore into the thing leaving wounds that wept but did not bleed.

Enkili misjudged his swing and failed to hit the thing, Jolrael's Firebolt also missed, but Routhetors fancy hatchet scored a hit that barely creased the things dense flesh (resistance to slashing). It uttered more sorrowful cries. A claw passed through space Enkili had occupied a second before, but a lunging bite at Routhetor required Leiya's intervention; her Shield of the Faithful feature preserving the man from harm. A Ray of Frost from the sorcerer froze against the wall, but not on the lamenting horror.

Sailing his Spiritual Weapon over the distressed horror and the front rank, Grynn brought the weapon down on the things misshapen cranium (critical hit). He himself cast Aura of Life to prevent necrotic powers from wreaking havoc on the living. Enkili slashed a leg (critical hit) and tried to topple the wretched thing with a shoulder to the midriff, but the Lamentor was stronger than its withered limbs implied. Working on the left leg his next strike, the fighter actually succeeded in knocking the Lamentor to the ground on his second trip attempt; his last attack came while it was on its back.

Powering up (upcasting) his Dissonant Whispers spell, Blaylocke struck at the Lamentor's mind. His spell seemed to deliver all its damage, and even made the thing scramble away on its hands and knees; fleeing the now fearsome bard. the Lamentor did not travel far, it turned back after a few steps and closed with Enkili; missing with both claw and bite. Enkili tried to riposte but cut only air. Unable to close with his hand ax, Routhetor chose to throw a dagger; steel rang on stone.

Grayhill's arrows also proved to be less than fully efficacious, the Lamentor seemed to absorb most slashing and piercing damage. Putting some oomph (upcasting) into a lightening based Chromatic Orb, Jolrael scored a hit to their uncanny foes face (critical hit). So far all the spells seemed to eat into the Lamentor's physical form with no dampening of effects. Trying her Sacred Flame cantrip on it, Leiya was disappointed when the Lamentor seemed to absorb the magic.

Hoping a repeat performance would yield golden results again, Blaylocke caste Haste on Enkili. Routhetor rushed up with his hand ax, but was checked forearm to forearm. Using Farstep, Jolrael vanished from his space in back of the party to appear many yards behind the Lamentor. A Ray of Frost struck true. Leiya's face grew hard with vexation as her next spell, Guiding Bolt, missed the mark. Channeling a Divine Strike into his mace, Grynn Closed with the Lamentor and left his mark on it; the mace barely affecting the creature (resitance), but the radiant flash scoring it deeply. Grynn's Spiritual Weapon failed to connect.

Two Arrows from the Elven Guide plunked into the Lamentor. Enkili was able to strike out five times when he was next able to act, two of those strikes would have destroyed a natural life form (2 crits); but for the fighter, hitting the Lamentor was like striking soaked green wood. Braving the vicious cherubs eating at its form, the Lamentor again tried to maul Enkili; to no avail. Grynn's summoned weapon hit while the priest again hammered the thing with a Divine Strike infused mace.

Winding up like a sports hero, Jolrael hurled another Chromatic orb sparking with lightening. Arching its back, the now deceased Lamentor almost collapsed into Enkili's arms. The fighter stepped aside and let the body face plant. Before anyone could rain praise on Jolly, the body began to sizzle and shrink unnaturally, becoming a fist sized stone after several shocking moments. Many minutes later they found a recess in the ziggurats north western base; an impression in the wall with the same shape as the inert stone had been inscribed on wall of this little nook. No one could read the writing around the impression.

Working on a whim, Enkili used a handkerchief to handle the stone and set it into the indentation. Immediately the light returned to normal and the missing doors opened. All the spells lingering on the party also vanished, dispelled by a strange force. Taking the time to use a ritual Comprehend Languages, Blaylocke discovered that the writing simply said 'Shrine of Trials'. This made this a religious building where aspirant devotees of the unnamed god(dess) underwent acceptance trials.

Somehow, through the lost centuries, the divine magic had been corrupted. All in all they discovered the building had five points of ingress. After a leisurely but thorough search of the building, the party returned to the trail. Soon they discovered another toppled mile marker. The inscriptions were easily deciphered as the magic on Blaylocke was still active. The arrow pointing at a forty five degree angle left said 'to the market, straight ahead was read 'to the temple', and the other forty five degrees to the right said 'palace'.

