Game Session Recaps

[frenzied67]

Highlights of Episode One Hundred Eleven
Draman 16th CE 1032

Flinging himself at first one target, then another, Enkili slew the shrouded spirit currently assaulting Routhetor before darting to the next nearest and finishing it off. He then took up a warding position just north of Leiya, after wondering aloud that it seemed that magic and magic weapons seemed to effect these creatures more than mundane equipment seemed to. Finding a couple of these shrouded not-undead creatures lined up to the east, Jolrael hit them with an Aganazaar's Scorcher. Despite the Mandagan's statement, the spell seemed half as effective as it should have been.

Twang, twang! Blaylocke launched two missiles at a shadowy figure, one hit but did not drop it's target. The bard then hit Grynn with a Healing Word. Wailing piteously, a sound that seemed to come from underwater, one of the spirits closed with Grynn, but before it cold latch onto him, the priest's Spiritual Guardians consumed it in a dissipating charcoal cloud. Dispersing the waning cloud when he moved through it, Grynn took a few steps south, hurling a Guiding Bolt at a new apparition; destroying it utterly.

Aiming at a new foe from the south east, Grayhill watched two of his arrows pass to either side of his target. His Elven was possibly very colorful at that moment. Leiya dropped a Sacred Flame on a newcomer, but her spell did not finish it off. An enemy coming from the northern wood line was met by Routhetor. Though the guide chopped mightily, the wounds his hand ax left were not especially detrimental. The guide then suffered a return attack and was drained further. Though the priest could restore the physical damage the guide suffered, Grynn's Cure Wounds spell could not restore the drained strength.

Grynn moved his Spiritual Weapon up next to himself. From the south east and north west the third and fourth waves of shrouded spirits began to arrived. Gamely, the Angierthan Guide tried his weapon on another of these distraught sounding enemies. Again, his hand ax barely injured it. Not seeing an escape route, Enkili told everyone to collect around the clerics, seeing their twin Spiritual Guardian spells as the instruments of their salvation. At the same moment, Blaylocke disengaged from the shrouded spirits who had closed on him. That same knot of tormented souls was graced with the bard's Confusion spell.

Routhetor hit once again with the same effect as before. Grayhill also withdrew back into the shelter of the divine spells following Blaylocke's example. Even more of the unnatural creatures arrived. Seeing Routhetor at the edge of Leiya's Spiritual Guardians spell, Enkili dragged the man a few steps back for his safety, he then moved south to guard Grynn. Finding a line of shrouded spirits nearby, Jolrael upcast his Aganazaar's Scorcher. Though they burned, he did not kill a single one of the three. The sorcerer fell back into the overlapping Guardian cloud.

After moving to ensure all her people were covered by her Guardians spell, Leiya dropped another Sacred Flame on a nearby enemy. An inner malevolence seemed to thwart the cantrip. Enkili could see eighteen enemies from his position, but the sounds he heard told him there were more concealed in the foliage. Grynn's thrown Guiding Bolt hit like a dart thrown at a balloon; wisps of vapor spreading and settling where the spirit had popped. Since the encircling shrouded spirits seemed to hesitate from closing in on the group, Jolrael dashed out and changed his Aganazaar's Scorcher into a thunder spell. Even as he was lifted and moved back by the winds of his Tempestuous Magic, the sorcerer could see that his thunder was resisted like his cold and fire based magics had been.

A few more of their enemies arrived, but declined to close on the surrounded mortals. A Sacred Flame from Leiya killed a western opponent, but her Spiritual Weapon injured but did not drop the one she attacked with it. She then moved east a bit, encompassing several shrouded spirits with her Spiritual Guardian's field. First one shrouded spirit began to chant, then another, then another after that. The air began to pulse rapidly in an alarmingly unnatural manner.

