Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 11

Played Thursday, April 15th...

Mirus 5th, 5231 AC

Inexplicably, the group decided to trek back to the army camp they left the previous day. Flambo, citing his faith, regretted his negligence in looking for any portable forges that an army of that size would have carried. Also, there were some other things that other members of the group wanted to investigate. Rak'Shan, who wanted no part of going back, went 'looking for his lion' and would rejoin the group back in Sirac's Point in a week's time.

Making the trek back to the camp, Galeena (who was scouting) suddenly stopped and the group barely heard her screaming. Rushing to her last known position they found a large hole, nearly 10 ft across, dug into the earth. Below, they could hear her screaming to get her out and there was something moving in there with her. Flambo, remembering he had wings, took to the sky to keep a vigilant watch while she was fished out. Galeena scrambled topside, screaming that something was following her and Flambo noted at the same time there were several of the holes dotting the nearby area.

Seconds later, half a dozen stag beetles erupted from the burrow holes. There was furious combat with some impressive wounds, with one of the beetles impaling Autumn and dashing her to the ground before being dispatched. Flambo reported there were more holes all around them and the decision was made to leave the area quickly since there was the possibility of a colony under their feet.

They arrived back at the army camp and Vendee excused himself to start a patrol. The others set about searching for the mobile forge, eventually finding it. With what was left of the day, Flambo set about performing minor repairs to the party's weapons and armor.

Mirus 6th - 8th, 5231 AC

With the materials at hand, Flambo (with Autumn and Cregg's help) set about creating a mold for a rather large hammer that Flambo could reasonably wield with two hands. Going over the stocks for the campsite and the party's resources, there was some lamenting that they did not have access to any alchemical reagents to bond silver with steel to make a weapon-grade silver weapon. While the hail and rain fell over the camp Flambo was hard at work casting and forging his hammer, Vendee and Galeena relaxed.

Mirus 9th - 11th, 5231 AC

With Flambo done the rough casting and essential forging, he had a giant hammer (30 gp, 1d12+1, SF 8, 40 lbs, two handed for Large-size, cannot be used by Man-size or smaller) that he could work on with the forging tools while they travelled. Leaving early on the 9th of Mirus and under clear skies, the party again set their sights to the southwest, and back to Sirac's Point.

Mirus 12th, 5231 AC

In the afternoon, the party stumbled across three human bodies that were savaged by slashing attacks. Deducing either sword, axe or extremely sharp claws, the wounds were fresh and while not oozing blood still, the blood had not dried out yet. Flambo took to the sky with Galeena (citing her ability to find things well in just about any situation) to make sure there were no hostiles nearby. The rest of the group searched them quickly, one was found to possess a copper signet ring with the design of a lion's head. The rest of their equipment was mundane except for a short sword on one of the men’s' belt. It looked of common (old) design, with bronze wire wrapping the handle (a more common thing during the height of the Zuhn Empire and their advanced technology). Vendee drew the weapon, revealing a gleaming silver blade with golden inlays unworn by time or use. Cregg cast a detect magic revealing it has some magical enchantment. Not seeing any writing or enchanting runes on the weapon, Vendee cast read magic, revealing in magical writing the word "Evnar" written on the blade.

Reading the word aloud, Vendee felt a presence in his mind, but pushed it back out again and quickly sheathed the weapon, wrapped it on canvas, wound it in rope and placed it in a sack. By this time, Flambo and Galeena returned and reported the all clear. Discussion of the sword and its effect on Vendee were made and it was removed from the wrappings and bag so that Flambo could examine it. Being a representative of the Forge God, he may be able to deduce something about it the reasoning went. As a precaution though, Flambo cast protection from evil on himself before handling the weapon. He examined it, noting the old design and antiquity, but other than its sharp edge and new looking blade, could find nothing else about it. Autumn was offered a chance to handle the weapon, being a pure warrioress but she declined citing Galeena's handling of the black orb and unknown magical items' effects. Rewrapped and replaced in the bag, the group moved on.

Mirus 13th - 15th, 5231 AC

Under clear skies and warming weather, the group finally arrived at Sirac's Point on the morning of the 15th. Stopped at the Trader's Gate, a member of the guard informed them that skirmishes with units from the Kingdom of Brunn has made things uneasy for the citizens and all weapons larger than a dagger are required to be tied or confiscated. Brunn forces have made several investigatory movements and there have been two known ship conflicts on the seas.

Cregg made mention of the battlefield they stumbled across as well as the camp, much to the rest of the group's dismay. When pressed, the guard revealed the Brunn soldiery wore purple tabards, the same ones the fallen soldiers wore. The guard sent a runner for the captain and thanked them for the information, hustling them along and out of the gate so that others could pass through.

The rest of the day was spent visiting Cicero's Books with Haindrad's Journal. Cicero confirmed that the writing was indeed authentic, matching several plans he once owned dealing with Haindrad's Keep and when asked to read the end he closed the book and gave it back. "You have the most valuable work currently ever recovered from the Zuhn Era and a death sentence. If this was magically warded then whomever did so will know it has been recovered, please take it from here quickly!" Cicero would have nothing else to do with the book, even refusing to house it in his vault for fear of who may come looking for it, explaining "Apathos teaches his faithful Haindrad was a great hero and died faithful. If the priests learned otherwise, the carriers of the book would all be hunted down and put to death for their heresy to his church." The group agreed to take it and asked about the plans he mentioned. They were told to return in three days or so to give Cicero time to locate them.

They visited Suelomon's Wonders, dumping off several oddities they had found over the last month or so of adventuring, including some of the idols and statuettes. Producing one of the stag beetle heads, Flambo scared his assistant, making her jump on a table while screaming. She retrieved Vargas, head curator and promptly left. He examined the items and asked for a few days as well to properly evaluate them.

The group pretty much split up at this point, taking their shares of treasure and heading off into the market. Vendee visited a gunsmith trader from Kurtonus, purchasing several grenades for the three servitors; Galeena bought a suit of plate mail; Cregg and Autumn bought better armor and weapons as well (Cregg noticed all of the infrequent stares and whispering references to the Apathos symbols adorning his armor and decided to go lower profile for the time being).

Lastly Vendee ended up at Towere Sorcerere. Attended to by one of Varja's apprentices, he bought several scrolls to add to his spell book and Flambobought a silver horn that summons berserk warriors to aid him and nearly bought a magical weapon the apprentice called Tania's Staff of Holding. As it turned out, Vendee looks down on 'mage weapons' but Cregg did purchase a magical armband that once belonged to a faithful of Tymira and Autumn bought a magical scimitar. The group also paid to leave several items with the apprentice as well so that their magical properties could be identified and would return for them in a few days.

Here is where the session ended...

Character	Sex/Race	XP Given	XP Total	Next Level
Curate Flambo of Vulknar	Male Endu	1,500	13,860	27,000 (+10%)
Vendee the Arcane Guardian	Male Elf	1,500	14,529	16,200 (+10%)
Galeena the Warrioress	Female Halfling	750	6,407	7,600 (+5%)
Curate Cregg of Tymira	Male Human	1,500	12,635	27,000 (+10%)
Rak’Shan the Disciple	Male Tigran	750	10,369	15,200 (+5%)
Autumn the Warrioress	Female Human	750	6,228	7,600 (+5%)

Flambo and Cregg have reached the level of Curate!

Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 10

It felt good to get behind the wheel again after being off for 2 weeks. Lots of developments from randomness and reinforcement that my dice hate me (or just like my players more)! Session recount will be available in a few days.

Updated 4/11 -

Solenus 25th - 32nd, 5231 A.C.

After the crypt was thoroughly searched, the group decided since the hole in the nearby room was seemingly the only way outsiders like the orcs could gain entrance into the tomb, they would use one of the larger sarcophagus lids and shatter some statuary for heavy rubble and plug the hole. Vendee and Cregg used scraps of leather from fallen enemies and cut cloth strips from cloaks to make a hammock for Galeena and attached it to the former orc chief’s throne and a statue. They hunkered down for a week like this, the Clerics trading off tending to the wounded.

Cregg got some lessons over the week from Vendee how to best fight and move about in heavy armor and though it wasn’t as intensive as formal training from a master, he feels more confidant about wearing it in combat. Vendee, for his part, identified the magical properties of the magical items the group had collected, but couldn’t identify the properties of the weapons or armor.

Haindrad’s journal was read as well, revealing that the assassin’s blade did not kill Haindrad as Apathos’ church teaches, but rather paralyzed him and gave him the appearance of death. Haindrad turned from his Deity in that moment, for letting him allow a traitor into his midst and Apathos cursed him for his willful defiance. When the clerics attempted to heal Haindrad, Apathos would not allow their magic to function, instead commanding them to inter Haindrad in the lower crypts and ward his tomb so that no evil could pass. They did so, interring Haindrad alive in his tomb, undisturbed for the better part of 5,000 years.

About 4 days into the week though, something heavy started pounding on the plug, shaking it slightly. Rak’Shan was keeping watch and reported something was amiss. The group made ready to put down whatever could break through the heavy stone plug, but after half an hour, the thudding stopped and did not start up again. On the eighth day, Galeena looked and commented how much better she felt.

During the week it was discussed whether to leave by way of the temple sub-level they entered through or see where the tunnel in the cracked room led to. This was voted down by the fact the group had obtained their objective and knew there were an unknown number of orc slavers who knew of the cave’s existence and probably knew something was inside the cave since it was blocked off now.

A lengthy discussion was made about whether or not to retrieve the long sword with Arek’s symbol from the upper level. There were some worried it would be found and used to great effect by an evil creature, others worried about it’s effects on the bearer (even if not actually used) and one member voiced their opinion that Galeena would make an attempt to steal it if left where it was. (She was indignant and explained she would have a bit of a hard time smuggling a sword as tall as her, and an even more difficult time wanting to play with something obviously magical and cursed after the ‘gem incident’.

Lirus the Apprentice’s body was recovered from where the group laid him to temporary rest and the trek was made to the surface where they entered the temple sub-level from. The warm-metal holy symbol ‘key’ was removed from the shrine’s altar and the group returned to the sunlight of the surface for the first time in nearly 2 weeks.

