The D&D Dynasty: The Path of Alzar the Mighty

[Abe Sargent]

North to V26. North – V27. They run into a flock of griffons, but they are sent away after a couple of Mist Balls. North to V28 – quiet. Land on this island. E12. No monsters on the shore. They go inland to E27. They harvest 4 rations per explorer because of the village they find.

+16 rations

North to V29Quiet, North to T16. Quiet. They are south of a medium sized city and can dock there U4, or sail the trade routes east or west. I can also do the trade routes to some fishing villages at nearby islands. They enter the city.

They repair the hull for 1000 gold and hire a new sailor for 6. They buy 70 rations, just to make sure they have enough, for 140 gold.

They launch after two days in harbor. They sail south. Quiet. East to V39. Quiet. East to V49. Quiet. South to V48. Quiet. There is an island to the south South to V47. Quiet. This is Deadwood Atoll. They land at E1. No monsters on the beach. They explore – E16. Nothing to be found. They return and leave. South to V46. They come across a Flying Hydra with 7 heads. Alzar wants to keep the battle away from the ship so he tosses a flying broom to Carum and the two of them fly up, weapons in hand, Alzar in front. Alzar attacks and cuts a head off for 8 damage. Carum crits it for a head for 8 damage (damage is capped at 8, since that’s what’s require to lop off a head). 4 of its heads snap after Alzar and the 5th misses Carum. They next turn, the Hydra goes first and the same heads after the same people. Alzar takes 15 from three heads. He hits one and then another, taking off two. Carum misses. They win init and Alzar takes the flying hydra to 2 heads and Carum hits for just 4. Carum takes 10 and Alzar takes 7.The Hydra wins init and misses Carum and misses Alzar. Alzar takes off a head and Carum kills the one he already damaged.

XP – 1500 each for Alzar and Carum

[Abe Sargent]

They move south. All quiet. South to V45. Quiet. South to V44. Quiet South to V43. Quiet. There is a tropical island to the west – Spider Isle. South to V43. Quiet. South to V42, and still quiet. We are nearing home for a bit. South – quiet South quiet and back to Tangaroa. It has been 41 days since we set sail from Tangaroa on this journey. We found a dungeon, and we lost a crewmember, and it’s been interesting.

Alzar has gotten another spellbook ready. The Dispels have worked, and this time, the book is another of Castanamir’s extra books. …

Life of Nature: Its Secrets

This spellbook, penned by Caligarde, includes: Fly, Web, Mount, Levitate, Slider Climb, Bind, Feather Fall and Caligarde’s Claw.


Most of those spells are chumps, but the rare Caligarde’s Claw is interesting. Level 4, Conjuration, Saving to negate. It summons a claw for 1 rnd/level and it can attack. It will attack that round, and ever round thereafter until the spell ends unless the save is failed. It does 1d4 damage per round, every round, but it can be blocked by magical barriers.

It’s an example of Evocation Bleed, to Alzar’s mind. It has a combat spell that has no use but to deal damage. It’s a crutch. He doesn’t want any of the other spells either.


They head back out to V40 and go east to V50. There is an island here, part of the chain that’s been here for a while, and they land at E10. No monsters, so they go inland. It’s all quiet. They return and head east again to V60. They land and run into a wyvern flying around and being a bother. It swoops down, Ray of Ondovir, fails its save and crashes, and killed. The tail, poison sacs and blood are taken.

XP 350 each

They arrive back at the village that they once visited so long ago. They haven’t been here for months and trade some goods for 50% more than their cost. They will purchase 4500 goods.

Sold 3000 goods for 4500.
Wyvern - stinger, poison sacs and blood are taken

They return to the vessel after a day in the village. They head north to V61, 62. There is an island to the east. V72. This is Pirate Rock. They land. E9. Quiet landing, so they head inland. E24. While digging up roots they find 27 gold in the ground, buried here. They return and head back to V62. A flock of stirges attack and a Wall of Fog forces them back to the sky and away.

North to V63, 64. This is an unnamed small tropical island, and not on any maps or charts. They land. E5. A quiet landing. As they explore, the flyers observe a small outpost on the west side of the island, and inside of some large hills and an extinct volcano. They wait and observe. After a bit, they realize that this is a small town built around the center of the slave trade. This hidden isle is the final stop on the slave train.

[Abe Sargent]

A3. Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords



http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1079/1442974506_632d4a964b.jpg



Okay, here is the 3rd of four modules where we kick slaver butt. Ready for fun?


The spells Alzar has – Charm., Sleep, Hypnotism, Detect Magic, Animate Dead Animals, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Ondovir, Empathic Control, Blastbones, Vampiric Touch, Searing Serpent, Skulltrap, Dispel Magic, Mordenkainen’sx2, Minor Globe of Invul –expecting magical combat like he has before.

[Abe Sargent]

The outpost appears to have walls around the town, and a small slum area outside of the walls. Megala finds four caves in a hill on the other side of the town. Since the town has no ground route to it, just water, perhaps an entrance can be found in the hills?

There are two ships here right now, so Alzar orders the Sea Ghost back about 8 hours via his teleport jar. The four caves that open up are briefly explored by Megala and Dryshik. One just ends about 50’ in, but the other three all meet up and continue on. Looks like regular traffic here as well. Could just be a monster lair, or it could be something more.

The entry caves are all winding and natural twisting deeper and deeper into a cliff side of a tall hill or low mountain. The corridor they merge into quickly enters a large square room, 50’ on a side and there is the smell of spoiled meet. This is a carved passage, and no longer a natural tunnel. There are two 10x2 long strips of hide with undersides scored and salt-like crystals on the grooves. There is a tunnel out. It curves a bit and then ends in a dimly seen door. They move towards the door and suddenly the ground falls out and Alzar lands on a great pile of salt and begins to slide rapidly down into the darkness. In one round, he lands and his staff is luckily nearby. The magic fungus in the walls of the slide has a magic aura that has slowed Alzar for a while. There are ten gnolls in the room, with crossbows aimed at Alzar, and they fire.

Alzar grabs a potion of speed and quaffs it. Instead of hasting him, it counteracts the slow spell. Their bolts miss. He shouts out to those above to slide down, but to sheath their weapons and sling their shield.

Alzar and the gnolls move towards each other. Alzar win init and casts Sleep. Two fall down. They circle him. He is hit twice for 12 damage. They win init and three hit for 13. Alzar Vamp Touches one for 13 and kills it. 7 left.

42/54

Estaish arrives. He is slowed. They win init and Alzar takes three hits and a crit hit for 19. His axe kils one for 18 damage.

23/54

Carum arrives. Alzar wins init. His axe does 15 and kills the leader. 5 down, 5 left. The only one to hit him crits, and he takes 10. His second axe kills another for 17 damage and Est manages a swing for 6 damage. 4 left.

13/54

Alzar wins init and attacks a non-injured one for 15 damage and death. 3 left. They fail a morale check and start running. Carum spears the injured one for 4 damage. Est is too slow to hit. Megala claws one for three damage and sleep. Dryshik Mist Balls another for 2 damage and blind for 3 rounds. Alzar runs after the last one and manages to hew her down. Aleigha falls down the salt chute. They kill the sleepers and blind ones.

The fighters are slowed for a half hour, so they pause, search, and try to find items of value. The gnolls had:

60 gp
Silver Amulet – 50 gp

XP- 100 each

After a half hour, Alzar is up to 17/54. They move out.

[Abe Sargent]

There are six exits, and while down, Megala and Dryhsik found the only one that goes anywhere (it was also the one the fleeing gnolls were going towards). The corridor bends three times but eventually makes its way to a rough hewn natural cavern of roughly octagonal shape. The area is lit by a luminous fungus. There are a large number of stalactites and stalagmites in the room. Directly opposite the entry is a door. Alzar and group move in. In a few seconds, a Piercer falls from the ceiling but misses Alzar.

http://www.headinjurytheater.com/dnd%20piercer%201.jpg

He orders everyone back and stays out there for a while, as Piercers miss him. About 20 have dropped over a ten minute span. He checked the door and its false, and there is a tunnel to the south concealed by a boulder. Once the piercers stop falling, they head down the corridor to the next room.

In the next room are three large dog-like creatures and five gnolls with buckets of bloody meat. They see Alzar enter and throw the meat at him. The hyenadons charge, wanting their food. The gnolls draw bows. Alzar uses the round to conjure his shield-maidens and grab his axe.

Battle begins. Alzar wins init and hacks at a hyenadon for 19 damage and it took a big hit. They charge him and all miss, and 5 arrows clank in. The fighters emerge on the wounded hyenadon. Est and Aleigha both hit for 13 damage total. It’s still rocking, but definitely wounded. Megala flies to the back and tries to scratch a gnoll archer. It misses. The next round, Alzar wins init and he thinks an uninjured hyenadon for 14 damage. Est hits the badly injured one for 5 and it dies. Carum spears the one Alzar hit for 7 damage. Megala misses. Shield-Maidens Hits once for 3 on the injured hyenadon. Alzar begins to back up a bit. The hyenadons miss. The gnolls are quite accurate. One spears Megala for 6 and Alzar orders it to withdraw. They continue to aim at Alzar, and another hits him for 2. As he leaves, he hews the wounded hyenadon for 16 and it dies. Two of the gnolls grab swords and enter melee. One gnoll hits Aleigha for 6. Carum hits the last hyenadon for 7, Est adds 10 and Alzar’s axe cuts it from the second rank for 13. Alzar kills a gnoll for 13, Est kills the hyenadon for 7 and Carum hits the other gnoll for 9 and kills it. The other three fire arrows and miss, drop them draw swords, and move in. They win init. A gnoll hits Carum for 7. Another’s sword ricochet’s off Estaish’s armor. Only Aleigha manages to hit a gnoll, for 6. The gnolls win init again. They miss. Aleigha kills hers. Est adds 8 to another. Carum kills it, and Alzar moves forward and hacks the other to death.


17/54


51/58 – Carum
45/45 - Estaish
35/41 – Aleigha

XP – 300 each

They search and find a Ring. Alzar is back to 19/54.

[Abe Sargent]

They open a door and head down a super long passage that twists and turns in many areas. In three places Alzar ordered people to stop and search, but nothing. They arrive in a 30’ wide, roughly 70’ long, room. Stone steps descend into a pool of white bubbling goo, and emerge from the mock at the other end A 1’ wide stone bridge arches above the pool and crosses all the way to the other side. Bisecting the room exactly halfway across is a 5’ thick wall of transparent crackling blue fire and leaps from wall to wall and from ceiling to goo. The air smells of static and electricity.

Alzar’s staff enters the goo, and nothing. He picks up some on the end of his staff and it has no smell. The goo is about 10 feet deep. He cannot detect any toxins in it. He walks down into it, and it does not damage him in any way. He can easily move through it, and moves to the other side. As he does so, he bumps into something roughly halfway, and reaches down. He grabs an object but can’t see it in the goo, and he walks the rest of the way across.

The object is invisible. It feels like a weapon. He finds the hilt and draws it out of the sheath, the sheath can be seen. The sword is still invisible. He sheathes it, and everything goes invisible, including himself and his items. He draws it out again and he can be seen. He puts it on, sheathes it, and turns invisible. Now that’s a handy weapon. He’s never heard of it before, but he loves it. He draws the sword to reveal himself and then shouts over directions to move through the goo. They find they can breathe it easily, but it is tough going, and they have to stop a few times or overexert themselves. Looks like Alzar’s Ring of Free Action helped him get across quickly. They arrive and the goo on Alzar is starting to harden and it’s making him slower. They wait until the goo has dried enough to take off. It takes 70 minutes for them to cross, and then their goo to dry and peel off.


Alzar is at 26/54

They move down another long and twisted corridor and search twice more along the way. They open a door and arrive in a room with no visible exit, and a rope hanging from the ceiling. A search finds nothing, so Alzar orders another. Nothing. Hmm. One more? Nothing. Hmm. This is very suspicious, and Alzar does not want to pull the rope, he doesn’t trust it. He ties another rope to it and orders everyone out of what is obviously a trap. He grabs the lengthened rope and backs out into the hallway, and pulls it. The floor pulls back and reveals a pool of clear liquid below. A secret door cleverly concealed in the far wall opens. A copper piece tossed into the liquid ten feet below starts to bubble and that’s a clear sign of acid. Alzar pulls out the broom of flying. He hands one to Estaish and the two of them cross, he takes Est and flies back, hands one to Aleigha and flies over, etc, until Carum is over and they put away the Brooms

31/54

They arrive in a 40’ square room with no visible door. There is a man-sized statue of a cigar shaped beast with 6 tentacles and a huge maw in its body. Alzar orders everybody to stop for a second.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/alumni_roper1st.jpg

He racks his brain, but cannot recall a stone version of the classic cave monster, the Roper. He steps in, and sure enough, it animates and attacks. It wings all six tentacles at Alzar very fast, and they miss. He charges in with axe, and the fighters are behind him.

Alzar wins init and his axe carves the storoper for 13 damage. It fires three tentacles at Alzar and one each at the other three. Alzar takes 2 damage and is immune to its charm ability. He loses a strength temporarily, but the Gauntlets cover for it. One hits Aleigha and she is charmed. Carum and Est both miss

29/54

Alzar wins init and hacks away for a miss (rolled a 2). Carum hits for 4. Aleigha attacks and misses. It hits Alzar twice for 8 damage. His back axe attack hits for 19. It dies.

21/54

XP – 500 each


Aleigha just starts ambling about. They have to wait it out. Forty minutes in, after two searches of the room, and sitting around for 20 minutes, Alzar is bored and carves up the storoper for fun, and finds:

15 pp
5 garnets worth 100 each

It takes 2 hours for the effect to wear off.

Alzar is at 33/54.

[Abe Sargent]

They head up into more convoluted passages into which Alzar three times more orders searches. 37/54

They arrive at a door. It is an old door. Alzar uses his Ear Ring and hears nothing beyond it. They open it, and there is a small empty room beyond. There are wooden walls with knotty pines – old, heavy and full of knots. There is a wooden door on the other side. As always, Alzar is quite suspicious when someone tries to change the walls and floor into something completely different.

Alzar’s Ear Ring on the door reveals nothing, and no one else is in the room, and per usual. He raps on the door with his and nothing. He tries to open it, but it will need a big push, and will not just open on its own. Alzar is done with this. He walks out, grabs an oil flask, spreads it all over the wooden walls and door, and sets it on fire, and then they back up about 60 feet from the room and let it burn for 30 minutes. After the room is torched, they move forward and see spikes in the walls. Behind the now destroyed wooded door was a metal one, and if the wooden door was pushed back, it would pass a trigger that likely sent out many spikes in the room and behind the door Now that the switch is revealed, it is a simple matter to skip it and open the real door and leave. 40/57

After a bit ,the corridor ends at another door. Alzar’s Ear Ring detects the sound of weapons scraping, and whispers. They know someone is coming towards them, and they are readying an ambush. The door is locked. Alzar grabs his gauntlets and tries to pick it. He fails. He trades back and grabs a flask of acid and destroys the lock. He tells everybody to get ready. Est and Carum have their missile weapons ready to attack someone long range, Alzar will move it and cast spells as needed, and Aleigha will move in to support him if needed. Megala and Dryshik fly up, out of range of anything major that may come their way, and then launch Mist Balls or fly in for attacks if needed.

Before moving in, Alzar casts his other Shield-Maidens spell. They open the door and jump in.

This is a huge throne room more than 100’ long and wide, and very tall ,with four rows of pillars flanking a center area that s open. There is an ankylosaurus in front of them, and at the far end a large throne with a huge, emaciated gnoll-like figure whose eyes glow amber and a 7’ long flail in one hand. To the right of the throne are 6 gnolls, and to the left are 6 ghouls. To the side behind pillars are gnoll archers. Alzar orders the archers to fire at the gnoll archers. He tries to control the ghouls, but they aren’t there at all. The ankylosaurus is charging. The giant figure is casting a spell. Alzar releases Dispel Magic, because those ghouls are not-there, and hopes to reveal their real form.

Arrows fly out and miss Alzar from the gnoll archers. A fear spell is cast by the giant gnoll-ish creature on the throne. Aleigha is scared and runs. Everybody else made their saves. The Ankylosaurus misses Alzar. Carum’s magic sling wings a stone into a gnoll to the left pillar for 4 damage. Est nails one to the right for 6. Alzar’s Dispel Magic flings forth at the ghouls.

Result:

The ghouls disappear, they were an illusion
The six gnolls on the other side of the throne disappear, they were also an illusion.
The giant gnoll is actually just a frumpy looking human mage.

Dryshik Mist Balls the human and it hits a glass wall in front of him and disperses.

The next round arrives. Alzar orders Carum and Estaish to melee the dinosaur while he spends a round running to the illusionist. Est and Carum both hit for 14 damage between them. Dryshik and Megala flies around for one on each side. Alzar’s axe is out and he spends the round running towards the mage. The illusionist casts Hold Person on just Alzar, and it fails (Ring of Free Action). Est takes 5 from an arrow and Carum 1. The dinosaur misses.

40/45 – Estaish
50/58 – Carum

They win init. Arrows fly at the fighters and all miss the high ACs. They roll 7, 10, 14, 14, and 16, and with a THAC0 of 19, they all miss an AC of -2. The dino misses too. The illusionist, now next to Alzar, casts Blindness on him. Alzar just makes his save. An axe bites into the mage for 17 damage. The maidens add 2, with one barely hitting his AC of 0. A Mist Ball flies in and he fails his save, takes 4 damage and is himself blinded for 1 round. The fighters miss the dinosaur.

Alzar wins init and axes for 14 damage and the mage dies. Est hits the dinosaur for 7 damage. Carum adds 8 and kills it. The five gnoll archers Hit Carum for 12 damage (rolled 2d6 on two hits). Then they drop bows and draw long swords.

38/58 – Carum

Alzar’s Hypnotism puts 3 of them down and the other two run back towards the door, but Aleigha is there and blocks it and cuts one down for 10 damage. The other drops his weapons, Alzar casts Charm, he makes his save, and they tie him up and gag him by wrapping his mouth closed and tying it off.

They search and find:

A secret door in the far corner, locked
A key in the throne secret panel
Bracers on the Mage – Alzar cannot identify them
A Dagger


The dinosaur was actually a rust monster in illusion.

XP – 424 each

[Abe Sargent]

The key clicks into the secret door, and they enter a tunnel that goes for a long time before it emerges and leaves these caves behind. They have arrived from the back side of a hill near the slums by the gate to enter this outpost – Suderham.

In the slums, they see a group of wealthy people in silken robes making their way from the docks to the gate. After a quick ambush, they have been killed and they find papers and some gold on them. They are killed and the bodies concealed in the tunnels.


500 gold.
Slaver papers
Rich robes, worn over armor.

They walk up the gate and are challenged by the guards. Alzar presents his papers and they are let in. It’s mid morning. They find a beggar who gives them directions. The city is divided into four quarters – wealthy, military, thieves, and official. There is a money changer here and all money spent must be changed there into the local coin. Alzar moves to this changer. The fee is 15% flat. He’s already used his Charm Person spell today, so they swap the 500 gold from the slavers into 425 of local gold pieces. They start wandering. They pass taverns, a flophouse, few whorehouses, an armory, a gambling hall, an inn, another tavern, blacksmith, alchemist, scribe, Cartwright, tavern that caters to magic users, lumber and tools and nails, a maps and charts store, granary and mill, a deserted fighters’ guild, a temple to Mahte, food store, warehouses of various types, stables, a large number of open air slave cells with more than 200 slaves, several barracks and officers quarters, an armory, a wizards’ guild, houses, jeweler’s shop, another blacksmith, slave auction arena, slave lords’ stronghold, cobblers, tailors, another whorehouse, another tavern, houses, and that’s it, a cull circuit of the outpost in a bit.

Alzar heads to a inn, and chooses the Inn of the White Knight. There are a lot of taverns and whorehouses, but few inns to choose from. They arrive and buy an expensive room for the night, and the bartender takes their money and gives them a key. Alzar leaves the fighters and heads to the wizard’s guild. There are communal research facilities, dorm and library, plus communal dining and lounging. In order to enter, you get scanned four different ways to prove you have no intent to steal, kill or otherwise to harm a mage inside. Alzar is forced to take off his Amulet that prevents such things, and must keep it off while he is in the guild.

[Abe Sargent]

There are five other magi in residence and some aren’t here right now. Alzar meets those that are, and gets down to brass tacks. Spell trading – one of the most common things mages engage in. These mages are all evil, so they spells they want and have reflect that. Only two are interested, the rest of busy. Alzar looks at the two spells available.

One is a third level mage with few spells. There is nothing he has that Alzar wants. He thanks him for his time, and moves to the female sorceress, an Earth Elementalist. Alzar looks over her spells, and their descriptions. He casts Read Magic from his Ring. And she from her memory and they review each other’s spells available.

Spells Traded to Her: Caligarde’s Claw, Fools’ Gold, Transmute Bone to Steel, Curse Tablet, Conjure Spell Component

Those Acquired from Her: Conjure Earth Elemental, Transmute Rock to Mud, Stone to Flesh

He tries to see if anyone here has any items that might be for trade or sale. (Remember he has a high Charisma normally and a 18 with those LE ones in here). Yes, but just a few.

+1 dagger
Potion of Sweet Water
Jar of Preserving

Anything placed in the jar enters a state of suspended animation, and like a Bag of Holding, it’s bigger on the inside, but only by about 5 times, so it can hold about 10 cubic feet of material. It doesn’t have too much value, but Alzar would like it certainly. After some negotiation, it’s his for 3000 gold.

-3000 gold
+Jar of Preserving

[Abe Sargent]

The day is almost done, and Alzar returns to the inn. It’s been a tiring day for everybody. They sleep well and quietly. The next day, they need to find out where the Slave Lords are hiding. Alzar stores spells in his Ring – Sleep, Read Magic plus Ray of Ondovir which it has had for a while. He and the fighters spend the day looking for something to get them to the next place, if there is one. Then he remembers the map store, and they head there. There are maps of the area, and Alzar asks to see them. He casts ESP, memorized especially for today’s search.

Are there other places not on the map? Maybe in the hills there are caves or tunnels? What about sewers? Underwater? How about a map for the whole island?

The sewers comment strikes, there are sewers underneath, and something of significance, but Alzar also notes the person is suspicious, but not too suspicious yet, so he thanks the man for his time, and they leave. They are looking for an entrance to sewers. Now, if I wanted to hide the entrance to the underground section, where would I put it?

There was an abandoned residence and an abandoned fighters’ guild they passed. It seems like an abandoned building would get you want you want. They scout out the two places, and then head back to the inn and wait the night out, regather the spells and healing the following day, and move out very early, before dawn. They start with the one easiest to do. The house is in a back area, and the guild is on the main street, so the house it is.

The door is unlocked and despite its abandoned statue, there is still a bunch of furniture here. They start searching and find a trap door under a rug in the study. They open it up and there is a ladder down to a tunnel that goes down and looks like part of the sewage system. Nicely done.

After a while, they arrive in a hexagonal room with another tunnel leading out the other side. In the middles is a giant humanoid figure, and Alzar can tell it is a flesh golem with metal plates attached to its flesh. That’s new. He hasn’t seen that before. They move in and it moves towards them. Alzar carves 14 damage into it. Est crits it for 7, and Ale adds 7. It swings at Alzar and misses. It wins init and Alzar takes 7. Alzar kills it.

47/54


XP – 500 each

[Abe Sargent]

They search and find a concealed door. They take it and suddenly a pit trap opens up, and Alzar falls, but there is a lot of sand down there. Meanwhile, the corridor opens uup and fires with fire. The Fire Resistant trio take 2 damage each.



56/58 – Carum
43/45 - Estaish
39/41 – Aleigha


Alzar climbs out and they keep moving. They arrive at a door and Alzar hears nothing behind it, so they enter. There are two doors across the room on the south and another to the east. There is a bulging wooden chest against the wall. Megala flies over to investigate and when it touches the chest, the floor ripples and Megala flies back up. That’s not a chest at all. Alzar tosses a flaming oil flask onto the chest and it explodes and deal 2d6 to the mimic.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/alumni_AASL.jpg

It took 6. The floor, chest and door contract and start moving to attack. Alzar moves in front. Alzar’s axe slashes 15. A bolt and stone fly in for 9. It attacks Alzar. It wins and hits Alzar for 9. Alzar does 13 back, Aleigha’s ruby blade adds 10 and it dies.

41/54

XP – 500 each

They find 300 gold, 4 topaz gems 750 gp each, and a Ring under it.

[Abe Sargent]

A search of the room finds nothing and they leave through the other door. They walk down a corridor and it starts getting really hot, but the three are not affected, yet Alzar is at -1 to hit and defense so he adds his Ring of Fire Resistance for the Ring of Sustenance. Now he’s fine too. They keep walking and suddenly two doors open and out come two hell hounds, who attack Alzar.

One tries to bite Alzar, and then other breathes on him – both miss. His axe does not, and 15 damage is dealt to the first one. A stone lances into it for 5 damage from Carum and Aleigha hits for 5. It dies. The hound wins init and breathes on Alzar and he takes no damage. They move and between two hits from Alzar ,kill the hound.

XP – 325 each

They find nothing on a search. The hell hounds are wearing collars with spikes and fire opals on them. As Alzar grabs one, he is pricked a bit by a sharp spike and makes asave vs poison. He looks and sees they put a plant based venom on here that does 20 extra damage when it works. Clever. He gets the six fire opals out.

Fire Opal – 750gpx6

They walk down the corridor all nice, when suddenly a huge crossbow bolt three feet long flies down and misses Alzar. They hear footsteps and a door slam, and that’s not a trap. Megala flies ahead and the corridor bends and hits a door. They follow and an Ear Ring tells nothing. They enter a room with two doors, search, and find nothing. They take the one of the right, and as they do, they arrive at another door. It opens and they move down the corridor and another bolt is launched from up ahead. Alzar take 7.

36/54

They follow this tunnel until it ends at a room with pots of glowing coals and carvings in the walls. In a lacquered scalemail, a Taurian hefting a large axe moves in. Alzar wins init and axes him for 18. Everybody else misses. The minotaur drops his axe. Alzar uses the fumble next turn to Vamp Touch the bullman. It takes 10. Est and Ale miss again but Carum hits for 89 damage. It swings and misses Alzar. Alzar wins init and puts the Taurian out of its mercy.

46/54

50 pp

XP – 350 each

They move on after a search and find three doors, forward, left and right. A random roll says right. They see a door on the right and go to open it, but a crossbow bolt trap is triggered by a pressure sensitive plate, and it misses Alzar by just a little bit. They investigate the plate and can avoid all of the crossbow traps in her the rest of the way by simply stepping over the trigger method. They find a small treasure room with:

400 ep
Aquamarine gems – 250 gpx3
Pouch of Dust of Disappearance
Several skulls (taken for Skulltrap)

[Abe Sargent]

They arrive at another chamber with foul and sticky air, and a thick, translucent slime that covers the floor and far side of the passage. Megala and Dryshik fly ahead, and they see nothing in the small room or anything on the other side. Alzar uses his staff to check the slime, but nothing. He steps forward and the floor slips into a ramp and he falls towards a Gelatinous Cube but he activates his Belt and flies above. He drops oil and ignites it for 12 damage to the Cube. It creates a pseudopod and tries to hit him and misses. He swoops down and carves it for 15 damage and it dies. Another Cube rounds the bend and moves into the room. A throwing dagger deals deals 12. It falls into the pit the other was in. Another +2 dagger follows and it takes 11. It swings with a pseudopod at Alzar and final +1 dagger for 11 kills it. Alzar tosses the Rope of Climbing to the fighters and they move it across while he flies down and searches and picks up:

Longsword +3
A Dusty Rose-Colored Crystal Prism
+2 Chainmail
70 gp

Alzar swaps the +2 longsword Estaish has for the +3 one he just found.

XP – 325 each


They move on and arrive at a huge natural cavern, with a great black scummy looking pond that fills up most of the cavern. There are stalactites of significant size, spongy turf, iridescent fungi, and more. There is another shore on the other side with a tunnel in it. There is a path to the right, and they move towards it. As they do, a huge hear of vegetation moves up and moves towards them. This Shambling Mound is alive.


http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/art_preview/20080508_114854_0.jpg

Alzar moves forward and tries to axe it. They win init and Alzar does 9 damage to it (weapons deal half damage). It misses Alzar twice, and then the fighters move in. They all miss it’s great AC of 0. Alzar wins init and deals 8. Carum and Ale add 5 total between them It hits Alzar twice for 13.Alzar slashes at it for 9 more damage. They win init and Alzar misses. Est crits it with his new sword and deals 5. Carum and Ale both hit for 7 total. The mound dies.

39/54

XP – 1500 each

They find a potion, gauntlets and a bastard sword.

[Abe Sargent]

They move out. There is a long corridor that ends after about 100 yards. Alzar’s Ear Ring reveals that there is the sound of a few people talking about how to ambush the group when they enter the room. Then one of them says that they are listening to them right now, and silence is heard. Knowing battle will be next, Alzar casts Shield-Maidens, and tells everyone they plan. Alzar will lead in, and the others will be right behind him with sling, crossbow and sword. Megala and Dryshik are available for use. They open the door and move in.

This is a great room with large torches in wall sconces and nine large stone throne like chairs in a semi-circle. There are people on each of the odd numbered ones. They have many glittering and valuable looking items. There is a staircase to the left going up. Suddenly, a Wall of Stone appears behind the group and cuts off access that way. The middle one is a fighter looking pirate, the others look like a cleric, wizard, thief and another fighter.

There is already a Protection from Good 10’ radius in play, cast before they arrived, but it will do nothing against Alzar and his party. Here is what everyone wants to do.

Round One:

Dryshik wants to Mist Ball the mage
Megala wants to fly in and follow Dryshik on the mage
Estaish wants to fire at the mage
Carum wants to sling at the mage
Aleigha wants to move off to the right and then charge forward and close to the fighter on the left.
Alzar wants to throw a Skulltrap at the thief in the third chair, because it should get the mage, theif and fighter/pirate guy
The thief wants to drink a pot of invis and disappear
Pirate – throw in a throwing axe at Alzar
Mage – cast Slow on the party
Cleric – cast Flamestrike at Alzar
Fighter on end – Throw daggers at Alzar

We roll init. Alzar’s party rolls a 2, and them a 8. The mage is en-Mistballed. He takes 2 damage and is blinded for 1 round. Megala swings in and crits for 4 damage and then swings back out. The mage made his save. Est misses and grabs his sword. Carum misses and grabs his spear. Aleigha has moved up to near them on their right. Skulltrap goes off for 27 damage or a save vs half. The pirate takes 13, the thief takes a face of 27. The mage made his save and takes 13. The mage instead runs behind his chair. The pirate and fighter miss. The thief is gone. The cleric casts Flamestrike. Due to his ring still on Alzar will take 15, or save to 8. He makes the save and takes 8.

32/54 – Alzar

Alzar wants to Ray of Enfeeblement the burly looking fighter in the middle.
Megala wants to claw a blinded mage
Estaish wants to charge and attack the fighter on the end
Aleigha wants to swing and hit he fighter on the end
Carum wants to charge and hit the mage hiding.
Dryshik will hover.
The fighter wants to fire a crossbow at Alzar
The fighter on the end wants to engage Aleigha with a dagger in each hand.
The mage wants to hide out being blind
The cleric wants to use Word of Recall from his Ring of Spell Storing
The thief wants to sneak around and backstab Carum

They win 1 to 7. Alzar is critically hit by a bolt for 8 damage. Aleigha is hit once for 4 damage. The cleric is gone. Megala flies down and hits for 2 damage and the wizard rolled an 8 and…makes its save (he needs an 8). Carum spears the mage and kills him, 7 damage. The fighter makes his save. Aleigha hits for 5 damage. Est misses by one.


24/54
35/41 – Aleigha

Alzar wants to grab his axe and charge the embattled fighter.
Carum wants to move over and entangle with the fighter/pirate
Estaish wants to attack the embattled fighter
Aleigha wants to do so as well
Dryshik wants to Mist Ball the pirate dude
Megala wants to hover
The thief wants to backstab Carum after positioning himself.
The fighter wants to grab his magic cutlass and attack Alzar or Carum.
The embattled fighter wants to attack Aleigha


Alzar wins init 6 to 8. He slashes at the fighter and misses. Carum misses too. The embattled fighter is hit by Estaish and Aleigha for 15 damage. The Mist Ball fails. The backstab fails with a mighty attack roll of 3. The fighter/pirate attacks Alzar and rolled an 8. _2 for weapon is a 10, +1 for AC is an 11, THAC0 of 11. +2 for strength – hits. Alzar takes 10.The embattled fighter hits Aleigha once for 3.

14/54 - Alzar
32/41 – Aleigha

Alzar wants to back off and let the fighters fight, and cast a spell as needed
Megala wants t fly down and hit the thief, Dryshik wants to gate in more mephits.
Carum wants to spear the fighter/pirate
Aleigha and Estaish want to engage their target
The thief wants to use another drag of invis pot
The two fighters want to attack

8 to 9, our group wins. Megala misses. Ale misses, Est crits for 10. Carum misses. Dryshik fails. Alzar backs up and summons a Searing Serpent to attack the big fighter. Aleigha is hit twice for 8 damage. The pirate rolls an 11 vs Carum’s -2. +4 is a hit. He takes 12.


24/41 - Aleigha
44/58 – Carum

They win init. Mist Ball at the pirate fails. Carum hits him for 7. He taken 20. Est nails the embattled fighter for 5. Ale misses. Alzar’s serpent rolls a 13, attacks with his THAC0 which is a 14, the fighter has a -1 AC so nope. Alzar orders his maidens forward to attack him and loses the protection. Megala nips in and hits the embattled fighter for 3 damage and kills him. Alzar backs up towards the embattled fighter putting space between him and the thief, and grabs the short sword, and sheathes and unsheathes it and disappears. The thief moves behind Carum. The fighter misses Carum

They win init. Carum is backstabbed for 14 damage. He fails a save and takes an additional 20. 34 damage total. The fighter misses him. Carum backs up and away from that fight. Est and Aleigha move in. Alzar swings at the now visible thief and gets +4 for ambush. 17 damage dealt. The fighter misses again.

10/58 Carum

Alzar wins init and axes the thief for 16. Carums sling misses. Aleigha his the fighter for 7 and Est missed. The fighter misses. The thief disappears. Alzar concentrates and senses where the fight is and takes his second swing of the round at -4 to hit him. He fails and drops his axe.

The fighter pokes Estaish for 13 damage, Alzar is backstabbed for 11 damage and he makes his save vs poison. Aleigha hits the fighter for 7 more damage Alzar nails the thief for 18 damage. Megala misses. The fighter attacks a second time and misses.

30/45 - Estaish
13/54 – Alzar

Alzar wins init and hews into the thief for 13 damage. Carum wings in a sling stone for 5. Megala misses . The fighters miss The thief attacks Alzar and hits for 5.The pirate dude misses. Alzar rolls a 5+3 for STR, +2 for his AC, +3 for mastery+1 for axe is 14, my THAC0 exactly. He dies.

8/54 - Alzar

Carum misses and drops his sling. Everybody misses. A Ray of Ondovir lances at the enemy pirate/fighter and he fails his save and next round will do exactly what he does this one. He misses. He hits Aleigha for 5

19/41


Next round, he misses. Carum wings in a stone for 5 damage. Alzar cats Ray of Ondovir from his ring. Another failure. Aleigha hits for 9, Est misses.

Carum wings in a stone for 4 damage. Ale hits for 7. Est misses Alzar throws a dagger in for 12.

The fighter swings and hits Est for 7 damage. Est hits for 9. Alzar nails him with another dagger for 9.

23/45


The fighters miss, Another dagger hits for 9 more damage. He misses. He swings and eviscerates Estaish for 9. The maidens hit one for 4. Neither they nor the serpent has hit in a while.

14/45

Alzar is out of daggers, and draws and sheathes the short sword and then moves behind the fighter. Ale hits for 9. The maidens miss the serpent misses Est misses. Carum manages to crack him for 6 damage and kills him ,finally.


Whew.

[Abe Sargent]

XP 2355 each

They search the bodies and find:

Cutlass
+2 chainmail
+2 shield
Longsword
Dagger
+1 leather armor
Dagger
Cloak of Protection +2
Staff
Crystal Ball with Clairaudience
Ring of Spell Storing with these spells – Wall of Force, Dispel Magic, Fireball, Slow, Shocking Grasp


They are recuperating from the battle, bandaging wounds and then they hear noises from above. The trap door is flung open and men-at-arms start coming down, they ready weapons and attack, and the Wall of Stone is cancelled and behind them are about 100 men at arms with two mages and a cleric. 50 more have poured down the stairs and are coming down.

They are surrounded and have no where to go. Alzar has a lot of things, but he has no Deus Ex Machina.

They are captured and stripped naked and given dirty loincloths to wear, and then knocked unconscious.


Used potion of Speed, charge on Belt of Flying

Magic Pile: Ring of Free Action, Gem of Seeing, Braces of Defense AC4, +2 dagger. Ring of Warmth. +2 battle axe, can only be used by those str 16 or higher. +1 AC and Save Ioun Stone. +2 Bastard Sword, Potion of Extra-Healing, Gauntlets of Proficiency. +2 Cutlass, +1 longsword, +1 daggerx2, Staff of Power (3 charges)

Sword of Lyons - +1 short sword.

[Abe Sargent]

A4. In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3218/3063030217_faf83c7db7.jpg?v=0

Ah, the final chapter, with it’s heavy handed – you-must-get-captured-at-the-end-of-A3-no-matter-what-ness. Anyway, here we go, let’s end this with a bang.

[Abe Sargent]

While we have some downtime, in my own world, Thorasia, these are the humanoid creatures you might encounter. There are no elves, dwarfs, goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, gnomes, drow, ogres, trolls, minotaurs, lizard men, hobbits/halflings, gnolls, mermen, bugbears, flinds, ogrillions, or any other of the thousands of intelligent humanoids added to the game over the years. Just these. They do not include magical humanoids like fairies, vampires, and such, just races of basic intelligent humanoids. Many of these are modified races from mythology, but not all.



Taurians – These tall bullmen are 6-7 feet tall, weigh around 300 lbs, and have the head, horns, and feet of bulls. They were raiders to the extreme, and around 150 years ago their society was at its apex with successful raids as far as Chance. On their island nation of Hithtris, Taurians attacked any sea vessel, village, city or fortress they wanted and they were almost always successful. Their wealth came, not by hunting or fishing or growing, but by plunder. Pushed to the point of breaking, many cities, nations and merchants combined to fund a navy to arrive at, and break the Taurian might. It was successful, but many of the Taurians fled to an unnamed island in the south and tried to reestablish their power. Within 50 years, they became a nuisance, and the governments, determined to stamp out the Taurian might once and for all, sent in an even large fleet to eradicate the Taurian presence. If there was one thing a Taurian would not stand, it was slavery, so despite their raving of the coasts and seas, they also stamped out slavery. In the 100 years since, slavery has become problem again with the southern isles outside the jurisdiction of the nations being used as trading posts. Today, the remaining Taurians are either sympathizers to the old ways, and allied with bandits, pirates, or even slaver; or they are people who have moved on and joined the rest of society on the east coast There was always a contingent of Taurians that was not aligned with the raiding and pillaging, and they have now become the dominant numbers. They average 70-80 years of life if not in a violent occupation.

Guzaks – About 4 feet tall, slender and lithe, with catlike look, and a calico coloration. The guzaks typically have a subsistence lifestyle, with camps, hunters, and fishers. In some places they have become more civilized and can be found farming and shepherding with cheese and wine of particularly delightful tastes. The more subsistence ones can be both welcoming of others or suspicious of others, it just depends on the tribe. Rarely will humanoids get attacked by guzaks, unless they have turned feral. Due to their catlike nature, guzaks have an affinity for all feline creatures, and often train and use various cats as steeds and pets and hunters. It is not unusual for guzaks to have panthers, tigers, lions or even a sabretooth as their main hunters and guards. They average 30-50 years of life if not in a violent occupation, and depending on whether they are settled or not.

Sis’sharr – These lizard-like humanoids inhabit the more hospitable desert on Thorasia. With a matriarchal society, males are looked down upon. Because of these, they are used as traders and diplomats to nearby areas, and thus most encounter males, not females. They have born or tan colorations and stand about the same height as humans, but are lithe, and compact with muscle. The sis’sharr are able to go without food or water or sleep for some time as a part of their desert life. They have transparent membranes that cover their lizard-like eyes, and protect them from the light, sandstorms, from dying out, and from gaze attacks of medusa and basilisks that roam around their home. They wear clothes of fiber, woven together, and are semi-nomadic, with regular trips to oases and temples at various times of the year, and a three month stay at a cliff side laden with caves that they use as a hatchery for three months. They can claw and bite in combat, but prefer to use scimitars or other weapons, and shields, with their thick hide giving them a good protection against weapons. They can expect to live 30-50 years in the desert.

Qwith – This creatures are only a few inches shorter than humans, but are significantly lighter. Their lithe and slender bodies betray a sylvan quality that can be seen in their faces. Their eyes are decidedly faerie and their skin has a bit of a green tinge to in, and looks a bit like human skin that is sickly. Their fingers are much longer and more flexible than humans and their middle three fingers each have an extra joint. They keep to themselves in only certain forests and woods. Not every forest has qwith. While they will associate occasionally with other races, they generally prefer not to. They look down on other races as not advanced or sophisticated. There is one exception to these – the Svartálfar. The Svartálfar, in those places where they live close to qwith, are very friendly with each other. They average 200 years of life if not in a violent occupation.

Dvergr – The Dvergr are a race of creatures that largely live underground, but they can live in hills, mountains, or even plains, just with caves and such leading down. There are not many dvergr around. They are long lived, aging very little and can expect to see 400 years before dying. However, they bear young infrequently. Dvergr are about human height, with a hairless body and tough, grey, wrinkled skin and red eyes with a black pupil in the middle and no irises at all. They do not have a nose, just nostrils that end at their face with a small membrane covering them. They are gifted crafters of magic items, and their goods are known far and wide. They regularly send trade caravans to trade mushrooms, magic items, and cave lizard meat and skins for other goods that cannot be acquired in their underground homes. While it is certainly uncommon to see a dvergr, they are not so rare to be completely unseen. There are dvergr working in stores and with various goods and services.


Svartálfar – These are another underground race, and very rare. Some sages speculate there are less than 1000 left. They live in tribes of around 30-50, in out of the way places in small hill and mountain dwellings. They carve very beautiful and unique homes for themselves. They are roughly four feet tall, and of human dimensions, with a magical blue luster to their skin in certain lights, with a bit of shimmering in darkness. Their heads are typically bigger than a human’s, and that being the only part of them that is outside human dimensions except for height. They will happily associate with those around them, but if people start to get too curious, they will leave and create a new home somewhere else. Svartálfar are arguably among the most liked of the humanoid races, and most people will happily visit with and associate with them. They tend to expect to see 100-120 years on average.

Døkkálfar – Another underground race, these dark grey skinned humanoids tend to live in deep underground passages. Where the previous two races live underground and prefer contact with the above world, the Døkkálfar prefer to delve deep underground. They are usually thought of as an evil race, and are involved in many things such as slave trade. They are a powerful race, magically and in arms, and their society is ruled by a might makes right set of rules. They have innate magical abilities to certain spells, and those they have increase in power and experience. They can see 500 years easily outside of violence, but that violence can cut their life to 10% of that unless they are really good or really lucky. They typically associate with the darker elements above ground, and cannot function in full light, until they grow accustomed to it, which takes a hour usually.

Trow – The trow are a large number of sub-races grouped together for purposes of cataloging. There are many trow, from roving bands of raiders and bandits to individual wild berserker trow to city and high trow with good and evil in equal proportions and living in cities and villages. Ranging from between 5 feet to 8 and a half feet based on subrace, the trow are definitely many. They have a thick skin that varies between leather-like and a sturdy, hard yet flexible skin that is as tough as mail armor. Trow can form raiding parties and be bandits, or can just live as hunters and gatherers, or can farm and watch goats, and so forth. They can be found anywhere from sailors to mages, savages to scribes. There are many subraces of trow, and it would take too long to list them here. Based on subrace, they have a life expectancy of 40-90 years, assuming they are not killed early due to violence.

Tritons – This underwater humanoid race has white-blue skin, is a bit larger than humans in size, have webbed hands and feet. Underwater, they wear just the basic clothing required for modesty, but out of water, they typically wear gloves, shoes, and the normal range of clothing needed above. They live to 90-110 years. Tritons are usually found in schools of 20-100 and are semi-nomadic, moving throughout the seas, but with a few central homes built under the sea out of coral. They are traders of undersea goods for things like weapons and magic items. They will defend their homes mercilessly if endangered, but otherwise are peaceful outside of the hunt, when they will fight and kill undersea animals for food. They are often flighty. They can breathe in water and out, and will send people outside of water to talk with, trade with, and share stories with Those Above. It is rare to see Tritons too far away from water. They find freshwater uncomfortable. Tritons have a connection to the water, and once every hour or so they can part water, lower water, purify water and shape water. They only place underwater they do not claim as their home is the Sea of Hills.


Jengu – The other underwater humanoid, these people live in freshwater lakes and rivers. They are quiet and often keep to themselves. They have a dark brown skin and amber eyes, with long matted hair and a texture similar to sheep’s wool. Unlike the tritons, they are more friendly, and when they come out, they usually try to help other humanoids if possible. Their language is not very detailed, and they only have a basic idea of concepts. They can Cure Disease, Neutralize Poison, and Cure Serious Wounds with a touch to another. They often associate with snakes and alligators, and will have them as friends and pets. Normally hostile river reptiles will be peaceful in their presence. They live around 40-60 years. They prefer flight to fight, have no weapons, and attack with dazzling lights that deals 1d6 damage to creatures with eyes, if forced to fight. They eat a strictly vegetarian diet. They do not have any special physical adaptations for living underwater, beyond gills, and are about 4 and a half feet tall, with women and men of equal height. They do not care for brackish water at all, and cannot live long in sea water.


Abatwa – The tiny Abatwa are no taller than a blade of grass, and have life expectancies for just 10-14 years. They have a tribal society, and are known to use insects as steeds, such as beetles. The Abatwa have a ruddy, almost russet look to their skin and have angular bones and skin line. They are very sensitive about their size, and any comment that can be construed as mentioned their height or size will result in a hostile encounter. They fight with small poisoned javelins that cam kill a human adult due to their lethality. They have a hunter-gather society and often use holes in tree roots as houses.

Basajaun – These builders and farmers and hunters live in balmy forests and are quite strong, but not as bright as humans. The Basajuan is a hairy humanoid that stands around 7 feet tall. They were the allies and teachers of men in the old days, and now hide in forests away from humans, who have passed them by. They wield bows and staffs and other natural weapons with deadly force and hunt and farm as needed. They are known to stand by water and grab a fish like a bear. The Basajuan have their own language, and can live to be around 100 years. They have a fondness for humans and other friendly humanoids. They can get very angry and lose their temper and go berserk.

[Abe Sargent]

For a long unknown amount of time, Alzar has been imprisoned, with Dryshik and Megala here. They did not seek to let them run free, nor did they want to them either of them. It’s been a while in the darkness. Long enough for everyone to heal. Alzar’s spells have been drained by some sort of magic item that took away memorized spells. Suddenly, an event opens the monotony. There is an earthquake, minor, but very real. A few minutes later, a priest from the Temple of Elemental Evil arrives. He tells Alzar that the quake signifies huger from Elemental Earth, and Alzar and his friends are going to be the sacrifices. He is knocked unconscious again.

Alzar awakens in darkness. He hears others around him, and voices tell him that Aleigha, Estaish and Carum are with him. Except for a loincloth, no one is wearing anything. Everybody is at full health. There appear to be four exit tunnels, and one has a dim light down it.

Alzar bumps against something in the darkness. It’s a scroll tube with scrolls in it. He tucks it into his loincloth and they agree to move toward the light after a hand check of the floor. They find 12 smooth stones good for slinging, but nothing else. Carum will take the stones in his hands. They move down a dark tunnel and arrive at an ancient and feeble will-o-wisp. It starts to move away down the corridor, and Alzar orders them to follow. Carum feels something in the sand touch his feet. The will-o-wisp is hovering overhead. Suddenly, part of the sand moves together, and they are fighting a sandling.

With no weapons at their command, the quartet have to fight it with fists. It wins init and attacks Carum for 6. The quartet hit twice for 3 damage. It wins init and hits Carum for 7. Only Alzar hits back for 4 damage. They win init and hit three times for 9. It misses. It wins init and hits Aleigha for 5. The quartet kill it after dealing 6 more to it.

XP – 105 each

45/58 – Carum
36/41 – Aleigha

The wisp floats on down the hallway and they continue. They find the end of the tunnel and a search finds a human skull and a rusty dagger. Looks like it could break if they pushed too hard. The skull could be useful as a component for a Skulltrap later. Alzar hands it to Carum and he puts the stones in it. There is another tremor, stronger than the one before.

[Abe Sargent]

They head back to the beginning of the room and have to choose one of the three dark directions to stumble into. Random die says left. They find a place with some items – a human thigh bone and about two pounds of pine wood smashed. Nothing can be done with the wood, but the thigh is an effective enough club. Alzar will wield the club, Carum the dagger. They take the wood and add it to the skull backpack. They walk down more and a tunnel joins theirs. They continue on and near a place with clean sand and smooth stone. There is a vague glow ahead. They arrive at an opening with a greenish glow from it. It’s only about 4’ around, and thus will take some squeezing.

They enter and see a bunch of kobolds and a shrieker mushroom that glows and is now shrieking out a warning. Alzar convinces Aleigha to change, and she does after moving in. The kobolds ran when they saw Aleigha change.

She tears through the mushroom and ends the screaming. There are two corridors out and they take the left one. 8 kobolds are here and attack Aleigha but she barrels into them and starts killing with ease. Kobolds are flying and she easily kills most of them. Alzar and the fighters stand by the entrance to make sure none escape while she goes through the small lair and kills about 15 kobolds, but not a mother and some kids.

They search and find:

6 kobold size spears that are javelins for humans, with flint speartips
Fresh water to drop, and a few waterskins
2 bone knives
A flint knife
A skin of fish oil
Several slings
About 20 sling stones
A shield of bone and hide
A short sword

Alzar looks at the three scrolls in the scroll case, and here they are: Audible Glamer, Dancing Lights, Wall of Fog, Invisibility, Spider Climb, Dig, Feign Death, Affect Normal Fires, Light, Jump and Read Magic but the Read Magic is like a spell book page, not a scroll, so it can be memorized and used. He does, and a few minute later he casts Read Magic and can read the scrolls and now use them at any time. They aren’t a powerful selection of spells, so who knows if any of them will even get used or not.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar dips some torn clothes and hides from the kobolds around two of the spears and adds some fish oil. He then uses flint from the knife and steel on the rusty dagger, and makes torches (Note he has the Fire-Building proficiency). One is lit now, and the other will be lit when the first starts to die down.

They head back to that side tunnel, with light, and move on. Alzar has the javelins. Carum has a sling and bone knife. Estaish is rocking the short sword and shield. Aleigha is still with the thigh bone. They ripped various hide and such to make some straps like belts and sashes to hold things.

The tunnel forks. Left or right? Left. They find a small pit of tar, and use it to add to the current torch and beef up the other one. They keep walking and eventually arrive at an area with a bitter smell, scuttling and clicking. There s a chasm going far down. Over the chasm are a group of ants linked together. There are ants working at the wall and chewing it down. There are many other ants on the other side. Suddenly, there is another tremor, more powerful than before.

Alzar has no desire to mess with this. They head back and take the other fork. There are long taproots from a few plants piercing the ceiling on the tunnel. They continue on and the tunnel ends at a deep pool where several fair-sized fish are, normal fish too, not blind cave fish. As they near it, a giant crab runs out and attacks. It crits Alzar for 10.

44/54

The crab wins init. It snaps Alzar once for 4. Alzar back up and flings a javelin at it. It takes four. Carum’s sling stone hits for 4. Est drops his sword. Aleigha misses.

40/54 - Alzar

They win init. Another jav is thrown and deals 3. Carum crits it for 7. It dies.

XP – 100 each

[Abe Sargent]

There are two pieces of washed up wood and Alzar straps them to his back in case they need more wood for torches, or use as clubs. Carum, with Deep Diving, heads underwater . He can stay under water for a really long time with a high constitution and Deep Diving proficiency. There is an iridescent fungi down here that illuminates the area.

Carum emerges in a small lair and there is another crab here. He slings it and hits for 4 damage and it moves toward him. He grabs the dagger and swings. He misses. It misses him twice. It wins init and misses again. He crits it for 8 damage and kills it. There is nothing here, so he dives again.

As Carum is underwater, there is a tremendous tremor that tears the rock and he is spurred on.

After a search, he finds a place with breathable air above the water, gulps in some, and then keeps searching. Carum senses a current and ascends and finds the beach of the island. He has made it out. He dives back in and shows up. The dive can be completed by them in three steps – dive to the crab chamber, dive to the place where there is breathable air, and then dive again and emerge on the beach. They follow and make it out. The labyrinth was damaged severely.

The cave behind the party has collapsed a few moment after they emerge. The sea is frothing in several areas. On the island behind the party is a 30’ tall bluff, and parts of it are crumbling. A huge dark cloud has risen on the other side of the island, where the supposed “extinct” volcano lies. They move towards the outpost of Suderham quickly. As they do, they pass through a section of beach covered with wrack and wreckage from the waves heaving. They run into a green slime and Alzar manages to pull them back just in time, and they run around it. There is a giant snapper turtle and they move inland to avoid it, off the beach. They barely avoid being trampled by a herd of goats coming through.

[Abe Sargent]

They come across a party of 9 slavers trying to save themselves 2 guards, 2 hobgoblins, 2 orcs, a gnoll, and two human archers. Alzar orders an attack, they could use their armor and weapons.

A javelin flies in from Alzar for 5 damage on an archer. It dies Carum sling in a hit for two damage on the one in chainmail. Alzar tells Aleigha to change, and although she hates too, she agrees, and barrels in at the last moment and slashes and bites a guard for 7 damage. The enemy all try to stab at the werebear in their midst, and fail to do so.

A javelin lances in and pierces an orc for 5 damage and kills her. Aleigha hits their leader for another 8 and kills him. Carum changes targets to a guard and hits for 2 damage. Est arrives and misses. Without the ability to harm the werebear, they retreat, and Alzar lets them go. Carum puts on a suit of chainmail and a shield for an AC of 4. He can his sling and dagger, with which he is proficient. Since he has no spells, Alzar dons leather armor and adds a short sword. Estaish grabs a long sword and leather armor, with which he is proficient. Aleigha switches to a short sword from a bone club.

XP – 100 each

[Abe Sargent]

They head in. They arrive at the town but the towers have collapsed, the wall has been breached in several places, and the town looks to have allowed a lot of gases and fires in it. Not the place to go. They skirt the walls and head for the docks which are through and past the slums.

They find about 40 slaves attacking a group of slavers, and killing them. Several move to attack Alzar and company, but he tells them they are ex-slaves too, and just killed some slaves. With his high charisma, ……it turns out they buy it and let them pass.

They arrive at the docks area and find a dying mage, one of the slaver lords. They find two scrolls and a Monocle on him. Alzar identifies the Monocle as a Monocle of Read Magic, and he looks through it, and at the scrolls. One is a mage scroll with Sleep, Invisibility, Strength, Dispel Magic and Hold Person on it.

Tied up on the northwest side of the far end of one of the piers is the Water Dragon, a private galley of the slave lords. It is currently being immediately readied for leaving. At the end of the pier are an ogre and two guards. There are 14 men loading the boat, and many appear to men at arms and the others are likely the remaining slave lords.

Alzar feels a familiar feel to the left and orders the fighters to stay here. He moves back into the slums and then to the other side of the docks. Here there are a bunch of hobgoblins attacks and being attacked by 8 lacedons. Lacedons are marine ghouls. They have three attacks and paralyzation like normal.

Alzar controls them, and they all fall under his control. He moves them back in the water The hobgoblins are at first relieved, but they a large group of humans moves to attack the hobgoblins and steal their boat. The Lacedons move underwater, and then are ordered to shore, and Alzar moves them in front of him. They have 9 hp each.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar moves in with a group of 8 lacedons in front and the fighters and himself behind. There are six slave lords left.

http://www.toplessrobot.com/Slavers.jpg


Battle begins. They are moving down the pier, led by the Lacedons. Alzar wants to cast Sleep from a scroll on the guards. The two guards on the pier, and three men-at-arms drop. The lords and men at arms and ogre move towards each other. One of the slave lords tries to Silence Alzar. He makes the save. One of the lords leaps overboard. Carum lances a sling stone at the illusionist. It misses (cloak of displacement). A Mist Ball flies in at the illusionist. He fails his save and takes 4 damage and is blinded 2 turns. The lacedons arrive at the ogre.

They win init. The ogre hits a lacedon for 5 damage and its still alive. The men-at-arms have arrived and swing at the water ghouls. Three hit for 12 damage to one and 6 to the wounded one, and kill two lacedons. The Another silence spell flies at Alzar, this time from the cleric instead of the fighter/cleric looking one. Alzar easily makes his save. The illusionist drops to the ground behind the boat and cannot be seen. Two of the slave lords are moving to the pier to engage in battle. The fighter cleric tries to levitate Estaish. He fails his save and he is levitated 20 feet above the pier. Alzar spends the turn handing him four javelins. Carum hits the cleric for 2 damage. Aleigha moves forward. The lacedons attack. One hits the ogre three times for 9 damage and a paralyzed ogre. The rest are moved to the men-at-arms. The second one misses the third hits just one for 1 damage and a made save. The next crits the same one for 6 damage and kills him. 4 left. #5 misses, and #6 hits once for 1 damage and…a failed save, and that one is paralyzed. 3 men at arms left.

They go first. The fighter wades in and misses. Another fighter-ish guy moves in and attacks twice and hits once dealing 4 to a lacedon. Three of the men at arms manage to hit the AC2 of the lacedons and kill two more, the wounded one and a fresh one. 4 ghouls left. Aleigha is the subject of a command spell by the cleric, which works automatically, and she is told to jump, and does, leaping off the pier. The fighter/cleric chick moves in and can melee next round. The thief emerges from the water and tries to sneak behind Alzar. She has a 68% chance but rolled an 87, and is seen. She just attacks him normally for 5 damage. Estaish moves and javelins the thief and misses badly, fumbled, and hits Alzar for 4 damage. Aleigha is swimming this round. Carum misses. Alzar’s sword is out and he tries to slice the thief. He misses. The lacedons attack. The first hits a man at arms three times for 7 damage and a dead guy. 2 left. The next hits just once and the lacedon deals 3 and he fails the save. 1 left. #3 critted on the bite and does 8 damage and kills him. All men-at-arms have been paralyzed, enslept, or killed. The final lacedon moves to the fighter with the armor and the sword. Hit once for 3 damage. No failed save. Megala swing down and misses the fallen illusionist. Dryshik tries to summon more mephitis. Failure.

31/54 – Alzar

Alzar’s team wins. He slashes the thief for 4 damage. Est misses with a jav. Carum slings the cleric and misses. Aleigha is swimming back. The fighter takes 3 from a lacedon and fails his save and is paralyzed. The others are forced by Alzar to move on to the other fighter. He is hit 5 times for 12 but not paralyzed any of them – likely immune somehow. Megala misses. The immune fighter misses a lacedon once, and then misses on the second attack. The fighter/cleric kills the wounded lacedon. 3 left. The thief hits Alzar for 3 damage. The illusionist stands back up and casts Hypnotic pattern, but no one is affected. Alzar yells to Aleigha to change, and she arrives back and changes to a werebear at the end of the round.

28/54

They win init. One lacedon takes 6. The fighter swings and kills it. 2 lacedons left. The thief misses Alzar. The illusionist moves to the front of the boat with a nice view of everything. Their priest commands Carum to Dive. Est misses the thief. Aleigha charges her and this twice for 9 damage. Alzar backs away and moves targets. He casts Light on the priest’s eyes. He fails and is now blinded. Megala misses the cleric. A Mist Ball flies in on the illusionist. It fails again and takes 3 and is blinded for 2 rounds. The lacedon’s crit and hit once on the wounded fighter for 7 damage. 19 to him so far.

Alzar’s squad wins init. The lacedons attack again. They hit twice for 4 damage. 23 so far. Carum arrives from the swimming. Aleigha tears into the thief twice for 4 damage. Est switches targets to the wounded fighter and misses – his final weapon gone. Alzar moves in with sword in hand to engage the fighters. The blinded priest moves into the melee. The illusionist again falls. The thief tries to stab Aleigha and fails (not a magical weapon). The fighter misses twice with a 1 and 2. The fighter/cleric backs up and drops a Darkness spell at the end of the pier. The lacedons are fine, and Alzar has Blind-Fighting.

They win init. The fighter misses. The cleric manages to hit in darkness and blindness for 4 damage on a lacedon. The fighter/cleric steps into the darkness, and can see in it (it’s her own spell after all). She misses Alzar. The thief jumps into the water. Carum jumps in after her. Aleigha marches down the pier. The lacedons hit twice for 3 damage. 26 on the fighter. Alzar swings at the fighter and…misses. Megala manages to claw the illusionist for 3 damage and he makes his save vs sleep. Dryshik Mist balls him again for a made save. Unfortunate. Carum sees the thief, but she is going way too fast for him, so he alights on the pier.


They win init. The wounded lacedon is cleared away. The priest misses due to blindness. The fighter/cleric hits Alzar for 5 damage. The illusionist rises and sees only Carum outside of the darkness and Est floating. He casts fear. Carum makes the save. Est fails, but it doesn’t matter, he’s not going anywhere. The last lacedon hit for 4 damage and the fighter falls. Four left. Alzar misses. Aleigha hits the cleric once for 3 damage. Carum lances a sling stone at the wizard and…hits for 3 damage. Megala flies down and hits for 2 damage and…he made the save. The illusionist has taken 12.

