D&D Dynasty: 3rd Path of King Alzar the Mighty - FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Abe Sargent]

He lost today. Some folks come over and celebrate his victory. They turned back an attack by demons. His realm confidence rises by 10. But he knows that this was a loss.

The demons didn’t lose anyone. All of their people just went back the Abyss, and they are banished from Pandius for a century. That’s it. They can go anywhere else, and they can still fight in the Blood War. Nothing will stop another demon offensive tomorrow or the next day, and each time they can hit with 126 more demands, or 252 demons or whatever. They have huge numbers on their side. Alzar lost men, used up magical items, lost some people like Death Tyrants, and they are down. Alzar can’t summon elementals with the Face or his items for a week. There’s nothing they can do next time. Now, if the demons were just playing with him, warning him, or whatnot, then that’d be one thing. But it’s not. This feels serious. The succubus? Glabrezu? Launching a full-out assault? This doesn’t have the feel of a weak little slap. This feels like a lot more.

So he needs to do something different.

He needs to punish back.

Alzar is going to go back to The Abyss and slay some demons. Once he’s done that, he can hopefully keep the rest away. The one thing where the devils outnumber the demons is with Pit Fiends to Balors. Both are the rulers and planners of their kind, but the Pit Fiends are strong, powerful, and nasty. But the demons really don’t have the power to have too many leaders, since each is really for themselves, and if they splintered themselves, then their power of numbers would also go. If they had 10,000 Balors, then they’d each have considerably fewer troops and power to use against other demons and devils alike. So fewer numbers on top are key. In fact, there are slightly fewer than 1000 Pit Fiends known to exist, but around 100 Balors.

So if Alzar can kill a Balor on the Abyss, that’s a not-insignificant power shift. It would also demonstrate that Alzar could and will penetrate your plane and kill your folks permanently.


Alzar begins to review his spells, items, and such on preparing to head out to the Abyss

1st level Priest Spell - Astral Celerity - Lets him adjust to another plane’s environment and such for 1 hr/level
5th Level Priest Spell - Plane Shift, moves Alzar to another plane (or a target and up to 8 friends)

Worldwalk - Alzar can open a gate that lasts for hours from one world to another, and anyone can cross

Amulet of the Planes - Alzar can use this to move to, and survive on, various planes of existence.

Alzar can innately move to and survive on Tarterus, Acheron, The Abyss, Elysium, Arcadia, and the Astral Plane and Positive Energy.


One of those planes is the Abyss. He can return as well from there.

Alzar’s Teleport without Error crosses planer borders as well.

The Necklace of Adaptation allows him to breathe in hostile environments

Some of his magic shifts in value and import.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar arrives at the top level of the Abyss, of 666 layers, Pazunia, one of multiple layers ruled by the demon prince Pazuzu. Alzar has no desire to head out and take on a Demon Prince, he just wants to hit some bad guys here and then head back home


“The uppermost layer of the Abyss, known alternately as the Plane of Infinite Portals, Pazunia, The Plain of Yawning Pits, The Palace of 1001 Closets, The Wasteland of Gates, etc., is a barren wasteland of unrelenting heat and blistering winds, cut through by the infamous River Styx.

Even with the demon armies, inhospitable terrain and unrelenting heat, this layer attracts travelers from across the planes. They seek the pits that dot the landscape – pits that lead to nearly every other layer of the Abyss itself. Thus, the first level becomes the entrance to all that is below.

The largest of these pits is known as The Grand Abyss (the interior of which is separately counted as Level 4). Some pits are two way, others via astral magic only delve down. Some lead directly to another layer, others change destinations on a daily basis, some lead nowhere and are merely deep pits that contain creatures worse than the layers themselves, and it is these pits that sparked the Blood War, remnants of which sit strikingly alongside the pits. Iron fortresses which once held vast armies (emptied and abandoned, as the Blood War continues deeper within the Abyss) now hold the physical bodies of Demon Lords during astral travel. These demonic princes, lords, and queens have holdings on deeper layers. Most of the rulers of these fortresses are balors, mariliths, nalfeshnees, succubi, nabassus. advanced fiends, archdemons, and every once in a while, a lesser demon lord (like Aldinach, Ahazu, Baltazo, and Laraie) These creatures often wage war amongst each other, laying unrelenting siege to impregnable fortresses of dark magic and demon armies.

There are a few landmarks within this barren warzone – The Town of Broken Reach (ruled by a succubus called Red Shroud) and a region of Lakes of Molton Iron, known to be the birth of many a weapon in the Blood Wars, guarded by demon armies. Beside this lake lies the Fortress of Ferrug.

Other sites and fortresses of note include: Battle Not With Monsters, the Iron Fortress of Mithrengo, The Edge of Sanity, Raazorforge, Styros, Sonu-Aar'ri, The Tower of Chiryn, The Dolorous Keep, Fortress of the Fallen Stair, and Gallowsgate (ruled by the marilith Jaranda).

This layer is under undisputed rule by Pazuzu, The Prince of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms. Demons pledged to him call the realm Pazunia.”

Alzar has been here twice before when exploring after getting the powers, so he has a rough map in his head. The gravity where he arrives is around 25% more than normal, and his Flying Carpet still works, so he unfurls it. There are no major people in any places, just loads of rocky boredom. A few unintelligent large insect-ish creatures are here and borrowing into the ground.

Alzar turns invisible with the Ring of Invisibility, and there are multiple new items he has out to use. He’s sticking with Ring of Spell Turning and Free Action. He has a few protections from charms and such. Many creatures here can see through invisible, but there’s no reason not to, just in case.

He pulls up and up and looks over. There is a cloud of flying demons, lower level sorts to his left. There are lots of creatures down here that aren’t demons. For example, there is a herd of Stench Kows that can be seen to the far left.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar flies tangentially to the flying demons and far enough away that they don’t make him out. After almost an hour Alzar flies around to a large demonic fortification with about 200 demons of various sorts. About 140 are simple scouts or fodder, low level demons, and the other 60 are higher levels. Alzar casts Protection from Fiends, a 5th level cleric spell. It’s not as good or complete as the scroll, but it’s pretty good. (From the spell description, “Unlike most other protection spells, protected individuals may launch their own attacks and spells from inside.”)

And he drives down on top of the demons on the outpost aiming for the only one true demon here - Hezrou and slaying it. Without their leader, they attack Alzar mindlessly, and Alzar takes the intelligent ones first

After they try spells, they try other stuff, but to no avail. It’s not until about 10 minutes later with almost 50 dead demons that they think to call in for help.

Gates begin to open up. Out come dretches and a horde of manes. Manes are the weakest and one of the least powerful creatures here - like great orcs. Alzar tosses a pair of Fireballs from his Wand of Fire to clean them out. Soon enough a few more gates open up, and this time, greater demons begins to come out. A handful of babau arrive first. And they open up gates for more. Babassau follow. And suddenly Alzar is now facing more powerful demons, but still ones he can kill easily. A Wail of the Banshee spell drops 13. Magic Missiles fly at him and rays of enfeeblement. And then it happens…


Out from the next gate steps one of the strongest true demons, a Glabrezu. And it knows some spells. It casts Dispel Magic and drops Alzar’s protection. Alzar is still at -12 AC, and he’s fully healed and has numerous spell protections on, so he doesn’t stop. He slices and slays a Babassau this round for 44 damage. The Glabrezu tries Power Word Stun, which fails on the Free Action he has

Alzar’s axe slays another demon. And the Glabrezu gates in three more. And instead of casting Power Words themselves they gate in 7 more. And suddenly Alzar is facing too many Glabrezu to handle. These are harder to hit with a -7 AC, and Alzar starts taking some minor scratches as numerous attacks some his way, most demons of any power have 2 or 3 attacks, and he can’t fend them off forever. So he casts the Disintegrate spell from a scroll he grabbed, and targets a Glabrezu and…

It brakes his MR and….he tosses a 7 and dies. One Glabrezu dead, one Hezrou dead, and Alzar has slain more than 200 demons today. He shouts out that if they come after him again, next time, he’ll take out a lot more, and after he takes 8 damage from a claw, he leaves, and rturns to Pandius, three hours later.

Alzar has gained 185,000 XP. He is now a level 10 Cleric!

He gains a 5th level spell and another 4th as well.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar wants to push his point home. In the book he obtained called the Demonomicon of Iggwilv, there are numerous true names of various demons, including three demon princes. One demon prince was summoned and trapped in the Prison that Alzar procured, along with this book.

The Prison of Zagig only works if the truename of an individual is known. You have them in your room, use the true name, and then if the creature’s magic resistance and save fail, they shrink and pop inside the cage, with no magical abilities able to be used, and no need for food or drink. They cannot free themselves with magic or abilities. Prison is immune to damage or magic from both sides (in and out) and only a wizard of at least 4 levels o more of the one who seals it (in this case Alzar is level 27 for spells, so 31) could break it. Or a Wish spell. That’s all that can crack it. This exact Prison was used to imprison a demon prince, Graz’zt, that was summoned from spells via the Demononicon and the Prison.

Alzar could try to do the same. Alzar’s never really bothered with demons. They are unreliable, constantly struggling to fight you, and looking for a way to get out of any contract you make with them. Demons pretend to be a fast track to power, but never really reveal how much a caster loses by grabbing them. Alzar has no desire to summon them.

But now he wants to follow up the message.

He spends a few days creating a powerful summoning circle in a room that is not next to anyone. He carved it in a mountain hundreds of miles from his home, chosen randomly, with magical spells. He brought Gwifa over once to verify his circle was correct, and she did. He has checked it 10 times. The Circle should hold. Additionally, he has Protection from Evil, Chaos, and Demons ready to fall back on.

Unfortunately there are no Balor in the Demonomicon. That’s sad. But there is something else. Alzar doesn’t want to try a demon prince.

So he summons a Glabrezu

A few minutes later, it arrives, and Alzar prepares a Disintegration spell. He looks at the Glabrezu and casts a Spiritwrack spell. It writhes in pain for some time, and then Alzar ends it. The demon’s eyes are angered. But Alzar shows the scroll. He will disintegrate the demon and it will die, permanently, right here. Or, it can head back and keep other demons from coming after him. If they do, he’ll summon this Glabrezu here again, and disintegrate it. And remember, since Alzar knows your truename, you better do it!

Alzar sends the Glabrezu back. And then once/day for the next two weeks, Alzar will teleport there for a summoning, punish the demons, and send the message back. No more. Hopefully they get the message this time.

Only a Demon Prince or a Balor would have the power to authorize the attack on him. So he may have to aim highly.


End of the Assassination of Alzar. For now?

[Abe Sargent]

Month 10, Year 7 -

Month 10 - Harvest Festival - 15% of income that month

There’s a little more growth before Winter finally sets in.

Back to Bestiary…..


Viridis and Deforesting


One of the local Pathfinders in the local forests near the town of Rostock comes to Alzar to inform him of a dangerous sighting. A green dragon has been destroying the forest completely flying about and using its breath weapon as well as spells.

“That’s not really normal for a green dragon. They are very territorial normally. Maybe this isn’t its home? Have you seen this particular dragon before? You are sure? Then I need to track it down and find out what this stranger is doing in my realm.”


After securing the area with his crystal ball to ensure nothing dangerous there, he casts Mount, and then teleports the Griffin and himself over the forest, and they fly around exploring. They head out scouting. Azzil and Ak’Kabar peel off as well, giving him more eyes in the skies.

After a few hours, there was a green dragon sighted languishing in the forest, basking in the last rays of the sun before it peters out. Alzar spends some time scrying from afar. He has Zandran, the Serpentine Owl figurine head out and land on a nearby branch to put someone on location.

While holding up, a flock of harpies can see Alzar and fly up from the forest from a different angle. As they scream at him, the dragon hears the noise and moves off. Flying up and away. Alzar turns to face the harpies while the flyers head off to scout and keep the dragon in sight. He flies down to cast Wail of the Banshee as they arrive in range ,and most die. The others flee, and Alzar casts Death Spell to drop the rest. 14 harpies die.

Alzar begins to circle back to the dragon, and something else begins to fly up to the dragon. It’s another human, using Flying magic of some sort to rise. She reaches the dragon and orders it to grab her. She leaps on top and then whirls it around and swings back to Alzar, casting a spell and touching the dragon, it suddenly moves more quickly and seems to grow a bit. As she gets closer, she begins to cast spells:


Parin, Level 32, AC-4, 56 HP, THACo 14, 1d6+2 damage. Wears Ring of Pro +4, Quarterstaff +2, Ring of Air Command, Wand of Domination - 32 charges;


Green Dragon - Viridis - AC -5, 102 HP, ThAO7, deals 18d6+9 damage breathe, knows some magic too

[Abe Sargent]

As they approach, an Air Elemental she summoned before is also coming towards Alzar and his Griffin. Alzar pauses and swaps the griffin for his flying carpet, and send sit off.


Alzar pauses to cast Protection from Electricity (Cleric Spell) and then they reach extreme range.

4 vs 2

She leads with a Power Word Kill, aimed straight at Alzar - but his HP is too high for it. Alzar casts Mordenkainen’s Disjunction, and any potions, spells, or anything else she had is down.

The dragon Viridis breathes at him, a nasty poison gas, and he is immune, and takes no damage.