Travelling back to the expedition site where the Thunderwicket was resting, they noted the bodies left behind of their former comrades were missing hands and feet…wasting no time, they gathered any supplies they could scavenge, Vendee laid Lirus to rest and the group started the return trek to Sirac’s Point.

Mirus 1st - 2nd, 5231 A.C.

The first 2 days of travel were uneventful until the late afternoon of the second day. Having gotten clear of Haindrad’s Hills, the group entered the tall grasses of the savannah-like rolling plains. Rak’Shan was scouting in the lead since their scout went missing weeks ago, and suddenly he stopped. Surrounding the group were 15 gnolls, standing slowly up from hidden positions in the tall grass. Despite Rak’Shan’s heightened animalistic senses, the gnolls managed to surround the group. Sniffing the crosswinds, Rak’Shan noted he only smelled the tall grasses…the gnolls must have hidden their scent.

In broken common, one of the gnolls commanded the group - “100 gold to pass or your life!” Flambo, who grew up on the southern continent of Var-Ultar where gnolls rule one of the two most powerful empires, cautioned the group to make the payment. He knew the gnolls are a hunter race and some of the greatest trackers in the world, never giving their prey up easily. “Fine!” Vendee shouted back “100 gold!”

The two lead gnolls conferred for a moment and looked surprised. The rest of the gnolls looked like they were ready for a fight. “100 gold EACH” the lead gnoll retorted back. Rak’Shan threw his purse to them “here, this should cover all of us”. He turned to the group, “I can’t keep it all anyway, consider this my good deed today for all the healing”. The gnolls seemed surprised even further by this, being paid in full and by a tigran no less. They took payment and faded back into the tall grasses, gone as quickly as they came.

Mirus 3rd, 5231 A.C.

Waking up to an overcast day, the group set off, trudging through the waves of grass. The weather was still a bit chilly for this late in the spring too. After several hours of trekking through the wild, they happened across a battlefield, sever weeks old, littered with the bodies of purple-tabbarded humans and orcs with a red-claw tattoo on their forehead. Hundreds of bodies littered the field and seemed untouched by intelligent hands as there was broken gear and equipment littered everywhere on both sides. The field was searches but nothing valuable was recovered. Tracks were found leading to the site and the party back trailed them a few hours to the human’s camp.

Hundreds of tents were neatly lined in rows, most had fallen though. The group searched a few and eventually found a tent where a priest of Apathos was housed and the command tent where maps, plans and missives were strewn about by the wind. Gathering as much as they could, they discovered the leader’s name was General Tiberus and he moved thousands of troops out of the nearby ruins of Ventes, a small fishing village overrun by orcs. Several more groups of soldiers were supposed to meet the main host and smash the orcs, but no confirmation could be found. There was also found a letter from someone named Isold, begging Tiberus to return to Pax Valis and restore his family honor. The maps and missives the group gathered along with more supplies to augment their dwindling provisions. They made camp on a nearby hill to watch the site for any activity over night.

Mirus 4th, 5231 A.C.

Waking up to another chilly, overcast sky, the party left the camp behind and returned to their southwestern course of travel for Sirac’s Point. The clouds were getting darker from the northwest as they trekked and they started looking for a group of trees or tall shrubs in case a storm broke out. By late morning, rumblings could be heard overhead as the sky darkened. They found some trees and got into a nearby low position. Some time passed, but suddenly they were being pelted by golf ball-sized hail. Shields were raised over heads and they formed a shield wall to protect each other. Almost half an hour later, the hail subsided but the sky didn’t lighten up much. They continued on, wary lest they be pelted unexpectedly.

Later in the afternoon, they encountered a stone moai head, floating in the middle of nowhere. After eventually ascertaining it to be harmless the party learned it was a ‘Wise One’ and could tell them anything that existed and may be able to tell them the most predictable path their short term future holds. Through the ‘Wise One’ they learned the orcs had been wiped out and General Tiberus was still alive. Before much else could be learned, the ‘Wise One’ sank into the earth, muttering something.

The group circled up and could feel rumbling through their feet. Moments later, a gigantic, fanged-maw worm with deep purple skin burst through the earth to a height of about 15 ft. Deciding there was no where they could run and get away from the monstrosity, they attacked. Several minutes of furious combat ensued with Rak’Shan taking a horrible mauling but still on his feet. The worm spent a few minutes attacking ghostly weapons Cregg and Flambo conjured in the name of their Deities. Flambo took the worst though, being mauled and nearly swallowed whole by the creature, but instead went unconscious. The creature’s spiked tail popped through the earth near Vendee at one point, nearly skewering and poisoning Cregg who resisted the poisons covering it. Eventually the thing was driven off, not finding what it thought may be an easy meal of some herd animals. Flambo was gotten back onto his hooves by Cregg and the group moved on a bit before camping down for the night.

Here is where the session ended for the evening...

Character	Sex/Race	XP Given	XP Total	Next Level
Vicar Flambo of Vulknar	Male Endu	2,395	12,360	12,600 (+10%)
Vendee, Arcane Guardian	Male Elf	2,595	13,029	16,200 (+10%)
Galeena the Warrioress	Female Halfling	1,047	5,657	7,600 (+5%)
Vicar Cregg of Tymira	Male Human	2,395	11,135	12,600 (+10%)
Rak’Shan the Disciple	Male Tigran	2,495	9,619	15,200 (+5%)
Autumn the Warrioress	Female Human	1,047	5,478	7,600 (+5%)

Rak'Shan is now a Disciple!

Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 9

We played Session 9 last night. Some interesting developments occurred but more on that in a few days...

Updated 3/23:

Solenus 22nd, 5231 A.C.

Moving back into the hallway the group discovered a nearby door on the left and another door father down the hall, also on the left. Rak’Shan listened at the near door and heard some sort of buzzing noise. He moved quietly to the farther door under the cover of archers and listened, but heard nothing. There was another door as well, quickly explored to reveal a partially collapsed room with a hole where part of the back wall once was. Now the group knew how the living creatures made their way into the tomb.

Attempting to open the nearby door, Rak’Shan succeeded and was face to face with an angry stirge. Autumn ran up and slammed the door and the group heard the sound of a bar being slammed into place. A quick tactical discussion followed and the group decided to retreat to the other side of the farther door to allow missile fire while Rak’Shan played ‘bait’.

A success, sort of, as bait happened. Six orcs flooded the hallway as Rak’Shan ran towards the group. Unfortunately, another orc opened the second door to peek out, right into Rak’Shan’s path of flight. Rak’Shan hit the door and dug his claws into it, hanging like a sad Garfield in a car window, but scaring the bejezus out of the orc. He slammed that door into the orc’s face as the rest of the group traded missile fire with the orcs (there was an eventual bar slammed into place during the combat, but the group was too busy to really do more than take note.

One orc escaped the slaughter in the hall and fled back into the other room, the group pursued, right into an angry swarm of stirges. That’s when they found out the orcs were using the stirges as pets (much like a human uses a war dog). As combat was joined, the orc’s leader and his two sub-commanders burst through an archway at the far end of the room.

Things got bad for the group quickly, with two members being successfully attacked and weakened by Stirges and the orc leader cutting down another. A few timely spells from Vendee (who until this point has used his magics sparingly, favoring his martial skills with the bow) helped bring down the stirges and the last of the orcs. A quick exploration revealed the stirge room and the room with the door farther down the hall were connected by a room in between them (the orc leader’s chamber). The other door was barred as well and the decision to hole up was made as most of the group had traded wounds with the orcs and stirges and several members were still critically wounded. The orc’s lair was sacked for its treasure (a small amount of coins) and the group rested as best it could.

Solenus 23rd - 24th, 5231 A.C.

The group rested, healed wounds and decided to stay put an additional day so the Clerics would be at full strength. Going over Vendee’s maps, the only place they hadn’t explored was beyond the large warded doors.

Solenus 25th, 5231 A.C.

Close to when the party was making ready to leave on the second rest period, Rak’Shan heard voices in the hallway outside. He quietly unbarred the door and peeked outside, seeing a group of humans, soaked and in tattered clothes. The group decided to let them in and Flambo made initial contact, nearly scaring them away. Vendee was unsure they should be trusted, as how could such pitiful humans be here…he felt something was amiss.

The humans, it turned out, were part of an orcish slave caravan. The weather turned and they were sheltered in a cave with minimal guards. The humans revolted, killing the guards and they explored deeper into the cave, finding themselves in a nearby room that had partially collapsed into the cavern, then encountering the party and being here and now. The group broke the chains holding the former slaves and armed them with the orcish gear. The group gave the humans the option of coming with them or braving things on their own. To Vendee’s dismay, the humans opted to travel with the group.

Going back to the great doors with the divine wards, several hours were spent in examination, both magically and physically. While the wards were still intact, they seemed in place to keep something in. Not seemingly dangerous to the opener, the true danger seemed to be implied in the warnings of horrible death and dark times for the openers. Undaunted they opened the doors, breaking the seals. The wards, having lasted for thousands of years, were set off and it was noted nothing seemed to happen.

Entering a huge crypt, complete with great statues of warriors in each corner, an ornate sarcophagus on a raised dais and a life-size statue of Haindrad and his frost dragon mount, torches around the room flared to life. Galeena started to complain of feeling ill and stayed back with the humans (to keep an eye on them mostly), while the group moved to investigate the chamber.

Flambo with some help removed the sarcophagus lid, revealing the remains of a mummified warrior, complete in his ancient armor, clutching his bastard sword to his breast and shield covering his legs. Muttering something about ‘this one not coming back’, Flambo dug out vials of oil and blessed them in the name of Vulknar. Vendee used his skills of prestidigitation to ignite the blessed oil magically after Flambo doused the body. Watching the flames burn down, the body seemed mostly intact, singed and blackened but not overly damaged. The rest of Flambo’s oil reserves were blessed and smashed into the stone coffin quickly and lit by Vendee, igniting into a conflagration.