23/54

They win init. The thief emerges behind Carum but Est is looking that way and shouts out, and Carum sees her. Her attack is a normal one. 4 damage to Carum. The cleric misses, the fighter/cleric fumbles her weapon. The illusionist casts a Wall of Fog in front of Carum. Carum turns and attacks the thief. He fumbles the dagger. Alzar smashes the fighter/cleric for 5 damage. Aleigha attacks the cleric. She misses. He lacedon hits twice on the cleric for 6 damage and the cleric makes his paralyzation roll just barely. Megala hits the illusionist for 3 damage and He makes the save again. 15 taken so far by the illusionist.

41/58 – Carum

They win init yet again. The lacedon is hit by the cleric for 4 damage and the fighter cleric for 6 more and dies. The thief crits Carum for 16 damage. The illusionist throws a dagger at Megala and misses. Alzar misses. Carum misses and drops his dagger. Alzar attacks a second time and crits the fighter/cleric for 11 damage. She dies. Megala swings down and slashes the illusionist for 1 damage and…he finally failed his save and is sleeping.


25/58 – Carum

They win init again. Carum takes 4 more. Aleigha takes 7 from the priest. Aleigha hits one time for 2 damage. Alzar slides over and misses. Megala flies over to help Carum. Carum stabs the thief for 2 damage.

21/58 - Carum
29/41 – Aleigha

Once again, they win initiative. The cleric fumbles his weapon. Carum takes 1 damage. Aleigha hits once for 1 damage. Alzar nails the cleric for 4 damage and swings again for a miss. Megala attacks the thief for 3 damage and a made save. Carum nails her for 4 more and she falls.

20/58

The priest wins still again. He smashes Aleigha for 5 damage. She hits once for 2 damage. Alzar misses. Carum will arrive next turn.

24/41

They finally win init. Aleigha misses. Alzar hits for 3. Carum crits for 6 damage. The priest misses. Alzar’s second attack hits for 4 damage and the priest dies.

Everybody dead.

[Abe Sargent]

XP – 2500 each

Items found on the corpses:

Bracers of Defense AC6
Footman’s Mace +2
50 pp
1000 gp diamond
Jeweled Idol of the Earth Elemental of Evil. 4000 gp
Ring of ???
Cloak of Displacement
+1 dagger
Deed to Mining Rights outside of Chonae worth roughly 1200
Brooches, 500 gp, x5
Spellbook
+2 Leather Armor
Gauntlets of Swimming and Climbing
Jeweled dagger – 900 gp
Earrings – 700 gp
Gold Brooch – 3000 gp
Platinum Ring with Fire Opal – 5000 gp
Gem-Studded Ceremonial Silver Dagger of the Earth Elemental of Evil. 1100 gp
Scroll of Drawings by a famous artist – 900 gp
Box of gems – moonstones, 50 gp, x21; jade, 100gpx10; pearl, 100x5; black pearl 500; tourmaline, 100; amethyst, 100 ; topaz, 500; emerald, 1000

A search of the ship finds all of their items. They were apparently to be sent and identified and sold off. Alzar has a problem that they wouldn’t even look at or take one of his spellbooks. He grabs the Bags of Holding, pulls out a Broom of Flying and Necklace of Adaptation and flies back to the town. Ugly yellow vapors from the volcano have embroiled it, and Alzar swings down, with his necklace and broom helping him.

There are magmen in the streets, playing havoc and enjoying themselves. Alzar dives to the mage’s guild, interested in seeing if anything there survived. If anyone or anything survived the gases and magmen, it would be there, and he could see if there is anything to pilfer.

This is obviously outside the script. The modules says there is gas, and that’s it. It doesn’t foresee that a character immune to the gases makes it in. What is still there? Let’s roll it. 25% chance that any part of the guild is still rocking. 62 rolled, so nope, it’s collapsed and melting from magmen. He flies around, sees nothing of interest, and swoops back to the Water Dragon, already setting sail away from the island. Alzar lands, and pulls out a teleport jar and sends a message to the captain of the Sea Ghost.

It takes a while to get back to him. About 6 hours. The captain is ecstatic to hear that Alzar is still alive. It’s been three months since they disappeared, and they sailed back to Tangaroa for a few days awaiting word, and eventually decided to start trading, and they’ve been sailing a trade route to and from the Isle of Dread and the main coast. They are five days away from the island, and immediately change direction to arrive. Alzar tells them they will be in the Water Dragon, a galley, off the northern coast, and they drop anchor and wait, while the island burns. Alzar makes a few trips over and the magmen set the whole island on fire. It burns itself out, and the island is dead. About ten or 15 boats and ships made it off, mostly fishermen. They sailed on, and only the Water Dragon is still here.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar spends the time checking everything thoroughly to verify that nothing is messed with.


Scroll - Audible Glamer, Dancing Lights, Wall of Fog, Invisibility, Spider Climb, Dig, Feign Death, Affect Normal Fires, Jump, Invisibility, Strength, Dispel Magic and Hold Person

Cleric Scroll of Cure serious Wounds, Cure Light Woundsx3


Lamonsten’s Spell Book:

1st Change Self, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Detect Illusion, Phantasmal Force, Chromatic Orb, Wall of Fog 2nd: Detect Invisibility, Invisibility, Hypnotic Pattern 3rd: Dispel Illusion, Fear, 4th: Improved Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer




Let’s tally the items and XP from part of Lathan’s Gold, and both Slaver modules

XP:


10334 for Aleigha
11368 for Estaish
11834 for Carum
14118 for Alzar

Alzar – 122,394 (Level 9 at 135k)
Estaish – 55,089 (Level 7 at 64k) – Now with 45 HP
Aleigha – 51,419 (Level 6) – Now has 41 HP.
Carum – 44,699 (Level 6) – Now has 58 HP.


They find 300 gold, 4 topaz gems 750 gp each
-1140 gold
Sold 3000 goods for 4500.
Wyvern - stinger, poison sacs and blood are taken
60 gp
Silver Amulet – 50 gp
15 pp
5 garnets worth 100 each
425 gp
-3000 gold
+Jar of Preserving
Fire Opal – 750gpx6
50 pp
400 ep
Aquamarine gems – 250 gpx3
Pouch of Dust of Disappearance
Longsword +3
A Dusty Rose-Colored Crystal Prism
+2 Chainmail
70 gp
+2 chainmail
+2 shield
Longsword
+1 leather armor
Cloak of Protection +2
Crystal Ball with Clairaudience
Ring of Spell Storing with these spells – Wall of Force, Dispel Magic, Fireball, Slow, Shocking Grasp
Bracers of Defense AC6
Footman’s Mace +2
50 pp
1000 gp diamond
Jeweled Idol of the Earth Elemental of Evil. 4000 gp
Ring of Command – 9 charges (Command 1 charge, Charm Person and Suggestion 2)
Cloak of Displacement
+1 dagger
Deed to Mining Rights outside of Chonae worth roughly 1200
Brooches, 500 gp, x5
Spellbook
+2 Leather Armor
Monocle of Read Magic
Gauntlets of Swimming and Climbing
Jeweled dagger – 900 gp
Earrings – 700 gp
Gold Brooch – 3000 gp
Platinum Ring with Fire Opal – 5000 gp
Gem-Studded Ceremonial Silver Dagger of the Earth Elemental of Evil. 1100 gp
Scroll of Drawings by a famous artist – 900 gp
Box of gems – moonstones, 50 gp, x21; jade, 100gpx10; pearl, 100x5; black pearl 500; tourmaline, 100; amethyst, 100 ; topaz, 500; emerald, 1000

Alzar swaps the +2 longsword Estaish has for the +3 one he just found.


Used potion of Speed, charge on Belt of Flying

Magic Pile: Ring of Free Action, Gem of Seeing, Bracers of Defense AC4, +2 dagger. Ring of Warmth. +2 battle axe, can only be used by those str 16 or higher. +1 AC and Save Ioun Stone. +2 Bastard Sword, Potion of Extra-Healing, Gauntlets of Proficiency. +2 Cutlass, +1 longsword, +1 daggerx2, Staff of Power (3 charges)

Sword of Lyons - +1 short sword. Invisible and gives invisibility.

Scrolls of :Audible Glamer, Dancing Lights, Wall of Fog, Invisibility, Spider Climb, Dig, Feign Death, Affect Normal Fires, Jump, Invisibility, Strength, Dispel Magic and Hold Person

Cleric Scroll of Cure serious Wounds, Cure Light Woundsx3


Lamonsten’s Spell Book:

1st Change Self, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Detect Illusion, Phantasmal Force, Chromatic Orb, Wall of Fog 2nd: Detect Invisibility, Invisibility, Hypnotic Pattern 3rd: Dispel Illusion, Fear, 4th: Improved Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer



He gives the 1630 gold that he made to the crew of the Sea Ghost. They were also making money off the trade route, and he lets them keep all profit.

The Gauntlets of Proficiency can be worn by anyone and give them complete proficiency in any weapon they could use. So Alzar, as a warrior, could use every weapon in the world by wearing these, with no penalty. A cleric could use any blunt weapon, a thief any thief weapon etc. The Monocle allows him to Read Magic through it whenever he wants, so he never needs to have the spell memorized or in a Ring. He can automatically read magical writings. The Gem of Seeing is quite powerful. When he looks through it, he can:

Detect Invisible
Detect Illusion
See all Ethereal and Astral things

It does not Detect Metal, Gems, Traps, Secret Doors, or Magic, or know alignment, read languages, etc. It takes a round or two to scour a room. It can be used in combat if Alzar gives up a round to use it.

Alzar is putting Detect Magic in the Ring of Spell Storing and pulling out Read Magic. He will stop memorizing Detect Magic and instead get another memorization of Sleep. For now, he will keep the spells in the new Ring of Spell Storing as is, but he intends to clear them out eventually and add good stuff back in.

Alzar now has a +2 battle axe, and will be wearing Bracers of Defense AC4, which gives him a base AC of 2 with the cloak. -2 when he holds his Axe and -2 if he has Shield-Maidens by him.

The staff of power is very powerful, but it has just three charges. Here is what it can do:

1 charge – Continual Light, Magic Missile, Lightning Bolt, Darkness 5’ Radius, Levitation, Ray of Enfeeblement, Cone of Cold, Fireball

2 charges – Shield 5’ Radius, Globe of Invulnerability, Paralyzation in a cone like the Wand.

When wielded, acts as a Ring of Protection +2 and +2 staff in combat.


After being picked up, Alzar wants to finish exploring the Sea of Dread, in case there are any other bases hidden they don’t know about. He doubts it, but wants to be sure, just in case.

[Abe Sargent]

XSOLO. Lathan’s Gold


They start in V64 and move north. V65, Quiet, V66. Quiet, V67, Quiet. V68. Quiet. V69, Quiet. Land E13. Nothing attacks us. Explore E28. This is a settled island with farmer and fishers and shepherds. All quiet. Back to the boats. East to V79. Quiet. East to V89. Quiet. South V88. Quiet. South V87 – quiet. We sail south to V81. One encounter. 5 sea snakes came close them left after getting Blastbones in their face.

North to 82, then East to V102 There’s a whirlpool to the east in V91 so we skipped it. There is a massive grey cloud to the north. We sail north to V103. This is a dense cloud of gases and dust coming from a mountain to the east. Alzar makes a save for poison. Two crew died. We head east to V113.

-2 crew.

We are just off the shore of Burning Mountain, and Alzar orders them to land. E7. There is a greeting party of 3 flame salamanders. Alzar throws in a Skulltrap and kills one and badly injures the other two and they run off.

XP – 750 for Alzar

E22 to explore the mountain. North, East South or West? North E34. A dark grey cloud boils forth from the mountain and the ground begins to shake. Alzar chooses to keep going. Alzar took no damage from the rocks falling. Alzar keeps climbing. They reach the peak and Alzar finds a hardened lump of gold splattered on a rock and now dried, worth 600 gold.

Alzar checks the east side. He finds another lump worth 900 gold. He circles to the south. Between a Ring of Fire Resistance and Necklace of Adaptation, the only thing he fears is falling and rocks from above. There is a river of lava that explodes out here and Alzar moves to the west side. Here is a thick blanket of smoke and poisonous gas. They leave


Hardened Lump of Gold, 600 gold, 900 gold

-1 day for Burning Mountain expeditions.

[Abe Sargent]

V114 – quiet. V115 – not quiet. A group of tritons arrive and they are looking to trade for some metal spearheads to replace some they lost recently. Alzar finds a few and trades them to the tritons for a:

pearl – 100 g

V116, Quiet, ,Island to the east. V126. Quiet. This is East Key. They land at E2. Quiet landing. Explore to E17. It’s all quiet here and they harvest 10 rations. Back to V116, quiet, V117quiet, 118, quiet, north to 119 and quiet. Dock at a village U1. All quiet. We recruit 12 crew for the Sea Ghost and Water Queen, and can now use both vessels. We purchase 50 rations for each vessel.

-200 gold

Back to 119 and then east to 129 south to 128, There is an island to the south. South to 127. This is the last island on the map – Fire Island, in the sea. They land and face no opposition, but hear the sounds of…drumming…

[Abe Sargent]

X8. Drums on Fire Mountain


http://www.amaristee.com/dndbooks/dnd/x8_drums.jpg


The captain tells Alzar that in the last few months, while he’s been out, there have been an increasing number of raids from Fire Island. Is it the slavers? Or something else?

The spells Alzar has – Charm, Sleepx2, Hypnotism, Animate Dead Animals, ESP, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Ondovir, Empathic Control, Blastbones, Vampiric Touch, Searing Serpent, Skulltrap, Dire Charm, Mordenkainen’sx2, Greater Malison

[Travis]

Sounds like Alzar is going to be able to get try out all of his offensive toys pretty soon. Here's hoping you have time to do some today, it's a nice break at work to read your stuff ;)

[Abe Sargent]

Glad I can give ya something to do!

[Abe Sargent]

They are at the anchorage of the ship; in a bay on the south side of the island. Sailing around saw a volcano, mountains and swamps and jungles in equal measure. They have berthed on the sand without issue. They enter the jungle and in about thirty minutes of walking, come across a circular clearing where the ground has been flattened. In the center is the stump of a huge tree. Alzar sends in Megala and it doesn’t see anything, nor does the Gem of Seeing reveals anything. He steps in and slowly but methodically moves towards the stump, and as he nears it, out pops a giant spider with peculiar markings on it and it tries to bite Alzar. It misses, and he hacks into it 16 damage. A crossbow bolt adds 6 more and Carum adds another 3 and it dies.

XP – 112 each

They search the stump and find a:

Necklace of Black Pearls – 2670


As they continue, Alzar makes out a large trail and causeway that connects one lower hill to a much large one. They charge their path to head to the smaller hill. As they move, a group of 3 white apes moves out. White apes are particularly aggressive, and they move it to attack. Alzar wins init and deals 19 to one. Est misses with his crossbow, Carum nails the wounded one with a sling for 4 damage. Dryshik Mist Balls another for 3 damage and 4 rounds of blindness Aleigha moves in to support Alzar. Alzar is missed three times. The Apes win init and none hit Alzar. He slays the wounded one. Aleigha nails another for 3 damage. Est moves up as does Carum. Alzar’s second slash deals out 15 to the one Aleigha hit. Alzar wins init and kills the wounded one. Aleigha hits for 3, Est nails it for 12 and Carum adds 4. It’s dead.

XP – 100 each

[Abe Sargent]

After another hour, they are on the small hill. The jungle gives way to the bare rock floor of the narrow trail and valley running between these two mountains. A little way up the valley, in a strange bone enclosure, are a half dozen of these strange humanoids and two are on giant lizards. They are pig faced humanoids, with a savage look to them. Stunted and stocky, and they do not look happy, they are charging Alzar, and chanting in time to the drums from the volcano. A throwing dagger flies out and crits one for 16 damage. It dies. Est hits one for 6 and it dies. Carum nails another for 4 and it does not die. They have arrived and the giant lizard riding ones charge Alzar and Estaish. Estaish is hit for double damage for 10 damage. Alzar is missed by the charger and the others.

35/45 - Estaish

They win init. The one mounted by Alzar attacks, as does her mount. The mount hits Alzar and he wrapped by the tongue and brought in and takes 8 damage, 1d4 for the hit and 1d8 from a bite. He cannot attack this turn. The other one Spears Estaish for 3 but the mount misses. Aleigha takes 5 from another moving through the place Alzar was. Est Nails the kara-kara on top of the lizard for 9 damage and kills him. Aleigha misses, Carum moved in and spears a native for 7 and kills her. Just the mount and rider on Alzar and the mount on Estaish.

46/54 - Alzar
32/45 - Estaish
36/41 - Aleigha

Alzar manages to break free this turn. Est hits his lizard for 8 damage. Aleigha moves to the one threatening Alzar and nails he rider for 9 and kills her with a ruby blade. Carum spears the lizard on Alzar’s side for 6 damage. Est is missed, and Alzar is too. The lizards attack first. Est is hit and takes 5 from the tongue and bite. He cannot attack this turn. Alzar is missed. His axe does not and 17 damage is dealt and it shudders but remains fighting. Aleigha misses. Carum does as well.

27/45

They win init. Alzar is missed. Est is missed. Est climbs out. Alzar finishes off the one on him. Aleigha moves and this the other one for 4. Carum misses. Alzar moves over and makes his second attack. 20 damage, and it falls.

XP – 250 each

They search and find just normal stuff – wooden shields. Spears, and such. They follow the valley/trail in the sky. There is a clear trail here and it was obviously guarded, so something is back here. Eventually they come across some very large statues flanking the trail. When Alzar passes through, one fires a lightning bolt at him for 15 or 8 is save is made. Failure. They do not fire at anyone else. Hmpf.

33/54 – Alzar

[Abe Sargent]

They pass a large rock python lounging in the sun. It is feasting on a Kara-Kara and trying to fit it into its mouth, so they pass it easily. There is a side valley-path left that ends at a gate. Take it, or continue? Take it (chosen randomly by a die)

The gate easily swings open and reveals a tunnel in the hillside. They take it. They head up it for some time before arriving at two thick iron gates that block the way. They are lashed together with a rope. Suspicious. Alzar has everyone back up. He ties a dagger into it with a rope and backs up 50’. One jerk, should cut it. He pulls and it cuts, and indeed, the roof fell down on that spot, and in front of it 20 feet. That way is blocked. Alzar orders a search and they find nothing. Odd, Another one finds a door, they push it open and continue.

They are now under Fire Mountain. As they climb up steps after another few hundred feet. Before them is a short, steep sided chasm. There are three stone structures against the other side, and a narrow bridge over. They cross with the aid of a Rope of Climbing, but it wasn’t needed – it was quite sturdy.

Each of the three structures has a rectangular platform extending out from the wall of the cavern. There are no tunnels here, just these three structures. The platforms are about 6 feet off the group, and the structures about 40 or 50 feet high above that. Alzar climbs onto the one on the left, the closest one. There are columns that line the platform and there are no doors or any other openings or entrances. There are strange writings on top, and a golden disc on the wall, and three pictographs of a figure on either side of the slab of rock that has the disc on it. Each of the pictographs has a dance pose on it. They search for secret doors and find nothing. Alzar has Carum dance the dance on the pictographs and the slab disappears and they move into a new chamber.

This is the Crypt of Su-hana-ko, Alzar is informed telepathically. The passage opened into a musty chamber with a casket flanked by jars and statues maintain a vigil. Alzar moves to one of the jars, and they are both identical and sealed. He gently cracks the seal, and backs up quickly. An Ochre jelly has been released!

He orders everyone back and uses a flask of oil to deal 9 damage to it, but it’s not enough, so he uses another for 13 and kills it.

XP – 125 for Alzar

He investigates the other jar and it appears identical. He takes the ochre jelly trap? And stores it.

He pulls open the casket and two crossbow bolts fire from the walls into the places the jars were. Now that would have been clever.


Jade Axe-Head – 170
Matching Gold Bracelets – 560 each
Ochre Jelly Trap?

[Abe Sargent]

The statues never animated, and look like a more piggish kara-kara than normal. They return and move to the next portal. This one has a large elongated face on the slab, and pictures of animals like a spider, bird and fish in various places and patterns. They can be pushed and slide back out. There is a pattern above, spider-bird-fish. Alzar begins by pushing that pattern in every one of the four sections in that order. It works, and they enter the Crypt of Kono-ti.

The passage has the still dead air of a crypt and rough hewn walls and floors are all bare. In the darkness of the far end is a quartet of shadowy alcoves. The first two are empty, but the glint of gold comes from those farther down. Alzar has Megala fly down and a Gem of Seeing. Megala trips up two gelatinous cubes from the first two alcoves and start moving in. A throwing dagger misses. Carum crits one for 11. Est misses. They back up and since the cubes go slower then they do, try more weapons. A dagger knifes into it for 12 and it dissipates. Carum misses. Est misses. They keep backing. Alzar misses. Carum misses. Est hits for 7. They are backed into a corner an Aleigha jumps forward and the Sword of Spartusia hits for 9 damage. The cube dissolves.

XP – 325 each

They recover their items and keep searching. They find a secret door at the back of the crypt. Alzar heads back and opens it and gas goes off but since standing order is for no one to be around when he does it, and it only sprays out to 10 feet, the poisonous gas misses everybody. There is a skeleton in here with a small, sealed jar. He is wearing:

Exquisite mother-of-pearl necklace – 750
Two gold ankle bracelets – 575 each
Two gold bracelets – 575 each too
Inside the jar are 12 ivory figures worth 105 each

[Abe Sargent]

They also found a secret door in the other wall across from the one in here. They open it, and it leads to the Crypt of Kota-ef-nitek. There is another musty chamber here, a tomb for a haggard corpse laying on a central slab and its long dead attendants slumped against the walls. Suddenly, their lifeless eyes turn on Alzar. They spring forward and he tries to control them. He controls the ghouls automatically but there are two other things here. At first he suspects ghasts, which are often found with ghouls, but he can usually tell them from ghouls, since he is an expert in such things. He makes a Necrology roll and knows that he has never heard of these. One of them screams loudly and Alzar manages to control them, barely. There are 5 ghouls and 2 of these other creatures. Everybody lost a level when the Agarat screamed. (They will be restored in 1 turn). That’s a nasty undead.

5 ghouls with 9 hp.
2 agarats with 25 and 22 hp, AC4, no paralysis, screams are cumulative with other agarats, can only scream once every ten minutes or so. Turned and controlled as Spectre

Alzar will have the ghouls lead and keep the agarats in the back, out of harm’s way. He wants to leave with at least one intact for studying. They search the chamber. The body on the central slab has:

Sandals inlaid with Turquoise – 620 gp as a pair
Necklace of Coral and Jade Beads – 760 gp

They find a secret door in the chamber and there are two doors here. One heads back to the structures and Alzar confirms that it was the third slab. The secret door is opened. They open another door a short walk behind the secret door and it opens into a T shaped room. There is a life sized crystal skull glaring at the door fro a stone plinth and there are two other plinths with large crystal vials. Alzar views the Gem of Seeing. Nothing is seen. An inspecting shows that the two vial likely have potions in them. The skull is worth maybe 2500 gp. Alzar orders everyone out and a ghoul picks up a vial, and there is a loud whistling sound. The ghoul replaces it and the sound stops. It picks it up again, and the sound starts again. The ghoul moves away and the whistle increases in pitch significantly. It is returns and the pitch lowers until dropped back and it stops again.

Alzar orders everyone into the crypt and the ghoul grabs the skull and runs into the corridor as fast as possible. At 20 feet from the plinth, there is an explosion in pitch and both potions exploded, but the skull survived.

Crystal Skull – 2500 gp

A search finds nothing further. They open the other door and enter a long corridor with the continuing rhythm of drum beats. After ten minutes, they near the end of the passage. It arrives at a door, which opens easily. They must be deep in the volcano and mountain now. The drums got louder as they moved closer, and now are quite loud.

[Abe Sargent]

The room they are in is unoccupied and a pentagon with a flat wall on the other side and two parallel walls with doors on them, and two diagonal walls tapering just to the left of the door they enter by. There are four wooden boar-headed statues in there and face inward from the corners. There are a lot of statues and golems that come alive, so Alzar orders everyone back. He grabs his axe, and hacks into one for 15 damage. He hews the wood golem dead and three more animate, and he smiles at his cleverness. Magic is needed to hit there and Carum wings one from his Sling of Seeking, which makes the bolts magical. It hits one for 6 damage. They golems win init and all miss Alzar, who is in front because he just hewed one down. He swings and takes another. He swings again and takes a third down. Aleigha crits the fourth for 10 damage and with Carum’s damage, that kills it. All dead.

XP – 150 each

The tusks and eyes from the golems are worth 980 from all four golems.


No one came in from the noise. Alzar goes left (rolled randomly). Glaring at the party from the centre of the room is a kara-kara resplendent in head dress and a long robe of garishly colored feathers. There are 8 other kara-kara in loincloths and dancing around hi in body paint and short tooth edged sword-clubs. (Macuahuitl). Alzar casts sleep and 6 of the kara-kara drop before they get to him. The other two miss him. The one in the center casts Cause Fear, and Alzar fails his save and runs back into the room with the statues and then into the tunnel. Estaish bisects one for 11 damage. Aleigha misses. Carum misses. The ghouls tear into the other.

The pries wins init and moves towards the other door in the room. Carum drops his sling. Est bolts him for 6 damage. Aleigha runs in after him. He opens the door and Aleigha orders Carum and Est to follow. He begins running down a corridor and there are prison pits on either side with 6 kara-kara in them, 3 in each. The priest arrives at a door and flings it open. Here 5 kara-kara warriors are chanting in time to the very loud drumbeats. The priest points to Aleigha as she turns the corridor and spears fly at her. She takes 6 damage,


30/41 - Aleigha

She runs in and attacks the priest. She goes first and hits or 4 damage. The priest casts Hold Person on her and she makes it, rolling an 18 against the -4 penalty of that spell. Carum and Estaish round the corner and enter, and the warriors have weapons in their hands.

Init – they win. Aleigha is hit once for 8 damage off a crit. The priest casts Cure Light Wounds on himself. She misses the priest. Carum misses. Estaish misses.

22/41

They win init. They all miss again. The priest nails Aleigha for 6 damage. She take another 5 from weapons. She turns into a werebear

11/41

They win init. Aleigha hits the cleric twice for 5 damage. Est hits for 6 and Carum for 7. Aleigha takes 7 in her form from the priest, who must have a magical weapon. The warriors attack her and all miss.

4/41
Carum takes 8 from the warriors. The priest missed. Aleigha runs away back to behind the ghouls and agarats just standing there. Est misses, Carum adds 9 to the cleric and kills him.

50/58 - Carum

Carum hits a warrior for 8 and Est misses. One warrior down 4 to go. Carum takes 2 more. They win and they miss. Est hits for 7 and another dies. Carum missed. They make their morale roll and keep going. Est hits for 6 and kills another. The last one misses. Carum spears her for 9 and she dies.

48/58


XP – 450 each


10 minutes later, Alzar and Aleigha arrive. They search the original room, and this one.

Robe and headdress – 350 gp
Jade Amulet inlaid with Mother of Pearl – 750
Jade Earrings – 150 set
They find bag with a few skulls and an ivory box inlaid with mother-of-pearl – 250 gp and a large pearl inside – 500 gp.
20 small pearls, 25 gp each

[Abe Sargent]

There are two doors from their current room. They open one into a corridor with another door at the end. The other opens to a storeroom with an untidy heap of primitive weapons like wooden picks, stone headed maces, spears and the Macuahuitl. All added to the magic pile, as always.

They checked the original door from the statues room and its just a corridor to this point. As they walk towards the door the drums are becoming a physical presence, palpable in their presence and absence. They open the door and confronted by a blast of hot air and the deafening roar of the drums. This huge natural chamber is dominated by a gaping pit, filled with a fiery red glow and spanned by a slender rope bridge. The top is open to the sky and that is why is could be heard everywhere.

There are giant drums being pounded on by sweating kara-kara in rhythm and time. On the far side of the volcano in a crowd of spear-waving kara-kara. There is a pair of brightly robed kara-kara flanking a throne and on the throne is a pig-like creature. Aleigha, still in werebear form, shudders. The creatures also senses it, and turns to face them. It squeals in anger and fear, and then disappears. The drums stop beating. Alzar runs forward as fast as he can and slashes the rope bridges before they can cross. The only ones on this side are the guards, and three drummers. Alzar is right by the guards and the drummers are attacking the fighters. The ghouls and agarats are moving in.

They lose init. One of the drummers attacks each fighter. Est takes 6. Alzar is missed twice. His axes slashes a bodyguard for 20 damage. Dead bodyguard. Est hits a drummer for 9 damage and she dies. Carum hits for 8 and kills his. Aleigha hits twice for 4 damage. Still alive. The next turn, Alzar wins. He doles out 13 damage and the guard is still alive. It casts Cause Light Wounds and Alzar takes 8. Alzar hits again and kills him. Aleigha kills her guard. All dead.


26/45 – Estaish
34/54 – Alzar

There are about a hundred kara-kara on the other side now, more are pouring in. Some have thrown spears, but they are too far away. They search the bodies and find:

400 worth of jewelry on the guards.

[Abe Sargent]

There is a corridor down to the side. It opens into a stairwell down and a door. This room has a mass of hanging and glittering crystals, suspended on strings from the ceiling. The crystals are magical and confuse sight of the pcs, but not the undead. Using them, Alzar goes to the next door to the left from the first one, and notices there are 6 total doors including the one they entered by.

This is a general storeroom containing: 33 bottles of wine in a race, 3 large casks of wine, 40 jars of preserved fruit, meat and fish, etc. Alzar scans it with a Gem and of course leads with ghouls. It was taken from ships obviously. There is a door on the other side and it opens into a hall of shadows. Every corner of this grand hall is brightly lit by glowing gems dotted across the ceiling and walls. There are four crystal pillars, each with a writhing shadowy shape within. Suddenly, they move towards Alzar. Alzar tries to control them, and the four shadows are added to his force.

Shadow: 13 hp, AC7, drain 1 point of strength and deal 1d4+1, need magical weapon to hit Alzar uses the Gem and sees three people in the center invisible – a cleric, fighter, and fighter/mage. Using his shared vision, he orders, silently, Dryshik to Mist Ball the mageish one. It makes it save, and they realize the gig is up and move to attack. Alzar orders Aleigha to stand back out of harm’s way. A throwing dagger nails the mage for 12 damage. They can see the dagger floating, and attack it. A trio of magic missiles fly in and Alzar eats 9 damage for being clever. The fighter has arrived. The cleric casts Silence at Alzar. Alzar fails his save and is silenced. Now the cleric and mage/fighter are revealed. A bolt flies out at the mage for 4 and Carum misses.

26/54

They win init The shadows move out and attack the cleric. The ghouls flank in front of the fighter and only Alzar is exposed. The fighter attacks him, exposes himself, and misses. The mage casts Sleep but not one is affected. Their cleric casts Hold Person at Estaish, and he fails his save and is held. Alzar’s axe is introduced to the flesh of the fighter. 14 damage. Carum’s sling at the mage works for 4 damage. He dies. The shadows hit the cleric twice for 7 damage. The ghouls only hit twice on the fighter and e makes both saves – just 2 damage dealt.

They win init. The cleric tries to turn undead on the shadows. He needs a 7 or higher and makes it, and the four shadows are turned and forces into a corner. The fighter nails Alzar for 8. Alzar’s axe deeply wounds the fighter for 18 damage and then crits the fighter for…24 damage. Dead fighter. Carum tries to sling the cleric and misses.

18/54

Alzar throws a dagger for 10 damage. Carum misses. The ghouls move forward but are turned as well and forced to a corner. Alzar wings in another dagger for a miss. Carum hits for 5 damage. The cleric casts Cure Serious Wounds. The next round Alzar moves in. Carum misses, The cleric misses Alzar. Alzar’s axe cleaves for 13 damage. The cleric misses, Alzar hits for 19 and kills him.

A check finds:

BroadSword
Dagger
Shield
Short Sword
Chainmail
Other weapons and armor
95pp
Gold Holy Symbol Encrusted with Gems – 780
Golden Belt with Silver Buckle – 520
Sapphire-Studded Scabbard with Silver Inlay – 1730
Sapphire Pendant – 370
Silver, Emerald Studded Snuff Box – 1100
Three Gold Rings with Emeralds – 290 each

[Abe Sargent]

There are three doors on the right wall and another in front of them. The first left door is a bedroom with a dead crow, Looks like it was the familiar, and just died. There is a spell book with a gold-plated lock. Alzar takes it for later.

Coverlet of rare furs, 1500gp

The next room is a small chamber with nothing but Spartan furnishings as a silver box on the table with a dozen quills.

Silver Box – 535 gp
Staff
Robe with hundreds of tiny gems – 2000 gp

The third room is obviously the fighters room. There are a lot of weapons a grindstone in here. They weapons are magic piled for later.

A search of this room finds a secret door in the back. They take it and find another secret door when it dead ends. They go into another door and it’s locked. Alzar fails, so acid eats it up. There is a young woman tied to the floor. The look of fear on her face disappears when Alzar and company enter the room.

She asks for Alzar to untie her. He asks who she is, and she says she is the daughter of a merchant in the coast cities. She was captured by the kara-kara several weeks ago and brought here and is not allowed to leave. There is an evil wizard named Kalnaka who wears a pig costume to impress the tribesmen who have a pig god. Just a few minutes ago, Kalnaka came here and tied her up and left through the other door.

Alzar uses his ESP ability. She fails her save. Alzar asks her to repeat her story.

http://www.emeraldlich.com/blog/pics/1160/1160_3.jpg


She is named Marie, her father is not the merchant but in fact Kalnaka himself.

She makes her save. Alzar asks her to pause her story for a moment.

She fails. She was tied up here to trick Alzar, and the ropes can be gotten out of if she needs to. She is supposed to ambush the party later.

She fails. Her father is not in a pig mask, but actually a Devil Swine, or pig lycanthrope.

She makes her save

She fails. She is asked if she has weapons and says no, lie – her ring is a dagger.

She fails. Alzar asks if she believes that the raiding of the ships and such is wrong by Kalnaka. She says of course it is. Not a lie.

She fails. Alzar pulls out the stunner. Are you loyal to your father, Kalnaka? She says that’s not her father, is staggered a bit, and she is completely loyal to him.

Alzar casts Charm Person on her. If it takes, and she is already charmed, it will show. If not, then she will be charmed. She fails.

Maerie will now escort her friend Alzar and show him around, but she cannot allow him to hurt her father, whom she loves very dearly and raised her after her mother died. She explains the trick and such easily.

[Abe Sargent]

They head to Kalnaka’s bedroom and there is mothering in here but a pig costume. Everything is ransacked They find his treasure room behind a secret door she shows them:

5000 gp in exotic silks
A small casket containing gems: 1000x5; 500x15; 100x100; 50x200
Chest containing 5000 gp and 15000 in generic jewelry
Three sacks containing 2000 gp each – 6000 total. One puts the money in Alzar’s hands upon his thinking about it, a sign of a Bag of Holding. It’s a 10000 coin Bag of Holding, like his first one.
Eight kegs of rare spices – 8000gp total, put in the new Bag of Holding.

They enter the laboratory and it is very damaged, and they exit. There is a long tunnel that leaves to another section of the island. More than a mile later, they arrive at stairs up. They take the stairs and the corridor bends and ends at a door.

Alzar has 4 shadows, 2 agarats and 5 ghouls with the ghouls and shadows in the lead. The ghouls are manipulating things. Amid the bones of past victims, four large cat-like beasts crouch with taut muscles and flailing tentacles.

http://www.iwozhere.com/SRD/images/MM35_PG67a.jpg

These are the displacer beats that the cloak is based off of. One of these is full grown and the other three are children. Alzar moves in front of the undead to handle the mother himself. He wants to aim his strikes carefully and points the fighters at the kids. Alzar easily wins init and his axe hits for 17 damage on her head. Aleigha slices into a child for 8 damage and Carum stabs the same one for 6 more. Est missed. The Mist Ball flies in on the mom and she fails the save and takes 3 damage and is blinded for 3 rounds. One cub nails Est with a tentacle for 7 damage. The mother misses. Alzar nails her head again for 17 damage. Est misses, Carum misses, and Aleigha hits and kills the wounded one. Carum takes 1 crit hit for 16 damage from a kid’s tentacle. Momma misses. Alzar’s second attack hits and kills the mother by severing her battered head. Alzar moves over and kills a kid for 20 damage. Est and Carum hit the last one for 15 and it dies.

19/45 – Estaish
32/58 – Carum
11/41 – Aleigha
24/54 - Alzar

XP – 488 each

Each of the beasts has a collar with 10 gems, and they are taken off. The gems are worth 100 each:

40 gems 100 gp
Displacer hide, eyes, teeth, blood, tentacles


A search of the room later turns up a large number of cloaks that were being used by the beats and three still look new, which is often a sign of magic, so they are taken.

[Abe Sargent]

There are doors up, left and right. Roll of a die says…up! A ghoul investigates this chamber, and when a doorknob at the end is tried a bunch of rocks falls on top of it and it dies.

4 ghouls left.

Left. This is a silent hall stretching away before Alzar and his crew. The walls are plain save for a vivid red disc painted in the center of the far wall, flanked by a pair of statues in the same bright hue. There is a strip of carpet running along the ground to the statues. They search the room and find nothing. They head back to the right room. The door opens and there is a scene of carnage laid out. Shelves, benches and large areas of the floor are covered with shrunken and withered corpses of men and half men and beasts. Some of the bestial forms raise themselves up and move towards Alzar. He tries to control them, and 9 switch, but two are still coming towards him, so he tries again and gets the last two. He examines the, There are only about 2 feet tall and were once a lot taller. This shrinking process has made their skin thicker and their body denser. They appear to be like zombies, and yet, their speed was not diminished at all. They have large, elongated claws. They do not smell, unlike zombies, because the withering process preserves their flesh.

Topis (11) – AC 6, HD 3+1, HP 13, # of Attacks: 2, 1d6/1d6 + save vs poison or slowed for each hit, half damage from blunt weapons, turned as wight, can jump 6 feet in air

Once again, Alzar makes his Necrology roll and fails to place them at all, and wants a few of them to survive for later study.

There is nothing on value here. There are two doors here and each opens into a long corridor. They head right. Maerie has never been to these ruins and is of no help. It’s about a 5 minute walk sloping downward. There is no door and the slavering sound of chomping and the reflected glint to two pairs of jewel like eyes in the darkness. He sends in the shadows, which like the darkness. They attack a pair of Rhagodessae, large spider-ish creatures with ten legs, and such. The shadows kill the spiders without taking any damage, because they are immune, and Alzar enters.

A search of this room turns up some stuff in the litter on the floor.

Gold Necklace – 620 gp
Silver Circlet with Emerald – 1500 gp

They open a door and the other door is already open. They head down the corridor and arrive at a rock barricade and turn around. They take the other path, which leads to a large chambers with 5 white apes, who call for help and more hooting can be heard. Alzar leads with the shadows and the apes retreat after trying to deal damage and failing. They search the room and find:

Rock-Sized Lump of Gold – 2500

They keeps searching the ape area and each time they arrive in a room with apes, they move out the shadows, and then they retreat. They find nothing but:

Four large diamond studded earrings – 2500 gp each

[Abe Sargent]

No rooms or anything, so they head back and take the other branch. It also continues for a while and as they approach they hear the sound of a loud grinding. They open the door and inside is a large room but can still barely contain its occupant – a terrible creature whose slime-covered purple hide scrapes against the roof and walls.


http://www.iwozhere.com/SRD/images/MM35_PG211.jpg

At one end is a giant mouth and at the other a giant stinger. Alzar sends in the shadows while getting the group ready, and a stinger lances into a shadow and kills it. Apparently it can hit magic creatures, so Alzar orders them back. He hefts his axe, prepares a spell and moves in, flanked by the fighters.

Alzar wins init and casts Vampiric Touch. He deals 12. Bolt misses, sling crits it for 6 damage. It tries to bite and swallow Alzar and misses. (he would have done it if it hadn’t have been for a cloak). The Worm wins init and swallows Alzar for 16 damage. He will take 2d10 damage every round automatically until dead. Est grabbed his sword and hits for 5 damage. Carum misses with spear. Aleigha moves it with her ruby blade and misses. Alzar is able to attack the interior and hits for 18 damage and it dies. It cuts his way out.

24/54

XP -1500 each

3 shadows left


There is a tunnel here the worm was digging and they take it after searching and finding a pouch with a scroll, with Hold Person and Fireball on it.

It enters a room with a huge diamond and 25 earth fundamentals. A fundamental is a flying small elemental from another plane of existence. Alzar controls 6 opf them and orders them in front to block the other 19. Several get through and attack him. The next round, he gets 7 more and they join the screen. He gets all 25 over the next three rounds. They have very little hit points are nothing more than flying cannon fodder, but he’ll take it.

Diamond - 20000

[Abe Sargent]

Back to the chamber, there are doors left and forward. Left. There is a stairway stretching before with statues flanking short flights of stairs. They are crystal living statues and come alive when a ghoul steps between the first two. Alzar sends in the Earth Fundamentals. They kill all six statues and he is left with just two fundamentals. A search on the steps shows nothing.

They arrive at a stone bridge over a round vertical shaft with a hot warmth from below. On the other side is another stone door. Another swarm of fundamentals, this time 15 fire ones, fly in. Alzar Controls 4 out of the gate and orders them and his two earth fundies to screen. He ends up controlling them all after two more turns. He now has 15 fire fundies.

They arrive in a room with a flashing light from a magical flashing back and forth from continual light to continual darkness and back again. It’s worth 500 gp as a novelty.

They arrive at another door with a passage and a door to the right. They open the door to the right and it is a large spiral stairway down and a huge shaft and there are dozens and dozens of stirges in here, so they close the door and continue. They dead end at a room with thousands of round colored beads rolling about on the glassy black floor. There is a glass floor in here. Alzar sees occasional movement below. This may be the way to go down. He orders everybody back and axes the floor ones, and then again, and a part of it breaks. Up fly 17 stirges from below and Alar orders the fundamentals and ghouls and shadows to engage. Four rounds later, Alzar has lost 10 fundamentals and casts Animate Dead Animals to give him 8 stirge skeletons.

8 stirge skeletons, 1 earth fundamentals, 6 fire fundamentals, 4 ghouls, 2 agarats, 11 tapi, 3 shadows

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar has Megala fly down to check out the room. There are two doors, a corridor, and free of creatures, but it’s a bit too much of a drop, ah well. Alzar widens the hole and then uses the Rope of Climbing and Brooms to drop. The fundies, dead animals, tapi, shadows, and people make it easily, and the ghouls and Agarats are great climbers and climb down on their own.

Forward, left or both to a tunnel. A search first, and they find a mosaic with 30 50gp gems they pry out. Left. Neatly lined up around the walls are dozens of beats, all motionless, as if held by magic. They appear to be stuffed. A giant ant, giant bat, giant beetles, boar, carrion crawler, giant lizards, giant locust, owlbear, rock baboon, snakes, and giant spiders. There is nothing in here but a necklace with a pig’s head.

30 50gp gems
Boar’s Head Amulet on Gold Chain – 2675 gp

They return and go forward into…a long gallery with nightmarish pictures in lurid colours and details. Writing below them are at least twenty snakes of various types and such. They are not advancing, just swaying dangerously. Alzar shuts the door. They can come back this way if they have too.

The tunnel leads to the large stairway room and there are more stairways down. They get across the bridges without too much trouble. They follow a tunnel and arrive at an alcove along the wall with a small man-like statue. It has brightly glowing gems with are beautiful and bathe around for light, and it seems to mock the watchers. Alzar has a ghoul remove the two eyes and the ivory teeth. Then a trap triggers and the ghoul dies, but the gems and teeth are fine and another ghoul picks them up.

2 glowing red gems – 5000 gp each
Ivory teeth – 1000 total

3 ghouls left

They continue on down the hallway and arrive at a chamber with doors hot to the touch. A ghoul opens one and there is a blast of hot air from inside. There are more fire fundamentals and a flame salamander in here. The 5 fundamentals switch sides and the flame salamander moves towards him. The intense heat is coming from exposed lava and Alzar orders the fire fundamentals to fight the salamander, since they are immune to its fire aura. While fighting, he helps out with a dagger for 10 damage, then retrieved by Megala after the salamander dies.

4 flame fundamentals left

XP – 200 for Alzar

[Abe Sargent]

They leave this super hot room and head to the last door on this level. Strewn about the chamber are hundreds of skulls and bones. Suddenly, a movement can be seen and 10 skeletons and a four armed skeleton which is likely a bone golem animate. Alzar controls 8 skeletons and the shadows are sent to puzzle the bone golem. Both are immune to magic weapons, and neither has a magic weapon, so they can sit there for a bit,, while Alzar grabs the final two skeletons and adds them to his growing horde.

His throwing dagger just hits for 9 damage and Carum hits for 4 damage. The Bone golem moves around the shadows and moves towards them. Another dagger flies out, but misses. Another sling hits for 4 damage. The golem arrives. It wins init and Alzar is missed four times. Alzar’s axe crits it for 26 damage and it staggers, but stands. Carum misses, and Est misses and Aleigha misses. Alzar wins init and misses (rolled a 3 +2, +3str, +3mastery, +2AC, is 13 which just misses). Est crits for 19. Dead.

XP – 750 each

They search and find

9 inch tall four armed skeleton made from ivory, held together by platinum wire – 3500
Magical, glowing helm that looks really powerful

As they watch, the bone golem is regenerating. Alzar burns it with an oil flask, but it continues to regenerate. Nice! That’s a clever trick. They move on, and the only place to go is down from the Stirge staircase. They go and the Stirge are too high and ignore them

They arrive on at the bottom with a fungus forest, and a few ponds. Alzar orders his undead to scour the area. They kills some leeches and a few giant toads are a problem in the pool and Alzar looses four skeletons before he recalls everybody and Blastbones out the problem. They find:

Potion

6 skeletons left

There is a tunnel here and they take it. Alzar reminds everyone that they want to capture Kalnaka, not kill him, for Maerie.

[Abe Sargent]

It’s a mile walk and they arrive at another door. When opened they see a room that has a door to the left and two gates halfway down the room and a door to the right after them. A skeleton moves up and tries to open the gates, but they start moving forward and crush the skeleton.

5 skeletons left

Everybody is still in the hallway, so he lets the gates pass, and then moves back into the room and to the right door. They open it and there is another door right there, and open it too. Beyond the doorway is a swirling fog which restricts vision to just a few feet. Ahead, and to the left, is a muted sound, there a door closing sounds. A skeleton is sent in. Nothing happens. Alzar sends it around the room and gets the measurements. It’s about 35 skeleton steps across, and 50 long. Alzar can tell the fog is acting on his subconscious. He orders the skeleton back and moves in, trusting he can make saves and immune to any affects by the fog. He saves vs spells and is unaffected, but can tell the fog was doing something to him. Suddenly, he is attacked by more than a dozen creatures that are either in the mist or are the mist or something. They miss. He drops a Skulltrap and deals 23 damage, clearing them out, and he fails his save and takes it too.

XP – 1600 for just Alzar

10/54 – Alzar

Estaish enters and the magic is gone. They feel the room and find a door in front, and another to the left and four pillars. The left door opens and they enter a tunnel and then arrive at a door that is wizard locked. Looks promising. Alzar quaffs a healing potion.

20/54

[Abe Sargent]

They get in the right order. Ghouls and shadows and skeletons and animal skeletons and fundamentals in front. Alzar tells Marie that they will try to capture her father, and asks for her Dagger of Concealment until the battle is over, and she agrees to hand it over.

Alzar’s wand defeats the Wizard Lock. A skeleton opens the door and Alzar sees 6 topis inside The door is open and there is a long hall beyond. The first things of note beyond the topis are 7 grossly fat men dressed identically and looking identical. Aleigha sees him, and he her and they snarl at each other and she turns into a werebear.

Alzar controls the 6 topis and they join his side. Fundamentals, skeletons, topis, ghouls, and shadows arrive and Alzar orders them to attack a times. He has his imps fly up and moves in himself with the fighters. Carum’s sling kills a image. The mage, suddenly unsure of himself, casts Web over the room, which slows the undead except the shadows, and not Alzar.

Alzar casts Empathic Control. He fails the save, and Alzar orders everybody back. The mage walks over and sits down. Suddenly, two boars arrive at the back of the room, summoned by the Devil Swine, and the topis to the rear are fighting them. 2 topis will die and the boars will be slashed and killed.

Alzar drops the mage, and orders him to be tied up. They tie him up, and take his things and clothes, leaving him in a loincloth. Alzar releases him. Alzar has him gagged. Maerie is protesting loudly, but Alzar hands back her Dagger.

“I keep my promises. He is alive, and your weapon is returned to you. I also have a gift for you, if you will take it.”

Alzar pulls out the Potion of ESP he has. “This is not just a potion, but something more. It is knowledge, even enlightenment. Take it.” He hands her the potion.

“This potion will allow you to read your father’s mind. You can ask him any question, and see the answer. Maerie, haven’t you been loyal to your father your whole life? Despite what he does and who he is? I give you this potion. I want you to ask him just one question for your own benefit. You love your father, and you are loyal to him to the end.”

Alzar moves in front, “But Maerie, does he love you? What are you to him? A daughter? The joy of his life? Or just a minion to be tossed around?” Alzar takes off his Medallion of Protection vs ESP and Crystal Balls. Take the potion, and ask if he loves you. Ask what you mean to him. For all of your life there had to be a doubt that your father was truly as horrible as he appeared. It’s time to put him to the test.”

She takes the potion, (Alzar is her very good friend, remember the charm) and drinks it.

Kalnaka fails his save. Maerie is crying, so Alzar looks at him, and says, “Do you love your daughter? What is she to you?”

As she sees the truth, she cries more. Then Alzar asks her another question. “Now, ask me what you would mean to me if you joined us.” She reads his open mind (no save) that she would be a valuable member of the group, valued and trusted.

She is crying for a bit, and Alzar asks her to inspect her father’s mind again, “Oh, one more thing, is your spellbook trapped? Anything on it at all keeping me from opening it and using it?” Maerie shakes her head, and Alzar smiles.

Alzar tells Aleigha to help her. Alzar tells Maerie that Aleigha understand what it is like to look up to someone but only to find out they were lying to you. The potion’s duration ends. Alzar has Aleigha and the others leave the room, with just Alzar and Kalnaka, gagged and bound, in the room.

“Kalnaka, would you like to know why I really don’t like those who claim to be evil and then make bad decision after bad decision like yourself? Can I tell you a secret? I cast ESP on you just then too. Oh, I know, I’m just a funny guy. You are so selfish, that you destroyed yourself. No matter how smart you chaotic people think you are, you always bring about your own downfall.

“The slavers were killed, by me, incidentally and you saw a power vacuum, so you stepped in and started raiding vessels. What did you get from it? I’ve seen some food, there’s probably some money – which you can’t even spend on this island, maybe a magic item. What was the purpose? Why do it?

“You had a great thing going here. You had hundreds of people who were fanatically loyal to you, you had three people who were charmed? Yes, apparently charmed that were very loyal. You had a loyal daughter, you had servants like the fundamentals, the displacer beasts, golems, and statues. These little undead zombies that you shrunk down are brilliant, you know that? It’s going to take me a while to duplicate that process.

“And yet, despite this cozy set up – out of the way, can do what you want, servants to do the small stuff, working on interesting things – oh no, you have to risk it all on a few raids, putting your island and yourself right on the radar. If you actually cared about your daughter, and about those people you charmed, and about the others you met from your life – just imagine how secure you would be. Imagine how safe you would be. Imagine how much longer you would get to live.

“But no, you have to act so selfishly, that you end up hurting yourself. You and your kind just don’t get it. In order to get what you want, you have to give a little. You have to think things through. You have to take actions that get you ahead always, but never just for kicks.

“So here is what is going to happen. In less than 3 days, your daughter will be joining me and my group, I’ve already seen it in her mind. I saw it when I first read her mind when I met her, about her feras for you, and I read it in her mind again just now. She’ll be just as loyal to me as she was to you. In just three days. Because I gave her a little. I gave her a potion, and I gave her knowledge. And because of that, I am going to be getting someone more loyal than any charm spell. That’s what you don’t get, and you never have.

“Do you know what would be an irony?” (Alzar orders a topi to come to him). “What if your own creation were to kill you? Wouldn’t that be a way to end your life? Your secrets exposed, your daughter gone, your servants killed, you defeated by a simple second rank spell, and you, here, on the sharp claws of your own creation. I think that quite suitable.” The topi squeezes and keeps squeezing and the throats is slashed, and then crushed.

XP – 2000 each

[Abe Sargent]

They search the treasury too and find:

Quiver with 15 +3 arrows
+2 leather armor, and plate armor
Three potions of healing
Potion of clairvoyance
365 gp scroll cases with: Locate Object, Polymorph Other
Cleric Scrolls – Neutralize Poison, Dispel Evil, Commune, Striking
Silver casket worth 1535
Diamond Pendant – 5000 gpx3
Diamond Bracelet – 5080
Diamond Earrings – 1245 each
4320 gp
845 pp
Statuette of Black Falcon, gold painted with Black lacquer. – 15000 gp
56 gems – 100 gp each
Carved mahogany box – 260
Exquisite Gold Hourglass with crushed diamonds instead of sand – 2650
Engraved gold and platinum dish – 7500
Suit of platinum engraved, black plate armor – 15480 with matching shield – 2650
Ivory staff island with gold and silver – 2225 gp
Black Sapphires – 1500 x2
Staff of Striking, 22 charges
Amulet of Protection - +3 – also protects the wearer from wolfsbane
Kalnaka’s Black Cloak – Opens all of the portals around the island.
40 gems 100 gp
Displacer hide, eyes, teeth, blood, tentacles
Gold Necklace – 620 gp
9 inch tall four armed skeleton made from ivory, held together by platinum wire – 3500
Silver Circlet with Emerald – 1500 gp
Rock-Sized Lump of Gold – 2500
Four large diamond studded earrings – 2500 gp each
Coverlet of rare furs, 1500gp
Diamond - 20000
30 50gp gems
Boar’s Head Amulet on Gold Chain – 2675 gp
2 glowing red gems – 5000 gp each
Ivory teeth – 1000 total
Silver Box – 535 gp
Robe with hundreds of tiny gems – 2000 gp
The tusks and eyes from the golems are worth 980 from all four golems.
Necklace of Black Pearls – 2670
Jade Axe-Head – 170
Matching Gold Bracelets – 560 each
Ochre Jelly Trap
Exquisite mother-of-pearl necklace – 750
Two gold ankle bracelets – 575 each
Two gold bracelets – 575 each too
Inside the jar are 12 ivory figures worth 105 each
Sandals inlaid with Turquoise – 620 gp as a pair
Necklace of Coral and Jade Beads – 760 gp
Crystal Skull – 2500 gp
Robe and headdress – 350 gp
Jade Amulet inlaid with Mother of Pearl – 750
Jade Earrings – 150 set
Ivory Box inlaid with mother-of-pearl – 250 gp and a large pearl inside – 500 gp.
20 small pearls, 25 gp each
400 worth of jewelry on the guards.
Gold Holy Symbol Encrusted with Gems – 780
Golden Belt with Silver Buckle – 520
Sapphire-Studded Scabbard with Silver Inlay – 1730
Sapphire Pendant – 370
Silver, Emerald Studded Snuff Box – 1100
Three Gold Rings with Emeralds – 290 each
5000 gp in exotic silks
A small casket containing gems: 1000x5; 500x15; 100x100; 50x200
Chest containing 5000 gp and 15000 in generic jewelry
Three sacks containing 2000 gp each – 6000 total.
Eight kegs of rare spices – 8000gp total
Bag of Holding
Hardened Lump of Gold, 600 gold, 900 gold
pearl – 100 g




That list was so big, I just decided to add everything else to it too from this adventure. They decide to head back to Tangaroa, and arrive two weeks later, with all quiet. Alzar cancelled the Charm on Maerie and she is joining them of her own free will, but how long, Alzar is uncertain. He gives 500 platinum to each of Estaish, Carum, and Aleigha.

[Abe Sargent]

Magic Pile: +2 spear given to Carum for his +1 one. +1 Broadsword, +3 vs regenerators, Dagger +2. +1 shield, +1 chain mail, +2 short sword. Staff of Healing – 15 charges. 3 cloak of magical portal access. Helm of Alignment Changing. Potion of speed

Geldered’s Spell Book – Locked, Trapped

1st - Hold Portal, Sleep, Magic Missile, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Read Languages, 2nd – Continual Light, Detect Invisible, ESP Magic Mouth. 3rd – Dispel Magic, Invisibility 10’ radius, Moonglow Symbol

Used Potion of Healing Aleigha, Alzar: Used charge on Wand of Opening. Used Pot of ESP.


Kalnaka’s spellbook:

1st Detect Magic, Read Magic, Light, Magic Missile, Sleep, Locate Remains 2nd – Locate Object, Mirror Image, Web, Wizard Lock, 3rd – Dispel Magic, Lightning Bolt, Haste, Protection from Normal Missiles. 4th – Charm Monster, Massmorph, Polymorph Self. 5th Animate Dead, Magic Jar



Xp – 4325 for Carum and Aleigha, an extra 433 for Estaish; 7700 for Alzar

Alzar – 130,094 (Level 9 at 135k)
Estaish – 59,847 (Level 7 at 64k) – Now with 45 HP
Aleigha – 55,744 (Level 6) – Now has 41 HP.
Carum – 49,024 (Level 6) – Now has 58 HP.
Maerie – 42,000 (Level 7 – level 8 at 70k) - 22 hp



Alzar learns Charm Monster and Locate Remains.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar cannot take the shadows with him, so he commands them to jump in the volcano. Similarly, he cannot take the ghouls with them – they are too messy. Ordered into the volcano. The agarats are similarly problematic, but he has to have them. He is also taking 15 of the topi, they are small. The Fundamentals are released and fly away. The skeletons and animal skeletons are stored in a room and locked up.

After a week in Tangaroa, Alzar has finished the final one of the random spellbooks for Castanamir. The Dispels worked. Here is the final of those tomes, one of Mordenkainen’s books itself, but there are multiple copies out there. It has just four conjuration spells, and they are levels 5, 6, 7 and 8.


Epic Saga of the Great Conjurers:

Mordenkainen’s Faithful Hound, Conjure Animals, Cacofiend, Monster Summoning VI.


Cacofiend is rare, the Hound is uncommon and the other two quite common.


Alzar now has time to actually explore the ruins here on the Isle of Dread. There are no major pending quests.

They move out to the ruins on the north east of the Plateau and the village and ruins on it. They are let down on the land and quickly make their way to the ruins without much of a problems – since it’s only a few miles in.

[Abe Sargent]

C1. The Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/geekdad/images/2007/12/17/dmthe_hidden_schrine_of_tamoachan.jpg


This is another classic. It was rated number 18 in the top 30 selections by Dungeon. We have played #28, 27, 20, 19, 18, 16, 15 on that list. After this is #13 and the end of the mega Isle of Dread epic storyline. Then I may hit up #4, the Temple of Elemental Evil and head back to Hommlet, or grab #30, the Ghost Tower of Inverness. Others in the queue for soon are Desert of Desolation which is I3-I5 and #6, #2 White Plume Mountain, #22 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, and I have #23 The Forgotten Temple of Tharzidun as well. Others may include members of the X series of modules, since I have most of them, and more Is. Eventually, although I may be done with the dynasty by then, but eventually, I’d like to do the G 1-3, D1-3 and Q1 mega series.

[Abe Sargent]

The ruins are all dilapidated here, with crumbling blocks that once told of the realm of a civilization long ago. There is a crumbling central pyramid and as they walk, they find sign of a recent stone fall. Sometime in the past year, probably, one of the stones fell over and it revealed a path down into the earth. Not steps, not anything nice and steady, but a path down.

They explore it, and then move down. The architecture here seems to go past what Alzar has seen before. The destroyed keep, the ruined temple on Taboo Island, the keep on the island and the other ruins all seem to be from the same civilization, but this one is not. In fact, Alzar can’t place any of the symbols, architecture and accoutrements of the ruins as belonging to any civilization he has ever read about.

As such, his ancient languages proficiency will not help him here. (For fun, I am going to tell you the name of each room , even though Alzar won’t know it).

The path meanders down into the black and yet it shows signs of claws and such, so perhaps a few others have been this way before Alzar and his company. They enter the Vault of Chicomoztoc. This is a long narrow chamber with an east-west run. In the center is a domed shape on the floor. In the east wall a black faced stone door and the west end is where the path comes from. The two side walls have several niches cut into them.

Alzar sniffs the air and can tell that it is poisonous down here. Every ten minutes, everybody down here will take 1 poison damage. Alzar and Aleigha are immune because of the Necklace of Adaptation. Alzar hands the necklace to Maerie since she has a low number of HP and a Periapt of Proof vs Poison to Estaish, which will give him a save and a +2 to the roll. Alzar will save, and possibly regenerate that damage.

They look at the shape in the center and it is a small alcove, protected by a half dome with the open end facing the east. It holds some sort of a display, with a diorama of a hunting party of stocky humanoids Alzar does not recognize, in feathers and war or hunting outfits. There is a stag, dog, deer, puma, and various people like a scout and such. The scout is holding a shepherd’s crook, which is the only part of the diorama that stands out – it is a different color, texture, and such. Alzar takes it from the scout. It appears to have some notches in it and Alzar pockets it.

Key to Tamoachan taken

The niches on the walls also have dioramas of village life here in the Isle of Dread a long time ago. Alzar leaves the dioramas for later and moves to the door. It is carved with a sun symbol and appears to open into the room with no hinges, locks or handle. There is a small keystone with a narrow hole and Alzar inserts the shepherd’s crook into it and the door opens after turning it. It starts to close so Alzar gets everyone in quickly and grabs the key before it closes.

[Abe Sargent]

This is the Hall of Thrashing Canes. The side of the corridor are carved to resemble walls of bamboo-like logs, and the passage slopes down. As they head down, Alzar triggers a and several of the bamboo logs swing out and hit him for 8 damage. Maerie disarms the trap in case they have to come back.