Darting out of cover, Enkili slew one northern spirit, then darted back into safety. Seeing so many of the shrouded spirits clumped to the east, Blaylocke broke out his little used Conjure Volley spell. he slew close to half of their attackers (8). He sped an arrow at the lone shrouded spirit that had survived the magic, killing it before it could congratulate itself for surviving the massacre. More started to chant, the air thickening with vibration. Grayhill struck the eye socket of one shrouded spirit (critical) but missed with the second arrow.

More chanters joined those already calling forth. A hurled dagger from Routhetor hit a spirit, though it did not end it's threat. Two arrows from Blaylocke did finish one of the few enemies left. Now all the shrouded spirits were chanting, and the air pulsed with the menacing sound. Grynn figured out that they were in the midst of a summoning ritual. Clued in by her fellow cleric, Leiya tried to fathom their enemies plan, but though she dredged her mind, she could not discern what was afoot.

Hoping his effort would break the spell the enemy was weaving, Enkili charged the nearest mass of four shrouded spirits. He was only able to reach and kill two of them; it did not stop the sound that was creating a rift between planes. Jolrael followed the fighter and hurled twinned Firebolts at two more enemies, harming but not stopping them. He then darted back. The chant stopped.

From the west a hungry cry of lamentation sullied the air. Utter misery emanated from the big voice. Moving out of the brush so he could keep track of Enkili, Grynn killed one of the nearby shrouded spirits with a Sacred Flame. Exuding an air of satisfaction, the shrouded spirits dropped back from the party assuming the attitude of spectators at a boxing match. Asking if they should run, Enkili waited for several seconds for an answer. When no one replied, the fighter pelted west and killed the lone shrouded spirit lounging near a crumbling wall.

Killing another spirit with a Guiding Bolt, Leiya then moved west possibly to see what big creature had been summoned into their world. Impossibly heavy footsteps vibrate the ground, a thirty foot tall figure with a twisted deer head on a humanoid body waded literally through the trees. Raising a finger with knuckles enlarged by emaciation, the thing pointed at Routhetor. The Angierthan paled as life's vitality was pulled from his body. The attack so unnerved the man that he remained in place rooted by fear and horror.

Blaylock had tried to Counterspell the giant misanthrope, but found out too late that it was not a magic effect it was using. He then touched Routhetor with a Healing Word. The magic restored some health but did not remove the terror and paralysis. The Dwarf then tried to lift the man and carry him away, but could not get a proper purchase on the Human. Breaking to the east, Grayhill skirted around the last visible shrouded spirit and dashed away, everyone was saying the same thing. "Run!"

Hitting the shrouded spirit with a Firebolt before running, Jolrael also had to move around it as he ran; vexed that it yet lived. A dark aura manifested around the disconcerting giant, an ill looking stain on reality. It advanced on the party. Blaylocke finally broke through to Routhetor, and after seeing the man was truly anchored in the here-and-now, he dashed away with the speed of his Haste spell. He disappeared around an eastern building bending his steps back to the south. Grayhill followed in the bard's wake like a leaf caught up in the speedster's draft.

A second too late, Leiya called out for everyone to close around Grynn. The Halforc had their means for all of them to magically escape. Heeding her own advice she closed on Grynn then cast an enhanced (upcast) Cure Wounds on Routhetor; the man remained wan and sickly looking. Knowing that it would take several seconds for everyone to gather around his person, Grynn protected himself with a Deathward spell. Enkili and Jolrael, from the west and east (respectively), collected around Grynn. A few moments later Blaylocke sped back around the corner, pushing himself to rejoin his crew.

Their Elven guide, Grayhill, also came around the corner, but though he strove mightily, he could not reach the party. Closing on them the Giant looked like it would beat the guide. Grynn had to start his Word of Recall spell. As Jolrael's Firebolt hit and slew the last shrouded spirit, Leiya began to pray for a Miracle that Grayhill would be caught up in the transportation magic with them....