3 vs 8

Alzar casts Time Stop. As he concentrates, he casts…Strip Resistance and then Flesh to Stone on the dragon…and then….Banishment on the Air Elemental…Time Stop falls.

Results -

Banishment works - gone Air. Strip Resistance? It has 40% MR and it works, and drops the MR to 13%. Flesh to Stone needs to pass by and gets 71 to no MR, and then a save. Toss a 5 and its petrified and begins to fall to the ground very quickly

Alzar was hoping her Fly spell or effect would be up post-Cleaving, she must have a different way of flying. (Her Ring)



6 vs 9

Alzar wants to keep his foe from casting a spell to help the dragon before it’s too late. He needs to distract her, and casts Maze at her. She disappears for 3 rounds, and in a few seconds, the dragon falls, cracks some trees, and breaks in multiple places.

Dead dragon.

He spends the next couple of rounds flying in to where she was and preparing to melee her on arrival.

7 vs 4

She pops out and gets the first spell off and casts Time Stop herself. She gets two rounds and she casts Power Word Blind and she grabs a gem and cracks it, summoning the demon that she used Trap the Soul on, and demands that it attack Alzar.

End of Time Stop


Power Word Blind - automatically works on someone with 100 or fewer hp, and for 1d4+1 rounds. Alzar’s Ring of Spell Turning gets….20% back forcing a save by both. She make sit, he does not. Alzar is blinded for 3+1 - four rounds.

Alzar is now facing a Chasme demon as well.

[Abe Sargent]

2 vs 5

Alzar can’t cast anything, but his blind fighting proficiency allows him to keep fighting. She has pulled back, so he focuses on the Chasme. 10, 19 and 3 tossed - hit with Axe twice for 9+30- 39 damage. (5 for enchantment, 3 for skill, 7 for STR). The chasme misses him, and she casts Finger of Death at him. He reflects 30%. She gets a save at +7 and him at +3. Both make it.

5 vs 1

She casts and summons a greater Air Elemental to attack . Alzar swings,....2, 14, 4 -hits once for 19 and slays the chasme.


3 vs 4

Alzar pulls over at the Air and swings and….hits with shield and axe once each. 28. The Air swirls around him for 14 damage. She switches tactics and casts Dispel Magic at the area around Alzar to drop his defenses.


66/80

5 vs 3

A Lightning Bolt is cast and Alzar reflects back 60% but she is immune. Alzar takes 40% damage of 10d6. 34 rolled, and Alzar takes 14 save for 7. The Air misses. Alzar hits the Air just once for 20..

59/80

6 vs 1.

She casts a 4th level Acid Blast spell at him, and again he redirects back…50%. She rolls 46 damage., each take 23, and no save is allowed. The Air hits Alzar for 11. Alzar uses his final round blind to attack and tosses a 7, 16, and 12 and hits twice for 21.

25/80

5 vs 6

Alzar can see again, and casts Cure Critical Wounds and heals 40. A pair of Wyverns are summoned by her with a Monster Summoning Spell. The Air hits for 11 again.

54/80

3 vs 5

Alzar casts the Priest spell Abjure on the Greater and…..it fails. Ah well. The wyverns can’t get close to hitting him, and the Air missies to.. She quaffs an extra healing pot this round to fully heal from the acid burst


1 vs 2

Alzar casts Polymorph Other on a Wyvern, to turn it into an elephant. It rolls a 4 and fails, and it’s probably going to die when it smashes into the ground in a round. Alzar is attacked and…3 by the wyvern, 16 by the Air - take 13 damage, and she casts another summoning spell and calls forth a trio of air grue - an Ildriss

Ildriss - AC 2, HP 24, Thaco 17, 3d4 damage, always win initiative and attack first, need _2 weapon to hit. NE

41/80

5 vs 8

The grues attack first and they all need a natural 20 to touch him. None do. Alzar casts Hold Monster on the Wyvern and….it works. Paralyzed wyvern, also begins to fall from the sky. G Air gets…a 10 and that misses. (needs an 11). She flies over to Alzar and casts Shocking Grasp on him for 18 damage

23/80

1 vs 6

The grues miss. Alzar casts Cure again for 40. That’s his last 5th level cleric spell. She casts Wish to age five years, and strips Alzar of the magic protection of his rings for the rest of combat. The Air misses.

63/80

He heard the wish. What to do? Flee? Remain here without the Spell Turning of his Ring? She’s good. He’s fighting in her domain, with all of the aerial spells and allies she has, he suspects she’s an Air Elementalist. It’s time for him to flee.

5 vs 3

The grues misses. The Air hits for 13. She casts Disintegrate at him for…nothing - he makes his save. He casts Teleport without Error and flees


50/80

[Abe Sargent]

XP -

Chasme - 14000
Wyvern - 1400x2
Dragon - 18000
Air - 4500

39300 XP total


Alzar is now a level 11 Thief


Open Locks: 50
Find/Remove Traps: 95
Move Silently: 95
Hide in Shadows: 95
Climb Walls: 80
Read Languages: 15
Evasion: 60


He spends the day recovering after teleporting back home. The pathfinder sends a few others here and there to check for any signs of anything antagonistic towards the forest. After a few days, nothing has been reported. Perhaps, without her dragon, she has chosen to leave?


Parin is new to the Norwold, coming from mainland Alphatia and was simply looking to eliminate locals from the area, nowhere near civilization, in order to level stuff, and clear it out, in order to build a tower and home there. Since Alzar showed up and indicated a high level of magical command, she decided to research him, found out who he was, and felt that there was nothing her for her and she is long since gone. Parin was NE, and therefore content with the moral victory of driving Alzar away, despite losing her dragon, and leaves.

End of Viridis and the Deforestation

[Abe Sargent]

After spending time with them, doing more research and such, Alzar is gaining the Dragon Lore proficiency.



Month 11, Year 7 -

Growth has ended for the year. King Ericall announced the birth of his first child, Princess Luzanne. Alzar heads to the capital for eight days of feasting and celebrations. There’s a few tournaments held in her honor.

Alzar is participating in three - archery, jousting, and melee.


Archery -

Because Alzar is now good with a bow, he may have a better shot than before. He is randomly assigned Allisa Patrician, a fighter, to bow against in the first round. He is using a short Bow and arrows provided. Allisa is using a long bow. After they each fire, thy check their scores. Alzar hits the target 1, 2, 3, 4 times, misses once, and hits the bullseye once. She makes all of the shots, and hits center twice. Alzar is out.

Melee -

Fighters are given non magical weapons of their choice - Alzar’s axe vs a cavalier in the service of Fergus the Justifier She is using a long sword. Magic detection is used to ensure nothing else is being used. After a few rounds, Alzar finishes the cavalier off.,

Alzar advances. Next he faces a Knight of King Ericall’s who is using a scimitar. After battle, again Alzar advances. In the third round - with 16 entrants left, Alzar is facing another sword user - this time Allisa, who also advanced. She narrowly loses, and Alzar advances to the quarter finals.

These are the finest melee fighters in the land. The first is Sir Ernest Day. Alzar faces him, and Ernest is using sword as well. And…..Alzar loses. Pretty badly too. Ernest has like 120 hp and 18/77 STR naturally, a much better THACo, and has greater expertise in his weapon than Alzar has in his trusty axe


Jousting -

Alzar’s expertise in riding, and his specialization therein, enable him to win the first round, despite not being proficient in the lance, but he’s dropped in the next round.




At the end of the tournament and celebrations, the King announces a few new baronies and dominions are being awarded.

[Abe Sargent]

Month 12, Year 7 -

No major incidents in the domain other than a cold snap that brings a blizzard near the end of the month. With magically provided warmth in places that need it, it’s survivable.

Alzar applies the XP he learned this year as a ruler to his Fighter class. He’s almost ready to level up.

Alzar has a bunch of spare weapon prophecies he could learn. His Scholar Priest kit lets him spend weapons as non-weapons for free if he wants.

He gains:

Steady Hand - Penalties for firing at long range are now just -2.

He’s also improving his Aleph Proficiency, to max. He can now use it, without fail, to modify the duration, range or give a target a -2 save to his spells (just one/spell)


Alzar’s year of studying with the Shadow Mage Gwifa is at an end, and here are the spells that he gains from her:

4th -

Gloom Ravens - Conjuration, 2 rnds/level, summons 1d4+1 huge ravens from Demiplane of Shadow, Sent up to 1 mile away after summoned, Alzar can se through their eyes, no need to concentrate,

Guardian Shadow - Summoning, Necromancy, 1 day/level; - Binds an undead shadow to the caster’s actual shadow. A melee attack aimed at the caster’s back will prompt to the guardian shadow to attack, and take the hit meant for Alzar, fight to the death afterwards.


5th -

Transport via Shadow. Alteration, caster and stuff can hop from one shadow on a plane to another. It works by pushing the caster into the Demiplane of Shadow, and then emerging from any other shadow on the plane unharmed. And, as Alzar arrives, he can choose not to come out of that shadow, due to too many people there and such, and instead head to another shadow the next round. Otherwise, works precisely like teleport.

6th -

Shadowtheft - Charm, Alteration, 1 day/lvel. Target’s shadow is removed and placed I an container. Lose half of their CON value. No save, at twilight, caster can summon a shadowy duplicate of original with half level and skills, and no memories. Performs tasks as ordered for one full night, and then dies at dawn and the shadow returns. Duplicate looks like target.

Summon Slow Shadow - Conjuration, Remains until slain. 1 slow shadow summoned. Casting time is 3 hours. Cast just once/month. Can attack too.


7th -

Death Shade - Necromancy, every living human, humanoid, and such within 1 mile/level takes 1 damage. Cannot be healed save by magic.


Slow Shadow - CE, AC8, HD4 ThACO 17, 1d4+Slowed (as per spell) and -1 DEX drain. Attach secretly to someone’s shadow, and then hit automatically each round. +2 or better to hit. Dead victims become slow shadows.

Gloom Raven - N, AC 6, THACo 19, HP 5, (10 at dusk.dawn), never surprised, used 1d6 shadow images like mirror image.



Alzar drops a Guardian Shadow and summons his first Slow Shadow this month.

[Abe Sargent]

By the end of the month, here is the March’s finances:

648733 Income

EXPENSES – 33,330 + Tithe, Taxes

Military – 17,590
Navy – 2750
March Staff - 3,420
Specialist Staff – 8050
Stronghold Staff - 7160
Taxes to Ericall – 20% (13100)
Tithe to Matter Temple – 10% (6500)


End of Year 7

[Abe Sargent]

Army of Trolls

As Alzar begins one of the first days of Year 8, he hears about a large group of ice trolls that have moved into the nearby Ljallenvals. The peaks have always have a bit of an icy frost and ice creatures there. But there is a family moving in under the cover of the recent blizzard. Alzar decides to check it out, first with his crystal ball


After verifying and scrying their location, Alzar waits until evening. Here’s the bas of what he sees:

Ice Trolls are very small, extremely intelligent versions of a troll. Smarter than an average human, and just a weaker 2 hd creature, they learn to subjugate other creatures that aren’t; as smart. They are NE to a troll’s normal CE. There are 12 or so here. Additionally, there is a mated pair of Giant Two-Headed Trolls there as well, acting as muscle. There are some Winter Wolves that they’ve tamed - roughly 15 or 20, animals that are tamed, some scavengers that they use for cleaning - 2 Crystal oozes, and a few others.

The Winter Wolves ar the major threat. Each can breathe a nasty cold-based attack that deals 6d4 damage per wolf. Alzar needs some Cold Protection.

Alzar leads by casting the Priest Spell - Resist Cold. He also swaps the Ring of Spell Turning for one of Warmth. The spell gives him +3 on cold based saves, and he takes half damage if he fails and ¼ if he makes his save. The Warmth ring acts as +2 vs cold based stuff and -1 damage per die rolled. So the combination means that a Winter Wolf, as one example would do:

+5 to save for ¼ damage, ½ otherwise
Would deal 6d4-6 damage

Alzar teleports over to do a quick inspection/ He flies around with the Flying Carpet. He notices something in the far distance., on the plane north of here about 25-30 miles, but he stays here for now.

According to the various things he saw, the cave inhabited by the Ice Trolls is about 5 natural caverns and gentle slopes. He spies a pair of Ice Trolls on patrol, with two wolves each.

The first room in the complex is big, and has the giant two headed foes both there. There are two corridors off it, and neither can fit down them. These are Alzar’s first foes. The Winter Wolves are a problem, but 6d4 damage would average 15 a toss. -6 is 9. Half that is 4/5 damage normally, and 2/3 if he makes his save. Alzar won’t be taking much here.

Alzar flies down and casts Wail of the Banshee as he does, wanting to hit the guards and the giants. Everyone in the complex hears him, and they shout out and manage a defense.

[Abe Sargent]

Meanwhile the giants are find, but two ice trolls and 3 wolves are dead. The last one breathes on him and he takes 6 damage from it.

74/80


Dead - 2 ice trolls; 3 w wolves;

6 vs 7

Alzar leads by casting Power Word Stun on a giant troll and….it is stunned for 3 rounds. The other one roars both heads at him and smashes, but misses. Ice trolls and wolves are pouring out of both exits and will be fighting next round.

