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

[Abe Sargent]

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

+16 rations

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

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

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

XP – 1500 each for Alzar and Carum

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

Life of Nature: Its Secrets

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


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

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


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

XP 350 each

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

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

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

A3. Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords







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


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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

42/54

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

23/54

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

13/54

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

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

60 gp
Silver Amulet – 50 gp

XP- 100 each

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

[Abe Sargent]

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



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

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

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


17/54


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

XP – 300 each

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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


Alzar is at 26/54

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

31/54

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



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

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

29/54

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

21/54

XP – 500 each


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

15 pp
5 garnets worth 100 each

It takes 2 hours for the effect to wear off.

Alzar is at 33/54.

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Result:

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

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

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

40/45 – Estaish
50/58 – Carum

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

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

38/58 – Carum

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

They search and find:

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


The dinosaur was actually a rust monster in illusion.

XP – 424 each

[Abe Sargent]

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

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


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

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

+1 dagger
Potion of Sweet Water
Jar of Preserving

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

-3000 gold
+Jar of Preserving

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

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

47/54


XP – 500 each

[Abe Sargent]

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



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


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



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

41/54

XP – 500 each

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

XP – 325 each

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

Fire Opal – 750gpx6

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

36/54

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

46/54

50 pp

XP – 350 each

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

XP – 325 each


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




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

39/54

XP – 1500 each

They find a potion, gauntlets and a bastard sword.

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

Round One:

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

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

32/54 – Alzar

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

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


24/54
35/41 – Aleigha

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


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

14/54 - Alzar
32/41 – Aleigha

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

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


24/41 - Aleigha
44/58 – Carum

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

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

10/58 Carum

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

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

30/45 - Estaish
13/54 – Alzar

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

8/54 - Alzar

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

19/41


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

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

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

23/45


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

14/45

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


Whew.

[Abe Sargent]

XP 2355 each

They search the bodies and find:

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


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

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

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


Used potion of Speed, charge on Belt of Flying

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

Sword of Lyons - +1 short sword.

[Abe Sargent]

A4. In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords




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

[Abe Sargent]

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



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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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


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


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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

XP – 105 each

45/58 – Carum
36/41 – Aleigha

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

They search and find:

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

44/54

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

40/54 - Alzar

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

XP – 100 each

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

XP – 100 each

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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




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

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

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

31/54 – Alzar

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

28/54

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

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

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


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

23/54

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

41/58 – Carum

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


25/58 – Carum

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

21/58 - Carum
29/41 – Aleigha

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

20/58

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

24/41

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

Everybody dead.

[Abe Sargent]

XP – 2500 each

Items found on the corpses:

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

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

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

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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


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

Cleric Scroll of Cure serious Wounds, Cure Light Woundsx3


Lamonsten’s Spell Book:

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




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

XP:


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

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


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

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


Used potion of Speed, charge on Belt of Flying

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

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

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

Cleric Scroll of Cure serious Wounds, Cure Light Woundsx3


Lamonsten’s Spell Book:

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



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

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

Detect Invisible
Detect Illusion
See all Ethereal and Astral things

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

[Abe Sargent]

XSOLO. Lathan’s Gold


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

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

-2 crew.

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

XP – 750 for Alzar

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

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


Hardened Lump of Gold, 600 gold, 900 gold

-1 day for Burning Mountain expeditions.

[Abe Sargent]

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

pearl – 100 g

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

-200 gold

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

[Abe Sargent]

X8. Drums on Fire Mountain





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

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

[Travis]

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

[Abe Sargent]

Glad I can give ya something to do!

[Abe Sargent]

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

XP – 112 each

They search the stump and find a:

Necklace of Black Pearls – 2670


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

XP – 100 each

[Abe Sargent]

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

35/45 - Estaish

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

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

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

27/45

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

XP – 250 each

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

33/54 – Alzar

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

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

XP – 125 for Alzar

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

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


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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

XP – 325 each

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crystal Skull – 2500 gp

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

XP – 150 each

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


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

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


30/41 - Aleigha

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

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

22/41

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

11/41

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

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

50/58 - Carum

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

48/58


XP – 450 each


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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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


26/45 – Estaish
34/54 – Alzar

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

400 worth of jewelry on the guards.

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

26/54

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

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

18/54

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

A check finds:

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

Coverlet of rare furs, 1500gp

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

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

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

She makes her save

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

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

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

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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



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

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

XP – 488 each

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

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


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

[Abe Sargent]

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

4 ghouls left.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rock-Sized Lump of Gold – 2500

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

Four large diamond studded earrings – 2500 gp each

[Abe Sargent]

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




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

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

24/54

XP -1500 each

3 shadows left


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

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

Diamond - 20000

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

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

3 ghouls left

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

4 flame fundamentals left

XP – 200 for Alzar

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

XP – 750 each

They search and find

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

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

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

Potion

6 skeletons left

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

[Abe Sargent]

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

5 skeletons left

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

XP – 1600 for just Alzar

10/54 – Alzar

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

20/54

[Abe Sargent]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

XP – 2000 each

[Abe Sargent]

They search the treasury too and find:

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




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

[Abe Sargent]

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

Geldered’s Spell Book – Locked, Trapped

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

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


Kalnaka’s spellbook:

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



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

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



Alzar learns Charm Monster and Locate Remains.