Session 42 (08/15/2018) Day 72 [continued] (Moonday the 3rd of Kuthona, Monday 12/03/2047) Bedding down and the next morning Weather (in effect all night and into the morning) Medium Rain reduce visibility to 1/2 of the normal range -4 penalty on Perception checks. -4 penalty to Ranged attacks automatically extinguishes all unprotected flames (candles, torches, and the like) Temperature: 0 F Before bed As they prepared for the night, Skovald asked the group if someone would be willing to rise early so that they could help him with some training. Sais and Zheda both offered their help, but Skovald only needed one so he decided to work with his “little sister”, but he thanked Sais. The monk and the Viking then went off to bunk together. Alaina then casted rope trick so the group could have somewhere dry to sleep. Razmus did not want to climb the rope, instead he found a spot that was sheltered from the rain and laid down there. Before climbing up, Jakardros casted a spell on kibb to turn him into a small figurine again, which he pocketed. Seeing this Cereliona said to him, “Good Idea.” Jakardros then looked at Cereliona and said, “Had to be done. She is deadly in forests and open areas, but she will not be very effect in caves, so I am keeping her safe for now.” They then quickly set up watches for the night, before everyone climbed up the rope and rested for the night. Thankfully the night passed without incident and everyone was able to get a good night’s sleep. The next morning The next morning, Zheda was the first one to wake, other than Alaina who only slept 2 hours a night. The first thing she did was wake up Skovald, so they could practice. Once the two were up, they left the rope trick and went out into the rain. Once outside, Skovald had Zheda stand in a combat stance and hold it for 1 hour. During this time, the Viking performed a serious of practice swings on Zheda. This allowed him to develop the muscle memory necessary to use his new skill in combat (GM note: Kane used Critical Versatility to gain Bleeding critical). Standing still like this, Zheda meditated and practice monk patients. While this was going on, everyone else slept in a little longer. Not too long after Kane finished, everyone got up, left the rope trick, and came out to complete their own morning rituals in the rain. Jakardros took this time to set up an area for the horse where they would be safe. Once everyone was done, Zheda went around a gave everyone an alcoholic breakfast from her mug. Now that everyone was fed, they readied to climb the mountain. Jakardros told them that they would have to leave the horses here, because the quadrupeds would not be able climb the mountain. Everyone understood so they got any gear they needed and readied to go. Alaina took this time to cast Mage Armor on herself and Zheda. Climbing the Hook Mountain As they started to head up, Jakardros led the way. It took a few minutes but eventually he found a set of hunting trail used by the ogres which he followed. Cereliona took note of the trail herself just incase she needed to know the way back. As they climbed up the mountain, they also moved closer to its center and as they did, the rain turned to light snow. This area was like a mild snow storm in the middle of the eye of a storm raging around them. Cereliona could also tell that this was natural snow, meaning the control weather spells were not being used here. However, the cold weather made everyone very glad that they had cold weather gear, but even with the gear they could still feel the cold reaching for them. However, Cereliona and Jakardros used their wilderness skills to help everyone cope, allowing everyone to ignore the cold for now. (GM note: everyone received +2 from Cereliona and Jakardros survival rolls and +5 from their cold weather gear for Fort saves vs the cold. Everyone passed). However, as they kept climbing the mountain; the air thinned which presented another challenge, altitude fatigue. As they were getting close to reaching the top of the mountain; Alaina, Barkenstien, and Sais all succumbed to the lack of oxygen which drained their strength (GM note: All 3 were fatigued by the Altitude). Seeing the weakness in the rogue, Skovald moved up to check on him. As he did, he smelled the ocean coming from Sais’s pack. This peaked his curiosity, so he started to dig in Sais’s pack to get to the smell. Sais stopped him before he could get a hand in, by flicking him in the ear and saying, “What are you doing.” Skovald told Sais that he smelled something strange in his pack and that he wanted to check on it to make sure that nothing was going to eat through Sais’s back and