9 vs 1

Alzar takes 6 breath attacks from 6 wolves that emerge and takes 2, 3, 3, 2, 5, and 4. The troll misses, and Alzar takes one stab from an ice troll for 4. More foes peel out. Many ice trolls are throwing icicles at Alzar and attacking him from afar, Alzar cast Death Spell and drops 7 ice trolls dead. Every one here died.

51/80


Dead - 9 ice trolls; 3 w wolves;

1 vs 6

Alzar grabs his axe and tears into the stunned troll and hits for 51 damage and….it has 31 left. Alzar is hit buy four more wolves that emerge for 3, 6, 5, and 2. One wolves from the first round snaps and hits him for 4.

34/80

2 vs 9

Alzar finishes the stunned giant troll. He is it twice for 8 total damage.

26/80


3 vs 7

Alzar casts Vampiric Touch, and kills a wolf to heal himself of 27 damage He takes a giant smashed for 12 and a bite for 3.


Dead - 9 ice trolls; 4 w wolves; 1 giant 2 troll;

38/80


7 vs 8

Alzar casts Cure Critical and heals 40. No one hits him this turn

78/80


5 vs 3

Alzar takes 8 from two bites. The giant misses. He hoists the axe and carves into a giant for 34 damage. The other giant is almost regenerated back to health. The ice trolls need to be immersed in water to heal. They are pretty weak.

70/80

8 vs 6

Alzar is missed by wolve,s and takes a giant club with the giant for 15. Alzar finishes it off.

55/80

5 vs 9

In order to finish the trolls off this turn, Alzar casts Produce Flame and makes a small fire that lights up the two dead trolls. It deals no magical damage or anything, but it consumes them both - no regen. He is missed/

7 vs 4

Alzar takes 3. Then he spins and grabs the skull of a ice troll and casts Skulltrap and drops in right where he is. Alzar and the various wolves here all take - 38 damage. Save for half. Alzar takes half. Any wolf that fails is dead. 6 die, 4 flee. Alzar casts Evard’s Black Tentacles on those fleeing to hold them, and they all die.

After slaying these, he heads into the caves. Three ice trolls fled, and Alzar runs into the oozes, and slays them from afar with his bow. With his specialization, he is able to move faster than they do and fire half his normal rate.

He has cleaned out the group:


13 winter wolf pelts (each is worth 2000-5000 gp for size and sheen after being cured and such)


Ice Troll blood is good for things like Cold Resistance potions or other anti-cold stuff, he grabs some of that too.

He finds:

1089 gp worth of various smaller coins.
A few beat up weapons and armor of various sizes shred and scattered, cloth, and ore.

Alzar casts Animate on the two skeletons and moves them to Ith-Khinax


XP - 20, 300. With the 10% XP bonus, Alzar is now level 9 as a fighter!

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar flies out to check on the thing he saw earlier, and it’s a giant Cryohydra, a cold-based Hydra that has a ton of heads and lives up here.


Cryohydra - 11 heads, 88 hp, each head can breathe 8 hp steam of frost, 11 attacks for 2d4 damage, THACo 9, AC 2.

Nasty thing. Alzar resets the Resist Cold spell before getting in range, and then heads in


Alzar will take 4 save to 2 with the Spell on. So at most 44 and at least 22.

1 vs 5

Alzar remains out of range, and then Teleports next to it. The fastest way to deal with a Hydra is to melee it. Any extra damage just slays one head. So a lightning Bolt hits one head, and kills it, no matter how much damage is dealt. The Hydra breaths and Alzar takes 33 (I decded to skip the dice and just average it)

47/80

5 vs 9

Alzar’s axe is out and he slashes one, and then bashes another, missing one - 2 heads are head, now just 9 attacks. They hit the 19 needed to hit three times for 5, 4, and 3 damage. 12 total

35/80

7 vs 4

Alzar takes 9 from two hits. He casts Cure Critical and uses his last level 5 spell and heals 40

66/80

5 vs 2

Alzar takes 18 from 3. Then he destroys two more heads

48/80

2 vs 8

Alzar kills three this time. 4 left They miss.

9 vs 3

Alzar takes 1 hit for 7. He kills two heds

8 vs 4

Alzar slays the monster after being missed


He’ll heal via regen again. Yay for Ioun stones. 11k for the Hydra, again, it has to go to fighter.

He skins it too and heads back.


End of Army of Trolls

[Abe Sargent]

Two days later Alzar teleports to Barkal the Red’s barbarian camp and checks in with them. The huge numbers of Frost Giants have once again crossed the ice covered bays to the north and are raiding, and like normal, ever since Alzar brought the barbarians together, hit them hard, and keep them from begin a major menace.

Alzar wants to launch a major raid, solo, using his new found powers. He has memorized a special anti-giant slate of spells, and wants to use them to bring down as many giants as he can. There is a raiding party of 240 frost giants in a nearby crevasse, and Alzar is going to head over and smash them.



Alzar -

Pulls Aleph out of a Warp Marble
Pulls Android Bodyguard from Iron Flask

The bodyguard will be firing a crossbow of speed, and Aleph moving in to punch and smash

Alzar builds a fire and then summons:

Earth and Greater Earth Elementals from his spells
4 16 hd elementals, one of each, from the Face of Xenous
1 8 hd Water, 1 8 HD fire, 1 12 HD air and 2 Earths from his items
Invisible Stalker
Searing Serpent
Pack of 6 shadows
5 berserksers from Horn
All figurines
Some Animal Spirits


Alzar moves his army with Mass Teleport over and on the Frost Giants and battle begins!


Alzar casts Time Stop, flies to a side away from the creatures he dropped, and casts first Protection from Normal Missiles and then Wail of the Banshee and he gets a 3rd spell and its Mass Domination

Alzar is immune to their thrown boulders, and the Wail kills many and he dominates more and orders them to attack their former colleagues. He simultaneously flanks them. On one side are dead and dominated giants, and on the other is his elemental horde and friends. Let’s toss some dice



By the end of the day, the Frost Giants have fled, and Alzar kills 112. A pair of Frost Giant priests Abjured the elementals and prevented it from being a great catastrophe.

I am halving the amount of XP Alzar would normally get (he would get 800,000) just to keep things sane.


Welcome to level 10 as a fighter (Getting close to level 11)

Frankly, Alzar could kill probably 50 frosts a day for the next week, and gain enough XP to finish his quests and get to 12 in everything. But nah. I feel, as a GM, that this is too similar to how he’s operated in the past. Alzar has killed so many giants ,and I always give him reduced XPs for these major battles as well. (I mean, if I gave Alzar 800k today, and then 450k a day for a week, he’d get 3 mill XP by the end of the week, and after all of that, Alzar would gain a ton of mage levels even, and be roughly level 36. (375k is one level for mage). He would max out.

We can’t have that. I want Alzar to experience some amount of danger and to push him.

So instead, he’s getting closer and closer to 12th in everything - 10th in fighter (almost 11th), 11 thief, and 10 cleric.

[Abe Sargent]

Later this month, the College of Wizardry has agreed to promote a journeyman necromancer that Alzar was helped tutor to full blown wizard. Alzar sees this as a bit of a sign, and he Wolrdwalks over everything that he has or procured from that tower in Khaibar. In particular, he brings over the golem making equipment, backup gold and coins and potions, and moves them all into a secret location on Pandius. Then he turns over the tower back to the city. He spends a few hours flying of the Sand Mire. The river to the east that he brought back is running smoothly, and water, and life are springing back there. Plants have returned over there, and habitation at a few towns and cities are occurring. The Oasis of the White Palm’s troops have helped restore order and dervishes protect new trading routes.



The first of what will likely be more Shadow Magi that are seeking the illusive secret for turning somebody, including themselves into a Shade has arrived. Gwifa found out that Alzar knew, and told others he was willing to trade. Alzar has made a few bookcopies of the info, and is willing to trade for stuff. Most Prime Material planes have the secrets and rites to making a shade either not known at all (Pandius) or lost in the mists of time (Thorasia). On Hamedh, Alzar found it when a newly-turned-shade began to attack him. Alzar tells the seeker that he’ll either trade it for extremely rare lore that helps him, or alternatively, has a list of a few magical items he’d swap it for. Examples of rare lore include how to animate and all about unique undead, or unique constructs, that sort of thing/.

The first one has precisely the sort of item he’s looking for. A Manual of Steady Pilfering. A thief or other rogue who reads it automatically gains one level. Alzar wants to keep it for now, until he’s finished his quest as a polymath, and then use it to gain a free level. He’s already used the ones for wizards and warriors, so only an evil cleric is left. (That one is called the Book of Vile Darkness)


Alzar hires a pair of sages and wizards who are collectors and lovers of books. Their job is to head out and try to acquire valuable and rare books on behalf of Alzar. Alzar teaches them his Bookcopy spells, and then his Bookmend spell as well. Then they head out and purchase a book, they make a copy for themselves, and then Alzar gets the original. Their pay is the spells, and their copy of these books. Alzar only pays for the price of these books and that’s it.

He is expanding the paper making and book binding industry in Evenarrow, his home town. This expansion comes from the treasury of the March.


He is also expanding the Alchemist in Saffir, the town to the north that makes a bunch of potions. She made the Acid Breath potions for him. Her facilities are improving. Meanwhile, the next round of silver and mercury for a 3rd Silver Golem is almost ready.

After this, Alzar will have the foundry move to making the body of a Stone Golem instead, using the stuff from Hamedh that he brought over.

[Abe Sargent]

Month 1, Year 8 -

Year’s End Divine Liturgy – 5% of income that month



Begin Adventure Pack I





The Weird Woods of Barony of Hvittland


One of the new Baronies in Norwold is Hvittland, south of the capitals estate by about 15 hexes, just south of the Wyrmsteeth range, east by five-ish hexes of Oceansend, and south of places like the Barony of Twolakes Vale or other places Alzar has been.

Hvittland has a lot of woods, and ever since he arrived about 6 weeks ago, Trent il Bianco has begun to have issues with extremely weird things happening in the nearby woods. As Alzar has developed a bit of a local reputation of a problem solver, Trent has sent for aid with one of his councilors. Alzar agrees and teleports both down to take a look.

Alzar flies around the Barony a bit, and it’s defiantly raw. It’s trying to create a living from harsh wilderness in places. There is one main community, on the border of the woods, and the Barony is two hexes large.

Alzar gets some info on the fledgling barony. Baron Trent il Bianco did not meet with folks prior to creating his Barony or checking it out. Instead he sort of just looked at a map. He had dreams of carving out his Barony from the wilderness, and looked forward to leading his men in battle against the wilderness

Instead of an enemy that can be attacked and defeated, the woods themselves have been acting oddly and strangely. Plants have attacked and slain. Animals that are normally peaceful plant eaters are attacking. There’s no army, no evil enemy, nothing

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar grabs his crystal ball and scrys the area out for a half hour. There are a few odd places - ruins, an old black tower, and more. The baron doesn’t have too much info on them, but they could be the keys to unlocking the issues.

Alzar wants to experience it for himself, so he gets a quick roughly-drawn map that includes the odd areas that are acting up. This will give him a perimeter to check on the ground.

He turns the Obsidian Steed figurine into a war charger horse, and then heads out, looking like a scout or mage.

About an hour after he leaves their settlement, he begins to notice a slight tinge of change on the colors of some of the plants that are flanking the path. He descends from the horse for a better look and moves around. They have a yellowish cast to them. But he’s not an expert in plants, botany, plant lore or anything else, and these aren’t Herbs.

There’s a small path to the left, and Alzar checks it out. As he does, a nearby tree gently bends a limb towards him, almost like it’s moving in the breeze, but it loops a branch around Alzar’s neck like a noose and pulls him up off the ground!!!





This is a Hangman Tree. It looks like a thick oak, but tries to pull victims up and kill them. Alzar takes 4 hp damage in actual damage to his neck, but is mostly fine, and won’t suffocate easily. It releases a relaxing perfume in order to put its prey at ease, but Alzar is immune. It begins to pull him towards a stomach of acidic qualities. He can’t reach the axe on his back, so he reaches down to grab a spell component instead, a bit of flint. Alzar concentrates and casts Flame Strike (Priest spell). The tree takes 31 damage, and it has 20% magic resistance and….43 rolled, fails, fails its save and….it’s still alive.

It sends another hangman noose to secure Alzar, and grabs his leg. Alzar grabs the dagger Unifex from his belt and begins to hack at the branch and vine on him. After a round, he has hacked himself free and then stabs his axe into the tree once to finish it.


XP 1400

[Abe Sargent]

As Alzar moves out there’s a shaking in the plants, and a tri-flower frond fires a group of sharp, acidic, petals at him. He takes 11 acid damage. Alzar has fought these before and recalls how to finish them. As he’s securing stuff form a Bag of Holding, another hits him for 10. Alzar grabs a Thunderpot and drops it into the area and cleans out three tri-flower fronds, and a large 20’ diameter area

1260 XP

Alzar casts Cure Moderate Wounds and heals 20 damage (Regen won’t help acid damage)

79/80 after his regen is over

After a few moments, a trio of deer are moving over to the left. As they close, they break towards Alzar. They cast spells at him! Magic Missile, Lightning Bolt, and Flame Arrow fly out and he doesn’t have his Magic Missile Deflection gem out. He takes 21, 33, and 26 damage (Saves for half and makes it for the Bolt)

He does have his Amulet on though, like normal, with a 50% MR and….all three hit (rolls11, 11 and 14 - 10 or less on a d20 would have worked).