46/54

They arrive at double doors that open and reveal the Roost of the Conch. This is a room made of large stone blocks, with a generally square shape but diagonal cuts in the corners to give it a lopsided octagonal look. There are doors to the right and left, and a stair down in front. The walls are wet and slimy and mud covers most of the floor in a thin coating. In the center of the chamber sits a large polish boulder amid a pile of smaller rounded rocks. The boulder is 5’ tall and colored brown with dark streaks and spots. Leaning against it is a bamboo staff. In the mud around the base of the boulder is a moving crayfish.

The floor is very slippery. Alzar moves forward and approaches the boulders. The crayfish begins waving its claws in warning and speak in a foreign tongue. Alzar can’t make out its language, so he backs away and it settles down. He sees the bamboo staff move a little, and a closer look shows it to be a leg of something else not a staff at all. They leave and head off right through the doors there.

As they walk down a new tunnel, the walls of the corridor are wet and slimy. The stucco covering has become saturated with water and is decomposing and sloughing off in spots on the southern wall, exposing the seams of a large stone block. Alzar pushes on the block and after a bit, due to his strength, it gives way. Inside in a set of double doors just a bit in. They open them, and enter the Sepulcher of Tloques-Popolocas.

Once the entrance block has been pushed out, and the stairs are opened, there is a crash and a glass sphere that was a trap falls and a gas cloud emerges. Alzar orders everybody back save the two immune to it and himself. He makes the save. Aleigha heads in, and Maerie follows. Behind the doors is a chamber cut out of the rock with a veil of calcite and stalactites covering the corners. Buttress rise from the corners, brown shot through with black and great stone transoms support the high vaulting. There are six urns made of beeswax to the left past the door. There is a colossal monument resembling a giant’s table, covered on all sides with intricate carvings and glyphs. Engraved on the floor in a seal bearing more glyphs. There is a battle axe embedded in the wall. The monument is constructed from several parts, with a great stone slab resting on a tick monolith and this, in turn, is supported on 6 huge blocks od dolomite. Every component is covered with intricate carvings and glyphs. The top of the slab depicts a struggle between a man and a serpent. The battle axe has a blade of bronze and the haft is wound with snake skin wrapping. We take a look at illustration #1:

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/17/ddc1.jpg

See that creepy way the axe makes the shadow of an arm? That’s not a good sign. The block beneath the slab sounds hollow when thumped with a sword. None of the carvings or glyphs are magical, or else Alzar could read them with his monocle. Nothing they can do can pry the axe from the wall, or open the sarcophagus, and Maerie and they all search. The urns have common oil in there.

[Abe Sargent]

They return and head back to the room with the crayfish and take the left door. There is a short tunnel with stairs down, and another door. They open it and enter the Courses of the Gods. The room is wet and the walls are covered in a slimy white buildup. There is about an inch and half of water and mud blanketing the floor and within the room are many overturned pedestals and broken statues. Only one pedestal in the northwest corner is okay. On it sits a small, metallic three sided pyramid There is a door on the other side. Alzar takes the:

Small Pyramid of Silver – 3 gp

And they search, find nothing, and leave. They enter a hallway coated with the same slime as that found elsewhere and the floor is covered with a layer of mud, and thorough it a stream trickles north. Along the east wall of the passage stands a 12’ tall statue of a man outfitted in native finery and holding a narrow stone tray in his arms. His eyes appears ot be black gemstones and one droops one of the socket. Behind the left shoulder can be seen the hilt of a weapon, and several places are scratched and chipped. See illustration #2, linked to above.

Alzar uses the Rope of Climbing to attach to the sword and pulls it out without touching the statue. He can’t tell if it’s magical or not and tosses it in the magic pile. Maerie searches and finds nothing. They continue on to double door and arrive at the Court of Cemanahuac.

The doors are bronze and tinted blue due to age. There are two wells, one to either side, just before the doors. The small trickle of water ends there and forms a small pool. The doors open easily and there are narrow aisles in this room flanked by statues and and two corroded bronze braziers in the water. In the middle of the room are two broken urns and some sort of greenish trail in the vicinity. The water is roughly 2’ deep in most places, but the side are much deeper forming a bit of a moat. The green trail leads to a giant slug, which tries to talk to the party but is unsuccessful. They move through the water and up some stairs, into another hallway which 180s into another door – the Tomb of Hurakan.

There is a sound of dripping and slashing from the room, and the door is stuck. Alzar pushes with his might and it finally is forced open, but a flood of water behind it floods the party, and several wash back all the way to the other chamber, where the giant slug is laughing. They head back and discover nothing else in the chamber, not even after a search.

[Abe Sargent]

They follow a hallway out and arrive at double doors, and they have arrived at the Child of Zotzilaha. They hear a faint melodious voice singing, female and strong. They open the doors and see Illustration #3. (It’s just a chick languishing in water).

The room is lit by a strange soft light which illumines a section of sandy beach and a pool of water framed by a crystal cavern and double doors beyond her. It stretches for a bit to the right and it’s obvious this goes back to the crayfish room, and this is what was forward. The light comes from everywhere. On the beach is a nude woman singing, with long golden hair, pale white skin, and a glow to her skin. After finishing her song, she slips into the water.

They enter and move slowly towards the doors, and the pool with the woman. Alzar knows she is not a native due to her hair and skin color – they are all wrong for those who made this place. Alzar uses the Gem of Seeing, and can make out her in the water, as a golden mantling of angel seaweed. Carum and Estaish are taken with her and keep going. Alzar orders Aleigha and Maerie to hold them back while he moves forward (he is immune to charm as you may recall, even Man Charm).

Alzar has a hunch and tries to control her. She is invisible under water, which might imply coming from the Elemental Plane of Water. Or it could just be a natural defense. Alzar succeeds and controls the Nereid. He orders her to stop her charm of Carum and Estaish but she cannot, it is natural, but it will end after they are taken a few hundred feet away. He orders her to give them any treasure she has, and she goes into the water and comes out with:

6 golden statuettes worth 85 gp each
Gold Mask – 175
Two crystal scroll cases - 20 gp each , water has damaged scrolls within.
Bronze Bracers
Potion

Alzar orders her to open the double doors on the room and there is a half flooded door beyond. He tells her to stay away, or he will control her again, and this time, he’ll force her to leave the water and never return. He then releases her, and they move on, Carum and Estaish dragged until they recover. They open some double doors in the hallway and enter The Great Hall.

This hallway is 20’ wide, and has piles of rubble and debris all along it. It is at least 125 feet long, and probably longer. He walls are covered with frescoes, and the north wall has a nation questing for land and the south sailing over storm-tossed seas. They head down see Illustration #4. It shows the hall and the frescoes and the wall and such. They search and find a secret door, 8’ off the ground in the middle of the great hall.

[Abe Sargent]

They climb up rope and arrive in at the Hall of Great Spirits. This corridor is high and decorated with sculptures mounted on the walls. There are two corridors branching off of this one. The statuary that adorns the walls consists of four sculpted each of animals – sea turtle, elk, hawk, and tiger. Why is that interesting? Carum mentions that those are the same four names of the clans among his people.

There is something shining in the hawk’s beak. See Illustration #5. Maerie searches for traps. She finds nothing. Alzar can tell it’s magical and has earth magic in it, but nothing more. He grabs his staff, and slashes at the ring with all of his might and the ring pops out, and the beak closes.

Magic Ring – value 1250 gp

They go right and the corridor is smooth, and at the end is a small alcove holding a 3’ tall stone pedestal on which sits a small stone coffer. See illustration #7. There are two steps up. Maerie finds a trap on the floor of the nook. When more than 100 pounds of weight is put on it, the floor will sink and trap the person in the alcove, and close behind them. Megala flies in and is able to open the cover and inside is a small stone statuette that Alzar telekinesis’s back to him. It starts to glow and float, and Alzar watches it for a bit, and then after it does nothing else takes it.

Glowing, Floating statuette

They return and take the long path forward and arrive at the Hallway of the Ancestors. Deep in the shadows, human figures appear to be hovering in the air. See illustration 6. It shows that there hallway is in the dip, and there are steps up to those hovering figures. They appear to be corpses and Alzar’s investigates one They are not undead, just dead. None have any items but old, ratted and faded robes.

They arrive at a massive bronze door that forms the entrance to the Spirit Guard of Ayocuan, a grand chamber with rubble, broken statuary, and an army of clay statues. There are doors to the right and forward. The room is shaped like a rough hexagon.

In the east wing appear to be large carved stone stelae and the remains of a sedan or litter with statues of attendance standing in harness. They move in and in the littler is the remains of a human shackled to the arm of the sedan, and a bronze door barred shut with an old copper bar that Alzar breaks to open it.

Inside are several things including an amulet made of turquoise and silver. They search the center of the room, and as they move a giant urn, it falls and breaks, and out springs a wight wearing another amulet identical to the one they found. Alzar tries to control it, which should be automatic but…does not work? The amulet grows a vile green instead. It gets a swing at him and he orders everyone back and to attack with magical ranged weapons. Carum misses. Alzar runs and grabs a dagger and throws it and barely hits for 11 damage. Aleigha and Maerie and Estiash have retreated from the room. A sling stone flies in and adds 4 damage. Alzar orders Megala and Dryshik to fly in front of it before it reaches him. It attacks Megala but it manages to fly out of the way. Another dagger flies in for 11 damage. Carum hits and kills it for 5 damage.

XP – 700 for Alzar and Carum

He grabs the amulet and investigates this one, which is identical to the first one. Yeah, he can tell it’s definitely magical. It’s something he’s never seen before, but he thinks he can guess what it does, and if so, these two amulets may be the biggest treasure in here.

[Abe Sargent]

They leave and enter a hallway that ends at a dead end. Two searches find nothing and they turn around. They go right and a short hallway ends at the Chamber of the Nacehual. Both of the doors to this lozenge shaped room are made of heavy bronze.

In the middle are two stone divans, each with a human figure stretched out upon it. Between the divans is a low stone table with two goblets and a flask. There are glyphs and search around. One is female and the other male. They find nothing of value, and nothing is in the flask. The humans are either dead or sleeping, and have nothing of value on them but robes.

They leave by another door and move into a corridor with a Will-o’-Wisp in it. It hovers quietly overhead but makes an eerie sight. Maerie found a pit trap right under it. She disarms it. They arrive at The Nest of the Warriors.

This bronze door is opened and a bitter reek can be smelled. There is a mass of offal and rubbish and many glowing beetles moving around. They are ignoring the group. There is the glint of something shiny from a big pile of trash. Megala and Dryshik go get the glints and bring them back:

Dagger
Turquoise – 50gpx3

They head over to the other doors and leave and this corridor has a ton of stairs up and the climb up for about 15 minutes. Then the tunnel bends and they arrive at the Arc of Nanahuatcin.

[Abe Sargent]

This is a spacious vaulted hallway with much weathering and cracking from the wages of times. The walls are charred and scored and there are several stone statues of baboons scattered around and chipped in several places. Fungus covers part of the room. There is an opening at the other end of the room. As they move in, ahead something spherical floats in the air at about chest height. As the range diminishes, the sphere appears to have one eye and a dozen various tentacles growing out of the top. Alzar immediately orders everyone to stop and ready range weapons. It is probably a beholder: a very dangerous and powerful creature. It appears to not see them yet, despite being in range, and Alzar orders a preemptive strike with bolt, dagger, and stone. They attack and two hit. The “beholder” blows up and explodes but they are out of range of the explosion. It was a gas spore.

http://www.toplessrobot.com/gas%20spore.jpg


They find a bag with 7 silver sling bullets and Alzar hands them to Carum to use if needed.

[Abe Sargent]

They led and end around a corner. As the corridor, it bends and there is the Tomb of Pelota. There is is a bend in the passage and a faint line in the walls depicting men playing with a ball and stone goals. There is a capstone on the floor. Alzar orders everyone past, and then opens the capstone. Inside are several skeletal remains of various people. There is a glistening blue ball on top, about a foot in diameter. The ball is cool to the touch and made of resilient material wrapped around and around, and then dyed or painted.

Alzar is challenged to play pelota, and he disappears into another place and time.

http://www.deportespain.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/y1p5mwgaowufbc09nsmkctm9ip5m-woj_kossk9cfzfi-imv08m6-vqp0zkx9wthu95lfrnygrqcsscxmmexfjm7q.jpg

Alzar has several rounds to try to score three times in this area. The information is conveyed to him telepathically. He rolls a 15 and easily hits the hole in the first round, and recovers the ball and rolls a 17 and easily hits again. (It’s AC3). He rolls an 18 and nails it and the challenge ends like that. There are some items in the area, and he takes them before he is teleported back:

13 pink pearls 200 gp each
Whistle of Flight – Can be blown three times a day. Gives flight for as long as it is blown until the person runs out of air.

They arrive at a door to the Guardian Beast. This giant room has multiple doors off it, and is decorated in a cat motif. See illustration 8. There is a snarling face of a tiger on the entire southeast wall, the statue of a cat man in the middle of the room, a stuffed tiger in the center of the room, and several stuffed domestic cats, Alzar orders a search, and as they enter, Aleigha turns into a werebear and pushes Alzar forward. She smells the room and moves toward the statue. Suddenly it animates and the werejaguar attacks Aleigha. The werejaguar wins init and hits Aleigha once for 5 damage. She hits twice for 7 damage back. Alzar flings in a dagger and nails the guy for 12. Carum misses. Aleigha wins init and bites him once for 4 damage and kills him. They search and find:

Jade Statue of Cat – 200 gp
Dagger
Scroll of Protection vs Felines

A secret door to the southwest. They can go behind this, to the right, left, and forward left. Alzar takes the secret door.

36/41 - Aleigha

[Abe Sargent]

This is The Portal to Death.

There are a massive number of symbols and glyphs in here, and double doors on the other side. There is a seal on the doors keeping them closed. They find nothing in here after a search. They break the seal and open the doors to Ancient Tomoachan: The Tomb of Tlacaelel

Beyond the door is a chamber containing a model of a city or nation fenced off from the entrance by a pillared porch. On the porch are clay statues of 20 guards holding bronze headed spears. The face of each statue is different. The walls are brightly decorated with frescoes showing royal court scenes. The central chamber holds a tarnished copper raft, crafted to resemble a dragon, bearing a copper coffin. The raft is afloat in a sea of silver white molten metal fed my several rivers which lace the floor of the room and its walls. Open that sea, small copper barges and carracks embark on journeys up the rivers, to port, and then sail back to sea. Stepped pyramid temples rise skyward. A royal complex spread across verdant field and modest countryside. There are ringed marketplaces, and yet a mar on this spectacle because several of the models have been smashed and melted as if by monstrous feet. See illustration #9

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/17/ddc1_0001.jpg

Alzar has Megala fly in, and then follows himself. As soon as he does, a Wall of Fire erupts from the pillars and separates him from the party. The copper coffin rises and out comes a doppelganger, in Alzar’s appearance, and Alzar’s axe is out.

Alzar wins init and deals 14. The doppelganger misses Alzar wins init and deals 17. Dead doppelganger.

XP – 650 for Alzar

The wall of fire dies out. The room is cool. Alzar drops a copper coin in the molten metal, and it melts, so it is lance hot. Maerie enters, and the wall of fire returns, and starts a search She finds a few hidden chest inside the temples. The wall of fire dies down after a few minutes.

Inside these chests they find:

Jade earplugs, 6 pairs, 15 gp each pair
Alabaster statuette – 50 gp
15 Bracelets of Obsidian – 200 gp each
Alabaster statuette of Coatlicue – the serpent skirted, worth 270
Scroll case with scrolls
Mask of Disguise

The chests have heaps of these silver coin necklaces, which have 360 silver coins pierced and on a threat of gut. There are 30 necklaces total.

Nothing else is in the room and they return.

[Abe Sargent]

They head to the next door clockwise.

This passage leads west towards a set of double bronze doors bearing the engraved face of the jaguar god. Both walls are carved to represent two lines of warriors in profile, holding hatchet-headed polearms and facing the doors. Illustration #10, which I have above for you.

A search finds a trap that turns the polearms deadly and Maerie successfully disarms it, and they move to the door to Xipe’s Audience Chamber.

When the door is opened, a rush of fetid air greets the group. The room is lit with a sanguine glow. On the wall opposite are tacked several obviously human skins. A cat-o-nine-tails hangs beside them. To the west the room widens to accommodate a high statue with an ogrish look to it, outfitted in flayed skins and many skulls, and with a gaping mouth big enough to swallow a horse. To the east is a well, and above it, a 25’ high ceiling and a hole in it. Beside it is a stuffed panther.

As they enter, a booming voice tells them to toss a offering into the Well of Wisdom, and they will be given advice. Alzar tosses a platinum coin in, a light from the well flashes, and the voice tells him to rerun to the room they just left, and take the north west door to find their destination. All is then quiet.

They search the room, find nothing, and leave. They take the door recommended and arrive at double doors after a 180’. The floor of this room is covered in a thick grey ash inches deep. There are double doors on the other end of this room. There are two alcoves on either side of the room. Megala flies in and sees nothing. Alzar walks in and the dust swirls and forms images. Alzar tries to control them, they are not undead. He uses the Gem and they are merely harmless illusions. He moves through the room, and searches, and finds a Rod. They open the doors into the Chamber of the Second Sun.

There are no more poison gases in here, and as they continue to rise, there will be none as well. 22 turns they have been in the dungeon, and that means Carum has taken 22, and Est rolls 22 saves and we’ll say he makes half and took 11. Alzar takes back the magic items.

This is a huge chamber with a mighty buttressing and vaulted ceiling. Parts of the ceiling and walls have collapsed and through a gaping hole in the north wall, raw earth can be seen. Crushed beneath a fallen block near the middle of the room are the remains of what was likely humanish. Elsewhere are the chewed and decayed corpses of some baboon like creatures, and through a hole in the ceiling can be seen a crack of daylight and fresh air. A group of 4 baboons way up in the gap scream at the party and as they do, dirt slides down a bit in the room.

As they enter, they run into a giant, two headed snake that was hidden in the rubble. It moves to attack and between Alzar’s axe and missile weapons, it is killed on the first round.

XP – 95 each

The mandrills leave after seeing the party kill the snake easily. They move the block and search the room, including the corpses, and find nothing but double doors leading on.

[Abe Sargent]

They open the doors and it bends 270’ degrees and as they move up the stairs, a trap Maerie failed to find hits everybody for 8 damage from a jet of acid.

Carum has taken 30
Est has taken 19
Everybody else has taken 8

Illustration 12 shows the trap. Now that she knows it’s there, Maerie disarms it. They reach the top of the stairs, and follow the corridor until it Ts. They go left. At the western end of this corridor is a pile of yellow coins heaped on the floor. On top of the gold coins rests a jawless skull, and in the right eye socket, a black spider has made this her home. There are bones piled on the coins, with the hilts of a broken sword in the mass. Alzar uses the Gem of Seeing. It’s just yellow mold. They search around the gold and find two secret doors in the hallway.

Alzar opens on and they move on. This is The Chapel of Kukulkan

Beyond the secret door the passage turns to the left. At the end of this narrow hall hangs an ornate mirror and in the eastern wall is a door. The door seems to be very heavy and there are many glyphs upon it, including ones with an eagle killing a serpent. Two warriors dressed in loin clothes form the doorposts. Illustration 13.

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/17/ddc1_0002.jpg

Alzar makes his save when he looks in the mirror and no one else will need to. Beyond the door is a wide foyer leading into a circular room. On the south wall of the room is a jade death mask fixed at chest height. In the center is a cross shaped dais with a set of stairs leading up to it at each of its four ends. Between the arms are shelves on which stand various small trinkets with little value. The steps to the north are bloodstained. There is a statue at the top of the north stairs, and the ones on the other side change colors.

The Gem of Seeing shows an ethereal Couatl coiled about one of the stele in the room, chained to it with ethereal chains.

http://www.kaluta.com/pages/games/dnd/couatl10.jpg

Alzar waves everyone back and moves in and addresses the Couatl. He apologizes for the interruption, but asks why the Couatl is there in this quiet place? The Couatl hisses and addresses Alzar. It is pleased Alzar can see it and the chains. It wants to be freed. If Alzar and his party can reach the top of the altar, and grab the potion from it, and the prison is broken. Alzar consents. Megala tries to fly in, but there is a wall of force above. Alzar moves to climb the stairs and he chooses - blood, normal, statue or color changing….normal ones. Each time Alzar tries to climb them, he slips and falls, so he moves to the one with a statue at the top. The heads of gods in the stairs chant at him and he cannot concentrate. He move sot the one with blood. He makes it up the stairs, but the statue animates and ambles over. Alzar’s axe is out. The statue wins init and misses. Alzar hacks for critical damage for 16. Alzar wins init and adds 14 and kills the statue-warrior, who dissipates. He makes it up, and then feels the wall of force. The Gem of Seeing shows it to be of an unholy nature, so he grabs one of the flasks of holy water from the Taurian Dungeons and smashes it on the Wall of Force, and it dissipates. He grabs the potion and the Couatl asks for it. He gives it to the creature and it is freed and materializes. It does not know the ruins or the area, but it will give Alzar some special reward. A scroll appears in his hands, and the Couatl disappears. The scroll is opened and Alzar feels a chill, and then a warmth. He does not know the benefit.

He will be stalked by a Death Servant, who merges with his shadow. If he ever is about to take a fatal blow, the Death Servant will jump out, take the blow instead, and Alzar will be fully healed.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar takes the other secret door. The Mirrors of Tezcatlipocas. An amber haze fills the room. The chamber is unoccupied, but there are strangely shaped and colored mirrors hanging in the walls and a large basin stands in the middle of the floor. One is red and firery, another is black, and other white and other blue. There is a golden pool in the center of the room.

Each of the mirrors is magical. Alzar’s shadow in one shows him dying in the shrine. In another, it shows what he would look like as one of those who made this place, in a third is shows a mist and so forth. The floor appears to be normal. A search turns up a secret room.

In the center of this diamond shaped room is a dais on which a weirdly formed altar rests. It is made to form a many armed and beaked octopoidal creature with large purple-red stone set in the forehead. The walls are decorated with paintings of the sun and moon. Alzar moves to the throne, and suddenly the arms start spinning and he is caught inside. Using his strength, he is able to bust out but tool 6 damage.

Nothing else is found here, and they return to the T and take the other doors to Mictlan. This room is decorated with a bizarre diorama depicting the land of the dead. Small brightly colored clay statues have been placed to represent inhabitants of the realm and the unfortunate souls bound to it. In the center of the room, the floor rises to form a small hill with earthen palisades and a group of small men figures are rolling a boulder up a hill with a demon driving them on. There is a pebble path through the diorama to the foot of the hill, and doors can be seen to the right.

Alzar moves to the doors and opens it. As he moves across the wild plains section of the diorama, he has to make a save and does. Knowing the room is enchanted, he gets everybody past and into the next room.

[Abe Sargent]

This small room has a small shelf on which rests a glazed flask. The floor of the room is covered with a lumpy pile of earthy material. There is also a small urn and stone cylinder. A door is on the other side.

As Alzar enters, the pile on the floor opens an eye. Then it opens many more. Then it opens a mouth, and more and more and more. It begins to make a babbling cacophony and Est and Carum are Confused. Carum stands still and Est runs in fear. Alzar orders an attack on the gibbering mouther.

http://minipainting-guild.net/eo/gibberingmouther.jpg

Alzar loses init and it attacks 6 times with bites and misses this round. Alzar’s axe rolls a 5 and he misses against the AC1. Maerie and Aleigha grab weapons and dash in. Aleigha hits for 10 damage. The next round, Alzar drops his axe. Maerie hits for 5 damage. Aleigha hits for 4. It attacks Alzar 6 times in order to concentrate on him. Alzar takes 9 damage. At the end, Alzar recovers his axe and can attack normally next. The next round, Maerie misses, Aleigha misses. Alzar doles out 18 and kills it.

XP – 200 each


The flask in the room hold:

Powder of Strength Potion, which Alzar can restore with Alchemy skill
Dried Heart of a Mighty Sis’sharr warrior
The cylinder is a +2 baton, dealing 1d6+2 damage.


They open the door and it is stairs up. They take them and arrive at a room that is small and plainly decorated. To the west, stairs lead out of this room and to either side are narrow dust covered ledges. In the north and south ends of the room are fountains made of bronze inlaid marble. The southern one is cracked and only dry limey deposits remain. The northern fountain contains about two feet of brackish water. A quick check by Megala shows a platinum key in the water, and Alzar dips in his staff and flips it out and into his gauntleted hand. They search and find nothing, and move on, up the stairs and out to Sacred Chitza-Atlan.

[Abe Sargent]

In the middle of this chamber is what appears to be the withered preserved form of a centaur mounted on a slab of marble. Tinted green and decks out in lacquered leather, feathers and copper wire jewelry. There is another door at the end of this room. About the room at many jewelry and knickknacks. Made of copper and bronze, and of little value.

A search finds nothing but this junk jewelry, and they move to leave. As they open the door to the next room, the centaur animates and gets up. It appears to guard the door. Alzar tries to control it, and fails. Alzar thinks it’s a mummy.

Alzar moves up and dodges a pair of hooves from the offspring of Chitza-Atlan. His axe deals 15 damage. Carum and Estaish miss. It goes first and Alzar takes 5. He would get leprosy, but he is immune to disease. (Periapt of Health)Alzar hits for 15. Est’s crossbow adds 5. Carum’s stone misses Aleigha misses. Maerie hits for 5 and it dies.

XP – 1000 each

They find and disarm a wind trap in the hallway. While searching for traps, they find a secret door too, and it goes into The Hidden Room of the Nahual.


The walls of this room are painted a flat black, while the floor is inlaid with a colorful mosaic of strange gods cavorting and leaping around a sun. The chamber is otherwise empty, except for a curtain, behind which is the form of a statue seated upon a throne carved to depict feathers. The statue is wearing a feathered headdress, made to look like leaping fish. Laying across its lap in open palms is a gold and silver scepter with an eagle’s head in one end and the talons of a bird hold a sun in the other. See illustration #14 from before.

The statue has Alzar’s face. He reaches down and picks up the scepter and he becomes stone. Simultaneously, the statue with his face animates and becomes flesh and blood. It explains to the party that it is Alzar merged with a previous incarnation from a previous life.

A die roll shows that Carum does not buy it and leads an attack!

Carum hits for 8 damage. The statue misses with the scepter, now back in its hands. It gazes at Estaish and he drops his weapon. It wins init and hits Carum for 7 damage. Carum misses. It forces Aleigha to drop her weapon. Maerie misses. Est picks it back up.

Carum has 31/58

Carum misses. Est Misses. Maerie hits for 6 damage, Ale picks up her weapon. Carum is missed and is forced to drop his spear. Est misses. Aleigha misses. Maerie hits for 3 damage. Carum take s4 more and Maerie drops her dagger. Carum speras it for 8 and kills it.

27/58

XP – 750 for everyone but Alzar

Alzar is still stone. They try a few things, and eventually touching him with the specter changes him back.

Scepter of Nahual – 507 gp, residual magical energies, but all used up

A search here finds nothing so they return to the corridor and continue.

[Abe Sargent]

They find stairs leading up, and Maerie finds and disarms a crank of some sort of trap.

The stairs open up into what was once a large temple of sorts. All that remains are a back wall and enough of the roof to shelter the altar. All else seems closed off by fallen debris. Several pillars have fallen and litter the floor. There are a few holes in the ceiling that allow the poking through of sunlight. There is a giant bas-relief of a bat-creature on the back wall and in front of it is the altar stone, carved to look like a mass of rats, weasels, and worms.

Close inspection of the altar shows handholds at the base. Alzar cannot lift it by himself and Estaish helps. As they do, a trap launches and hits them both for 10 and 7 respectively. They move the altar top and reveal a pit with one major item of value:

19160 silver pieces

[Abe Sargent]

They have completed the dungeon, except for the tomb and axe below. Alzar sets up shop and spends ten weeks casting Read languages, Detect magic, identify and such, and writes a book about the temple itself, its traps and treasures, the glyphs, and such. He deciphers the languages with the Read language spell, shows rubbings of various parts, and more.

After knowing the language he figures out the tomb. The date of the person;s birth is given on the wall and there are stones around marked 1-10 in the language. By pressing them in the birth order, the crypt lid pulled back.

Beneath the slab is hollow and inside are the remains of a crumbling skeleton decked in finery. It appears to have been a man taller than human size. Fitted on the skull is a mask of jade, with cowrie shell eyes and obsidian pupils. The bones and inside of the hollow are stained bright green. Beneath the mask are fragments of bones as though the skull were crushed. Within the fragments are a white bead. Laying about the mask is a diadem of dark stones and green discs. There are several other items in here as well.

Alzar reaches in and starts pulling off items, and as he does so, the boys starts to reconfigure. While it is doing so, Alzar tries to control it. It fails, but he knows it is undead. It must be powerful. Alzar grabs a +2 dagger and stabs the creature while it is reforming. It looks up at him and bares fangs, and he stabs it again, and it dies. This is a vampire.


Mud Ring
Ring of Protection +1
Bracers of Protection vs Normal Missiles
Jade Mask – 250
Diadem of Opals and Jade – 300
Hair Ornaments of Obsidian – 200
Earplugs of Jade- 75
Polished Onyx – 175 gp
Breastplate of Jade and Bone – 640 gp (AC6)

Alzar tells the fighters to keep hacking the corpse in order to prevent it’s regeneration until he gets back. He goes out and finds the material in the caverns to move the body and then returns. They take the body to the room that was decayed where the poison ends, with a clothes ,and staffs to carry it and others keep stabbing it. They arrive and expose it to the sunlight, and the vampire is destroyed for good.

XP – 500 each

When they return, Alzar is able to grab the Battle Axe from the wall now. Here is what it does:

Battle Axe - +2, -2 vs Chaotic Evil (so it’s neutral against CE). It is cursed, and must always be used in combat by Alzar until the curse is removed. It has permanent scrolls in the haft, and the command words are in the ancient language, which he can now read. Three times a day he can activate each of these – Push, Passwall, Burning Hands.

[Abe Sargent]

All of the stuff from this adventure:


Powder of Strength Potion, which Alzar can restore with Alchemy skill
Dried Heart of a Mighty Sis’sharr warrior
The cylinder is a +2 baton, dealing 1d6+2 damage.
6 golden statuettes worth 85 gp each
Gold Mask – 175
Two crystal scroll cases - 20 gp each , water has damaged scrolls within.
Glowing, Floating statuette
Turquoise – 50gpx3
13 pink pearls 200 gp each
Whistle of Flight – Can be blown three times a day. Gives flight for as long as it is blown until the person runs out of air.
Jade Statue of Cat – 200 gp
Scroll of Protection vs Felines
Jade earplugs, 6 pairs, 15 gp each pair
Alabaster statuette – 50 gp
15 Bracelets of Obsidian – 200 gp each
Alabaster statuette of Coatlicue – the serpent skirted, worth 270
Mask of Disguise
Scepter of Nahual – 507 gp, residual magical energies, but all used up
19160 silver pieces
The chests have heaps of these silver coin necklaces, which have 360 silver coins pierced and on a threat of gut. There are 30 necklaces total


Plus the stuff from the crypt.


Magic Pile: Two Handed Sword, +1, +4 vs Gas Spore. Bracers of Cleaning. Potion of Treasure Finding. Amulet of Protection vs Turning x2. +1 Dagger, +1 Dagger vs Lycanthropes, Cleric Scroll – Stone Tell. Rod of Electrification – 17 charges.

Ring – 1250 gold. Can cast Flesh to Stone three times. Each time the value of the ring drops 200gp. Then can cast Stone Shape, and each time that is used, value drops another 50 gp until the value is gone – charges are used up.


Mud Ring – The wearer may cast these spells: meld into stone, water breathing 3x day, stone shape 2x day, earthquake – 1x month, transmute rock to mud or reverse, 2x week, transmute water to dust or reverse 1x week, conjure 8 HD earth or water elemental 1x week, and airy water 1x day . But, it cannot be used more than 5 times a day. All saves involving water or earth are made at +1, and air and fire at -1.

Alzar is immediately made aware of the ring’s powers upon donning it. However, there is a small chance each time it is used that Alzar will be wisked off to the plane whose powers he used when the conduit is open, because the enchantment is not perfect. He needs to keep his Amulet of the Planes with him at all times, as a result.

Bracers of Cleaning – When worn, prevents hands from getting wet or dirty from any substance. This includes poisons, acids, and such – so they might be handy in the lab.

Rod of Electrification deals 1d4+1 electrical damage when it hits someone in combat, can be recharged with a lightning bolt.

[Abe Sargent]

XP:

Alzar – 133,554 (Level 9 at 135k)
Estaish – 62,647 (Level 7 at 64k) – Now with 45 HP
Aleigha – 58,289 (Level 6) – Now has 41 HP.
Carum – 52,269 (Level 6) – Now has 58 HP.
Maerie – 44790 (Level 7 – level 8 at 70k) - 22 hp



Research shows that the heart is enchanted and meant to be eaten, so Alzar eats the old heart, and now he can fully understand and speak Sis’sharr permanently.

Alzar has finished Dispel Magicing another book for 2 months worth - the level 6 Evil Spellbook


Level 6 “Evil” Spells:

Death Fog
Ensnarement
Geas
Mislead
Programmed Illusion
Flesh to Stone


Curse of Lycanthropy
Gauntlet of Teeth
Otiluke’s Excruciating Screen
Seizure
Spell Mirror


The Screen, Teeth, Mislead and Programmed Illusion are all illusion and evocation, and Death Fog is an example of Evocation Bleed into alteration, so not.

Alzar learns Ensnarement, Geas, Curse of Lycanthropy, Seizure and Spell Mirror.

Spell Mirror allows the caster to put a spell into a mirror, and then the first person to cast a reflection that meets the qualifications gets the spell cast at them.

[Abe Sargent]

Since Alzar and company are near the dangerous monsters on the north side of the Isle of Dread, he grabs a Broom of Flying and starts searching for a dinosaur to fight, solo. He finds a Triceratops and flits down. The dinosaur is 100’feet away, and Alzar’s Blastbones forces it to turn and charge. It has 81 hp.

Alzar casts skulltrap and sets it on the ground and retreats, keeping it between him and the dinosaur. As it gets near, he casts Ray of Enfeeblement. It makes its save, and then bowls into the trap. 24 damage or save for half. It makes its save and takes 12.

69.

It arrives and misses (cloak). The new axe is out and The dinosaur is hewn for 18 damage.

51 damage left.

Alzar wins init and hits for 17. He is hit twice for 11. Alzar hits again for 18 more. 26 hp left for it. It wins init and hits three times for 11. He hits back for 20. It wins init for 22. Alzar hits for 19 and it dies.

Alzar – 10/54

Alzar gains 8800 XP.

Alzar – 142,354

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar gains 2 hp and is at 56. He can now cast 2 5th level spells.

5/4/4/3/2



This is a significant upgrade. The ability to do things such as summon elementals and animate dead will greatly increase his mystical force. Also, when he casts Dispel Magic at a work of Castanamir’s, he now has a 10% chance per spell of it working, which is a major upgrade.

He spends an extra week back at Tangaroa, and then with all of the more powerful Dispel Magics cast,

Reveals these two tomes:

Markessa’s high level spellbook – Lightning Bolt

Markessa’s low level spellbook – Magic Missile, Protection from Good, Read Magic, Detect Magic, Shocking Grasp, Scare, Wizard Lock and Darkness, 15’ radius


They were both easily dispelled of any protections, if they had them. Alzar doesn’t want any of these except Wizard Lock. One of the things that Alzar has been doing is getting skeletons ready for animation by casting bone knit on them, and memorizing two Bone Knits and one Dispel Magic daily. The Bone Knits will give a skeleton max hp and only take a shard of bone to cast. He is preparing many of them for eventual animate dead.


They gather up their things and move to the ruins on the other side of the Isle in the jungle that they found earlier.

[Abe Sargent]

I1. Dwellers of the Forbidden City


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/81/Dwellers_of_the_Forbidden_City.jpeg


As mentioned before, this one got 13th on the all time best chart, and I think it did so, in part beause of its additions to the game. Here are the creatures it introduces – yuan-ti, tasloi, bullywugs, aboleth, yellow musk creeper, and mongrelmen. That’s a lot of creatures that are major parts of AD&D. All of them were important enough to make the cut in 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual, because that’s how good they are. The yuan-ti, in particular, is one of the most classic of AD&D monsters.

After this, it will be Alzar’s desire to leave the Isle of Dread and head home, but I suspect one or two more adventures are going to rise up and challenge him before he does so.

[Abe Sargent]

They arrive at the ruins, and closer examination finds that the ruins are part of a lost outpost, from long ago. The architectures matches that in other places around the island. They investigate it, and it is just old crumbling ruins, but there is a cave nearby that has a stream emerging from it. This certainly seems interesting, so Alzar and company move towards the cave.

The tunnel narrows and becomes a five foot wide path beside the stream that hugs the wall of the cavern, and soon the sound of a waterfall can be heard up ahead. After another fifth of a mile, the path opens up into a giant cavern, with a tall waterfall that’s roughly 200’ off the ground and a few hundred feet away. Bats squeak and flutter overhead.

Thirty feet along the path the rock wall juts outward and the path turns out of sight around the bend. Alzar fails his save and believe the rock wall and path are there and moves to go around and falls into the river. Everybody else backs up away from the now discovered bank.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/7369/aboleth.jpg


Four warty tentacles lance out as the aboleth focuses on the people still on the path, ignoring Alzar for now. Mistake. Alzar’s cursed axe is out and he slashes into the mucousy cloud of tentacles. He misses. It hits twice, critting Carum and hitting Maerie for 4 and 5. Maerie fails her save and her skin starts to turn into a clear, slimy membrane. Aleigha jumps into the water (Necklace of Adaptation, does not wear metal armor) and swims to Alzar (slow and -4 underwater though to damage and to hit and +4 to AC)


54/58 – Carum
18/23 – Maerie

The aboleth wins init and hits twice, getting a crit of Carum for 10 and a hit on Maerie for 2. Alzar hits for 15 damage. Aleigha rolls an 11, -4 for underwater, +2 for sword, +4 for Ac – miss. Alzar’s second attack hits for 18 more. Carum jumps in the water after stripping off his metal armor.


44/58 – Carum
16/23 – Maerie

The Aboleth wins init and turns its attention on Alzar and tries to Enslave him. Success, Alzar is now enslaved and cannot attack the Aboleth, and will serve it. Aleigha hits the Aboleth for 5 damage. Carum spears it and adds 1 damage. Maerie is starting to be hurt by being out of water due to her altered condition, and she jumps out, leaving just metal bound Estaish on the shore.

Aleigha and Carum win init. Aleigha rolls a 13. -4, +4, +2 – hit barely. 4 damage dealt. Carum misses. Maerie tries to stab it and misses. Carum fails a save in the mucous and now can only breathe water for a few rounds. It swims away, ordering Alzar to guard it. It is moving towards the waterfall. Aleigha and Carum set up a perimeter in the water so it can’t escape. Carum realizes he can breathe water after he surfaces, gulps in air, and starts to choke.

Alzar is not coming too. Estaish believes they need to kill the creature, and is scanning the water with crossbow ready in case of ripples. Maerie is underwater so her skin won’t hurt. Estaish sees a small cloud of mucous and points it out to Aleigha and Carum who advance. Est lances a bolt into the water on the other side of the cloud in order to scare it toward Aleigha and Carum but instead it lances out at Est with four tentacles. One hits for 6 and Est makes his save. Aleigha and Carum near it. Est lances out a bolt at the area the tentacles are coming from. He just misses it.

39/45 – Estaish

Aleigha misses with a 12, and Carum misses with a 9. Est bolts in another for a 14. -4 for a blind shot, +4 for AC is a miss. The Aboleth rolls 7, 16, 6, and 2. The 16 is -2 for AC, and has a THAC0 of 14 and hits. Est rolls a 15 save and takes 3.

36/45

Aleigha rolls a 3. Carum a 16, which is a hit for 9 damage and the Aboleth dies. Alzar is back to normal. Aleigha casts Cure Disease on Maerie and her skin turns back to normal. Carum can breathe air again in a few minutes.

XP – 1000 each

[Tellistto]

Wow, nasty beast there.

[Abe Sargent]

They move inward and get closer to the waterfall. The path continues up the cliff in a very meandering way, and at several points it passes behind the waterfall. Megala and Dryshik fly up and see nothing but a continuing tunnel and a few barrels with lit torches on the walls. There is a stream and a pool in front of the waterfall.

As they move up the path, it goes underneath the waterfall, then comes out and heads to the other side of the cliff before cutting back on itself and heading under the waterfall a second time. Suddenly, a barrel of oil is broken above, and set on fire and the waterfall is fiery. Everybody takes 6 damage, except Carum, Estaish and Aleigha who are immune to normal fire.

10/23 - Maerie
48/54 - Alzar

Megala flies back up and sees several of these squat froglike humanoids at the top with rocks readied. A few have short bows, and two fire at Megala, and one crits it for 8 damage. It flies back down immediately.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090622180411/forgottenrealms/images/thumb/4/4b/Bullywugs_-_Warren_Mahy.jpg/330px-Bullywugs_-_Warren_Mahy.jpg


4/12 for Megala

There is no question they are setting up to drop rocks and fire bows down on the group as they wind their way up the cliff. The best way to break that up is to change their view. Alzar hands out Brooms of flying to Estaish and Carum and grabs the whistle. They will fly up the cliff, land among the bullywugs, and attack with melee weapons instead of own their terms.

The 9 bullywugs are quite surprised when three people start flying up. The three with bows fire at the one in front – Alzar. He is missed due to his cloak. They land and start attacking.

Alzar’s axe is +0 to hit and damage against them. He still manages to hit a bullywug for 13 damage and kills it. Est drops his sword. Carum spears one for 6 damage and it dies. The other 7 have moved to melee weapons. They are jumping into the people they attack, so they get +2 to hit and deal double damage. Several miss Alzar He is hit by one who fired a bow at him earlier and knows to compensate – He takes 6. Est is hit for 10.

The next round, they win init and hop around some more. Carum took 12, Est 10 and Alzar 14. Alzar casts Sleep and puts down all of them. Should have done that to begin with. Now he knows better with the hoppies.

30/54 - Alzar
19/45 - Estaish
32/58 – Carum


XP - 200 for Alzar, Estaish and Carum


They search the bullywugs and the clear pool here with glittering things at the bottom. They find:

Silver Brooch – 1000
Three Disks of Jade – 500 gp each
Gold Enchased Incense Burner – 900 gp

[Abe Sargent]

Wow, nasty beast there.

Yeah. Imagine if I had to fight more than one!

One of the things I've always liked about the Aboleth is that their powers make sense. They mentally enslave people, and then their mucous makes them able to breath underwater and their tentacles make their skin more comfortable underwater. So their abilities make sense together, and I like a creature that's well thought out like that

[Abe Sargent]

They’ve been wounded badly by less than 10 Bullywugs and an Aboleth. This is not going to be easy, Alzar thinks to himself. They continue along. As the path, which is obviously carved, continues, a natural path splits off to the left. They decide to take the off cave to see if the place gets a little easier than hoppers with spears and bows and rocks and flaming oil, and weird fishy things with tentacles and magic.

Near the end of the natural tunnel is a cave with a small cave mouth. The area is open to the sun and therefore there are ferns, orchids, all of the place, plus these pretty bright yellow flowers handing down from the entrance.

As they move towards the entrance, three humanoid creatures scramble out from behind the rocks behind them. Maerie dodges the attack of one and the party’s ranks reform. They wear banded mail, carry shields and sword, and they are pushing the group forward. Maerie is backed up, and suddenly, one of the flowers fires a puff of pollen at her. She is hit, fails her save, and starts waling to the entrance, listless. Alzar orders everybody to attack the three yellow musk zombies while he goes after the plant.

Alzar gets to the plant and is immune to the pollen, since it must be breathed in to work. Some tendrils are starting to work their way to Maerie’s head, and Alzar hacks them and forces her to the ground. Carum hits a zombie for 7 damage. One this back on Aleigha for 3 damage.

38/41 – Aleigha

The zombies miss three times and one drops a sword. Alzar hacks at the creeper for 18 damage. Aleigha and Carum hit the damaged zombie for 16 damage and he dies. 2 left. They win init and Carum takes 8 damage. Est and Aleigha hit for 14 on another. Alzar kills the flower. Then moves back to the group to help them out. They win init and Est takes 6. Alzar kills the damaged one for 20 damage. All three hit the other one for 23 damage. Alzar hits and kills the last one. He looks at the sword of one and immediately identifies it

24/58 – Carum
13/45 – Estaish

He look through the other things and finds nothing else obviously magical, but they add it to the magic pile for later examination. A search of the room turns up some small clay balls. Alzar is able to id them as well

+1 Longsword, +4 vs Reptiles
Incense of Mediation x4

XP – 202 each

[Abe Sargent]

They leave by another entrance to this chamber. As they walk on, they enter a larger chamber, with stalactites and stalagmites. They move in, and suddenly a Piercer falls on Alzar, and three more follow. They all miss. Then Alzar hears a clicking above and spies a carrion crawler moving on the roof. It is not attacking them – probably because the Piercers missed. They keep an eye on the carrion crawler and search the room and find:

200 gp
Wand

The tunnel continues and bends and winds its way out of the cliff altogether and they have emerged outside. Obviously there are two entrances to the area they are investigating, this one, and the one that was guarded. They head back.

Estaish is now told to use his Crossbow more and Maerie is handed some daggers to throw from the rear. Carum is behind Alzar, and Aleigha is at the rear, in case of rear attacks.

They arrive back at the sculpted area and soon they hit a place where the passage widens and is dimly lit with fungi of a phosphorescent nature. There is a large open grillwork gate that blocks the wall, and it is flanked by two square pillars. There are shuttered windows in the pillars – towers? Rooms?

Well, this is obviously an interesting find. Why is there a cave version of a guardhouse here? Alzar tells the group what the plan is. He is going to use Passwall on his axe on the pillar to the left, and then they will charge in and attack whatever is there on his terms, not theirs.

They approach it, and Alzar casts the spell, reveals the room behind it with about 10 tasloi in it, and then they charge in. As they do ,two Tasloi in the windows across form them open windows and start throwing javelins.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z110/artemis_riverwolf/Mythical/tasloi.gif

Due to surprise at the way of entering, Alzar gets in a free hit and bisects a tasloi. They win init and Alzar kills another. Estaish and Carum kill two more with bolt and spear. They reciprocate. Those in the other room throw spears at Aleigha. One hits for 2. Several try and hit Alzar and miss. Carum is hit with a net and loses 3 turns while trying to get out. Alzar hews another down – 4 dead.

Alzar’s group wins init. He kills another. Est misses. Maerie misses. Aleigha runs in. Alzar is critically hit with a short sword for 8. They win init again. Alzar kills another. 6 dead. Aleigha deals 4 and just injures one. Maerie’s dagger flies in and deals 5 to one and kills it. 7 dead. Est bolts the one Aleigha hit and kills it. 8 dead. They run away and Alzar hacks down another as they do. 9 dead. They others join them from the other room, and there are way too many to put to sleep so Alzar has Dryshik cast Wall of Fog in front of them and they move in. A throwing dagger kills one. A crit on a sling kills another. They try to push into the Wall of Fog to escape the deadly missiles and Alzar casts sleep and drops 7 more and two are left. Megala claws one for 3 and it falls asleep. They follow the other and drop it in the fog.

36/41 – Aleigha
28/54 - Alzar

XP – 85 each

They search and find a bunch of weapons but nothing else except for:

2 10gp gems and 50 gp

[Abe Sargent]

They move on and after a bit, they arrive at a place where they hear people ahead. A quick scout by Dryshik shows that there are about 16 tasloi and a pureblood yuan ti.

http://i33.tinypic.com/t9z51c.jpg

Purebloods look like the chick.

Alzar decides to use up on the spells in his second Ring of Spell Storing in order to clean it out for better spells. He launches a Fireball at them. It will explode in front of them, and he is really far away still, so hopefully he will catch them in its explosion, without having to get so far that they can see him. It does 39 damage and a save vs half for the Yuan-Ti. It makes its save and takes 20. The tasloi are cooked. The yuan-ti casts Darkness 15’ radius down the corridor and where the fireball exploded, and Alzar can no longer see it. He runs into the darkness, hoping the yuan-ti did so as well, but doesn’t sense it. He pulls out the normal crystal ball and looks ahead at what he just saw . The yuan-ti has backed off, and is readying more spells once Alzar pops out.

He prepares by hoisting daggers and will run out, throwing daggers at his foes, while the rest of the party has caught up to the darkness. Then they will pop out and use missile weapons while Alzar engages.

Alzar wins init and hits the Yuan-Ti for 10 damage. It casts Polymorph Other on Alzar. Alzar makes the save. Alzar wins init and knifes for 9 damage. The Yuan-Ti casts Suggestion (Alzar is immune). The other missilers exit the darkness and Est manages to hit with a bolt for 5 and drops it.

XP – 1560 for just Alzar, 1000 for Estaish.

They search and find:

Potion
2 gems worth 1000 each

[Abe Sargent]

They continue on. The opens and light filters in a bit from somewhere above. The passage opens. There are two half-breed yuan-ti guarding this room. One appears man-like except for his scaled skin and snake like head. He carries a halberd. The other has snakes instead of arms. They see Dryshik scouting and move in. Alzar and group move up. They move to attack and one casts Suggestion on Alzar – immune. He lances a knife at the spellcaster for 11 damage. Then he reaches the one with the halberd. The halberd misses, the spellcaster casts Cause Fear and Carum and Maerie flee. The cursed axe hits for 13 on the halberd wielder. Est misses and Aleigha moves up to position. A Mist Ball flies in at the spellslinger for 2 damage and 4 rounds of blindness.

Alzar doles out 19 to the halberd wielder and Aleigha adds 8. He dies. Est misses the spellcaster. Alzar moves in and hits for 15. Aleigha misses, and Est hits for 2. It tries to bite with its snakes and misses Alzar. It wins init and hits Alzar for 5 damage. His axe bites into him twice for 36 damage and the yuan-ti dies.

XP 400 each

They search the bodies and find a ring on the halberdier’s hand. They continue and exit the cavern and enter a new world.

This is an old, underground city. It was once above ground, but volcanic activity and earthquakes combined to bury it. However, it has not remained fully buried. There are streams of sunlight that illuminate the place, as the jungle above and rocks cover it, but still allow in a lot of light

The city has a ton of buildings and as they move in, they notice that many are crumbling and antiquated. A large lake dominates the area in front of them, and a large swamp surrounds it.

http://www.lordkilgore.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/forbidden_city_numbered.jpg

(They are at C11 in the right corner)

[Abe Sargent]

Since this place is so large, and since they have those with them badly wounded, Alzar sends out Megala and Dryshik to scout. They find a cave to the right about 300 feet down along the cliff face. The area around the cave mouth is clear of vegetation. They move to the cave, and open entering find a large number of bullywugs. Alzar casts Hypnotize and 4 drop their weapons. There are three more but they call for aid and more can be heard deeper in the cave. Several try to hop stab Alzar but they miss. He throws in a Skulltrap deeper as a bunch more Bullywugs emerge from side caves and wipes out the cave but took 10 himself.

They search the caves and find:

There are three entrances from this main central cave, and they each extend back 20-30 feet or so. The floor is very muddy and strewn with debris, and at the back are two poisonous frogs in a cage. They clean out the cave and convert it to a place for them to stay for a while. They turn this cave into a campsite, with campfire, and more. It is very easily defended, and the people here will probably not attack thinking the bullywugs are in here. There could be more out on patrol or something, but there is little movement in the city, and Alzar suspects it awakens at night. They find plenty of fruit on nearby trees.

After a few hours, Alzar decides to head out scouting the swamp around them. He checks out the lake, and sees it teeming with life. He’ll come back later for a better look. He returns, and they set up camp. He gives Estaish his Belt of Flying with the gems for a few hours to regenerate him, and thence to Maerie.

The evening is warm and they listen to outside. There are two on guard at all times. They hear nothing approach their cave all night, and in the morning, everyone is fresh and rested. Alzar stores a Searing Serpent in the Ring replacing Fireball and then rememorizes it.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar memorizes his normal complement of spells – Sleepx2, Hypnotism, Charm Person, Animate Dead Animals, Blastbones, Ray of Ondovir, Ray of Enfeeblement, Empathic Control, Skulltrap, Dispel Magic, Searing Serpent, Vampiric Touch, Mordenkainen…Maidens, Charm Monster, Greater Malison, Domination, Conjure Earth Elemental

They head out and instead of hitting the city, they decide to investigate what is around them. Everybody is healed. They move down the swamp and arrive at the lake. The water is black and scummy, clogged with reeds, duck weed, and lily pads. There are swarms of stinging insects and frogs, and probably more. The lake hits the cliff side, so they cannot skirt it to the right without going over it,. There is a path that skirts it to the left, so they take it.

After a bit, it continues on into the city, or veers off north, and they take it north. It makes things rather quite easy to walk. As they do so, a giant centipede comes out of the swamp and moves to attack them. It probably thinks they are food. A dagger from Alzar kills it, and then 4 move emerge. They grab weapons. Est kills one with a bolt and Carum another with a stone. Alzar runs up in front and the last two attack him and miss He axe kills one. They win init and Alzar smashes it.

XP – 20 each

They move on Another 20 minutes pass by and all is quiet. The path leads to a stockade a few hundred feet in front of them, and it continues off to the left and skirts past the city. They move slowly towards the stockade. A flying scout shows several huts and such in the also, lots of swamp water, and bullywugs. Alzar has no idea why the bullywugs they killed were in that cave. Have these not noticed they are missing yet? Maybe there is more than one group in the area? Alzar has already seen how they can tear through a party if given a chance, and has no intention of allowing them to do the same to him.

There is a watchtower, and more. What Alzar wants to do is get all of the bullywugs together in one place, and then Skulltrap them. He grabs a skull to get it ready, and then mounts a Broom of Flying and flies over the compound. Several of them emerge and a few spears are thrown his way. He lowers himself on top of the watchtower and flings a non-magical dagger down and hits dealing 10 damage and killing one. He then leaps back into the air. A few more spears fly past, and after a few minutes, there are about 30 bullywugs around, and one is giving them orders and wearing chain mail. Alzar swoops down to the chief and grabs his skull, poised right above it. Spears fly out as bullywugs converge, and most miss but he is hit twice for 8 damage. He then casts Skulltrap and drops it. It hits most of the bullywugs. The chief, his guards, and 20 others have died, but a few are outside the range. Alzar has Megala fly up and down like crazy in front of Estaish, and that’s the signal for them for come towards the stockade. Alzar grabs a bone and flies toward the remaining bullywugs. They are running and hopping away from him. He puts the bone back, they won’t stay still. He casts sleep instead and five drop. The last few flee even more, and another sleep puts the rest to sleep.

When the fighters arrive, Alzar has made the stockade safe for them. They find a pond with hundreds of bullywug tadpoles. Alzar agrees to let them stay by themselves

XP – 1800 for just Alzar

They search and find a few trained frogs still leashed up.

8 gems – 500 gp each, 1 gem 700 gp
1500 sp
5000 gp

[Abe Sargent]

They leave the place and search the woods above but find nothing but a few giant wasps flitting above overhead. They return and take the northern path to the city. The city is roughly 2000-2500 feet wide at its widest, so although there are a lot of buildings, it should take too long to explore. They walk along the path on the north and enter a few buildings and they are devoid of anything of interest. They reach the northwest corner of the city and pass by some stakes, bloodied, and chains in the street. They hear the cry of a bird. Dryshik says its not a bird but a creature. Megala claws it and hits for 1 damage and…it falls asleep.

Alzar has it captured and they head back a few hundred feet to an abandoned building. They tie up this ugly, malformed creature. It looks to have the blood of several types of humanoids running through it, like some sort of…mongrel.

http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/24e/324/24e32429-4414-4613-90c8-5f38db36a89a

Alzar slaps the mongrelman awake and tries to talk to him. He is panicked, and it takes a while to calm his down. It speaks a fragmented common broken with animal calls. Alzar reaches down and unties him. He rubs his one wrist of skin – the other is an insect-like chitin. Alzar casts Charm Person and it works, and the mongrelman tells him about the home of his people just ahead. They are invited to come with him, and they mongrelman, who’s name sounds like the caw of a bird, move forward. He leads in the front, and the guards let them through, but a group of his kind arrive and they talk for abit. This is a wide open compound with walls all around and several buildings still intact in the center.

They are introduced to the leader, who will allow them to stay in their village and come and go as they please if Alzar will wrestle him. He agrees.

They take off armor and weapons, and that leave Alzar with his cloak and bracers and such, but not gauntlets – they actually are armor. They move to a fight, and Alzar easily wins after five rounds, and he took just 2 damage from a throw.

The group is welcomed and there is a feast tonight to celebrate, and as the food – a dead boar, is roasted, the people get clam and solemn, and the leader tells Alzar the history of their people and their heroes. They have been here in this city for a long time. They have fought many enemies. They ask for news, and Alzar tells them of the bullywugs they killed and they celebrate. The bullywugs will eat them. The stakes outside are where they chain enemies they capture in combat, and leave them for the local monsters to eat. They are welcome to stay the night tonight, and use the mongrelmen camp as abase.

[Abe Sargent]

There is a building in the compound that no mongrelman will enter. When asked why, they mention that is it the home of the mystic mistress. Alzar goes up to the door and knocks, and a female voice inside curses at the mongrelmen for disturbing her, and suddenly goes quiet when she peaked out of a crack in the building and sees Alzar.

Her name is Aratheas, a female Invoker who has been here for a year now, when her adventuring party came to the Isle of Dread, and found these ruins, and then was all killed but her. She is very haughty and indolent. Alzar and her talk about the art, and then enter into the trade.

He looks over her spells, but finds none that interest him. He is nice and trades for the first level spell Enlarge and she trades for Chromatic Orb in one of his spellbooks.

She asks to come with them on their way out, because she has been down here or too long. Alzar tells her they will come back for her when they are ready to leave, and she agrees ,although it’s obvious she does not want to stay.

Morning comes and another night passes. Once again, Alzar goes into a place by himself leaving all of his items behind and casts Dispel Magic on a spellbook and then returns. Then he memorizes it again. They set out early, with few preparations to make and Alzar only needed to learn two Sleeps a Skulltrap and Dispel. The mongrelmen told them where they could expect trouble, and they are to one spot right now. There are supposedly some bugbears holed up in a complex to the south east and with directions in hand, they head out.

[Abe Sargent]

Nothing attacks them on the way. They enter a section of ruins quite dense and Megala confirms that this is the section with the bugbears. There appear to be several spaces set aside for the bugbears. The axe will be at +0 for fighting them. This encounter will be about weapons, not magic. They are too powerful for a simple sleep spell – since maybe one or two would fall asleep from each casting. Alzar wants to save Skulltrap for later and they aren’t bunched together anyway. There are 7 separate entrances and exits to their compound, so they can’t be bunched and then killed. They are too smart to fall into the trap the bullywugs did. Nope, there is no easy solution to this problem, just grab weapons, and head in.

Alzar leads the way and they enter by the south east and run into 3 bugbears. He casts his maidens and orders everyone else to support him. Maerie has been given a quartet of +1 daggers to toss in. Aleigha watches his flank and the others fire in. The bugbears win init and miss. Alzar carves one for 14 damage. It is still alive until Est kills it. Carum misses and drops his sling. A dagger deals 2 to another. The other two shout for help. The maidens miss. Aleigha moves to Alzar’s right flank and watches it, ready to nip in and hit if needed.

Alzar wins init and deals 13 damage to the unharmed one. It falls. Another dagger flies in and hits the same one for 4. It misses Alzar. His maidens deal 2 to it, Carum recovers for 6 and Alzar‘s second swing kills it. Alzar has Megala and Dryshik watching to make sure none run away.

Four more round the corner and two throws weapons at Alzar. They win init and two miss due ot the cloak and the other two miss because of his -3 AC. At this point, unless they roll a 20, they are all missing due to the -2 AC with an axe and -2 from the maidens. The maidens miss. Alzar nails one for 10. Est and Carum add 7 and she dies. Alzar wins init and carves one for 12. The maidens hits once for 4 and kill him. Est and Carum miss. The two left attack Alzar and miss. Three more bugbears arrive as Alzar’s second attack kills one for 18 damage.

He moves forward to engage them away from the others. Megala sees 8 more coming. They go first. They all miss. Alzar drops his axe, Alzar thinks about wielding the other axe and the cursed one pops back into his hand – a useful side effect of the curse. Carum hits one for 3 damage. The maidens hit once for 6 damage. A Mist Ball flies into one but it makes its save. Alzar wins init and hits for 10 damage on the injured one and it dies. One maiden hits for 2, Est adds 4, Carum misses. Aleigha moves in and hits for 10 and kills him. Alzar takes a magic missile from a bugbear shaman for 8 damage. One crits him for 16. His second swing carves another for 16 damage and kills it.

30/54 - Alzar

The bugbears go first. They miss Alzar and he takes 5 damage from Melf’s Acid Arrow. He casts Vampiric Touch on a bugbear. He only deals 6 to her. Aleigha adds 8. One maiden hits for 3 and she dies. Est drops his crossbow and Carum misses. Maerie sneaks in and backstabs a Bugbear who turned his back too much. She hits for 14 damage and he dies. The shaman is Mist Balled but makes the save.

31/54

Alzar takes 4. Alzar wins init and deals 12 damage. Two beefier bugbears, with similar features arrive. The maidens hit the injured one once fro 2 damage, Aleigha and Carum miss. Maerie tries to stab him while she’s here and hits for 6 damage and kills him. They all miss, and the shaman casts Cause Fear. Carum runs.

27/54

They go first and Alzar is attempted to be Charmed but failed. He hits the beefiest one twice for 24 damage. He is reeling. Aleigha hits another near her for 8. Everybody else misses. The shaman is blinded and takes 2 from the third and final Mist Ball. Alzar wins init and cuts down the chief for a hit that deals 13 damage. The maidens both hit and kill Aleigha’s target for 9. Est hits a new one for 3 damage. There are just four left, besides the blinded shaman. One beefier, and three others. The beefier one calls a retreat, and Alzar slashes the beefier one for 11 damage before they do. Megala is ordered to clip one and hits for 1 damage and…fell asleep. Three left. Alzar casts sleep as they round the corner and the two non—beefy ones fall. They run after the wounded beefier one. Megala and Dryshik shows its position in this labyrinth. Maerie stops to kill the blinded shaman.