spine. Cereliona then moved up and joined them. Once she was close she made it a point to sniff the air and she could not smell anything but the mountain and the snow. She told the Viking this and his response was to say, “Trust me”. Cereliona said she was fine with Skovald checking Sais’s pack, but Sais then jumped in and say, “No he cannot, it is my pack.” Skovald then looked at Sais and waited for the rogue to decide if he would trust him or not. After a moment, Sais agreed and Skovald was allowed to check Sais’s pack. The smell of the ocean was coming from the flag that Sais found on the ship in the swamp so Skovald pulled it out. As he did, Alaina noticed that the item became magical as Skovald touched it. Once the Viking had the flag out, the knowledge of what it was filled his head. He could fell the power of Gozreh (his god), the strength of mountains, and the calm of ocean all with this piece of cloth. Feeling the power in and knowing it was for him, Skovald took the flag and pinned it to his armor with the Gozreh symbol displayed. He then clapped Sais on the back and thanked him for carrying the flag this far. As he touched Sais, the magic of the flag was shared with him. As the magic effected Sais, he could smell the salt water aroma of the church of Gozreh that they had found in Skulls Crossing. This smell seemed to fill him with air and allowing him to breathe fully again which allowed him to get over his altitude fatigue. Sais thanked the Viking for this. The Viking then turned to Alaina and Barkenstien and apologized because once a day was all the power the item had. Alaina was little upset about this because she did not like being tired, but she was only a little upset. They then continued the climb up the mountain. Weather/Environment Light snow reduce visibility to 3/4 of the normal range -2 penalty on Perception checks. -2 penalty to Ranged attacks moving into a square of accumulated snow requires 1 extra 5-foot square of movement (this stack with difficult terrain) Temperature: 0 F Even with Cold weather gear, a Fort save vs. cold is required every hour. Altitude: 5100 feet Altitude Fatigue check every hour
Treasure Treasure Skovald’s Ginfaxi and Gozreh Flag Counts as a Holy symbol of Gozreh Strength of the Mountains: While carried, the wearer treats his Strength score as 6 (10 for Faithful) higher than normal when determining his carrying capacity. This bonus does not apply to combat. However, it does apply to breaking items, bursting through doors and other Strength-related rolls that do not effect hit/damage or combat Faithful of Gozreh: Bring the sea with you: The smell of the Sea seems to travel with the character so he always feels as if he was standing just a few steps from the ocean. Gain Altitude Affinity feat for free as the item is carried. Gift of the sea: 1/day you can touch a creature, you can grant it the benefits of endure elements, which last for 1 day. Also, the effected creature is treated as if he/she was at Sea level regardless of actual Altitude Zone for the same day. Allowing the character to recover from Altitude Fatigue/Sickness. The Top of Hook Mountain As they finally crested the last craggy outcrop about a half-mile from hook mountain’s 10,000-foot-high peak, they found a gaping cave that was belching fourth foul black smoke. The cave entrance looked out over a wide ledge of windswept stone, while the chambers within were prowled by ogres aplenty. Now that they were in sight of the clanhold, Cereliona decided to try a new ranger spell. She casted Life bubble and shared the spell between herself, Alaina, Barkenstien, Zheda, Jakardros, and Razmus. This spell put a thin bubble of air around them, allowing them to breathe easily while also protecting them from the cold. They then moved closer to the cave, so they could get a better look. Weather/Environment Light snow reduce visibility to 3/4 of the normal range -2 penalty on Perception checks. -2 penalty to Ranged attacks moving into a square of accumulated snow requires 1 extra 5-foot square of movement (this stack with difficult terrain) Temperature: 0 F Even with Cold weather gear, a Fort save vs. cold is required every hour. Altitude: 5100 feet Altitude Fatigue check every hour Treasure Guards The constant flurries of windborne snow and frost lashed the gaping hole in the side of Hook Mountain here. Smoke poured forth from the cave entrance, only to be instantly dispersed by the wind. Standing just outside the cave entrance, everyone but Skovald saw 2 ogre fighters on guard duty. Cereliona elven ears let her hear that the ogres were talking, however it was in giant so she did not understand the words. When