15/80

As the magical energies cascade into him from three deer, Alzar heals 40 (no more 5th level cleric spells.

2 vs 3

Alzar casts Skulltrap and destroys the deer. He swings over to check them out. They have been dead for a few days. There are remnants of a plant, Oblivax, in them. This is a moss that kills and moves a dead creature around, and it has the memories of anything killed by the Oblivax, including spells. Alzar swaps over to the Spell Turning Ring.

XP - 1500

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar spends some time checking things out more cautiously. He also has regened the non-fire damage, but healed that, so he’s back to 80/80


After an hour, only a few rabid rodents were slain. Nothing else of note.

However, all of the sudden, 13 snakes burst forth from various points of the path. Some some from trees ,one from underground, and others from the left, right, front and behind. All of these snakes are quite large, and although some aren’t dangerous, they are moving to attack with bite or constrict.

Quick dice.


He is barely touched, everything regens, and he slays them


1300 XP

The path is winding and twisting towards that black tower he saw before.


About 30 minutes later, Alzar comes across something downright nasty. A Choke Creeper:





This is one of the largest plants Alzar has ever seen, and certainly the biggest dangerous one. It’s a huge tree, that can move, with a huge number of vines that has been sprawled among trees for around a mile, and they can lash down from any of those trees for about a mile diameter around the central tree. Here are it’s stats:

Choke Creeper - AC 6 for vine, 5 for body; HD 25, HP150, Thaco - 2, # of attacks - 4/tree; 2d4 damage per attack; Immune to elemental damage (fire, cold, electric, etc) -24000 XP - Vine has 10 hp

(I made it more powerful than normal, but most of it is as described)

Alzar’s never encountered one of these before

Four vines slash down from a nearby tree. With their great THACO, they only need a 7 to hit Alzar unaugmented. He’s hit three times for 5, 6, and 3 - 14 damage in an ambush

66/80

Roll for init

4 vs 2. Alzar takes 19. His Axe is out and he slashes and slays two vines.


1 vs 3

Alzar finishes the last two vines. But slaying them does not damage the main tree. There are countless trees here. Alzar sits down and scrys out ahead. He finds the head tree. The ones all of these vines are heading too. This is a nasty nasty tree. He returns the horse to Obsidian and swaps to his flying carpet. He gently floats out from this tree, at the edge of the territory of this choke creeper.

49/80 (After regen starts)


Alzar floats up above the canopy. Then he heads up some more. He wants to get to the main tree and take it out. He flies over, and moves towards it. Some vines change direction to hit him in the air, and stab up from the trees, and he has to fly up higher after getting hit twice

41/80

From up here Alzar casts Cure Serious Wounds and heals 30, and then grabs Unifex and casts teleport from it and heads to the base of the tree. Time to fight.



72/80 (Regen)

3 vs 8

Alzar begins by trying to hack and slay it. It takes 45. Alzar takes 21 damage from vines. He dodges one with evasion too.

51/80


4 vs 3

Alzar fails the dodge and takes 14. Another 39 is doled out.

37/80


1 vs 9

Alzar casts Vampiric Touch and drains 26 and then takes 19

44/80

6 v 8

Alzar hacks for 40 even. Fails his dodge and takes 16.

28/80

7 vs 2

They hit him for 17 and he doesn’t know how many HP this thing has, so to play it safe, he quaffs a potion of super healing. Gains 50.

61/80

6 vs 4

Alzar dodges and then takes 14 from two hits.

Alzar carves into it and ….its dead


47/80


25000 XP

Vines fall down from trees all over. The Choke Creeper is dead.

[Abe Sargent]

The Creeper blocked off a huge grove to the back and Alzar now sees it.

It’s the bodyguard….



There in the grove is a druid that is currently empowering some animals to become stronger…


Druid Orchid - Level 19 Druid, N Ac -2, hp, 110, THACO 5, 1d8+3 from +3 Scimitar;

Bodyguards:

2 Brown Bears:

1 Dark Treant:

3 Animated Trees:

12 hd Earth Elemental

10 giant beetles


Orchid casts Call Lightning and a Lightning Bolt cracks down from the sky on Alzar for…..41 damage and….40% is redirected and….none hits his MR. Alzar takes 13 damage from his save. Orchid took 10.

The various bodyguards close on Alzar.


2 vs 8

Alzar isn’t ready. He’s at 39/80 hp, and hasn’t readied.

So he casts Time Stop


Wail of the Banshee, Cure Moderate Wounds, and….he casts Banishment on the Elemental….


Resolve:

He heals 20
Wail kills 7 beetles, and the bears make their save (plants and elemental are immune, druid not in range).
Banish…..it tosses a 5 and it is banished.


Gone

59/80

7 vs 4

Animated trees smash into Alzar once for 8 damage and the beetles miss, and one of the6 attacks from bears scratch him for 3. The druid casts Creeping Doom and assembles a huge swarm of insects more than 1000 strong. They begin to move out to Alzar. Since they are small and non-magical, Alzar casts Anti-Vermin Barrier to keep himself safe from them.

48/80

1 vs 6

Alzar casts Blastbones and does 11 necromantic damage in a pretty big area. He takes 11 too. It clears out the insects, and kills the beetles, and wounds the trees, and bears. The Treant casts Entangle at Alzar, but hits his Magic Resistance. Alzar dodges one tree blow and is clawed twice for 6. The druid thinks Alzar is kill-able and casts Cause Critical Wounds, which would normally do 40 damage. So, let’s check Magic Resist first - tosses a 9, stopped. 50% chance of hitting it.

33/80

4 vs 7

Alzar casts the stored spell Vampiric Touch from storage and drains and slays a bear. He gains 18 (all that it had left). A tree attacks and hits and…he dodges. The dark one casts Entangle again, and this time it cracks his MR, but he is immune with Free Action. The druid casts Dispel Magic on Alzar and drops his spells.

51/80

3 vs 4

Alzar’s spell Evard’s Black Tentacles at the Dark Treant and Druid do some damage and tie them down. He takes a tree-smash for 9. The druid casts Dispel Magic and dispels the tentacles. The Dark Treant moves closer to melee range with its big tree branch

42/80

9 vs 5

Alzar dodges a tree, hits a claw, and that’s for 5 damage. The druid casts Cure Serious wounds on himself. Alzar’s axe is up and he kills one of the animated trees and shield-pounches a wounded bear for 14.

37/80

6 vs 8

Alzar slashes and finishes the wounded bear and badly damages a tree. No one even hits him in melee, and the druid casts another Cause Critical Wounds and….Alzar tosses 16 and it hiuts through his MR. Ring of Spell turning? 50/50. Alzar takes 20, and the druid does as well

17/80

[Abe Sargent]

8 vs 7

The treant hits Alzar for 15 but…..he tosses a 29 and dodges. The 3rd tree can’t touch him. The Druid tries to finish off a badly wounded Alzar and casts….(no more 6th level magic, sad) Flame Strike. All he has left that’s reliable. Alzar tosses a 15 and it penetrates his MR. 60% reflected. He takes 16. Alzar should take 12 but….he has fire immunity and…..saves auto for half and can….yup saves and has just 6. With a badly wounded body, and no strong healing magic left, and both Vampiric Touches gone, and his Time Stop used up, Alzar needs some healing strongly. Alzar uses his stored Teleport spell. He teleports home to his castle in Evenarrow, and just outside of the temple, he orders some healing and in ten rounds Alzar has been fully healed, and his Magist is here. Alzar scrys and checks things out, and then is teleported back.






The druid, tree, and dark Treat were fully healed as well while he was out. Alzar casts Major Globe of Invulnerability and moves in.

3 vs 1

The Dark Treant animates another tree, the animated one misses him, the druid calls him a coward and casts Dispel Magic at Alzar’s Globe. Alzar’s axe smashes and slays the tree. One left.


1 vs 2

Alzar’s axe carves into the summoned tree and finishes it. He steps close to the dark treant. It smashes him for 14 and….27 - he dodges. The druid shifts to a powerful form of a huge earth elemental and moves to melee Alzar, with different stats now.


9 vs 3

Alzar is misses by the Treant, and smashed hard by the Elemental/Druid and….tosses a 93 and misses his dodge - he takes 2. Alzar’s axe smashes the dark treant for 41

59/80

9 vs 5

Alzar is missed. And then the Elemental misses too. Alzar’s axe smashes and slays the Treant.


4 vs 3

The druid smashes and….hits for 17 and….Alzar tosses a 53 and dodges. Alzar hits for 40 even.

5 vs 1


Realizing that this is over for now, the Druid shifts, and intones a word and his ring glows, and he disappears. Word of Recall? So this grove is not his normal home?

Alzar checks over things. Here’s nothing left from the battle.


22600 XP

Alzar spies a small cave entrance at the back of the grove and uses the Star to check things out. There’s a magical trap in the front (Symbol), and a mechanical one after. Alzar avoids one and disarms the other and moves in.

[Abe Sargent]

The cave has multiple traps in it. There is food, accoutrements of living, like furniture and such, and a few decorations in here. At the back is another trap - Fire Trap, and an altar, with the druid here, fully healed., and with a scroll in hand.

Alzar casts Dispel Magic (as a priest) at the traps and they disappear. The druid reads a scroll and casts Holy Ground. Any creatures fighting against him here lose any magic resistance. Alzar loses his MR.

4 vs 8

Alzar moves in and slashes with his axe and….hits the Druid once, and destroys his protection spell, and then again for 22 damage. The Druid casts Ironskins, basically a druid version of stone skin.


88/110

2 vs 8

Alzar casts priest Dispel again to drop it. Alzar’s not letting that through. The Druid looks over at Alzar and smiles. He casts a spell from the scroll, begins to shift to Earth Elemental form, and says, “Gotcha”

He casts Earthquake….

And Alzar is missing his MR


The druid is immune to the effects of the spell

As they are underground, the ceiling collapses. Alzar takes 5d12 damage. 7+8+1+5+7 - 28 damage (nosaves or anything either)

52/80

Alzar is pinned, and this is something that free action won’t help with (much like it didn’t help with a noose around his neck earlier). Alzar can’t move his arms for somatic components, o material ones, for casting a spell. He can cast verbal-only magic. He casts the stored spell Vocalize. It’s normally used to cast spells user a Silence effect of some sort, it truns all spells into vocal-only

6 vs 4

The druid merges with the earth and moves next to Alzar and punches him - 22 damage - it’s a free auto hit. Alzar casts Conjure Greater Earth Elemental, and suddenly he has an ally more powerful than the form attacking him. And better suited for the environment.

30/80


2 vs 8

Alzar conjures an Earth Elemental while the greater one pushes back the druid and swing and misses. The druid can’t get to Alzar with his earth bodyguards and pulls back He can’t fight two elementals at once.

Alzar’s elemental frees him and drag him out, while the greater chases down the druid, who can’t flee by heading into the earth from this foe.

Alzar casts two Cure Light wounds in these rounds to heal 10 each.


50/80

Alzar sends the other Earth against the druid.

The druid pops back to the corridor, shifts back, and then tries to outspell the elementals but he has no Abjure spells left (all level 4 spells were used) that would send one back. In a few rounds, Alzar and his elementals win.



Alzar gains 27800 for the druid

In the rest of the caves that survived he finds:

Ring of Ironskins - casts the spell once/day


About 25000 gp worth of exotic gems, rare ores, and such.

107 texts in druidic runes on nature, animals, plants, and earth



And that’s it. Mostly various accoutrements of druid life, that have no value.

Alzar flies back to the Baron and certifies that the area has been cleared out and the animals and plants will end. The druid probably just didn’t like that. After verifying everything is good to go, Alzar casts Mass Teleport for just himself and heads back to his dominion.

End of The Weird Woods of Baron Orchid

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar gained 79460 -= enough to level up as a Fighter, or to get close as the others. He takes the level


Level 11 Fighter

Each time Alzar levels up as a fighter his THACo rises, by the by. It’s gone from 14 to 11.


That druid was strong. Stronger than Alzar expected. He’s blown through combats with wizards much more easily than that stupid druid. (I increased his level from 11 ot19 and figured Alzar would still walk through him, and wow did he not. I tossed the dark treant and its trees in for the final confrontation as well as some animals, but it went well. )


Alzar replaces the three stored spells with the same (Teleport, Vocalize, Vamp Touch)


End of Adventure Pack 1 for now

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar moves back and two days later is ready for another adventure. He casts Worldwalk and returns to Thorasia, and the rock he took is from the Isle of Dread. That’s where he pops up. The island is still extreme with dinosaurs and such. Alzar wants to check on something.

He arrives and flies around, looking for a good target.

He sees some dinosaurs below. He lands and fights an Allosaurus, and slays it with Finger of Death. An angry ground pounder moves in as well, and Alzar slays it too. A pack of raptors are nearby and Alzar kills most with Wail, and the rest with death spell, but those aren’t why he’s here. The raptors are too big,

Then he sees it. A pterodactyl. Alzar flies up to it and grabs it’s attention. This one likely would have skipped him by, but Alzar pulls it down, and then tries to capture it with Power Word Stun, and that works. Alzar heads over and the neck is small enough, and he puts the Animal Control collar over it. And…..