Megala flies down to claw and hits for 1 damage and it rolls a 3 and falls asleep too. The sleepers are killed and they have cleaned out the bugbear lair.

XP – 598 each

They search the bodies and area, and add a lot of stuff to the magic pile.


Scroll – Non-Detection, Emotion
1625 gp
Ring
55 pp
Ring
Sword of Wounding I 13, E 4 AL CN – Empathy, Detect Invisible, heal once/week
2000 ep
4 pieces of jewelry worth 500 gp each
Jeweled Headband – 3000 gp

As they leave the ruins, they come across a pure blood yuan-ti sent to investigate the commotion.

A dagger in its stomach from Maerie deals 2 to it. Alzar drops his dagger. Carum misses Est hits for 2. The pure-blood casts Sticks to Snakes and turns four nearby sticks into snakes. Alzar orders the group to take care of them while he runs to the pure blood.

It casts Polymorph Other on Alzar and he just makes it. His axe misses. (-2 for attacking CE align just caused the miss). One snake takes 14 and dies. One hits Aleigha for 4 damage and begins to constrict her. Another hits Maerie for 1 and does the same. They win init. Alzar is tried to be Suggestioned but that fails. Maerie and Aleigha automatically take 2 and 4 respectively. Carum drops the spear and grabs a dagger to try and cut a snake loose. It takes 3 on Maerie. Estaish’s sword is out as he attacks the snake not coiling around someone. It takes 6. Alzar hits for 12. His second attack adds 15 more and the pureblood just dies. The snakes turn back to sticks. They add his weapons and armor to the magic pile for later.

XP – 400 each

[Abe Sargent]

There is supposedly an old marketplace with nasty creatures a bit more down this way, so they head out more. They arrive at a 50’by50’ area that used to be a small marketplace and there are rotting remains of stalls still in orderly rows. Vines hang from the walls and canopies. As Alzar enters, two of the mounds of earth rise up and shamble towards them.

2 shambling mounds, which take 50% damage from weapons. Skulltrap is launched. 25 damage dealt to each if they fail their save. One makes, one fails. He grabs his axe and moves forward. Some weapons miss and Carum hits one for 1 damage. Alzar hacks the more wounded one for 6 damage. They win the next round and miss Alzar twice. Aleigha has moved up and nicks the wounded one for 5. Alzar adds 9 and kills it. Marie crits it for 4 with a thrown dagger and Est adds 1. Alzar’s back swing hits for 6. It wins init and moves to Aleigha and She is hit twice for 18 damage and is pulled in to suffocate (Which she is immune to). Alzar hacks for 8. The other all miss. It tries to suffocate Aleigha and fails. Alzar misses. Maerie’s final dagger hits for 2. Alzar’s back wing hits for 6 more and it dies.


23/41 Aleigha.

XP – 2400 each

They search the area, their corpses and find:

Potion of Extra Healing
Scroll of Cleric spells

They head back to the mongrelman camp. They welcome them back and Alzar asks where the tasloi live, and they tell him about an old park that has become an overgrown forest. He heads back out with the Sword of Lyons by himself and Megala and Dryshik, and making himself invisible. The others can stay back and get healed. Its south of the bugbears and he comes across nothing invisible.

[Abe Sargent]

There are six tall trees that supposedly hold all of the Tasloi in tree houses. There are a few giant wasps flying by. He uses his scouts to check the area. There is a pair of giant spiders, four guard posts with 2 tasloi in each, a huge platform is about 25 tasloi, one living alone by herself with no weapons and a staff – probably the shaman. Ten tasloi sleeping.

That’s a lot of Tasloi, but many are on the central platform. Alzar has only used Skulltrap and Maidens and one sleep so far – he has plenty of spells for today. There’s one he has been meaning to cast in combat though, and now is his time.

He lands on the ground nearby and Conjures an Earth Elemental:

34 hp, AC 2, THAC0 13, 4d8

He draws and sheathes the Sword of Lyons, and commands the Earth Elemental invisibly. It moves in and Alzar orders it to attack the tree of a guard post. The Tasloi see it and retreat. The tree is down in two rounds. Alzar orders it to move to the next guard tree, but not where many of the tasloi are. He grabs the broom and flies up. The two tasloi guards here retreat and the houses are a buzz with what to do. Several Tasloi are banging a drum and wasps with saddles can be seen. Alzar casts sleep from way up in to the top of a tree at those on the platform and 7 fall asleep. He draws and sheathes his sword. The giant crashing of the Earth Elemental covers his spells. The elemental is ordered to the drum tree to bring it down. Some Tasloi are arranging an attack while others are trying to flee. Alzar casts Hypnotism and 6 of those who are arguing to flee suddenly stop, and move slowly towards the Earth Elemental, and then sit down.

Arrows and javelins deal little damage to the elemental. It takes 7. The elemental is crashing the tree with eh drum and it is about to go. The tasloi decide to run and Alzar casts Sleep from his Ring and 6 more fall asleep. He has Dryshik drop a Wall of Fog over the entire area, and the tasloi are completely befuzzled and confused. The drum tree is brought down and Alzar orders the elemental to the main tree.

When it punches the tree, the remaining Tasloi move to the platform the sleepers were on. Some are climbing down to the ground, so Alzar flies down and attacks one with a dagger for dead. He grabs his axe and begins to hew any who believe the ground is their solace. Several fall down and are running away, so Alzar casts Wall of Force in front of them from the Ring. The Earth Elemental brings down the giant tree with the main platform and Alzar orders it to the next tree. The shaman casts Dispel Magic on the Wall of Force and…it works. Clever shaman. However, it allowed time for Alzar to fly in and he lands and forces them back. They are just running now. A dagger flies out and kills another. The shaman drops a Darkness on Alzar but he just runs out of it. The Earth Elemental brings down the 5th tree and moves to the last one. Alzar casts Slow from the Ring and the rest of the Tasloi now move half their movement.

Alzar runs after them and they cannot escape, so they turn to fight and a few miss him. His axe bites into one for death. The shaman pulls out a wand and fires 2 magic missiles at him for 7 damage. The next turn, they miss him, and he takes 6 more from the wand, and then he eats two more with his cursed axe. The final tree is down, and their entire camp is destroyed. Alzar kills the last two including the shaman.

XP – 850 for just Alzar.

A long search finds:

Potion of
Wand of Magic Missiles (32 charges)
1000 pp
3 gems – 350, 500, 700
500 sp
50 gp

Alzar heads back, having completely devastated the tasloi camp. They rest of the night, and in the morning, Alzar stores a second Dispel Magic and Domination, just so there is something in the empty slots of the other Ring.

[Abe Sargent]

The mongrelmen have rumors of an estate somewhere in the noble section of the city, in the south west section, where the yuan-ti are based. The group sets out. After an hour of going south and looking through any ruins that look close, they come across a web in one building, and behind it is a giant spider waiting for a trap. Alzar’s dagger cuts into it for 9 damage and he moves into the room and moves through the webbing. It charges at him, misses, and then dies on his axe.

They search and find nothing of interest in here. They continue their move and searches. They pass by five towers still standing in a group, and spend a half hour checking them and finding nothing and almost falling into some collapsed masonry. They find a section with a fully functional compound, walls, towers, buildings, and a central estate up a porch with gates. This has got to be where they are.

The outer wall is 15 feet high and built of blocks of unmortared stone. They are partially covered with vines. They have twice the normal number of guards due to the destruction of the bullywugs and tasloi and bugbears. There is a house to the north just on the other side of the wall. On the walls there are large buildings in the northeast and northwest corners, and the house is just on the other side. Alzar’s plan is to enter this house, wait and watch until the back wall is free for a few second, Passwall out the back of the house and Passwall into the back building on the northwest side.

They wait, and it happens a few minutes, Alzar’s Axe does the first and they move into the section between the house and the wall, and then his axe does it again. Resting in this barracks are 4 bullywugs and two bugbears, totally surprised. A sleep spell puts all but a Bugbear asleep and it is surprised and cannot raise the alarm before being attacked for death by Est and Carum’s and Maerie’s missiles.

XP – 90 each

They kill the sleepers and search. There find nothing of value here. There is a door to the courtyard and they have gained the wall. The Passwalls are ended, and there is no evidence of how they got in, or that anyone is in the compound.

With Boots of Elvenkind that leave no tracks, and the Sword of Lyons, Alzar slips out and does a little recon. Alzar slips to the other guardhouse, enters, and sees another group of bugbears and bullywugs. He hides behind a bed and casts sleep and four bullywugs and a bugbear fall asleep again. He draws and sheathes the sword. As the final bugbear looks around quizzically, Alzar’s slips his axe out and ambushed it for 17 damage and it dies. A search here shows nothing else here either.

XP – 450 for just Alzar.

There is nothing else in here. Alzar makes himself invisible again and moves out into the compound. He moves to the door to the compound. No one is on the porch. There is a garden to the south, walled off with leopards and rust monsters in the area. The central area is free of bad guys. Just the walls have enemies. The towers have no one in them.

[Abe Sargent]

There are two groups of monsters on the walls. Two halfblood yuan-ti in one group and 3 bugbears in another. Alzar picks up his axe and heads in to the shack where the others are. He tells them his plan. He is going to move them out just as a group of yuan-ti approach, and then push the Yuan-Ti down on them for them to kill. This will raise the alarm, but with most of the creatures here kill, it may not matter much. Alzar heads back to the door to the place and spends a few rounds building a powerful Blastbones, casts Blastbones on it when neither group can see him and immediately goes invisible again.

He moves to the area, and the group is ready. A few minutes later the Yuan-ti are about ready to walk right where Alzar want s them, and he draws his axe, then he realizes he can come up with a better plan and returns, telling them about his new plan. The axe in hand gave him another idea. He can cast one more Passwall, so why not use it to break into the house?

He slips up and uses Ear Ring to investigate sounds inside the house. Alzar can make out some breathing and reading, but it is on the other side of the house from the group. The plan is that they try to make it around the house, Alzar casts Passwall and they run in despite the guards seeing them. Plan made.

They move out and make it part of the way before a clever Bugbear sees someone and calls out, immediately, despite being early, Alzar Passwalls the room.

Inside is a reception hall with a man sitting at a table who looks up quite curiously. Alzar casts Domination. He tries to cast Invisibility. The group runs over. He makes his save. Now he is gone. The bugbears are running towards the tower so they can climb down. The yuan-ti will be here in a short bit. Alzar uses the Gem of Seeing to see the man as he moves to a corridor to the left and Alzar follows. The party are moving in.

Alzar throws a dagger at the mage before he runs away. It hits for 10 damage. He spins and casts Forget at Alzar. Alzar fails his save and forgets what happened the last 4 rounds. Then the man, now visible, slips away. The party arrives, the bugbears arrive. Alzar sees battle and moves to attack.

They win init and one hits Carum for 6 damage. It is hit three times for 18 damage and dies. Alzar is in and carves the other for 17 damage. It dies. 1 left. It wins init and misses. Alzar hits for 11. The others add 8 and kill it. They move into the house through the pass wall. Alzar admits he cannot remember what happened, and suddenly the house is full of mist, and the doors slam close and strange sounds and lights can be seen. Alzar orders every one including himself and casts Dispel Magic at the room. It works and the Guards and Wards spell is dispelled.

The yuan-ti arrive and one casts Polymorph Other on Carum and the other on Maerie. Carum is now a pigeon. Alzar orders Carum to fly to the top of the building while the group moves in. Alzar casts shield-maidens. Alzar arrives and pushes everybody aside, and they miss attacking this turn as a result. The yuan ti miss Alzar.

One tries to cast suggestion and the other charm person on Alzar, both fail. He axe drops, and he recalls it. Aleigha, Estaish and a maiden hit for 18. They win init and they cast suggestion on Estaish and Charm an Aleigha. Aleigha is now their friend. Alzar hits the wounded one for 17 and it dies. He slashes again at the unwounded one and it take 15. Alzar’s axe swing again when he wins init and it takes 16 and dies.

900 XP for everyone so far.

Alzar moves into the villa via the passwall and the others follow. No one has left the building yet. He uses his Ear Ring and hears casting coming from nearby. They move around and find a large hearth room. There is a summoned, mystical hound, two mages.

Alzar orders everybody to stay back for a bit, and Conjures an Earth Elemental. The first mage casts Web and the second casts Ice Storm. The Elemental arrives. The Ice Storm hits for 22 on everyone – save vs half. Everyone makes it.

Maerie – 12/23
Alzar – 43/54
Aleigha - 30/41
Estaish - 34/45


The Elemental took 11 as well. One shield maiden failed and died, the other is still around. Alzar moves in the shield maiden and Elemental. The hound attacks the elemental for a big ol miss. Elemental misses as well. The mages case Magic Missile and Hold Person. Alzar takes 8. Maerie and Aleigha are Held. Estaish is fine, but in the Web. Alzar moves forward in order to keep the others out of the range of his enemy’s spells. He uses the Mud Ring to summon another Earth Elemental. The Elemental pounds the hound for 14 damage. The hound misses. An invisible blade nails the maiden for 2 damage from somewhere. The maiden missed the hound.

35/54

Alzar wants to cast Vampiric Touch on the invisible thing. Earth Elementals are to kill the hound and invisible thing, and the maiden the invisible thing. They want to cast Stinking Cloud and Cone of Cold. Alzar wins init. He hits the Invisible Stalker for 14. The Earth Elemental on the hound crits for 32 damage and it is very dead. The other elemental misses the stalker. The Maiden misses as well. The Stinking Cloud doesn’t damage any of the creatures or Alzar, and the Cone of Cold deals 24 damage or save vs half to Alzar and the summoned creatures. The Shield maiden die.s Alzar fails his save One Elemental makes the save, the other misses. The Stalker took it all too.

25/54
10/34
11/34
???/??? for stalker

Alzar wants to cast Searing Serpent by the mages. They want to cast Slow and throw a dagger. The Elementals and Stalker are to exchange blows. Alzar wins and a searing serpent is in front of the male mage who seems to be casting the powerful stuff. One elemental misses and the other hits for 18 damage and the stalker dies. Alzar is slowed and the dagger misses him.

Estaish is free and with his sword runs in to support a slowed Alzar. Alzar wants to cast Empathic Control on the male. The serpent wants to attack him. The elementals want to move in. Estaish wants to run in. The chick wants to draw her final dagger and move to protect the male. The male wants to cast Mirror Image.

They go first and the male now has 7 images. The serpent misses. The spell fails. Everybody else is by the mages and can attack next turn.

They win init. Magic missiles kill an elemental and the other one stabs at Estaish and misses. The serpent kills an image but the elemental and Estaish miss. Alzar casts Ray of Ondovir at the mage. It works. The mage casts Magic Missile at a dead target and wastes the spell. The female mage attacks Est and misses. Est and the serpent and elemental each pull off an image. 3 images left. Alzar casts Ray of Ondovir from his Ring. It works. The mage casts Magic Missile again at a dead person and again wastes it. The final thee images are stripped and Alzar’s dagger flies in for 12 damage on the mage.

They manage to win init and Est hits for 5, and the serpent misses and the elemental…hits for…17 and he dies. The chick misses. Alzar hits her with a dagger for 10 damage. She misses and is killed the next round.

XP – 1800 each

[Abe Sargent]

They find on the bodies:

Bracers
Dagger
Potion
Ring of Free Action
Wand of Negation – 5 charges

They search the room and find nothing, and move to the bedrooms. In the female decorated one, they find:

1000pp
Spellbook

They move to the other bedroom:

Two scroll paintings - each worth 4000 gp
Large-gold bound spellbook
There is a key with a tassel beside the book
Small replica of a chest

Alzar uses the replica to summon the chest, and tries to find a keyhole, but can’t The chest just opens, and inside is:

Potion
Scroll of Clerical Spells
4000 pp
Gold Tablets 500gpx3

Alzar has been cursed! He will grow 3 inches of beard hair every minute. They do another search while Alzar grooms himself, they emerge, and he Dispel Magics on Carum and brings him back to human. They head back and Alzar goes to sleep early. In the morning, he has feet and feet of hair. He cuts it off, and then memorizes Remove Curse (the reverse form of Bestow Curse). He casts it on himself and the curse is gone. Also, he can use other melee weapons again, and the axe no longer has control over him.

They spend a day searching the city, but the major bad guys have all been killed, and it appears that just a few monsters remain – like giant centipedes, giant wasps, and giant crocodiles in the swamp. The mongrelmen are offered trade by the natives and Carum, but they would prefer to just be left alone, so Alzar gathers the mage, and they head out.

[Abe Sargent]

Two scroll paintings - each worth 4000 gp
4000 pp
Gold Tablets 500gpx3
1000pp
Potion of Extra Healing
8 gems – 500 gp each, 1 gem 700 gp
1500 sp
5000 gp
Silver Brooch – 1000
Three Disks of Jade – 500 gp each
Gold Enchased Incense Burner – 900 gp
+1 Longsword, +4 vs Reptiles
Incense of Mediation x4
200 gp
2 10gp gems and 50 gp
2 gems worth 1000 each
Scroll – Non-Detection, Emotion
1625 gp
55 pp
Sword of Wounding I 13, E 4 AL CN – Empathy, Detect Invisible, heal once/week
2000 ep
4 pieces of jewelry worth 500 gp each
Jeweled Headband – 3000 gp
Wand of Magic Missiles (32 charges)
1000 pp
3 gems – 350, 500, 700
500 sp
50 gp
Ring of Free Action
Wand of Negation – 5 charges

Magic Pile: Wand of Fog (8 charges). Potion of Healing. Ring of Protection +1x2. +2 spear. Ring of Spell Turning. Cleric Scroll – Remove Curse, Cure Serious wounds ,neutralize Poison, Cure Disease, Heal. Potion of Human Control, Extra healingx3. Bracers of Defense AC4. Dagger of Venom.


The Wand of Fog places a Wall of Fog for a charge. The Ring of Spell Turning is very powerful. When a spell is cast at the wearer roll a d10 and that much percent of the spell is reflected. So, for example, if someone cast a spell that dealt 10 damage, or save vs half, Alzar would roll. If he rolls a 4, 40% or 4 damage is reflected aback and he takes 6, and each would roll for half. If a Charm person was reflected 40%, then Alzar would save with a +4 bonus and the caster with a +6 bonus. This can result in a spell with no save getting a save. The percent affects damage, saves, and duration.

This works whenever the ring wielder is targeted, even by friendly magic users. Touch spells, spells that affects areas, and spells from magic items are unaffected. So, for example, Alzar could take magic missiles from a Wand, and can target himself with his own touch spells like normal, and could take someone else’s Vampiric Touch and totally takes all damage from a Fireball.

This is a highly valuable item, and I’m surprised they doled it out this soon.


Kwarino’s Spellbook:

1st Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic Read magic, Friends, Magic Missile, Hold Portal, Shield
2nd - Continual Light, Knock, Leomund’s Trap, Stinking Cloud, Web


Horan’s Spellbook( Fire Trap)

1st – Affect Normal Fires, Charm person, Comprehend Languages, Detect magic, Erase, magic Missile, Frost Shroud, Push, Read Magic, Unseen Servant
2nd – Preserve, ESP, Forget ,Invisibility, Leomund’s Trap, Locate Object, Magic Mouth, Ray of Enfeeblement, Scare
3rd – Clairvoyance, Feign Death, Fly, Haste, Hold Person, Monster Summoning I, Slow
4th – Fire Trap, Ice Storm, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Rary;’s Mnemonic Enhancer, Wizard Eye
5th – Bigby’s Interposing Hand, Cone of Cold, Contact Other Plane, Cloudkill, Leomund’s Secret Chest
6th – Guards and Wards, Invisible Stalker, Part Water



Spell Storing Rings:

Time to figure this stuff out. The first Ring is still set. Detect Magic, Ray of Ondovir and Sleep.

The second Ring gets: Conjure Earth Elemental, Searing Serpent, Skulltrap, Dispel Magic, Sleep

[Abe Sargent]

Estaish – 72,650 (Level 7) – Now with 50 HP
Aleigha – 66,182 (Level 7) – Now has 48 HP.
Carum – 60,362 (Level 6) – Now has 58 HP.
Maerie – 53,473 (Level 7 – level 8 at 70k) - 22 hp
Alzar – 156,382 (Level 10 at 250k)


Aleigha and Estaish each hit level 7. They now get 3 attacks every two rounds like Alzar, and get more hp as noted above.




They head back to Tangaroa for a week, and as they do, they see a white plume on the south of the island. A volcano is acting up. After a week of Dispels, the woman’s spellbook should be easily dispelled if it has anything, and he opens it up.

He learns Knock from it.


Alzar has the ability to store some spells as per his class, one per spell level, and it costs some money, about 100 gold per level to do it each time. He is loading up the following spells:

Level 1 - Spoil Holy Water
Level 2 – Knock
Level 3 – Vampiric Touch
Level 4 - Minor Globe of Invulnerability
Level 5 – Teleport

He spends the 1500 gold to save these spells as emergencies.


The volcano is still exploding, and there are rumors of creatures that have nipped out, raided a few nearby creatures like the Neanderthals, guzaks and phanatons, and then nipped back to the volcano mountain.

Alzar decides to check it out. The party heads over to the volcano in the southern mountains on the Isle of Dread, and in fact, it appears that a new cave system has opened up. They move to investigate.

[Abe Sargent]

S2. White Plume Mountain



http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/geekdad/images/2008/01/09/dms2_white_plume_mountain.jpg


This one is #9 on the Top 30 Modules of All Time list. It’s not, in my opinion, but many think of it as the greatest. That’s because, at the time, volcano dungeons were not heard of and the uber-powerful weapons in the game were top notch and super desirable. I wouldn’t even have it in my top 20, but it doesn’t suck or anything. It’s a measly 16 pages and 3 is setup and 2 is denouement – not uncommon for an early dungeon, to be fair. The only introduce one new monster. The first dungeons were often very sparse in the description department. After the description heavy Shrine of Tomoachan, and the action heavy Forbidden City, I’m ready for something a bit lighter.

[Abe Sargent]

Here is one of the pictures of the area that came with the module, which, by the way, I really like:

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/09/dds21.jpg

[Abe Sargent]

They have arrived at the volcano with the white plumes over it. This cave on the south slope appears to be the only entry to the mountain. The cave seems to breathe, occasionally spitting out steam. Alzar goes ahead and swap the Ring of Sustenance for the Ring of Fire Resistance now, expecting to use it several times inside. The cave is about 8 feet in diameter and forty feet long, and then there is a horizontal crevice. Following that arrives at another cave that ends at a decent size cavern. And in that cavern, all natural mind you, is the first sign of other life – a set of spiraling stairs going down.

The spiral staircase descends about 100 feet before ending at a corridor heading eastish. The stairs vibrated a bit from the constant volcanic activity deep in the mountain. The air is warm, humid and rather foul. The torches burn fitfully. There are patches of subterranean fungus and there are small pools of tepid water with scummy algae covering them.

They turn the corner and see a mangy, bedraggled gynosphinx in the middle of a intersection that looks like an upside down peace sign. The sphinx tells its riddle:

Round she is, yet flat as a board
Altar of the Lupine Lords
Jewel on black velvet, pearl in the sea
Unchanged but e’er changing eternally

It’s the second line that gives this away. Moon. Alzar speaks it and is right, and a Wall of Force that was keeping them back disappears and they are free to continue. They head right.

[Abe Sargent]

The water here is deep and covers the floor by about a half foot. The Wall of Force was keeping back some of the water from the first area, but the rest is this deepish water over the ankles but before the knees. Alzar steps into a patch of Green Slime and takes 3 damage from it splashing and hitting his leg. He backs up. The normal flask of oil won’t work since it’s underwater. Alzar gets on a Broom and flies over along with another on the other broom and they pass them back and forth. They continue on down the corridor. At a junction, Alzar continues along the main path which bends to the south and hits a door. When Alzar enters to look around, the door shuts tight on him. In the room suspended from the ceiling are nine glass globes about 2 feet in diameter. They are silvered so they cannot be seen in. A knock on one shows there is something in there.

Alzar cracks open one with a staff and out come three shadows. Alzar controls them and they join his team.

Shadow – 19, 17, and 14 are hp, AC 7

The next one has a potion. Alzar can’t id it. The third one has a piece of jewelry and a small Air Elemental which is quite angry. Alzar moves to attack it with the shadows. One is killed and his axe slashes behind them for 17 damage. It turns to him and punches and misses. He axes for 16 and it dies.

XP – 2000 for Alzar

The next one has a Ring of Flying with 4 charges. The next one has worthless glass beads. The next one that’s broken reveals a gray ooze. Alzar remembers this is the one that you can’t fire kill, so he draws his axe and hits for 16 damage. It dies.

XP – 500 for Alzar

The next one has a Wand of Paralyzation. The 8th one has a key and a ring. The ring is added to the magic pile. The last one has a few gems totaling 600 gold. The key opens the door.

Items:

Jewelry - 12000
Ring of Flying with 4 charges
Wand of Paralyzation – 1 charge
Gems totaling 600 gp

They move on and take the side passage they skipped before. It ends at a door. In this room are five flesh golems and each has a number on its chest – 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13. One asks which of these does not belong. It’s obvious that 9 is not prime. There are others of course – only 5 is divisible by 5, Only 13’s digits add up to 4, etc. Prime seems to be the best chance.

#9 steps forward and will serve Alzar.

#9 Flesh Golem – AC 9, HP 30, 2d8x2, can only be hit by magic weapons. Unlike typical flesh golems, he takes full damage from fire or cold attacks.

So #9 is a weaker flesh golem than normal, but still a servant. At least for now.

[Abe Sargent]

They leave by the other door and the corridor here passes by a turnstile that allows passage only one way – forward. The golem is told to break it, and he does, and they move forward to the door at the end of the corridor, and it opens onto a very unusual room.

The door opens onto a stone platform in a large natural cave. The ceiling is over 50’ above the level of the platform. The floor of the cave, 50 feet below, is a deep pool of boiling mud. Opposite the entrance platform is another stone platform, and between them are a series of wooden disks suspended from the ceiling by massive steel chains. The disks are about four feet in diameter and three feet apart. Each disk is attack to its chain by a giant staple in the center. The disks and chains and wall are covered in a slippery algal scum that lives in the area. A geyser lets off while they are looking at the room. Alzar and company fly over in shifts and open the door, ealving the golem and shadows up on the platform. There is a long corridor and they walk down it. Alzar shines a light on the door and there are small holes in it. Alzar’s basic rule is “If something is unusual about the dungeon’s construction, then something is coming up.”

He suspects a gas attack that can hit the hallway, so he orders everybody but Aleigha back really far. His Ear Ring detects nothing at all. He opens the door and the torches don’t penetrate the darkness in the room. Knowing his ability to sense things in the darkness, he walks in a little with Axe out. There is something in here, and it feels different. Alzar tries to control it and a battle of wits ensues. In the end, Alzar fails, but he knows something is powerful enough here that he backs out into the hallway. He orders Aleigha back a bit and grabs a Wand of Illumination. Suddenly, the presence is behind him and solidifying. Estaish and Carum shout out warnings to Alzar and Aleigha. Alzar spins and drops the wand for his axe and they trade attacks. Alzar is missed. The vampire takes 19 damage. Alzar orders Aleigha back but she swings and misses, the Ruby Blade sending sparks along the wall.

The vampire wins init and turns its eyes on Aleigha. It just misses. Alzar drops his axe. Aleigha hits for 6 damage. Carum hits for 6 and Estaish and Maerie have arrived with weapons drawn. Alzar picks up his axe with the second attack.

It wins init and turns into a gaseous form. It starts to move back into the darkness. Alzar picks up the Wand and uses a charge to light up the room and the magical darkness is dispelled for a while. They move forward and it has nowhere to go here. Alzar uses a Wand of Magic Missiles to pepper the vampire for 8 damage on two charges. He tells everyone to keep attacking since it has been regenerating. In fact it has regenerated 12 damage. Alzar scrambles and finds the other flasks of holy water he has and hands them to Maerie. Then he spits two more charges at the vampire. It takes 7 more. And has now regenerated 15 hp. It is forced to resolidify before it dies to missiles. Est hacks at it for 6 damage, and Carum’s sling deals 4. The vampire attacks Estaish and misses. A flask of holy water deals 6 to it and it “dies.” Alzar goes over the ways to kill a vampire – immersion in running water, exposure to sunlight, and failure to return to one of its coffins for one full day. Other ways are temporary, such as stake in the heart, cutting off the head, etc. He beheads it just to give it some time and readies a spell. They cut off all of the limbs to slow down it’s regeneration process. Alzar stabs it in the heart with his staff and that will slow it down for a while. They begin to search the room.

They find:

A magical Warhammer
10000 sp
9000 gp
Potions x2, one is ESP
Scroll of…Magic Mouth, Dispel Magic, Monster Summoning III


They are done and Alzar has everyone grab a body part and he grabs the torso since he is the strongest, and they fly back over and reunite with #9 and the shadows. They head back out and near the entrance and find the sphinx. They move back up the stairs and outside and the vampire is killed in the light.

XP – 1800 each

[Abe Sargent]

They head back down and go forward. They see a ten foot deep pool of water off to the side. Carum dives down using Deep Diving and there is a drain there. Alzar swims down and Aleigha joins them and they turn it and a tube opens and the water starts to drain. They wait and an hour later, the water has all drained away except if there are pools or something at a lower elevation. They move on and arrive in a square room.

This appears to be another normal, water covered room with steps rising out of the muck from a pool deeper, and a now drained ledge along the wall showing where it gets deeper. They party is rounding the room when two kelpies pop out of the surface and try to charm Estaish and Alzar. Estaish fails. Alzar’s axe is out and he moves towards the charmers. Est is moving towards them, entranced. Alzar wins init and hacks a kelpie for 17 damage. Carum adds a sling stone for 6. The kelpies try to charm Carum and Alzar. Carum fails. Estaish is almost at the water and Alzar orders the golem to hold him. Alzar wins init and kills the wounded kelpie. Aleigha slashes the other one for 8 and Maerie misses. Carum enters the water and Estaish can’t move. The last Kelpie tries to charm Alzar again. He has a back swing for 19 damage that kills it.

XP – 275 each

They go along the room and Alzar spies an opening under the water. He swims down and enters an underwater room and then find a door to another. He finds:

600 gp
2000 gp jewelry
Chain Mail

[Abe Sargent]

They swing back up and takes some steps up and into a corridor with a door to the right. The door opens to a hallway. Alzar enters a spinning cylinder and orders everyone else back. It is made of some light metal and spins enough to make Alzar dizzy. It is covered with oil that makes it slippery-er. He closes his eyes and tries to concentrate, but falls. He slides across it and decides to make this a fly through when suddenly out of a hole in the wall someone fires a flaming arrow and the tunnel and Alzar light up. He is wearing his Fire Resist ring and this is normal fire. The fighters slide in despite the fire and Maerie sits back with the shadows and golem. While still on fire, Alzar opens the door and then they enter the next room. There is an armed man and a woman nearby. Aleigha snarls and turns into a werebear and charges the woman. She turns into a werewolf and charges back.

Alzar orders Carum and Estaish at the fighter while he goes to join Aleigha. The fighter hacks at Est for 6 damage. The werewolf misses. Aleigha deals 3 and Alzar hits for 13 damage. Est drops his sword. Alzar hits the lycanthrope for 12 damage. She dies. The fighter swings and misses. He is hit twice for 14 damage. Alzar and Aleigha move over. Alzar’s axe adds 19 and the fighter dies. They search and find, Maerie picks the lock to a chest after joining them once the fire burnt down.

Est -6 damage

Spellbook
400 ep
300 gp
7 gems worth 1300 gp total

They return and go up more stairs to a door. They pass three doors and then arrive at a huge cavern. There is a boiling lake hundreds of feet deep below them. There is an underground stream that feeds it and can be seen coming in, with another section leaving. There is a rubbery magical forcefield that is keeping the water back on this ledge. That’s where they are. The skins is soft, resilient and warm. After thirty feet the corridor widens into a low, dome shaped area. There is a huge giant crab here. There are many bones scatted about.

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/09/a2.jpg


They two sides get together. Alzar orders melee weapons only, since there is the chance that a physical strike against the soft forcefield will pop the waterskin. Alzar nails the crab for 18 damage. The crab strikes back on Alzar and attacks twice and misses both time. Est swings and adds 10. It wins init and hits Alzar twice for 19 damage. Alzar does the same and deals 25 to it. Est misses, Carum spears it for 4 and Maerie adds 4.

37/56 – Alzar

Alzar wins init and switches to Vamp Touch and deals 11. It dies.

48/56

XP – 750 each

There is a chest at the end of the ledge and they move to it. It is unlocked, and Maerie doesn’t find any traps. Inside is:

A trident
1000 gp
Gems worth 1000x2, 5000, and 17 worth 3935 total
Ring of Infravision
Stone
Wand of Frost – 17 charges

[Abe Sargent]

They head back and take the left branch from the sphinx’s place. There is a ten foot long open pit here, visible since the water level is gone. They arrive at a section of the corridor with a series of copper colored metal plates in the walls. As Alzar moves into it, the metal on him starts to warm, and then get hot, so he retreats. The shadows are sent through with no problem. The golem makes it through. Alzar takes off his metal stuff and puts it in a bag of holding, and then crosses fine. He grabs his staff and as he does, 8 ghouls pop out of a room for surprise and Alzar tries to control them and fails. His shadows move in front and he grabs his axe from the Bag and Ring of Free Action. The ghouls are unable to damaged the shadows and try to push past. The golem move sin front as well

Alzar wins init and kills a ghoul. They try to attack him and he takes 8 damage from claws. The shadows kill a ghoul and #9 hits once for 10 damage and smears a third. Alzar wins init and hacks a 4th dead. 9 hits once for 12 damage and kills another. He shadows miss. Alzar takes 6 more from ghouls. He then kills another with the 2nd attack. 2 left . Alzar wins init yet again and th#9 crits and kills the last one.

They each have an Amulet like the others he found so 8 more are found. Awesome!

Amulets of Protection vs Turningx8.

Everybody else arrives after a bit of time. They will not be able to leave this way quickly. They walk up some stairs and arrive at a room. This room is frictionless. The walls, ceiling doors and spike traps all have a magical coating of frictionlessness, discovered when Alzar dropped a copper piece onto this weird looking room. Megala can’t fly in here and Alzar was just able ot gab it before it bounced away. Alzar sends out the Rope of Climbing with two more ropes attaching and it hits the end wall and goes through. Alzar throws a copper piece down that way and it rebounds after going through the wall, so there must be an illusion there. The Rope stops, and Alzar tries it. It appears to be stuck on the far wall, and with people in the hallway holding the other end, they make it through. The golem is the anchor on this side, and the shadows and golem don’t make it through this room.

The hallway after than room Ts and they go…right. There is a door here. It opens to reveals a stream running through the room, and yet suspending in mid-air. It enters and leaves through two tunnels. There are also six two man kayaks. Alzar decides to put a kayak on the stream and it floats away. Alzar watches it float along the stream with his Crystal Ball. There are blind fish in the stream. Thirty minutes later the kayak returns.

Alzar saw a room it passes through with several fighters watching and waiting. Other than that, nothing. Alzar goes into a kayak himself and turns himself invisible, riding along. The kayak arrives in the room and again, no one bothers to net it. There are 9 warriors here. Suddenly, Alzar casts Skulltrap and throws it at the group by the stream.

24 damage is dealt to the fighters who all die. The one behind them all moves forward and Alzar jumps out of the stream to fight him. He has a practiced stance and hand, and should be a difficult opponent. He casts Ray of Enfeeblement, the warrior makes his save.

The warrior moves in and battle begins. The warrior misses. Alzar’s axe does 16. The next round, Alzar wins and rolls a 6, and needs to hit -1 AC. 5, plus +2 for axe, +3 for mastery +3 for strength is a 13, one less than the 14 he needs. A miss. The guy rolls a 5, and misses Alzar’s second attack hits for 14. His second attack hits for 11.

40/56

He wins init and misses. Alzar misses as well. Alzar wins init and misses. He hits for 12. Alzar hits for 18. He misses. He wins init and this for 6. Alzar misses. Alzar wins and hits and he dies.

22/56

XP – 4500 for just Alzar.

He finds a key
Plate Mail
+1 shield
Boots of Striding and Springing

He returns to the first room with the airborne river and they leave. They head to the left.

[Abe Sargent]

The door opens and a terraced large room can be seen.


http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/09/a3.jpg

The only exit appears to be on the bottom level or the way they came. There are a large number of giant crayfish, then giant scorpions, then sea lions, and finally manticores at the bottom. Alzar tries the obvious. He grabs a Broom of Flying and flies down to the manticore level, and none of the glass walls break or anything. A few spikes fly his way and he flies back up and Dryshik drops a Wall of Fog on the bottom level while he arranges transit down. Alzar flies back down and Conjures an Earth Elemental and then has the 34 hp, AC 2, THACO 13 4d6 damage dealing guy charge in and start attacking manticores while Estaish and Carum fly down with a whistle and a broom. He has Carum fly back up and get the rest of the party while he joins the battle.

The Earth arrives at the first manticore and misses. Several spikes fly out and it takes 7 damage. The manticore roars and the others hear it and answer. Alzar hacks the manticore for 16 and the elemental adds 22 and kills it. Spikes fly in and miss Alzar and the elemental takes 5.

22/34 – Earth Elemental

They run in and Estaish nails a manticore for 11 damage. Alzar adds 14 and the Elemental adds 15 and it dies. The last one shots spikes and deals 10 to the elemental.

12/34

Alzar wins init and hacks the last one for 15. Est hits for 6. The elemental adds 24 and it dies.

XP - 1463 for Alzar and Estaish

The rest arrive and they open the door with the elemental leading.

[Abe Sargent]

They arrive at a room with a small harmless looking, unfamiliar humanoid. The room is opulent and the creature says that it was a prisoner of the wizard who built this dungeon. Alzar casts ESP and asks it to tell him that again. It failed its save.

It’s really an ogre mage, guardian of a magic sword, and trying to get Alzar to lower his guard.

Alzar has the earth elemental try t punch it. It misses. The creature roars and casts a cold spell at the group.

26 damage, save vs half to everyone. The elemental dies. Alzar Est fails. Everybody else makes it. Alzar is down to 4/56. He quaffs an extra healing pot and gains 23.

27/56 – Alzar. Est misses. Carum misses. Aleigha hits for 7 damage. Maerie tries to sneak around. They win init. Est attacks twice and hits one for 5. Aleigha attacks twice and hits once for 6. Carum misses. Alzar casts Ray of Ondovir and it works. The ogre mage tries to use the same spell and fails.

Alzar tries to hack it with his axe. It takes 15. Est hits for 11 and it dies.

400 each

They search and find:

Ring
1000 ep
200 pp
4 jewelry total 11000
Scroll Cleric
Potion
Armor
Crazy looking sword.

[Abe Sargent]

They find nothing else, and return. As they reach the place with the sphinx, a voice rings out. There is another wall of force placed in front of them, and the voice says that he will not allow his dungeon to be despoiled and his treasures robbed. Thus, he is sending two of his minions ot collect them.

Two efreeti are coming down the north passage that heads to the lake of boiling water.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/art_preview/20080421_114756_123asd_0.jpg

Alzar tries to grab his new Wand of Frost and uses two charges to Cone of Cold. They take 20 or save for half. The first makes it the second fails. They have arrived and Alzar is in front. Battle is enjoined. They win init and miss Alzar twice, he axes the badly injured one for 17 damage. It dies. Estaish misses, Carum misses. He wins init and nails Alzar for 16. He hacks for one hit and 15 damage, Est hits twice for 15, Aleigha hits once for 6 and it dies.


15/56


XP – 2400 each

The Wall of Force drops and they leave, head up the stairs, and return to Tangaroa.

[Abe Sargent]

Items from the Adventure

+1 shield
Boots of Striding and Springing
600 gp
1000 ep
200 pp
4 jewelry total 11000
2000 gp jewelry
Jewelry - 12000
Ring of Flying with 4 charges
Wand of Paralyzation – 1 charge
Gems totaling 600 gp
10000 sp
9000 gp
Potions ESP
Scroll of…Magic Mouth, Dispel Magic, Monster Summoning III
400 ep
300 gp
7 gems worth 1300 gp total
1000 gp
Gems worth 1000x2, 5000, and 17 worth 3935 total
Ring of Infravision
Wand of Frost – 17 charges
Amulets of Protection vs Turningx8.




Magic Pile – Potion of Silver Dragon Control, Black Dragon Control. Whelm. +3 chain mail. Wave. Luckstone. +2 Plate Mail, +3 Protection, Cleric – Protection from Evil. Pot of Healing. Armor of Vulnerability. Blackrazor.


Used charge on Wand of Illumination, 4 on Wand of Magic Missiles, 2 on Wand of Frost. Used Pot of E Healing.


Snarla’s Spellbook (Explosive Runes):

Fear, Haste, Dispel Magic, Web, Stinking Cloud, Scare, Magic Missile, Push, Shield

[Abe Sargent]

XP

Estaish – 80447 (Level 7) – Now with 50 HP
Aleigha – 71807 (Level 7) – Now has 48 HP.
Carum – 65987 (Level 7) – Now has 64 HP.
Maerie – 59698 (Level 7 – level 8 at 70k) - 22 hp
Alzar – 171879 (Level 10 at 250k)


Carum leveled up as well

Alzar gives 5000 gold to each of his companions for the works they’ve done recently.

Here are the special weapons:

Wave - +3 trident, 1d10+3 damage in combat, Neutral, 14 INT, 20 Ego. Purpose: Death or disfigurement to those who won’t convert to Tangaroa’s worship. Powers: Trident of Fish Commanding, Trident of Warning, Finds Water, Confers Water Breathing and Underwater Action, Confers Cube of Force, Possess speech and telepathy. Dehydrates – on a natural roll of 20, in addition to normal damage, drains ½ of remaining hp.

Whelm - +3 hammer, +5 if wielded by dvergr. Lawful Neutral. Int 15, Ego 18. Purpose –kill trolls, giants and goblin types. If thrown by dvergr will return three times a day. Acts as Hammer of Stunning once a day – sends forth a shock wave that deals 45 hp to enemies. Detects gold, gems, goblins. Develops severe agoraphobia.

Blackrazor - +3 longsword. Chaotic Neutral. Int 17, Ego 16. Purpose – to suck souls. The black sword shines like a piece of the night sky filled with stars. When it kills, temporarily adds the number of levels of the dead foe to its bearer’s levels in terms of fighting ability only. The bearer also gains the full hp of the victim. All subsequent damage is taken from the extra hp first. They last a number of turns equal to the levels received. The souls of those killed by Blackrazor are sucked out and drained, and the dead from it cannot be raised. Every three days it remains unfed, its ego increase one until it feeds, and then it returns. If it deals damage to an energy draining enemy, the wielder will lose the levels instead. It has speech and telepathy, detects living creatures, can Haste the bearer daily, and grants 100% magic resistance to charm and fear spells.

And those are the three weapons of power from this module.


They head back to Tangaroa and spend a bit of time in the town. Carum learns how to use a Trident. They get the third ship, captured by pirates, ready to sail. After a long stay at the Isle of Dread and the nearby places, it is time for Alzar and company to sail home. He has a fleet of three vessels – Sea Ghost, Water Dragon and Ocean Queen. They will sail back to Chonae, and then up to Fort Amber, where he will leave for a few weeks, and then return and settle up with the captain and crew.

After a last week, they sail out and move towards the mainland and the River Storm.

[Abe Sargent]

X7. The War Rafts of Kron


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/X7ModuleCover.jpg


This is, officially, the final chapter of the Isle of Dread saga. It just fits perfectly.

[Abe Sargent]

I'm going to be on vacation for a week or more, and then when I get back, who'll know if I even want to keep this up or if something else flits through my life to obsess over an follow for a few weeks, until the next obsession, etc.

So I want to leave this in a place where I can hang up the battle axe pre-vacation

[Abe Sargent]

As the ships get about 35 miles away from the Isle, a grating sound stabs the air from below the deck. An instant learn a dozen small wooden ships puncture the surface of the sea about 120 feet away and begin circling the ship. Three are tritons on the small ships, and four sea horses on a saddle like structure pull them around with a high degree of speed and accuracy.

There are 20 salt water termites attacking the ships. There are four tritons and each has 5 lashed together. It’s obvious they mean sink the fleet and wound the vessels. Alzar pulls out Wave for Carum and then orders the others to attack the boats. Carum and Alzar leap underwater to take out termites.

Alzar points to the squad triton leader closest to them and they move to attack him. He casts Magic Missile on Alzar for 7 damage. Alzar’s axe deals 14 to him and Wave from Carum nails him for 7 more.

49/56

The boats take 20 hull damage this round.

Alzar wins init and tells Carum to finish this one off and swims very quickly to the next squad leader (Bracelet of Swimming). Carum impales the triton for 11 damage and he dies. Carum swims off after another leader.

40 damage total to hulls

Alzar is immune to the Hold Person cast at him. He deals 16 damage with his axe.

55 dealt. The five other termites break away with no leader and full bellies.

Carum takes 9 from a magic missile. He spears the leader for 12 damage. Alzar hacks his for 17 and he dies. Alzar swims to the fourth leader.

55/64

65 hull damage dealt

Carum wins init and stabs for 9. The triton casts Charm but Carum shakes it off and he stabs again. 11 damage and the triton is dead

70 hull damage dealt

Alzar misses. The triton doles out 12 to Alzar in missiles.

37/56

75 Hull damage dealt

The triton wins init and casts Charm at Alzar, who is immune. Alzar carves him twice for 34 damage and he dies.

The termites random move off since they are full as well, and no one is holding their reins and forcing them to chew and eat.

25/100 hull points – Sea Ghost
20/80 hp – Ocean Queen
No damage to Water Dragon

XP – 1000 to Alzar and Carum

Now, let’s rewind to the battle on the boats

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar and Carum leap overboard and Estaish loads his crossbow. Aleigha finds some javelins that are in a pile for defense.

One of the war rafts is more ornately crafted than the others and Est orders them to attack it. Est misses. Aleigha misses. The tritons fling spears at the vessel, and suddenly, a lightning bolt comes cracking in from the triton leader and the first mate is killed, while he was ordering the sailors to attack.

Aleigha manages to hit despite the negative for 2 damage. Triton spears fly in and Estaish is the target of a lightning bolt by another triton for 8 damage after he saved.

42/50 – Estaish

One of the squad leaders goes down to Alzar and Carum and the other tritons come in a bit more to increase their chances of hitting. Estaish misses, Aleigha manages to hit again for 2 more damage. Estaish takes 18 from two sets of Magic Missiles from two different tritons

24/50

A fireball flies in, aimed at the sail, and ignites it, and destroys the sail virtually complete. Maerie moves to help put it out. Est hits for 5 and Aleigha misses.

Another squad leader goes down. They are ordered to loose the rest of their spells and suddenly the ship is rifled with Magic Missiles and Lightning Bolts and even an Acid Arrow.

Aleigha took 20, Estaish takes just 8 from some missiles. Five crew die. Est hits back for 6.

16/50 - Estaish
28/48 – Aleigha

Maerie has managed to put out the fire. Alzar kills the final squad leader. Carum swims up and uses the Trident. He uses the Cube of Force powers it has to duplicate a horn of blasting on a war raft and it is destroyed by the sonic wave. The rest move off and submerge.

They head back to the ship and Alzar takes back Wave for now, but Carum can’t let go, and suddenly, his eyes change and he backs up. Alzar grabs the trident and pulls it out, and returns it to the Bag of Holding. That is why Carum can’t get Wave for long – he will be controlled by it.

[Abe Sargent]

They begin to make plans to head back to Tangaroa for refitting when suddenly, the head and shoulders of a huge creature pops up from underneath the sea. This storm giant introduces itself as Koom.

Koom saw the attack of the tritons and wishes to assist. He calls an undersea boat to the surface, and offers to take whoever wants to come with him, to talk about the problems that have been brewing underneath the sea. Alzar and his company get in the boats while the ships return to Tangaroa as planned.

Koom and the boat head underwater and he walks along side as the party rides in the boat. They run into some dolphins, a few plankton beds, and a group of sharks who circle around, but don’t dare challenge Koom, and thus back off.

About ten hours later, they arrive at Koom’s underwater castle. It is a small but plush residence. There are 16 giant crabs on guard duty. The castle is full of water, but Koom tells them they can breathe freely the water in his castle only. They do so, except for Aleigha and Alzar who can breathe underwater already. One inside, Koom gives everybody a vial of water with a small platinum colored fish in it. By swallowing the fish, a person can breathe and move freely underwater or one day, no matter what armor they wear.

Koom gives Alzar a map of the underwater areas of the Sea of Dread. 5 vials of small platinum fish


http://blackmoor.mystara.us/img/x7map.jpg

Koom tells Alzar that the tritons have gotten violent in the last months as some power has started to influence them. He can’t say who or how, but there is a new and sinister power under the water here, and it is negatively influencing the normally neutral tritons. Koom wants Alzar and his group to head to the triton city of Suthus, and investigate.

(For this module, imagine that the Castle and Suthus and the other places they’ll go, are reverse and near the Isle of Dread rather than near the coast).

Alzar sees Colhador on the map and asks about it, and the Storm Giant tells him to skip past it, there is great evil there, and has been for a while. In a normal conversation, Alzar compliments Koom on the undersea boat, and he thanks him. Koom makes them, he is an artificer, not in a traditional wizard sense, but in a more natural sense. He has several others. Would Alzar want to purchase one? Yes, very much so. 10,000 gp, and that’s not negotiable. Alzar is instructed on how to use one, and purchases it.

-10,000gp

Undersea Boat – It appears to be a standard riverboat, and without a crew needed. It will obey any command Alzar gives it, forward, backward, left, right, forward left, forward right, turn right, turn left, stop turning, stop (Magically anchors itself immediately) and dive, level off, and surface. It is fitted with grips. Any people on it when it is underwater can water breathe. It has an AC of 4 and 40 hull points.

They stay the night and leave in the morning, and leave on their new craft. A search of the boat shows that Koom knew they were likely to purchase it and there are 5 water breathing potions in here. Clever big guy.

[Abe Sargent]

They leave and travel through the ocean. The going is pretty quiet, and roughly 20 miles into their journey. They come across a sunken sailing skip looming ahead. The second of its three masts is broken and its keel is open and exposed and it leaves a hole on the side. The ship was a large sailing ship.

Alzar gives Aleigha a Ring of Free Action for just this adventure and it replaces her Fire Resist ring. They two of them leave the boat and swim around. They swim inside and find a startled triton. He appears frightens and begs for mercy, but suddenly, Aleigha growls and changes into a werebear. The tritons sees her in shock, and then turns into a wereshark.


http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3121/lycanthrope.jpg

Battle begins. Aleigha is bitten for 13. She bites back for 2. Alzar adds 18. They win init and Alzar adds 13. Aleigha hits twice for 7 and he dies.

XP – 500 for Alzar and Aleigha

She changes back and they search the wereshark’s lair.

9000 cp
4 gems 100 each
2 pieces of jewelry worth 500 each
Wand of Treasure Location – 5 charges

They head back to the boat and continue one. A group of 6 sea snakes approaches, and then decide better and look for a meal elsewhere. The sea sometimes teeming with life, and sometimes can be quite vacant of it.

[Abe Sargent]

Night is arriving, and they are about 12 miles from Suthus, so they set up guards and sleep on the vessel, underwater. The morning arrives and they move on. Alzar has slid off the Ring of Sustenance and moved to the Mud Ring. It has protections on the sea.

They have arrived at Suthus. This is a city made from dead coral. The city has an odd shape, and the water currents that blow through it make musical notes on the water that are haunting in their beauty. The city is laid out in a basic hexagon.

Out of each of the six corners rises a short tower and atop them are lights for the whole city. Suddenly, Alzar and company are confronted by several tritons on sea horses. They demand identification and business in Suthus. Alzar tells them that they were sent by Koom to find out why the tritons were attacking shipping.

The solider drops his trident and tells Alzar that those are not soldiers or the government of Suthus, but noble triton families who have started the problem. He gives each of the party a special clamshell on a pin, and tells them to wear these, and they will not be accosted by the guard in Suthus, and they leave.

They float their ship up to the city, and there is a bier near one of the gates. They tie things up, and then Alzar uses the Mud Ring three times to give Water Breathing to Maerie, Carum and Estaish. They leave behind metal armor and move into the city of Suthus.

Suthus is a twisting maze of channels, with an exposure to the op, s one can simply swim up, see where to go, and swim back down. They swim around and spy sea horse stables, a water termite pen, a giant auditorium, various homes, and so forth. As they are exploring, a group of warrior tritons swims to them, and tells them that King Lopra demands their presence in his throne room. They leave right away.

[Abe Sargent]

King Lopra holds court, with bright green curly hair and a jeweled crown. They arrive and are rushed in, and Lopra tells the current people h is talking with that he more pressing business. Alzar and company are pressed into the throne room. They must hand over all weapons, including staffs and wands, before entering. They are placed in a locked box, and the box and key are handed to them.

There are several courtiers in the throne room along with King Lopra. The King introduces himself, and hen demands to know their business, and Alzar repeats what he told the guards. They were sent to investigate the raids by the storm giant. The king is satisfied, and orders guards to get them chambers here in his palace for them. They are escorted away, and soon, two separate messages arrive from two of the courtiers. One is from Uthom who asks to meet in one hour in the palace garden. Do not trust Ulobon, he is out to destroy Suthus. The other is a note from Ulobon to meet in the garden in two hours. Do not trust Uthom, he is out to destroy Suthus.

Interesting.

They rest for a bit, and then head back out. Uthom meets with them. He is the court wizard, and tells them that Ulobon is in cohorts with the enemies of Suthus that are causing this situation. He asks for their aid in killing him. Alzar’s ESP shows that Uthom is telling the truth. He tells Uthom to arrive here a few minutes after an hour from now to help them out against Ulobon. Just to make sure, they meet with Ulobon in an hour, and he tries to tell Alzar that the court wizard is behind everything. Alzar is out of ESP spells. He is willing to trust his first one, though. Suddenly, his axe slides into Ulobon for 18 damage. They win init and Alzar deals 19 more to him and he dies.

XP – 2000 for just Alzar

The guards in the garden move in, and Alzar tells them to wait for Uthom, his attack was sanctioned. Confused, they agree and two minutes later Uthom arrives and sees the dead Ulobon. Alzar searches the body and finds:

Spear +1
Wand of Lightning Bolts – 14 charges

They are taken immediately back to the throne room where Uthom convinces the King to declare them heroes of Suthus and they are each given a:

5000 gp gem for each of them

Uthom and King Lopra tell them everything that has been going on. For more than a century, the ruins at Colhador have housed vile creatures that kill and attack others around them, but they’ve always been a local problem until a new power recently moved in, and gained some spies from powerful people in Suthus. Below the sea is a set of old barges underneath a shelf and thus, water free despite being under the ocean. They have been tied together and made into a town called Kron. The ruler there was an ally of Suthus and a friend to the sea, but just as some people of power here joined with Colhador, so did some from Kron.

Kron provided war boats and the materiel, and Suthus provided powerful Tritons, and together, they have been plundering ships on behalf of Colhador. The one who controls Kron is not the ruler, but the wizard Morak. They need to go to Kron and take him out, and then, like here, the balance of power will shift back.

There are several prisoners from the raids kept there, and they will be freed when Kron is freed. Or, if they want, they can just go to Colhador and risk the evil creatures there and try to find the source of this problem and cleanse it from the sea once and for all.

[hoopsguy]

I'm going to be on vacation for a week or more, and then when I get back, who'll know if I even want to keep this up or if something else flits through my life to obsess over an follow for a few weeks, until the next obsession, etc.

So I want to leave this in a place where I can hang up the battle axe pre-vacation

Very much enjoyed the ride and will continue reading as long as it is fun for you to write.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar agrees to seek out Kron and then, after that, to Colhador. They may gain more info on Colhador and the powers inside. They spend the night in the palace, and then head out in the morning for Kron, three days away by undersea boat.

Three days and two nights pass. Alzar uses his Mud Ring once a day each day to give them actual air to breathe so that he can pull out his spellbooks and study. Luckily, Carum knows a lot about boats and ships, so he can, manage the basics and make sure they are going to the right place, although he is not an expert in navigation. They run into just one major encounter on the first day out.

They come across a giant octopus and it moves to attack. Alzar’s skulltrap damage scares it away after it expected an easy meal.

They have arrived at Kron, and they still have their Suthus necklaces which show they are allowed to enter Suthus, and they should get the party into Kron. The “city” of Kron is built on 14 large barges and they are surrounded by a bunch of smaller rafts. Ropes and chain lash everything together. They are under the level of the sea water but underneath a reef. They are floating basically underground/underwater, and there are large number of torches for light. They have put the torches in the water away from the city, so there is a ring of bright light all around, and then a few signs of Continual Light spells on fake torches inside.

On each of the large barges are several buildings. The small rafts sometimes have buildings, and sometimes just have some supplies or a few chairs, and such. There is even a dock here. There is no shore nearby. The reef is just above and a cliff to three sides, and the sea to another. There are several openings in the reef up to above sea level and it brings down fresh air. There are also two freshwater streams that run off and then rip down into large water troughs. The reefs leak the rain water down to this level, after being helped along by the appropriate cut here and there by hand. There are ropes and chains lashing the city to the cliff faces in various places. All in all, it’s a very precarious place, but it looks like it’s been here for a while.

As they approach, a boat launches from Kron to meet them. They say they come from Suthus and show their necklaces. The five guards, allow them passage and escort them to the docks. They have a large fleet here, from fishing boats to row boats to trading vessels. Alzar asks how they have so many ships, when just a short way away they are underwater, and on points to a watery cave they had not seen before, because it was on the other side. Apparently ships can sail up and down the cave and after a few miles, emerge out the side of a reef above them. Alzar has more questions. If the tunnel drops, how does the sea water not flood it up, but they don’t know the answer to that.

The result is a highly defensive position away from prying eyes and knowledge from the regular world. They send up trading vessels, and they trade heavily traded areas, and then they return with no one knowing where they came from.

They pass by people carving up the day’s catch of fish and drying and cleaning kelp for dinner. The city is waterproof. There are no loose objects anywhere – even the furniture. Cups and bowls have lids, mugs have lids, and tables have depressions and slots in them.

The ropes and bridges connecting the rafts and barges are flexible, and allow stretching with the tides. As it is late at night, they find a tavern for the evening. Unlike the tritons below, they have communal drinking areas up here. There are even a few spare rooms, rarely used, but available. In the morning, they head out and ask to speak with Morak. They claim they have a message from Ulobon. After asking around, they find out where his rooms are.

Alzar’s spells slide into more inconspicuous with ESP and Dire Charm subbed in for Searing Serpent and Blastbones.

[Abe Sargent]

Very much enjoyed the ride and will continue reading as long as it is fun for you to write.

Thanks!!

[Abe Sargent]

Anticipating battle against a mage, Alzar slips off the Ring of Free Action for the Ring of Spell Turning, and his Mud Ring. They arrive at the “palace” barge and cross the bridge. Several guards meet them, and they tell them they have business with Morak. Two escort Alzar and his company a few hundred feet to the door that enters Morak’s chambers. They knock on the door and announce Alzar and his group’s business, and they are shuffled in.

Alzar has had a while to come up with a convincing story. They are in a semi-circular room with a continual darkness spell on it. Then they hear a door open and they are spun around 10 times and escorted to a curtained chamber. They see an Amber Golem, an apprentice shutting the door behind them, and Morak.

Alzar tells him that the scheme between Morak and Ulobon to control their respective city’s leaders has been uncovered by several nobles and led by Uthom. Ulobon has been incarcerated, and could only trust us to come and tell Morak, since he was unsure which tritons supported the King and Uthom.

Morak is upset at the news, and Alzar cast ESP while in the Continual Darkness chamber. He failed his save and Alzar can tell that Morak is so upset at the nature of the news that he is not currently suspecting the identification of Alzar or the veracity of his statements. Then, Alzar can feel Morak gain his composure and uses his own ESP try to verify the story. Since Alzar has his own Amulet against that, Morak finds the story confirmed and doesn’t bother to scan the others.

Alzar has the upper hand. He uses his own ESP spell and the fact that Morak will see anything he wants to tell him as truth to spin a story of betrayal of Ulobon. Alzar is one of several groups of non-tritons hired as spies in the Sea of Dread since he wasn’t sure which tritons he could fully trust. Their own undersea boat helps to sell that story. Alzar points out they could follow a boat for its entire journey without it ever knowing – perfect spies!

Alzar decides that now that he has Morak’s trust, he needs to get in and kill him. He mentions that he has seen an Amber Golem before. They had to kill it. Where, they are pretty rare? In Castle Amber itself. They created them, but I had heard that Castle Amber disappeared a year ago or so. It had, and we were sent in to find out why and where it had gone, but it has been taken to another plane.

They talk about this for a bit, and then Alzar mentions this one looks a bit different than the first one in Castle Amber. How so, I tried to make this as close to a duplicate as possible. Alzar comes over and points to various aspects of the Amber Golem as being different in color or having different carvings. Alzar is now right beside him, and he draws his axe and swings in one smooth motion.

Morak takes 14. He recovers quickly.

Morak wants to cast Conjure Elemental to summon a Water Elemental.
The Amber Golem wants to attack Alzar.
The apprentice wants to cast Magic Missile on Alzar, who is attacking her master
Alzar wants to carve Morak twice.
Estaish wants to sword the apprentice.
Carum wants to spear the apprentice
Maerie wants to backstab the apprentice
Aleigha wants to move up and support Alzar.
Dryshik wants to Mist Ball Morak

Alzar’s wins init. Morak takes 15. The apprentice takes 22 and dies. Morak makes the save. A Water Elemental is summoned. The Amber Golem misses Alzar. He hits Morak for 16. Morak dies.