*It is a sad day when doughty heroes have to flee an evil adversary, but that is exactly what is happening. We won't know what will happen until next Sunday, August 17th. Until then, we hope all of you have a grand week. Again we had to play without both Ghosttusk and Ramsay Symara, I hope their weekend rocked despite missing the game.

Highlights of Episode One Hundred Twelve
Draman 16th - 20th CE 1032

As Leiya prayed for her Divine Intervention, the world was shocked by a strange psychic pressure and a wave of gray through the sky. Even the unnatural impala headed giant sensed the strange change in the world. His Mage Guild pin flaring with light, Jolrael stiffened, turned gray, and became a gray mist that flowed with the mental barometric winds. His disappearance alarmed his friends and caused them to lose their shared purpose for a moment.

Dropping his prepared Word of Recall, Grynn charged the shrouded spirit that had not really died when hit by Jolrael's last Firebolt. As he smashed it into a dark dispersing mist, he moved his Spiritual Weapon up to the fell giant aberration and had it swing. The magic weapon missed just before it faded away, its duration ending. Seeing their escape plan had charged off without whisking them to safety, and witnessing Jolrael's vanishing act, Enkili charged the big bad and struck it three times (critical once); he stepped back a few feet after witnessing how little he had accomplished despite the severity of his attacks.

Grumbling because the plan had fallen apart, Leiya reserved her Divine Intervention, stalked south a dozen feet, then cast Sunbeam on the thirty foot tall half spirit creation of madness. She was unable to determine if it resisted her magic or if it had innate defenses against her holy radiance. Still, she clearly shouted at everyone to gather around her. Routhetor did not need to be asked twice he clustered near the priestess ready to throw his ax, followed by Grayhill whose arrows flew very wide of their mark.

Ignoring Leiya's directive, Grynn surrounded himself with another instance of Spiritual Guardians before moving west to cover Blaylocke and Enkili with the protective spell. After hardly hurting the mountain sized creature, Enkili darted back, dashing until he was near Leiya. Hoping to buy more time, Blaylocke hit the twisted undead like hulk with another Raulothim's Psychic Lance. Again his spell made the thing clutch its deer like cranium in pain, rendering it incapable of action or reaction. The bard then fired his bow, but missed.

Two arrows thwacked into the creature, but Grayhill's arrows did not even cause a twitch. Still waiting for Grynn to join them, Leiya had to debate on whether to ready her Divine Intervention or use her other spell. She chose to use Sunbeam. This time it seemed her goddess' power had full effect, but on such a large and unnatural thing that was barely any damage at all. Using up the last of his big spells, Blaylocke hit it with a third Raulothim's Psychicc Lance. His good fortune held true, and the thing howled as it focused solely on the pain in it's head; he fell back to join those surrounding Leiya.

Leiya at last readied her Intervention in the form of a Word of Recall, certain Grynn would join the cluster of mere mortals. However, Grynn started to lunge for the giant, ready to melee the creature. It took the combined shouting of his mates to turn him from his intended purpose and make him join them. The instantaneous transport did not feel instantaneous. In the gray nothing they felt the rush like that of wind that did not stir their hair, they felt a twisting sensation that made them go inside out, then back to inside in. Some of them staggered and fell when they arrived, a few vomited from the experience.

The clergy in the Anstarre's Melwenite shrine were more astounded than anyone, they were stirred up for hours at their sudden unexpected guests. When the ability to form words returned to their guides, both Routhetor and Grayhill tossed their pay back at the party; their words of "I quit" a certain sign that their contract with the party was over. Both Leiya and Enkili chased after them. The fighter pressed their pay back into their hands with a bonus for what they had endured. Enkili did not try to dissuade them from leaving, he just made sure they knew they had gone above and beyond. Leiya, of course, had the smoothness and persuasive skills to cool the guides temporarily intemperate emotions so that they did leave without hatred in their hearts.