Cregg and Rak’Shan were exploring the rest of the room while this was happening. Everyone took notice when Galeena had a seizure, fell to the ground and started retching violently.

The body, still on fire sat up and glared at Flambo and Vendee with its deep, red-glowing eyes. Galeena cried out and sat up as her belly exploded, revealing she had swallowed the black orb/pearl they had found weeks ago. It gave off an energy pulse and vaporized as Galeena slumped to the ground in a pool of blood and gore, freaking out the humans she was with.

Haindrad stood, bringing his blade to bear at the humans and uttered a word, sending crackling dark energy at them. The shadowy energy exploded around them and every human fell over, a look of agony and horror on their faces. Rak’Shan jumped onto the dragon, discovering it was not true stone but plaster and it was cracking and flaking off, revealing the rotting hulk of an actual dragon inside. Rak’Shan ran faster then he ever had before in his life, behind one of the statues in the nearby corner and fired arrows at the thing as combat was taking place between Haindrad, Vendee, Flambo, Cregg and Autumn.

Calling the dragon, Haindrad leapt up and swung onto the creature’s neck. Glaring at Flambo - “I will come for you” and then cast a Word of Recall.

The group was stunned for a moment, not sure what happened, then regrouped, checked the wounded and dead and looted the crypt, not finding much coinage, but several items of obvious magical power due to their age and new-looking condition as well as several personal effects of Haindrad’s.

Galeena was barely alive and it was ascertained that even if magically healed, she would need rest to fully recover. The humans were gone, their eyes telling a horrorific last moment of life...

This is where the session ended for the night...

Character	Sex/Race	XP Given	XP Total	Next Level
Vicar Flambo of Vulknar	Male Endu	3,715	9,265	12,600 (+10%)
Vendee, Arcane Guardian	Male Elf	3,615	9,534	16,200 (+10%)
Galeena the Warrioress	Female Halfling	1,795	4,210	7,600 (+5%)
Vicar Cregg of Tymira	Male Human	3,715	8,040	12,600 (+10%)
Brother Rak’Shan	Male Tigran	3,590	7,079	7,125 (+5%)
Autumn the Warrioress	Female Human	1,795	4,031	7,600 (+5%)

Everyone in the party has gained a level!

Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 8

Another week and another session. This one had some frustrating developments, all due to the dice. More on that later though, along with the session log.

Updated 3/14:

The session was a good one, but early on the dice were not playing nice for almost anyone. Some nights the dice allow you to perform near miracles, well this session was the opposite. Most to-hit rolls were barely successful, saving throws difficult to make and wandering monsters non-existant (a full day's worth of checks...got nothing!). The fight with the Living Statues featured creatures with Damage Resistance that Cregg's player correctly guessed could be overcome by blunt force. The players were plinking away at them the whole time when they could hit. The it got real bad when characters started dropping like flies. It wasn't the AC of the creatures that was so difficult, but the dice were mediocore at best. I guess it was one of those sessions where the players did everything right, but the dice just don't want to play nice...but it was frustrating never the less.

Solenus 20th, 5231 A.C.

The door across the hallway opened easily for Rak’Shan (much to the group’s surprise) into a room containing statues of a male and female warrior flanking a plain stone sarcophagus. Inside the door were also statues of gargoyle or demon-like creatures. Galeena was told to search the room for traps (Rak’Shan was still deafened from the grenades that killed the scarab beetles). She made a dramatic show of how dangerous it could be for her, but eventually acquiesced and entered, making a careful search until she felt it was safe. Wary of the statues, Flambo cracked open the sarcophagus finding another long dead body. Galeena made a search for traps around the stone box and determined it was safe, climbed in to check for treasures while the group went back into the hallway to wait for her, not wanting to overly disturb the dead. She found some potions, a bronze jug, a sum of silver and some gold coins. Rushing the pair of potions out to Vendee, she returned to collect the coins when the statues stepped off their bases and attacked.

The fight lasted a long time and during it, Rak’Shan, Flambo, Galeena and Autumn went down at various points. The creatures were taking the best the group could dish out but seemed barely phased by the blows. Vendee, not having much in the way of offensive magic at his disposal, hit one of the statues with an Enlarge spell, cramping it and making it difficult to move for the creature, but it still hit Rak'Shan a couple of times and in its larger state could reach Flambo. Cregg, taking Flambo’s two-handed hammer after he fell unconscious, discovered the creatures had a weakness against blunt weapons. Vendee dismissed the enlargement effect before the creature did any further damage with its increased reach.

The party began strategically retreating at one point, while trying to save the dying (and using an unconscious Flambo’s bulk as a natural barrier) and Galeena raced past the statues with one of the potions she took from the tomb. She tumbled past the statues, confusing them and jumped into the stone box, dragging Rak’Shan (who lay at the base of the box) with her. After several moments with the statues not responding to her replacing the potions, she stood up and said “now what???” to Vendee and Cregg. Realizing she was now in the box they were tasked with guarding, the statues simultaneously turned and swung, nearly cleaving Galeena in two. She fell limp back into the box and on top of Rak’Shan.

Mustering one last offensive, Vendee settled on using his Spellblade Weapon and Cregg hefted Flambo’s hammer.

Eventually, the statues were piles of rubble and a threat no more. Vendee, normally unscathed by combat, was even sporting some nicks and a bruise. Miraculously, all of the companions were alive, some barely hanging on, but alive nonetheless. Piling up the rubble that was the remains of the statues in front of the door, the group set to tending the wounded and resting.

Solenus 21st, 5231 A.C.

With everyone at least conscious, but some members (barely) walking wounded, they group stayed put, continuing to rest and tend the injured. Rak’Shan discovered his hearing had returned, probably sometime during his unconscious state. Magical healing was generously applied and the day was otherwise uneventful. Vendee studied the potions during the day and determined one was a Potion of Levitation and the other was a Potion of Growth. The bronze jug was discovered to pour fresh water endlessly when the stopper was removed and the jug tilted.

Solenus 22nd, 5231 A.C.

After doing their morning rituals and such, the group left the statue room, moving down the hall to another side door. In the distance of their bulls-eye lantern’s light, the hall ended in a large door or double door (they weren’t sure) but Flambo, Cregg and Rak’Shan (all Clerics or Cleric Subclasses) could feel some holy energy coming from the door. They noted it, but wanted to investigate any doors before they went the rest of the hall to make sure nothing came up from behind again, one member citing what happened to Lirus the Apprentice a few days ago.

Again, Rak’Shan opened the door easily. In this room was an obvious illusion of a young man in his teens. Dressed in the garb of a squire and the illusion followed the boy through flashes of his teen years, learning to fight and then as a young adult being inducted into the order of Apathos. As a middle-aged man they saw him lead virtuous warriors into battle against some undefined darkness or evil. The last image they saw was of the man, older, haggard-looking with streaks of grey hair and sunken eyes. The holy symbol now worn by them man was still of Apathos, but blackened and twisted. This last threw the group. The man looked alive, so it ruled out his being some powerful form of undead warrior.

They hypothesized he turned from his faith at some point, hence the blackened holy symbol (Apathos’ symbol is a Red Crown, sometimes on a black field). Flambo stated that he thinks things are not as they seem, as this place seemed more like a prison for something, or someone and not truly a tomb. It seemed like people of ancient times were especially keen on keeping this location secret.

Not finding anything else, they moved on. Down a different hall after they discovered an intersection, the nearby door they decided to investigate wouldn’t open for Rak’Shan. Flambo attempted to as well, yanking hard enough to get a crack open. Rak’Shan saw there was something barring the door on the other side…and a green flicker.

Busting the door in, the group encountered four skeletal creatures with green glowing eyes. One of the creatures, dressed in tattered robes and wielding a staff, gestured wildly and shot magic missiles at the group. Flambo drove the creatures back into the room with the power Vulknar. They didn’t have anywhere to go, so the fighter skeletons formed a defensive wall around the magical skeleton. Wounds were traded but the group prevailed after another long, pitched battle.

Among the useless weapons and armor one of the skeletons was found to be wearing a tarnished, but decent suit of chain mail. Rak’Shan’s insistence of going armorless has been a point of contention for other party members (namely Flambo, who heals him when Cregg cannot). Not seeing a hole for his tail and not wishing to wear what he considers bulky armor, Rak’Shan tried it on to satisfy Flambo. While the armor was indeed heavy, it sized to fit Rak’Shan to the point of forming a hole for his tail. Taking a chance on it not being cursed and indeed magical, Flambo took the armor with the rest of the group’s blessing and indeed, it enlarged enough to fit him as well as he pulled it on (with the light sound of links being forged and added).

A search was made and a secret door was found as well, leading to a small room with book-lined shelves and the remains of a table. Vendee, hoping the skeletal magic caster had a spellbook was disappointed there was none to find, but the group did find a scroll that was extremely fragile, but did not disintegrate when it was opened. The arcane writing was ancient, but Vendee could identify the scroll was magical and contained a spell of the First Circle, Burning Hands.

The Session Ended here, with the group making ready to go back into the hall and look for any other doors they may have missed…

Character	Sex/Race	XP Given	XP Total	Next Level
Flambo, Adept of Vulknar	Male Endu	1,385	5,550	5,850 (+10%)
Vendee, Arcane Veteran	Male Elf	1,510	5,919	8,100 (+10%)
Galeena the Mercenary	Female Halfling	580	2,415	3,800 (+5%)
Cregg, Adept of Tymira	Male Human	1,235	4,325	5,850 (+10%)
Rak’Shan the Monk	Male Tigran	1,260	3,489	3,800 (+5%)
Autumn the Mercenary	Female Human	580	2,236	3,800 (+5%)

Cregg has reached 3rd level!
Galeena has reached 2nd level!
Autumn has reached 2nd level!

Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 7

The weekly game was played last night. The group got through several tough encounters and (barely) survived 2 deadly traps. My dice went through a cold-hot-cold cycle through out the night as well. One constant that has been happenning thus far is the lack of wandering encounters - the dice seem to want the PCs to survive for a while longer I suppose. I'll post the details of the game in a couple of days (it may well be the longest post I've done to date).