Several apprentices come in, see Morak dead, and then surrender. The Golem and Elemental need to be handled though. Alzar hits the golem for 18 damage. Aleigha adds 8. It attacks Alzar for 10 damage. The elemental tires to slosh Alzar dead and misses. Alzar orders the other three to tie up the apprentices and gag them.

The elemental misses and the golem misses three times. Alzar this twice and the golem takes 29. Aleigha crits it for 8 and it crumbles.

Alzar slashes into the mystic water for 12 damage. Aleigha hits for 7. Alzar is hit for 17.

In wins init and misses. Alzar hits twice for 35 and it dies.

XP – 2500 for just Alzar
3000 for Alzar and Aleigha

They search his body and find:

Wand of Frost – 14 charges
Medallion of ESP 30’
Ring
Ring of…Dammit. I rolled three times and still its another Ring of Spell Storing, and these are making Alzar super powerful. Adding another 1, 2, 3 and 3 to Alzar’s roster just adds to his sheer power. I wish they would give out other rings. Ring of Spell Storing – Charm Person, Locate Object, Fly, Fireball
5000 gp worth of amber from the golem

Alzar uses the Medallion to ESP one of the students. Where is his spellbook? Suddenly, the bell rings and someone is pounding on the door. The apprentice thinks it is the guards, and is panicking. Alzar has Estaish open the door and in burst 10 guards, lead by the captain of the guards, who heard a big ruckus. “Tell your lord that has master has died.” The captain ushers the guards to do so, and then takes Alzar aside and thanks him. He has done Kron a great service.

He then leaves. Back to the spellbook. They are told where his room is and investigate. They find a box locked. Maerie picks it, and it opens to reveal a spellbook and spell scroll:

Invisible Stalker, Disintegrate, Death Spell

The Spellbook is confiscated

They are invited to the summoning room of the leader, One-Eye, and old battle scarred veteran of many years of the sea. He says that as soon as Morak was killed, a cloud was raised from his head and it stopped being so foggy. He will immediately stop making the war rafts, but their enemy could strike again. Someone at Colhador was the puppet master for Morak and with the tritons as well, and it’s time for Alzar and his company to penetrate and find out who.

In the morning, they leave Kron and set out for Colhador. It is less than one day away from Kron, and they arrive there without incident.

[Abe Sargent]

The city of colhador was once populated by airbreathers but many centuries it sank to the ocean floor. The city lies in ruins and has been eaten at by the salt water ever since. Much of the city was destroyed when the sea bed broke and much of it fell into the sea shelf. What is left is a few shattered buildings and battlements. As they get closer, they hear singing from the lair. It is an odd sound to hear almost a mile away still from Colhador.

As they close to the city, they can tell that the singing comes from within the walls of the old palace. Alzar hands a Ring of Free Action to Maerie and casts Water Breathing on her. Two of the fish are eaten by Estaish and Carum, and then can move about in heavy armor. Est is given Gauntlets of Swimming and Climbing for the adventure as well.

As they near the old palace, they can see a well with water flying out at a very quick clip. They move on and arrive at the palace – which is exactly where you’d expect the one in charge of everything They open a door in the palace and enter.

They enter a corridor and move down to the first door and open it. There is a large amount of white silt on the floor, so Alzar orders people to swim over and they open a door at the end into a room with a crossbow trap and Alzar takes 7. They swim and open another door to a room that is completely clear of anything – debris, items, grim, dirt – nothing. Alzar pushes a copper coin in and it starts dissolving. Looks acidic. He closes the door and they swim back to the hallway and take another door to the left. There is nothing here, and the next room has a poison in the water that does not harm Alzar so he doesn’t notice but Carum, next in line, takes 5 and they back out.

Carum – 55/60

They find a door that’s stuck and has to be forced open, and a room with a continual darkness spell in it. Alzar orders people back, and suddenly, skeletons start emerging and he controls all 20 of them. That’s the whole level, and that can’t be it, so they start searching for secret doors.

They find a secret door which leads to an empty room with two doors. Suddenly, magic effects stop working and people start choking. Carum, with Deep Diving, holds his breathe and checks the other two rooms. One has a writing tentacle mass and the other stairs down. Alzar goes over and sees it’s just an illusion from his 19 intelligence, and they hold their breath through the no magic room and head down.

The song of the creature is getting louder. Alzar orders them to search every room again, just like normal, now that they have entered the dungeon.

They are in a large triangular room with doors to the north and south. The skeletons are in front. There are four lacedons in the center of the room and Alzar controls them. A search finds a secret compartment with:

2000 gp

[Abe Sargent]

And a secret door forward. It opens into a hallway. They go right and arrive in an upper cavern with walls floor and ceiling covered in muck, mud, algae, and such. Alzar sends in a few skeletons, and they encounter a heap of slimes, oozes, and jellies and he decides to leave. He has no desire to play nursemaid – 16 skeletons left.

The door to the left enters into a hallway that hits a lair. The walls of this hexagonal room are made of coral and in the middle are two tritons playing a game. They grab spears and attack. Alzar moves in front and Charm Person’s on one. It fails. They cast Charm on Alzar and Magic Missile on Estaish. One takes a crossbow bolt from Estaish for 5 damage.

Estaish – 42/50

Alzar wins init and the skeletons in front attack and kill both tritons with ease. A serach finds:

Bag of Holding
2000 Ep
Wand of Trap Detection – 17 charges
Potion
Two Scrolls – Can’t open right now (Water)


They search and find a secret door. They enter a room with a high vaulted ceiling. In here is a 16 foot bronze statue with a sword fused to its chest. As the skeletons enter, it animates and it is a bronze golem.

Alzar orders the undead to retreat since they are unable to harm it, but one got thworped and 15 skeletons left. Alzar wins init and misses with the axe. The golem misses on him. Aleigha and Est move up to support. Carum’s slings in a rock for a miss and drops his sling.

It wins init and Alzar is hit for 13.Alzar swings twice for 34. Aleigha misses. Est hits for 5. Carum misses.

Alzar - 42/56

They go first. Alzar does 13. Est hits for 11 and Aleigha drops her ruby blade. Carum hits for 4. Maerie has snuck it and tries to stab it for 5. It misses Alzar. Est hits for 10 and Aleigha uses the second attack to recover from her fumble. They win and Alzar hits for 17 damage. Est misses. Aleigha hits for 8 and it dies.

XP - 3000 each

They sword detaches and identifies itself.

Bastard Sword,+1, +3 vs Undead. Align: Lawful Neutral. Speech. Int 12, total WP 24. ESP, Read Magic, See Invisible, Detect Evil. Against Underwater Undead – double damage and no underwater combat penalty.

It says that it was captured and tied to the golem because the evil undead creature that rules this place was afraid of it. It’s been here just a few weeks after getting fused to the golem. It says that it was created to kill 100 evil underwater undead creatures, and after it kills one more, it will be able to rest ,and the soul will leave, leaving behind just +1, +3 vs sword.

Alzar hands it to Estaish for the final battle. There is nothing else in here and they return and head to the hallway.

[Abe Sargent]

They hit a door and it opens to reveal a room with 12 brown sharks. They are hungry and move in, but Alzar’s wall of skeletons keeps them out. They don’t view the skeletons as enemies, just as barriers and are not attacking them. Alzar orders one to attack and it hits for 2 damage. The other sharks go crazy and kill the wounded one and start to eat it. Alzar has a skeleton wound another and it is damaged too and more attack and kill it. He remaining 10 feast on the sharks for a bit, and then, sated, they retreat. They take a door on the right. This room has bright and exciting murals and scenes of conquest and treasures flow across the ceiling and walls. There is an altar in here and an idol of an octopus. Four giant electric eels move to attack. Alzar wants to search the room so he orders his skeletons and lacedons to attack back. He killed the eels and has 5 skeletons left. A search finds nothing and the idol is a fake. They return to the shark room and move to the other door and enter, and the close the door behind them.


They arrive at a door and enter the room. This is a small room with a fearful triton statue in the middle of the room. It appears to be reaching out. A closer look shows chisel strokes – this is not someone turned to stone. A search finds two emeralds in a cache in the statue:

Emeralds – 1000 gp each

They exit through a door into a large corridor that ends into a large room with a giant dragon turtle in it. They others quake in fear but Alzar can tell it’s an illusion of a first level spell. Skeletons enter and start searching and a steam blast hits them and they die. Just 3 lacedons left. Alzar sends in a lacedon along the wall and nothing, so they enter that way and search. They find a secret door and stairs leading down, so they take it.

They hear the singing get a little louder. The corridor ahead widens into 25 feet and then collapses again. There is a door at the other end. In there are two skeletons with four arms each – probably a sign of golems. He’s fought enough to know that. Alzar sends the lacedons to the side and moves in front, and then he enters an area where he is slowed and he orders everybody else to keep back, and the golems advance. A dagger deals 10 to one and they arrive. Alzar attacks the wounded one for a miss. Carum misses. Est and Aleigha run in despite the slow effect, because they have no missile weapons to damage the golem. The golems miss Alzar. Carum misses. Alzar wins init and hits for 19 on the wounded one and it dies. Est and Aleigha miss. Alzar takes 8 from two hits. Alzar’s second attack does 16. It wins init and hits Alzar twice for 9 more. Alzar and Est and Carum and Aleigha manage to kill it.

31/56

XP – 480 each

They find nothing in here and move past the slow area and to the door and open it. There are a dozen very old statues in the room, and most are missing pieces and are cracks. As they investigate, 8 shadows emerge to attack and are controlled. 8 shadows and 3 lacedons. There is a doorway and a door. They head through the doorway.

[Abe Sargent]

This room is shaped like a half sphere. The walls and floor are perfectly smooth stone. The southeastern half is missing. The walls and floor are broken by a 70 foot wide chasm. On the far side is an identical half room facing this one. Just past the lip of the floor is a gaping hole in the cavern’s floor.

Alzar moves to the lip to look down and woah. There is a huge Dragon Turtle on the ground, sleeping.

Alzar has never run away from a monster before, but the sheer size on this one is impressive. He doesn’t want his party to blow all of their health and weapons and spells to kill it, so they sneak back and take the door. As they close to the room, the singing stops. They open the door and there is rotting nets hanging from the ceiling and on the floor. There is a large oak table on the floor. In the center is8 chairs around it. In each chair is a skeleton, and they are not moving. Alzar sends in a few shadows to inspect and nothing moves.

Suddenly a ball of steam comes front out of a vent into the hallway behind Alzar but in front of Maerie who shouts a warning. Exposed, it heads back to the vents and disappears. They search the room and find:

Candelabra – 5000 gp

The singing has started again.

They move into another small chamber. They then head south to a door and it ends in three doors. Alzar opens….the room on the right. In there is the order of decaying flesh and the room is littered with corpses. They rise to their feet, and Alzar controls them. Aleigha turns into a werebear and suddenly, a “zombie” turns into a wereshark. Alzar orders everybody to attack it. Alzar wins init and hacks for 13 damage. Aleigha hits for 6. Estaish hits for 5 and he dies.

40 XP each

They search the room and find a horn. The next room is opened by zombies., Inside are stains and such. There are six tritons here and they have been chained and tortured here for a while. Aleigha says they are okay and don’t smell like lycanthropes, so they are released and given spears from the zombie room.

Tritons – 18 hp each, AC 7. 1d6 from spear

Alzar orders the zombies to open the final room and in here is a storm giant chained to the floor. He calls out for help. Two zombies are sent in to help it, and suddenly, the illusion falls and a sea serpent kills a zombie. The other undead enter and kill the serpent. They find nothing in here.

[Abe Sargent]

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG88a.jpg



They move back and Alzar points out a problem. There has got to be, at least, one more floor, and they haven’t found the way down. It may be over the Dragon Turtle. That means they have to fight it, and they cannot take the zombies with them. The lacedons can swim and the shadows can swim/float.

Alzar and his group head back to the chamber. He has the 16 zombies line up along the edge and grabs the last two for a trick. The zombies are meat shields for the Dragon Turtle. The Lacedons are placed behind. The shadows to the side. The tritons are in the hallway and are not to be used unless in an emergency. The fighters will be in the center of the room with their major weapons. They can breathe steam, as per the illusion below, so everyone adds a Fire Resist ring or gloves. Only Maerie does not have any, and she is sent back to the hallway with the tritons and Dryshik+Megala, to be a reserve in an emergency. The lacedons are to swim over the dragon turtle and attack from the other side.

Alzar’s role will be to cast Greater Malison on it, and then cast spells like Charm Monster, Ray of Enfeeblement and such at it, with the penalty from the Malison. Then, he’ll charge in and add his axe to the fray. Before that though, he has a little trick. The 17th and 18th zombies have just had their heads Skulltrapped. They are going to move up to the edge, and then fall on the turtle, with two skulltraps going off and wakening and deals some good damage to the Dragon Turtle – hopefully.

Everybody is ready. Here we go. The zombies march and shuffle and fall off. They land and the traps explode. The zombies die. Each does 11d4 in damage, with a save vs half. 29 for one and 26 for the other. Save #1 is a 6, Save #2 is a 18. Alzar has a -1 penalty for his class for necro, charm and conj spells against others. That 6 becomes a 5. Let me look up the save table for a monster that powerful. It saves as a fighter of level 15. It needs a 7 and fails. It took 42 damage.

88/130. AC: -2, 3 attacks that deal 2d6x2, and 4d8. It rises up and sees a ton of undead and breathes. 10 zombies are dead in the middle. The fighters each take 10 damage from the breath., inc Alzar.

25/56 - Alzar
45-60 Carum
32/50 – Estaish
38/48 – Aleigha

Alzar casts Greater Malison and it gets -2 to its saves. The other undead pops out from the sides and converge with the lacedons swimming over.

It wins init and attacks. It kills three shadows. It takes 6 from a zombie. A Ray of Enfeeblement flies out and it makes its save. The fighters move forward. Alzar fires a Ray of Ondovir and it fails its save and is forced to attack in the exact same way this turn. Aleigha crits it for 6. Carum adds 7. It takes 4 from two zombies.

65/130

It wins init and moves to the fighters. It claws Estaish twice but misses a bite. He takes 15. Est swings back twice for one hit for 10. Aleigha hits once for 4. Carum hits once for 5. The undead Miss. Alzar launches a Ray from his Ring. It fails.

17/50 – Estaish

It wins init and attacks Est but he easily steps outside of its moves. Est is ordered back. Carum misses, Aleigha hits for 5, It takes 6 from the undead. Alzar runs in and leaps on top of it so it can’t breathe on him. He wants to bring its focus on him with his cloak for a turn.

They win Init. Alzar hacks away for 19 damage. The undead miss. Carum drops his spear. Aleigha misses. The turtle breathes and kills shadows and zombies and deals 12 to Carum an Aleigha. Aleigha misses with her second attack and Carum recovers.


33-60 Carum
26/48 – Aleigha

It wins init and with great maneuverability whips around and Alzar sails off. It tries to slash and bite him and misses. Carum and Aleigha miss. A ghoul crits it for 4 damage. Alzar’s group wins init. He swims back last round, and now Vamp Touches it for 9 damage. Aleigha hits for 7 and Carum misses. The turtle dies.

5000 each for Alzar, Carum , Estaish and Aleigha.
Dragon Turtle shell in several pieces, teeth, skin and scales, blood

He starts carving up its shell, takes some of its blood for vials and such. They spend a half hour recuperating. They still have 3 lacedons, but everything else is dead.

[Abe Sargent]

They search the chasm and find a secret door on the floor below them and swim down to it. They are in a corridor. They walk down it and is ends without any doors. They start searching and they find a secret door at the end. A lacedon opens the door and they are in a room with a vile stench, and the singing stops. It is shrouded in tattered black curtain remnants. A large stone slab occupies one end of the room and on it is a stone sarcophagus. The floor is covered with mud and muck.


Suddenly, 14 manta rays rise out of the muck and move to attack. The 3 lacedons are ordered forward, but that’s not a lot. Suddenly, Aleigha turns and attacks Alzar. She misses, due to the cloak. He looks at her oddly, and then casts Charm Person on her. She fails her save, and both Charms are broken and she is back to normal.

The manta rays are killed the lacedons and Est and Carum teamed up to kill one 13 left. Alzar casts his phantom maidens to help kill the rays. A second ghoul is down.

They win init and Alzar steps forward and cleaves a ray for 15 damage. Aleigha helps and kill it off. Est crits one for 8 damage. Carum misses. They kill the final ghoul, and moves up. Some miss Est and Carum and Alzar takes none. Est hits with a second attack for 9. Carum adds 9 and it dies. 10 left.

Suddenly, a ball of water solidifies into an underwater vampire, and they recognize the face. This is one of the slave lords the slew on the banks of the unnamed island they were using as a base. It must have died and turned into a vampire and now gets a chance to seek revenge against those who killed it. Estaish draws the magic talking sword. It sees it and shrieks. Alzar and Estaish move to the vampire (called a velya) and orders the tritons to attack the manta rays.

They win init. The Velya sings again and again Aleigha is called upon to make a save. She makes it. Everybody was checked when they came down. The rays deals 15 to Aleigha and 11 to Corum. Aleigha turns into a werebear for immunity. The tritons kill a ray. Carum misses. Alzar and Estaish spend the turn getting near the velya.

22-60 Carum
11/48 – Aleigha

They win init again. The rays only hit twice, both try to damage Aleigha and fail. The velya moves to attack Alzar – the leader and misses. Alzar hits for 15. Est hits and deals 2x damage. 18 damage. Aleigha and Carum kill a ray. The tritons kill another 7 left. Maerie sneaks in and tries to nip a ray and misses.

They win init yet again. The vampire tries to turn into a water ball and the sword in Estaish’s hand commands him to strike it anyway. He does and it takes 16 damage and it dies. The sword sucks its soul in, no need for special ways of killing it. The sword ceases to be super magical. The rays disperse now that they are not being controlled

XP – 2000 for Alzar, 2000 for Estaish, 400 for Everybody

[Abe Sargent]

They search and find:

2 Rings. One is Protection +2. They start searching the level. They came down the back way and there is a whole level here. Let’s make things short:

Alzar controls a bunch more undead – wights, lacedons, a wraith, zombies and skeletons are all here. They use the undead to kill a group of 15 mako sharks. They find:

Gauntlets of Ogre Power
Protection from Undead Scroll
Potion of Invulnerability
A Scroll with a Curse on it to make saves as if 1st level. Alzar reads it, and tomorrow removes the curse.

And that’s it. He leaves the undead here and the tritons and group swim back to the undersea boat and return to the triton city of Suthus where they are wined and dined for a few days.

After a three day rest, they sail back to Tangaroa and arrive with repairs still a few days away from being complete, and they finish their time, before leaving the Isle of Dread behind again, this time for good.

[Abe Sargent]

Estaish – 92459 (Level 7) – Now with 50 HP
Aleigha – 84227 (Level 7) – Now has 48 HP.
Carum – 75907 (Level 7, 8 at 125k) – Now has 64 HP.
Maerie – 64010 (Level 7 – level 8 at 70k) - 22 hp
Alzar – 193791 (Level 10 at 250k)




Gauntlets of Ogre Power
Protection from Undead Scroll
Potion of Invulnerability
A Scroll with a Curse on it to make saves as if 1st level.
Dragon Turtle shell in several pieces, teeth, skin and scales, blood
9000 cp
4 gems 100 each
2 pieces of jewelry worth 500 each
Wand of Treasure Location – 5 charges
-10,000gp
Undersea Boat
5 water breathing potions
3 vials of small platinum fish
Spear +1
Wand of Lightning Bolts – 14 charges
5000 gp gem for each of them
Wand of Frost – 14 charges
Medallion of ESP 30’
Ring
Ring of… 1, 2, 3 and 3 Spell Storing – Charm Person, Locate Object, Fly, Fireball
5000 gp worth of amber from the golem
Scroll - Invisible Stalker, Disintegrate, Death Spell
2000 gp
Bag of Holding
2000 Ep
Wand of Trap Detection – 17 charges
Bastard Sword,+1, +3 vs Undead
Emeralds – 1000 gp eachx2
Candelabra – 5000 gp
Rings. One is Protection +2



Magic Pile – Ring of Human Control, Pot of growth: Cleric Scroll of Remove Curse, Heal. Wizard of Lightning Bolt, Knock, and Enervation (4th level). Horn of Blasting. Ring of Seeing (once/day can Truesight for 30 minutes)

All of the things that one can do with the Ring of Seeing for 30 minutes a day -Detect Invisible, Know Alignment, Detect Illusion, Detect Secret Doors, Detect Magic, Detect Phased, Detect Shapeshifters and Polymorphed, See in Darkness even magical. Much better than a simple Gem of Seeing, but just once a day for 30minutes.

A Ring of Human Control will do this: Cha 18 to humans and humanoids, can charm 21 levels of creatures/humans permanently, can Suggestion twice/day.



Morak’s spellbook:

1st - Charm Person, Detect magic, Read magic, Magic Missile, Lasting Breath, Shield, Read Languages, Floating Disc, Protection from Evil
2nd – Detect Evil, Rope Trick, Knock, Wizard Lock, Phantasmal Force, Web, Invisibility
3rd – Lightning Bolt, Dispel Magic, Hold person, Water Breathing
4th – Charm Monster, Polymorph Other, Remove Curse, Confusion
5th – Conjure Water Elemental, Animate Dead
6th – Anti-Magic Shell, Lower Water


Alzar learns Invisible Stalker.



After a few weeks of Dispels, Alzar has now cleared out this spellbook:

Lamonsten’s Spell Book:

1st Change Self, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Detect Illusion, Phantasmal Force, Chromatic Orb, Wall of Fog 2nd: Detect Invisibility, Invisibility, Hypnotic Pattern 3rd: Dispel Illusion, Fear, 4th: Improved Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer

He doesn’t want any of those spells though.

End of the Isle of Dread campaign

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s look at Alzar today!

7th level Fighter (Myrmidon), 9th level Path Mage (Fivefold Mage)

Lawful Evil
Human

Str: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 10
Wis: 15
Int: 19
Cha: 16

Hit Points: 56
THACO: 14
AC: 2 (Bracers, Cloak) Gets +2 when fighting with one handed weapon
Total XP: 193,791
Total Gold:
Age 38, Body - 29

Race Abilities:

None Taken

Class Abilities (Cannot use as Necromancer without losing XP gain):

Specialization
Leadership (Alzar can command the tactics, strategy, logistics and more that a large force requires)
3 attacks every 2 rounds


Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

Myrmidon Bonus:

Tactical History 14
Fire-Building 16

Riding 11
Swimming 12
Reading/Writing 13
Survival 14
Blind Fighting
Etiquette 13
Endurance
Heraldry 13
Hunting 10
Fishing 14
Weather Knowledge 10
Orienteering 15

As a Necromancer/Fivefold Mage

Necrology 14
Netherworld Knowledge 10
Herbalism 14
Alchemy 12
Poison Use 11
Ancient Languages 10
Spellcraft 12

Languages – Typic, Sis’sharr


Traits:

Empathy
Fast Healer
Precise Memory


Weapon Proficiencies:

Bonus Kit Specialization:

Battle Axe

Battle Axe
One Handed Weapon Style x2 (-2 AC when using one weapon in combat)
Crossbow
Battle Axe Weapon Mastery
Spear

Total with normal battle axe - +3 to hit, +3 to damage, -2 to AC. An additional +1 with the axe and +1 damage for strength


Staff – Can only use this as a Necromancer, +1


Class Ability:

1). Alzar can control undead as an evil Priest of the same level, and this ability extends to extra planar beings which are considered undead with the same hit dice for this purpose.
2). One Extra Spell/Level is Gained, must be Path.
3). Fivefold Mages reduce the spell level by one when researching spells in The Path.
4). Chance to Learn spell in The Path increased by +15%
5). Saving Throw of Targets when targeted by spells from The Path at -1.
6). No more than one spell per level can be from the group: Abjuration, Alteration, Alchemy and Geometry barring a highly unusual and temporary circumstance.
7). Fivefold Mage must invest a focus item as the method through which magic is cast. (Alzar’s Father’s Ring)
8). Must have a lab and library and workbench with 1,000 gp value per level, and an upkeep of 50 gp/level/month
9). They can store spells like an Artificer, but cannot begin to do so until level 6
10). Fivefold Mages have a chance to identify a magical item by spending a turn peering at it closely and examining it - chance is their level times 5.
11). Fivefold Mages never suffer from a negative reaction penalty due to controlling or animating undead.


Stalked by a Death Servant, who merges with his shadow. If he ever is about to take a fatal blow, the Death Servant will jump out, take the blow instead, and Alzar will be fully healed.

immune to starvation

Can cast ESP once/week

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar’s Stuff:

Gold: 58445

15000 copper
10870 pp
15000 sp
5800 ep
845 pp
19160 silver pieces
Silver coin necklaces, which have 360 silver coins pierced and on a threat of gut. x30



Jewelry and Gems and Objet d’arts

Crowns: 5000x2 and 50x4, Necklace 1500, 700, 50x3;Tiara 200; Wristbands 100x4; Bracelets 10,000 gp, 600x2, 500, 300; Pearl Necklaces, 400x2; Gold Medallion, 300, 200; Jeweled Dagger 1000, 900, 850, 300;Gold Diamond Bracelet – 5080, 750 gold; Platinum and Ruby Pin – 2000, String of Matched Fire Opals , 15000; Gold Medallion with Topaz – 1000 gold; Gold Necklace – 620, 60 gpx3; Gold Earrings – 700, 50 gp setx2, 600; Gold Bracelet – 700 gp, 575x2, 560x2, 75 gp; Gold Ring – 500, 100x2, 75 gp, 50 gp, 30 gp; Pearl encrusted collar 3000 gold x2; Black-Opal Pendant on a gold chain – 1250 gold, Jeweled Hilt – 500; Gold and Turquoise Belt Buckle – 200 gp; Silver Amethyst Necklace – 1300 gp, Necklace of Topaz Beads – 1800 gp; Gold and Hematite Chain – 250 gp; Gold and Jade Bracelet – 250 gp; Silver and Amber Bracelet and Necklace Set, 800 gp; Platinum Cloak Clasp – 160 gp; Seal of Jasper – 60 gp; Black Opal on Gold Chain – 2000 gp; Sapphire Necklace worth 6000; Gold Belt Buckle – 500 gp; Silver and Opal Bracelets – 200x10; Silver and Coral Necklace – 1100 gp; Necklace of Garnet and Electrum 1300 gp; Electrum Bracers – 560 gp; Neckguard of Electrum - 1400gp; Gold and Ruby Necklace worth 1400; Silver Ring – 300; Jeweled Helm – 3000 gp; Gold Brooch – 3000 gp; Platinum Ring with Fire Opal – 5000 gp; Silver Amulet – 50 gp; Brooches, 500 gp, x5; Diamond Earrings – 2500 x4, 1245x2; Diamond Pendant – 5000 gpx3; Silver Circlet with Emerald – 1500 gp; Necklace of Black Pearls – 2670; Gold Rings with Emeralds – 290x3; Mother-of-Pearl Necklace – 750; Gold Ankle Bracelets – 575x2; Necklace of Coral and Jade Beads – 760 gp; Jade Amulet inlaid with Mother of Pearl – 750; Jade Earrings – 150; Sapphire Pendant – 370; Golden Belt with Silver Buckle – 520; Boar’s Head Amulet on Gold Chain – 2675 gp; Jade Mask – 250; Diadem of Opals and Jade – 300; Hair Ornaments of Obsidian – 200; Earplugs of Jade- 75; Gold Mask – 175; Jade earplugs, 6 pairs, 15 gp each pair; Bracelets of Obsidian – 200 gpx15; Silver Brooch – 1000; Jeweled Headband – 3000 gp



Gems: 5000x3, 2000, 1000x30, 500x42, 300, 250x2, 200x2, 100x645, 50 x464, 10x13; 4x25, 120x2, 150, 400, 800x2, 5, 60x4, 1200, 700x2, 350


Opal, 500 gp, x8; Aquamarine, 400x6, 250x3, 80 gpx6; A Black Sapphire, 4000; Azurite – 800; Black Pearls 500 gpx3, 3000; Pearl 500, 100x15, 25x20; Diamond 20000, 3000x3, 1000; Ivory75 gp; Jet, 100x10; Amethyst 150,100, 50x5; Jade, 100x10, 60x3; Tourmaline, 100x11; Sapphire 150x3; Onyx, 175, 100; Fire Opal – 750gpx6; Topaz 750 gpx4, 500; Garnets 100x3; Moonstones, 50 gp, x21; Emerald 1000x3; Black Sapphires – 1500 x2; Glowing Red Gems 5000x2; Turquoise – 50gpx3; Pink Pearls 200 gpx13



143015 in jewelry
Silver Serving Set - 4000 gp; China and Silverware Set – 600; Crystal Flagon and 4 Goblets - 80 total; Silver bowl, carafe and goblet worth 400 gp as a set; Silver Chalice worth 500 gold; Intricate Inlaid Bejeweled Bowl 500 gpx3; Engraved Gold and Platinum Dish – 7500;
Rare perfume- 40 gp
Ivory Pipe. - 100
Ivory dagger – 30 gold
Deed to Mining Rights outside of Chonae worth roughly 1200
Alabaster Box - 800; Ivory Box 50 gold; Inlaid Wooden Box with Ivory Handle – 45; Ivory Box inlaid with Mother-of-Pearl – 250 gp; Silver Box – 535 gp; Carved Mahogany Box – 260; Silver, Emerald Studded Snuff Box – 1100;
10000 gold worth of Amber from 2 Golems
12,000 crown jewels
Scroll of Drawings by a famous artist – 900 gp
Ivory Teeth – 1000 total
Spell Book Cover with Gems - 800 gold
Svartálfar gold statuette 2200; 2000 gold kopru statuette; 2 coral statuettes worth 1000 each; Gold Statues – 2000 gold eachx2; Jeweled Idol of the Earth Elemental of Evil. 4000 gp; 800 gold for a tiny human shaped figurine of onyx; 12 ivory figures worth 105 each; Gold Statuette of Falcon, with Black Lacquer. – 15,000 gp; Small Golden Statuette - 85 gpx6; Jade Statue of Cat – 200 gp; Alabaster statuette – 50 gp;
Alabaster statuette of Coatlicue – the serpent skirted, worth 270;
Silver casket worth 1535
2 bolts of fine cloth worth 60 each
Golden skull,750 gp; gold apple 150 gp; gold rose 150 gp; small set of five gold discs value 50 gp in total.
Uncut stones currently worth 10x2, 15, 20, 25 and 40, and values increased by ten times if properly cut.
Uncut 8 Sapphires worth 250, Ruby worth 500 – value can be 4 by gem cutter
Eight kegs of rare spices – 8000gp total
Sabretooth Pelt – 600 gold
50 gp fine robe; Cloak – 100 gold; Very nice tunic -600 gold; 4 pairs of fancy slippers 150 gp each
Silk Belt with detailed gold dagger and embroidered scabbard for it. 80 gp as set
Rich Tapestry – 1000 gp
Silver Comb set with pearls 1100 gp
12 violet garnet buttons 6000 gp for the set
Silver and ebony napkin ring – 50 gold
Pair of adamantite claws worth 2000 gp
1000g gold statuette of a taurian; 1000g golden statute of a kneeling taurian
Beaker of powered diamonds worth 500 gp
Gem-Studded Ceremonial Silver Dagger of the Earth Elemental of Evil. 1100 gp
Scroll Cases - 365 gp
Exquisite Gold Hourglass with Crushed Diamonds instead of sand – 2650
Suit of platinum engraved, black plate armor – 15480 with matching shield – 2650
Ivory staff island with gold and silver – 2225 gp
9 inch tall four armed skeleton made from ivory, held together by platinum wire – 3500
Rock-Sized Lump of Gold – 2500; Hardened Lump of Gold, 600 gold, 900 gold
Coverlet of rare furs, 1500gp
Robe with hundreds of tiny gems – 2000 gp
Jade Axe-Head – 170
Sandals inlaid with Turquoise – 620 gp as a pair
Crystal Skull – 2500 gp
Robe and Headdress – 350 gp
Gold Holy Symbol Encrusted with Gems – 780
Sapphire-Studded Scabbard with Silver Inlay – 1730
5000 gp in exotic silks
Breastplate of Jade and Bone – 640 gp (AC6)
Two scroll paintings - each worth 4000 gp
Gold Tablets 500gpx3
Three Disks of Jade – 500 gp each
Gold Enchased Incense Burner – 900 gp
Candelabra – 5000 gp


Books:


Manual of Golems, Flesh
1000 gold worth of texts from Tower in Rahasia
2000 gold worth of Castanamir’s own personal journals.
3 books on golems and repair – 500 gold.
5000 gold in books on summoning and conjuring.
10 alchemy texts, 100 coins heavy, 1000 gold value to a library.
15,000 specialized summoning and conjuring texts
2500 gold Gingwatzim information, and the five books and two manuscripts that show it.
1000 gold, 12 books, info on making portals
3000 necromatic tomes for research
Ye Secret of Ye Philosopher’s Stone – 500 gold
Concerning Mesmerism and Lists of Effects – 50 gold
The Magical Properties of Gemstones - 150
The Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers - 150
The Metaphysics of Mathematics – 150
Principles of Navigation and Legal Distinction in Letters of Marque – 10 gold each
Manual of Summoning Familiars – When read in its entirety just before casting Find Familiar or a similar spell, three possible familiars will arrive and spellcasters can choose which one they want.
Cenozoic Glacial Geology, - 50 gold
The Art of Coarse Angling – 75 gp
History of The Gauntlet and The Sentinel – 250 gold
200 tomes, 12000 gp – value of books in generic mage research for spells and other mage stuff.
1500 gp worth of alchemical books





Magic Items:

Potion of Sweet Water, Diminutionx4, Gaseous Formx2, Poisonx2, Telekinesis, Extra-Healingx4, Healingx10, Levitationx3, Spider Climbing, ESP, Animal Control – Horses, Clairvoyancex2, Fire Resistancex3, Philter of Lovex3, Control Plants, Neutralize Poisonx2, Speedx3, Cure Disease, Water Breathingx6, Invis: 3 doses; Invulnerability – 4 doses, Undead Controlx2, Heroism, Flying, Longevity, White, Silver, Black Dragon Control; Giant Strength, Oil of Etherealness, Strength, Treasure Finding, Human Control, Growth
Gauntlets of Ogre Powerx2; Gauntlets of Dexterity; Gauntlets of Proficiency
Bag of Holding, 10,000 coinsx3, Bag of Holding, 5000 coins
+1 Scimitarx2, Short Swordx2, Daggerx9, Macex2, Battle Axe, Longswordx3, Two-handed sword, +1 arrows x4, Broadswordx2, Short Composite Bow, Warhammer, Morning Star; Spearx2,
-1 Dagger; Armor of Vulnerability
+2 Longswordx4, Throwing Dagger, Bastard Sword, Daggerx3, Arrowsx6, Mace, Bastard Swordx2, Footman’s Mace, Cutlass, +2 battle axe, can only be used by those str 16 or higher, short sword, baton (1d6); Spear
+3 arrowsx15,
+1 Short Sword of Speed.
+1 studded leather, protection from normal missiles (-1 per die from magical ones too)
+1 Plate Armorx2, Plate Mail, Chain Mailx4, Shieldx5, Leather Armorx2
+2 Chainmailx4, Leather Armorx2, Shield, plate armor, plate mail
+3 Chain mail
Ring of Water Walkingx2
Ring of Protection +1x7; +2, +3
Ring of Warmthx2
Ring of Seeing
Ring of Human Control
Ring of Fire Resistance
Ring of Spell Turning
Ring of Telekinesis, 50 lbs
Ring of Free Actionx3 *
Ring of Sustenance *
Ring of Spell Storing – Detect Magic, Sleep, Ray of Ondovir (1,1,2)
Ring of Spell Storing with these spells – (5, 3, 3, 3, 1) Conjure Earth Elemental, Searing Serpent,
Skulltrap, Dispel Magic, Sleep
Ring of… 1, 2, 3 and 3 Spell Storing – Charm Person, Locate Object, Fly, Fireball
Ring of Command – 9 charges (Command 1 charge, Charm Person and Suggestion 2)
Mud Ring
Ring of Infravision
Robe of Useful Items
Necklace of Missiles –5
Bracelet of Swimming; Bracers of Protection vs Normal Missiles; Bracers of Cleaning
Wand of Paralyzation 2 charges; Wand of Paralyzation – 1 charge
Wand of Magic Missiles – 10 charges, 12 charges, 28 charges
Wand of Wonder – 45 charges; Wand of Fog (8 charges)
Wand of Negation – 5 charges
Wand of Treasure Location – 5 charges; Wand of Trap Detection – 17 charges
Wand of Frost – 15 charges; Wand of Frost – 14 charges
Wand of Lightning Bolts – 14 charges
Wand of Opening – 10 charges left
Rod of Terror – 8 charges; Rod of Electrification – 17 charges.
Staff of Power (3 charges), Staff of Striking 18 charges; Staff of Striking, 22 charges
The Sword of the Rock
Longsword +1, +2 vs Undead; Short Sword +1, +2 vs Scaly Things; Dagger , +1, +2 vs Magic Users and Enchanted Creatures; +1 Broadsword, +3 vs regenerators; Two Handed Sword, +1, +4 vs Gas Spore; . +1 Dagger vs Lycanthropes; +1 Longsword, +4 vs Reptiles; Bastard Sword,+1, +3 vs Undead
Crystal Ball with Clairaudience, Crystal Ball
Jar of Preserving
Necklace of Adaptation
Periapt of Proof Against Poison +2x2; Periapt of Health
Monocle of Read Magic, Gem of Seeing
Gauntlets of Swimming and Climbing
Rod of Cancellation
Rope of Climbing
Scrolls of: Read Languages, Aganazzar’s Scorcher, Odeen’s Magic Cloud, Levitate, Ray of Fatigue, Tongues, Invisibility, 10’ Radius, Push, Stinking Cloudx2, Haste, Fly, Gust of Wind, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Fireball, Locate Object, Ice Storm, Wall of Fire, Invisibility, Magic Mouth, Dispel Illusion, Illusionary Script, Shield, Light, Mirror Image, Spectral Hand, Continual Darkness, Paralyzation, Shadow Door, Audible Glamer, Dancing Lights, Wall of Fog, Invisibility, Spider Climb, Dig, Feign Death, Affect Normal Fires, Jump, Invisibility, Strength, Dispel Magic and Hold Person, Locate Object, Polymorph Other, Non-Detection, Emotion, Magic Mouth, Dispel Magic, Monster Summoning III, Disintegrate, Death Spell, Lightning Bolt, Knock, and Enervation
Scrolls of Protection from Acid, Demonsx2, Undeadx4, Magic, Elementals, Lycanthropes, Felines
Scroll – Cursed Scrollx2
Dust of Appearance x2; Dust of Disappearance
Bracers of Defense AC7, AC6 and AC4x2
Amulet of the Planes (with command words)
Amulet of Protection vs Crystal Ball and ESP; Medallion of ESP 30’
Amulet of Protection vs Turning x10
Belt of Flying, 44 charges.
Cleric scroll – sanctuary, fire resistance, Cure Light x8;Heal, Cure Diseasex2, Dispel Magic, Cure Seriousx3, Purify Food and Drink, Feign Death, Resurrection, Atonement, Wind Walk, Neutralize Poisonx2, Dispel Evil, Commune, Striking, Stone Tell, Remove Curse, Healx2, Protection from Evil, Remove Curse,
Paperweight, Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer – 2 charges
Left Boot, Elven
Pair of Boots, Elven
Cloak of Displacementx2
Cleric Only - Phylactery of Action, Pearl of Wisdom, Snake Staff, Staff of Healing – 15 charges
Horn of Demon Dismissal – 2 charges
Ear Ring
Broom of Flyingx2; Whistle of Flight
Stone of Diminution, when held acts as potion until dropped.
Amulet of Finding (other half illusionist has)
Quaal’s Feather Token, Finger
Five Pellets in a small box (Flash Pellets)
Amulet of Protection from Good, 3x daily
Amulet of Protection - +3 – also protects the wearer from wolfsbane; Cloak of Protection +2x2
+1 AC and Save Ioun Stone
Cloak of Magical Portal Accessx3, Kalnaka’s Black Cloak
Helm of Alignment Changing
Mask of Disguise
Dagger of Venom.
Incense of Mediation x4
Ring of Flying with 4 charges
Boots of Striding and Springing
Luckstone
Horn of Blasting
Undersea Boat


Misc:

3 Daggers, coated with dried smears of Orcish poison
Took 2 Spiked Bars, with a spring action, trap, Deals 3d6 damage
Alicornx3
Tyrannosaurus, Pocket Dragon, Gold, Red and Green Dragon Skin and Scales and Teeth and Blood
Iron Cobra Body
Three sabre-tooth skulls, and 6 teeth
2 flasks of holy water
2 wyvern tails, stingers, poison sacs, blood, 1 wyvern skin
Dragon Turtle shell in several pieces, teeth, skin and scales, blood
Spirit Naga teeth, eyes, blood
Displacer hide, eyes, teeth, blood, tentacles
3 vials of small platinum fish



Wooden case has a jar with an amulet suspended in an ochre colored liquid. A check shows this to be an ochre jelly, and the amulet is non magical. Opening the jar probably released the ochre jelly – a clever little trap.

Ochre jelly in a glass jug and another in ceramic jar



The Gauntlet gems:

The first gem allows 1 hp regen every ten minutes, but will not reattach limbs or bring back from death
The second gives the user an 18 charisma when dealing with creatures of own alignment
The third gem grants immunity to charm and suggestion spells.
The fourth gem is very evil and non-evil people seeing it will be instantly upset with the gem and its owner. If displayed, it will act as a jewel of attacks. When displayed it will double the chance of a wandering monster hitting the party – good in some circumstances.


Unusual Items:


Sword, +1, Neutral Evil, Ego 2, Personality 16, Detect Good
Sword, +1, Neutral, I8, E9: Detect Metal; Levitate for 30 minutes and 3x a day
“D’Antoigne” – Long Sword, +2, Int 9, Ego 11, Wil 22 AL N – Detects Magic, Finds Traps and Detects Sloping Passages
The Book of Years, Windscribe, 4 teleport jars, Mead Pitcher, Jeweled Gold Amulet can Predict Weather spell once a day; Gem that flashes Continual Light and Continual Darkness constantly
2x Double Speed writing quills from Monk’s room
Sword of Lyons - +1 short sword. Invisible and gives invisibility when sheathed.
Glowing, Floating statuette
Scepter of Nahual – 507 gp, residual magical energies, but all used up
Two crystal scroll cases - 20 gp each , water has damaged scrolls within.
Sword of Wounding I 13, E 4 AL CN – Empathy, Detect Invisible, heal once/week

Battle Axe - +2, -2 vs Chaotic Evil (so it’s neutral against CE). It is cursed, and must always be used in combat by Alzar until the curse is removed. It has permanent scrolls in the haft, and the command words are in the ancient language, which he can now read. Three times a day he can activate each of these – Push, Passwall, Burning Hands.

Wave - +3 trident, 1d10+3 damage in combat, Neutral, 14 INT, 20 Ego. Purpose: Death or disfigurement to those who won’t convert to Tangaroa’s worship. Powers: Trident of Fish Commanding, Trident of Warning, Finds Water, Confers Water Breathing and Underwater Action, Confers Cube of Force, Possess speech and telepathy. Dehydrates – on a natural roll of 20, in addition to normal damage, drains ½ of remaining hp.

Whelm - +3 hammer, +5 if wielded by dvergr. Lawful Neutral. Int 15, Ego 18. Purpose –kill trolls, giants and goblin types. If thrown by dvergr will return three times a day. Acts as Hammer of Stunning once a day – sends forth a shock wave that deals 45 hp to enemies. Detects gold, gems, goblins. Develops severe agoraphobia.

Blackrazor - +3 longsword. Chaotic Neutral. Int 17, Ego 16. Purpose – to suck souls. The black sword shines like a piece of the night sky filled with stars. When it kills, temporarily adds the number of levels of the dead foe to its bearer’s levels in terms of fighting ability only. The bearer also gains the full hp of the victim. All subsequent damage is taken from the extra hp first. They last a number of turns equal to the levels received. The souls of those killed by Blackrazor are sucked out and drained, and the dead from it cannot be raised. Every three days it remains unfed, its ego increase one until it feeds, and then it returns. If it deals damage to an energy draining enemy, the wielder will lose the levels instead. It has speech and telepathy, detects living creatures, can Haste the bearer daily, and grants 100% magic resistance to charm and fear spells.



5000 gold on a workshop/laboratory
Alchemical and lab equipment worth 2000 gp
5000 gp worth of alchemical equipment



Temporary Magic Items - Ring of Monster Summoning 1, Wand of Repulsion and Sphere of Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere – just waiting on Permanency to make them a real magic item.

These gingwatzim: Amulet +1 save vs spells, a Tim Gingwatzim. +1 staff technically a Pakim Gingwatzam. Short sword +2, technically a Graegzim Gingwatzim, and a multiform one too, can turn into Fremlin. Staff (+3, one of the Gingwatzim in bound animate form, and it talks a lot to its owner and complains)

Døkkálfar Armor and Weapons:

+3 chain, +2 mace, +2 chain, +1 shield, +1 dagger, +2 short sword, +1 chainx6, +1 short swordx6, 12 poisoned javelins



Estaish has: +3 Long Sword, +1 shield, +3 chainmail, +2 Ring of Protection, Ring of Fire Resist, Pot of Healing: AC-2, Ring of The Sentinel – Shield in effect constantly. 5.5k gp, 600 pp

Aleigha has: Sword of Spartusia, +1 shield, +2 Ring of Protection, Ring of Fire Resist, Neck. Of Adaptation, Pot of Healing, 5.5k gp, 600 pp

Carum has: +1 dagger, +2 splint mail, +2 shield ,+2 spear, +2 sling of seeking, +1 Ring of Pro, Ring of Infravision , Gloves of Fire Resistance (As the ring, but a pair of gloves), AC - 2: Pot of Heal: 2k gp, 600 pp: 7 silver sling bullets


The Sea Ghost and 10,000 in goods like silk, brandy, soap, seeds, wine, and such. Does not include weapons. 100 hull points trading vessel.

The Water Dragon, galley, comfortable.

Ocean Queen

[Abe Sargent]

Spellbooks:


Damaged Castanamir:

2nd level Darkness, 15’; Magic Mouth; Breath of Bewilderment; Bladeleap; Levitate; Flash
3rd level Icelance; Nystul’s Expeditious Fire Extinguisher; Item


Castanamir’s Evil Books:

1st Level: Charm Person, Hypnotism, Friends, Magic Missile, Nystul’s Magical Aura, Protection from Good, Sleep, Spook, Corpselight, Dance Macabre, Reflected Image, Spoil Holy Water, Wandbane

2nd Level: Darkness, 15’ Radius, Deafness, ESP, Fools’ Gold, Irritation, Ray of Enfeeblement, Stinking Cloud, Tasha’s Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter, Choke, Dark Mirror, Empathic Control, Ghost Pipes,
Castanamir’s Magic Missile Reflection, Undead Mount, Wall of Gloom

3rd Level: Feign Death, Haste, Improved Magic Missile, Protection from Good, 10’ Radius, Suggestion, Vampiric Touch, Curse Tablet, Dire Charm, Minor Malison, Mummy Touch, Skulltrap, Watery Double,
Whip of Pain

4th Level: Contagion, Enervation, Fear, Phantasmal Killer, Bestow Curse, Delayed Magic Missile, Putrefaction, Ray of Oblivion, Rain of Terror, Greater Malison, Merald’s Murderous Mist, Disfigure

5th Level: Animate Dead, Avoidance, Cloudkill, Domination, Magic Jar, Deathmaster’s Vial, Eyefire, Fiendform, Nystul’s Enveloping Darkness, Persona of Death, Vile Venom, Xult’s Magical Doom

6th Level: Death Fog, Ensnarement, Geas, Mislead, Programmed Illusion, Flesh to Stone, Curse of Lycanthropy, Gauntlet of Teeth, Otiluke’s Excruciating Screen, Seizure, Spell Mirror

Alchemist Spellbook:

Affect Normal Fires, Find Familiar, Conjure Spell Component, Fools Gold and Animate Dead


Lavinia’s Spell Book.

1st: Audible Glamer, Read Magic, Detect Magic, Change Self, Magic Missile, Phantasmal Force, Detect Illusion, Wall of Fog. 2nd: Hypnotic Pattern, Blur, Magic Mouth


Villa Spellbook:


Tenser’s Floating Disc, Leomund’s Trap, Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer


Transcendental Impenetrabilities:

Leomund’s Tiny Hut, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Globe of Invulnerability and Prismatic Sphere


Life of Nature: Its Secrets

Fly, Web, Mount, Levitate, Slider Climb, Bind, Feather Fall and Caligarde’s Claw.


Kalnaka’s spellbook:

1st Detect Magic, Read Magic, Light, Magic Missile, Sleep, Locate Remains 2nd – Locate Object, Mirror Image, Web, Wizard Lock, 3rd – Dispel Magic, Lightning Bolt, Haste, Protection from Normal Missiles. 4th – Charm Monster, Massmorph, Polymorph Self. 5th Animate Dead, Magic Jar


Markessa’s high level spellbook – Lightning Bolt

Markessa’s low level spellbook – Magic Missile, Protection from Good, Read Magic, Detect Magic, Shocking Grasp, Scare, Wizard Lock and Darkness, 15’ radius


Kwarino’s Spellbook:

1st Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic Read Magic, Friends, Magic Missile, Hold Portal, Shield
2nd - Continual Light, Knock, Leomund’s Trap, Stinking Cloud, Web


Lamonsten’s Spell Book:

1st Change Self, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Detect Illusion, Phantasmal Force, Chromatic Orb, Wall of Fog 2nd: Detect Invisibility, Invisibility, Hypnotic Pattern 3rd: Dispel Illusion, Fear, 4th: Improved Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer


Not Unlocked Yet:



Chest – 2 spellbooks for enchantment, 3 for evil



Geldered’s Spell Book – Locked, Trapped

1st - Hold Portal, Sleep, Magic Missile, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Read Languages, 2nd – Continual Light, Detect Invisible, ESP Magic Mouth. 3rd – Dispel Magic, Invisibility 10’ radius, Moonglow Symbol


Horan’s Spellbook( Fire Trap)

1st – Affect Normal Fires, Charm person, Comprehend Languages, Detect magic, Erase, magic Missile, Frost Shroud, Push, Read Magic, Unseen Servant
2nd – Preserve, ESP, Forget ,Invisibility, Leomund’s Trap, Locate Object, Magic Mouth, Ray of Enfeeblement, Scare
3rd – Clairvoyance, Feign Death, Fly, Haste, Hold Person, Monster Summoning I, Slow
4th – Fire Trap, Ice Storm, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer, Wizard Eye
5th – Bigby’s Interposing Hand, Cone of Cold, Contact Other Plane, Cloudkill, Leomund’s Secret Chest
6th – Guards and Wards, Invisible Stalker, Part Water


Snarla’s Spellbook (Explosive Runes):

Fear, Haste, Dispel Magic, Web, Stinking Cloud, Scare, Magic Missile, Push, Shield


Morak’s spellbook:

1st - Charm Person, Detect magic, Read magic, Magic Missile, Lasting Breath, Shield, Read Languages, Floating Disc, Protection from Evil
2nd – Detect Evil, Rope Trick, Knock, Wizard Lock, Phantasmal Force, Web, Invisibility
3rd – Lightning Bolt, Dispel Magic, Hold person, Water Breathing
4th – Charm Monster, Polymorph Other, Remove Curse, Confusion
5th – Conjure Water Elemental, Animate Dead
6th – Anti-Magic Shell, Lower Water

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar’s Spell Books:

5/4/3/3/2

First Level:

Alarm
Alzar’s Undead Porter
Armor
Animate Dead Animals *
Cantrip
Charm Person *
Conjure Spell Component
Detect Magic
Enlarge
Friends
Identify
Hypnotism *
Locate Remains
Mount
Protection from Good
Protective Amulet
Read Languages
Read Magic
Sleep * *
Spoil Holy Water
Unseen Servant
Wizard Mark



Second Level:

Alzar’s Familiar
Attract Ghoul
Blastbones *
Choke
Continual Light
Embalm
Empathic Control *
ESP
Forget
Knock
Leomund’s Trap
Locate Object
Ray of Enfeeblement *
Ray of Ondovir *
Speak with Dead
Tasha’s Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter
Undead Mount
Wall of Gloom
Wizard Lock



Third Level:

Bone Knit
Curse Tablet
Dire Charm *
Dispel Magic
Fly
Haste
Proof Against Teleportation
Protection from Good 10’ Radius
Searing Serpent *
Sepia Snake Sigil
Skulltrap *
Suggestion
Undead Summoning I
Vampiric Touch *
Watery Double


Fourth Level:

Alzar’s Undead Expertise
Bestow Curse
Charm Monster *
Contagion
Dimension Door
Disfigure
Greater Malison *
Minor Globe of Invulnerability
Mordenkainen’s Faithful Phantom Shield-Maidens *
Putrefaction
Ray of Oblivion
Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer
Special Effects
Vorthala’s Undead Turning Immunity



Fifth Level:

Animate Dead
Conjure Earth Elemental *
Deathmaster’s Vial
Domination *
Magic Jar
Teleport
Transmute Rock to Mud
Vile Venom
Xult’s Magical Doom



Sixth Level:

Curse of Lycanthropy
Ensnarement
Geas
Invisible Stalker
Seizure
Spell Mirror
Stone to Flesh
Transmute Bone to Steel

[Abe Sargent]

Undead and Servants:

40 animal skeletons
Taurian Mummy
15 topi
2 agarat

#9 Flesh Golem – AC 9, HP 30, 2d8x2, can only be hit by magic weapons. Unlike typical flesh golems, he takes full damage from fire or cold attacks.


Alzar has the ability to store some spells as per his class, one per spell level, and it costs some money, about 100 gold per level to do it each time. He is loading up the following spells:

Level 1 - Spoil Holy Water
Level 2 – Knock
Level 3 – Vampiric Touch
Level 4 - Minor Globe of Invulnerability
Level 5 – Teleport

[Abe Sargent]

Okay, Alzar and the ships arrive in Chonae. Alzar gives the Ocean Queen to the Captain for his service for well over a year, and close to two. The captain thanks and they leave. The Water Dragon is turned into Alzar’s personal watercraft, and he sells the Sea Ghost and transfers everything over. He loads the galley with a catapult and shot for it.

While in Chonae, Aleigha and Maerie announce their desire to leave. It’s time for them to head their own, way for a while. They intend to live together, binding over a shared history. They expect to stay on the River Storm and should be reachable. Carum is totally dedicated to Alzar no matter what, and Estaish is in for now, so the three of them will remain together for a while.

While in the big city, Alzar starts rattling some towers and trying to find some mages to trade spells or get new magic items. He finds a couple of mages with spells he would like that are pretty common – Vocalize, Evard’s Black Tentacles and Legend Lore. He trades some of his rarer spells for them.

There are no items here he wants, not right now. Estaish, Carum and him take the Water Dragon up river with skeleton rowers he just animated. They set in to Fort Amber and they wait for a bit. He takes a Broom of Flying to the north. The land gets wilder and more interesting, with a variety of ruins, caves and such.

He is looking for the right place to make his own. It’s time for him to settle down and get a permanent base. Not a tower in a city or anything. That doesn’t make sense for him. He eventually finds what he is looking for.

It is a hill in the foothills of the nearby mountains. On top is a small crypt for an old ruler and his wife, and it is unraided. There are many areas nearby that he can turn into caves, and there is curve of the hill that is perfect. From below and above is looks like the side of a hill and is flat, but there is a small nook in the hill completely obscured from outside view.

Alzar returns and purchases a wagon to transport some of his undead and the golem. They arrive after two days and 79 miles and he spends some time with Transmute Rock to Mud spells, and a golem that clears things out. He also summons a Earth Elemental from the Mud Ring once to help out, and skeletons with tools. At the end, he has carved out a general complex with a few hallways and a few major rooms.

After two weeks, he leaves the skeletons and #9 golem behind to guard the place and returns to Fort Amber. While there he converts the non-gp non-pp coins to generic jewelry to reduce their load. The Water Dragon can sail up about 20 miles before the river gets too narrow for it to continue, and then he loads up the four Bags of Holding. They take the wagons and items, such as the laboratory, library, and such.

At the end of another couple of weeks, they have furniture, a few bedrooms, a lab, a central room, and a library, plus a large barracks for the undead to lurk until needed. Alzar leaves behind his undead, which include the Agarats, Topis, animal skeletons, skeletons, and mummified taurian. He gives an Amulet of Protection vs turning to the Agarats and mummy. He really doesn’t consider the others to be worth amulets. With a golem, mummy, and other undead the place has an adequate amount of protection.

Alzar has set up the three Ochre Jelly traps, and has cast a few other spells in out of the way areas he had made. He places a few Watery Doubles in some out of the way areas. He also drops Purple Moss in the undead barracks. He adds it to a variety of places for it to grow from.

After making his home, Alzar has spent about 6 weeks on the place, and has also cast Dispel Magics. He opens up:

Geldered’s Spell Book

1st - Hold Portal, Sleep, Magic Missile, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Read Languages, 2nd – Continual Light, Detect Invisible, ESP Magic Mouth. 3rd – Dispel Magic, Invisibility 10’ radius, Moonglow Symbol


Horan’s Spellbook

1st – Affect Normal Fires, Charm person, Comprehend Languages, Detect magic, Erase, magic Missile, Frost Shroud, Push, Read Magic, Unseen Servant
2nd – Preserve, ESP, Forget ,Invisibility, Leomund’s Trap, Locate Object, Magic Mouth, Ray of Enfeeblement, Scare
3rd – Clairvoyance, Feign Death, Fly, Haste, Hold Person, Monster Summoning I, Slow
4th – Fire Trap, Ice Storm, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer, Wizard Eye
5th – Bigby’s Interposing Hand, Cone of Cold, Contact Other Plane, Cloudkill, Leomund’s Secret Chest
6th – Guards and Wards, Invisible Stalker, Part Water


He learns Moonglow Symbol – which puts a symbol on a thing permanently that cannot be seen except in the dark. Preserve which will keep some item fresh indefinitely. Hold Person. Fire Trap. Guards and Wards. Contact Other Plane.


Left in here are the objet d’art, and the books and other large things. Alzar will keep the magic items, except for the Undersea Boat which is hidden in a nearby brook. He will also keep all spellbooks since there are only a few. He’ll leave behind the Døkkálfar weapons and armor as well. This includes the body parts of creatures captured as well.

With that done, Alzar decides to spend some time in research. He spends a couple of months with the topi and agarat and writes a book on each. He kills one topi to dissect it, but the two agarats he has are too valuable. Experimentation shows that people killed with its temporary energy drain don’t die at all but regain consciousness after a couple of hours. It also does not make more after killing itself. This is totally unlike ghouls, ghasts, shadows and other pack undead, so it is unique and non-repeatable.

After that two months, he has a lot of dispels loaded up and unlocked these:

Snarla’s Spellbook

Fear, Haste, Dispel Magic, Web, Stinking Cloud, Scare, Magic Missile, Push, Shield


Morak’s spellbook:

1st - Charm Person, Detect magic, Read magic, Magic Missile, Lasting Breath, Shield, Read Languages, Floating Disc, Protection from Evil
2nd – Detect Evil, Rope Trick, Knock, Wizard Lock, Phantasmal Force, Web, Invisibility
3rd – Lightning Bolt, Dispel Magic, Hold person, Water Breathing
4th – Charm Monster, Polymorph Other, Remove Curse, Confusion
5th – Conjure Water Elemental, Animate Dead
6th – Anti-Magic Shell, Lower Water


He doesn’t want anything from them, however. Winter is almost over and they get ready for spring.

[thehitcat]

This has been a great time. I hope for the sake of us(your faithful readers) that you come back to Alzar and crew and continue.

This has inspired me to start out 3/3.5E dynasty of my own that I will start to publish later this week.

Hopefully this will get more folks to do it so we can follow multiple stories.

Thank you for your great work with this and please consider sticking with this excellent story.

A thought it might be cool to recreate his roll as arch nemesis of your adventurers (what he was doing while they were starting to pick away at his power base) after you complete your run through the Giants/Drow and Lloth.

[Abe Sargent]

T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil


http://home.flash.net/~brenfrow/dd1/t1-4.jpg


Let’s try and do the mega story Temple of Elemental Evil. I have prepared for this for some time by inserting references to the temple in the storyline of other adventures, like U1 and A3-4. Let me give you a little history of the Temple to make it work in my world. AS mentioned before, this is the #4 adventure of all time, and begins with T1, the Village of Hommlet, already done. The other three chapters were written and published in one book along with T1. I will be skipping most of T2 and heading straight to T3 and 4.

[Abe Sargent]

The Temple of Elemental Evil was created by a rogue group of clerics and priests of an evil nature who were upset that the forces in the world they deemed to be the most powerful – Fire, Water, Earth and Air, were controlled by four gods – none of which were aligned with Barastyr’s alliance of deities, commonly seen as evil. Malekbel and Kothar were typically seen as neutral and Lonna and Tangaroa commonly seen as good.

Since these priests felt that their own views of the elemental forces was unappreciated, they created a cult around he worship of Elemental Evil. When they found that their prayers to their new idea resulted in spells just like before, they believed their views were answered.

In fact, Berstuk, God of Faerie, Trickery and Mischief felt it funny to grant them their prayers silently, and thus the Temple of Elemental Evil actually worships and serves Berstuk, who finds it appropriate to keep that fact from his servants.

The Temple established itself near Hommlet, and then was able to expand into nearby areas like the Moathouse, before becoming such a problem that the Ambers organized an attack against the Temple and destroyed in, while also destroying a nearby village called Nulb. Holmmlet was peaceful again for a few years, and the Ambers began to have their own problems.

Alzar arrived in Hommlet two years ago and helped them with a growing problem in the Moathouse, and since then has been attacked by assassins and imprisoned by one of the Chief Earth Priests of the temple, aligned with the Slave Lords.