Dinosaurs count! They are animals too! He wasn’t sure if they would. After flying around and slaying a trio of firedrakes, he finds another pterodactyl of the opposite gender and this time uses Hold Monster and catches it and collar it.


Pterodactyls (2) - AC7, HP 21, THACo 17, 2d4 damage/attack, 1 attack/round, get +4 when swoop down


Alzar gains 29500 for slaying stuff

He grabs a few more dead dinosaurs before heading back, in order to give himself some additional; XP/

10k more

He applies it to cleric



Alzar begins to research another immortal. He is getting close to finishing this path, and he sees the Energy path at the easies to the four for him, so he looks to find a sponsor from it.

There is one immortal who is becoming increasingly impressed with Alzar, from the Sphere of Time actually…


Vanya

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar heads out and arrives at Serraine. They let him come into the library sometimes and use his Bookcopy spell on some books and then leave. Today there is an issue in the UnderCity and he decides to head down and check it out.


(Fast sim, with some dice)


Alzar finds a huge chamber in the UnderCity quite early in his exploration that is being used as a launching pad for an attack on the city proper

There are a huge number of undead down there, being prepared by the Gray Front to attack and take over the city - most are mindless. Alzar controlled more than 350 zombies and skeletons and had them attack each other, or some nearby undead as well (shadows and such) and now more than 505 undead are fully dead. He heads back up and reports.


This undead nest was cleared out. There are a lot more tunnels and nests down there obviously, but this is a huge setback

Alzar also secretly sent 30 skeletons to his underground city. He gains 56k for his efforts and again, applies them to cleric

He’s almost level 11

[Abe Sargent]

This is how powerful he is now. He literally teleport from one hot zone to another, blow out everything that’s here, and head somewhere else. With his flying carpet, ability to control undead, reusable items, hugely low AC, regeneration from his Ioun stone, massive amounts of spells, and so forth, Alzar can literally blow in and just level a problem, and then blow out again. And he can do it anywhere

Alzar may move and survive in the following planes at will: Tarterus, Acheron, The Abyss, Elysium, Arcadia, and the Astral Plane and Positive Energy.

He can move to the evil plane of Tartarus (sometimes called Carceri) and then smash the locals and head back out. He could do the same with Acheron and has already done so with the Abyss

He hasn’t seen any demons recently, so no need to stir up any more trouble there. His Amulet of the Planes would take him anywhere, and he can cast some spells to survive, from the Astral sphere of spells he has as a priest.

Alzar arrives at Carceri to check it out again. He’s on the first layer, and there are some Abyss Ants near by and he clean them out (slew 152, 100 XP each) with some Wailing and Death Spelling. And then his axe finished the group.

But there are just some humans and humanoids around for the most part, nothing major here. He slips to Acheron, but there’s nothing about there. He heads back home.


Alzar spends the next two weeks teleporting to places to slay and handle local issues - giants, dinosaurs, drakes, undead of all sorts, an orc invasion, some yugoloths (daemons), and more. He goal is to head out, clean things up, and then return. He wants to get level 12 in all three classes. He spends 4-6 hours a day hunting, and the rest running his March and such.

And on the 29th day of the 1st month of year 8, Alzar has gained level 12 in everything else


After Alzar gets level 12 in everything, he spends a few days with his book, and gains a level as a thief to 13

Level 12 is supposed to be the end of his advance in those classes, and he is now a full polymath


Alzar now can cast 2 level 6 spells from the priest list

Level 6 - Speak with Monsters, Bestow/Remove Major Curse, Otherworld, Command Monster, Feeblemind, Metal Skin, Spiritual Wrath, Superheroism, Word of Recall, Word of Vengeance, Find the Path, Stone Tell, Alter Luck, Divine Event, Seal of Destiny, Seek, Whirlwind, Anti-Animal Shell, Conjure Fire Elemental, Call Phoenix, Fire Seeds, Part Water, Transmute Water to Dust, Conjure Water Elemental, Conjure Air Elemental, Blade Barrier, Forbiddance, Greater Guardian Seal, Heal, Legal Thoughts, Aerial Servant, Animate Object, Conjure Animals, Crushing Walls, Dragonbane, Land of Stability, Gravity Variation

Note that Conjure Earth is a level 7 spell and can’t be cast. But this is the level when Alzar catches up to his wizard spells. He can Conjure 2 elementals, cast Heal, Word of Recall, and Aerial Servant. All of those are powerful spells - Aerial Servant is basically the cleric version of Invisible Stalker.



Alzar cannot cast level 7 spells, but if he gets to level 13, he’ll be able to cast one, but without a WIS of 18, he can’t anyway So for now, this is the highest level of magic he can reach



Alzar gains:


Weapon -




Non-Weapon Profs:

Spy Intrigue - 14
Anatomy - 15
Glassblowing - 10

[Abe Sargent]

Here he is:

Alzar the Polymath; Alzar the Mighty, Lord of Wood and Fire, Marquis of March of the Mighty

Alzar, Level 12 Cleric, Scholar Priest, (Level 13 Thief, (Investigator); 12th level Fighter (Myrmidon), 26th level Path Mage (Fivefold Mage))

Lawful Evil
Human

Str: 18/23
Dex: 13
Con: 11
Wis: 17
Int: 21
Cha: 17

Hit Points: 80
THACO: 10
AC: -5 (Cloak of Shadows; Bracers AC2, Helm. If using Barrier, -10. Ioun Stone, Boots, could drop -2)
Age 63, Body - 34

Cleric XP - 900k, (1.15 mil to level 13); Thief XP - 685000 (880k to 14th); Fighter XP -1 mill XP (1.25 mill to level 13); Mage XP - 6156490 (Level 27 at 6,250,000);

Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

Myrmidon:

Tactical History 15
Fire-Building 18

Riding 14
Swimming 12
Reading/Writing 16
Survival 16
Blind Fighting
Etiquette 17
Endurance
Heraldry 13
Hunting 12
Fishing 15
Weather Knowledge 12
Orienteering 18

As a Necromancer/Fivefold Mage

Necrology 16
Netherworld Knowledge 16
Herbalism 17
Alchemy 15
Poison Use 13
Ancient Languages 11
Spellcraft 13
Ancient History – 17
Bookbinding – 16
Papermaking - 16
Sage Knowledge: Outer Planes, Inner Planes – 13
Divining: 15
Genie Lore: 17
Riding, Specialization: 10
Research: 13
First Lore – Aleph I: 20
Riding, Air: 13

As a Thief:

Information Gathering: 15
Trailing: 16
Set Snares: 13
Tracking: 13
Locksmithing: 11
Fine Balance - 11
Camouflage - 12
Steady Hand - 13

As a Cleric:

Scribe - 12
Religion - 10

Investigation - 11
Healing - 14
Hypnotism - 9
Administration - 16
Diplomacy - 14
Court Intrigue - 13

As a Polymath:

Dragon Lore - 13
Spy Intrigue - 14
Anatomy - 15
Glassblowing - 11

Languages – Thorasian - Typic, Sis’sharr, UnderTypic, Kuo-Toa; Hamedhi – Arjuni, Sand Mire Common – Pandius - Pandius Prime,

Traits:

Empathy
Fast Healer
Precise Memory
Obscure Knowledge


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
Dagger

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

Mage - Staff

Thief Weapons:

Short Bow, Short Sword
Short Bow Expertise - Fires at rate of Specialization
Specialization in One Handed With Shield - -1 AC and can Shield Bash


Cleric:

Mace

Polymath:

Double Specialization in Missile Fire --2 AC at range vs ranged weapons, can move 100% movement and fire everything


Class Abilities

Fighter Class Abilities:

Specialization
Leadership (Alzar can command the tactics, strategy, logistics and more that a large force requires)
3 attacks every 2 rounds

Mage 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. (Signet Ring from Hamedh, kept on necklace.)
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.



Thief Class Ability:

Cannot use Armor
Without a Trace
Defensive Bonus- -3 AC when unarmored
Backstab - x4 damage from level 9-12: +4 to attack

Open Locks: 70
Find/Remove Traps: 95
Move Silently: 95
Hide in Shadows: 95
Climb Walls: 95
Read Languages: 55
Evasion: 60


Cleric Class Ability:

Cannot use Armor
Fire Immunity - Alzar is immune to fire. Any non-magical fire, flame, lava, or heat won’t affect him. He always makes his saves against fire spells and effects. And if a fire spell doesn’t have a save, he gets one.
Protection from Energy Drain - +2 on saves vs energy drain effects, and grants a save when there is none
Cold Resistance - +2 on all saves vs ice-based and cold attacks. Effects without a saving throw are not given one

Major Access to these Spheres: All, Healing, Astral, Law, War, Combat, Charm, Divination, Guardian, Necromantic, Protection, Summoning, Wards, Elemental

Immune to starvation

Can cast ESP once/week

A Wish Resulted in - An interdimensional Pocket which only he can access by reaching out his hand, or concentrating to send himself there. It’s sort of like a giant Bag of Holding. It can hold up to 500,000 coins of items, and it’s the size of a large room. Due to the size and volume, it cannot be accessed as readily as his items in a Bag of Holding can be, and therefore, he cannot find items during combat from it. He also can’t step into it during combat, it takes a minute of meditation to translocate his form there.

Alzar may move and survive in the following planes at will: Tarterus, Acheron, The Abyss, Elysium, Arcadia, and the Astral Plane and Positive Energy.

+2 to all saves against fear/awe effects

Cleric Spells - 6/6/4/3/2

Wizard Spells - 7/7/7/7/6/6/6/6/5


Special Books Already Used – Tome of Clear Thought; Tome of Leadership and Influence; Libram of Ineffable Damnation; Tome of Understanding; Tome of Quickness of Action; Manual of Puissant Skill at Arms; Manual of Bodily Health; Manual of Gainful Exercise; Manual of Steady Pilfering;

Longevity Potions Drank – 2; Wishes used for stats - INT, WIS

Younger - 1


Spells:


Alzar’s Prayer Book, 8/7/6/3/2/2

Major Access to these Spheres: All, Healing, Astral, Law, War, Combat, Charm, Divination, Guardian, Necromantic, Protection, Summoning, Wards, Elemental

Bonus Spells - 2 1sts, 2 2nds, 1 3rd

[Abe Sargent]

On the 30th….


Morena appears and tells Alzar that except for the monument being up for 10 years (just 6 months or so thus far), he has completed his Matter Path.


Alzar has an idea for where to go next…
Alzar’s researches have found a powerful member of the Sphere of Energy that he believes would be a very intriguing patron. He grabs a book of his, and heads to the secret place.



Month 2, Year 8 -

Month 2 – Tax-Free Month

Tax Free Baby!

[Abe Sargent]

A week later, Alzar arrives at the lower level of a tall mountain, nowhere near Norwold or in fact, the Known World. Instead, he is ascending a peak in the Hollow World, near the ancient kingdom of Nithia, moved down here from above as it was about to fall.


Here is the person that Alzar identified:




Pflarr:

(Jackal-Head)
Patron of Hutaaka, Patron of Nithia, Patron of Magic, Guardian of the Living and the Dead

Level, Alignment, Sphere: 25th (Eternal), True N, Energy

Symbol: a jackal head with human eyes

Portfolio: magic, knowledge, protection, hutaaka, magical experiments

Worshipped in: Savage Coast (Renardie), Hulean City-states, Hollow World (Hutaaka, Nithians)

Appearance: a 7' tall humanoid covered in fine brown fur and with a jackal head, wearing a simple Nithian linen tunic covering his thighs and hips.

History: Pflarr wasn't born but rather created by a powerful Nithian wizard centuries before the Nithian empire climbed to its greatness. Pflarr was created with the purpose of being the ultimate bodyguard, but the experiment wasn't very successful since Pflarr's master was killed shortly after his creation. After avenging his master by slaying his killer (a rival wizard), Pflarr was left alone with two huge magical libraries at his disposal, so he did the only possible thing: he started to learn magic. With time he became an accomplished magic-user and eventually he discovered the Path of the Paragon, beginning his climb to greatness under the sponsorship of Rathanos.

First he conquered the respect and trust of many different villages thanks to his magic prowess, introducing himself as the divine herald of Ra, come on this world to rule in Rathanos's name. With the help of all the constructs he had previously built, Pflarr created a powerful army and conquered a great part of the Alasiyan Basin. He then fortified his borders to keep away the warring neighbors and using his magical knowledge he built the first Monoliths (artifacts which absorb the power from the dead and the living to create specific magical effects), which allowed him to turn the swampy and arid lands of his duchy into fertile plains and grasslands. After a few decades Pflarr's duchy became prosperous and strong and its inhabitants worshipped both Ra and Pflarr as divine beings. Pflarr created then the Puissant Pyramid as part of his testimony, and after defeating all the spellcasting rivals in the Nithian valley (the last of whom was the sly Apophis, stepbrother of Chardastes), he finally became immortal in the sphere of Energy in BC 1540, the first "Nithian" to reach this status, followed by Maat shortly thereafter.

Also, because he had helped Chardastes in reconquering his kingdom, Chardastes imposed Ra's and Pflarr's cult (as well as Maat's) as Nithia's official religion, which became the basis of the future Nithian pantheon. When Nithia turned from Kingdom to Empire, Pflarr was already established as one of the main deities of the region, patron of all magic and right-hand man of Rathanos.