Once the stir they had caused began to simmer down, the news everyone in town was talking about was shared with the party. Evidently Sedarran forces had defeated the guardians of Wizard's Peak, but before they could breach the wizard guild's gates, those gates had vanished. There was also the rumor that many people in town had suddenly vanished, poofing out when the world had turned momentarily gray (the same time and effect that had taken Jolrael. After reporting to the head of the temple, Leiya cast Sending in an attempt to contact Jolrael.

She made contact immediately. He was in Pilgrim's Rest, just outside of Elvold, safe with a batch of other lesser Wizard's Guild members. He would later inform them that he had been "rescued" by an old contingency plan wrought after the old Scarred Hand attempt at taking the Peak. Leiya expressed the wish to have a Word of Recall scroll on hand, but after brainstorming they realized they just didn't have the time. It would take a week of searching to even see if they could buy one, and Grynn claimed it would take him at least forty days to scribe such a scroll. They bought powdered rubies for five castings of Continual Flame spells
That afternoon the party caught a coach that ran from Anstarre to Elvold, which cost them 15 gold for the two day ride. They stopped at a couple of little towns and villages along the way. In that time, Grynn and Leiya restored the enchantments of Continual Flame on Leiya's mace and Enkili's quartz crystal. When they arrived in Elvold it was near evening, they chose to stay at an inn then travel by foot to the Pilgrim's Rest chantry in the morning.

The Toadstool and Ax was a modestly comfortable establishment with a few quirks, the short and slender proprietress set goblets of wine up over the bar for visiting crows to partake of. There was an old folk tale behind the inn's name, which did not explain the dragons carved into the wainscotting and other furnishings. That night Blaylocke rocked the house, and Enkili joined in. The fighter had been training himself in a sword dance to accompany some of the bard's performances. His debut was well received. That night it was overheard that members of the Wizard's Guild were not banned by Sedaria's government.

After arriving at the Pilgrim's Rest, the party discovers the spells and illusions protecting the place were indeed gone. Most of the low to average guild members who had been teleported to the chantry were disbanding, seeking places to lay low. No one trusted the rumor that they were not proscribed by local law yet. They also learned that the Wizard's Peak contingency plan that had taken all guild members to places of "safety" had come about during the Arcane Cleansing, when the Scarred Hand had tried to take the mountain and all the Tieflings had been revealed. High ranking guild members had supposedly been brought to the inside of Wizard's Peak to reestablish the magic spells and aid in the defense of the mountain....

*That's it for this week. The party left off wondering if it was worth it to try for Wizard's Peak, or seek what they were after elsewhere. They had heard of a secret gate into Wizard's Peak called The Vast, but no one knows what or who that is. Fortunately, there is still a library at Pilgrim's Rest. The living book Jolly had accidentally set free had fallen apart when the gray pressure wave had yoinked arcane casters from around the world.

Highlights of Episode One Hundred Thirteen
Draman 20th - Iiyoltan 8th CE 1032

With the Sacred Hunt (not to be confused with the Great Hunt) coming on, and the wards of the Pilgrim's Rest still down, a plan had to be devised fast. What Iriel and Ranella settled on was turning the facility into a temporary inn. The party helped haul books from the library into the laboratory, and with help from Leiya's Stone Shape spell, they hid the books and lab. The Library was converted into a cold cellar. Just in time for those who were re-enacting the old rites to stumble onto the Pilgrim's rest.

The staff was not prepared for the service industry, and as news of the new inn that had food and drink, along with a Dwarven bard that rocked, spread back in Elvold, more and more people came. They even started to rent rooms. Enkili noticed all the mistakes the staff was making and he tried to warn Iriel about how that would be perceived. The fighter's eloquence was not up to the task. Leiya also noticed the gaps in service knowledge, but her tactic was to run distraction between servers and customers. She was far more successful.

Previous Sacred Hunt celebrations had been much more festive and boisterous than this season's observations, yet word continued to spread and more and more clients showed up. Especially the next day. Iriel and Ranella had to be talked into turning the living area into a common room, so their customers had places to sleep it off. In the morning they seemed happy to see all their customers depart, but that was short lived when more people showed up to see the new inn scene that all their friends were still talking about.