she shared this with the group, they asked her if she could repeat the words so Kassandra could translate, but the wind and the snow distorted the words that she did not understand to such a point that this would not work. Sais then volunteered to take Kassandra up to the cave entrance, so she could hear them and translate. Alaina said that she wanted to send in an Arcane eye instead which was followed by Skovald joining in saying, he would rather just charge in. However, Zheda and Cereliona also wanted to know what the ogres were saying and to scout it out with Arcane eye also, so it was quickly decided that they would do both. First Sais would sneak up and then Alaina would send in an Arcane eye. Weather/Environment Light snow reduce visibility to 3/4 of the normal range -2 penalty on Perception checks. -2 penalty to Ranged attacks moving into a square of accumulated snow requires 1 extra 5-foot square of movement (this stack with difficult terrain) Temperature: 0 F Even with Cold weather gear, a Fort save vs. cold is required every hour. Altitude: 5100 feet Altitude Fatigue check every hour Treasure Scouting the Clanhold Listening to the guards Sais then quickly got ready to sneak up to the ogre guards. As he did, Yap flew up next to him with his bow out. Once he was next to the rogue the pixie made himself invisible. Alaina, Cereliona, and Sais were all still able to track as he flew in place, invisible. Cereliona simply said to the pixie, “No noise.” The pixie’s only response was to nod his head, which no one saw but because he did not make noise they all assumed he got it. Sais then started to make his way around the outside of the cave with the invisible yap right next to him. Once he was within 100 ft of the cave entrance, Kassandra told him she could make out the voices well enough. Sais then placed himself somewhere safe and outsight; were let Kassandra do just that. She explained to Sais that she could hear them talking about a third ogre guard that had been caught sleeping by Barl. The stone giant tore off the lazy ogre’s legs and left him rolling in the snow to bleed out before animating him as a zombie and turning him over to the three sisters for an eventual meal. There was then a small pause before the ogre’s started to talk again. Kassandra told Sais that now they were talking about when Barl first arrived. When he did, he show Groki a seven point start medallion around his neck. Grolki then fell to his knees in shock because that rune was once his family’s mark. Grolki immediately swore allegiance to Barl but Barl executed him moments later. After that one of Grolki’s guards tried to take out the stone giant, but the guard was killed with a single spell. After that Barl put them to work making weapons and both of the guards were happy to not be making weapons right now so they were trying to do a good job while on watch. After this the guards went silent and started to look around more. Sais waited until it was clear and then he made his way quietly back to the group. Once he made it back to the group, he filled them in on what he heard. The news of a spell casting giant was of particular importance to Alaina. She asked Kassandra if she was sure of what she heard 2 times. On the second time, Kassandra spirit form came out of the dagger and got right in Alaina’s face where she said, “For the third time, Yes, they talked about a magic wielding stone giant. Do not ask me again.” Sais then asked Alaina why that was so important to her. She then explained that a magic wielding stone giant is what killed her family. As she talked about this, Alaina got a murderous look in her eyes, and as she did her new eyes from Pazuzu filled with lightning putting an exclamation point at the end of her words. Seeing she was motivated the group then asked her to scout with arcane eye to give her something to do. This distracted Alaina from her anger for now, so she got to work on her spell. She started the eye by the ogre guards but she quickly moved it inside. The cave itself, went down into the mountain with this door way appearing to be the high point of the cave complex. This allowed the smoke from fires deeper in the cave to find its way out. The soot from generations of fires, covered the walls here. The tunnels were 50 feet high and the larger rooms had vaulted ceiling that went as high as 100 feet. Weather/Environment Light snow reduce visibility to 3/4 of the normal range -2 penalty on Perception checks. -2 penalty to Ranged attacks moving into a square of accumulated snow requires 1 extra 5-foot square of movement (this stack with difficult terrain) Temperature: 0 F Even with Cold weather