Now that Alzar has established his base around 115 miles away by flight and longer by trail, he believes the first thing to do is to establish himself as the primary power of the land. The Temple needs to be eliminated as both a source of rival power and as an antagonist force that seeks to destroy him.

[Abe Sargent]

Estaish, Alzar and Carum have arrived back in Hommlet. Alzar is once again equipped with three wagons – one for him and the two warriors, one for a modest library/lab on the road with nothing too valuable in the wagon, and finally a wagon just ferrying undead. This wagon features 40 skeletons and animal skeletons with Bone Knit cast on them to give them full hit points – 8 and 4 respectively. Alzar finds a warm welcome in Hommlet and then moves on with Estaish and Carum to the destroyed town of Nulb.

The skeletons have armor and either broad swords, battle axes, scimitars, long swords or bastard swords, plus shields. Thus, they have an AC of 4, and deal 1d8 damage in combat, and rock 8 hp. If they take damage, but survive, they can be healed with a Bone Knit spell.

He also gets one Animate Dead a day with his normal spells, which he can use to animate skeletons and zombies. He can animate bigger creatures as well, as that HD, so he can animate a pair of 4 and 5 HD monsters as skeletons or 3, 3, and 3, – it just has to add up to 9, and half that for zombies.

Alzar prefers skeletons because Bone Knit to give them max hp is free in terms of spell components, but Embalm is 100 gp each time in components to make zombies better. They don’t strike last in combat every time, have better AC, and can be healed with Bone Knit – zombies cannot be healed with any spell Alzar has. There is also a certain elegance to the skeleton, with armor, a shield, and a weapon – it looks and feels right in a way the shambling, smelly zombies do not.

[Abe Sargent]

After a few days, the wagons roll into Nulb, and there is a pall over the destroyed town, which once supported the nearby temple. They continue south into deeper hills and find the destroyed temple. There are signs of recent activity, but not many. There is a still intact tower with more than 20 brigands in there, but Sleep spells and skeletons took them down very quickly. Some skeletons dies sand others were animated to replaced them from the bandits.

They ransacked the tower and found:

Potion of Healing, Potion of Speed, Water Breathing
600ep
1000gp
Jeweled Dagger worth 250 gp
Four bolts of silk worth 100 gp each
Jeweled Necklace – 2400 gp
Topaz – 500 gp
Cloak of velvet trimmed with fur – 200 gp
9 +1 arrows
150 pp
50 tiny pearls – 10 gp each

In various rooms. A few skeletons died to traps and were replaced. They then move to the ruins themselves. Were the bandits all that was here? Alzar doubts it. They spend the night and refresh in the morning, then move to the ruins after scaring off some rats.

One of the doors is still sealed. It has ancient and magic runes on it, and Alzar is able to make out that they are a seal on what is inside. He breaks the seal and they enter the temple.

They enter a vestibule with rotting cushions and old wooden furniture. Nothing in here appears to be nice, either now or then. A search finds nothing. It opens into a large central altar area. This entire floor is abandoned, and they search the ruins of the temple several times. There is a really odd throne that Alzar cannot figure out right now, and then a pair of staircases by east and west altars heading down, each of which shows some recent use.

[Abe Sargent]

It is time to enter the Dungeons of the Temple of Elemental Evil (T3 basically).


The basic part about T1-4 that sucks is this – Dungeon Level 1 has 53 rooms, Level 2 has 46, level 3 has 53, level 4 has 34, and then Air has 32, Earth has 24, Fire has 36 and Water has 24. That means we are looking at 302 rooms, and that will take forever to do, especially to write about.

See how I quick simmed the tower and top level? I may do something a bit similar. At this point, do we really need to know Room X is a storage room and Room Y is a barracks and Room Z is a torture chamber? So I will save room descriptions for any that are really important, and I’ll go over major finds, battles and such, but I will skip past the small stuff.


In this section, XP is given for the release and rescue of prisoners, as well as for the normal stuff. This also applies for monsters of a similar alignment to Alzar.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar has the following spells memorized:

Animate Dead Animals, Sleepx2, Hypnotism, Charm Person, Blastbones, Empathic Control, Ray of Ondovir, Ray of Enfeeblement, Searing Serpent, Dire Charm, Skulltrap, Vampiric Touch, Charm Monster, Greater Malison, Mordenkainen’s…Maidens, Animate Dead, Conjure Earth Elemental

These emergency spells are stored in the focus – his father’s ring:

Level 1 - Spoil Holy Water
Level 2 – Knock
Level 3 – Vampiric Touch
Level 4 - Minor Globe of Invulnerability
Level 5 – Teleport

He uses them only in emergencies.

He can ESP once a week for free

Rings of Spell Storing: #1, Detect Magic, Sleep, Ray of Ondovir; #2 Conjure Earth Elemental, Searing Serpent, Skulltrap, Dispel Magic, Sleep; #3 Charm Person, Vocalize, Haste, Vampiric Touch

He will use those regularly.

Also, can cast spells from the Mud Ring; Push, Passwall, Burning Hands 3x day from the Axe; can make himself invisible at will by drawing and sheathing the Short Sword of Lyons; Horn of Blasting 1/day for major damage to those in its range; Amulet of ESP helps there; can Charm Person or Suggestion with Ring of Human Control; can use Ring of Seeing for Truesight spell

Alzar is wearing these magical items: Bracers of Defense AC4, Cloak of Displacement -2 AC; Boots of String and Springing -1 AC and can leap far; Belt of Flying with three gems giving CHA18 to LE, regen 1 hp/turn and immunity to Charm/Suggestion spells; Robe of Useful Items; Ring of Free Action; Ring of Sustenance normally but switches in dungeons to what is needed at the time; Gauntlets of Ogre Strength; Bracelet of Swimming; Necklace of Adaptation; Amulet vs ESP and Crystal Balls; Periapt of Health; Periapt Against Poison +2 save vs poison; Gingwatzim Amulet – +1 to saves; 5 Bags of Holding.

+2 Cursed Battle Axe with curse removed; Sword of Lyons on Right Thigh; Alicorn inside breeches, strapped to left thigh - +7 save vs poison; several +2 daggers on bandolier; Wand of magic Missiles with 28 charges, Frost, and Lightning Bolts on bandolier on chest, as well as the Paralyzation one with two charges and Rod of Terror. Gem of Seeing, Ear Ring, and Monocle of Read Magic are kept handy on belt, in secure containers for each. Several important potions are in metal vials on belt – such as Invisibility, Extra Healing and Gaseous Form. There is a leather brace on the arm with the Ring of Sustenance that has the following rings available to pull off quickly – Mud Ring, Warmth, Fire Resist, Spell Turning, Spell Storing Rings, Seeing and Human Control.


Alzar’s AC is 1 without Axe, -1 with it, and -3 with Mordenkainen’s spell in play.

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, here we go. Both staircases from above arrive at opposite ends of the same corridor. There is a sloping corridor that heads down into darkness and another level, and paths up and down to either side of the sloping path down. Empty Armory, empty armory in one direction. The other has an intersection and one ends at some bars that drop down after two skeletons move into the room. Suddenly, harpy songs can be heard, trying to enchant the skeletons. Carum fails, and Estaish makes his save. Alzar orders the skeletons to group up and try to lift the bars. He lends his own back while Carum stares dumbfounded. Soon, the bars are up and the other skeletons are in the room. The harpies stay up about 50 feet in the air on three aeries and do not mess with Alzar and his undead horde – all apparently immune to their song. There are two doors. One leads to a room with 6 ghouls, who then show Alzar their treasure after joining him.


Fancy chainmail
61 gp, 81 sp, 5 ep

The next room has 4 more ghouls, who again show their treasure. There is a door in here.

Ghouls – 10, AC6, 13 hp each, 1d3x2, 1d6 as attacks, paralysis, THAC0 18

108 cp, 92 sp, 37 gp, 7pp

A skeleton dies to a spike trap. 39 skeletons left. Nothing in here but another door, which leads to a room with two ghasts, which join Alzar’s party.

Ghasts – 2, Ac4, HP – 21, 1d4x2, 1d8 as attacks, paralysis – stench 10’ radius save vs poison or -2 to hit.

Large gold cup – 450 gp
112 gp
3 onyx gems – 50 gp


They exit, return to the harpy room, and move out and forward. They arrive in a room with nothing but giant rats, and they are easily dismantled after a few are killed. Nothing in the room. They leave, the corridor continues. Then they go left. They find two empty storage rooms. A pair of armory rooms with nothing but weapons are found and everything is again compounded for the magic pile.

They go left and find a room with a locked door. Alzar picks it with the Gauntlets of Dexterity and then they enter. This is a prison where captives are held for eventual sacrifice at the Earth Temple. There are 11 prisoners here, chained to the wall.

2 merchants
3 servants
1 river sailor
4 men-at-arms

100 XP each if they are rescued and released. They claim to have been captured by ghouls and brought here.

Alzar escorts them back out, and all are from the Nulb area. He promises to return for the men-at-arms and river sailor later They run into nothing on the way there or back. Alzar equips the men-at-arms and sailor with some basic equipment – weapons, armor, to protect the group until he returns.

[Abe Sargent]

They return and move to a room near the prison and find 6 ghouls, which Alzar adds to his complement. They have:

263 cp
Ivory statuette – 85 gp
192 sp
47 ep

The next room through a door reveals 6 more ghouls. It’s obvious that the Temple was planning something like a major incursion with a large pack of ghouls.

They move to another adjacent room and find 2 more ghasts and a chest. The chest is not trapped after investigation by a skeleton and Alzar picks it. Inside is:

611 sp
Brooch with Carnelian Stone – 800 gp
Protection from Undead Scroll

The final room in this section has another 2 ghasts. In here is:

Gold chain – 7000 gp
Ruby Ring – 4000 gp

They move into a large banquet hall with nothing in here but a former battle site. They move into the adjacent kitchen and the skeletons kill a snake. There is a giant ogre skeleton in here and Alzar decides to make note of it and return later to reanimate it.

84 gp in here as well

[Abe Sargent]

They return to an earlier hall and take the left door. Inside are 4 gnolls. They see a bunch of undead and call for help. From another door come 9 more gnolls and 2 hobgoblins. Alzar orders the ghouls as the spearhead and has skeletons move back down the hallway towards another passage they passed before in this direction, in case there is a rear exit there. Megala flies back with them, so he has eyes there.

2 ghouls die before 5 gnolls are killed or paralyzed. The rest decide to flee and one died to a dagger from Alzar. The gnolls flee into another room and they pursue. They enter another room and just then the gnolls flee into the skeletons and are cut down. They manage to kill just one skeleton before dying between the skeletons on one side and ghouls on the other.

They move into another room after heading nose and an ogre leader is gathering friends to assault Alzar. There are three ogres, 10 gnolls, and 5 hobgoblins preparing for an attack. Alzar casts Sleep and the hobgoblins drop. The ogres throw large rocks and hits and crunch a ghoul and skeleton each. The gnolls prepare for a charge from the undead – a nice little display of tactics by the ogre leader. Carum’s sling hits a gnoll for 5 and Est hits for 4 more and kills it. Alzar orders the skeletons to advance and the ghouls to hold. With their lower AC, many are not hit by the gnolls and some aren’t even killed. They attack back and kill most of the gnolls, but they don’t falter. The next turn, Alzar’s throwing dagger knifes into the ogre leader for 12 damage. The skeletons slice the remaining gnolls and a few attack the weakest ogre – the one in front. They miss him except for one hit for just 2 damage. Two skeletons are killed by ogres and the third misses. They win init and Alzar dices in another knife for 10 more damage. Est and Carum both hit as well for 9 combined damage and the ogre leader drops. The others starts to flee and the skeletons cut them both down.

XP – 200 each

They search the entire set of rooms and find:

112ep
Silver Chain – 125 gp
27 pp
671 gp
1000 sp
Silver Bracelet - 170 gp
6 Azurites – 10 gp each
Copper Belt – 35 gp
2 Agates – 100 and 500 gp

[Abe Sargent]

They move into a room with a ton of bones on the bottom, and as the animal skeletons are scouting around, 15 skeletons animate and move to attack. They join Alzar easily, but are just normal skeletons. They are now used as cannon fodder and move to the front.



Undead and Allies Remaining:


19 ghouls
15 normal skeletons
36 skeletons with armor, weapons, shield and 8 hp
40 animal skeletons
6 ghasts
Megala, Dryshik
Carum, Estaish, Alzar – all at full hp


They search the room and find a secret door. There is a spiral down into the darkness with no ledge or steps. A quick look shows it to go down for quite a way. Alzar has the door closed and moves to the finish the level they are on. They find a pair of guardrooms each with 6 guards that are easily killed, plus a leader with:

Javelin of Lightning x1
450 gp Jet Ring


They continue down the corridors and enter a hexagonal room with a destroyed stone chair in it. Odd. Suddenly, about 20 stirges fly down and attack, but fly off when they notice their foes have no blood to feed off. There is nothing in here but a:

Ring of Shooting Stars

[Abe Sargent]

They move on into a new compound – where the guards are. A door is opened and javelins and a bow are fired and all luckily miss. The cannon fodder skeletons move in and there are 5 human guards here. One runs into a room behind and the other four make a formation. They win init and kill two fodder skeletons before being carved up.

The next room is quite large and has several doors leading from it, pouring in are several people. Suddenly, 4 skeletons turn and run and Alzar locates an enemy cleric. Two men from behind the line throw flaming flasks of oil, which ignite and kill a few ghouls. Alzar orders them back.

There are about 15 guards and fighters, plus a cleric in the back that just turned four skeletons. Alzar orders Dryshik to Mist Ball the cleric and she is blinded for 2 rounds. The guards fire bows and drop 4 skeletons. The animal skeletons are sent to flank them while the fodder skeletons are in front and attack. Alzar’s dagger nails the cleric for 10 damage. Another cleric emerges and commands 6 skeletons to turn and attack others. Alzar orders Estaish and Carum to attack the clerics. Carum misses and Est does as well. Megala flies in and crits the blinded one for 6 damage and she dies. One solider dies to a skeleton, leaving 14.

Alzar casts sleep and 6 men fall asleep. The skeletons that are still under his control kill three more. 5 left and one cleric. Carum and Est miss and the cleric makes a save against another Mist Ball. The cleric controls 4 more skeletons and kills 4 in combat from skeletons and soldiers. They win and kill 4 regular skeletons while 4 more are controlled. Alzar daggers the cleric for 9 damage. Megala crits again for 4 damage and he makes the save. The skeletons kill two more guards and the animal skeletons have flanked the room finally, preventing them from fleeing. Carum hits the cleric for 6 damage. Alzar misses with another dagger. Est hits for 3. The cleric casts Cure Light Wounds. Megala misses. The skeletons kill the last humans. 3 skeletons die. The animal skeletons are attack the cleric and peck him four times for 7 damage. He makes to run, and sees he cannot escape. He wins init and controls 5 more and orders them all to attack Alzar. Alzar’s final dagger misses. Carum drops his sling and Est hits for 3 damage. The cleric takes 8 more from skeletons and dies. Alzar regains control of his skeletons.

They search the compound and bodies. They open a chest and it had a poison trap that failed to damage the skeleton.

540 gp
183 ep
Ivory and Gold Box – 350 gp
Potion of Speed
Barrel of oil
43 pp
+1 mace
Jasper – 50 gpx9
Hematite – 10x28
Jet and Gold Brooch – 175
Silver Flask – 40 gp
10 sheets of parchment – 40 gp
Small Tome – 500 gp value to evil spellcaster detailing sacrifice of humans to earth elementals for various effects.
Scroll with Cleric Spells on it.


XP – 350 each

[Abe Sargent]

They leave this section of the dungeon and move to another on this level. They open a door and find a library. A search shows nothing of note in here as most of the things are gone or destroyed. They continue and find a storeroom with smashed flasks and other former potent items. Alzar and others start searching, then he orders everybody back when someone steps on something useful and breaks it. While spending the time to search right, a group of 4 gnolls comes across the group and is killed in seconds.

What he finds:

Stoppered Vial of Ruby Dust – 1000 gp
2 amber rods – 25 gp each
Small bottle of yellow sulfur – 40 gp
Tin Box of saffron – 500 gp
Tube of quicksilver – 100 gp
Vial of Ground Tourmaline – 500 gp
Flask of Lion’s Blood – 10 gp

They move on and find an empty meditation room, and then room into a door with a Glyph of Warding. A Knock spell won’t work. Alzar has a skeleton start hacking at the door with its claws. It takes a ton of clod damage, and it is immune. After a long while, The door is busted and they enter the crypts. In here are the dead corpses of those priests that died serving the Earth part of this cult.

550 gp Gold Ring
Cloak

After some time searching, they return and take a different direction to a corridor that ends in a room with a round black chamber, with a giant exit to the left. They move there and find a 30’ diameter chamber in obsidian. In the middle is an altar and upon it, a stone seat. After some time, it becomes obvious that any magic that once might have been in this room is now gone.

They continue back and to a large hallway. This corridor is sheathed in polished brown marble with black triangular pieces of polished marble in the floors every so often. There are burning torches on the walls. Alzar follows the triangles and has the skeletons push aside a curtain at the end to reveal The Earth Temple.

This is a great large area, with sandstone walls, dark brown earth on the floor, a lichen providing light, in the center of the room is a large dirt mound, rising about 6 or 7 feet high. There are doors behind it, two normal and one double door. At the base of one face of the wall is a bronze box.

Alzar has two normal skeletons move in, and after moving in a bit, four Earth Elementals rise up from the ground from each of the four corners. These are super powerful elementals 16 hit dice in strength - Alzar has no chance to control them. One closes to the skeletons moves over and smashes them both easily. Then it retakes its place and they all rejoin the earth.

Now that’s a guard. Even if Alzar summoned two Earth Elementals to fight them, one from a spell and another from a Mud Ring, they would be weaker than the four by half. That’s not worth wasting. If Alzar and Carum and Estaish charged one and attacked it, he suspects they could kill one.

Instead, he takes the triangle corridor the other way. There are many frescoes in here including those of priests, and the powers of Earth, Fire, Water and Air mixing together. They pass by giant stairs down. They arrive in another corridor and take it to the left. There is a door to the right with a pit trap that kills a skeleton. They open a door to a room with three bugbears, which are quickly dispatched. A search of that room finds a secret door into a corridor, with a small concealed room off it that has a chest in it, lock melted by acid after Alzar fails to pick it:

2 Potions
151 sp, 411 cp, 90 ep, 55 gp, 27 pp

[Abe Sargent]

There are three doors in here, and they open the first. It is a jail with ragged humans, which turn out to be zombies. Alzar finds more zombies in two more jails. They become his new cannon fodder. There are doors to the corridor here and they go out and find three more jail doors. Two are empty, and inside a third is a Svartálfar bound and gagged. Alzar releases the person, who thanks Alzar, and asks for weapons so he can join Alzar in the fight against the Temple. Alzar uses ESP from his Medallion, and agrees after seeing Wassilon is a thief and warrior, and arms him.

Wassilon
Svartálfar
Level 4 Fighter/Thief
Neutral
Str 17 - +1,+1 in combat
Dex 17 - -3 AC in combat
Con 16 - +2 hp per level
Int 12
Wis 9
Cha 10
HP 23
Thief skills – 45 PP, 37 O Locks, 35 Find/Remove Traps, 33 Move Silently, 25 Hide, 15 Hear Noise, 88 Climb Walls, 20 Read Languages

Handed chain mail and long sword and shield. AC is now 1, deals 1d8 damage in combat.

They head down the corridor and find a torture chamber with a human being tortured by a fighter looking guy and a bugbear. The fighter, in chain mail with a battle axe, simply turns, picks up the axe, and cleaves the air very expertly. Alzar orders everybody back. The bugbear is looking scared at all of the undead. Alzar moves ahead to fight the commander of the troops on this level.

Alzar wins init barely – 0 to 1. He rolls a 6, which hits the AC2 of the turnkey. He doles out 18 damage. The turnkey swings back and rolls a 9, which is a miss vs Alzar’s -1 AC even with a strength bonus and axe specialization. He wins init and hits Alzar for 11. Alzar hits twice and kills him.

Alzar - XP – 1200; 45/56 HP

They kill the bugbear with ease and find:

Bronze and Jet Ring – 50 gp
23 gp
Tourmalines 100 gp x4
Feldspar Chunk - 50 gp

There are also two more prisoners in cells off to one side behind the entrance, and a cell with 5 orcs. The local orc tribe was fighting against the Temple, due to its chaotic nature. The orcs are lawful evil and revile the Temple and its chaotic tendencies. They want weapons to fight.

Alzar gets crossbows and chain and long sword and shields for the orcs and keeps them back as archers. They escort out the two humans and men at arms and Alzar gives the tortured man at arms more weapons to protect the group until they are ready to leave.

100 XP for Alzar, Wassilon, Estaish and Carum

[Travis]

Sweet, nice to have Alzar back and kicking ass.

[Abe Sargent]

They head back to the room with four Earth Elementals. Alzar has found ways down, and can skip the Earth Temple. He is trying to figure out how to handle them. Alzar uses the Sword of Lyons to go invisible and sneak by them, but they animate when he gets inside the room, and he backs out and they de-animate. The earth in here is very deep. Alzar asks Wassilon and the orcs about one. One orc was tortured in here by the lead cleric, and they didn’t seem to attack him. Alzar heads back and they strip the cleric body of everything on it and he hands the robe, belt, cloak, boots and gloves and trades them for his normal things. He walks in and they animate. Alzar hopes one of these things will protect him, and he walks in further, and none attack him. Feeling some power over them, he orders them to walk left, and they all do. He orders them to dig, and they all do. He moves to the chest and opens it:

Bronze Maul, Knife, Bowl and Ewer inside – all detect as evil

He heads over to the doors and one opens and reveals a robbing room with cloaks and sandals inside. There are a pair of cabinets with drinking cups and such. There is also:

Carnelian Ivory Bracelet – 500 gp
Bone Scroll Case – 100 gp
Scroll of Protection vs Earth Elementals

The other room on the far side is a bunch of worthless stones and dirt, with many empty kegs. The third door is another of the magically sealed doors. One was required to enter. Alzar skips this one for now. If he needs to come back, he will.

The Earth Elementals have begun to find treasure under the earth and Alzar has them stack them for him. After an hour or so, they have found:

800 gp
Potion of Diminution
200 pp
Ring Mail +1
Gems – 100 gp x28
Rope
Morning Star
Ring of Protection +1
Wand of Paralyzation (38 charges)
Three jars of ointment

Alzar returns to the ramp leading down from the original corridor and takes it.

[Abe Sargent]

Sweet, nice to have Alzar back and kicking ass.

Thanks!

[Abe Sargent]

They arrive, take the right flank, and hit a chamber with a 5 headed hydra, bound to a wall by a chain. It hisses, and suddenly, a voice from beyond can be heard, and a troll moves down and arrives. Alzar orders the undead back and the fighters forward. He spears with Carum and Estaish to either side. They attack the troll while the orcish archers are ordered to attack the hydra. Alzar cleaves the troll for 16 damage. Carum and Estaish both hit for 21 damage and it dies. Alzar spends a turn pulling out oil and burning it and killing it.

The archers hit twice for 7 damage and fail to kill a head. The hydra attacks Alzar twice and misses, Est twice and misses, and Carum once for 3 damage.

Carum – 61/64 HP

Carum drops his spear, Est hits for 8 and kills a head. The archers kill the wounded head. It hits Est once for 4 damage. Est has a 2nd attack and misses. Carum recovers.

Est – 46/50

It wins init and misses. Alzar hews off one, Carum spears to death another and Est misses. One archer hits the remaining head for 1 damage. They win init and kill the last head.

XP – 967 for Carum, Est and Alzar


A search finds a Ring on the troll’s now dead finger:

Ring of Quick Action – Wielder always wins initiative in combat (but not for potions, actions, spells)

[Abe Sargent]

They continue around a large tunnel and arrive at an old storeroom. They enter an anteroom with 5 bugbears as guards, wearing capes of crimson, and wielding morning stars. After seeing the undead foes, they retreat behind a door. Alzar’s group follows and arrives in a big room. There are 7 bug bears and many doors to various areas. This is obviously the central living area of a group of people on this level. There is a mantlet here and behind them are two of the bugbears that start firing bows. Coming out of the rooms are humans that look like clerics and fighters.

A Sleep spell drops just two bugbears. Entering the room is a human level 3/3 cleric and fighter, human curate level 5 cleric, and human prefect level 6 cleric and human commander level 7 fighter.

Battle ensues. Alzar orders animal skeletons in and around the field, to trip people up and keep them from retreating. He orders the zombies in as cannon fodder right behind the animal skeletons, with the ghouls and skeletons to flank on each side and move in.

Alzar wins init and casts Dire Charm on the fighter/commander and…he fails his save after the minuses Alzar provides. He turns and starts attacking a nearby bugbear behind the mantlet. He gets in a free hit and deals 4 damage to it. One cleric casts Hold Person just on Alzar for the -4 save bonus, but it fails. Another controls 3 skeletons and a third controls 5 zombies. Carum slings a stone at a cleric for 5 damage. Dryshik also Mist Balls it but she makes the save. Est misses. The orc archers are firing at bugbears and miss 5 times. Alzar is attacked a few times and is missed.

The next round, Alzar and group win init. He draws his axe and moves towards the prefect cleric. Est misses, Carum hits again on the curate for 4 damage. Two archers hit a bugbear in front for 4 damage. The charmed fighter misses, and then attacks a second time for 8 damage to the bugbear. The bugbears turn and attack the commander and one drops its weapon and the other hits for 3 damage on the commander. The bugbears miss after closing with Alzar. More undead are controlled and they kill a zombie. The undead are fully in and can attack next round.

Alzar hews into the prefect for 18 damage. The commander this and kills a bugbear for 9 damage. The archers hit once for 6 damage on a bugbear. Carum and Est have moved in and dropped their missile weapons. Next turn they can attack the curate. Wassilon joins them. The undead kill two bugbears completely and are blocked by other undead controlled by the clerics. More undead join two of them and the wounded Prefect casts Cure Light Wounds. Alzar takes 9 from two bugbears.

42/56 – Alzar HP

More undead are controlled and they kill 4 skeletons and a ghoul. The Prefect casts another Cure Light Wounds. The bugbears miss. Alzar hits twice for 35 damage and the Prefect is dead. Est hacks at a Bugbear for 6 damage and it takes enough from undead to die. The commander misses the bugbear he is attacking. Carum spears it for 6. The archers hit the Curate twice for 4 damage. Wassilon misses. They win init and Alzar kills the last bugbear. The commander moves to the curate and hits for 4 damage. The curate falls to Wassilon and the final cleric/fighter moves to retreat but can’t for all of the animal skeletons behind him. He orders his undead to attack and they kill 4 animal skeletons. He is killed by missiles and undead. The commander is subdued and captured.

They search the bodies, this room and the complex and find:

185 gp
Large Violet Garnet – 700 gp
Gold Fire Amulet – 100 gpx4
50 pp
Potion of Poison
Ring
Ruby – 1000 gp
Tapestry with Gold and Silver Thread – 2000 gp
Robe of Deep Crimson set with Gold Fire Symbol and small rubies – 2500 gp
Scroll of Cleric Spells
Various weapons and armor
Sardonyx Copper Box – 150 gp
Rare herbs – 200 gp
Scroll of Protection from Devils
Red Silk Robe with Fire Symbols and many garnets – 3000 gp
Jeweled Ring – 500 gp
Tome – The Anatomy of the Harginn (The Fire Elemental Grue) worth 500 gp and tell how to summon, and what they do, etc.

The commander had:

+1 flametongue sword
+1 banded Armor
Robe
Gold Garnet Studded Chain - 750 gp
Gems x 19 – 10 gp each


Alzar has the commander tied up, gagged, and locked in a room.

[Abe Sargent]

They head back to the corridor and move forward instead of right. They enter a pearlescent room with white marble floor and alabaster. A light says this is a place of rest for those of good alignment to find respite and regain strength against the temple. Leave your weapons here in order to be temporarily blessed to fight against the evil. Alzar knows it is a trick since any such place would quickly see him, his undead and orcs as evil. He leaves the room through another door. They find a room with two werewolves and a giant crystal that communicates with the room they were just in. They both see the large force Alzar has assembled and surrender. He has them bound and gagged both in the mouth and wrapped around it. He used harsh wire, so that if they try and change shape, it will cut off their hands and feet from the tightness.

They search and find:

18 sprigs of wolfsbane
+1 dagger
+1 short sword +3 vs lycanthropes and shapechangers
5 silver daggers
Scroll of Protection against Lycanthropes
1600 sp
Tons of weapons and armor for the magic pile

They leave through another door that ends at giant double doors of bronze, which are forced open to reveal a huge octagonal room. There is a pit on the floor, and above it a stone of alabaster. There are two knives and a crystal bowl of high quality. There are several door out, including another set of the magically sealed ones. Alzar has a zombie approach the crystal and alabaster area and as it gets close, and touches the crystal dais, a fierce wind rushes from the pit and destroys the zombie. A tinking and chiming alert is sounded, and out from a secret door comes a creature that looks like a Wraith, but Alzar cannot control it.


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ysKGc3uAWOc/S2fs8UIAi4I/AAAAAAAAAe8/wjARHp0M75Q/s1600/20080528_114879_0.jpg

Alzar doesn’t think it’s undead. He throws his dagger at it and it takes 11 damage. Alzar orders others to fire, but the non-magical missiles fly right through it. Carum hits for 5. Alzar steps in front to challenge it, and it arrives. It misses Alzar then takes nothing as he drops his axe. Est’s sword hits for 11 damage. It dies.

XP – 650 for Carum, Alzar and Estaish

They move to its secret chamber and it is a small one with a Censer in it.

Alzar orders everyone out of the chamber and grabs the Ring of Telekinesis and floats the crystal items over:

Evil Items – Crystal knivesx2, Crystal Bowl - 250 gp for bowl, 1250 gp for each knife

Alzar also takes two giant crystal braziers that are not protected by the wind, and they are each worth 10,000 gp. Undead carry them.

[Abe Sargent]

They leave and arrive in a corridor. They push forward and arrive in the temple of fire.

This huge hall of red granite lit by scores of flambeaux and the odor of sulfur and heated metal. There are tapestries along the far wall, several other doors in, and a brass tube suspended from the ceiling. To the left of it in a shallow fire pit and to either side of the long tube are low stands of brass open with are charcoal. There are flanks of copper pillars and cauldrons. Alzar puts on the Fire Amulet and Robe from the dead clerics and moves in by himself (remembering how this worked above). He also puts on the Ring of Fire Resistance.

There is a glowing amber liquid in the pots and a translucent block of golden apatite in the center. There are figures moving in the fire. They writhe in there and are not doing anything else. There is nothing on the altar, unlike the earth temple. Alzar risks touching the altar, and it shrieks out “Who Dares Defile the Sacred Elemental Fire?” The figures in the fire pit begin to grow. Alzar grabs water and tries to douse the pit, to no avail. After a round, they are growing more and Alzar orders Carum and Estaish in. He pulls out and tosses Wave to Carum, since the trident would be happy to fight creatures of fire. Alzar tries to control the fire creatures, but they are too powerful.

As they get bigger, Alzar can tell they are Fire Salamanders – 4 of them. His axe is just +0 against the chaotic evil guys and he hits for 11 damage on one as it gets big. Est hits for 4 and Carum hits with Wave for 8 damage. Next round they are done growing and battle ensues. They have wicked tridents. Alzar, Carum and Est are immune to the salamander fire aura due to Fire Protection magic. Alzar wins init and hews the salamander for 11 damage. Est misses. Carum crits it with wave for 18 damage and it dies. Two miss Alzar, a third misses Carum. Est, Carum and Alzar all get a second attack now. All three hit for 22 damage. The salamanders win init and hit Est once for 7 damage. Everybody hits for 32 and the salamander already wounded dies. The salamanders win init again and hit Carum for 6 damage. Alzar Est and Carum swing and hit three times for 31 damage. They attack again and Est misses and Carum and Alzar deal 21 and kill it. One left. It wins init and misses. It takes 24 damage. They finally win init and kill it.

Est – 39/50
Carum - 55/64

XP – 2667 for Carum, Est and Alzar

They search the area. Alzar reaches down with his hands and checks the fire pit. There is something way down there, and he is not burned, but will be if he keeps his hands there. He has undead retrieve a pair of wine casks from an earlier room and they drop them over the fire pit and it is put out, but smoldering and getting hotter again. Alzar has a zombie reach down, and a trap triggers and cuts off its hand. It can still fight fine without it, though. Alzar sees the mechanism and Acids it and it is destroyed. Another zombie retrieves a chest and it is locked. Neither Alzar nor the thief can pick the lock, so he Acid’s it and opens it.

2 Potions
Ring of Fire Resistance
Longsword

They pry the gold decoration from the altar:

Gold Fire Altar Decoration – 500 gp

[Abe Sargent]

They leave and find the doors head back to the are the fire priests were in. They head back and go another way from the corridor and arrive at a huge hall with buttress and arches but a veneer of verdigris over everything. There are doors out in other areas, and statues and such all in here, plus a fountain and altar. Alzar has a zombie go out and investigate, and suddenly, the four statues in the corner animate as gargoyles and attack. There is a large juggernaut that also animates and crushes the zombie. Alzar feels a prick though and senses not all is as it seems. Trusting his judgment, he raises his hands and tries to command the room, and the gargoyles are now under his control. He has them retreat and moves his forces to deal with the juggernaut golem. Alzar, Carum and Estaish move in.

As they do, noise from a hallway reveals several people arriving in the room. A trio of priests wearing dark green arrive behind the juggernaut. Seeing new foes, Alzar tries to Sleep them with his spell from the Ring of Spell Storing. One under-priest falls asleep. Alzar is successfully Commanded to run and he does. Carum fails a save and is now paralyzed from a Hold Person. Est moves in front of the closing juggernaut to keep it from Carum. He crits it for 10 damage. It hits him once out of four attacks for 7 damage. Wassilon orders the archers to fire and arrows fail to damage the golem –which needs magic weapons to hit it. One cleric casts Hold Person at Estaish and he makes his save. The other tries to slap awake the sleeping one.

32/50 – Estaish

Alzar spends this round running back. He orders Dryshik to Mist Ball the cleric that cast two Hold Persons. Est takes 12 from two hits out of four from the juggernaut. The cleric finishes awakening the sleeping one and she will be ready to do stuff again next turn. The head cleric casts Light at Estaish’s eyes. It works and he is blinded for 6 rounds. Estaish swings at the juggernaut twice and one managed to hit it for 7 damage. Arrows fly at the clerics and miss. The Mist Ball is shrugged off.

20/50


The juggernaut has moved forward and rolls over Carum dealing 37 damage to him. The head cleric tries to Darkness over Alzar’s eyes and fails. The other two clerics control some zombies and skeletons from the door. Alzar’s axe hacks into the juggernaut for 14 damage. Est misses it and drops his sword. Arrows fly out and the lead cleric takes 3.

18/64 – Carum

Alzar moves in front of the juggernaut and swings for 12 damage. Arrows miss. Dryshik Mist Balls and the head priest takes 3 damage and is blinded for 2 rounds The juggernaut attacks Alzar and misses. The minor clerics attack and kill a few animal skeletons with their controlled undead. The blinded cleric tries to retreat. Alzar orders Megala to fly in and it misses the scratch. Est misses. Alzar’s second attack adds 16.

They win init and Alzar adds 19 and the golem dies. Megala scratches the lead priest as he flees for 1 damage and he sleeps. The other two control more undead. Est runs up to one. The next round, they win and try to flee. Est slices one for 7 damage. Alzar throws a dagger and hits the wounded one for 10 damage. She dies. The other is escaping. Megala and Dryshik give chase down a corridor and a Mist Ball flies out and he makes his save. Alzar chases and with his boots is very fast and catches up, jumping in front of the fleeing cleric, who panics and draws his feeble mace. Alzar carves for 13, he misses. Alzar carves for 17 and he is dead.

XP – 500 for Wassilon
XP – 2250 for Alzar and Estaish

They search the bodies and this room and the next two rooms and find:

Plate Mail +1
Four Gargoyle Cloaks on four zombies
Gold Ring with Tentacles in peridot – 750 gpx2
Malachite Dinner Service – 2000 gp as a set
Cleric Scroll
Four texts on Elemental Water, Evil – 250 gp each
Green Pearl Ring – 570 gp
Potion
Rod of Smiting – 14 charges left
Ring
Robe of Green Velvet with Gold Trim and Gems and Creature of Ten Tentacles– 7150 gp
Iron Key with word D’Lyss on it.
Gold Ring with Peridot Bezel – 1000 gp
Ivory Tray – 50 gp
32 gold dishes – 1900 gp for the set
Seven Tomes on Secret Rituals of Water Evil of various sorts.

Locked chest when opened with key has:

Coral Box – 100 gp
100 tiny seed pearls – 10 gp each
Cloak
Trident
Aquamarine – 5000 gp
Scroll of Cleric Spells

Carum quaffs a healing potion to get him to 26/64

-1 healing potion


The gargoyles are actually zombies wearing a Gargoyle cloak that turns them into a gargoyle while being worn, including gargoyle strengths, AC, hip and everything – but with a core undead essence still. Alzar orders them to the sides and will use them as a hit force if he needs to.

[Abe Sargent]

They enter a room with a large pool. It has a lapis lazuli basin and a crystal dome above. Alzar sends in a zombie and nothing happens. He has the zombie move around – nothing. He has it reach into the pool and some of its fingers dissolve. Acid. Alzar moves in and is suddenly telepathically contacts and attempted to be mentally dominated by some force in here that wants him to jump in the acid. He easily avoids the magical Suggestion and moves in just himself. After investigation, it appears the pool itself is alive, and Alzar tries to wound it, but his Axe and various blades fail. Without a way of damaging it, and with an investigation that shows nothing else in here, not even in the shiny pool, he leaves.

A different route than one taken before finds a mated pair of owlbears in an abandoned store-room. The undead kill them and three zombies died. They continue and find a door with a troll chief as the honored guest of the temple in the room. Ohlgrist sees the large number of troops Alzar has and immediately sits down instead of attacking. He speaks halting Typic and tells them to go away, great war chief will spare them. That ploy fails and Alzar moves in. He offers to give his necklace of rubies. Alzar asks what he was doing here and he said that each of the four factions of the temple wanted him to bring his tribe of 20 trolls to their side, and he was brought here, treated well, and given gifts in order to entice him. He preferred to play them off each other rather than make a decision.

Alzar agrees to spare the troll chief’s life and let him go, if the chief agrees to have his tribe serve him instead. They can kill and such, but can only raid who he tells them too, and when he needs them, they come. In thanks, Alzar pulls out the Ruby – 1000 gp he raided earlier. He will give the Troll this ruby, and promise more goods later.

The troll agrees, and Alzar and group escort him out. Alzar determines that the ESP spell shows he is telling the truth and Oohlgrist will keep his bargain.

-1 ruby 1000 gold

[Abe Sargent]

They continue and find a room with 4 bugbears, easily killed by undead. Their killing alerts more bugbears and the complex is alerted and many tougher looking ones, plus a couple of ogres and gnolls, move in.

A dagger flies out and deals 9 to a bugbear. Est adds 2, Carum adds 6 and it dies. Orcish archers hit four times on one bugbear for 16 damage and she dies. Wassilon moves in behind Alzar. Undead are already in places. Three bugbears are killed by undead. They kill two skeletons. Alzar orders the gargoyles and ghouls to head to another hallway into this area and guard it in case bugbear’s flee. At the end of the round, a cleric has arrive.

They go first. 2 skeletons die. The priest casts Cause Blindness on Alzar and it works, and he is blinded. Without missing a step, he axes a bugbear for death. Wassilon hits for 3, Est crits for 12 and Carum spears for 6 and kills a bugbear. Arrows fly out and drop a gnoll. The ogres are ordering everybody away while they move in. A Mist Ball at the priest fails. The undead kill two bugbears and the last gnoll. Alzar wins init the next round. He hews into an ogre for 15 damage as the axe does +0 right now. Est drops his sword and Carum spears the ogre for 8 damage. It misses Alzar. Another kills a zombie. The priest casts Silence at Alzar, and he is silenced. He axes the ogre again for 16 damage. Carum adds nothing as he misses, and Est recovers. Arrows fly in and hit the ogre for 4 and he dies. Undead kill the last two bugbears. The priest starts to run.

A mist ball flies in and the priest fails the save and takes 5 damage and is blinded for 3 rounds. The final ogre misses. Alzar hits for 13, Est adds 6 and Carum 10. Wassilon misses. The ogre drops from undead attacks. Alzar orders Megala to the blind priest and he crits it for 2 damage and he failed his save and falls asleep.

XP – 350 each for Alzar, Estaish, Carum and Wassilon

They search the complex and find:

Kegs of wine
419 cp, 282 sp, 133 gp, 280 ep
4 Cloaks of Air – 100 gp each
Gold Ring – 700 gp
+1 chain mail
Cloak of Protection +1
Dagger of Venom with one dose left
Ceremonial Robe of High Cleric of Air – 1500 gp
Large numbers of weapons and armor

They move on and find a kitchen, now abandoned. They move on and enter the side of a huge hall.

This hall was once the scene of great revels in the temple. The floor is littered with skeletons, skulls and bones. There are broken chairs and such. Numerous hallways enter this room. There are stairs down.

An update on where we are right now:

15 ghouls
2 zombies
4 zombies wearing gargoyle cloaks
3 normal skeletons
20 skeletons with armor, weapons, shield and 8 hp
32 animal skeletons
6 ghasts
5 orcs with chain, shield, long sword, crossbow and 20 bolts
Megala, Dryshik
Carum, Estaish, Wassilon, Alzar

[Abe Sargent]

They continue and arrive at a prison room and kill the bugbear and ogre jailer with ease. The ogre killed a zombie. They investigate the jails and release: 2 qwith, the Countess Tillahi of Celene and Sir Juffer, 3 human merchants They are taken above and left with the others, with the Countess and Sir Juffer given weapons to help protect the rest for now. On their way back down they are attacked by a group of gnools who are killed in seconds.


1000 xp to each of the four for their rescue

They arrive back and move to a storage chamber and then garbage room. They come across an Otyugh in the garbage room.

http://www.nuhfer.com/nexusone/Downloads/Otyugh.jpg

The otyugh is attacked by undead and hacks a few animal skeletons dead with its tentacles before dying. A search finds:

Scroll of Wizard Spells – Friends, Magic Missile, Knock, Mirror Image, Web, Slow, Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer
Gold Platter – 300 gp
Platinum Bracelet – 1000 gp
Four Opals – 1000 gp each

They move on and arrive at another complex with 20 or so bugbears total living in it. They surrender after seeing Alzar and his army approach. They have heard rumors of someone invading the temple and they want nothing to do with him and his group. Alzar agrees to leave them and their small five room complex alone if they pack up and leave the temple permanently, and they do.

They return and take a different bend and arrive at a cistern. It is very deep and slime covered, so Alzar has animal skeletons explore it and unlike he expected, there are no slime creatures down there, but they do find a slime covered object:

+2 shield

They raid some armories and add the weapons and armor to the magic pile. They find:

3 large sacks of fine garments – 500 gp each sack

[Abe Sargent]

They final corner of this level of the dungeon features a 6 room complex of brigands. Alzar breaks into a room with undead, and they envelop the low level fighters. Alzar loses several undead, including his last zombie, 2 ghouls, and 5 skeletons, but kills more than 25 humans.

They search and find (A poison trap on a chest failed to damage a skeleton)

Jet – 100 gp
Feldspar Necklace – 150 gp
Bag of Holding – Smaller – just 2000 coins worth
Silver Lamp – 120 gp
Fine Rug – 260 gp
Gold Cup, Ewer, Box – 675 as set
Jade and Silver Bracelet – 1700 gp
112 pp
74 gp
Zircons – 6x50gp
Two Potions – One is Healing
Bone Scroll case with one Wizard Spell – Pyrotechnics
Scroll of Protection from Elementals

They have finished the second level and head back, and take the stairs down from the main chamber with all of the bones.

[Abe Sargent]

They arrive at another set of sealed doors, so Alzar backtracks and takes some stairs down from a side room. They arrive in a room with five doors. As the undead move about the room, their footfalls echo, and the four doors spring open and out comes a troll from each one. Alzar pulls out the big guns and orders the gargoyles to fly up and distract one. The others retreat from the trolls that can kill. Alzar runs in towards the nearest one and they engage. He hits with his axe. (rolled that 2+4 AC, +3 axe, +2 from magic axe +3 strength is 14 which is a hit). The neutral evil troll takes 17 damage. Carum hits for 5 and Est misses. Archers fire and deal 13 to the troll in four hits. Wassilon tries to sneak behind it and succeeds. The troll focuses on Alzar and misses. The other two move in and the fourth tries to damage the gargoyles and fails. The gargies deals 8 to it.

Alzar swings and drops his axe. Est and Carum each hit for 21 and the troll dies. Arrows fly in and deal 10 to another troll, which is backstabbed for 14 by Wassilon. The gargies deal 10 to their troll. Alzar takes 11 damage, and then recovers his axe. Carum and Est swing again and Carum misses but Est adds 7 to the injured troll.

45/56

Alzar deals 19 out and kills the injured troll. Carum and Est and Wassilon hit the other for 24. Arrows hit twice for 8 more. The gargies deal 15 to their troll. The troll attacks and misses 3 times on Alzar. Alzar wins init and cleans out the last two. He grabs a flask of oil and kills them by burning their body parts and preventing regeneration.

XP – 1400 for each of the four

They search and find nothing in the rooms. Alzar moves forward and they head into the next room. They arrive in a room with a giant ettin who brandishes a giant club and then ignites it. I thought the trolls were just having some fun, but I see you’ve made it through to here. You won’t go any further.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/eo_ettin_med.jpg

Alzar throws a dagger at the giant and hits for 11 damage. Est misses, Carum, hits for 6 damage. He orders ahead those protected from fire, with him at the top. Orcish archers with crossbows deal 10 damage. The ettin tries to smashes Alzar, misjudges his location, and misses. Alzar slashes with his axe, now just +0. And hits for 10 damage. Carum adds 9 with his spear. Archers miss. The Ettin tries to smash Carum and rolls a 14. That’s a hit for 14 damage. Alzar orders Carum back and hacks for 12. Est adds 12. Carum retreats, throwing his spear for 8 damage and killing it.


12/64 - Carum

XP _ 1000 each to Carum, Alzar, and Estaish

They find:

157 gp
5 Azurites, 6 Hematites and 7 Tiger Eyes each worth 10 gp
Box of Carved Ivory – 100 Gp
6 pieces of Incense of Meditation

Carum quaffs another healing pot and is at 19/60

-1 healing pot

[Abe Sargent]

There are four doors here. Each of them has a set of steps behind them and a corridor that continues. Alzar chooses a direct at random and they head down it. They find a storeroom with:

Axe +1
Chain Mail +1
8 vials of holy water

They continue on and find fountain, then a bronze pit with a pit trap that kills a normal skeleton. They find stairs down. There is an Umber Hulk chained with a magical bronze chain. Alzar skips it. There is a room with a leather wand case, and inside is:

Wand of Lightning – 28 charges
Pouch – 5 pieces of jewelry worth a total of 8200 gp
Alabaster Flask – 25 gp with rare perfume worth 1400 gp
100 pp

They take a side corridor to a dead end room with sunlight coming from it. There are shapes moving in here. They appears to be giant rats and foxes. There are a variety of alcoves in here. There are two captives on the slab of rock, tied to it. Alzar senses its not right with his 19 INT and a Gem of Seeing shows illusions. The people on the slab are actually jackalweres. There are live gargoyles and 20 jackals in there as well. A skulltrap clears out the entire room.

XP – 1000 for Alzar

They search and find:

410 gp
223 ep
67 pp
6 gems worth 100 gp each
Two pieces of jewelry worth 500 gp each
Potion of Plant Control
Wizard Scroll – Spider Climb, Extension I, Levitate, Infravision

[Abe Sargent]

They continue on the original passageway and pass a room with some crazy lights, but the Gem reveals just illusions and nothing there. They arrive at a chamber of statues. There are nine in here. Beholder Blue Dragon, Fire Giant, Medusa, Manticore, mummy, guzak, ogre mage, and wight. The beholder is starting as a scroll tube in front of it. When opened it explodes and kills a skeleton. The scroll inside is destroyed.

The Blue Dragon is starting at a magical copper box that is a Flatbox.The Fire Giant is holding a huge spear. The Manticore is poised over a crossbow, missing a string. The medusa is wearing a pretty cloak. The mummy has a flask with many doses of very strong acid. The ogre mage has a silver chain. The guzak is wearing a Ring. The wight crouches before a silver urn. An undead opens it and out pours Dust of Sneezing and Choking, and it is all used up and gone.



They Find:

Flatbox
Spear
Crossbow missing string
Cloak
Acid Flask
Silver Chain with Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere Sling Stone once/day created (4d6 damage)
Ring
Platinum Urn – 20,000 gp value

[Abe Sargent]

They continue to the next room which is a dead end, earth floored area. There are numerous fungus in here, including some very large ones. As they move in, a voice shouts out to be careful, some are deadly. A lamia emerges and tries to charm them. Alzar makes it, the others fail, even the orcs. She starts to tell the others that Alzar has been affected by the mold and fungus and needs to be secured. A Mist Ball flies in and she makes her save and Alzar draws and sheathes the Sword of Lyons and disappears, then moves to pounce on her with axe, with +0 due to her CE nature.

He swings and deals 17 damage. She twists and tries to Suggestion him and fails. She wins init and just tries to stab him and misses. Alzar hits for 15 and then crits her for 21 damage and she dies just as his companions arrive to restraining him.

XP – 3000 for Alzar.

They find:

Gold Necklace – 1000 gp
Five Star Rubies – each worth 1000 gp
Bracers of Defense AC6
+1 short sword

They return and take a different direction from the room with four doors. They pass by a side corridor that ends in a circular room with nothing in here. They arrive at a triangular room with paintings of eyes and the symbol for the eye of fire on the walls. There are four doors to this room. Alzar orders his minions to open one door to the left and in here are 6 bugbears. Alzar casts Hypnotism and all but one are enthralled. A Mist Ball flies in, blinds the other one, and missiles fly in and kill him. The alarm is not raised.

XP – 250 Alzar

They move to the next room. In there are two bugbear leaders who immediately call for help. Smarter, more capable. The undead horde in and kill them. Out of the other two doors pop 4 ogres, a hill giant and a worg.

Now this is a big set of enemies.

Alzar orders everybody to stay back and conjures an Earth Elemental right behind the giant. The ogres move in. Est and Carum fire and hit an ogre for 17 damage. Orcs deal 6 more and it falls. Wassilon is trying to sneak in. Battle ensues.
 
The Earth Elemental punches the hill giant for 19 damage. It reels. Alzar’s axe hews into an ogre for 10 damage (Chaotic evil). Est and Carum run in. Wassilon fails to sneak in and makes a regular attack. He adds 3 damage. Arrows fly in for another 8 damage and the ogre falls. The worg and giant attack the elemental. The elemental takes 12. Alzar is attacked twice by ogres and missed.

They win init. The elemental takes 3 from the worg. Alzar is tridented for 9 by an ogre. He crits an ogre for 17 damage. Est and Carum add 15 and she dies. Wassilon hits the other for 3 more. The archers miss. The elemental hits for 9 on the giant. Alzar’s second attack misses (since it is just +0 right now, a 2 is a miss on AC 4). Alzar wins init. The Elemental misses. Alzar and the fighters kill the fourth ogre. Then they move in on the worg and giant. The worg hits for 5 more. The elemental punches for 28 damage and the giant dies. The worg misses. A dagger flies in for 12 damage. Carum;s spear crtis it for 13 and it dies.

42/56


XP – 1050 for each of the four

Alzar has his team search and they find:

Bloodstone Gold Ring – 50 gpx2
Electrum Amulet – 70 gp
8 silver plates – 200 gp total
Javelin +2
622 ep
Potion
2763 gp
17 gems worth 10 gp each

[Abe Sargent]

In the back they find two rooms with:

2 humans, orc, hobgoblin, three goblins, gnoll, bugbear

Alzar adds the orc to his archers. The others are too weak and are escorted back up. The goblinoids are secretly killed by Alzar’s undead and eaten by the ghouls and ghasts. The 2 humans are added above.

50 xp for each of the four

They arrive back and run into no opposition and move to another section of the level from another corridor from that room of four doors. They find a dining room with:

Gold service with 2 flagons, 2 platters, plates, salt cellar – 1550 as set
Cinnebar Serving Set – 450 gp
2 Candelabra of Rose Gold 2250 gp each

They arrive in an area with thirteen human skeletons with armor and weapons around the room. They do not animate, so Alzar decides to animate 9 of them to follow him with his Animate Dead spell. They are normal skeletons, but with armor and weapons.

The next room is a darkened one and the lair for 8 shadows, which join Alzar’s cause.

Shadows 0 AC7, can only be hit by magic, 15hp, deals 1d4 +1 damage and1 point of strength loss. Can surprise easily – 90% of time

They move into another room with 8 shadows. One is holding a rod of something and 7 more move forth. Alzar cannot control them, and orders his shadows to attack, led by himself and his fighters. A dagger crits one for 14 damage and it dies. Another dies to several of Alzar’s shadows. Est and Carum run in. Their shadows attack and kill two of Alzar’s. He orders his men to concentrate on the one holding a rod and standing back. Carum throws his spear for 10 and Alzar’s dagger adds 11 and it dies. The other are controlled now.

The Rod gives immunity to all undead within a 10’ radius to all turning, control and destruction attempts but operation requires two hands. Alzar likes it!

Undead Turning Rod Immunity 10’ Radius

In here are:

32 black pearls worth 500 gp each
Potion
Protection from Undead Scroll

[Abe Sargent]

A kitchen they search has

Crystal Decanter – 200 gp
26 crystal goblets 50 gp each

They ,move to a chamber long abandoned as it is now haunted by groaning spirit. Alzar controls her and keeps her back but cannot force her out of the room where she died. She reveals:

+1 longbow
Elven Cloak
Elven Chainmail made for female
Periapt of Proof vs Poison +3
Scroll – Gust of Wind, Tongues, Polymorph Self, Remove Curse, Airy Water, Limited Wish
4 small Ivory carvings worth 3150 gp total

They pass another set of stairs down, many empty rooms, and arrive at an alchemy workroom.

Small Pottery Flask – 1000 gp of quicksilver
2000 gp of Alchemical supplies

They move to an adjacent room and arrive in a large laboratory. There are shelves, and tables, desks, and more.

Enough magical ink for 7 scrolls to be written
Parchment and vellum necessary to do so
Ape teeth, basilisk scales, cockatrice feathers, elephant hide, fox dung, gorgon tongue, hydra blood
5 books on anatomy of various monsters
Treatise on the nature of a flesh golem (not its construction)
Wizard Scroll – Magic Mouth, Fly, Charm Monster, Polymorph Other
Cleric Scroll
Platinum Ring with Diamond – 9000 gp
Silver Mace with many Gems – 12,500 gp
3000 gp in value of lab equipment


(There is a 1 in 12 chance from here on out that if Alzar needs a component for a spell or such, it is in these that take up half a Bag of Holding at 10000 coins heavy).

[Abe Sargent]

They pass a chapel with nothing but a Magic Mouth that triggers and:

Idol – 1575 gp

They arrive in a crypt and there is a chest with a vampire inside sleeping, and a cross on the sarcophagus. Alzar tries to control it, and senses it is not undead. The Gem of Seeing reveals an illusion and it is really a knight in stasis. Alzar opens it up and orders the undead and orcs to hiding. The knight is brought out of status and takes the sword from the crypt – the cross. He thanks Alzar and asks to be taken out immediately – he is on a grave mission. Alzar does so, gives him a horse from their wagons, and is given a neckchain as thanks. Alzar returns below.

Gold Neckchain – 2000 gp

1500 XP for everyone for freeing the paladin lord

They arrive in the final area and round a corner and Alzar spies a basilisk but can tell it’s just a phantasmal force illusion. His Gem of Seeing shows a normal hallway that opens into a room with two doors. They move down, and suddenly, an orc is revealed trying to backstab Alzar and missing. He goes invisible again. Alzar retakes the Gem and starts looking when a mage with a mirror image in effect cracks open one of the doors and Lightning Bolt is cast at Alzar. He takes 17 after the save and several undead die from the angle including a gargoyle.

Alzar sees the thief and throws a dagger at him and crits him for 12 damage. Alzar orders everyone else at the mage. The invisible thief is wounded and bleeding. He stabs at Alzar with a poisoned blade and misses. A Mist Ball flies into the mage and he loses an image.

They win init. A Hold Person at the group causes Wassilon to fail his save, and two orcs. The thief misses Alzar. Alzar carves for 16 damage and he is reeling. Est and Carum hit once for another image from the mage.

Alzar wins init and kills the thief. The mage takes another image loss from an archer. He has 5 Mirror Images left. He casts Charm Person at Estaish and it fails. Alzar throws in a dagger and takes out an image. Est and Carum hit once for another image – 3 left.

The mage wins init and casts Darkness, 15’ radius around the group. Est and Carum miss. Alzar moves in. The archers are ordered to stop firing. The next round, the mage wins init again and casts Burning Hands and deals 4 damage to Carum, Estaish and Alzar from the fire spell..

Alzar carves away an image, Carum manages to hit for another in the darkness. Alzar hits for 18. Carum takes out the last one. Est hits for 10. A Mist Ball flies in and blinds the mage for 3 damage and 3 rounds.

Alzar wins init and kills the mage for 15.

XP – 2250 each of the four

They search and the Gem of Seeing and a secret door reveal a hidden area. Here is what they find:

Ring of Invisibility
Various weapons and armor
Gold Earrings – 800 gp for set
Jeweled Belt 3200 gp
2 vials of acid
Potion
Small case with vials of 5 different poisons
30 Bloodstone gems worth 50 gp each
Jewelry pieces worth 4000 gp total
Map of 3rd Level of Dungeon
Ancient Electrum Candle Holder – 1500 gp
3 wands with Nystul’s Magic Aura on each of them
3 potions -
Two Books of Magic (not spellbooks)
6000 gp of valuable spell components
Fire Opal and Star ruby – 1000 gp each
Topaz – 500 gp
Potions – Speed, ESP, Flying, Sweet Water
Ebony Fly
Ebony Statuette of Demoness Lloth – 6500 gp
Mirror of Mental Prowess
Jewelry – 5000 gp

5 spellbooks, secured for later magic dispelling and opening.


There is an iron box on the table and inside is the Orb of Golden Death.

The Orb of Golden Death is very powerful artifact. When he holds the evil object, he can Detect Lie, Know Alignment and Poison at will. It is a glowing golden object shaped like an intricate skull with a diadem mounting for some gems. Alzar knows the Orb can be amplified by finding the appropriate gems.

Alzar calls the Ebony Fly to service to see how it works.

Zadaxx
AC – 4
HP – 25
THAC0 – 16
1d6 damage in combat from ramming

Can be used three times per week for 12 hours at a time. Zadaxx will join him for the rest of this adventure likely. Flies very fast, and can be turned back to statuette at a word, and is the size of a pony, and can be used as a steed. If killed, reverts to statue form and that uses up its magic for that 12 hour period.

[Abe Sargent]

Having finished this level, they plunge to the fourth one, taking one of the stairs they found down. Since the Earth Elemental has just about thirty or forty minutes of summoning time, Alzar moves it to the front. Alzar hands the Gargoyle Cloak to the last normal skeleton and gets another gargoyle.

They arrive and Alzar decides switch boots to Elvenkind and becomes invisible, making no noise or path from his steps. There are two troll sentries here keeping watch, but without any chairs or things to lean against. Alzar suspects the alarm was sounded when so many were killed above. He goes forward and finds four more trolls to the left and right of the main corridor and 2 trolls ahead on the pathway up front. That’s 8 trolls in the entry way ish.

A quick check of the major areas leading to a giant temple area have 12 ogres, 12 trogs, 2 hill giants, 4 ettins and that’s a powerful selection. There appear to be at two spell casters in this central temple area. Alzar returns and its all bad news. It’s time.

He hands Wassilon a +2 longsword. Wave is handed to Carum and told to keep it down. Estaish is loaned Ogre Strength Gauntlets.

The Earth Elemental will be the bulwark of the force. Alzar will summon two more with Ring of Spell Storing and Mud Ring to give him a very powerful bulwark. He hands the Rod of No Turning to a Skeleton to stand in the back and protect his forces from being turned or commanded. He will use the gargoyles as a shock force and sit back, cast his Maidens, and start to devastate the opponent. Time to begin. He moves back and casts The Maidens. He now has an AC of -3 when wielding an Axe. The Earth Elemental and two others move in and the trolls yells for help. One is surrounded by gargoyles and the other crushed to death in one round by earth elementals and then killed by oil that Alzar has given to Wassilon to use to kill trolls.

6 more trolls are moving in. Alzar’s troops are immune to turning, he has three earth elementals, a buzzing giant fly, two impish creatures, many undead, pulls out the ghasts and ghouls and shadows, has three fighters and himself. The gargie troll is killed and more roars can be heard from several directions as the six trolls get closer.

Earth Elementals – AC 2, HP 40 each, once has taken 19 already, THAC0 – 13, Damage 4d8 if they hit, +2 or better weapon to hit.

As they approach, Alzar Charm Monsters a troll and it fails and joins his side:

Troll – 38 hp, AC4, THAC0 – 14, 1d4+5 twice and 2d6, regen 3 hp each round

With all of his allies, Alzar orders those immune to normal weapons to ready against the trolls. Elementals, shadows, and the four gargies will fly in behind after they engage, to keep them from running.

Estaish and Carum move in. Ghouls and Ghasts position themselves. Alzar orders his troll in near him as well as Zadaxx. The trolls are killed in two rounds and burned to death

8 trolls – 7 killed, one charmed.

Soon, Alzar sees a group of 12 ogres moving in very quickly. It looks like they have been affected by a haste spell. Alzar does likewise, using one from his Ring to speed the elementals, gargoyles, and shadows to double speed.