Updated 3/8:

On the way to the game, Vendee's player commented about my post on Experience Points and how I was granting them. He likes more of a faster advancing game at lower levels, with a drop off at mid levels. Normally I would agree, I hate playing  low levels of more 'modern' games. But playing S&W and now WoO, I find I like low levels more than I have for a long time. The characters are alot more fragile and the players are more creative in keeping themselves alive. Since we are playing 3 weeks out of every month thus far I didn't want a fast advancing game, otherwise the players would just blow through the levels and this isn't WoW or WotC d20 (1st or 2nd Edition). With a good use of tactics though (and having 2 Clerics) the characters have been pacing about 2 sessions per level thus far and are taking most of the encounters they do have fairly well. So far things have been win/win I think (well I hope).

The session itself is too huge to post reasonably. The group, bolstered by the return of Rak'Shan dealt with several encounters, including a group of goblins, skeletons with skeletal hounds being commanded by a powerful green-eyed skeleton (while turning affected the lesser skeletons, the green-eyed skeleton negated this somehow and forced his 'troops' back into the fight).

Rak'Shan went down in this fight, as well as later in the night when a deadly trap was set off and he was squarely in it's path of destruction. He made his saving throw for only half damage, but it still did enough to him to take him down. This has been a slight issue over the past several gaming sessions, as Rak'Shan has been the primary door opener and trap-worker, with Galeena doing duty as his backup. Since he's in front so much, he takes the most damage usually in initial volleys if the monsters know the group is on the other side of the door or is coming their way. He has a decent AC as well, one of the highest in the group (we play with Ascending AC) but when you get attacked 3+ times after opening a door (sometimes with suprise), it wears you down. The player is frustrated (exclaiming "Monk's Suck!" after he went down for the second time near the end of the session), but it's not through any fault of his own (except for not letting either of the 2 clerics know he's walking dead sometimes), it's just the role the party needs him to take is one of the most dangerous. If he survives these low levels to about 4th or 5th level, I think he'll see his class differently, but I play to the dice and either the dice will get him (and the rest of the party) or they won't.

Another thing, interesting, that happened in the session is the party encountered three rusty, ancient servitor golems during their encounter with the above mentioned skeletons. One promptly chucked a grenade at Cregg (a dud, as randomly determined by the dice...they seem to like my players more than me sometimes) and another slammed the door to the room they were in. After the skeletons were dispatched Flambo, being a Cleric of the Forge and Sun God, used his wits to befriend the little floating golems, gain a safe place to rest and them to join the party and all for a pint of oil for each golem (must be his good looks). The servitor golems had a small cache of 5 more grenades they grabbed before leaving their workshop room, which they used later to destroy a swarm of scarab beetles (it was a bit of overkill, but the golems wanted to protect the first friendly people they've seen in a few thousand years). They are also a bit of comic relief for me as well, as i described them as floating sheres with a tracking cyclon red eye travelling across the 'front' of the thing. Cregg's player pulled up a sound bite on his phone that sounded like R2D2 on crack, and the group nicknamed them Huey, Dewey and Louie. It seems they can understand, read and write (archaic) common, but no one can understand 'machine code'.

Up til this point, I've kept the 'mekanical' and 'gunpowder' related things in the background. In Sirac's Point they saw a labor mek offloading a ship's cargo at the docks, and at the dig site, they encountered another (deactivated) one and in the Zuhn Regiment's Tomb saw a crumbling War Mek. Now they've encountered Servitor Golems and grenades. Some of the frescoes depicted rifle troops alongside a phalanx of warriors of the Zuhn Empire. Slowly they're being exposed to the less fantastical elements of Onn in small bits at a time. I hope they enjoy it playing in it as much as I have running games set in it over the years.

There was much gathering of treasure and exploration. The scarabs were the last event of the night and we ended the session in front of the door across the hallway after the group searched the room for shiny bits and baubles.

Campaign Date:
Solenus 19th-20th, 5231 A.C.

Dramatis Personae:

Character	Sex/Race	XP Given	XP Total	Next Level
Flambo, Adept of Vulknar	Male Endu	1,020	4,165	5,850 (+10%)
Vendee, Arcane Veteran	Male Elf	1,070	4,409	8,100 (+10%)
Galeena, Woman-at-Arms	Female Halfling	472	1,835	1,900 (+5%)
Cregg, Novice of Tymira	Male Human	1,020	3,090	3,150 (+10%)
Rak’Shan the Monk	Male Tigran	932	2,229	3,800 (+5%)
Autumn, Woman-at-Arms	Female Human	472	1,656	1,900 (+5%)

Flambo has reached 3rd level!
Vendee has reached 3rd level!
Rak'Shan has reached 2nd level!

Granting Experience Points

I've gotten a couple of emails recently over the Sirac's Point game about how I do XPs for the characters. For this game, I'm simply granting full monster XP for creatures slain, driven off, 'overcome' or defeated in some manner. This is to make up for not granting any XP for treasure at all. Thus far it makes for a moderately fast advancing game, with most of the players gaining 2nd level after about 5 sessions. The fastest advancing classed characters will reach 3rd after about 7-8 sessions, due mostly to the grind that was Session 6. The good use of strategy, missile/2nd rank spear wielders and doorways made most of the fights one-sided (not that I consider this bad either) and only through a couple of critical hits and being paralyzed by a ghast were any player characters in true danger of death. Of course, the group has 2 Clerics and they are exploring a tomb filled with undead, so I fully expect them to have some moderate success dealing with injury and undead. Thus far it has been fun to Referee for them, since they are a group that, while small (there are only 4 players with now 2 hirelings remaining) are as entertaining for me as I hope I am for them.

I digress though, the XP guidelines I'm using are pretty much straight forward as follows:

• Full monster XP for all characters for 'overcome' threats.
• About 1/20 the XP total needed to level for every week, even if not played. It keeps the characters moving, even if slowly, if I have to cancel a game or if a player can't make a game.
• The character's XP adjustment is used on the XP total needed to advance so there is just one calculation each time a PC levels instead of on XP earned each session.
• When the PCs achieve a goal, I grant a bonus XP award (currently, they need to gather enough proof of Haindrad's Tomb and return to Sirac's Point with it to achieve this goal).

Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 6

Our weekly session was played despite weather advisory of snow, drifting and winds. It actually wasn't bad out, despite the 'Snowmageddon II' predictions. We were 1 player short, with Rak'Shan the Initiate's player unable to attend due to family obligations. I'll post a synopsis of the session in the next day or so.

Updated 2/27:

Campaign Date:
Solenus 18th, 5231 A.C.

Deciding to finish exploring the level they were on, the group returned to the intersection to the south and took the western passage. Rak’Shan was left behind to guard the chapel in case something decided to come up from the secret door or into the complex from topside. The passage led to a “T” intersection and they chose left, ending in another falling-apart door. Opened, an empty storage room was found to contain nothing of value.

Going back and taking the other passage, they found another deteriorating door. Galeena, designated the party’s ‘scout’ with Rak’Shan out of immediate use, heard no sounds nor found any traps. Flambo tried to open the door, but just made a hole in it when he applied a crowbar to it. Using his lantern, he shone light into the room and saw a blue-tinged long sword with a ruby pommel stone resting on a wrought iron stand in the center of the room, inside of a silver-inlayed protective circle. Galeena heard ‘fem’ and immediately started asking questions since she was shuffled to the back of the party and Cregg and Autumn given the order to restrain her if she tried to make a dash for the cash.

Flambo opened the door and cautiously entered with Vendee and Lirus. They discovered there were holy runes inscribed around the protective circle as well, all facing inwards. Empty stone shelves lined all of the walls with inward carved protective runes, but all of the shelves were empty. There was a lengthy discussion amongst all of the spellcasters over the meaning of the runes pointing inwards instead of outwards and the consensus was that it was meant to keep something in and not out. Closer examination of the sword (from outside the circle) revealed the pommel stone was a ruby carved to resemble an eye. Cregg recalled that the dark deity Arek, Lord of Madness and Slimes, used a ruby eye as his holy symbol. They decided not to tamper with the weapon, lest it be an evil or cursed thing and made a thorough search of the chamber. Finding nothing else, they returned to the chapel hall. Galeena was dejected since they were leaving an obviously valuable object, but agreed that it seemed a bad idea to tamper with something that could be powerfully evil.

With Rak’Shan guarding the secret door, the group descended the stairs revealed by the sliding altar. A short hallway extended from the landing to an ornately carved, stone double door. Galeena listened and searched for traps, giving Flambo the all clear to open the right door after several minutes. She was sure that one was safe, but not so sure about the left door. Flambo easily opened the door with not a sound. Beyond in the lantern light a large stone sarcophagus was found sitting in the center of a plain room. The lid was ornately carved to resemble a young warrior with electrum and silver inlays and plating on his armor, sword and shield. Vendee brought up the plainness of the room however, citing that a follower so revered would have a much grander resting place. There was some discussion about this, then finally the decision to open the lid.

Flambo and Autumn pushed the lid over the back of the stone box, revealing the skeleton of a large (nearly 6 ft tall) man in ruined plate armor, pavis (heavy shield) and footman’s mace. The red crown holy symbol of Apathos was plainly seen on the armor and shield. Looking for something they could use a proof that this was Haindrad, Cregg made a search of the body and discovered a small palm-sized bronze disc. Inspecting it informed the group that this was another follower of Apathos that was designated to ‘stand in’ for Haindrad and guard his tomb from looters.

The group removed the body carefully and Cregg made a search inside the stone box. The bottom dropped out suddenly but Cregg was able to grab onto the side and Flambo hoisted him out. A hidden plate revealed the tomb’s false bottom and a slide into darkness. Vendee dropped a torch down and discovered it only went about 10 ft to a landing then a narrow stair descended beyond the light. Some discussion at this point was made about taking the bronze disc and some of the other items they found back to Sirac’s Point as proof they found the Tomb of Haindrad. The adventurers decided to press on.