gear, a Fort save vs. cold is required every hour. Altitude: 5100 feet Altitude Fatigue check every hour Treasure Bones of the Behemoth As she moved the sensor deeper into the mouth of the cave, jagged spurs of bone protruded from the stone on either side of the cave entrance, each towering twenty feet in height, apparently the ribs of some monstrous behemoth. Alaina easily identified these as the bones of a blue dragon. These bones had been covered with crude scrimshaw carvings, incorporating the seven-pointed Sihedron Rune into the markings in many locations. Not seeing the giant, she wished to kill, Alaina moved farther into the cave. The Rune-Bound King At the end of the cave entrance was a set of stairs with an enormous statue standing next to them in a frozen vigil. It was a forty-foot-tall giant with black skin covered by fissures and cracks, like the bed of a dried river. He wore majestic armor, gilded and encrusted with gems, and he gripped a towering glaive in his armored fists. The giant’s face was hidden by a ferocious full helm forged into the sneering grimace of a fanged devil while around the giant’s neck hung a seven-pointed star medallion. This “statue” did not respond to her, so she ignored it and headed down the stairs. The Burning Pit After a short distance, the stairs came to landing. To the east a short cave led to a deep pit hewn from hard stone, that descended into soot and darkness and to the west was more stairs going down. Alaina ignored the pit as well and headed deeper into the cave. Chokepoint At the bottom of the stairs was a central area with 3 more exits. A tunnel to the north that had natural light and some snow blowing in from father in. To the west was another tunnel but this one had the flicker of firelight coming from within. And finally, to the south was stairs leading down to an area filled with firelight. Each exit had a guard, to the north and south were ogre fighters but to the west was a hill giant. Still with no sign of a stone giant, Alaina headed west. Circle of The Sisters This tunnel led to a cave that was cluttered with an appalling amount of body parts, dead animals, spoiled food, and filth, but what was most hideous is what bubbled and cooked in a huge cauldron over a sputtering fire in the middle of the room. Around this cauldron were 3 creatures. One was a hulking, humpbacked hag dressed in black with oversized talons sprouting from her stumpy arms. The next was tall and thin, like a skeleton wrapped in ugly purple flesh and a sagging red robe. The final one’s face was a mass of pustules, warts the size of gold pieces, and craters that wept ooze. She was squat and fat with bulbous breasts that hung almost to her knees and wearing filthy blue robes. All three of them were moving their lips but Alaina could not make out their words. As she described these creatures to the group, Cereliona remembered more about these hags. She added that in addition to control weather, the coven could cast baleful polymorph and mind blank. Just as Cereliona finished saying this, the three hags all disappeared from the sight of Alaina’s magical sensor. Alaina realized that they must have been casting mind blank because that spell is one of the few that would conceal them from Alaina’s arcane eye. Now that she could no longer observe the hags, Alaina headed the sensor back to the center area and then south toward more fires. Hags Coven spells: Baleful polymorph and Mind blank The Clanhold Fire and thick black smoke reigned here, spewing from black pits in the bedrock where forge fires glowed. Anvils loomed throughout this enormous cavern. The ring of steel on steel thundered here as giant hammers crashed down again and again on glowing half-forged blades and axe-heads. The southern wall had 3 small side tunnels. Inside this large room, Alaina found 10 ogres hard a work forging and repairing weapons while a single ogre fighter task master watched over them. Ignoring the ogres, Alaina checked out the side tunnels, but each of them led to a cramp mine shaft that clearly went very deep into the mountain. She felt that a stone giant would not fit in these tunnels, so she turned around and headed all the way back to the north tunnel. North Tunnel This tunnel split to the East and North west after a short distance. To the East was another set of stairs while the North west had natural light coming from it. North was also the source of the snow, it blew in and throughout the area. Alaina decided to say in the cave so headed east. Abandoned Shrine At the base of the stairs was a shrine that bared the feral visage of a brutally beautiful monstrous maiden with the head of a