That evening, as a band of mercenaries were settling in for food, drink, drink, drink, and entertainment, a pack of three seeming merchants showed up. While they too enjoyed the cuisine and beverages, they seemed more intent on the "inn" than the entertainment; though Blaylocke was so good their attention was often torn. Even more unwelcome attention came when a man and his entourage arrived. It was not long before this person betrayed the fact that he was a magistrate from Elvold. Eadric Theren was not there for any of the food, drink, or songs.

Leiya noticed the merchants disrupting Iriel's work flow when they began to hassle him at the bar. She intervened in the middle of what sounded like a shake down; the merchants had seemed to be asking for the two guild papers that Inns and taverns had to have in order to operate. Sensing the disturbance in the force from his stage, Blaylocke starts a sing-a-long with a song that may have been popular in the Dwarven halls, but had little following in the Human world. A plan forming in his noggin, Enkili was one of the few who joind in the singing; he was trying to sound intoxicated for some bizare reason.

Feeling his disgruntlement with Seddara's Magistrates bubble over, Enkili spent a moment making sure the mercenaries were not with the official. Then, still feigning drunkeness, stood up and marched for the hapless representative. No one believed he was into his drink, as he had nothing but a tea mug before him all night long. He accused the magistrate of trying to fleece the innocent with bogus tax schemes; let it be known that he and his friends had been financially ravaged for saving many communities from a terrible green dragon, and made sure he was heard talking about Seddaria's sudden expressionistic pushes into The Freehold and Wizard's Peak.

The fighters attempted intimidation fell on a staunch man, Eadric was not a weak willed individual. He threatened to have Enkili arrested for disturbing the peace; Enkili countered by claiming he was just asking questions of a tyrant. He also claimed the magistrate thought he was beyond the common man. One of the men backing the official whistled and summoned real guards. Enkili was forced to retreat back to his table, but he made his disaffection known with every step.

Blaylocke, his spirits plummeting to depths no entertainer wanted to perform from, attempted to change from drums to lyre in mid performance. The move flopped and did not ease the tension in the room. All Leiya could do was shrink against the bar and pray that her big dumb friend did not get them into a fight. Magistrate Eadric made his judgment too Enkili's jeers and dismissive gesticulations. The illegal inn had to desist operations immediately, a lien was placed on the property and fines would have to be paid.

Then, and only then, did the man and his entourage leave. Like locusts at a bad harvest, the three merchants appeared again, descending on Iriel at the bar. One of the trio began ushering people out of the Pilgrim's Rest. Before the mercenaries packed up, one of the men approached Enkili and thanked him for all the money he had won wagering on the confrontation with the magistrate. Before everyone else left, Leiya began to try persuading the guild representatives to allow those who had paid to be able to stay.

Blaylocke assisted in this endeavor by pressing coins into the men's palms. surprisingly this made the idea of leniency much more attractive; the rest of the people were allowed to stay. While Leiya, Belfric Goswald (the guild chancellor) went over the books to see what "fines" and sundry remunerations were to be paid, the other guild masters complimented Blaylocke for his performance, invited him to perform in Elvold, but critiqued him for his instrumental transition at the end of the show. (Those other Guild masters were from the Elvold branch of the guilds they represented. Stecthorn Baraldi was with the innkeepers guild and Agbold There (pronounced theer with a soft 'TH' sound) was from the Tavern keeper's guild). Though Enkili was recognized as a memorable competitor from the Tazenite games, neither Guild master tried to mingle with Enkili.