Descending the stairs led to a wide area with passageways and several doors providing opportunities for exploration. They decided to try the nearest door, after Galeena checked it for traps and noises, which she deemed safe. On Flambo opening the door, a swarm of five giant rats leapt out, intent on making a meal of him. The party made quick work of them though, with only Flambo taking a minor wound. The room the rats had been nesting in appeared to have been an embalming chamber in the past, but nothing of value was found. A door at the far end of the room appeared to be the only other exit.

Beyond the door was a “T” intersection hallway and another door. Deciding to keep using the halfling lucky charm, they chose the door and once the all clear was given, opened it to reveal an odd room that contained two moai head statues at opposite sides of the room facing each other. Both have open mouths, but one has a silver piece in it, while the other is empty. Flambo, leading through, makes a thorough examination but warns everyone else he thinks it’s some sort of trap. Vendee takes issue with the cultural identity of the statues and the fact that Haindrad is from the Zuhn Empire and stylistically this was more than a little odd. With Galeena in tow they passed through the room and out a door in the far end, to another wide area with several passageways and a door.

Checking the stone door, Galeena moves aside for Flambo and the door is opened. To Flambo’s shocked amazement, three humanoid creatures, wearing the tattered remnants of Knight’s Armor are feasting on the remains of a semi-fresh orc. Immediately the creatures rush at Flambo and before he can react one of them bites him and he finds himself unable to move. The largest of the three creatures shoves Flambo backwards into the rest of the group, clustered so they can see what’s happening. Vendee, slow to move, gets knocked down and pinned under Flambo’s sizable girth. Cregg, guessing the creatures are some form of humanoid undead since they have survived down here for so long, calls on Tymira and thrusts his holy symbol aloft. The golden light drives the creatures back to the far wall of the room, where the group moves in and uses missiles to whittle down the weaker creatures. The largest moves to a door and escapes before he can be shot down. The remaining creatures are mowed down in a hail of missile fire.

Moving to the door, it is flung open and combat resumes with the creature. Autumn gets in close and discovers it has a retched stench, but does not succumb to it. Off to her right, a skeletal creature in the armor of a knight and wielding a sword moves to join the combat, its eyes flickering with tiny green flames. The skeletal creature scores several solid hits on various party members that join it in melee before being destroyed. With no other exits in sight, the party makes a thorough search of both rooms, which appear to be crypts, finding a small amount of treasure. Cregg, feeling it was nearly time to do his devotionals to Tymira (which he does in the evenings) let the rest of the party know. They decided to use the rooms as a place to rest, keeping 3 watches of two people each. Nothing disturbed their rest and they healed what damage they could to those that were the most seriously injured.

Campaign Date:
Solenus 19th, 5231 A.C.

Packing up their belongings after morning devotionals were done by Flambo and Lirus studied his books, the group headed up one of the halls from the large chamber, coming to an archway. Shining the lantern into it, a long hall stretched out of sight, lined with statues on both sides of fighting-men. They entered the hall, carefully searching each statue as they went. Lirus was standing in the archway when the party heard him scream. He was gone when they turned around and moving into the hallway revealed a small horde of crawling hands and feet, pummeling Lirus mercilessly.

More of the creatures awaited on the other side of the archway, attacking from behind them several members of the party stepped out to try to save Lirus. Enough room was created to get Cregg in the hallway and he drove off the undead through his devotion to Tymira once again. Lirus was checked, but deemed beyond healing. Flambo wanted to cremate the body, but Vendee objected, informing him that the Elves return their dead to the earth. They wrapped Lirus in his cloak and returned him to the rooms they rested in. Flambo deposited him into one of the now empty tombs and Vendee commented if they were able they would return for him before leaving so he could be properly buried.

Returning to the statued hall, the group made a painstakingly thorough search over several hours, finding nothing, but recording the names of each statue. There was another archway at the far end of the hall, which led to the large chamber they first entered at the bottom of the stairs. Across the chamber, they saw two doors and decided to check the one most directly ahead.

Galeena listened and searched, giving Flambo the go-ahead. The door opened to a web-filled chamber. As the group prepared torches, four large (about 1 ft in diameter) spiders dropped from the webbing and attacked Flambo in the doorway, lightly wounding him. Short work was made of these vermin though and when the room was torched, the webs flash burnt and a formerly-webbed orc body dropped from the ceiling, spilling some coins from his belt pouch. There were several holes in the ceiling as well, some a large as 2 ft in diameter. Knowing that a spider can squeeze thought tight spaces and something larger than the small spiders would have to have lifted the orc, the group warily gathered the coins and searched the rest of the room. Through a door on the southern wall, a giant-sized skeleton burst in, fully 12 ft tall and hunched to fit in the room. Both Flambo and Cregg’s attempts to call on their deities to drive the creature off were for naught and all of them were required to wade in, swords, hammers and spears at the ready so the creature couldn’t focus on any one member and dismember them with his sharp-looking claws. After several minor wounds were inflicted by the creature, it fell to the group.

Cautiously moving into the room beyond the door, the group discovered a tomb large enough for the huge warrior as well as some more loot for the markets. They spent more time carefully going through their findings, with Vendee noting that the coins, though they are close enough to the standard weights of the modern day coins, are ancient and some appear to be for the most part in mint condition may be more valuable to collectors than simply just spent in the market.

Assessing the treasure gained thus far, this is where we ended the session…

Dramatis Personae:

Character	Sex/Race	XP Given	XP Total	Next Level
Flambo, Novice of Vulknar	Male Endu	1,000	3,145	3,150 (+10%)
Vendee, Arcane Warrior	Male Elf	1,070	3,339	4,050 (+10%)
Galeena, Woman-at-Arms	Female Halfling	472	1,363	1,900 (+5%)
Cregg, Novice of Tymira	Male Human	920	2,070	3,150 (+10%)
Rak’Shan the Initiate	Male Tigran	87	1,297	1,663 (+5%)
Autumn, Woman-at-Arms	Female Human	472	1,184	1,900 (+5%)

Cregg has reached 2nd level!

Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 5

We did play today, but the session notes will have to wait until tomorrow.

Update 2/20: I'm still writing out the session, it should appear in the next day or 2.

Update 2/22:

Campaign Date:
Solenus 18th, 5231 A.C.

Well-rested, the group set about in the morning mist using the Map Vendee created from the map room in the Knights' Tomb. By mid-morning they found a large area about 100 yards long and 50 yards wide that seemed unusually flat and a strange formation of two small (2ft tall) white marble pillars about 1 foot and a half apart were found. It was determined that this was the place and the formation was probably the remains of a statue (the legs) and digging into the earth confirmed so when the feet and base were found. Some quick discussion on whether a statue outside of a temple or tomb would face towards or away ensued and the group decided the statue would face away. A search was started behind the statue feet to find any place where a likely entrance to an undergound chamber could be found. Flambo took to the air, finally able to stretch his wings and the rest of the group fanned outwards.

Both Rak'Shan and Flambo discovered a deep gully near the far end of the flat area and in it a hole, some 4ft tall was in its side. Flambo retrieved the rest of the party while Rak'Shan searched about and discerned there were small dog-like prints in the mud of the gully. The rest of the group gathered around the gully and Rak'Shan was given a lantern by Galeena and green-lighted to scout in by the group.

He got through the hole and discovered the interior was much larger and was well-carved stone stairs that descended and curved deeper undergound. He explored them until he arrived at a landing and waited for the rest of the group. When they caught up, they moved down a short hall and arrived at a four-way intersection.

At the intersection, a magic mouth appeared and directed newcomers to the passage on their right for rest, to the left if they were in need of bathing and refreshing or to continue on to the main temple if they so desired. Searching about, they determined the dog-like tracks came by this way and went to the right, to the 'rest area'.

Following the tracks, they found a large room that was once a common resting room, mostly disintegrated bunks and linens made odd-looking organized rows through the room. There was a door in the far corner of the room as well. Autumn found a rusted iron box in what may once have been a leather bag. There was a keyhole, but further searching produced no key. Flambo decided to test his strength against the weakened metal and the box crunched with some effort, producing a cloud of greenish, poppy-smelling vapor. Flambo felt sluggish for a few moments, taking the puff in the face, but suffered no ill-effects. Rak'Shan determined the tracks went through the room and the other door, so after their searching was done, the group aligned at the door.

Rak'Shan opened the door and was greeted by a trio of javelins, thrown by small dog-men. In the furious combat that ensued, Rak'Shan was knocked out by one of the larger dog-men and nearly decapitated as a trophy, but withthe rest of the party taking some minor damage, dispatched the yapping creatures. The room was searched, but was merely a storage room for the common room and contained nothing beyond the worn cot frames and moldy linens and the dog-men had nothing of value.

Healing magic applied, all of the wounded were at least mobile and in fighting condition. Returning to the main passageway, they decided to take the other fork to the 'bathing room'. After Rak'Shan determined there was a bubbling sound but nothing more, the group noted this door was in much better condition than the other doors encountered thus far. The door opened, revealing a large bathing room, complete with a large oval bathing pool (15ft x 10ft) filled with bubbling, black brackish water and another door at the far side of the room. The room was searched, with nothing of value found and the door led to another storage room, filled with moldy, time-worn linens.

Rak'Shan did his best to stay away from the pool, being at the far end of the room when Vendee borrowed Autumn's spear and poked the bottom of the pool to determine its depth. Striking something metallic, then stone to either side, the thought was there may be treasure in the pool. Those thoughts were turned aside when seven skeletons burst from the pool forcing the group back towards the room's exit. Rak'Shan, at the far corner and seperated from the group was either ignored or unnoticed, that is until Cregg called for the protection of Tymira and turned the skeletons...right towards a solitary Rak'Shan.

Owing to his natural agility and monastic training, Rak'Shan was able to escape being surrounded and the group waded in with Cregg keeping the unholy creatures pinned close to the far wall. Vendee called on the power of his magical amulet once again and was ignored by the undead as the group waded in. Some more minor wounds were inflicted but the adventurers were victorious.