three-eyed jackal and the belly of a pregnant young woman leaned against the far wall. In the middle of this church was a pale skinned walking corpse, its body was skeletal in places, ice and frost clung to its hair, its left hand looked almost to be a claw made of icicles, its brow was decorated with a crown of the same and its eye sockets glowed with blue-white light. Seeing this creature Alaina described him to the group and Zheda quickly identified it as a Frost Wight. Hearing about a powerful undead, everyone immediate worried that the creature would be incorporeal but Zheda quickly informed that it was in fact a solid, corporeal being. As Alaina looked at the monster she noticed at Black Arrow Crest in the folds of its clothing. When she shared this with the group, everyone came to the conclusion that this undead was Lamatar Bayden. However, Alaina did not care much about that, she was on a mission to find a stone giant caster, so she headed the north east passage. Frost Wight Undead Immunity to cold Many powerful Cold based attacks As the Dread Kings of Old This cave opened up into a gigantic chamber that extended deep to the east, sloping upward between two wide ledges on which loomed statues with angular faces, stern brows, and strong jawlines. Above, the ceiling opened to the slate gray sky above. The ramp led up in tiers, finally coming to an end before an immense stone throne. On both ledges were 3 stone giant’s each. All were watching the entrance that Alaina came through and appeared to be ready for a fight. Now having seen all the rooms and not finding anything that looked like a stone giant caster Alaina was disappointed. However, she did not waste the last bit of her spell. She moved the sensor forward and saw that there was some gems and other treasure piled up behind the throne on the east end of this room. Instead of investigating it, she instead tried to take the sensor out the open top, so she could hopefully find a way to it from the outside, but her spell ended before she got 75 feet up. Entering the Kreeg Clanhold Plan of Attack With her spell over, the first thing Alaina pointed out was that they did not see the spell casting stone giant. However, everyone pointed out that they saw his treasure, so this was his base, but he may have left for a while. Then they moved on to Lamatar Bayden and that he had now been turned into a frost wright. Zheda then pointed out that wight have a particular vulnerably to resurrection magic so if they could cast raise dead on him, hit would instantly destroy him. However, Xavian pointed out that raise dead takes at least 10 minutes to cast so unless they wanted to hold him for 10 minutes he could not cast anything fast enough to help there. Skovald said he thought the could hold the wight for 10 minutes but if he could do that he could just as easily kill it, himself. Alaina then tells them she has a crazy idea. Cereliona’s first response is, “No Alaina we are not going to fireball them from up in the air.” This cause Alaina to smile but she told her that “No, I want to include everyone. We are the Heroes’.” I think we can set up a bottle neck in the cave right by the giant statue. I can make Zheda and Skovald big which should block anything from getting through. Then the rest of us can stay back and use range. Then all they would have to do is make noise and the giants would come to them. Sais did not like that idea, so he gave a counter offer. He suggested that they take out these front guards quietly if possible. He then said that he was glad Yap showed up because they could use his pixie dust to put the guards to sleep. At this moment Yap became visible flying over Sais head. He was all smiles and happiness as he bounced in the air like an excited child from the little bit of Sais gave him. Sais looked up and saw the pixie. He then just smiled and continued. He explained that he figured Yap and Cereliona could each take out a guard simultaneously. Cereliona interjected at this point and said, “In this case, Jakardros will be a much better shot. His bow has much better range.” Everyone accepted Cereliona’s honesty and Jakardros thanked her for it then he agreed to be one of the shooters. If they succeeded, then Sais added they could move on to the next set of guards. He then continued that if they were lucky they could put those ones to sleep too. He hoped they could do that for a while, he knew they would get attacked eventually, then they could fall back, and Alaina would get her bottle neck with many possible area effect targets as well. He hoped that doing this would actually help them clear out the side tunnels easier. He said the only