The ogres arrive and there are ettins and hill giants and bugbears and trogs emerging. The ogres are cut down by Elementals and undead quickly, and despite their double attacks, are unable to damage the creatures, but the ettins and hill giants can damage these creatures, like the hill giant hit the earth elemental before. Alzar can’t allows the major guys to get bogged down by ogre minors, so he orders the elementals in the center of the line to back away and creature a hole for the ogres to run down, and they do, 6 of them left, into the ghouls, ghasts, and skeletons waiting for them. Although at haste speed, they manage to kill a few, they are torn and paralyzed to shreds.

The elementals reform to take the major players coming in. Alzar launches a dagger at an Ettin moving in and hits for 12 damage. He orders the Elementals, shadows and gargoyles to concentrate on the ettins and hill giants, and ignore the bugbears and trogs, which they are immune to. One bugbear kills a shadow, so it must have a magic weapon. Alzar’s squad, hasted, wins init. The Elementals attack and two hit the damaged ettin for 39 damage and it dies. Gnolls and three spell casters are arriving. Another Hill Giant takes damages to the shadows and gargoyles combined attack. Three Ettin and Giant concentrate on the Earth Elemental that looks damaged and two hit for 24 damage and destroy it, leaving just two. The second attack kills a Hill Giant and one Elemental hits s second Ettin for 18 damage. The ogres are killed.

The trolls have been killed by oil by now. They win init. One spellcaster casts Web over the undead, two try to control undead and fail, and see their tool being used against them. Another cleric, looking very battle ready appears from a side corridor and begins to cast Hold Person on Alzar and fails.

They win init. Alzar moves forward with his troll, Estaish, Carum, Zadaxx in tow. The orcs fire in a volley at the remaining hill giant and one hits for 2 damage. The Earths hit the damaged Ettin twice for 43 damage total and it dies. The other hasted undead attack the bugbear with the magical weapon and kill it, and the Hill Giant and hit it several times for 22 damage. Alzar lashes out with a dagger and crits the Hill Giant for 14 damage and it dies. Dryshik drops a Wall of Fog behind the combatants and between them and the spellcasters. The gnolls and bugbears and ettins are engaged and the wall of fog does not affect them. The ettins hit twice on an elemental and deal 21 damage to it, it has 19 left. The elementals swing again and both miss. The minor double attacks kill the last hill giant and poke a bunch of bugbears and gnolls Their spellcasters have moved forward and are now inside the wall of fog and can see the battle again and be seen.

They win init. One ettin hits the wounded elemental for 13. 6 hp left. 12 gargoyles fly into view and move in to attack. Another Hill Giant comes from a side path. A set of 5 Magic Missiles fly into the damaged elemental and it dies. The spellcasters can heal spells on the wounded ettin. Alzar’s elemental attacks twice and hits once for 21 damage. A volley of arrows adds 11. A dagger from Alzar hits and it takes 13 from a crit and another hit and dies after adding 6 from Est’s Bolt. Carum uses the necklace to sling a Freezing Sphere stone in and it hits a gnoll and deals 13 cold damage to all creatures around, including 3 gargoyles and a priest and several gnolls and bugbears. The shadows and gargies are moving to their gargies and kill four. Alzar has his group move forward to the gap made by the death of the two elementals.

They win init. The ettin and hill giant attack the undamaged elemental. One hits for 9. 31 left. The gargies fly into our shadows and kill 4. Five more gnolls arrive with flaming oil skins and through them in. They kill most of the remaining, several shadows, and break through the line. With 20 gnolls and bugbears skill surviving coming in and attacking skeletons and ghouls and ghasts. One spellcaster casts Bless on their forces, another casts Hold Person on Estaish and it fails, even with the -4 bonus. 5 magic missiles fly into Alzar for 16 damage. A Continual Darkness spell is cast at Alzar’s eyes and he makes the save. The elemental attacks twice and hits twice for 33 damage on the hill giant. The gargies and 2 shadows left are ordered to attack their gargies and kill two more. Alzar uses Burning Hands from his axe for 13 fire damage on all of the creatures in front of him and many gnolls fall. Several gnolls and bugbears fall from the corporeal undead attacks. They attack back and kill several skeletons and a ghoul. A barrage of arrows from the orcs deals 2 to the hill giant. Estaish dives forward and slashes at the giant for 20 damage (gauntlets) and it reels. Carum stabs out with Wave but misses. Zadaxx hits for 4. The maidens miss.

They win init again. The Hill Giant misses the elemental. Their remaining gargies kill our two shadows. They gnolls and bugbears kill two more skeletons and three animal skeletons. They cast – Lightning Bolt at Alzar for 15 damage from his save. A Hold Person that works on Carum. A pair of cures. It kills a phantom maiden who got in the way. Alzar casts Vampiric Touch on the Hill Giant for 11 and it dies. He heals 11 back. Est stabs and hits the last ettin for 15. Zadaxx adds 2. The elemental attacks twice and hits once for 17 more damage. Gargies kills two more of theirs – they have three left. Undead kill most of their remaining bugbears and gnolls. A Mist Ball hits the mage who fails his save and takes 4 and blinded for 4. Megala follows up with a miss with its claws. The maiden hits the ettin for 2 damage. Wassilon is sneaking in. Alzar’s troll slashes the ettin for 6 damage.

Alzar’s group finally wins init. The elemental pounds the ettin for 18 and it dies. A dagger flies up and kills a gargie and their gargies kill the last one of theirs. The last bugbears are killed. Their clerics start to retreat. Alzar orders undead to move forward quickly, and some to dispatch the blind mage.

The mage is killed. One priest casts Darkness 15’ radius. Another is Mist Balled to no effect. Alzar leaps on Zadaxx’s back and hoists his axe and flies with the gargoyles after the one that looked the strongest. They find him and Alzar draws a Dagger of Venom and closes. He leaps down in front and the gargoyles get near him. The cleric Commands Alzar to sleep and he falls to the ground for one round. The gargies attack and one hits for 3 damage. The cleric runs and the gariges pursue, dealing 4 more damage. A Mist Ball on another cleric brings her down and the undead swarm and kill her. Megala is following the third to keep track of it.

Alzar recovers and leaps back on the fly. The cleric has been running for a round and the fly easily speeds up and passes again, with the gargoyles again lighting down. The cleric casts Hold Person at Alzar and it again failed. He slashes with the Dagger and misses the AC -4 of the cleric. The gargoyles attack and hit once for 3 damage. He wins and casts silence on Alzar. Alzar makes his save. He responds with a dagger and manages to hit by rolling a 17. The cleric takes 5 damage and makes a save vs poison. He fails and takes half of his original life in damaged. 33 damage. The gargies barely touch him.

Meanwhile, Megala has followed the other cleric and many undead have followed as well as Estaish and Wassilon and they kill the cleric.

This cleric casts Cure Serious Wounds. Alzar switches to Axe and slashes him for 16 (+0 for CE enemy). The gargies add 7 from two hits. The cleric draws a scroll and reads it and Alzar takes a Flame Strike for just 11 damage, save to 6. Alzar’s axe slashes for 14 on the backswing. The cleric wins init and quaffs an extra healing pot. Alzar hits for 14. The gargies miss. Alzar wins init and cleaves for 13. The cleric draws a hammer and attacks Alzar and misses. Alzar cleaves again for 15. The cleric misses and Alzar Vamp Touches with a spell from a Ring for 12 and the cleric falls.


Dead: 7 trolls, 12 ogres, 3 hill giants, 4 ettins, 25 bugbears, 20 gnolls, 12 gargoyles, 3 clerics, one wizard.

Alzar gains 7500 XP
Carum and Estaish gain 5500 XP
Wassilon Gains – 1500 XP

They have killed most of the creatures on the level and begin by searching all corpses:

Several keys
Tourmaline – 500 gp
Many weapons and armor
Boots of Levitation
Staff of Striking – 13 charges
Ring of the Grasshopper – Can leap five times higher and farther than normal
Many Potions
Bracers of Defense AC 3 – Which Alzar dons and now has an AC of 0/-2/-4 depending on circumstance.
Ring of Feather Falling
+2 warhammer
Ring of Free Action
Black Scarab inscribed with TZGYx4 on all of the spellcasters

[Abe Sargent]

Now they begin to investigate inside the various rooms nearby and do a lot of searching. Here is all of the stuff they find in easy places:

Crystal Ewer and Cup – 250 gp each
3500 gp worth of religious artifacts like candlesticks and small figurines and idols.
Jewelry – 35000 gp worth
9 wooden eggs in a set, each bigger, - 900 gp for the set
4 unholy symbols of fine metals and gems – 1000 gp each
Black Sapphire – 5000 gp x6
Carnelian with Fire Trap on it that kills a normal skeleton with weapons and armor
4 Violet Garnets – 500 gp each
Emerald – 1000 gp
Candle of Invocation - LG
2941 gp
2101 ep
+3 sling Stone
Stone of Controlling Earth Elementals
Ruby -0 5000 gp
Tapestries and rugs worth 6600 GP
Miniature Red Dragon carved of Ruby – 7500
4 Scrimshaw Handle Knives – 100 gp each
Tourmaline – 500 gp
5000 gp Volcanic Gemstones in Volcanic rock
Cleric Scroll
25 volumes on Battle tactics and strategies in various wars and sieges.
22300 in gems from a volume with a hollow center.
Magic Book
Four Silvery Furs – 4000 gp each
Platinum Pitcher – 500 gp
Bracers of Defense AC4
Daern’s Instant Fortress

Portable Hole with:

Spellbook
Large Oil Flask
Large Potion Case with 29 potions – can be checked afterwards – all generic ones though, no fancy ones.
Cloak of Poisonousness
20,000 gp worth of spell components and rare items

[Abe Sargent]

They have now searched everything before the temple, and now move to it. There are 10 entrances to and from this temple, and gates all around – portals for various places. There are numerous columns, an altar, and such in here. Alzar and the undead move around. Near the back, some fungi attack with disease and the undead and Alzar is immune. He has the undead kill the fungi.

Eight of the pathways end after hallways with frescoes that detail their various elements. The back one they move to. They find a chest and Wassilon manages to pick in, and then finds a trap, and removes it – pretty lucky all around actually. Inside:

Wand of Metal Command – 19 charges
Wand of Ice Storms – 42 charges
Candle of Invocation – CE – 3 hours remaining
2000 ep
4000 gp
1000 pp
Rope of Entanglement

There is a mystic and magic nexus at the back. Alzar returns. He investigates the portals. One is obviously to the earth plane, and he leads with his Earth Elemental still summoned and round and dons his Amulet of the Planes.

End of T3 and Begin T4

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar has just an Earth Elemental and himself . This is not the true Elemental Plane of Earth but a Node of it. Megala signals and several others follow. Alzar is joined by:

Estaish, Carum, Wassilon, Zadaxx, Megala, Dryshik, the troll, the earth elemental, 4 gargoyles

Everything else stays there, and the orcs are ordered to keep watch.

These Nodes are weird. They have one or two sentence descriptions for the rooms, and a list of all of the monsters found on the Node, and where a few homes are. No treasure, no stats – nothing. The Earth Node looks like a cave tunnel, but with raw earth on the bottom. These will be quick simmed out of necessity, due to a paucity of descriptions, and random treasure rolled and such.

[Abe Sargent]

Three are six tunnels leading out. The air is quite breathable. Alzar takes…#5 (random) 4 intersections. Forward is a dead end. Back, left is down. They run into an Earth Elemental which just lumbers past and ignores them. Maybe Alzar’s Mud Ring or the Earth Elemental with them? One exit back to starting room. Go down. Empty cave. Go down to huge cavern. Nothing. Return to intersection and other direction. Dead ends. All quiet. Run into crystal ooze on way back moving around. They attack and kill it with fire. Last road from intersection reveals cavern with gate symbol. Return to first room and take #3 of the 4 left. Wind up in grotto. Nothing. Take side path down and arrive in cave. Nothing. See entrance back to starting room, can continue down. Left or right. Left. Nothing and south cave with nothing. On way back to right path, run into Stone Giant wandering. Alzar talks with it, and it is wondering how to get out of here, and lead its family home. Alzar does not know, and is looking too. It nods, and they both continue.

Right path and down or right? Down. They run into chamber with 5 Chaggrin Grues.

Elemental grues are lower power elementals with an evil disposition. These move in. Alzar cannot control them on their own plane, even a Node of it, orders everything back and uses a Ring to cast Skulltrap and clears out the whole room.

XP – 4200 for Alzar

They search for treasure. They find:

21gems – 50 gp each
2000 sp
300 gp Gold Ring
And a Power Gem for the Orb. When Alzar takes it up, they transport o the Fire Node.

[Abe Sargent]

The Earth Elemental is completely destroyed by being away from any source of earth here. The environment is mega hot and Alzar tosses Wassilon a Ring of Fire Resist for the rest of their time here. It keeps them from taking any damage. The gargoyles are immune, and Zadaxx is taking heat damage, so Alzar orders it to return to statuette form. The troll will take damage and Alzar loans it a Fire Resist ring as well.

They move on. This room has eight doors, and it is very bright and hot, with embers, flames and such regularly making appearances. Alzar takes the 6th door – random. They find nothing in the room at the end and there were four corridors off the main path. The upper two lead to the same room and there is a square gate symbol here, but Alzar retreats. They head up to a room and corridor that is door #7 from the first room. There is nothing here. They go up and arrive in a huge hall. Nothing here.

They run into Darley, a magic user who claims to have been stuck here for some time. She asks to join the group. Alzar uses the Globe and she is NE and lying about her identity. Alzar senses she is not a mage at all, but does intend to contribute to the group and not to betray him at least not until she is out. He accepts her.

Darley, AC 5, HP – 27, THACO – 15, 1d8 from vamp touch, gains 1d4 back; can only be hit by magic or iron, Str 13, Con 16, Dex 10, Int 15, Wis 9, Cha 14. Can Suggestion, ESP, Charm, Shapechange at will. Can Dimension Door once/day. Actually an Alu-Demon

They return and check out two rooms behind doors. They run into a wandering pair of fire toads. They are killed easily and no one takes damaged from their fire attacks.

XP – 100 each to Darley, Alzar, Carum, Estaish, Wassilon

There is nothing in either of these rooms. They move into a new corridor and see #8 from the main room. They head along it and wander into a big room with the lair of a trio of salamanders of the fire persuasion. They try to negotiate, and Alzar cannot make them out, but suddenly, their words are made out for him. He is puzzled and reaches into his Bag of Holding and recovers a sword found earlier. It is an intelligent Frostbrand and can speak and interpret various languages, including the common Fire tongue and salamander. They do not want any more trouble after many of their family and clan were destroyed by Fire Giants. Alzar agrees to just leave. He hits a large room nearby with another symbol to a gate. They have also arrived at a lair of a Bodak, a powerful evil horror from the lower planes. As he is often an ally of Darley, he chooses not to attack the party, and lets them pass.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mm_gallery/Bodak.jpg

They pass the #1 door and arrive at another chamber. About 10 fire fundamentals fly out and about their lair and Alzar orders his group to retreat. Why bother against them? They press on and pass by three empty rooms before entering one with the lair of harginn grues.

There are 8 of these guys here. They can blink and are only hit by magical weapons. Luckily, they will not be dealing as much damage as normal due to the fire resist of Alzar’s group. They charge in with Alzar way in front like normal. Alzar cleaves a grue for 12 damage. Est hits that one for 9 and kills it. Carum and Wassilon both hit for 12 total. The troll is ordered to stay back. The gargoyles as well. A Mist Ball evaporates before getting to another. Darley makes motions and tags the grue for 6 damage. The grues attack, most missing Alzar, and a few missing elsewhere. One hits Estaish for 2 damage.

28/50 Estaish

They attack first and Alzar takes 4 from two hits. He carves an uninjured one for 17. Est kills the injured one and Carum misses. Wassilon puts down the other injured one for 9 damage. Darley hits a new one for 5 damage. Alzar Carum and Estiash attack again and hit for 26 damage and kill a 4th. 4 left. They make a morale check. Alzar’s team wins init. He deals 17, Carum kills it for 10 more. Est hits for 11, Wassilon for 10 and Darley for 3 and it dies – leaving just two. They flee.

Each of the five gets 650 XP

Alzar searches and finds:

6 gems worth 10 gp each
3 pieces of jewelry worth 2250 gp total
A Gem from the Orb which immediately transports them to the Air Node.

[Abe Sargent]

They are on top of a tall peak. It’s very cold and Alzar has everyone switch to Rings of Warmth except the troll – whose ring he just takes back, and Wassilon and himself – he only has 2. There are nine major or minor hollows in the mountains, and Alzar chooses #3. They fly down and arrive in a tunnel with two branches – each dead ends. Each is a lair for…8 vapor rats. They assume gaseous form and flee when they see how many creatures invade their lair. There is nothing else in here. The next lair has a white dragon. Alzar orders everything back, and grabs his Broom of Flying. He switches to a normal +2 axe since it’s CE. He hefts it up, and then trades for a Ring of Warmth from one of the people he wants to stay away. He has the Broom fly him in immediately and swings with his axe.

He gets in the first hit and hits for 18 damage on the white dragon, who roars up. IT breathes on Alzar and he takes just 12 damage after the Ring reduces it.

39/56 hp – Alzar

He wins init and crits the dragon for 19 damage. The dragon attacks and misses. (Cloak of Displacement). Alzar swings and hit for 13. It wins and breathes on Alzar again for 8 damage after save. Alzar finishes it off with an axe for 14 damage.

XP – 5000 for Alzar

White dragon blood, skin, horns, teeth, scales.

They search and find:

500 pp
Ring of Protection +2
Scroll of Protection from Traps
Potion of Super-Heroism
Plate Mail +1

[Abe Sargent]

They head back and take the #8 path. They head over and run into an Air Elemental on the way, but it passes them by. They find a cavern and the lair of more Vapor Rats, who again disappear. They return and take the #1 path, which has a lair of Idriss grues.

There are 8 of these fog cloud like enemies. They will do a lot more damage than the fire grues. Alzar draws the Horn of Blasting and blows it. All of the grues in the chamber in front of the horn take 15 damage and 3 die. Carum wings a stone into another for death. The other four, badly damaged, flee.

They find in here nothing but a Gem that takes them to the Water Node.

XP – Alzar and Carum each get 500

[Abe Sargent]

They are in a great indoor ocean. They are in a safe coral area right now. Alzar tosses Wave to Carum who uses one of its abilities to create a bubble of breathable air in an Airy Water spell. They can go in any direction. Alzar chooses what he believes to be south. They swim over a reef and reach a submerged shelf with outcroppings, and nothing else. They continue and find a hidden shelf with a triangle glyph to somewhere else. They go right and arrive at a small hidden grotto. North and they enter a small sea, and then a shelf. Finally a lagoon with a shelf and another glyph. They run into a Water Weird, which Alzar easily kills with his immunity.

They pass a sea, and then a shelf which is home to a pair of Vodyanoi – which are really slow and powerful.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/fb_gallery/83580.jpg

Carum is pulled towards them. Alzar lobs a dagger and hits one for 12. Combat is engaged. The vodyanoi attack Alzar and Carum. The one on Alzar misses, and Carum is hit for just 2. Carum spears with Wave and hits for 8 damage. Alzar adds 15. Est hits for 8. Darley touches one for 5. Wassilon deals nothing. The troll tears into it for 6 and it dies. Alzar’s group wins init. They deal 36 with those that hit. It just dies.

XP = split 400 for each of the 5.

Inside they find:

16,000 gp
2000 ep


Alzar has the gargoyles carry some of the treasure back.

[Abe Sargent]

They head north and find a shelf and nw sea. They find some floating eyes who flee from them. They go west and arrive at a shelf-grotto with 14 lacedons, who Alzar controls. They have :

5000 cp
Gems – 5 – average 100 each

The lacedons move forward and are Alzar’s flank. They pass a shelf and the north sea and into the NW one. There is a submerged shelf here – the lair of Koalinth, which Carum controls and sends away with his Wave. They head south and reveal a hidden grotto with a lair of Varrdig grues.

There are 5 in here. They can water jet around. Alzar sends in the lacedons and they kill the grues after losing half of the lacedons. They search and find:

2,000 gp
Gem for the Orb

Alzar and company are teleported to a room they have not seen before. He begins to attach the Gems to the Orb.

Alzar now can:

Travel to, and survive comfortably in each of the four elemental planes.
Can Wind Walk, Earthquake, Flame Strike and Wall of Ice once per week each
Can Conjure 8 hd elemental with max HP (64) once each week per type.
Summon and control a demon Type I, II, III and Babau three times per day per type, but not more than once total per hour.

That’s in addition to Know Alignment, Detect Lie and Poison automatically.

They arrive in a new room with the 7 lacedons, 4 gargoyles, troll, Darley, and the fighters, Megala, Dryshik and Alzar.

This huge echoing hall is constructed of polished black stone and casting odd reflections of light. Alzar grabs Wave suddenly before it can protest and Carum is okay. He returns it to the Bag.

Alzar uses the Orb to return to the Earth world and finds the family of Stone Giants. He has them grab their things, and then teleports them back to where he was with the Orb.

[Abe Sargent]

There are four large symbols on the floor and a pathway out. One is a triangle of dull ecru stone, another a square of translucent stone, a third circle of silver and blue and a forth a long diamond shape with four pint radiating outside in orange and red. It’s obvious that these are more gates, after having seen some already. They take the corridor out and arrive in a huge room. The giants will stay here until the coast is clear.

This place is horrible and disgusting and loathsome. The stonework is leprous and mottled. There are three doors on the left, including one with a giant seal. There is a doorway to the right. There are dilapidated areas and a feeling of unhealth, but nothing here. They move to the doorway and arrive in a place of earth and chains.

This chamber is a strange composite of ink stone, golden chains and loose earth. There are violet fungi in the center of the room. The lacedons go in and kill the fungus, immune to its clouds. Alzar finds:

Ivory Case – 1400 gp
Wand of Illumination – 44 charges

There is nothing else in here so they go back to the rotting room. They enter a door on the left and it opens into a room of crowned skills. There are many decorations of skulls in here, but a search turns up nothing so they head to an adjacent chamber. This room has many frescoes of merriment and destroyed chairs and tables and couches and sofa and glasses, and bottles. A search turns up nothing.

They return and take the back door. This plastered room is decorated with wall murals, an show demons of lesser sorts paying homage to humans of evil mien. Scenes of killing and destruction rule. There is nothing in there so they advance to the next room. In here suits of armor and strangely fluted. As a lacedon moves in, they animates and attack it. Alzar orders the gargoyles to trade, and his suspicion is correct. They cannot damage the gargoyles and are eventually killed by them. They are added to the magic pile.

Four Topaz Gems – 500 gp each

They head down a corridor to another room – a chamber with a plain, unfurnished room. There is nothing in there but a door, so they open it and ,move to a lavish chamber with more tapestries and frescoes.

Gold Bowl - 235 gp

They move to the next room with more frescoes and a purple decoration. There is a map and many weapons, added to the Magic Pile. The map shows the locations of all of the agents of the Temple, and Alzar takes it.


Map of Temple Agents

They hit a bare wall and serach for secret doors. They find one back into the uncomfortable chamber, so they search the chamber for more and find another. They enter a room with a huge throne weighing 400 pounds but worth 50,000 g pas a piece of art. Alzar leaves it here for now. The room is stinking and littered with slimes., and fungus and more

[Abe Sargent]

They retreat to a corridor out to a large hall.

This room has polished steps that descend and a serpentine and porphyry floor. The walls are black marble and runes of glowing gray and inky black mark the walls, with glyphs that seem to shift. There are three pillars in front, one of electrum, one of gold and one of platinum. The hall opens up into a great hall.

Some 30 feet beyond the odd pillars the hall broadens to 60 feet thick and a huge dais of translucent alabaster commands the west of this place. Before it is a magical device set into the floor – a hexagon with two inter-locking equilateral triangles and the circle that rings them. Tips protruding from the sides glow different colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blow and indigo. The center glows purple.

On top of the dais is a throne of silver with 666 precious gems There are set to form leering demon faces, skulls, fungi, and like patterns. There are of all colors and sizes and shapes. Behind the seat is a huge tapestry.

The west end of the room is very dim – virtually dark. As Alzar approaches, he sees a crone on the throne, old and wizened. She yells that Alzar won’t get her treasure, and then tells him he may take the pillar of electrum. Alzar refuses, remembering the Crone of Chaos he met at The Rock.

She offers the gold pillar, and he refuses. She offers the platinum, and again, he refuses. The crone desperately fumbles with the arms of her throne once again and a olive ray springs forth and eating a hole in the floor, and then a Prismatic Sphere appears, and misses, devouring the hag and blasting her to ash.

Alzar uses his Gem of Seeing and sees it as an illusion and the crone has slipped behind the tapestry. He tells everyone else. He tells everyone to stay back and moves forward, and flings back the tapestry, revealing the crone. Enraged, she changes back to her normal form.

http://www.gamebanshee.com/templeofelementalevil/images/zuggtmoy.jpg

Alzar makes his Netherworld Knowledge proficiency check and knows who this is. – This is Zuggtmoy, the Queen of Fungi – one of the very powerful demon lords. She will be a very difficult foe. She will take nothing from Acid, half damage from magical fire, nothing from cold damage, and can only be hit by iron or magic weapons. She has 222 hit points.

Battle begins. Alzar grabs his +2 axe from the Bag of Holding. He orders everybody back and she passes him to get at others. Most people just attack him, having analyzed correctly that he is the greatest threat. Odd. Alzar orders everybody out of the room to see if he can get her to come around and charges at her. He cleaves into her for 17 damage. She ignores him and moves to attack others. He orders everybody behind a human sized secret door in the back and Alzar moves to stand in the doorway, between Zuggtmoy and everybody else.

She refuses to attack him and backs off. Why? The artifact, that has to be it. He shuts the secret door. It’s just Alzar and Zuggtmoy – even the familiars are in the other room. She retreats and he follows. He is able to keep up to her with his Boots of Striding and Springing and hits her regularly. She tries to drop Continual Darknesses and turns invisible regularly, but Alzar continues to hunt her out. She cannot leave her prison, and she cannot attack Alzar.

It takes a while, but the end is obvious. Alzar cannot take damage from her, and she cannot flee – all she can do is try to hide temporarily. She pleads for her freedom and will trade her treasure to Alzar, or serve him, but you cannot trust a demon. After an hour, Alzar kills Zuggtmoy.

XP - 20,000 for Alzar (it’s normally 35k but I reduced it to the artifact.)

Zuggtmoy disappears and cannot return to Thorasia for 100 years.

[Abe Sargent]

He opens the doors and everybody comes back in. In the back hallway is a pair of 4 globes, and a lacedon tries to move them and is killed by blades. Wassilon finds a trap and sees the trigger. They move all for stones at once and a chest rises and opens. Inside is:

Wand of Fire – 72 charges
Rod of Smiting – 41 charges
Ring of Feather Falling
Ioun Stone – Incandescent Blue Sphere (+1 spell level)
Wizard Scroll – Maze, Death Spell, Monster Summoning I, Symbol of Discord and Disintegrate
8 Potions – Animal Control, Climbing, Flying, Healing, Invulnerability, Philter of Persuasiveness, Polymorph Self and Super Heroism


And with that, they have completed the Temple of Elemental Evil, including destroying the evil demoness that was bound back here by the Ambers.

Alzar reunites with those on the 4th level and they carry the giant throne out, and then come back for the skeletons after dropping off a few things and people in Hommlet. The men-at-arms and orcs are both willing to pledge loyalty to Alzar in perpetuity, and the men-at-arms come from the Nulb area and are used to the undead, orcs, and more. They are LE and LN in alignment. Alzar adds them to his retinue .

Throne – 50,000 gp

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar ends with these undead:


6 lacedons
10 ghouls
3 zombies, 1 normal skeleton wearing gargoyle cloaks
3 normal skeletons with weapons and armor
14 skeletons with armor, weapons, shield and 8 hp
17 animal skeletons
6 ghasts

He has nowhere to put the lacedons and frees them in a local river. He loves the gargoyle cloak from this adventure.

The ghasts and ghouls will join the Agarats in his complex, and they all look like ghouls. The gargoyles easily fit in future adventures, and as they die they are replaced by the cloak on another.

Now that Alzar has cleaned out the Temple and makes copies of the map for locals to ferry out the agents, the Temple of Elemental Evil is destroyed. He keeps the Orb as an artifact of significant power, for his own gain. The family of stone giants are free and head into the hills and mountains to start a new life. Darley goes her own way but Wassilon joins as a retainer and will help make Alzar’s place look nicer and more Svartálfar – ish at home while Alzar is away.

[Abe Sargent]

XP for the people:

Estaish – 115,596 (Level 7) – Now with 50 HP
Carum – 95191 (Level 7, 8 at 125k) – Now has 64 HP.
Alzar – 256,693 (Level 10, level 11 at 375k)
Wassilon – 11,000 fighter (level 4, level 5 at 16k)/11000 thief (Level 5, 6 at 16k)

Wassilon gains some thief abilities and 3 hp, which will be looked at later.


Alzar is now level ten. He gets 4 hp and is now 60.

5/5/4/3/3 – new 2nd level and 5th level spells.

In two levels he’ll be able to cast Level 6 spells and become very powerful.

[Abe Sargent]

List of Items from the Adventure:


Coins – 8168 ep, 31991 gp, 6601 cp, 6009 sp, 2283 pp

Potion of Healing, Potion of Speed, Water Breathing
Jeweled Dagger worth 250 gp
Four bolts of silk worth 100 gp each
Jeweled Necklace – 2400 gp
Topaz – 500 gp
Cloak of velvet trimmed with fur – 200 gp
9 +1 arrows
50 tiny pearls – 10 gp each
Large gold cup – 450 gp
3 onyx gems – 50 gp
Ivory statuette – 85 gp
Brooch with Carnelian Stone – 800 gp
Protection from Undead Scroll
Gold chain – 7000 gp
Ruby Ring – 4000 gp
Silver Chain – 125 gp
Silver Bracelet - 170 gp
6 Azurites – 10 gp each
Copper Belt – 35 gp
2 Agates – 100 and 500 gp
Javelin of Lightning x1
450 gp Jet Ring
Ring of Shooting Stars
Ivory and Gold Box – 350 gp
Potion of Speed
+1 mace
Jasper – 50 gpx9
Hematite – 10x28
Jet and Gold Brooch – 175
Silver Flask – 40 gp
10 sheets of parchment – 40 gp
Small Tome – 500 gp value to evil spellcaster detailing sacrifice of humans to earth elementals for various effects.
Stoppered Vial of Ruby Dust – 1000 gp
2 amber rods – 25 gp each
Small bottle of yellow sulfur – 40 gp
Tin Box of saffron – 500 gp
Tube of quicksilver – 100 gp
Vial of Ground Tourmaline – 500 gp
Flask of Lion’s Blood – 10 gp
550 gp Gold Ring
Bronze and Jet Ring – 50 gp
Tourmalines 100 gp x4
Feldspar Chunk - 50 gp
Bronze Maul, Knife, Bowl and Ewer inside – all detect as evil
Carnelian Ivory Bracelet – 500 gp
Bone Scroll Case – 100 gp
Scroll of Protection vs Earth Elementals
Potion of Diminution
Ring Mail +1
Gems – 100 gp x28
Ring of Protection +1
Wand of Paralyzation (38 charges)
Ring of Quick Action
Large Violet Garnet – 700 gp
Gold Fire Amulet – 100 gpx4
Potion of Poison
Tapestry with Gold and Silver Thread – 2000 gp
Robe of Deep Crimson set with Gold Fire Symbol and small rubies – 2500 gp
Sardonyx Copper Box – 150 gp
Rare herbs – 200 gp
Scroll of Protection from Devils
Red Silk Robe with Fire Symbols and many garnets – 3000 gp
Jeweled Ring – 500 gp
Tome – The Anatomy of the Harginn (The Fire Elemental Grue) worth 500 gp and tell how to summon, and what they do, etc.
+1 flametongue sword
+1 banded Armor
Gold Garnet Studded Chain - 750 gp
Gems x 19 – 10 gp each
18 sprigs of wolfsbane
+1 dagger
+1 short sword +3 vs lycanthropes and shapechangers
5 silver daggers
Scroll of Protection against Lycanthropes
Evil Items – Crystal knivesx2, Crystal Bowl - 250 gp for bowl, 1250 gp for each knife
2 giant crystal braziers each worth 10,000 gp.
Ring of Fire Resistance
Gold Fire Altar Decoration – 500 gp
Plate Mail +1
Four Gargoyle Cloaks on four zombies
Gold Ring with Tentacles in peridot – 750 gpx2
Malachite Dinner Service – 2000 gp as a set
Four texts on Elemental Water, Evil – 250 gp each
Green Pearl Ring – 570 gp
Rod of Smiting – 14 charges left
Robe of Green Velvet with Gold Trim and Gems and Creature of Ten Tentacles– 7150 gp
Iron Key with word D’Lyss on it.
Gold Ring with Peridot Bezel – 1000 gp
Ivory Tray – 50 gp
32 gold dishes – 1900 gp for the set
Seven Tomes on Secret Rituals of Water Evil of various sorts.
Coral Box – 100 gp
100 tiny seed pearls – 10 gp each
Aquamarine – 5000 gp
4 Cloaks of Air – 100 gp each
Gold Ring – 700 gp
+1 chain mail
Cloak of Protection +1
Dagger of Venom with one dose left
Ceremonial Robe of High Cleric of Air – 1500 gp
Scroll of Wizard Spells – Friends, Magic Missile, Knock, Mirror Image, Web, Slow, Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer
Gold Platter – 300 gp
Platinum Bracelet – 1000 gp
Four Opals – 1000 gp each
+2 shield
3 large sacks of fine garments – 500 gp each sack
Jet – 100 gp
Feldspar Necklace – 150 gp
Bag of Holding – Smaller – just 2000 coins worth
Silver Lamp – 120 gp
Fine Rug – 260 gp
Gold Cup, Ewer, Box – 675 as set
Jade and Silver Bracelet – 1700 gp
Zircons – 6x50gp
Bone Scroll case with one Wizard Spell – Pyrotechnics
Scroll of Protection from Elementals
5 Azurites, 6 Hematites and 7 Tiger Eyes each worth 10 gp
Box of Carved Ivory – 100 Gp
6 pieces of Incense of Meditation
Axe +1
Chain Mail +1
8 vials of holy water
Wand of Lightning – 28 charges
Pouch – 5 pieces of jewelry worth a total of 8200 gp
Alabaster Flask – 25 gp with rare perfume worth 1400 gp
6 gems worth 100 gp each
Two pieces of jewelry worth 500 gp each
Potion of Plant Control
Wizard Scroll – Spider Climb, Extension I, Levitate, Infravision
Flatbox
Silver Chain with Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere Sling Stone once/day created (4d6 damage)
Platinum Urn – 20,000 gp value
Gold Necklace – 1000 gp
Five Star Rubies – each worth 1000 gp
Bracers of Defense AC6
+1 short sword
Bloodstone Gold Ring – 50 gpx2
Electrum Amulet – 70 gp
8 silver plates – 200 gp total
Javelin +2
17 gems worth 10 gp each
Gold service with 2 flagons, 2 platters, plates, salt cellar – 1550 as set
Cinnebar Serving Set – 450 gp
2 Candelabra of Rose Gold 2250 gp each
Undead Turning Rod Immunity 10’ Radius
32 black pearls worth 500 gp each
Protection from Undead Scroll
Crystal Decanter – 200 gp
26 crystal goblets 50 gp each
+1 longbow
Elven Cloak
Elven Chainmail made for female
Periapt of Proof vs Poison +3
Scroll – Gust of Wind, Tongues, Polymorph Self, Remove Curse, Airy Water, Limited Wish
4 small Ivory carvings worth 3150 gp total
Small Pottery Flask – 1000 gp of quicksilver
2000 gp of Alchemical supplies
Enough magical ink for 7 scrolls to be written
Parchment and vellum necessary to do so
Ape teeth, basilisk scales, cockatrice feathers, elephant hide, fox dung, gorgon tongue, hydra blood
5 books on anatomy of various monsters
Treatise on the nature of a flesh golem (not its construction)
Wizard Scroll – Magic Mouth, Fly, Charm Monster, Polymorph Other
Platinum Ring with Diamond – 9000 gp
Silver Mace with many Gems – 12,500 gp
3000 gp in value of lab equipment
(There is a 1 in 12 chance from here on out that if Alzar needs a component for a spell or such, it is in these that take up half a Bag of Holding at 10000 coins heavy).

Idol – 1575 gp
Gold Neckchain – 2000 gp
Ring of Invisibility
Various weapons and armor
Gold Earrings – 800 gp for set
Jeweled Belt 3200 gp
Small case with vials of 5 different poisons
30 Bloodstone gems worth 50 gp each
Jewelry pieces worth 4000 gp total
Map of 3rd Level of Dungeon
Ancient Electrum Candle Holder – 1500 gp
3 wands with Nystul’s Magic Aura on each of them
Two Books of Magic (not spellbooks)
6000 gp of valuable spell components
Fire Opal and Star ruby – 1000 gp each
Topaz – 500 gp
Potions – Speed, ESP, Flying, Sweet Water
Ebony Fly
Ebony Statuette of Demoness Lloth – 6500 gp
Mirror of Mental Prowess
Jewelry – 5000 gp
Tourmaline – 500 gp
Boots of Levitation
Staff of Striking – 13 charges
Ring of the Grasshopper – Can leap five times higher and farther than normal
Bracers of Defense AC 3 – Which Alzar dons and now has an AC of 0/-2/-4 depending on circumstance.
Ring of Feather Falling
+2 warhammer
Ring of Free Action
Crystal Ewer and Cup – 250 gp each
3500 gp worth of religious artifacts like candlesticks and small figurines and idols.
Jewelry – 35000 gp worth
9 wooden eggs in a set, each bigger, - 900 gp for the set
4 unholy symbols of fine metals and gems – 1000 gp each
Black Sapphire – 5000 gp x6
Carnelian with Fire Trap on it that kills a normal skeleton with weapons and armor
4 Violet Garnets – 500 gp each
Emerald – 1000 gp
Candle of Invocation - LG
+3 sling Stone, permanent
Stone of Controlling Earth Elementals
Ruby -0 5000 gp
Tapestries and rugs worth 6600 GP
Miniature Red Dragon carved of Ruby – 7500
4 Scrimshaw Handle Knives – 100 gp each
Tourmaline – 500 gp
5000 gp Volcanic Gemstones in Volcanic rock
25 volumes on Battle tactics and strategies in various wars and sieges.
22300 in gems from a volume with a hollow center.
Four Silvery Furs – 4000 gp each
Platinum Pitcher – 500 gp
Bracers of Defense AC4
Daern’s Instant Fortress
Wand of Metal Command – 19 charges
Wand of Ice Storms – 42 charges
Candle of Invocation – CE – 3 hours remaining
Rope of Entanglement
21gems – 50 gp each
300 gp Gold Ring
6 gems worth 10 gp each
3 pieces of jewelry worth 2250 gp total
White dragon blood, skin, horns, teeth, scales.
Ring of Protection +2
Scroll of Protection from Traps
Potion of Super-Heroism
Plate Mail +1
Gems – 5 – average 100 each
Ivory Case – 1400 gp
Wand of Illumination – 44 charges
Four Topaz Gems – 500 gp each
Gold Bowl - 235 gp
Map of Temple Agents
50,000 gp Gold Throne
Wand of Fire – 72 charges
Rod of Smiting – 41 charges
Ring of Feather Falling
Ioun Stone – Incandescent Blue Sphere (+1 spell level)
Wizard Scroll – Maze, Death Spell, Monster Summoning I, Symbol of Discord and Disintegrate
8 Potions – Animal Control, Climbing, Flying, Healing, Invulnerability, Philter of Persuasiveness, Polymorph Self and Super Heroism
Portable Hole
Large Potion Case with 29 potions – can be checked afterwards
Cloak of Poisonousness
20,000 gp worth of spell components and rare items



5 spellbooks, secured for later magic dispelling and opening.
1 spellbook from another spellcaster


Orb of Golden Death with all four element stones

Magic Pile – Elven Chainmail, +3 crossbow bolt, +1 shield, +1 battle axe, +2 chain mail, Cleric Scroll – Animate Dead, Prayer; Cloak of Protection +1, 1 Potions of Healing, +2 dagger, Morning Star +1, 3 jars of Keoghtom’s Ointment, Ring of Protection +1, Cleric Scroll – Flame Strike, Dispel Magic, Tongues; +2 warhammer, Rope of Entanglements. Censer of Controlling Air Elementals; 2 Pots of Fire Resist, Cleric Scroll – Resist Fire, True Seeing, Neutralize Poison; Potion of Water breathing – 2 doses; Ring of Free Action; Cloak of the Manta Ray; Trident of Yearning; Cleric Scroll - Purify Food and Drink, Part Water, Flame Strike, Control Weather; +1 mace; +1 shortswordx2; +1 leather armor; Cloak of Protection +2; Potion of Invisibility; +2 spear cursed backbiter; Crossbow of Speed – missing string; Cloak of Poisonousness; Ring of Delusion; Pot of Red Dragon Control; +1 shield; Pot of Hill giant Strength; Cleric Scroll – Animate Dead, Raise Dead, Resurrection; +1 leather; +2 shield; Pot of Polymorphing; Treasure Finding; Healing, Diminution; Tome of Leadership and Influence; Vacuous Grimoire; +1 plate; +2 shield; Pots – Extra Healing, Speed, Healing, Growth; Ring of Protection +2; +3 plate armor; +3 shield; Rod of Smiting – 19 charges; Wand of Fear – 22 charges; Cleric Scroll – Dispel Magic, Silence, Slay Living, Cure Critical Wounds; Tome of Vile Darkness;


+3 Frostbrand, +6 vs Fire creatures – Lawful Good, Int 16, Ego 17, speaks Typic, Giant, Dragon, Salamander, Fire – Detect Evil, Magic, Shifting Walls, and Levitate.


Ally – Oohlgrist – Troll Chief – Ring of Fire Resistance, Necklace of Adaptation, Potion of Extra-Healing, Necklace of Gold and Rubies – 4750 gp, Ruby – 1000 gp, Jeweled Belt – 5250 gp, Bone Armor – AC 2, 1d4+5, 1d4+5, 2d6+2 each round, THAC0 15, regenerates 32 damage per round except for fire and acid damage

Chief of troll tribe with twenty other trolls

19 Bone Knit but not animated Ogre Skeletons; 4 ettins, 3 hill giants


5 spellbooks of Falrinth:

Level 1 – Read Magic, Detect Magic, Identify, Affect Normal Fires, Burning Hands, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Hold Portal, Dancing Lights, Enlarge, Jump, Message, Nystul’s Magic Aura, Push, Unseen Servant, Write, Ventriloquism

Level 2 – Continual Light, Darkness 15’ Radius, ESP, Fool’s Gold, Forget, Irritation, levitate, Mirror Image, Rope Trick, Tasha’s….Laughter, Wizard Lock

Level 3 – Clairaudience, Flame Arrow, Hold Person, Invisibility 10’ Radius, Lightning Bolt, Tongues, Water Breathing,

Level 4 – Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Dimension Door, Fire Trap, Extension I, Monster Summoning II, Wizard Eye

Level 5 – Contact Other Plane, Wall of Force


Senshock’s Spellbook:

1st - Read Magic, Detect magic, Charm Person, Feather Fall, Magic Missile, Unseen Servant, Sharpen
2nd – Web, Detect Invisibility, Tenser’s Hunting Hawk, Knock, Magic Mouth, Blastbones
3rd - Haste, Lighting Bolt, Fireball, Fly, Tongues, Dispel Magic
4th – Fire Trap, Polymorph Self, Thunder Lance, Charm Monster
5th – Wall of Stone, Conjure Earth Elemental, Teleport



Those won’t be unlockable for a while – Alzar wants to Dispel Magic them a lot.

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s talk about the unusual or different items acquired in this run. A Frostbrand sword grants Fire Resistance in addition to the normal powers, and can extinguish normal fires 50% of the time by being put in them and magical fires 10% of the time. This one is intelligent, or else it would be given to Estaish right now. It is too powerful and would dominate him.

The Ointment can be rubbed on skin, heals disease, poison and other conditions and a bit of health too. Alzar found one set each of female and male chainmail. It can be worn by someone and cast spells too, but it’s just a suit of armor, and Alzar has better armor from Bracers of Defense AC 3 he acquired on this go.

The flametongue sword is normally +1, but gets +2 vs regenerators, +3 vs cold, inflammable or avian creatures and +4 vs undead. It sheds light. The fire from it can be used to light torches and fires.

The Censer and Stone can summon 12 HD elemental the following round. They are friendly, and can be summoned once per week. That means Alzar can now summon elementals from the Orb, the Censer, Stone, Mud Ring and his own spells and rings if he chooses to so stock up. Plus he can summon demons from the Orb.

The Manta Ray cloak gives 90% chance wearer looks like manta ray underwater, and the ability to swim and breathe underwater like one. Gives an AC of 6. Tail spine can attack underwater for additional attack of 1d6 in addition to normal damage.

The two Cloaks of Poisonsousness will kill anyone who puts them on, no save. (A Periapt of Proof vs Poison will grant a save though). Trident of Yearning is a -2 cursed trident that forces its user to go into water, and then likely drawn unless he has protection. A Ring of Delusion pretends to be another ring and then provides no info. This one pretends to be a Ring of X-Ray Vision and acts as such for ten minutes or so before proving no info, but the wearer believes they are still getting info and make it up. Unlike most cursed items, it can be taken off at any time. The Vacuous Grimoire – when read will force two saves to permanently reduce Wisdom and Intelligence.

The Crossbow of Speed, when repaired, will be +1 to attack and damage, and then fires twice a round.

The Book of Vile Darkness can only be read by and used by a cleric, and the other Tome will bump Alzar’s Charisma when he reads it, and then disappear.

The Ioun Stone orbits a person’s head and gives them a bonus until taken down. It can be grabbed or netted by others, and thus has some vulnerability. This one will increase Alzar’s spell level by one for the purpose of casting spells. So, when he casts Animate Dead, instead of animating 10 level one skeletons, he can raise 11, the maidens will stay an extra three minutes, etc.

The Portable Hole and Flatbox are other ways of reducing weight just like a Bag of Holding. A Portable Hole is a hole that is made of cloth and can be pushed against a surface in order to access the contents. The hole is 10 feet deep and 6 feet wide. Anything that can fit in to this giant space can be taken with the Hole, and has no weight, no bumping, etc. A Flatbox is a wooden box 3 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2 inches deep. However, when opened the interior of the box is filled with darkness, and cannot be dispelled. It is actually 6 feet deep, and can have a maximum of 500 pounds put into the space, but because of the size, and the darkness, it cannot be accessed in combat or quickly. A Bag of Holding will sends the items needed to the hand as soon as it enters, making it very fast, but a Flatbox will not, and it can take a bit of searching in it to find what is held here. It’s great for transporting treasures back that are needed for a while.

The Rope of Entanglements will, on command, jump forward and entanglement up to 8 normal size creatures or one ogre sized one. The magical rope cannot be broken by pulling or fire. It has to be cut at AC -2 and takes 22 damage and the entangled cannot be so cut. Lesser damaged is repaired in an hour by the rope.

Daern’s Instant Fortress is quite unique. This is a small metal cube. When commanded, it grows to form a tower that is 20’ square and 30’ tall. There are arrow slits on each side, and battlements on top. The metal walls extend 10’ into the ground. It has a small door that will only open to Alzar’s command – not even Knock will work. The walls are adamantite, and thus are immune to things like weapons, fire, and even ballistas. It can absorb 200 points of damage before being broken through. Damage is cumulative and does not automatically repair any damage. It springs up in one round and anyone caught by its sudden growth takes 10d10 damage.

Cool huh? That gives him automatic safety every night, but at a loss of inconspicuousness.

Wand of Metal Command will spend a charge to transmute lead to gold, and 2 charges to Heat Metal like the spell and 3 to Glassee or Glassteel or Crystalbritte as an 18th level mage.

The Mirror of Mental Prowess allows Alzar to telepathically read the thoughts of those whose image is reflected in it, Scry like a Crystal Ball with Clairaudience, answers a question once a week about a creature being shown in the mirror and can act as a portal once a month to walk into the scene being scryed. Because it shows who is being scryed, that means Alzar gets telepathy and clairaudience against people. It is too large to take with his adventures and needs to be left in his home place.

The Ring of Shooting Stars is a nice find. It can operate at night, and underground. At night, under the open sky, it can Dancing Lights once/hour, Light 2/night, Lightning Ball 1/night, Shooting Stars 1/week. The Ball Lightning releases a ball that does 4d12 damage in a 5’ sphere. The Shooting Stars are an electrical variant of Meteor Swarm, and fire off 12 damage impact and 24 damage electrical, and it fires off three of them. The Underground variant uses Faerie Fire 2/day and Spark Shower 1/day. The spark shower fans out and does 2d8 damage to those in a 45 degree arc in front and out to 20 feet and 4d8 to those in metal armor.

Lots of powers with that ring.

So, a ton of tools from this adventure.

Alzar gives all of the EP, CP and SP from this adventure to Wassilon, the men-at-arms and orcs and Carum and Estaish for 1k gp each. They will be getting magic items soon as he divvies them up, as part of their take.

[Abe Sargent]

With the adventure over, Alzar and the crew head back to his lair, to widen it. He will spend some time, now that he is level 10, using the Manual of Golems to make a Flesh Golem. He swings by Fort Amber, and while there, comes across Vala Goldspire, a young magically oriented woman who was specifically seeking Alzar out after encountering his book. She becomes the first of his apprentices.

The items are purchased, and Alzar heads back. He spends a month with the Manual and uses the Embalm spell to make the body parts better and healthier – which will give him a more powerful golem. At the end, he has created:


Bokus, Flesh Golem

AC 4
HP 48
THAC0 11
Damage 2d8/2d8

Bokus was affected by an Embalm spell and is stronger, and in better condition, than many flesh golems. He is wearing small amounts of armor plating sewn into his skin to improve his AC as much as possible. Bokus is immune to normal weapons, and most magical damage. Lightning restores its life, and fire and cold merely slow it. Bokus is not subject to the normal break free chance because he was made from a Manual of Golems.


Bokus will accompany Alzar on his journeys. The Ring of Shooting Stars make so much electricity that he should be easy to heal, and a Wand of Lightning Bolts can help.

[hoopsguy]

If you were able to roll through "Temple of Elemental Evil" that easily then I'm not sure how many modules are out there that will threaten Alzar the Mighty.

[Abe Sargent]

They are out there. There are rooms in the giant series where you are fighting against 10, 20 or 30 giants at a time. That's pretty rough. I think Alzar can easily handle any I or X module at this point - those are the ones normally meant for people in the high single digits.

So modules like Desert of Desolation, Ravenloft, and such would be easily to handle at this point. One of the things I did in this module was to make sure the humanoids fought in groups. Whenever they fought, if there were other humanoids anywhere nearby, they went and gathered the group to assault Alzar, even if the module didn;t call for it, and that's didn;t even crack him. Carum almost died from the Juggernaut though - that was a 6d10 attack and it could have killed him. But I don;t think that would slow down Alzar much at this point. Now, let's add the Ebony Fly, let's add the Flesh Golem, let's add the ability to summon 7 elementals an adventure from items, and four demons - even minor, let's add the undead and etc.

Alzar is learning tricks. Haste on elemental and undead and golems? Very powerful and without the normal disadvantage of the Haste spell.

What Alzar actually does for the next few levels in my original creation of him is to stay at home and study, animate dead, grab the occasional ally, research spells, make constructs, summon demons, train apprentices, and occasionally sally forth to handle nearby dungeons, no matter how small or big, to gain their treasures. After a while, he will entrust his apprentices to do so for him.

He will use a variety of spells to find powerful magic items, books on specific topics and rare spellbooks, and then send forth parties to sally out and father what is needed for spells, construct creation, etc.

He creates a powerful network of magic users and sages and death priests and they use each other for information, spell trading, and such.

He creates a permanent alliance with the Temple of Melqart to station a death priest with him permanently to research and provide tasks for him.

So,m by the time he hits level 15, in my original version, he has devils and a daemon, multiple constructs, apprentices, a tribe of several hundred orcs, a blue dragon, multiple packs of ghouls and shadows, hundreds of skeletons and zombies, giant skeletons, crypt things, a spectator, and more. With his spells, he has many magical traps throughout his complex - such as the watery double, blastbones, skulltrap and such that has already been seen. His books are protected with things like Sepia Snake Sigil and Xult's Magic Doom, and he has a few hidden Fire Traps and Explosive Runes in places where they do not damage the rest of his stuff. He even has a secret room hidden away from everybody else with no entrances at all and not adjacent to anything, just hidden in the rock, and the only entrance is two passwall spells at the right place. That has duplicates of the right spellbooks and tons of portable jewelry and a few magic items of high value as an emergency cache in case his lair is invaded and taken over.

The point is to use his allies to clean out every lair, tower, ruin, cave, cavern, keep, castle, and so forth that has stuff and bring it back, and simultaneous make his area more and more safe. Adventurers aren;t going to go running around an area if there is nothing there for them to find. He has several early warnings like the crypts on top of his hill and numerous caves he makes with packs of shadows and ghouls and the orcs, as early tripwires.

But now, add a pack of trolls, add the control of many elementals, and so forth, add the mummy Taurian, and more, and then add the things he gets in the next few levels and suddenly he becomes that much more powerful.

[Travis]

More, more, more! ;)

[Abe Sargent]

I gotta feeling it;s the end for Alzar and the dynasty. Not sure though, because last night I read A Mighty Fortress again in the bathtub, so I haven;t necessarily put away all of the D&D stuff, but I haven;t been in a mood to play D&D like I was before. At least not now or yet, but I haven;t entered the next obsession either.

[Travis]

What about a fast forward to a higher level Alzar? Jump him ahead to level 18+ and have an epic encounter or two?

[Ragone]

Reading this makes me really miss my old school d&ding with buddies.. they all moved away and really don't feel welcome at the local comic/gaming shop in kc(mostly young kids now)

would really love to find a forum game or somesuch

[Abe Sargent]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[Marc Vaughan]

Reading this makes me really miss my old school d&ding with buddies.. they all moved away and really don't feel welcome at the local comic/gaming shop in kc(mostly young kids now)

would really love to find a forum game or somesuch

+1

[CrimsonFox]

Wow this is awesomely awesome! I've never seen anyone do this, but it's perfect. Love oldschool dungeondelving!

[CrimsonFox]

It's WHITE PLUME MOUNTAIN time!

[Abe Sargent]

Spells Alzar has created in the last five years:


Alzar's Bookmend (Alteration)

Level 2
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: VSM
Duration: Permanent
Target: 1 touched book


This spell takes the pieces of a damaged book and reconstitutes it. The new version is completely restored. It cannot restore a magic book or spellbook. In order to restore a book, you must have more than 50% of the original book, and a blank book which is consumed in the process worth 20 gold.



Alzar's Scrollmend (Alteration)

Level 4
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: VSM
Duration: Permanent
Target: 1 touched scroll


This spell takes the pieces of a damaged scroll and reconstitutes it. The new version is completely restored. In order to restore a scroll, you must have more than 50% of the original, and a blank scroll magically enhanced and ready to go, which is consumed in the process worth 100 gold.


Alzar's Spellbookmend (Alteration)

Level 6
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: VSM
Duration: Permanent
Target: 1 touched spellbook


This spell takes the pieces of a damaged spellbook and reconstitutes it. The new version is completely restored. In order to restore a spellbook, you must have more than 50% of the original, and a blank spellbook ready to go, which is consumed in the process worth 5000 gold.



Alzar’s Golem Heal (Alteration)

Level: 6
Casting Time: 1 rnd
Components: VSM
Duration: Permanent
Target: One construct

This spell can target any construct that the caster controls. The spell mends the construct, a process which is much easier than healing a wound as a priest. The caster may only target those constructs that he created himself, because he knows them intimately. The construct is healed of 50% of its maximum hit points immediately. The material component for this spell is a handful of raw material identical to the material used in the construction of the construct. For example, when going to heal an Iron Golem, a handful of iron ore or ingots must be used.

Alzar typically does not keep this spell memorized, but it is available for emergencies on a scroll in his library, and he can memorize it as needed.






Alzar’s Axethrow (Alteration, Artifice)

Level: 3
Casting Time: 3
Components: VSM
Duration: 1 round/level
Target: One Axe, held


For the duration of combat, Alzar’s Axethrow turns a normal axe Alzar has in his hand into a +2 axe. In addition, the axe gains the ability to be thrown at a target, no matter its weight, at a distance of 100 yards. If thrown, the axe will grow in size. The caster must make a roll to hit. If the axe hits, it will embed itself in the target and deal the level of the caster divided by four rounded up d6 damage. (So, level 1-4: 1d6, 5-8: 2d6, 9-12: 3d6, 13-16: 4d6, etc). Once the axe hits its target, the spell ends. If it misses, the axe returns to the caster’s hand at the end of the next round, and can continue to be used in combat or thrown for another try. This spell only works on non-magical axes, and only on axes. The material component of this spell is a lodestone, consumed by the spell.

Alzar uses this on a non magical axe when he loses his axe, or near the beginning of combat from behind enemy lines.

[Abe Sargent]

During these past five years, Alzar has expanded his lair and his retinue. He has created the above spells, made constructs, studied, and trained his apprentice, who is a quick study. He has rarely ventured out, using the time to expand his powerbase and his knowledge. But now, something has happened...

[Abe Sargent]

While on the Isle of Dread, Alzar discovered three weapons of massive power and ego. The first was a trident called Wave which overpowered most users and served the goddess Tangaroa.

The second was a night black blade with the stars of death twinkling among them. Specially enchanted to absorb souls, this weapon, Blackrazor, has a powerful intelligence that overwrites the wielder's will with its own.

The final of the weapons discovered in White Plume Mountain on the Isle was a powerful hammer. It was called Whelm. It was especially designed for Dvergr to fight against giants, trow, and goblins and was particularly powerful in that direction. It would consume its user in a frenzy to hunt down and find the enemies it was designed to destroy.


One day, much like any other day, Alzar arrived at his secret treasury to deposit some scrolls, only to discover that Whelm was no longer on its rack.


The hammer, Whelm, has disappeared!

[Travis]

Oh my, can it really be...

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar begins to search for the missing item - which is a powerful weapon that he wants returned. Some lists include Whelm as an artifact, but Alzar knows its full powers and it’s just really powerful. It’s one of the most powerful items he has, even if none of his minions can wield it. Alzar does not let go of power easily.

He moves to his Library and pulls some of his personal spellbooks. Divination spells are the order of today. After spending half of the day with his magic, he has located the hammer more than 100 miles away. He focuses a Crystal Ball on the location and spies the new owner. A young female Dvergr has the Hammer in her hand and is approaching a Hill Giant fort.

The female challenges the giants, and out come four to attack her. She acquits herself well and slays one. However, the other three manage to blast her before she can turn the Hammer onto them. Her beaten corpse is left where it lies on the ground, and they collect the Hammer and return.

Alzar prepares himself and casts Teleport to the location he sees in the Ball. He then immediately draws and sheathes the Sword of Lyons, turning invisible and unseen to the Giants in their halls. He grabs the corpse of the female Dvergr and pulls it over a hill. He casts Speak with Dead and begins to communicate with her.

Her name was Tavisht, and she was the daughter of a small tribe of nearby Dvergr. She returned from a hunting expedition to find that her entire family has been killed by the local Hill Giants. She swore vengeance on the giants, and a local spirit of the hills arrived and granted her any wish she desired. She asked only for the tool to slay the giants that had slain her family, and Whelm had arrived in her hand. Feeling the power course through it, she moved to the fort, but found, not vengeance, but death.

Alzar lets her go, and casts Teleport to return home. He has much planning to do.

[Abe Sargent]

G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief


http://www.tsrinfo.net/archive/dd1/g1.jpg


Voted part of the #1 Adventure of all time for the games 30th anniversary along with the seven modules in the G-D-Q series, this was published in the late 70s. It is a module that makes sense. The dungeon has a theme and is built around it. Rather than random encounters designed to test a party, this was one of the first modules with a basic concept. And yes, I have the original version of the Giant modules that we will be using.

[thehitcat]

I am thrilled that Alzar is back!

Thanks Abe!

[Tellistto]

Excellent to see Alzar back, Abe.

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

Who says he's back?


:)

[Autumn]

Reading this makes me really miss my old school d&ding with buddies.. they all moved away and really don't feel welcome at the local comic/gaming shop in kc(mostly young kids now)

would really love to find a forum game or somesuch

A lot of people are playing on G+ now. You can do video games. Of course there's forum gaming and such too, but it seems the G+ stuff is hot, you can get right into a pickup game.

I played for years on IRC when I didn't ahve a group and had a great time.

[Poli]

Just saw this thread.

How cool!

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar hasn’t been on a long adventure since he took out the Temple of Elemental.Evil five years prior. Sur,e there have been some short range missions to destroy or investigate nearby his enclave, but he has really been focused in. He tries to decide who to bring with him and here is his full roster of allies and minions, as of today, which includes new folks gained in the last five years:


Constructs:

Coils
Fangs
#9 Flesh Golem
Bokus, Flesh Golem
Megala, Alzar’s Homunculous


Coils is an Iron Cobra that he made from the dead one he found while adventuring. He took it apart and figured out how it worked, and built a new one. He then moved to a Necrophidus, a snake-like skeletal construct. Both guard his fake treasury. He has a treasury with almost 30,000 gold worth of coins, gems, and a few minor magic items. It is designed to entire people into beleivng that is the real treasury, when he real one isn’t even in the complex at all. Guarding the passageway is Coils and Fangs.


Summoned Creatures:

Eyes, a Spectator Beholder-kin Alzar summoned and agreed to guard his fake treasury for 101 years two years ago.