More bandaging and frugal use of the group's limited healing magic were applied. Rak'Shan volunteered to search the pool and after entering it discovered the water was moving, sluggishly coming from several jets around the sides and there was a drain in several places in the bottom. After nearly an hour of painstaking searching, a small horde of silver was recovered from the pool as well as some small amounts of other coinage. The loot was sacked for the time being, with Flambo designated as the treasure carrier since he seemed not to be overly affected by the extra weight.

Onward they pressed, moving cautiously into the chapel, which was a pillared affair with a vaulted ceiling. Flambo, Cregg and Rak'Shan could feel the reasuring effect of the consecrated area and a grand altar sat at the chapel's far wall. Carved into the altar was Apathos' holy symbol, a red crown on a black field. There were also a single door on each side of the room. A search revealed there were slight grooves to one side of the altar. Flambo attempted to move it, but the 'click' sound of a locking mechanism prevented it from moving. Not wanting to possibly destroy a deity's altar, they decided to try to find the key or mechanism to unlock the altar first.

Taking the door on the right side of the chapel, they discovered a trio of rooms that appeared to be acolyte's quarters. The first one they explored, a swarm of crawling hands erupted from the debris in teh room, forcing the group to retreat to the chapel. The hands wouldn't enter the room to attack though. Not wanting to possibly end whatever sanctuary-like effect they were in, the idea to attack from within the room was nixed. One by one, the party members worked their way out into the all again, fending off the hands and creating space for Cregg to get into the hallway, where he successfully called on Tymira agian to drive off the unholy creatures. The party gave chase into a different acolyte's quarters and cut, squished and splattered the hands to the last. They searched all three rooms, finding some more minor treasure and a monocle hidden in a niche behind a fallen-apart bookcase. Vendee set off a dart trap while taking a small idol of Apathos, but suffered nothing more than a scratch for his effort. The small treasures were counted and added to the mounting total for Flambo to carry, then the group returned to the chapel and the other door.

Following the hallway to another 4-way intersection, they pressed straight ahead until the hall ended at a door. Rak'Shan listened, but heard nothing. The door was forced open to reveal a library-like chamber with a small consecrated altar in the center. Looking at the tomes and volumes on the shelves, titles such as 'Divine Enchanting', 'Holy Theory on the Creation of Magical Items' and the like were piled high. One of the party members attempted to take a book from the shelf, but it fell apart in his hands. Knowing that if there was a way to restore the ancient books they would be worth some good coin, so the descision not to touch anything more was made and the door was shut.

Back at the interesction, the group took the left fork and found another door. On this door was a tarnished brass plate that read in archaic common (or Zuhnish) 'High Priest'. Opening the door revealed quarters for a high priest of the chapel, with ancient religious paraphernalia well beyond its usefulness. Though they were cautious on seeing a suit of ancient full-plate on an armor stand, when it was noticed that the armor was wearing a holy symbol of Apathos as opposed to having one engraved or painted on the breastplate, the armor stepped off the stand and proceeded to tear into the party. Rak'Shan was knocked unconscious by the armor's gauntleted fist and other party members were slammed by powerful blows as well. Eventually though, it was nothing more than a pile of parts on the ground. Vendee picked up the symbol and noted that it was made from a reddish metal and felt slightly warm to the touch. In the pile of parts a scroll was found as well -

First, bless the altar with a prayer to the gods,

Second, anoint the item to be used,

Last, channel the divine and keep to your faith.

You will be rewarded for your effort.

A search revealed two potions, an amethyst and a few electrum coins. Several members severly wounded and healing lacking, they returned to the chapel hall. Inspecting the altar more closely, it was thought after some discussion that the red metal holy symbol would fit into the carving of the crown on the altar. Using the instructions on the scroll, Flambo said a blessing over the altar, holy water was used to annoint the holy symbol and Cregg summoned the power of Tymira in a show of divine power. The holy symbol was placed into the altar and with a nearly inaudible 'click', the altar slid to the side, revealing stairs descending into a deeper darkness.

Some discussion was made and debate over whether to finish exploring the area they were currently in, lest they miss some clue or leave some monster to creep up on them, or to push deeper into the complex.

And here is where we ended the session...


Dramatis Personae:

Character	Sex/Race	XP Given	XP Total	Next Level
Flambo, Novice of Vulknar	Male Endu	490	2,145	3,150 (+10%)
Vendee, Arcane Warrior	Male Elf	427	2,269	4,050 (+10%)
Galeena, Woman-at-Arms	Female Halfling	257	891	1,900 (+5%)
Lirus the Apprentice	Male Elf	282	940	2,375 (+5%)
Cregg, Acolyte of Tymira	Male Human	390	1,150	1,350 (+10%)
Rak’Shan the Initiate	Male Tigran	402	1,210	1,663 (+5%)
Autumn, Woman-at-Arms	Female Human	257	712	1,900 (+5%)

Vendee has reached 2nd level!

Tales from Sirac's Point, Downtime

Alas Session 5 has been postponed due in part to the weather and my work schedule with shovelling snow on top of the normal stress. But our adventurers are still adventuring and planning on discovering the Tomb and plunder, err, explore it...

Dramatis Personae:

Character	Sex/Race	XP Given	XP Total	Next Level
Flambo, Novice of Vulknar	Male Endu	175	1,655	3,150 (+10%)
Vendee, Apprentice-at-Arms	Male Elf	112	1,842	2,025 (+10%)
Galeena, Woman-at-Arms	Female Halfling	0	634	1,900 (+5%)
Lirus the Apprentice	Male Elf	0	658	2,375 (+5%)
Cregg, Acolyte of Tymira	Male Human	75	760	1,350 (+10%)
Rak’Shan the Initiate	Male Tigran	87	808	1,750
Autumn, Woman-at-Arms	Female Human	0	455	1,900 (+5%)

Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 4

We did play session 4 of the Sirac's Point campaign last night. I'm still working on the write-up, but I wanted to post the XP earned by the group. There was alot of role-playing involved and the wife of Cregg's player joined us for the evening, boosting our numbers by 1 Fighting-woman. James M. over at Grognardia mentioned the '1st session slump' after breaking the normal gaming routine in one of his excellent posts. We missed last week, but the players had a few cobwebs and I couldn't seem to get into a flow. I guess it happens, hopefully next week's game will go smother.

Post Update 2/8/10:
The session began with the party opening the portcullis. One of the human expedition guards, Autumn, climbed down the entry hall hole and asked to join the group, citing she felt safer with them after the calamities that have thus far befallen the expedition. Cregg accepted her offer to join under his employ. At the end of a short hall was a "T" intersection that ended in 2 doors.

Beyond the first door checked Rak'Shan heard noises, but upon opening the door found another tomb, more ornate and intact than the first tomb they found. The frescoes painted on the walls depicted a great warrior bearing a shield with the symbol of Apathos, Lord of Rulers and Military Commanders, leading a legion of warriors against a red-eyed darkness. The party cracked open the sealed tomb, discovering a mummified knight in ornate plate armor with a bastard sword and knight's shield bearing Apathos' symbol (all bearing the signs of age, but still in otherwise serviceable condition). Still needing proof they found Haindrad's Tomb, they extricated the knight from his armor as best they could and recovered the shield. Under his body, they found a rectangular depression that looked out of place, but couldn't fathom its purpose. Some discussion ensued between Flambo and Vendee over the 'proper' burial rites of the remains, eventually ending with Vendee making the point that performing funerary rites (i.e., putting interred remains to the torch) to Vulknar, God of Fire, on remains of warriors dedicated to Apathos while in a consecrated location may be a bad idea. Cregg was given the plate armor to "continue the contributions of it's former owner" until they got back to Sirac's Point. On Exiting the room after reinterring the knight's body and sealing the tomb, Flambo noticed some dirt falling from a large crack in the tomb's roof (they noted there were several cracks throughout the tomb itself) and borrowed Autumn's spear.

Poking into the crack, he found an angry millipede. The millipede, fully 4 feet in length and with sharp mandibles, shot down Flab’s spear and wounded him. The group, clustered in and around the doorway, jockeyed into position to see what was happening and then to try to help Flambo. Flambo tossed the spear and millipede down and Rak'Shan, not having a spear and unable to fire a missile weapon into the melee used his 10 ft pole to push the creature away from Flambo. Autumn, moved into melee, but the millipede caught her and in a single bite wounded her into unconsciousness. It then climbed over her and reared up, daring the party to take its meal away. Several minutes of combat ensued, with the millipede's armored shell protecting it well. Several of the party were wounded, but in the end the beast was slain and luckily Autumn was unconscious but stable. Cregg, Vendee and Flambo bound up the wounded's injuries and applied light healing magic to Autumn, waking her back up and restoring some of her health.

Boldly, they made for the other door on the other end of the hall. Rak'Shan heard no sound beyond it and the group forced it open. Beyond, they found a third tomb. It was unfinished, but inside they found the remains of another knight, his rusted sword run through a skeleton, and seven mostly disintegrated headless skeletons. The stone of the room was singed by a great fire, as was the front of the knight's mostly destroyed armor. In the unfinished tomb, they found a second rectangular depression. One corner had a holy water font and basin, and Flambo set about doing the blessing to create holy water and succeeding in making enough to fill four vials. Not having any, he blessed an empty rum bottle and poured the liquid into it, hoping his deity would see fit to show his favor. Thinking on the odd depressions, Vendee remembered they found two rectangular blocks of obsidian marked with Apathos' symbol. Taking them, he inserted a block into each depression (after re-disturbing the knight in the tomb) and the complex shook slightly for several minutes with a deep sound of stone moving. Seeing no visible effect though, they returned to the entry room to plot their next course of action.

Rak'Shan checked the two remaining doors and decided to open the southern door. Beyond was a small cleansing room, complete with working bathing fountain and a small supplicant's altar. Cregg filled his waterskin from the fountain and discovered the water was clean and refreshing. Flambo drank from the fountain and the water turned black. He spasmed a few times and keeled over, nearly dying had Cregg not been there to apply first aid and healing magic. Rak'Shan theorized that the fountain was to spiritually cleans the person, washing away their sins so they could worship at the corrupted shrine. Cregg was safe from the effect since he took water from the fountain, but Flambo drank directly from the fountain and suffered for it.