thing that really surprised him in the cave was the hill giant. As he started talking about putting the hill giant guard to sleep, Razmus leaned over them to listen and due to his large size, he worked as an umbrella of sorts shielding the group from the snow, so everyone instantly noticed him. The group accepted this as part of him joining their group, so they continued to speak openly in his presence. Cereliona then asked Yap how often his dust failed to put something to sleep. Yap proudly said, “They fail to fall asleep less than 1/3 of the time.” Cereliona then did the math so she knew that something would resist the magic eventually. She then focused on true combat and talked about how the Hill giant could be trouble. But before she could get too deep into this Razmus spoke up and said, “I protect Hill Giant.” It took everyone a moment, but they picked up on the word “protect.” Cereliona then turned to Razmus and asked him what he meant. He said, “Hill protect hill, Hill not fight hill”. Sais asked if putting him to sleep was ok. Razmus thought for a moment and then said, “Yes, but I stay and guard while he sleep.” No one had a problem with this, so they continued their planning. Skovald then ask Cereliona to continued telling them about giants. She warned them that stone and hill giants can through boulders, so they always have a ranged weapon. Alaina ask for a moment, so she could cast spells. First, she cast Protection from fire and then shield. After the second one, she said she was done. At that moment Yap went invisible and said, “I got the South One.” Not quite ready yet but close enough, everyone just followed Yaps lead. Jakardros quickly readied his arrow with pixie dust, drew his bow, sighted up on the north one and waited for the south one to fall. Wight, all varieties Resurrection Vulnerability (Su): A raise dead or similar spell cast on a wight destroys it (Will negates). Using the spell in this way does not require a material component Hill and Stone giant Rock Throwing Taking out the front guards They did not have to watch the south one for long. After just a few moments, the south ogre dropped to snow, asleep in an instant. As soon as that one started to fall, Jakardros took his shot. Hitting the ogre center of mass and putting it to sleep as well. Everyone then quickly moved up on the cave entrance. Sais went to the sleeping south guard, pulled his dagger, and asked, “Should we leave them alive?”. However, he was able to see his answer rather than hear it because as he turned north he saw that Jakardros was already the middle slitting that one’s throat (Coup de Grace). Sais then followed suit and slit the south one’s throat as well (Coup de Grace). They then quickly took the guards gear and headed inside. Monsters 2 Advanced Ogre Fighter 5 (Dead) +1 large sized hide armor: 1330 gp +1 Large ogre hook: 2348 gp 2 Large sized javelins: 2 gp Skovald’s Giant Connection Next, they moved into the cave, past the dragon bones and made it all the way to the giant “statue.” As they got close, Sais and Cereliona noticed that the tattoo Skovald acquired from Xaneshia was glowing and pulsing in beat with a similar mark on the statue. Sais through a rock at Skovald to get his attention and the rock echoed perfectly but not too loudly on his head to sound just like an open coconut. Cereliona then point to his arm and the “statue”’s arm. However, as everyone looked at it again, they realized it was gargantuan sized giant’s corpse. Seeing this Skovald walked up to and touched the corpse. As he did, Alaina could see all the runes on this corpses body glow with magical power and then after only a single second, the magic of these runes all flew into Skovald. Now taking the time to look up at the Statue, Alaina also noticed that the corpse was wearing a gargantuan Sihedron medallion, just like Nuilia and Xanesha. The group talked about not taking it now because they felt it would be bad juju; but they decided they would come back and get it on the way out. However, Zheda added that it was bad juju either way. Then Sais said, “Ya, but it is worth gold.” Zheda just shook her head as they headed deeper in. Xanesha tattoo The bearer can activate the tattoo as a Swift action(upgraded from a move action), causing it to flare brilliantly. A single, adjacent foe is blinded for 1d4 rounds. If it succeeds at a DC 10 + Base attack Bonus Reflex save, it is dazzled for 1d4 rounds instead. If the target has light blindness, light sensitivity, or is otherwise vulnerable to bright light, it is instead blinded for 2d4 rounds or dazzled for 2d4 rounds on a successful save. If the bearer activates the tattoo while