In BC 1500 Pflarr shaped a race after his own image and thus the hutaaka were born. He gifted them with a broad magical knowledge, but he completely failed to pay attention to the Nithian politics and ethics. His only interests were that his followers kept worshipping him and that magical research was brought forward. For this reason he too was caught unaware by the sudden turn that the Nithians took and when he noticed the threat that Nithia had become for Mystara, Thanatos's corruption was already too deeply rooted to be cleansed without major casualties. So he worked in team with Rathanos to save some of the Nithian communities still loyal to the old ways and helped by Ka and Ixion they placed them inside the Hollow World, before the Immortals unleased the punishment on the outer Nithian empire erasing it and its memory from the surface of Mystara. Pflarr obviously didn't forget his beloved hutaaka, and saved the wisest of them, abandoning those who had grown too decadent and stupid in their secluded valley on the surface world.

With time however, he took a particular interest in lupins, a race of humanoids who later interbred with gnolls and hutaaka, and he helped them spreading all over the world trying to get their worship.

Nowadays Pflarr's cult is almost absent on the outer world (he's worshipped only in Thothia, the only surviving Nithian colony, and among some lupin communities) and for this reason he pays much more attention to the affairs of the hutaaka and Nithians of the Hollow World.

Personality: Pflarr doesn't think like other immortals, probably because of his origin. What he's mostly interested in are magical research and respect in the form of worship that he feels his followers must give him. When he notices some of his followers doesn't pay him the due tributes however, he doesn't intervene to punish them: he gives them a chance to make penance and take the right path, and if they refuse, he simply abandons them without hesitation, forgetting them in no time. He prefers to concentrate on the loyal worshippers or to create a new cult somewhere else than trying to win back lost followers. In his mind, he owes nothing to his worshippers, but rather it's the contrary: they must spend time to worship him and show him respect for all the blessings they receive.

The only being that really drives Pflarr out of his mind is Ranivorus, a permanent sign of the Nithian attempt at creating another Pflarr (emulating the hutaaka race) and failing miserably. Pflarr hates Ranivorus with all his heart for the role he played in destroying Nithia and causing harm to his worshippers all over the world, and he doesn't refrain from hindering his plots whenever he can.

Patron: Rathanos
Allies: Rathanos
Enemies: Ranivorus, Thanatos
Classic D&D Stats:
Followers' alignment: any; clerics must be Neutral
Favoured weapons: khopesh (allowed all bludgeoning weapons)
Clerics' skills & powers: +1 bonus to Intelligence, hear noise as thief of same level, +5% bonus to magical research of warding and protective spells


So, he’s a god of magic, magical research, and still has an interest in old Nithia and Hutaaka. Alzar likes him for a lot of reasons. He likes magic and research, spells and items, and he cares more about that then he does anything else, like politics and such. He has two enemies that go back millennia, and few allies either. Outside of Nithia and Hutaaka, he doesn’t really care about world, and he doesn’t get a lot of people wanting to use him as their patron either .

[Abe Sargent]

So let's pause for a moment to talk of Immortals, and my take on them.

Numerous questions have been asked about them, and key people in the course of creating Mystara (Aaron Allston, Frank M.) have said that the two different interpretations are really up the DM.

So I'm running them as weaker, Olympian sort of characters. They don't die, and they have lots of power, but they have the foibles and strengths and weaknesses of real people. That's my take. And it's one of two that's encouraged (the other is to make them full-on god level characters)

There is a book called Codex of the Immortals that lists a metric ton of immortals. This part of the world was fleshed out later, and some immortals were introduced in this book that I will be retconing into the campaign later.


We have lots of odd immortals. We have an intelligent snake, tons of humanoids (many of which come from evil tribes and are, surprisingly, not usually in the Entropy Sphere), we have a troll that ate thousands, merfolk, and more. Pflarr is basically an intelligent golem that gained immortality. We even have a few that accidentally became immortal without walking the path and going through the normal process.

The book goes into detail about the simple fact that there are tons more immortals. So I intentionally added Morena to my campaign to fill a few holes. There's just one listed dwarf immortal, and that felt wrong, so I added a second.

Morena's quick bio:

Lawful neutral, Morena was a dwarven crafter and priestess who was a major creator of items of value among the dwarven species. She was one of the first dwarves, and helped to carve a nation with the weapons and armor she forged, and the magic that protected others. Morena was the first dwarven immortal and one of the older immortals in the Sphere of Matter.

(Basically, I created Morena to be a female replacement of Moradin, a common dwarven god from other planes, so in modules that involve Moradin, I just replaced it with Morena, and then I fleshed her out in a typical Pandius way)

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar has arrived at the sacred mountain of Pflarr, and has wound his way up, the slow way. There are seven tests at each sacred site when heading for support on the path. Rarely are they combat, and Pflarr isn’t either.

The first test is a gate with ancient hieroglyphics on it. Alzar deciphers them with magic and moves on. The next few tests are like that as well, and Alzar’s 21 INT serves him well. He then heals, rather than fights, a wounded but prideful Hutaaka, and then faces a nasty magic golem, who Alzar forces down. These tests are designed to reveal Alzar’s character and potential.

At the top, Alzar begins to mediate in the ancient ruins of an outpost that overlooked Nithia. Alzar is on the mountain for a few hours…

And something arrives.

Let’s find out how he did.

Roll d10 and add these modifiers:

-5 - Alzar’s alignment is not favored by Energy
+7 - successfully passed each test
-2 - Different alignment from patron and Alzar

Alzar is a cleric of Matter, and that’s opposing to Energy, so no bonuses there


Here we go - you just get the naked result….


(anything from 3 to 0 will work, only a 1 or 2 fails here)

Alzar tosses a 4. Pflarr sends a magical signal that he agrees, and will arrive in…23 days.

After 23 days of meditation later, Pflarr arrives to meet with Alzar


Pflarr slowly appears. He’s not a braggart, but has some humility - so he slowly reveals himself like the coming of dawn. And soon, he is in front of Alzar…

Alzar leans his head down in respect and then rises, and speaks to Pflarr. He asks to be supported for his quest, and he gives the spellbook, with one copy of every spell that he ever made in it

Roll another d10 and add

+3; +1 for class synergy, +1 for an appropriate gift

+5 -

Toss 7 +5 12

Pflarr takes the gift and gives Alzar a token of favor (magical token). Pflarr outlines the path he must do in great detail, and then will appear to him once again when he has completed them all. He’ll then send Alzar home magically.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar’s ability to craft spells is good, but these spells were made prior. So Alzar must do the following:


The Path of the Paragon

1. Alzar must create a brand new spell of all 9 levels that serve the cause of Pflarr
2. Alzar must create a brand new, never before created, magical item that serves the cause of Pflarr.
3. Alzar must transform the land in his March, giving the area a unique feel and appearance
4. Alzar must find and defeat at least 8 Mages or Clerics of 25th or higher level, in solo combat.
5. Alzar must create a brand new species of animal, monster, or humanoid
6. Alzar must attract 10 new apprentices


I changed the path a bit to suit Pflarr. For example, energy does not require the species or spells, but instead requires you to quest for and find a lost artifact of energy’s sphere. But I didn’t see that as fitting Pflarr. Instead, I gave him two that fit - he created the Hutaaka, and furthermore, one of his lesser areas of influence is “Created species.” I also made this path harder than normal.

Like before, Alzar can do them in any order. And, even with the harder path, this could be done very quickly.

Let me walk you through how:

It takes 2 weeks/spell level to research a new spell. That’s 90 weeks for research the various spells he needs to do. Seems like a lot, right? But don’t forget that Alzar has the Research proficiency. That halves time. 45 weeks - a little less than a year. He also has the Lamp of Creation, and the Greater Ring of Sustenance, so he has a full 24 hours a day and can work on two things at once with the Lamp.

So Alzar spends 45 weeks making those spells. He’s done roughly around the end of year 8

Then, he can also:

Research and create a magical item. I already have an idea of an item that would be really cool. It would cost around 6 months to research, and about 6 to make. Half the research, and the item and research would be done in about 9 months.

So by the end of the year, Alzar has done both the item and the spells. Easy enough to do. Then he can create the species too. Now the species has to be just that. A species, not one individual
thing. That could be done in a month with the right spells (which he can make…) He can teleport out and face guys in solo combat and defeat them anytime. Alzar has had some folks come in to be apprentices of his, but he turned them down due to his regular travels. He just needs to bring them in. The only one in there he’s not sure about is the transformation of his area

[Abe Sargent]

Well, might as well get started…


Here are all nine spells tonight:

Alzar’s Ingenious Understanding (Divination, Enchantment/Charm)

Level 4
Duration: 1 turn/level
Casting Time: 4
Components: VSM
Range: 1 target
Save: Neg

The target of this spell gains an Intellect of 21. This can help them see through illusions or learning spells. The target usually will voluntarily save a throw, but they not want it the spell. The physical component of this spell is a quill from any species of an albino bird.


It’ll take a month to study and learn, and it takes 4000 gp in additional library space.


Alzar’s Speciation (Necromancy; Alteration)

Level 9
Duration: Permanent
Casting Time: 1 hour
Components: VSM
Range: 1 target
Save: Neg


The caster creates a model of a physical creature which does not exist. It must resemble an existing creature in some way, and have a known and workable anatomy. The caster must find a living creature that resembles the size, weight, and rough dimensions of the desired creation. After casting the spell, the target creature must make a save - failure to do so turns it into the species selected. No matter the result, the model is destroyed.
The model costs 15000 gp to make with rare incense, items, and such, and takes 1 week to prepare. Based on the model, the target’s save changes. Rough? +5 to the save. Not realistic? +5. Target too big or too small? +3 If the model is made with a detailed understand of anatomy, -3 to the save; -5 if it's already worked once.


That takes 9000 gp and will require 9 weeks of research

Those are his first two.


Alzar’s Grand Effects (Alteration), Artifice

8th Level
Duration: Permanent
Casting Time: 1 turn
Components: VSM
Range: 1 target
Save: N/A

This is an upgraded version of the 6th level Special Effects spell. Alzar chooses one object. For 100’x100x100’ feet of that target (wall, building, etc) that target can have any chance made to its Smell, sight, touch, and so forth. So Alzar could make a house smell like chocolate or a wooden wall feel life leather. It does not change the physical aspects of the target - a stone wall that feels like a pillow won’t suddenly fail saves like a pillow. This is a permanent change, and not an illusion. The material component is a picture of the target with it’s changed effect.


As this is an upgrade of an existing spell Alzar has (Special Effects is a level 6 spell). It takes ½ the research time normally, and then research applies, so Alzar knows it in 4 weeks, 8k gp sent

And as a bonus, Alzar can use it to help make his area a bit different.

He’ll first use it to make his monument more monumental, and then he wants to create some attractions like Serraine had for Evenarrow. And he can use it to give his area a unique feel.

He starts with this one to research, and then he’ll slide into the Speciation spell

Alzar lets some criers know that he’s looking for apprentices for the first time since he arrived here.


Alzar’s Bookread (Enchantment/Charm)


2nd Level
Duration: 1 turn/level
Casting Time: 2
Components: VSM
Range: 1 target
Save: N/A


The enchanted creature reads at an accelerated rate based on the caster’s level. 1-5 - 2x; 6-10 - 3x; 11-15; 4x; 16-20 - 5x; 21+ 6x. Comprehension is not affected by this spell, just the speed at which something is read. The material component of this spell is a monocle.



This is a great spell to give apprentices and researchers for a quick bout. So, as an example, a 6th level mage casting this gets 3x speed level for 1 hour - or two extra hours of research in a day. Alzar casting this on himself would get 6x reading speed for 28 turns, 4 hours and 4 minutes. So he would read the equivalent in that time of about 28 hours of reading in that time. That’s pretty saucy.

Again, 2 weeks, 2000 gp


Alzar’s Attract Apprentice (Enchantment/Charm)

3rd Level
Duration: 1 day
Casting Time: 3
Components: VSM
Range: 1 mile/caster level
Save: N/A

After casting this spell, the likelihood of attracting an appreciate for the range of this spell increases considerably. If there are any suitable candidates in range, they arrive to seek apprentice ship within a day.

3 weeks, 3000 GP


Alzar’s Shadowshift (Alteration), Shadow

1st Level
Duration: 1 turn/caster level
Casting Time: 1
Components: VSM
Range: 100’
Save: N/A

The darkness in one room is shifted from light or dark to shadowy. It lasts for up to one/turn caster level. The shadowy level of light cannot be illuminated or darkened by non-magical means. Any form of magical light or darkness will cast out the shadows permanently. This spell requires a blindfold as its material component


Alzar’s Relearn (Divination)

5th Level
Duration: NA
Casting Time: 5
Components: VS
Range: NA
Save: N/A


After failing to learn a spell, the caster may cast this spell and try again. If they fail this roll as well, then they cannot try again until they learn a level.


That’ll probably be the last one Alzar creates. It good to give folks.



Alzar’s Item Delve (Divination)

6th Level
Duration: NA
Casting Time: 1 turn
Components: VSM
Range: NA
Save: N/A

The caster chooses a magical item to research. Then choose and sacrifice a magical item of at least an equivalent level of gp. After that item is destroyed, the method for uncovering how to create the chosen item is found. For smaller level items (like potions or scrolls) the item’s recipe is known entirely. Otherwise, the correct tomes and locations to search are instead.