The decision to return topside met the group with the total destruction of the remaining expedition guards and the scout was missing. Most looked as if they were strangled or clawed to death and a few had bite marks. Clouds begun to roll in and threatened a storm as well (something Rak'Shan and the rest of the group did not relish trudging through). They cleaned up the bodies and gathered what supplies they could carry, giving last rites and set about posting watches so they could rest and Flambo could recover from his ordeal. Overnight the clouds broke into a light rain, but otherwise it was uneventful.

The next morning the group returned to the last door they had yet to explore. Rak'Shan heard scraping noises beyond and the group made ready to fight. The door opened, they beheld a room with a suit of plate armor wielding a great hammer standing in the center. A cursory look with bull’s-eye lanterns revealed a passage exiting to the right at the far end of the room. Rak'Shan skirted the room to the passage and reported the hall beyond 10 or so feet was sealed by a great stone plug. Wary of the armor, Vendee entered the room and the armor swung its hammer about, flinging it at Rak'Shan with devastating accuracy and knocking him unconscious. A furious melee ensued, with the empty suit of armor wounding several of the party heavily before falling to parts on the floor. Wounds were bound and the last of the healing magic at their disposal was applied. After examining the plug and much discussion, the group decided it was sealed tight and not moving unless there was a hidden control they missed.

Discussion was also brought up over simply leaving. They found a tomb, that was for sure, about the same age as the era Haindrad lived in, and had proof of it in the armor and shield taken from one of the knights. Galeena piped up about the black 'pearl' as well, reminding the group of their promise she could have it when they were ready to leave the place for good. After some discussion of how the group would put her down if the 'pearl' began to do strange or vile things to her (or forced her to strange and vile things to them), the group returned to the desecrated chapel.

On the way they noticed the stone door to the first warrior's tomb was different and did not have the gap on the bottom it originally had. Forcing this open they discovered the room was different than before - it was a map room of Haindrad's Hills made in miniature, marking the location of Haindrad's Tomb. It was surmised that Haindrad's Tomb was hidden by the builders and this secondary site was created and inhabited by the few faithful entrusted with the secret location of Haindrad's true resting place, to throw off any would-be looters. Unfortunately, some calamity (probably the attackers found in the third warrior's tomb) wiped out the inhabitants of the complex, taking the location to the grave. Vendee used a sheet of parchment and made a map of the miniature region, noting some of the features had changed since it was made. Noting the Haindrad's Tomb was only about a mile to the north, the group allowed Galeena to grab the 'pearl', waiting tensely when she grasped it. The only effect they noted was a single pulse of energy, but no other effect seemed to happen.

Returning topside, they gathered the gear they could carry and set out northwards, following Vendee's map. En route, they were set upon by a thirst of five stirges. Rak'Shan was taken down by one of the creatures, but Autumn made sure it did not escape, killing it in a shower of blood. Vendee was set on by one of the creatures as well and nearly killed when Flambo struck at it with his hammer while Vendee was grappling with the small beast. The rest of the creatures fell in quick succession and Rak'Shan was patched up as best as Cregg could manage and the group marched their way to the location on the map. Tired of the rain and the pains of their wounds, the group decided to scout for a defensible location to make camp and wait until tomorrow to begin scouting the Tomb's entrance.

Campaign Date:
Solenus 15th-17th, 5231 A.C.

Dramatis Personae:

Character	Sex/Race	XP Given	XP Total	Next Level
Flambo, Novice of Vulknar	Male Endu	430	1,480	3,150 (+10%)
Vendee, Apprentice-at-Arms	Male Elf	467	1,730	2,025 (+10%)
Galeena, Woman-at-Arms	Female Halfling	177	634	1,900 (+5%)
Lirus the Apprentice	Male Elf	189	658	2,375 (+5%)
Cregg, Acolyte of Tymira	Male Human	430	685	1,350 (+10%)
Rak’Shan the Initiate	Male Tigran	462	721	1,750
Autumn, Woman-at-Arms	Female Human	455	455	1,900 (+5%)

Slow Week

This will be a post-lite week on the World of Onn. I have another project I'm working on while Kimberly is studying for her tests this week. Hopefully the art will start flowing next week so I can sew up the Core Rules and get them out to anyone interested in them. Session 4 of Tales from Sirac's Point is scheduled to run on Thursday the 28th, so you can expect a post over the weekend about that.

Onn-ward Adventurers!

As an addendum to the post: Session #4 for Tales from Sirac's Point has been postponed. I have some business that needs to be attended to on Thursday the 28th, so the next game will be on February 4th. Due to the fact it is my fault for the game postponement, a small amount of XP is being given out to the characters (equal to 1/20 what is needed to make 2nd level for each class).

XP given out:
Acolyte Flambo of Vulknar, Male Endu - 75 xp (1,040 xp)
Vendee the Magi-scout, Male Elf - 112 xp (1,263 xp)
Galeena Bramblefoot, Woman-at-Arms, Female Halfling - 50 xp (457 xp)
Lirus the Prestidigitator, Male Elf - 62 xp (469 xp)
Cregg the Acolyte of Tymira, Male Human - 75 xp (255 xp)
Rak'Shan the Initiate, Male Tigran - 87 xp (279 xp)

Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 3

Our adventurers were making their way to the last site marked on the dead gnome's map, following the elven druid and human scout in a winding path through the hills. Flambo at one point asked the druid why they were going over some hills and not others, or through some light copses of trees and not others and the druid simply replied that they were sacred ground to the Earthmother Avar'rein the Goddess of Nature and Faerie-kind, an explanation Flambo accepted without any further comment.

They came across a recent battlefield and made a good search but found nothing salvageable. Flambo did find a metal plate with the word "THUN-" but it was broken in half. A more thorough search found the other half of the plate and when put together, spelled "THUNDERWICKET". It had no meaning to them, but Flambo decided to keep it anyway. After completing their searches, Flambo gave the remains of both Man and Orc combatants Last Rites to Vulknar. This raised some questions from Vendee about how Vulknar's priests view death and whom is deserving of an afterlife, but Flambo simply replied - "I worship a God, he can sort out who he wants and who he doesn't".

Leaving the site, later in the day they stumbled across a ramshackle campsite inhabited by Cregg and Rak'Shan, former caravan and expedition guards of one of the gnome and dwarves' competitors. They fled the expedition when all was lost and gathered what they could to survive. Not fully trusting that they weren't telling the truth (the popular thought was they were actually looting the fallen on the battlefield), Vendee and Flambo allowed them to join with the remains of their expedition.

Traveling the rest of the day through the hills, the adventurers made their way to the failed expedition’s camp and decided to camp out for the night on a nearby hill overlooking the site.

Throughout the night, the people on watches took note that odds and ends were move around and out of place, but nothing was missing. It was suspected that Cregg and Rak’Shan were initially responsible, but everyone could account for their location throughout the night. The only clue was the abundance of light poke marks in the soil. The human scout commented they didn’t look like any type of tracks he was familiar with, it was a mystery.

Over the next day the group explored the excavation site and discovered there were three areas where digging occurred. There were some tools (shovels and spades) in the holes, and an abundance of the poke-tracks in the area. In one hole they found the digging went down to a slab of worked granite, full of cracks. Another was only about 10 feet deep, but looked as if digging was just stopped due to nothing interesting found. The last excavation site was the most interesting - in a hole 30 feet deep and roughly 20 feet across, they found a roughly ogre-sized metal giant, similar (if not smaller than) to the one they saw in the Legion’s Crypt a few days previous. Vendee climbed carefully down to investigate it closer, cautious so he could attempt escape should it react to his presence.

Unmoving, the thing was clutching a great, giant-sized hammer of strange metal and covered in runes of powerful enchantment. One of the humans accompanying Vendee freak out and ran from the hole screaming about the metal giant and hid behind a wagon. Vendee discovered there were handholds and ports all over the thing, most likely to maintain it since they all opened to joints and gears and other things he couldn’t identify. Behind one port he found a bunch of levers and dials, but couldn’t surmise their purpose. There was also a place for a metal plate about the size of the broken one Flambo was carrying, so the group christened the metal giant ‘Thunderwicket’. The group determined that one of the other expedition’s wagons was built to carry it here, then it was lowered into the hole and used its hammer to break through the stone. Some discussion ensued over taking the magical hammer and finding a buyer back at Sirac’s Point, but was put on the back burner after several factors were taken under consideration.

On the floor of the dig opposite the hulking metal giant was a large hole, opening into darkness below. The human scout noted there were an abundance of the tracks here as well. Flambo dropped a torch into the dark and discovered the floor was 20 feet distant and was a large room. Hovering down, he secured the room while the rest of the group climbed down rope ladders. The expedition guards were left topside to guard the claim, but Cregg and Rak’Shan were invited to join for a standard half share, which they accepted.

They found a large room with marble floors and 4 stone doors. A thorough search turned up nothing. Determined to move east, the door proved troublesome and Rak’Shan noted that there was about a handspan between the bottom of the door and the floor. Finally opened, they found a short hall ending in a “T” intersection with stone doors at either end similar to the previous one. Checking the southern most door, Rak’Shan determined it safe and while opening it heard an audible ‘click’, but nothing happened. The room beyond was a simple warrior’s tomb with a carved sarcophagus of a knight with a silver inlaid sword and the symbol of Apathos, Lord of the Gods emblemized on his shield. Opening it, they found dust and some teeth, so they resealed it and left the room.

Some discussion ensued over returning to Sirac’s Point since they found an obvious tomb of an Apathos-worshipping warrior, but couldn’t confirm it was Haindrad’s Tomb, so they pressed on to the northern door. Rak’shan deem this one safe as well, but upon opening it, got a nasty surprise.

3 hands and 3 feet, in various states of decay attacked the group, clawing and kicking their way through the first rank and inflicting many minor wounds. The group prevailed, to find an altar room, long defiled with a black fist-sized orb resting on a blood-stained altar. The blood was long-since dried and old and Galeena was in greed mode as soon as she saw what she thought was a huge black pearl. They eventually talked her down and determined to leave the tomb to rest for a day, regain magic and plot their next course of action and better organize. They also determined that the crawling appendages were the source of the strange tracks and that they have free roam of the crypt with the doors created the way they are.