more than one foe is adjacent, she may choose which foe is affected. The tattoo fades once it has been activated and returns each day at sun rise. The pit again After the first set of stairs, they came upon the pit Alaina saw. However, the first thing everyone noticed was the stale reek of decay that wafted up from it 100-foot-deep depths. Sais moved over and gave it a quick look, but he saw nothing to interest him and no reason to climb down so he returned. They then headed down the next set of stairs. Not everyone falls asleep this time They then headed down the stairs, but they knew they would come across the next set of guards soon so they all got ready. Yap, Cereliona, and Jakardros got their dust ready. The group then quickly decided to have yap take out the south ogre fighter, Jakardros the west Hill giant, and then Cereliona would run in to take out the north ogre fighter. Everyone then stayed back and let those three do their thing. Yap was first and he went in invisible and hit the south ogre with his arrow, but it resisted the fey magic. At first everyone panicked a little, but instinct kicked in, so they pressed on. Jakardros let his arrow fly which hit the hill giant; putting him instantly to sleep. Next Cereliona ran in and succeeded at throwing her chakrum from around the corner to hit and put to sleep the North ogre fighter. After this, Cereliona caught her weapon only to immediately turn and throw it at the ogre that did not fall asleep, aiming to kill. Barkenstien then moved up to help bottle neck the base of the stairs. Sais stealthed his way along the side of the cave, staying on the stairs but doing his best to stay out of sight. Zheda them moved up with Barkenstien where she readied for them to come at her. The south ogre then yelled for all his worth in giant. However, they did not need Kassandra to translate they were all sure he said “intruders” or in some other way sounded the alarm. The fighter, then started to move down the stairs heading into the south room. As he moved he walked right by the invisible Yap, who took a chance and tried to stab the ogre with the arrow he was holding. It hit, and the fey magic again tried to put this giant to sleep. It did not work this time either. Skovald then joined Zheda and Barkenstien at the base were they now made an impressive wall of bodies. As Skovald arrived, Sais gave up his position and called for Yap to come back. Even though they could not see him directly, either through his magic aura, sound of is wings, or his smell; everyone knew he moved back up and joined them. Jakardros then moved up and readied to fire over his wall of protectors, working as ranged support. Xavian moved up right behind the line, ready to heal if needed. Razmus stayed back but he readied to run up when there was an opening. Cereliona then flee back to join the line of fighters, getting right up by Barkenstien. Zheda then held her ground waiting for the attack to come to them. In the distance they could hear ogre grunts and the sound of weapons being picked up in the south room. This was quickly followed by the sound of large feet coming this way, but they were still a good distance off. Skovald then readied to swing at the first ogre that came within reach. Being invisible Alaina was the only one to see this and even then, it was only the aura of his magic she saw, as the pixie casted shield on himself. Alaina then casted improved invisibility on herself before flying to the far north corner so she could ambush the first wave. Jakardros held his shot and continued to wait for an ogre to peak it’s head out. Xavian held his ground and did his best to look around and take in every sight and sound so he could remember it. Razmus continued to wait for an opening or anyone that needed his help. Cereliona heard the sound of many ogres coming so she readied to throw as soon as she could hit 3. Sais moved up against the wall by the entrance and disappeared into the shadows. Zheda then drunkenly ran up to the south stair case and readied to trip the first ogre she saw. Moments later she got her wish, as 10 ogres, the original ogre fighter, and the ogre taskmaster came charging into the cave. The ogre fighter was in the front. He stopped just out of Zheda’s reach but not his, hitting her hard with his ogre hook. The 10 ogre blacksmiths then came running in with clubs and tried to run by her, so they could surround her. However, thanks to her preparations and reflexes, she was able to trip many of them, but they kept coming, running or climbing on top of their tripped comrade so that 4 more got swings at her. Only 3 hit but it was enough to make the monk second