Alzar’s Divinatory Summons (Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment/Charm)

7th Level
Duration: 1 rnd//level or until 3 questions are answered
Casting Time: 7
Components: VSM
Range: 1 plane of existence
Save: See Below

The caster chooses an intelligent creature to summon. If it is on the same place as the caster, That creature makes a saving throw, and then if it fails, it is summoned to the caster’s location where is must answer any three yes/no questions asked of it. If the caster knows the creature’s truename, then no save is allowed. The magic of this spell prevents either the caster or the one summoned from being harmed or attacking. If the caster tries to violate that by attacking, casting a spell, having someone else attack, summoning the creature over lava, and such, the magic dissipates, and magical feedback hits the caster for 10d10 damage. Once the final question is asked and answered, the creature is safely returned. The material component for this spell is a gem of at last 1000 gp value which is crushed as the spell begins.



And there we are, a full slate of 9 spells. I go ahead and pull the 45k from Alzar’s bank. After doing Speciation and Grand Effects, I’ll probably have Alzar grab Apprentice Attraction, and then Item Delve to help with that.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar has also begun to sketch a potential species. He wants to use his mated pterodactyls as a base level of understanding, and using anatomy proficiency he is working on a model to have a flying, pterodactyl-ish humanoid.


Alzar heads out and begins grabbing some folks and such. None of these require any major adventuring save for the slaying of the magic-users


Here’s the magical item he wants to make:

The Hourglass of Impossibility

This Hourglass has 25 hours of sand in it. When this Hourglass is turned, the user of that Hourglass gains an extra hour that day, by increasing their speed just a bit across the entire day. It doesn’t affect anything like damage dealing, weapon speed, or anything else, it just gives the user enough found time for one extra hour. At the end of the day, the sand is used up and must be replaced. The sand is a specially prepared mixture that costs 1000 gp to grind from rare rocks and a magical process. It takes one week of work to prepare a dose of sand, although 5000 gp must be spent on the special equipment to do so. It doesn’t require active work to make it go, however.


There’s the item. I put two brakes on it - the sand is gone after a day and costs money to replace, and the grinding of the sand, with an initial investment of 5k ,and 1k per use. And if you want to get a bunch of extra hours, then you need 7 sets of equipment making seven sets of sand - 35k +7k per week - that’s a lot of money. Over the course of a year that’s 400k in gp. I’m not sure that one extra found hour is worth that investment. This item has never been made, ever. I’m giving it a GP value of 5000, and an XP of 35000. I am ruling that this item requires:


Sand from the Elemental Plane of Earth
Washed in a solution of tears from a quickling
Forged into glass in the fires of sadness
Cleaned by a cloth made from the hair of a night hag, freely given
Bound by Wood, carved and shaped from Yggdragsil the World Tree
Shorn by Brass Decorations made from brass ingots personally excavated from one’s own future
On the final product, cast Enchant an Item, Haste, Permanency

And I think that’s good enough - that’s a large number of really hard to get items and

Researching this method will take 3 months, and then Alzar can begin making it and the equipment and sand to put in it. That’ll take 6000 gp for equipment and first batch of sand, and then 15k for research. 21k total, but everything has been paid, now, and he begins

[Abe Sargent]

Month 3, Year 8 -



In the middle of this month, Alzar’s Grand Effects is finished. He begins using it. He also has his first apprentice:

Sorvana Fasterfetters, level 1, LN, Fivefold Path Mage


At the end of this month, the Silver Golem body is ready for enchantment, so they begin to work on a Stone Golem.



Alzar teleports out and is looking for a foe o the right level to face. \He has to solo them, so he can’t go in with allies, but he could summon elementals or such, that’s fine.

He is looking for another member of the Gray Front to take out, maybe the leader this time, over at Serraine… But it’s just too hard to knock down that train. There are a few other possibilities that intrigue, Does a dragon count? What about a lich? Alzar’s best guess is that a creature with 25 or more HD that is primary a spell caster works, but which does not cast spells primarily does not. So yes to a high level lich, but no to something like a dragon turtle.

In fact Alzar should be able to find tons of qualified mages over in Alphatia. They have a ruling council of 1000 36 level mages. Their entire infrastructure is built on magic users. Alphatia, in their major cities, have special forms of magic dueling as well, but Alzar’s not sure that counts,

But the rules are to defeat, not to kill. So Alzar decides to start things locally


Alzar teleports to the capital of Norwold, Alpha, to check and see if Madeira is available. Madeira is the advisor to King Ericall, and she is level 29 now. She is a politically minded mage, neutral, and sees this as a way to get to the council.

Alzar challenges her to a magic duel, with no other people. His apprentice is watching, and she can have spectators. He goes over the rules - no killing, each person must casts spells to maim only. And then magic battle begins. She agrees after Alzar agrees to give her 10000 gp if h loses. They each spend a day prepping new spells and begin the following day

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar vs Madeira


Neither are allowed to have any active spells at the beginning of the match, but can be wearing any items they desire. Magic spells only, no melee. Alzar can’t axe or bow his way to a victory.

Here we go:

4 vs 2

Madeira starts things off by casting Lightning Bolt. Alzar has 50% Magic Resistance, and then Ring of Spell Turning on. 79 - cracks the MR, and then 30% is sent back. 40 damage is dealt, and Alzar takes 28 of it, and she takes 12. Both makes saves Alzar casts Major Globe of Invulnerability/

Alzar - 66/80

Madeira - 54/60


5 vs 2

Madeira casts Dispel Magic and drops his Globe. Alzar casts True Seeing to see what magical items she has. She has a Ring of Spell Storing (doesn’t know the spells), one of Spell Turning, and a Cloak of Freedom, which gives Free Action and immunity to any senses being nmullified (Blind, Deaf, Mute, etc)

8 vs 5

Madeira casts Time Stop. She casts Conjure Greater Earth Elemental, and gets another turn and casts Monster Summoning VII and gets 3 Nightmares, and then casts Monster Summoning VI and gets 2 trolls.

And suddenly Alzar is surrounded by 6 strong foes. And no melee.

2 vs5

Alzar casts Time Stop and casts Banishment on the Elemental, and Abjure on a Nightmare and then….it ends. Both work. One hits Alzar for 9 damage. She casts Major Globe.

59/80

8 vs 7

Madeira casts Conjure Earth Elemental. Wail of the Banshee drops….Nightmare and elementals are immune….trolls die. They’ll take turns to come back.

4 vs 7

Alzar casts Abjure on the Earth, and it bounces back. A Nightmare bites and he dodges. She casts Acid Burst at him and….64 cracks MR and then60% is redirected, Alzar takes 15, and her 24. No save on it.

45/80

20/60

3 vs 1

She cracks a potion and quaffs it. She heals 25. Alzar casts Vampire Touch on the Elemental for 26. No one can crack his AC


72/80

55/60

3 vs 7

Alzar casts Power Word Kill and slays the Nightmares. The Elemental punches and….29 he dodges. She casts Invisible Stalker rand sends it over.

6 vs 2

Her side missies in mêlée, and then she starts using her sensory deprivation spells, since she’ll be unaffected if they bounce back. Power Word Blind leaves. 10 - Alzar’s MR stops it. Alzar casts his final Abjure at her Earth and it makes its save and remains.

5 vs 3


She casts the Blindness spell at him and….56 - It gets past his MR and then 60% redirects ,so he saves with +6 bonus/. Only a 1 or 2 will fail. 15. An Elemental punches him and….26 - dodge. Stalker misses. Alzar casts Conjure Air Elemental with his 6th level priest spell and sends it over

4 vs 7

Alzar casts Conjure Greater Elemental and has it begin to battle the normal one. The Stalker finally connects for 8 damage, 88 rolls no dodge. She casts Banishment on his Greater Earth, not his Air and…..drops it. Her earth is moving back to him

1 vs 9.

Alzar’s Air Elemental misses. He casts Dispel Magic (as priest) to drop her Globe.. Alzar dodges an elemental punch. She casts a 6th level spell - Power Word Silence on Alzar. He tosses a 62 and misses his MR. he normally would have no save, and just be silenced but his Ring forces it. 30% redirects, so he gets a +3 save. He tosses a 3 and that’s…a fail. Ah well. Alzar is now Silenced. She make the save (or doesn’t who cares)

64/80

1 vs 4

Alzar uses his stored Vocalize. His Air connects for 9 damage. She casts Finger of Death on the air and…it dies. Alzar dodges a Stalker blow.

46/60


1 vs 5

Alzar conjures an Earth Elemental and sends it against the one on him. She casts Magic Missile at him. You check MR for each missile - 4 hits, and he sends 80% of them back to her - he takes 4, and her 12. Alzar casts Vampiric Touch and absorbs 22 and slays the Earth. He earth moves to her.,

34/60

80/80

3 vs 7

Alzar casts and summons an Invisible Stalker to head out and face her. His Air misses. She has one spell left - Dominate, and tries it on Alzar naked. 26 - nope, doesn’t even cut through his MR.

She concedes. She has his Earth Elemental and Invisible Stalker, and has no tricks left.


For slaying summons and winning against her, Alzar gets 44500

All XP goes to his Wizard stuff again



1 Wizard/cleric down, 7 to go

[Abe Sargent]

Unfortunately, two leaders that Alzar gets on with, Claranasa the Seer and Sandralane the Cleric aren’t at level 25 yet. Sandralane is 22 and Claranasa 19.

Is there anywhere that Alzar should head next? Anywhere that he needs to check in to see what’s going on?

Not really. Things are pretty peaceful here. Alzar does want to expand his navy again, so he teleports to face pirates off the coast about 350 miles away and hits 4 more vessels with spells like Virus Charm, Mass Domination, and such. They bring them in and begin to build them up. Alzar also hires a bunch more soldiers too.

We’re adding 100 heavy foot, 100 crossbow, 100 more light and heavy cavalry, and some more support staff.

Alzar teleports to King Ericall. He wants to expand his March into the entire Ljallenvals Mountain Chain at once. He has flirted with it, and has two hexes of the chain. Saffir and the dwarves in Stormhaven. This is 8 full hexes of mountains, and a bunch of smaller coastal areas too. No one else is close, and Alzar, who has been teleporting around for a few years and taking out sites of monsters and such in the peaks could now have an opportunity on scaling things back there. That’s the goal.

This is not an area that King Ericall desires, or that anyone else wants, but it’s a large land grant request. Alzar has supported Ericall at times, but there’s some tension from them going back to Ericall’s military annexation of the local Kingdom of Oceansend. Ericall is not a great leader. And he’s not really that interested in helping Alzar unless he needs to. He’d rather keep Alzar down by having him want to expand than vice versa. Alzar doesn’t get one meter of new land.

Alzar also sends out criers challenging any magic-users or clerics to a non-lethal duel. They get 10,000 gp if they beat him fairly.

You know what? Let’s host a tournament!

Alzar will host a tournament next month, with Jousting, Melee, Archery and….Magic Dueling, non lethal, and the winners of each round get 5000 gp for the Magic Duel, and the winner overall gets a spellbook of spells that Alzar penned/ Joust? +1 shield, Archery, +4 short bow, and melee: +1 long sword,

Alzar reveals that one of the spells in the spellbook is his Golem Heal Spell. That should help to get folks here!

[Abe Sargent]

Month 4, Year 8 -

Alzar’s week long tournament and celebrations begin! A ton of people are here How bow is much better than normal for a prize, having all magical items for prizes is strong, and many are here for the magic user prize as well!

Alzar got the word out through some allies and friends, like people on Serraine and such, to get folks here.

The joust opens. Alzar hosts the event, and there are tons of people here. He has lawful clerics scan the crowds and capture any would-be thieves. Numerous bards are playing, and Forx is heading a concert. Alzar’s new spell is showing off, having been cast at many places around the city, the monument he made of himself and more. For today’s joust, Alzar has the stadium and watching grounds in a variety of colors. He has wooden benches that are literally as comfortable as down pillows. It’s a very interesting place as a result!

The joust’s opening round is held, and then the melee has its first round, followed by the numerous archers, rangers, soldiers ,and more competing. More than 100 people are competing in the archery completion, the largest they’ve had in Norwold.

And then they conclude with mage battles. Ahead of time, Alzar scans contestants, and they have to agree to geases or quests to force them to obey certain rules. And they do. Things look perfectly good. At the end of the day, Alzar’s treasury gives out 35000 gold to the 7 winners. Tomorrow, Alzar is going to duel one of the losers, and she has 26 levels. He’ll give her 10k if she beats him.

[Abe Sargent]

Day 2 - More jousts, magic duels from the 7 left - 1 gets a bye, and 3 win - 15k more

The melee round is heating up, and rounds 2 and 3 of the archery completion are held

And then Alzar faces the best loser from yesterday at the end of the day


Tharlest Level 26 Abjurer, specializes in protection magic,

1 vs 8

Alzar leads by casting Major Globe, and she Dispels it. Casting True Seeing and other divinatory magic was disallowed. Also, you can’t use any magic that you aren’t wearing, in order ro speed things up - no potions, wands, etc.