So they went topside to rest the remainder of the day, with Flambo using his healing skills to create poultices and tend to everyone’s wounds. That night, they were awoken by the alarm of one of the guards. Just in time, the group saw a hand outlined in electrical sparks, then 3 balls of lightning shot from it and struck the human guard, frying him to an immediate crisp. In the flashes of lightning, Vendee noted the glint of a ring on one of the hand’s fingers and tried to keep track of that one, but lost it in the chaos of the darkness and fighting. A short combat ensued and ended with Cregg channeling the power of Tymira and driving off 14 of the creatures (many of which had not sprung from their holes). Rak’Shan noticed a head among the hands and feet scattering. He chased it down and tried to grab it, but it turned on him and bit deeply into his arm. When the rest of the group saw him go down in a spray of blood, they retrieved him quickly and made sure he was stable. The creatures did not return and in the morning healing magic was applied to those hurt the worst still.

With some magic left, they descended back down into the marble hall and check the northern door. Finding it safe, they opened it to a hall with statues set into alcoves, 3 on each side and a portcullis at the far end of the hallway. Much time was spent in careful searching, but no traps were sprung or found. Neither was the lever for the portcullis. Flambo decided to try lifting the statues one by one, finally finding one with a button under one of its feet (it was thought that the statue was balanced to be tilted slightly and press the trigger). Cautiously pressed, the portcullis raised up, allowing access to another part of the tomb…

Campaign Date:
Solenus 13th-15th, 5231 A.C.

XP given out:
Acolyte Flambo of Vulknar, Male Endu - 180 xp (965 xp)
Vendee the Magi-scout, Male Elf - 217 xp (1,151 xp)
Galeena Bramblefoot the Woman-at-Arms, Female Halfling - 52 xp (407 xp)
Lirus the Prestidigitator, Male Elf - 52 xp (407 xp)
Cregg the Acolyte of Tymira, Male Human - 180 xp (180 xp)
Rak'Shan the Initiate, Male Tigran - 192 xp (192 xp)

Tales from Sirac's Point, Session 2

Session 2 began with our adventurers meeting outside Cicero's Books in order to explore the Undercity for a bit. They entered and talked with Cicero (who made Flambo go around back for fear he would topple the many shelves and stacks of books). Once they secured Cicero’s permission, he let Flambo in the back door and allowed them access to his cellar, where a hole in the wall allowed access to the Undercity.

The first chamber was large and had a few discarded items from a previous adventuring party, such as damaged shields, broken weapons and many blood stains, some of which were drag marks leading through a northern doorway (now closed). A passageway also exited to the chamber’s east, but they boldly chose the door. Vendee forced it open, but creatures were waiting on the other side and surprised the group, pelting them with sling fire. Missile combat ensued with Daniel and Flambo taking some minor wounds, but in the end, half a dozen headless creatures were slain (one fumbled his attack and killed himself). The last one tried to escape, but as he ran Indiana Jones-style over the bodies of his comrades, Flambo’s sling found its mark and took it out. The group examined them and determined to save a couple of bodies for the town’s sage and any other interested buyers and pocketed some coin as well.

The exits from here were a door to the north that was heavily barred, boarded and chained and a passageway heading east. Galeena got ‘volunteered’ to scout ahead and came back a short while later reporting another headless creature was tending to five giant rats in pens. Quietly she led them to the room and with surprise showered the thing with missile fire, killing him before he knew what happened. The rats were dispatched in quick fashion in their pens and a quick search turned up nothing of interest or value. Flambo did notice rat saddles, keeping one for any interested buyer of odd things.

The only other exit from the room was a passage to the north, which was an empty room with a passage leading to the west. Before the group made half way through the room though, the splintering of wood was heard from the western passage and 5 green-eyed skeletons made their way into the room.

Vendee, brandishing a ‘magical’ amulet Flambo bought for him in the market, discovered its powers worked and the undead ignored him utterly, focusing on the rest of the group. The fight went bad quickly with the skeletons knocking Lirus and Galeena unconscious early (but Flambo woke Lirus back up quickly) and then Daniel was skewered and Flambo took a couple of hits (going unconscious but remaining stable). The undead realized that there was another attacker they couldn’t see when they finally started dropping to Vendee’s attacks, but eventually he overcame them with an enlargement spell from Lirus. Wounded and bereft of their cleric’s aid, they drug the dead and wounded back to Cicero’s cellar and up into the back room. Vendee stayed with them and sent Lirus to fetch a cleric from the city’s temple. When they returned, the cleric healed Galeena quickly, but had qualms about healing Flambo since he worshipped the God of Fire and he was a cleric of the Goddess of Water. A few coins loosened his morals though and Flambo was healed back to consciousness and given a good scare when his first sight was a holy symbol of Oceanus.

They took Daniel’s body to the Temple of the Waves for Last Rites, leaving him with the clerics along with a silver piece for the Ferryman to ensure his spirit made it to the proper place. Then they visited the sage Suelomon to learn more about the headless creatures (they learnt most people just called them ‘Things’) and on his suggestion visited Wynter’s Oddities, a place for strange items and wonders. They showed a headless body (along with authentic headless spear and sling with rocks!) and rat saddle to one of the curators and took an offer of 60 gold for them.

At this point they decided to celebrate their fallen comrade by having a toast in his name. Going to the Blue Boar, they discovered a packed house and adventurers were all about. Eventually they met with the group heading to Haindrad’s Hills (including 2 elves, 2 dwarves, 1 gnome and a bunch of humans) to explore for the location of Haindrad’s Tomb. They hired on for a regular share and were told to meet at the north gate at mid-morning the next day.

Most of the first three days of caravan guard duty were uneventful, but on the 2nd day the elven druid grew uneasy, citing the weather and nature weren’t feeling right. On the third day, a funnel exploded downwards from the sky, sucking one of the three wagons and the two dwarves away and almost Galeena with them if not for Flambo’s quick thinking and grabbing her. After a few minutes the event ended as quickly as it started. The elven druid called it a Shieldstorm when Flambo asked what happened and explained that when the layer surrounding the world is torn open, a vortex forms under it sucking out everything nearby into the space beyond before it naturally repairs itself. In his time as a druid, the elf has only seen the event twice so they are rare.

On the fourth day, one of the human guards was gone, just a sword and blood smear on the ground where he was keeping watch. No one heard or saw anything…

The fifth day the explorers were within sight of the hills and the gnome (now the leader since the dwarves were presumed dead) broke out the brandy bottles to celebrate. He explained that there were other groups planning similar expeditions, but they are the first to reach the hills. Potent stuff, most of the expedition was passed out by late evening. In the morning of the 6th day, Vendee suggested to the gnome that they at least enter the hills before any more celebrating, which the gnome begrudgingly agreed to (and the rest of the expedition grumbled through epic hangovers packing camp up and traveling the day to get into the hills).

Setting up a base camp, the gnome produced a map with seven locations marked, four of which were “X” over. He explained these were failed expeditions he already undertook. The elven druid can sense when something is amiss with the natural surroundings so these locations were indeed places with something odd or wrong with them, but not Haindrad’s Tomb. He decided that the nearest location, marked “B” would be a good place to start and packed up a wagon, leaving 2 guards and a wagon to remain at base camp.

The next day they explored the new location and Vendee found an odd chunk of obsidian with a red dot in the center of one of its sides ( a sign of Apathos, Haindrad’s Patron Deity) and exploration of the area turned up a set of massive stone doors buried under the soil. Unearthing them and getting them open after a few hours of labor, the gnome decided to enter first and immediately set off a trap, fatally burning himself and a human guardsman. Galeena was ‘volunteered’ to scout again and descended the stairs. When the others joined her, they saw an awesome sight - the structure wasn’t Haindrad’s Tomb, but the tomb of the Zuhn Empire’s 114th Mekanized Legion. The Legion’s motto was carved in Ancient Common (Zuhn) round their symbol on the ceiling and a crumbling war mek stood in the center of the room. Around the room were pillars and alcoves, each containing a suit of ancient armor. Two suits animated and moved to a guard position in front of the mek, one of them flatly explaining that desecrators of the tomb would be put to death. Flambo apologized and the group backed out of the tomb, not wanting to risk more of the armor animating or the war mek itself. Despite Galeena’s pleas to attempt exploration, the tomb was resealed (but noted on their map).

Still early in the day, they made for site “A”, only a couple of hours away from their current location. When they arrived, they eventually found another obsidian stone with a red dot and unburied an ancient Zuhn-styled archway with three pillars. They fiddled with it for some time, causing it to weakly pulse when they moved through it, but nothing seemed to happen. Flambo cast detect Magic and did feel a very weak field, but determined that whatever magics it once possessed has faded over the millennia to a point where they are useless. Resolving that site “C” is their best chance left, the group returned to base camp and determined to make a fresh start the next day. They expected something bad to have happened to the humans after the trip so far, but on their return learnt that the humans were alive and well but did have a scare with a giant lizard that got bored and left after examining them. Bedding down for the night, things passed quickly.

The next morning they awoke to a slimy, human-faced worm creature attacking one of the guards. Vendee rolled out of his bedroll and came up firing his bow, striking true and killing the creature on a single shot. Four more of the worms reared up though and tore the guard into shreds. The party managed to kill two more and the last two disappeared with puffs of acrid smoke.

Getting their gear and packing up base camp, they back-trailed the slime trails to the magical archway. Deciding it was an oddity to be studied at some later date, they filled it with stones and reburied it, then set out for the last location on the map with what was left of the day…

End of session 2…

Campaign Date:
Solenus 5th-13th, 5231 A.C.

XP given out:
Flambo the Acolyte - 710 xp (785 xp)
Vendee the Magi-scout - 822 xp (934 xp)
Galeena Bramblefoot, Woman-at-Arms - 355 xp (355 xp)
Lirus the Prestidigitator - 355 xp (355 xp)