Markings indicated that the back side of the stone had further writing. Straining, all who could fit around the stone heaved the marker upright. The buried side read 'road to Orthala'. No one knew what or who Orthala was; person, place, thing, or event, no one knew. While some thought the right path would be the most likely path to the Gnarly Stoop, it was argued that the market would most likely be a nexus of paths and roads....

*Here we go, dear readers. We leave off after this brief debate, ready to head for the market. On August 3rd we will resume this quest, this time with a full compliment of players. I must apologize to Ramsay Cowlishaw, last week as the game wound down I missed the part where he let us know he had other plans for today's game. We missed him, and I hope he had a blast doing what he was doing.

Highlights of Episode One Hundred Ten
Draman 16th - CE 1032

Discovering that everyone's Perpetual Flame spells had been purged made some of the party members fret; the human's specifically. Still, though both clerics admitted that they would have to wait until the next day to prepare the spell, there was too much sun in the sky to set camp immediately. Soon they discovered more mostly intact and not so intact buildings. Ivy covered walls had gaping holes where shutters once stood, but some doors still hung seeming to be intact. Whatever had served this civilization's ceilings had long been consumed by natures patient but rapacious appetite.

Moss and loam covered most of the road, but the cobble stones underneath still prevented most plants from over growing the visible path. When they entered this section of the ruins, they noticed a 'Y' split in their path to the north, but they poked around the nearest two building east and west. Jolrael moved east to a broken wall and peeked around to see what could be seen. Nature had long claimed anything that had been left behind, objects crafted by intelligent hands were softened and obscured by the verdant forest life that had claimed the space.

Too the west, Enkili moved to an intact seeming door still standing sentry in a building that seemed to defy time and nature. Because Jolrael had joked about being courteous and knocking first, Enkili did exactly that before he swung the door open; a bit of youthful playfulness on their parts. Then when he did open the door, the door fell off of hinges chewed away by rust. The clatter not only made the hero's wince, but all the vociferous creatures conversing through the forest fell silent. The hush was eerie, but was to be expected. Enkili stepped through and found the intact walls had not kept the forest from moving in.

While Jolly and Enkili were returning to the trail, the more observant members of the group heard a breaking branch and faint but eerie whimpers and wails coming from many directions. Were there voices gasping and making those ethereal sounds that resembled conversation? Sighing because he thought the undead were coming, he sang a song that showed Leiya's devotion to her goddess Melosta (Melwen). This made the priestess square her shoulders and feel even more ready to serve (Bardic Inspiration).

Though he was one of the last ones to realize danger was coming, Enkili raised his chain mail veil, drew the Sainted Sword and moved up to the 'Y' intersection to support their guide Grayhill. His eyes beheld a short figure flitting through the brush, an indistinct figure that left a dark misty afterimage; at certain points of its travel it phased through the brush, at others branches were parted as if from a physical being. The apparition's features were seemingly wrapped in a burial shroud, but it still gave off a sense of malice in its posture as it changed course for Grayhill.

Fearing his arrow would pass through the thing, Blaylocke still let fly and raised a brow when the shaft struck true. Surging forward, the entity closed with Enkili but that was all it could do after its long sprint. Another shrouded figure emerged among the undergrowth and ruins. A third made it's presence known in the south. Moving to support Enkili, Leiya manifested her Spiritual Weapon and had it strike at the determined fiend nearest her. The thing burst into shadowy wisps that sank into the ground, disrupted in a manner that made the priestess wonder if these were really undead.

A fourth came in from the south east and closed with Grynn. Grayhill sank two arrows into the nearest shadow creature, though all it did was give a faint wail, as if its voice was coming from far away. A fifth arrived closing with Enkili, Leiya protected the fighter with Shield of the Faithful; an ability that made those grasping hands clumsy and imprecise. A figure closing on Grynn took Jolrael's Firebolt to the face, turning it into a momentary pyre before shadow wisps dripped to the earth like molten wax droplets.