1 vs 7

Alzar casts Time Stop to get this thing started, and drops two spells - Power Word Stun and Power Word Blind. She has a Ring of Free Action, and the first is avoided, and she is blinded by the second.

8 vs 2

She casts Power Word Blind on Alzar and 47 - it’s absorbed by his Amulet’s MR. How did she cast that? Alzar casts Dominate. She tosses a 14 and is fine.

2 vs 7

Alzar casts Mass Domination and…16 - she’s fine. She casts Time Stop back and casts Greater Globe and Mantle.

5 vs 3

She casts Flesh to Stone on Alzar 45 - hits his MR. He casts Flesh to Stone back. She tosses a 3 and is petrified. Alzar is declared the winner, and de-petrifies her.



Alzar gains 26000 XP

[Abe Sargent]

Day 3 - The jousts are getting closer. There are just 4 people left The Archers are down to the last 10. The melee’s finals are today. In the mage’s completion, 2 win (payment of 10k). Alzar faces the strongest loser from Day 2 (2 qualify, one is a level 30 Evoker)



Stoth Hawkbeak Level 30 Evoker,


4 vs 6

Alzar starts with e Greater Globe, and it’s Pierced.

5 vs 7

Alzar casts Protection from Electricity. It’s dispelled


9 vs 4

Time Stop by his foe. Now that he has Alzar with no protections, he casts Lightning Bolt, Magic Missile, and Flame Arrow at him. 54 and 15. The Flame arrow doesn’t make his MR. Alzar takes 6 of the missiles. Now, of them, let’s roll Spell Turning…20% is directed back from the Bolt, and 30% from Missiles. His foe has a Ring that makes him immune to elements. He takes the Missiles.

Alzar takes 20 from the Bolt (he saves); his foe nothing
Alzar takes 16 and his foe 6 from the Missiles

46/80

44/50

3 vs 7

Alzar grabs Time Stop as well. He fires Power Word Blind and Stone to Flesh. The first one fails, due to immunity to blindness form an item. He makes his save with a 11.


5 vs7

Alzar casts Domination and….Tosses a 1 and fails. Alzar forces him to concede. Alzar wins.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar gains 30k



Day 4 - The joust semi finals are today. The archery finals will be tomorrow. They get today off. The melee is over leaving just the mage fights. Today is the finals of the mages battle The winner gets the spellbook of knows as he promised. Alzar battles another loser at level 25+

Jessinda Copperhand, Level 27 Force Mage

4 vs 8

Alzar leads with Time Stop this time.

Casts Power Word Silence instead of blind (chases it up in case foes are planning against him) and then Hold Person, a simple 3rd level spell. The first resolves and his foe is silenced. The second and it melts off ( Free Action magic)


9 vs 4

She casts Vocalize, and Alzar drops Maze on her. She disappears for two rounds.

Alzar casts Globe and then prepares.

She arrives back from maze

3 vs 9

Alzar casts Polymorph Other and…11 she makes her save. She casts Forcecage around Alzar.

3 vs 7

Alzar drops the Forcecage with a priestly Dispel. She casts Wall of Force around him.

3 vs 5

Alzar casts Dispel and drops the Wall. She casts Bigby’s Crushing Hand and a hand of force tightens around Alzar, hitting him for 1d10 damage - 4

76/80


7 vs 3

She casts Time Stop. The Major Globe doesn’t work against the highest level spells, so she drops a Mordenkainen’s Sword, and then Spell Turning. The Stop ends. The sword attacks Alzar for…7 damage and strips one defense from him. Then Alzar takes 2d10 for round 2 of the Hand.12 damage

19 total

58/80

1 vs 7

Alzar casts Dispel Magic on the Sword and it dissipates. He takes 2d10 - 9 from the Hand. She casts Power Word Stun while Alzar is engaged. 62 - it breaks his MR and….30% is redirected. She makes her save (immune to stunning) and….Alzar tosses a 2 and fails.

Alzar is stunned, And he is ruled out.

Jessinda the Force Mage won, and gets 10,000 gp.

She won in part by studying Alzar’s defenses, and using her specialty to come up with ways to hurt him and fight him without triggering his MR or Ring. She had every Bigby Spell available, and ready for him.

Congrats!

[Abe Sargent]

While waiitng to return from a week long conference, let me sort of verbally go over my plan for the rest fo Alzar.

I want to hit up UK7 soon, it fits where he is and such.
Then maybe do one or two quick adventures that finish his magical item
I have two magi in mind for him to face to finish the 8 folks - one if the Ice Queen, and the other iss......?
The big bad of Nightmare Keep module
After that we'll be mostly done with the Path 2 - it;s teh easiest'

Then we begin what will likely be the final leg of our mega-campaign, as we move into M1, Into the Maelstrom. It moves the Norwold story forward considerably and is mpart of a trilogy is modules, including M2 nd M5 that all finish the stories, and then one left to fnish things up.

Meanwhile, I expect we'll do The Milenian Scepter as part of the quest for Immortal #3, and head back to Hollow World to do so. We'll have The Rod and the Stone somewhere, and there's an immortal path adventure on Bestiary of D and G as we go as well.

There are always a few others - I still want to run Labyrinth of Madness, and i just picked up A Paladin in Hell, which is pretty rough. And while I know and have mapped out paths 1-3 and 5 really well, I'm still uncertain about Path #4.

And we could totally do Tales from the Infinite Staircase and maybe even Vecna Lives.

Anyways, those are just some quick quick thoughts for y'all. Maybe i'll do a move to the planes for y'all with Well of worlds, planes fo Chaos, or some other quick adventure-ettes.

[JAG]

Will be interested to see Into the Maelstrom as that's one I remember having (and Vecna Lives if you end up using it, enjoy Vecna lore, had that module but don't really remember it).

[Abe Sargent]

Back to our joust thing, already in progress.

Day 5 -

The archery final is today, with a huge 10 person contests with moving targets and such. The winner is actually Baron Allisa Patrician, one of the folks Alzar regularly runs into. She gets the +4 short bow.

Alzar faces off against the 3rd place mage today.

Most people think this will be a walk in the park


Meet:

Oskarion Bronze, level 25 diviner.

No one knows how a diviner got this far, but he did. So congrats Oskarion, but they think Alzar has this one.


9 vs 4

The diviner leads with Time Stop as well, and target Alzar with Dream Globe, followed by Oskarion’s Single Mindedness.

The first, Dream Globe, captures someone and place them into a Dream Globe for a day. It;’s a divination spell. It’s 13 can crack his MR. What about his other spell? It forces the target to answer a yes/no question asked, and that person is forced to do what they answered the following turn. 51, just makes it past the MR. No save on it. Alzar is asked this question:

Are you going to dodge next turn? Alzar answers yes. That means Oskarion gets a free round, since Alzar can’t do anything else.

1 vs 4

Alzar dodges. Oskarion casts Time Stop from his Ring of Spell Storing. And then he casts his Single Mindedness from it, as well as Flesh to Stone. 69 on the Single M, an the82 onteh Flesh, and Alzar….gets an 18 and makes his save. The Question is the same. Again, Alzar answers yes.

5 vs 3

He casts Domination on Alzar. 12 - misses - mr. Alzar does nothing this turn - dodging.

2 vs 7

Alzar casts Time Stop, and then casts Power Word Stun and….

Nope. Immune somehow

3 vs 2

He casts Polymorph Other. 38 - nope. Alzar casts Flesh to Stone and…. Petrified. Alzar de-petrifies him and is declared the winner


25000 for him

[Abe Sargent]

Day 6 - The joust final is today, and Alzar magic duels the 2nd place mage



Jaspern, Level 31 Mage


1 vs 8

Alzar casts Time Stop and drops Hold Person and Power Word Blind. Jaspern is blinded.

6 vs 3

Jaspern casts a Senses Restored spell and is healed. Alzar casts Flesh to Stone and….18 tosses - makses it

9 vs 1

Jaspern casts Flesh 2 Stone back at Alzar and breaks the Mr and Alzar tosses a 1 2and makes his save. Alzar casts Major Globe…

9 vs 7

Jaspern drops his globe, and Alzar casts Domination - no go. Something prevents any sort of charm or domination or suggestion effect from working.


8 vs 2

Jaspern casts Bigbys Crushing hand, since it worked before. Alzar takes 6 damage. He cast Dispel and drops it. He was expecting that trick

74/80

5 vs 2

Jaspern casts Maze on Alzar. It hits his MR. Alzar casts Polymorph Other and…it works (tossed a 2) and turns into a sheep. Alzar turns him back after being declared the winner


Alzar gains 30000 xp

[Abe Sargent]

Day 7 -

Today is he battle between Alzar and the winner of the Mage contest.


Alzar saw this guy battle, and plans differently.





Blasnorn, level 30 Mage

7 vs 4

Blasnorn leads things off by casting Time Stop, and then…Bigby;s Crushing Hand, Magic Missile and that’s it just two

Alzar takes 3 from the Hand. And then he takes 5 missiles precisely, and then 60% bounce, but, the mage has a Gem of Magic Missile protection, and he absorbs them and restores a spell he used - Time Stop. Alzar takes 9 from the missils and 3

68/80

4 vs 8

Alzar casts Greater Malison, and that gives him foe -2 to save.s His foe casts Time Stop again, and….

Magic Missile from a Ring of Spell Storing
Spell Immunity - Alteration


And that’s it. Again, 6 missiles hit, 30% redirected, Alzar takes 14 and he restores his Time Stop spell. Alzr takes 10 from Hand

44/80


4 vs 2

He drops Time Stop again. Move to Alzar

Uses another Magic Missile from Ring
Casts Shocking Grasp.

Shocking Grasp? 25 hits MR. Ring? 4 missiles hit for….50/50 redirect, and….fuels Time Stop again Alzar takes 8 damage from missiles and 4 from hand

32/80

2 vs 5

Alzar gets init Whew! He casts Cure Critical Wounds and heals 40This guy just has a good combo. Alzar takes 3d10 now from the hand - 16 damage and his foe casts Time Stop…


He casts Greater Magic Missile - 8 missiles hit, and 7 are absorbed. (3rd level variant of MM that goes up to 15 missiles) 60% redirected. Alzar takes 13 more

43/80

5 vs 6

Alzar casts Dispel and drops the Hand. He is targeted by a Stone to Flesh spell - 85 - cracks MR and….70 is redirected, but he is immune to alteration - Alzar makes his save. Only a 1 would fail.

6 vs 2

He casts Polymorph Other at Alzar and….14 - absorbed by MR> But you can see his plan - use alteration magic’s to win, with no chance of hitting back from the spell turning - smart. Alzar casts Dispel Magic at him, it drops the immunity, and Alzar’s malison effect to.

6 vs 9

Alzar casts his own Stone to Flesh and….20 makes the save. Alzar blocks a blindness spell with MR.

6 vs 7

Alzar casts Vampiric Touch on him and drains 27 from him and heals it. He casts Major Globe.


8 vs 9

Alzar drops the globe with Dispel. He casts Feeblemind. Hits Alzar’s MR.

3 vs 5

Alzar casts Polymorph Other and….He tosses a 3 and turns into a sheep. Alzar wins


Alzar gains 30000 and has now defeated 6 25+ magi

Alzar is now level 27 for a mage

He gains another spell at 5/6/7 levels.

[Abe Sargent]

They spent almost 175k gold from the treasury, and 5 confidence


The last day of the tournament sees two people come and join as Alzar’s apprentices as well -

Borth the Ready, LE, Level 1 Path Mage
Jectorn Asgood, LN, Level 1 Path Mage


Alzar has his builders and people work on a large tower beside his castle (30k for three levels of large towers and support) to start now and to finish in 3 months, They’ll finish around Month 7/8


Week 3, of this month sees Alzar finish his 9th level spell. The next the Attract Apprentice one.

Meanwhile, Alzar has been working on a model, and he grabs a pterodactyl and tries it….


It tosses a 12 and with the penalty it gets from Alzar’s anatomy…


It fails:



Dactyl Magnon

Lawful Neutral
AC 7,
HD 3+3
THACo - 17
# of Attacks - 1
Damage: 2d4 with beak or by weapon

The Dactyl Magnon is a humanoid take on a pterodactyl His has the head and beak, wings, and basic body outline of a Dactyl, but with elongated arms, hands, and articulated legs and feet. It tends to have yellow eyes. Dactyls can fly, and are intelligent. They tend to be lawful neutral, live around 45-50 years. A Dactyl Magnon gets +2 DEX, -2 CON, +1 WIS, -1 INT if created as a character.






It worked, so Alzar is make another to make a mated pair, and then make a few more over the next bit.

[Abe Sargent]

A closer look at the next few modules:

Uk7 Dark Clouds Gather - Fits in perfectly with where and when- I've also done a bit of a set up for it already

FA2 Nightmare Keep -= I didn't realize that there was a generic high level dungeon in the Forgotten Realms line until a few weeks ago. I picked it up and will run it to push the story, and to hit another of the steps for the 2nd path.

The Ice Cave - Hitting a local place that is having issues with a long-believed dead Ice Queen and her area coming back. Another connection to all things Immortal.


Those are my next targets

[Tellistto]

Nice stuff, Abe. Looking forward to the new modules, as I've never played D&D since some dabbling back in the college days, many long years ago.

Tell