The guests that remained did not linger overlong in the morning, they all left early with tales to tell their friends of the inn that was not an inn or tavern. When the Pilgrim's Rest was clear Stone Shape was used to access the laboratory and the hidden books. For the next fifteen days the party did research on three subjects. The main inquiry was about The Vast and how to access it. This is what they learned:

The sky is black as night, a tectonic rumbling can be heard overhead; the ruins
sprawl out with a fractal madness, their shapes incoherent and puzzling; a vast sea of colorless sand stretches out into the darkness, broken only by the titanic pillars that disappear impossibly into the lightless sky.
This is The Vast, a liminal realm hidden far away from our own. Always waning and on the verge of collapse, it is host to countless lost souls and alien treasures hidden within its crumbling ruins.
Decay and erosion are accelerated here, even the soul and mind is not safe. Mortals and sentient beings who find themselves spending too much time within The Vast begin to lose traits of their personality, memory, and eventually their drive to escape. This is the Harrowing. There is no light to speak, only a dim ambient illumination, as if illuminated by a half moon. Attempting to see further than 30ft is difficult at best and only vague shapes can be picked out at a distance more than 60ft.

Metal rusts, stone crumbles and food petrifies at an accelerated rate within the Vast, as if the place itself is cursed with decay and erosion in all forms. Most troubling is that this is not just reserved for the physical, as mortals who spend too long in The Vast and suffer great hardships begin to have their spirits and psyches ebb like dust in the wind. This is called The Harrowing and it is an erosion of memory, drive, and desire.

The third bit of information recovered was a strangely familiar diagram. After a long time studying the lines and squiggles Leiya made the realization that the familiarity they all shared with this was because it was on Jolrael's back. The mysterious half tattoo, half burn scoring the sorcerer had been wearing since before the unification of the party as a viable adventuring group. All this information was not enough in and of itself, they all agreed that they needed to do more research in other better stocked libraries.

Their next line of research was the dark giant they had faced in ruined Tarthil. Eventually they discovered an excerpt taken from "Toben's Spirit Guide", they narrowed the list of culprits down to it being a Nightwalker; an undead spirit with too many resistances and immunities. These malevolent creatures seemed to be drawn to the sites of murders and other "manifestations of great anguish". Rumor placed one in Onastia a few Human generations back. (This last excerpt came from one of Xura's earlier characters.)

Pilgrim's Rest's library had no mention of Tarthil at all (the third line of inquiry), a fact that took five days for the party to discover. Now deep in the opening weeks of the month of Iiyoltan, the party decided they needed bigger and better libraries to peruse. The idea of teleporting over to Anstarre (via Grynn's Word of Recall) was fielded, but they also had their horses in the stables of Pilgrim's Rest which meant that Solare was also an option. They chose Seddaria's capitol, Solare.

When they stopped in Pikton for the night, the rumor was floated to the party that the magistrates had gathered together and were conducting a secret vote in the capitol. Naturally, as happened with rumors, no one knew what this supposed vote was about; too many speculations were offered but none with concrete proof attached. They continued along their overcast and sodden route until they reached the city a few days later.

Since the Rusty Cauldron had been ravaged and burned the party chose to go to the King's Vine inn and tavern, their secondary refuge in this city. As the party talked about who to contact, Blaylocke had to slip into his Perrymore Tickletrouser persona; the person he had pretended to be during their last stay. Many attempts to contact Wellborne Huxley with Sending had gone unanswered so the alternatives were debated; Lord Cromly who had been on vacation over a month before, or Enkili's patron for the games, Lady Adeleine, the fabled Paladin of Melwen. Whom would they approach for aid...?

*Once again in Solare! What will happen next? Will Jolrael's connection to The Vast be revealed, or will their search for knowledge butt against another wall? Will the rumors of the magistrates secret vote produce nuggets of truth or just more speculation? The 31st of August may see many of these questions answered.

**We missed Ghosttusk and Ramsay Cowlishaw this week, Grynn and Jolrael respectively. Ramsay, I'm sure, will be eager to return and find out about one of his story arcs, the mysterious shifting symbol burned and inked onto his back. Game time @ 11am.