Three more shroud wrapped figures drifted in from the thicker underbrush. Moving in to support Grynn, Routhetor flailed away with his hand ax, his boisterous attacks only landing one hit that did not stop or slow his target. Midway through his mace swing, Grynn realized he was going to hit (crit). This made him channel the power of a Divine Strike through his weapon when it made contact. His target burst like a black bubble, it's droplets phasing into the earth like sporadic rain drops. He immediately called out that light spells were good weapons to use against these flickering shadows. He then summoned his own Spiritual Weapon, striking the next nearest not ghost.

That very shadow being grabbed at the priest, clinging too him. Grynn felt his strength and vitality wane, but not in the way he associated with the undead he knew of. You could say that the cold lacked the chill of the grave though no less deadly to the living. Another shrouded spirit rushed from the undergrowth directly at Leiya, reaching her after an extended move. Disturbed by the number of these disquieted things, Leiya surrounded herself with her beefed up (upcast) Spiritual Guardians, She then shifted around the creature attacking her so that her cherubs and sprites encompassed a majority of their attackers.

Her Spiritual Weapon smashed the newest arrival (crit) ending it as an immediate threat. Two more appear, one going for the Angierthan guide and the other closed with Leiya. This new not ghost did not last in the tiny jaws of the Spiritual Guardians flitting around Leiya. Taking advantage of his mobility, Enkili stepped up and killed the newest one accosting Leiya, he then flowed on to the one trying to flank Grynn (crit), then slayed the first one to attack Routhetor (bonus action), then mauls the second spirit attacking the human guide (a feat allowing him the fourth attack).

Routhetor's hand ax scored a little hit against the last one near him, but did not drop it, (Have to wonder if these things had resistance to non magical damage). The last not ghost coming in from the forest took Blaylocke's arrow, but it continued to close. Then the bard expanded on his song about Enkili (Bardic Inspiration). though the Dwarf's arrow had done little damage, Jolrael ended it with his Firebolt cantrip. Another newcomer appeared from the scrub and descended on Enkili.

Grynn swung again but missed with his mace against the last one beleaguering Routhetor and himself, his Spiritual Weapon almost dropped the new one on Enkili. The priest then moved around to so that either Routhetor or himself would get a flanking attack on the one he'd missed. Blaylocke sank an arrow in Enkili's foe, making it splash mistily into nothingness. The last not ghost took a thump from Leiya's Spiritual Weapon (crit), but her hearing caused her to not follow up; more of their uncanny enemies were closing in from the west, south, and north west.

Jolrael's last Firebolt slew the last being as it reached for the distracted priestess. Instead of leading the exodus out of the market after warning her friends and allies, Leiya closed in on Grynn to diagnose how bad off he was. She determined that he would recover if they rested. Everyone began to hear the not ghosts closing in from the south, yet as they started to head east, those shrouded beings from the north west began to flow through the brush; if they had been hound dogs, the hew and cry would have filled the shocked forest.

They proved far faster than Blaylocke, and were able to close with poor Routhetor at the back ranks of the party. Hurling an errant Sacred Flame, Leiya fell back to support the Angierthan guide. Even though the Spiritual Weapons were even slower than the Dwarf, the two clerics had been loathe to drop those spells; Leiyas hovering weapon closed in behind the shrouded ones, smacking one hard. Ignoring the evidence he had collated on this enemy, Grynn raised the symbol of his patron lady goddess and tried to turn the not ghosts. Nothing happened.

His Spiritual Weapon then moved in, but it swung wide. He then cast Spiritual Guardians, creating another protective sphere that overlapped Leiya's. Enkili fell back from trying to lead them all east. He was only able to bear down on two of the shrouded spirits which fell to the Sainted Sword. An application of Ice storm from Jolly encompassed five of the not ghosts. The magic burst three of them, the other two were mere tatters held together by malice alone.

Routhetor managed one stout strike, but his second attack missed. With the number of targets dwindling fast, Blaylocke applied Haste on himself just to ensure he would not be the cause of them getting swamped by another wave of shrouded wretches. He then sang his last encouraging song, weaving in a chant involving Grynn (Bardic Inspiration). More not ghosts closed in from the east. Two more arrows from Grayhill diminish but do not kill one angling in form the north west....

*Well, this is another fine mess we got ourselves into (curiosity and a broken door was all it took). Unfortunately we have to wait a week to find out if we can extricate ourselves. See you 8/10/2025.