Dryshik, his Mephit Familiar

Hathast, Vala’s Quasit familiar


Undead:

Taurian Mummy
Agarats, Tapi, Ghouls, Ghasts
Numerous Skeletons, Zombies, Animal Skeletons
Pack of Shadows


4 Gargoyle Cloaks to turn people in Gargoyles sorta


Current People Minions:

Wassilon
Svartálfar
Level 4/5 Fighter/Thief
Neutral
Str 17 - +1,+1 in combat
Dex 17 - -3 AC in combat
Con 16 - +2 hp per level
Int 12
Wis 9
Cha 10
HP 26
XP - 11,000
Thief skills – 45 PP, 37 O Locks, 35 Find/Remove Traps, 33 Move Silently, 25 Hide, 15 Hear Noise, 88 Climb Walls, 20 Read Languages

Handed chain mail and long sword and shield. AC is now 1, deals 1d8 damage in combat.


Estaish

Carum

Vala Goldspire, 5th level Pathmage Apprentice



Ally People:

Aleigha

Maerie

Darley


Other:



His Ebony Fly which can be a steed, Zadaxx



More than 20 Orcs and humans in a nerby watchtower that work for him

[Abe Sargent]

He decides to bring the following with him:



Bokus

Carum
Estaish
Wassilon


Ebony Fly


10 Skeletons
4 Zombies with Gargoyle Cloaks

10 Animal Skeletons

Dryshik
Megala


Vala will stay home and tend the place while he and his are away. Wassilon is brought along in case a thief is necessary.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar


7th level Fighter (Myrmidon), 10th level Path Mage (Fivefold Mage)

Lawful Evil
Human

Str: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 10
Wis: 15
Int: 19
Cha: 17

Hit Points: 57
THACO: 14
AC: 0 (Bracers, Cloak, Boots) Gets +2 when fighting with one handed weapon
Total XP: 285,000
Age 48, Body - 34

Race Abilities:

None Taken

Class Abilities (Cannot use as Necromancer without losing XP gain):

Specialization
Leadership (Alzar can command the tactics, strategy, logistics and more that a large force requires)
3 attacks every 2 rounds


Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

Myrmidon Bonus:

Tactical History 14
Fire-Building 16

Riding 11
Swimming 12
Reading/Writing 13
Survival 14
Blind Fighting
Etiquette 13
Endurance
Heraldry 13
Hunting 10
Fishing 14
Weather Knowledge 10
Orienteering 15

As a Necromancer/Fivefold Mage

Necrology 14
Netherworld Knowledge 10
Herbalism 14
Alchemy 12
Poison Use 11
Ancient Languages 10
Spellcraft 12
Ancient History - 14


Languages – Typic, Sis’sharr


Traits:

Empathy
Fast Healer
Precise Memory


Weapon Proficiencies:

Bonus Kit Specialization:

Battle Axe

Battle Axe
One Handed Weapon Style x2 (-2 AC when using one weapon in combat)
Crossbow
Battle Axe Weapon Mastery
Spear

Total with normal battle axe - +3 to hit, +3 to damage, -2 to AC. An additional +1 with the axe and +1 damage for strength


Staff – Can only use this as a Necromancer, +1


Class Ability:

1). Alzar can control undead as an evil Priest of the same level, and this ability extends to extra planar beings which are considered undead with the same hit dice for this purpose.
2). One Extra Spell/Level is Gained, must be Path.
3). Fivefold Mages reduce the spell level by one when researching spells in The Path.
4). Chance to Learn spell in The Path increased by +15%
5). Saving Throw of Targets when targeted by spells from The Path at -1.
6). No more than one spell per level can be from the group: Abjuration, Alteration, Alchemy and Geometry barring a highly unusual and temporary circumstance.
7). Fivefold Mage must invest a focus item as the method through which magic is cast. (Alzar’s Father’s Ring)
8). Must have a lab and library and workbench with 1,000 gp value per level, and an upkeep of 50 gp/level/month
9). They can store spells like an Artificer, but cannot begin to do so until level 6
10). Fivefold Mages have a chance to identify a magical item by spending a turn peering at it closely and examining it - chance is their level times 5.
11). Fivefold Mages never suffer from a negative reaction penalty due to controlling or animating undead.


Stalked by a Death Servant, who merges with his shadow. If he ever is about to take a fatal blow, the Death Servant will jump out, take the blow instead, and Alzar will be fully healed.

Immune to starvation

Can cast ESP once/week

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar’s Spell Books:

5/5/4/3/3


First Level:

Alarm
Alzar’s Undead Porter
Armor
Animate Dead Animals *
Cantrip
Charm Person *
Conjure Spell Component
Detect Magic
Enlarge
Friends
Identify
Hypnotism *
Locate Remains
Mount
Protection from Good
Protective Amulet
Read Languages
Read Magic
Sleep * *
Spoil Holy Water
Unseen Servant
Wizard Mark



Second Level:

Alzar’s Axethrow
Alzar’s Bookmend
Alzar’s Familiar
Attract Ghoul
Blastbones *
Choke
Continual Light
Embalm
Empathic Control *
ESP
Forget
Knock
Leomund’s Trap
Locate Object
Ray of Enfeeblement *
Ray of Ondovir *
Speak with Dead
Tasha’s Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter
Undead Mount
Vocalize
Wall of Gloom
Wizard Lock



Third Level:

Bone Knit
Curse Tablet
Dire Charm *
Dispel Magic
Fly
Haste *
Proof Against Teleportation
Protection from Good 10’ Radius
Searing Serpent
Sepia Snake Sigil
Slumber
Skulltrap *
Suggestion
Undead Summoning I
Vampiric Touch *
Watery Double


Fourth Level:

Alzar’s Quest
Alzar’s Scrollmend
Alzar’s Undead Expertise
Bestow Curse
Charm Monster *
Contagion
Dimension Door
Disfigure
Evard’s Black Tentacles *
Greater Malison
Magic Mirror
Minor Globe of Invulnerability
Mordenkainen’s Faithful Phantom Shield-Maidens *
Putrefaction
Ray of Oblivion
Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer
Remove Curse
Special Effects
Vorthala’s Undead Turning Immunity



Fifth Level:


Animate Dead
Conjure Earth Elemental *
Contact Other Plane
Deathmaster’s Vial
Domination **
Magic Jar
Teleport
Transmute Rock to Mud
Vile Venom
Xult’s Magical Doom



Sixth Level:
Alzar’s Golem Heal
Alzar’s Spellbookmend
Curse of Lycanthropy
Enchant an Item
Ensnarement
Geas
Invisible Stalker
Legend Lore
Seizure
Spell Mirror
Stone to Flesh
Transmute Bone to Steel



Alzar has gained some new spells such as Remove Curse, Contact Other Plane, Slumber, Magic Mirror and a few others. Asterisks represent those memorized.

He has read and uses the Tome of Leadership and Influence and gained +1 charisma

Alzar gained the Ancient History proficiency

[Abe Sargent]

Before embarking, Alzar uses several divination spells and his Crystal Ball to spy on the steading. It appears to be a normal wooden enclosure with no windows.

The Magic Items Alzar has equipped


Cloak of Displacement -2 AC
Bracers of Defense AC3
Boots of Striding and Springing -1 AC and can leap far
Belt of Flying with three gems giving CHA18 to LE, regen 1 hp/turn and immunity to Charm/Suggestion spells
Robe of Useful Items
Ring of Free Action
Ring of Sustenance normally but switches in dungeons to what is needed at the time
Gauntlets of Ogre Strength – Strength becomes 18/00
Bracelet of Swimming
Necklace of Adaptation
Amulet vs ESP and Crystal Balls
Periapt of Health
Periapt Against Poison +2 save vs poison
Gingwatzim Amulet – +1 to saves
Ioun Stone – Incandescent Blue Sphere (+1 spell level)


5 Bags of Holding.
+2 Cursed Battle Axe with curse removed
Sword of Lyons on Right Thigh
Alicorn inside breeches, strapped to left thigh - +7 save vs poison
Several +2 daggers on bandolier
Wand of Magic Missiles with 28 charges, Frost, and Lightning Bolts on bandolier on chest, as well as the Paralyzation one with two charges and Rod of Terror.
Gem of Seeing, Ear Ring, and Monocle of Read Magic are kept handy on belt, in secure containers for each.
Several important potions are in metal vials on belt – such as Extra Healing and Gaseous Form. There is a leather brace on the arm with the Ring of Sustenance that has the following rings available to pull off quickly – Mud Ring, Warmth, Fire Resist, Spell Turning, Spell Storing Rings, Seeing and Human Control.

Most importantly, Alzar has the Orb of Golden Death strapped over his shoulder. It:

Travel to, and survive comfortably in each of the four elemental planes.
Can Wind Walk, Earthquake, Flame Strike and Wall of Ice once per week each
Can Conjure 8 hd elemental with max HP (64) once each week per type.
Summon and control a demon Type I, II, III and Babau three times per day per type, but not more than once total per hour.

That’s in addition to Know Alignment, Detect Lie and Poison automatically.

His Axe also:

Battle Axe - +2, -2 vs Chaotic Evil (so it’s neutral against CE). It is cursed, but that was removed. It has permanent scrolls in the haft, and the command words are in the ancient language, which he can now read. Three times a day he can activate each of these – Push, Passwall, Burning Hands.



Alzar’s AC is 0 without Axe, -2 with it, and -4 with Mordenkainen’s spell in play.


He has a Bag of Holding with all major items handy, including Censer of Controlling Air Elementals, Stone of Controlling Earth Elementals, Rope of Entanglement, Daern’s Instant Fortress, a full slate of scrolls, extra potions, and more.

Because he’s traveling, a second Bag has all of his spellbooks, as well as those he has found in his adventurers.

His Spell Storing Rings:

Ring of Spell Storing – Detect Magic, Sleep, Ray of Ondovir (1,1,2)
Ring of Spell Storing with these spells – (5, 3, 3, 3, 1) Conjure Earth Elemental, Searing Serpent,
Skulltrap, Dispel Magic, Sleep
Ring of… 1, 2, 3 and 3 Spell Storing – Charm Person, Locate Object, Fly, Fireball


He also has temporary spells:

Level 1 - Spoil Holy Water
Level 2 – Knock
Level 3 – Vampiric Touch
Level 4 - Minor Globe of Invulnerability
Level 5 – Teleport


Which he can use in an emergency


Protective Amulets allow a save made if they fail one and are destroyed


Level 2 – Forget
Level 5 – Domination

[Abe Sargent]

Three days later, Alzar and his retinue take off for the Steading. He is traveling with his wagon of workshop and lab, another of undead and a golem, and a third for him and the people.


It takes five days to arrive at the Steading, and Alzar finds the place as expected. He continued to spur on it as he voyaged closer. There were some minor raids by the giants, but nothing major. He has the group berth at a large cave that is about 6 miles away from the steading. He slays the bears in here easily and they have a nice berth to keep the wagons in while he moves out to investigate the hill giants.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar will be taking extra people with him, because I want to slow him down a bit. Frankly, I think he could do a good job at soloing the adventure. But the XP would be incredible. One Hill Giant is 3000 XP. If he slays 30 over the course of the adventure, that's 90k right there. Add in all of the other creatures, and he could easily wind up with 200k for the adventure. That's waaaaaaay too much XP for him. Then add the XP for soloing the next two, and you could have him at level 15 or 16 by the time this is all done. Instead, he'll take along people as protection, because Alzar doesn;lt believe in overkill, and thus we slow his development

[Abe Sargent]

He saw some visitors arrive while he was spying, but no new ones seemed to leave. There should be some Hill Giants in there plus. There are no guards posted outside the wooden fortress and the road goes up to a large set of double doors that is roughly four times Alzar’s height. With a lot of room to move into, Alzar sends Megala and Dryshik to fly around. There are two doors in the back, both closed. There are also ten chimneys. A tower overlooks the door, and there appears to be a dozing hill giant in there, but they can’t see in further.

Alzar wants to enter the keep without causing a major alarm if he doesn’t have too. The Gem of Seeing reveals nothing, and the Ear Ring at the door also is silent, save for snoring which could be the giant upstairs or something else. Opening the door this big will awaken anybody around.

Wassilon tries to move silently but fails. There is no sound of anyone noticing. Alzar grabs a Broom of Flying from the Bag and flies up, and sees that he can just squeeze into the space in the watchtower. He fits through, draws his battle axe, aims for the neck of the giant, and…

He hits it for 32 damage, which slays it.

[Abe Sargent]

He then tosses the broom down to Estaish and Carum and Wassilon who all come up.

Downstairs are two sleeping giants in front of the door. They are dispatched by the foursome, and the door is opened and the rest arrive.


Items Found:

Gold and gem belt buckle, 1400 gp

Hill Giants Slain – 3


This room has a lot of cloaks and coats and furs on pegs and hanging. Here are a few weapons, bags and sacks here. In the center of the fall wall from the watchtower is another giant pair of double doors, and then doors half as large flanking in and far to the sides. The Ear Ring reveals loud sounds from behind the double doors. A bit of listening reveals there to be dozens of voices inside. Alzar is very tempted to summon a pair of elementals off the Stone and Censer, and bust down the door and hit whatever is behind here. He needs info first, so he takes the…right door (random)

[Abe Sargent]

This room has a lot of cloaks and coats and furs on pegs and hanging. Here are a few weapons, bags and sacks here. In the center of the fall wall from the watchtower is another giant pair of double doors, and then doors half as large flanking in and far to the sides. The Ear Ring reveals loud sounds from behind the double doors. A bit of listening reveals there to be dozens of voices inside. Alzar is very tempted to summon a pair of elementals off the Stone and Censer, and bust down the door and hit whatever is behind here. He needs info first, so he takes the…right door (random)

There is a corridor some forty feet in length that Ts. On the left side, 30 feet down is a large door. Opening it reveals the room of a giant who is out, but a sleeping giantess on the bed. They slay her instantly, and search later


980 cp
320 cp
1500 gp
Silver Combo with Gems -300 gold
Copper Mirror – 200 gp
Gold Hair Pin with a Pearl – 800 gp

Hill Giants Slain – 4

[Abe Sargent]

They head back and look down both possibilities. Left goes thirty feet and then turns right. Right goes 60 feet, there is a door on the faaaar right and it turns left. They head right and find a long corridor of roughly 80 feet with a door at the end and two on the left. They open the door and find the barracks. Snoring in rhythm arrives. Wassilon manages to sneak around while the flyers enter and two giants are sleeping. They are dispatched without an alarm and they keep going.

110 pp
Hill Giants Slain – 6


The first door on the left opens into a room that is about 80 feet long and ends at another door. The door opens into a dorm with a dozen smaller, young giants play fighting and wrestling. They move towards the door and Alzar opens it up. Battle begins.

They fight like ogres, and will give XP like them as well

Alzar orders the Gargoyle en-Cloaked Zombies in first as shock troops, and then behind them move Carum, Estaish, Wassilon, Bokus. Megala and Dryshik fly up out of range, and the weak skeletons and animal skeletons are kept back.

Alzar’s Sleep spell drops three before battle begins. The gargoyles and the young giants clash and the gargoyles don’t take any damage due to immunity to normal weapons – which makes them great shock troops. The younglings waste their first round hacking at the gargies, which one is put down by Carum and another by a gargoyle. 7 left

The gargoyles continue to dice into them, and this round, only one moves away and attacks Estaish, but misses. He shouts to everyone else to move targets, and next round they will. One more is slain by a gargoyle, as Alzar moves up with his axe.

He wins init and his axe cleaves one dead. 5 left. One attacks hi and would hit save for his Cloak – misses first attack that would hit. Two more die to Wassilon and a Gargoyle. Meanwhile, they attack back and miss. The next round they are finished.



Young Hill Giants Slain - 12
Used: Sleep Spell

Searches later find no treasure of note in the children’s room

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar spends a few minutes checking, while Invisible from the Sword of Lyons, to ensure that no one heard the noise. It was quite loud, but perhaps the children playing is just normal for them. The other door opens into the corridor that was at the other end of the initial T, and there are no other doors in that corridor. Now that he has a Gem of Seeing, Alzar does a basic sweep of all rooms and corridors, and he discovers a secret door in this corridor. It opens in the same direction at the large double doors from before, and his Ear Ring shows the same sounds back here. They return to the corridor with two doors remaining, one of the left and one in front of them when it ends.

The door on the left opens into what is likely a maid’s chamber. Four giantesses are here, one of which is older and barks orders to the other three, and they all move to attack.

Gargoyles fly up and meet them. Killing the unarmored giantesses is easy, and nothing else is even needed.

3000 gp
4 potions (Extra Healing, Healing, Poison, Hill Giant Control)
3 bracelets worth 4000 gp each

Using his ability to ID items based on his knowing of crafting them, he has a 50% chance of IDing anything. He checks out the potions, and can only suss out one. It’s an Extra Healing potion, which is nice and he pockets int. The rest are taken into a bag of Holding for later. I mention what they are now in italics so you will know them.

[Abe Sargent]

They leave the room and head to the door at the end of the hallway. This opens into a giant hall. There is a corridor twenty feet across heading left and it ends at another pair of huge double doors sixty feet later. Down a twenty feet corridors in front of him is another double doors 80 feet away, and the corridors appears to bend. To the right the place opens into a large hal and a smaller set of double doors Megala checks it, and it’s vacant, but there is another door ot the rear of the hall. It has trophies, a large fireplace, tables ,chairs, furs, shields on the wall and more. There are no occupants. A Gem of Seeing check finds a magic shield on the wall, and a quick check shows it to be a +3 one.


+3 shield
Feldspar Statuette – 2000 gp

They go to the door at the rear of the chamber, because it’s on the same wall as the one they entered, and thus likely doesn’t have anything behind it. This is a large 40x50 room in the corner of the building, with another fireplace. It appears to be a nice bedroom for this building, and inside is a pet cave bear, that roars and attacks. Alzar jumps in front with his axe out. He kills it before it can even hit him.

Later they will find, in a pouch in the room:

Gems worth 5000, 3x 1000, 4x 500, 8x 100, 5x 50, 8x 10 gp


Slain – 1 cave bear, 10 Hill Giants, 12 Younglings

[Abe Sargent]

They grab the smaller set of double doors in this area and they open into an even better and bigger bedroom. There is nothing of value here, but the Gem of Seeing finds a secret door into the corridor that goes forward from the enters they opened. They move to that corridors now and head up.

They are now at the smaller set of double doors. To the left the 20’ corridor continues and ends 40’ into another set of smaller double doors. The Ear Ring reveals barking beyond the door they are at. Alzar decides to continue down the corridor instead of taking these doors. So far, they’ve not been discovered.

There are no noises and the doors open to reveal a smaller dining room with space for about ten giants comfortably. There is another door in here, and the Gem reveals a secret door as well. Inside the first door is and armory, with lots of giant sized weapons of various condition. A Gem finds 5 javelins and Alzar can’t decide what they are. He also finds a large otter pelt worth 2000 gp.



Giant Otter Pelt, 2000 gp
5x Javelin of Lightning



The secret door opens into a small closet and stairs leading down. Inside the closet are several scroll tubes, one of which has instructions about gathering the giant tribes together for a large set of raids that are about the begin, and signed by one Eclavdra. There are plans for the steading as well, and Alzar now has a map, but the stairs down to another level aren’t on the map.

He retreats and moves into the wolf area. This is a large open area with a small compound on the other side. In here are double doors on what appears to be the exists, and this is the room that the exits outside both come into. 14 dire wolves are here, and they move to attack as a pack. Alzar has been waiting for a situation to finally use the Fireball spell in the Ring of Spell storing, so he can put something else in it. It blasts and incinerates all of the wolves, and slays them, without making too much noise.


Slain – 1 cave bear, 10 Hill Giants, 12 Younglings, 13 Dire Wolves

Used: Fireball in Ring of Spell Storing

[Abe Sargent]

They move to the doors on the other side and that small compound and enter.

They enter a guard room with a horn. There are more weapons arranged here, along with shields ,and two exits in the far wall. Nothing reveals as magical, so they move to the door that’s closest. This is a barracks, empty of people. The other is as well.

They find:

1300 gp
8x 100 gp gems

Alzar returns and they move to the double doors to the great hall. Apparently, no one has noticed the dead maids, bear, wolves, guards or children yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Alzar prepares his group. He activates the Censer and the Stone and summons to Elemental allies.

Earth Elemental – 43 hp
Air Elemental – 45 hp

He also summons a Babau demon from the Orb:

Babau – 57 hp

He orders the elementals and Babau in front and they slam open the doors. Here is what is inside:

This is the Great Hall of the Steading. It is where the chief holds audience, they eat and play and socialize. It has many tables, benches, firepits, and more. At the back is a large table with the chief, his wife, the sub-chief ,a cloud giant and three stone giants seated.

In the rest of the room is a cave bear underneath the table eating from the chief’s hand, 8 ogres serving food, more than 20 hill giants (22 to be exact) for a total of 38 combatants.

Time to get busy.

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 1

Alzar orders in all of his troops, with the elementals and demon spearheading an offensive. A pair each of Gargoyles will flank them and protect him and his men from being surrounded. This is not an occasion for subtlety, such as Dominations and Charms. This is a time for pounding.

Alzar’s group wins init.

Alzar begins by casting Evard’s Black Tentacles in the middle of the room in the thickest clump of giants. 13 tentacles appear. They have AC 4 and take 11 hp before dying. These 13 tentacles immediately snake out and try to attack nearby anything. 13 attacks commence on random nearby things. Two hit chairs and tables. The tentacles will remain for 11 hours or until destroyed, squeezing and damaging what is grabbed by them each round. 11 tentacles lash out. Three attack ogres and two are entangled and a third takes 2 damage and destroys the tentacle that tried to grab him. The entangled ones take damage and can’t get away.

The remaining eight attack Giants. One giant is very close and he is attacked four times . Two entangle him for 14 damage and another two are broken by him for 4 more. 22/40 for that one

Another one is attacked twice, hit twice and takes 11 damage – 26/37

The remaining four tentacles eahch attack one giant. One is hit for 10 damage and locked down – 17/27. Another takes 8 and is locked down – 32/40. The last two are out and take just a bit of damage and those tentacles are gone.

The elementals each attack a nearby giant and hit twice total for 21 damage and the giant is at 18/39. The babau follows and slays it after attacking it with its 19 strength. The gargoyles attack and one hits for 8 damage and another for 3. An Ogre is at 23/31 and a giant at 36/39. Carum, Est and Wassilon each attack. They each hit and deal a total for 23 damage to a giant. 17/40. The skeletons and animal skeletons each attack and deal little damage. Bokus punches the wounded giant for 8 damage. 9/40

The giants are scattered by the tentacles and the sight of an attacking force. Chief Nosra grabs a ballista on the wall and loads it this turn. He will fire it as a crossbow next turn. The Cave Bear is released and all ot the giants converse, with several attacks coming in. They coalesce on the Earth Elemental and dole out 19 damage to it. 23/42 – Earth Elemental

Slain 1 Hill Giant

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 2


The next turn, the giants win init. In comes a Ballista Bolt at….Estaish and it nails him for 19 damage. The giants attack in force and slay the Earth Elemental. Attacks at the gargoyles are wasted, a skeleton falls, and one of the tentacles is freed on the first giant with two on him.

31/50 - Estaish


The tentacles squeeze. One tenacled Ogre is slain, and the other has 7 hp left. The rest are held tight.

Alzar enchants the skull on his belt with Skulltrap and throws it at the chief and those around him. It arrives and…

It deals 31 damage to the six target in the area, save vs half. Nosnra makes the save at takes 16. His wife fails and takes the full damageTwo stone giants fail, and one makes it. A nearby ogre dies. Estaish kills the wounded giant. Carum hits another for 6 damage and the others miss.

The Air Elemental and Babau punch and slay a wounded Giant that hobbled over from the tentacles. The gargoyles deal damage but are really holding the fort by having several creatures attacking them for nothing. Four skeletons attack the Cave Bear that rolled it and deal 3 damage in two hits to it.

49/65 – Nosnra, 10/41 – Wife, 20-51, 17/48, 27/43, 40/43 - Bear


Slain 3 Hill Giants, 2 Ogre,

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 3


Alzar’s group wins init. The Ogre tentacles dies. One giant is down to just 10 hp, out of 35, and the others are wounded. Everyone has moved past them. Alzar casts haste on the Air Elemental, Babau, four gargoyles, Bokus, and four skeletons. They will each attack twice.

The Air Elemental attacks and swirls a Hill Giant for 15 damage. The babau attacks twice times two and hits three times, slaying the wounded giant. Gargoyles bring down another giant. Carum misses, Est does too. Bokus punches and hits the Cave Bear for 15 and the skeletons on it attack 8 times for three hits for 11 damage total. Dryshik is ordered to breath and tries to breathe one of his balls on the Chief. It misses.

Three skeletons die, including one hasted. Many attacks ensue and..

Babau takes 10 – 47/57
Carum takes 13 – 51/64
Estaish takes 12 – 19/50

Alzar is attacked and misses by a Cloak and bad attack rolls.

49/65 – Nosnra, 10/41 – Wife, 20-51, 17/48, 27/43, 14/43 - Bear




Slain 5 Hill Giants, 3 Ogre,

Slain – 4 skeletons

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 4


On the next turn. Five ogres pour through a door on the other side and join the fray. Alzar’s squad loses init. One giant frees himself from a tentacle by slaying it. The Babu is hit several times but takes half damage from most attacks, and is dealt 17 damage. The Air Elemental is hit twice for 11 damage. Another ballista bolt flies at Estaish but misses. Wassilon is nailed twice for 20 damage. Carum takes another 7 and an animal skeleton and a skeleton die.


Babau – 30/57
Air Elemental – 34
Wassilon – 5/25

Alzar orders Wassilon to retreat behind the line. He casts Conjure Earth Elemental and summons a 50 hp guy to add to the fray. The Air Elemental hits once for 7 damage on an Ogre. The Babau slays the ogre. The one on the tentacles dies., and a hill giant also dies. The gargoyles damage two giants seriously, and each is at 13 hp remaining. Bokus punches the Bear for 10 damage. A skeleton hits it and slays it. Another attacks a giant for 9 damage. Estaish hits for 6 damage.


Slain 6 Hill Giants, 5 Ogre, 1 Cave bear.

Slain – 5 skeletons, 1 animal skeleton

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 5


The next turn arrives. They keep initiative. A Stone Giant clubs the Air Elemental for 14 damage and a few giants follow it up and kill it. The Sub-Chief has ordered the giants and ogres on the gargoyles to move to the center of the line with the elementals and demon. They also hit Carum for 8 and Bokus for 9.

43/64 – Carum
39/48 – Bokus

The Earth Elemental swings and hits a wounded stone giant for 6 damage. The babau claws into it for 22 damage and it dies. The two hasted skeletons left finish off an entangled hill giant. The gargoyles move in to finish off a 13 hp giant while Carum throws his spear at the other moving away and pins it for 14 damage and slays it too. Dryshik breathes and blinds the chief for 3 rounds. Alzar follows with Domination spell cast on the unwounded Cloud Giant. It….misses the save and the Cloud Giant is told to stop fighting and returns to its seat, which it does.


49/65 – Nosnra, 10/41 – Wife, 20-51, 17/48,


Slain 9 Hill Giants, 5 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 1 Stone Giant – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

Slain – 5 skeletons, 1 animal skeleton

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 6

Turn 6 sees another Hill Giant rushing through the west door and joining the fray. Alzar’s group wins init this time. The gargoyles attack a unwounded hill giant collectively and bring it down to 6 hp. The babau misses all four of its attacks – amazing. The Earth Elemental swings and hits once for 11 damage. Carum is twirling his Sling of Seeking and Alzar ordered him onto the wife in the back, directing the fight. He misses her. Bokus punches a wounded Stone Giant and hits three times for 22 damage. It’s dead. Estaish can’t connect. A weak little animal sksleton finishes off a weakened hill giant that was brought to 6hp. The tentacles finish off the last entangled giant. Alzar grabs his axe and swings, targeting the wounded stone giant that ‘s left. He hits for 18 damage.

49/65 – Nosnra, 10/41 – Wife, 2/51 Stone Giant

On the counter attack, the Ogres that joined have formed up on the Sub-Chief and attack as a unit on the Babau. They hit three times for 12 damage. 18/57 hp for it. The others swing at various targets. Two animal skeletons are crushed underfoot and Alzar is missed twice.

Slain 11 Hill Giants, 5 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 2 Stone Giant – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

Slain – 5 skeletons, 3 animal skeleton

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 7


The next round sees them win their init back. They concentrate on the Babau and manage to bring it down. Only Alzar is attacked this round otherwise, and he takes 11 damage.

Alzar – 46/57

Alzar swings and kills the wounded stone giant. He gets a second attack this round and misses. Carum hits the wife for 4 damage. Estaish stabs at afresh hill giant and hits it for 9 damage. Bokus adds 19. The gargoyles slay an unwounded ogre. The undead do nothing.

49/65 – Nosnra, 6/41 – Wife,

Slain 11 Hill Giants, 6 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 3 Stone Giant – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

Slain – 5 skeletons, 3 animal skeleton



Turn 8



On the next round. Alzar wins init. He swings at the newly wounded Hill Giant and kills it. The Earth Elemental crushes a unwounded Ogre for 14 damage. Bokus adds 10 while Estaish stabs it twice for 14. It has 8 hp left. Carum misses the wife. Dryshik breathes on the Chief who can now see again and misses. He has no more breathes. The gargoyles kill another ogre and deal 12 to another.

The chief uses the ballista to attack the wounded Wassilon in the back. He can’t get it on target. Their group forms on the Sub Chief who orders attacks on the golem and Bokus takes 27 damage.



12/48



Slain 12 Hill Giants, 7 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 3 Stone Giant – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

Slain – 5 skeletons, 3 animal skeleton

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 9

Alzar wins init again. He switches to his Ring of Shooting Stars and uses it’s Spark Shower ability which he can use once/day inside. Everybody in front of him for a bit takes 2d8 electrical damage if they don’t have metal armor or weapons, and an addition a4d4 if they do. Bokus is in front of him and has metal plates in his body, so he takes both. Since electrical damage heals him, he gains 21 damage. Those attacking him take 10 damage or so each, which slays a wounded Ogre. He also hits two hasted gargoyles for 10 damage each and slays three of his animal skeleton due to the area effect. Carum hits the wife for 8 damage and slays her. Estiash misses. Bokus attacks and kills an ogre on him after hitting three times for 31 damage. The Earth Elemental misses, and the gargoyles attack a hill giant and deal 21 damage to him - he has 9 left after taking 10 from the spark shower. Wassilon is ordered out of the room.

Bokus 33/48


They form up and try to attack Bokus again. They hit and deal 24 damage. Their chief reloads.

9/48 – Bokus

Slain 12 Hill Giants, 9 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 3 Stone Giant, 1 Wife – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

Slain – 5 skeletons, 6 animal skeleton




Turn 10



Alzar wins init and switches to the Wand of Lightning. A Bolt crashes into the golem for 34 damage/healing. After the attacks are through two giants are dead. Bokus takes 21 and a bolt smahes into Carum for 22 damage

22/48 – Bokus
21/64 - Carum

Slain 14 Hill Giants, 9 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 3 Stone Giant, 1 Wife – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

Slain – 5 skeletons, 6 animal skeleton

[Abe Sargent]

The remaining turns of the battle


This time, they win init. Bokus takes another 20 and is sitting at 2/48. They’re just aren’t enough left anymore. They got lucky to do that much. Their chief loads.

This time, four giants fall to Bokus, hasted gargoyles, the Earth Elemental and the fighters. Alzar heals another 33 on the golem.

35/48 – Bokus


Slain 18 Hill Giants, 9 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 3 Stone Giant, 1 Wife – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

Slain – 5 skeletons, 6 animal skeleton


There are 5 giants, 4 ogres, the chief and sub-chief left. They form up and lose init. Alzar cleaves into an ogre for 16 damage. Estaish stabs it twice and slays it. The Earth Elemental punches a wounded giant and slays it. The battle line has moved towards the chief and reached him. Bokus punches four times and hits once for 6 on a ogre. Carum misses but an undead bite adds 7 and the gargoyles finish him off.

They move their attack to the golem that can be healed to the Elemental and dole out 14 damage to it in three hits.


Slain 19 Hill Giants, 11 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 3 Stone Giant, 1 Wife – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

Slain – 5 skeletons, 6 animal skeleton

They win init and deal another 17 to the elemental. Alzar double swings and kills a giant who had only taken 10 damage from sparks. The sub chief is now exposed, and the gargoyles move in and attack. They deal 23 damage to him. Alzar orders two gargoyles to fly out and cover the other doors to prevent them from running, although the field of tentacles has helped to hem them in. Bokus deals 14 to a giant.


Slain 20 Hill Giants, 11 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 3 Stone Giant, 1 Wife – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

49/65 – Nosnra, Sub-Chief 26/49


Slain – 5 skeletons, 6 animal skeleton

The next round Alzar’s group wins. Two more giants are slain and the sub-chief himself falls before Estaish’s blade. The giants attacks and a ballista bolt deals 22 damage to the elemental, which added to a minor hit slays it and it is down.

Slain 22 Hill Giants, 11 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 3 Stone Giant, 1 Wife – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

49/65 – Nosnra,

They win init and focus on the skeletons. Two are slain, one of the hasted ones. They finish off the three ogres that are still around, leaving just Nosnra and the giant that came in to help left. The next turn they are finished off easily.


Slain – 7 skeletons, 6 animal skeleton


Used: Evard’s Black Tentacles, Haste, Skulltrap, Conjure Earth Elemental, Domination, 2 charge on Wand of Lightning


Slain 23 Hill Giants, 13 Ogre, 1 Cave bear, 3 Stone Giant, 1 Wife, 1 Sub-Chief, 1 Nosnra – Dominated 1 Cloud Giant

[Abe Sargent]

After wards, Alzar discusses with the Cloud Giant what is happening. It tells Alzar that someone has been building up a unity in the various giant races and preparing for mighty raids all across the mountains. Alzar can’t have this. There would be a clarion call for mighty heroes all over the area to unit, and who knows what they might find while scouring for giants. The Cloud Giant says that some items were magically sent to the Frost Giants, as a way to get them on the side of the power that is unifying the giants. Alzar’s hammer was likely among them, because he hasn’t found it yet.

Alzar and his group finish exploring this level. There are no combatants left, just some orc slaves, a few giantess who offer no resistance and are forced out, and another set of stairs down in a hallway. In this room, and on the rest of the floor, Alzar will find:

Ruby Studded Collar 1000 gp
8 pieces of jewelry – 4000 gp each
52 pieces of jewelry – 600 gp average each
100 gp earring
1000 gp gem

An arsenal has tons of helmets, weapons, shields, etc for giants

The kitchen and larder have tons of provisions. Literally, tons.

955 sp
705 gp
79 pp
381 cp

+2 warhammer
2 potions (Storm Giant Strength, Delusion)
+2 two handed sword, +4 vs giants, Int 14, 8 Ego, Neutral Good, detects enemies – belongs to the Cloud Giant in his room so he takes it.



29 orc slaves, and two wounded ones, who tell Alzar of an orc slave rebellion in the underground. He should hail orcs as friends.


After clearing out this level, Alzar decides to take the secret stairs down, rather than the open ones.

[Abe Sargent]

They arrive in a long corridor. A Gem of Seeing shows a hidden room. A portcullis prevents further going down the hallway into a room. The secret door enters into a treasure roo, and a skeleton dies as it is captured by a pit trap which resets, Wassilon disarms it.

2 skeletons left

The gem of seeing dispels some illusions, and the treasure is gathered

23840 gp
A locked chest that Wassilon opens, 4139 pp

41x 100 gp gems
13x 500 gp gems
8x 1000 gp gms

Jewelry pieces worth 7850 gp total

There is a map that shows the Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, and an obsidian box. The box has instructions on and a chain. This is a chain that, when held by up to 6 people and the special word is read, will teleport them to any place you have a map too, but it only works once. It can send the group to the Frost Giant’s place immediately if Alzar were so included. He is not.

11x +2 arrows
+3 spear

Flaming Sword, Chaotic Neutral, Int 10, Ego 12, Detects Gems, Empathy

Flaming Sword, just a generic one, no intelligence

[Abe Sargent]

They move into the room and open the portcullis. It closes around them and bars release four maddened masticores.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_51LCYkM192g/S8gGPpTPSKI/AAAAAAAAATI/57SYVChrbGQ/s1600/127285+%5BElder+Manticore%5Dfinal2.jpg





Alzar orders the gargoyles over to them, and Dryshik drops a Wall of Fog around everyone else. The gargoyles slay them.

4 Manticores Dead

A Gem reveals a secret door, and they take it. Inside are levers for the portcullies, and they are raised.

They move left to the room the manticores wer in, and there is an exit. This opens into a smaller treasure room.

13000 cp
27300 sp
7140 ep
27 copper ingots worth 400ccp each
Potion (Poison)
11 ivory tusks worth 1000 gp each
980 gems of 1 gp value each

They return to the top level and come down the other stairs.

[Abe Sargent]

This is a huge room, 80X100 and three corridors and three doors leading off it. It’s a marshalling area with benches and such, but no people. Alzar picks a door and they find a room with the Keeper of the Cells. He is an old twisted Hill Giant with two nasty Carnivorous Apes as his entourage. Alzar’s Axe cleaves into him for 10 damage and he orders everyone else back. After four rounds, they are all dead ,and Alzar took another 17 damage. Two bugbears ran it during combat and were slain easily.


29/57 hp


2 apes, one more HG slain; two bugbers taken out

+3 battle axe
5400 gp
5x 500 gp gems
4x 100 gp gems
4x potions of Water Breathing

Keys for cells.

He heads back and tries the open door opened by the bugbears jailers and discovers five cells. They open all five, and one has a trap with three skeletons rising to attack, which Alzar immediately controls.

+3 skeletons

Inside is an insane merchant, a human engineer to help with the expansion of this level, 5 captured orc rebels who join Alzar’s cause, andhe gets them crossbows , and a qwith fighter/magic-user named Haden. Haden is a level 5 fighter, lvel 8 mage, and has no spells memorized. He is NG, and won’t serve Alzar beyond this adventure. He has 14/31 hp. He is given the bugbears’s weapons and armor, as are the orcs and engineer getting armed before he goes to the third door .

[Abe Sargent]

Since the long Hill Giant fight was split up into several posts, I'll give you this whole thing in one.


They arrive at the door and open it. Inside are a dozen bugbears who shout for aid and battle is joined.


Alzar drops three with Sleep. The rest move in. A door opens and more bugbears can be seen but no one knows the count.

Battle begins

Alzar’s group wins init. The Dominated Cloud Giant is happy to attack these, and his magic sword cuts into one for 6 damage. Carum spears it for 6 and Estiash misses. Bokus punches once for 15 and slasy it. Alzar casts Sleep from his Ring and drops another 4. Gargoyles eat one. Crossbow bolts hit one for 5 damage and the undead don’t have anything to do, not enough spac.e The bugbears attack various people, and miss.

A dozen more Bugbears have poured into the room and more are coming.

Alzar’s group wins init. His final Sleep from another Spell Storing Ring drops another three. Bokus and ht fighters slay two more. Bokus takes 16 as a commander Bugbear orders concentrated attacks.

19/48 – Bokus

Alzar again wins init and orders Bokus back. He Vamp Touches one for 18 damage and slays it and gains that in life. The Cloud Giant kills another and bolts fly into a third and slay it. 10 more bugbears have arrived. The Cloud Giant takes 8 and Alzar is attacked heavily and unsuccessfully.


47/57 - Alzar


Slain – Bugbear - 18


They win init and Alzar takes 21. Another five enter the room. He orders everyone back and casts Skulltrap from his Ring. He flings it and hits 19 bugbears and himself for 22 damage save vs half. He slays 8, and takes 11. No one else can attack save for Carum; sling which misses and orcs that finish a wounded bugbear.


The next turn arrives


Another group of Bugbears enter, and now there have been fifty come in. Those that can attack Alzar do so, and he takes another 5 damage from two hits.

Slain – Bugbear - 27

31/57 - Alzar

With him in front, he casts the Faithful Shield-Maidens to drop his Ac twice and to give him two attackers. Bolts slay another wounded bugbear. The gargoyles are flanking Alzar and protecting everyone else from melee attacks, but preventing them from attacking.


Slain – Bugbear - 28


Alzar’s axe is out as he wins init. He carves a bugbear dead. A maiden hits and deal 5 damage and Carum kills it with a slingstone. The bugbears in the back have grabbed spears and chuck them at Alzar, but miss (Cloak).

They attack back and Alzar takes 15 (With AC4, its hard to hit him) Two axe attacks sly two more bugbears, and another dies to missiles and a fourth to gargoyles.


16/57

Slain – Bugbear – 34

He wins init again. He grabs the Orb of Golden Death and casts Wall of Ice as a horizontal ice sheet on the ceiling, and it falls on the bugbears in front of him. There is no save, they each take 3d10 damage. I roll and its 19 damage. With no save, that slays all of the remaining Bugbears in the room.


Used – Sleep x3 which includes both from Ring of Spell Storing, Vampiric Touch. Skulltrap #2 from the Ring, Shield-Maidens.

Slain – Bugbear – 50

[Abe Sargent]

There are several rooms in the Bugbear complex.

300 gp
31x10 gp gems


They return to the big chamber and head up.

They find large gallery under construction. No one is here right how. All of this dungeon looks relatively new. Someone is planning something big.

There’s another unfinished chamber here, and finally, an quarters for three more Stone Giants. They see Alzar approach and make mo menacing gestures. They talk, and the Stone Giants agree to leave but Alzar forces them to leave behind everything but their weapons and some food. In a chest they left is

14230 gp

There is nothing else here so they return and take another pathway from the giant chamber.

They find a storage room with normal stuff in it and a wine cellar. There is an exceptional rare vintage here with 13 five gallon tuns with a bung seal. They are worth roughly 500 gp per QUART.

There is also a cistern back here as well. Nothing else though. They head back and take the final hallway.

It Ts and there are numerous doors here. Three doors reveal 78 orc slaves, which Alzar frees.

They head right. There is a torture chamber with two dozing hill giants easily dispatched

2 more HG slain

Gold Chain with Fire Opal – 2000 gp

[Abe Sargent]

T the north are three chambers guarded by three bugbears which Alzar slays easily.

3 more bugbears killed

88 orc slaves are here and freed as well. The corridor ends down and arrives at an armory and smithy with two fire giants and 7 slave dvergr.

Alzar casts Domination on a Fire Giant as they move. It fails. Battle begins.

Alzar casts Charm Monster on a Fire Giant and…It works and Alzar has his new friend back away. They other is slain by Bokus, a Cloud Giant, many bolts, and such.

2 Fire Giants answered

The Dvergr are freed. One joins

Hrothgr
Level 8 fighter, 18/29 Str, 8 Int, 11 Wis, 10 Dex, 17 Con, 6 Cha, 70 hp, Neutral

4000 gp in a sack the Fire Giants had

[Abe Sargent]

The armory has a badly damaged corridor to an abandoned temple. Alzar recognizes a temple to Ralishaz, and uses the Gem from the doorway. The altar is radiating strong evil and a trap. They stay away and just head through to the other side. There is a large natural cavern here and they come across the 78 orc rebels. They join their fellows and almost 300 orcs are now together. They were captured form many different tribes, and Alzar suggest that they form a new tribe, which they do. The Tribe of the Bleached Skull is formed, and Alzar will relocate them to an area somewhat near his home where they can build a home and raid.

There are a tribe of 33 trogs to the north of the orcs. With the orcs leaving, they can spread out to the whole huge cavern and grow.

The orcs inform Alzar of a hidden cavern to the north past the Trogs. Entering a stream will take you to a large cavern of carrion crawlers where they take the dead of many to consume them at their leisure. Alzar agrees to check it out and switches to the Elvenkind Boots. He goes alone and invisible with the Sword of Lyons.

As a reminder, Carrion Crawlers can paralyze you, but that’s it. Due to his Ring of Free Action, Alzar is immune to paralysis, so he can ignore and slay Crawlers at his leisure.


A day later, he has slain 12 crawlers and found:

250 ep
250 cp
150 sp
150 gp
120 pp
12 gems total 2400 gp
2 jewelry worth 2000 gp total
Ring of Depetrification – 13 charges
Ring of Water Walking
Wand of Wonder, 13 charges
Wand of Fear, 52 charges
+2 Mace, +3 Short Sword

Not a bad haul all in all.

[Abe Sargent]

And with that, the Steading has been cleared out. For the next ten days, Alzar leads the orcs back to their new home and watches over them. The Cloud Giant manages to throw off his spell four days into it and Alzar slays him. And takes the weapon. The Fire Giant is slain “accidentally” by Alzar as well, since there is no place for him in his place.

He also restocks the Rings of Spell Storing ,and uses the time to find and scry on the Jarl. By the time they arrive at the tribe’s new home, he knows it very well, and has id’d all of the items.

Here’s the tally of the dungeon:


XP total – 183000 for the adventure

Split:

Alzar - 337500 (Level 10, level 11 is at 375k)
Estaish – 161,000 (Level 8, level 9 is 250k) – Leveled up - Now with 59 HP
Carum – 141191 (Level 8) – Leveled Up - Now has 72 HP.
Wassilon – 33,900 fighter (level 6, level 7 at 64k)/33900 thief (Level 6, 7 at 40k) – leveled up a lot – gained 14 hp – 39 hp total

Hrothgr – 150000 (Level 8) – 70 hp


Alzar sells all of the unlabeled jewelry and gems for 90% of their price in gp – 86976 total gp

[Abe Sargent]

Items Found:


Gold and gem belt buckle, 1400 gp
Silver Comb with Gems -300 gold
Copper Mirror – 200 gp
Gold Hair Pin with a Pearl – 800 gp
3 bracelets worth 4000 gp each
Feldspar Statuette – 2000 gp
Giant Otter Pelt, 2000 gp
Ruby Studded Collar 1000 gp
27 copper ingots worth 400 cp each
11 ivory tusks worth 1000 gp each
13 five gallon tuns of rare wine, 500 gp/quart
Gold Chain with Fire Opal – 2000 gp



After converting all coin to gp we have: 80, 653

For a total of – 167, 629 gold total in pieces

Teleport Chain, 1 shot to a map location for 6 people
Map of Glacial Rift

11x +2 arrows
+3 spear
Flaming Sword, Chaotic Neutral, Int 10, Ego 12, Detects Gems, Empathy
Flaming Sword, just a generic one, no intelligence
+3 shield
5x Javelin of Lightning
+2 warhammer
2 potions (Storm Giant Strength, Delusion, Poisonx2, Extra Healing, Healing, Hill Giant Control)
+2 two handed sword, +4 vs giants, Int 14, 8 Ego, Neutral Good, detects enemies
+3 battle axe
4x potions of Water Breathing
Ring of Depetrification – 13 charges
Ring of Water Walking
Wand of Wonder, 13 charges
Wand of Fear, 52 charges
+2 Mace, +3 Short Sword

This adventure felt generous is gold but stingy in items. Name one item that Alzar will use regularly.


55 bugbear corpses
35 hill giant corpses
2 fire giant corpses
1 cloud giant corpse
4 stone giant corpses

Alzar had the orcs carry these back in litters and wagons. They will make nice undead later.

[Abe Sargent]

The new Rings of Spell Storing List:

Ring of Spell Storing – Sleep, Sleep, Ray of Ondovir (1,1,2)
Ring of Spell Storing with these spells – (5, 3, 3, 3, 1) Conjure Earth Elemental, Searing Serpent,
Skulltrap, Dispel Magic, Hypnotism
Ring of… 1, 2, 3 and 3 Spell Storing – Charm Person, Forget, Suggestion, Vampiric Touch


We changed several spells and now have Forget, Hypnotism, an extra Vampiric Touch, and Suggestion.

[Abe Sargent]

G2. The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl



http://www.deigames.com/G21732a.jpg

[hoopsguy]

It will be interesting to see if any of these other giants are going to be able to represent themselves better than the Hill Giants. Alzar's army looks pretty invincible right now.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar has spent some time scouting this area, with the map and divination magic. The Rift is not a structure like the steading of the Hill Giants was. Instead, it’s a large set of ice caves and caverns made in the glacier by melting ice over the years and years. There appear to be many wild creatures here, such as yeti, wolves, giants, and more.

Hrothgr is joining us for the rest of the Giant missions, and then we’ll see where he stands then. (Again, I want to cut into Alzar’s experience. One Frost Giant gives 7000 XP.

Alzar’s Rope of Climbing will be out for this mission, wrapped around his shoulder. He can pull out to help him and his group climb. Due to the precarious nature of some of these places, he will not be bringing any skeletons or animal skeletons with him.

Four zombies with gargoyle cloaks


Bokus is agile enough to climb but will not be coming with us.

Carum, Estaish, Alzar, Wassilon, Hrothgr

Dryshik, Megala

And that’s it

Hrothgr is given appropriate magic weapons and armor for the battle.

Alzar wears Ring of Warmth instead of Sustenance for this mission until something happens to force him into something else. Estaish is wearing the other on, switching his Fire Resist Ring for it. He is also wearing the Boots of Elvenkind, which leave no track in the snow at all, rather than the ones he normally wears.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar has a new set of spells memorized and is leaving behind Bokus – let’s discuss why.

Ogres are tough enemies certainly, but they aren’t that much to handle these days. In the Hill Giant’s great hall, the hp of an Ogre ranges from 20 to 31. The hp range for Hill Giants is 27-44 in that room. Roughly, Ogres are in the 20s usually, and Hill Giants in the 30s. Don’t let the Giant in Hill Giant fool you. They are not a major threat.

Frost and Stone Giants, however, are at the next level of difficult. Frost Giants are to Hill Giants what Hill Giants are to Ogres and what Ogres are to Bugbears. Each will have, roughly, ten-15 more hp and be a bit easier to hit opponents. Here is what a Frost Giant needs to hit an opponent who has a great AC of 0. They need a 7 on d20. Bokus has an AC of 4, so they would easily crush him. This is not the adventure for him.

A thrown boulder or ice chunk by a Frost Giant will hit with alarming accuracy and deal 2d10 damage. You can expect them to average around 11 points a hit with them at range, and in melee, attack with a giant weapon which deals 2d8+9 damage from their strength, or another 18 damage roughly per hit. Unlike their dim cousins the Hill Giants, they tend to wear metal armor that drops their AC to 0, and thus are harder to hit as well (compared to the HG’s natural 5 sometimes dropped to three with hides). The Frost Giants are clever, and you can expect them to do more tactics than the HG’s did, with more hp, better chance of hitting, and harder to hit. They are also known, like humans, for taming some wild creatures and using them for pets.

Now, consider the spell Skulltrap. Let say you cast it on four Frost Giants, and roll 26 damage. They make their roll, and 13 damage each is a scratch. Even if one fails, it may take off half damage and you still have a lot of damage coming your way. Where is the power with it? Also, Alzar can’t get in front and bring in the hits from the others, due to a low AC and such. They’ll pound him even with his AC of -4 from Bracers, Cloak, Boots, Axe and Shield-Maidens. They only need an 11 on a 20 to do it.

Here are the spells Alzar knows for this adventure:


Hypnotism x2
Sleep x2
Charm Person
Empathic Controlx3
Ray of Ondovir
Continual Light
Dire Charmx2
Haste
Vampiric Touch
Charm Monsterx2
Shield-Maidens
Conjure Earth Elemental
Dominationx2

This is a much different slate of spells. It almost looks like Alzar is an Enchanter rather than a Fivefold Path Mage! The following spells are NOT in the Enchantment/Charm school – Continual Light, Haste, Shield-Maidens, Conjure Elemental. All of the rest are.

This spell-list shows Alzar wants to turn his foes against themselves. This is a more subtle, but perhaps more powerful list than the one he used against the Giants, where raw force was useful.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar will be using the Orb more. It’s an artifact, and he has it, so expect him to continue to use and abuse it. The last time, he used it very little – just for a Wall of Ice and a Babau once. He will not hold back this time, and leans into it. He can summon one demon every hour, and it lasts an hour, so Alzar will have one demon with him at all times, rather than just for a big fight.

Here are the demons the Orb will summon, based on the 2nd Edition Description (Which gets rid of generic Type I, Type II demons) – Vrock, Babau, Hezrou, Glabrezu




There is no cave of safety here this time, and the Rift is another 125 miles past the Steading away from Alzar’s home. It would take a long time to get there the old fashioned way. Alzar teleports the party back and forth over a couple of days, staying inside his Instant Fortress about twenty miles from the rift. After the whole party is gathered together, and without his normal laboratory and workshop as a result, Alzar and crew move in.

Getting there requires some cautious climbing and the Rope’s aid, but there is no major danger.


The Rift is very windy and visibility is low. They find the entrance to the Rift, a worn trail of Frost Giants. They can enter the right to the right or left. Each comes out on a ledge overlooking the rift about 250 feet in the air. The powerful gusts stop any planned flights, because use of a simple Broom of Flying would cause random directions to go.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar choose the…right (random). He summons a Vrock to help the team as they explore.


Vrock – 60 hp, AC - -2, 2d6+6 damage from one claw, two attacks per turn, it can cast Mirror Image/day, THAC0 12

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss300/SCCody12/Vrock.jpg?t=1295798162

It can fly with us and move with s, and weighs 500 pounds, so it’s not likely to blow off course due ot the nasty winds.

[Abe Sargent]

We move.

Alzar is always in front, invisible, and about thirty feet away from the group. The path arrives on the north side of the glacial rift, and Alzar and his team move into a large ice cavern that opens behind them to the north. The plateau continues on.

Alzar scouts and discovers this is the lair of six Yeti and a leader, This should be a fairly conventional fight, so he brings up the group and they move in for battle.

Alzar’s invisible axe bites deep into the leader for his max damage – 8 rolled x2 for Ambush is 16, plus 2 for magic, +2 for expertise with weapon +6 for strength – 26 damage. Rar! Battle begins as the warriors, Gargoyles and Vrock rounds the bend.

Alzar is attacked by all of the yeti. Two wound have hit but miss due to the Cloak, and one of those was the Chief with a glowing sword.

On the next turn, they win init and Alzar takes 9 from one hit by the chief. The rest miss due to the Cloak or his -2 AC. Alzar slays the Chief with his first attack, and deals 11 damage to another. The group arrives and can attack next turn.

On the 3rd round, Alzar wins. He carves the wounded yeti for another 15 damage and slays it. The Vrock attacks and hits once for 10 damage on a yeti. Estaish hits for 6 on it. Carum misses, Wassilon misses, Hrothgr hits for 7 and a gargoyle finishes it off.

They attack, and Alzar is misses by them all.

They win init and Alzar takes 6 from a hit. Alzar carves into one for nothing after he critically misses and drops his axe. Carum spears one for 5 damage, Estaish adds 10, Wassilon finishes it off. The gargoyles and Vrock slay another – one left.

Alzar’s team wins init and finishes the yeti.

Slain – 7 Yeti

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar – 44/57 hp

Alzar picks up the glowing cold sword and investigates it. It’s a +3 Frostbrand sword


+3 Frostbrand Sword
11 Ivory Tusks – 800 gp each


The Frostbrand is +3 and +6 vs fire creatures. It glows when in below freezing. It acts as a Ring of Fire Resistance by its wielder and can extinguish fires by being pushed into one. It’s a good weapon, but not for here and Alzar pockets it in an extra dimensional Bag of Holding. You don’t want t be using it against creatures that take less damage from cold attacks.

Alzar and his retinue continue along the plateau. They find a cave that opens o the north as the plateau widens. There is a path down to the glacier, but the plateau continues on, and more caves and tunnels can be seen.

The first cave that opens is nothing but a misty cave fogged up with a warm spring that causes a strong mist. Alzar checks it heavily even with gem, but there is nothing in here.

Another cave opens up and Alzar investigates. As he does, a growl is heard above and two snow leopards spring on him. They could smell him through the Invisibility and attack him. One would hit, but misses due to his cloak. The other misses. His Axe is unslung and battle begins.

They win init. One attacks him and can’t get his bite on target. The other hits, but it’s the one that missed before. Now both have hit him and the Cloak won’t cause a dodge anymore. His axe swings and dashes into a leopard for 13 damage.

On the next turn, Alzar wins init. He hits just once out of two attacks, but finishes off the leopard, and the other misses him.

It wins init again claws him for 5 damage. His axe bites it for 13 damage. He wins init and finishes it off.


Slain – 7 Yeti , 2 Snow Leopards


Alzar – 41/57 hp


There is nothing in their lair.

[Abe Sargent]

Go down to the Rift, continue along the plateau, or check out this big, giant cavern complex?

They move to the big complex to the northwest

Alzar tells the group to stay behind as he scouts deeply after seeing what he thinks he sees. There are four large caverns in this area, and each has Frost Giants. Three of them have four giants, and the last has six.

Alzar returns and orders the Vrock to attempt to gate in Dretches. It has a 35% chance of success and these are weak little demons. It can only try once per day and these folks don’t like to do it but the Vrock is fully under the control of Alzar.

It tries and…fails. Ah well, it would have been nice to have some cannon fodder. Alzar positions the gargoyles just inside of the cave but way out of sight of the Giants. It’s time to be clever.

Alzar goes back out and has Carum come with him. Carum grabs the Diminution Stone and shrinks, and Alzar places him under his cloak.

Alzar moves to the easternmost cave, which is the one by the entrance. He finds a place where he can only see one of the Frost Giants in the room, and casts Dire Charm on it. He wants to Dire Charm the Frost Giant which is far away and turn it loose on its friends. Then, while they are taking care of that, the gargoyles move to the mouth of the cave. They are to prevent any other giants from entering. Alzar and Carum will handle the remaining Giants in here, as they are distracted by the one Dire Charmed. That’s the plan.

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go. Alzar casts Dire Charm. It…works! The Frost Giant rolled an 8 and failed his save. One of the Giants will now attack whoever is closet, enemy or friend it doesn’t matter. Alzar grabs the Sword and goes invisible again. It picks up a boulder and heaves it at another Frost Giant.

Alzar randomly magicked the second most powerful giant in the room. It attacks the strongest and hits him for 15 damage. 34/49 hp left.

Battle begins. They win init and three boulders fly at our Dire Charmed friend. Two hit for 27 damage. 20/47 left. It roars back and throws a boulder and adds 14 to the wounded one. 20/49. Alzar has run up and the gargoyles are in place.

The next turn arrives.

We win init. Alzar swings his axe and surprises the Giant farthest from the Dire Charmed one for 22 damage. Carum grows and attacks and misses. Our Giant attacks and misses with a boulder. Two throw boulders at it. One hits for 9 damage – 11 hp left for our guy. The third attacks Alzar and rolls a 6 – miss.

On the next turn , they win init. They finish off the Dire Charmed Giant and Alzar is hit so missed due to the Cloak. Alzar swings twice and hits both times, finishing the giant they attacked. Carum throws his spear at the injured giant and hits for 8 damage. 12 left on it. Other giants have arrived at the entrance but they can’t get in, they are body blocked by the gargoyles, who attack them.

The next turn arrives, and Alzar’s group wins. Carum slings the wounded giant for 6 damage and Alzar grabs a +2 dagger from his bandolier and throws it and hits for 8 and slays it. 1 left. It throws a boulder at Alzar and hits, miss due to cloak.

Alzar wins init again. Carum and Alzar charge this turn across the large room. The giant throws a giant boulder and critically misses Alzar. The Frost Giants break off from the gargoyles and move, but the gargoyles stay put.

The giants win init. Alzar is attacked by a large axe and it rolls an 8 – hit on his AC-1 (no Boots of Striding and Springing). He takes 14 damage. His axe bites back for 12 damage and Carum adds 5. 26 hp left four our giant.

Alzar’s group wins init. They finish it off with four attacks this round. They begin to retreat, as the gargoyles cover, but no Frost Giants are left to pursue, they are elsewhere.

[Abe Sargent]

As Alzar and Carum move out of the cavern, a few boulders pop out of the nearby rockface, and out pour 14 Frost Giants. They had a concealed entrance/exit in case of emergency. Smart. Alzar didn’t see it because the Gem of Seeing does not notice natural camouflage. 14 Frost Giants are about to attack, and Alzar has no plans, and no sneaky stuff available. His plan backfired. He wanted to fight Giants in a small group and ended up with a large force!

The others are right here, and he orders them in.

Alzar’s group wins init. He needs to get his people to a place where they can melee the giants who have strong missile attacks. If he succeeds on a Domination or something, he still only takes out one Giant this turn. Instead, he draws the Orb and casts Wall of Ice vertically in front of the Frost Giants. He creates a physical barrier between them. The rest of his group moves in just behind the Wall this turn.

The Giants pound the wall and destroy it. Their axes cleave the ice in big chunks, and their turn is gone. Now what happens, and who will win init?






They roll a 9 and Alzar’s group rolls a 5, so they go first – lower is better cause that means you are faster.

The Vrock and Gargoyles fly into one in the front and attack it. It takes 32 damage from the attack and has 18 hp left. Carum, Estaish, Wassilon and Hrothgr concentrate on another and hit for 28 damage. It has 20 hp left. Alzar needs an answer. So far, they haven’t killed a single Frost Giant. He needs to give his people time to do stuff, so he shouts at the Frost Giants that they are cowards and casts Hypnotism. He wants them to look at him. Three do. The spell goes off and…4 targets of the spell roll for saves and…three fail (looking him in the eyes gives a -2 to the save). He forces them to drop their weapons and to not attack. This round and next round, three random giants will not attack.

Here comes 11 attacks, and Alzar’s cloak isn’t there to take any. They know not to attack the gargoyles now, and there are no wasted attacks. Afterwards

Vrock – 46/60
Estaish – 39/59
Carum – 58/72
Wassilon – Missed
Hrothgr – 55/70



20/48 – Random Giant
18/50 – Random Giant


They win init this round., Rough. Another 11 attacks


Vrock – 38/60
Estaish – 31/59
Carum – 41/72
Wassilon – 25/39
Hrothgr – 55/70


Alzar uses Hypnotism and two more drop weapons and will miss next turn and the next – 2 rounds missed in all.

The flyers slay their wounded one. The Fighters lay their wounded one and extra attacks deal 32 to another who now has 17 hp left.

Slain in this Battle – 2 Frostys, 12 left