guess her drunken idea. As the ogres started to hit Zheda, Jakardros got sight of one of the ogres on her. He did not hesitate as he let his arrow fly which hit the ogre good in the shoulder. Skovald then moved up and finished off what Jakardros started and killed that ogre bit just barely. It took the magic acid of his glove and the electrical gift of his blood line to finish of the creature. (GM note: Without acid and Electrical damage ogre would have survived that blow). Yap the moved to the west side of the cave and fired a sleep arrow at another ogre, sending it to sleep town. Alaina then yelled to Alaina, clear out of them, I am going to do something big. Cereliona moved to within 40 feet to get the ogres in close range, throwing and hitting one with her charkrum but she missed on first bounce; ending the weapon’s cycle and returning it to her hand. Barkenstien was then commanded to stay and guard the stairs, which he did. Saia then moved quietly around the outside of the pack and made his way to one of the trip victims. Stabbing the creature when it was not looking. Zheda then punched and stunned one of the ogres in front of her before smiling and stepping to north by the sleeping guard. Seeing the area clear, Alaina then immediately dropped her power elemental blast on all the ogres; killing all 9 of the remaining workers and leaving the fighters heavily burned. She then flew up and unleashed a fast spell called “Cold Ice Strike.” Freezing the guard with a bolt of magic. The two remaining ogres, then brought their hooks down on Skovald with each hitting him once for heavy damage. Jakardros then moved into position by the Hill giant but it was too far for him to get a shot off after his run. Skovald then charged up to one of the ogre fighters but his swing went wild (unconfirmed Natural 1). Yap then fired an arrow at the north fighter, hitting it but for a third time, this ogre resisted the fey magic. Xavian then moved closer to place himself within 10 feet of the group. With the way now clear, Razmus moved up to guard the sleeping hill giant. Cereliona then used this opening to bounce her weapon between both fighters, hitting each for good damage. Barkenstien then left the stairs and moved up to watch Cereliona’s back. Sais then toasted Cayden and disappeared to reappear flanking one of the fighter’s with Skovald. He then stabbed it, hitting its liver killing it in a single blow before he turned and with 2 quick stabbed killed the other one as well. As soon as those creatures dropped, Jakardros moved to the north sleeping ogre. Once there he pulled out his dagger and slit the ogre’s throat. Xavian then moved up and healed the only two with wound, Skovald and Zheda, with a few quick spells. Monsters 10 Ogres Large Hide armor: 30 gp Large great club: 10 gp 4 Large Javelins: 2 gp 3 Advanced Ogre Fighter 5 (Dead) +1 large sized hide armor: 1330 gp +1 Large ogre hook: 2348 gp 2 Large sized javelins: 2 gp Where to go next Cereliona then pointed out that it would have been nice if everyone had followed the plan and stayed back, staring at Zheda as she spoke. Alaina then said, “Let’s go kill more giants” and she then told them she thought they should move north and take on the stone giants. She explained that she figured that she could dimensional door the heavy hitters; Skovald, Cereliona, and herself to east side of the cave while the rest of the group came in the west side tunnel. She was already explaining how she thought they could put the giants in a kill box. However, the others had to interrupt her murder plans as they pointed out that would put the hags and that undead to their back which they did not like. As the other began to explain to Alaina why they felt the spell casters were a bigger threat, Alaina noticed a magical sensor appear in the corner of the room. This was only thanks to her permanent arcane sight which also helped her to identify the spell as Clairaudience-Clairvoyance. She quickly dispelled it. She then told the group that someone had been magically spying on them and while she had ended it before it saw more that a few seconds, they needed to hurry. Zheda then quickly voiced her opinion, which was that any being that could turn them into cats or newts when they were not looking, was something they should not leave at their back. She expressed that in this case, they were more of a threat than any ogre, giant or undead could bring to them. The group then quickly voted on Alaina’s plan vs. Zheda and it was decided on a 4 to 1 vote that they would take out the Hag’s first. Next, in order to scout the Hags, Sais moved into the west cave and slowly and quietly made his way to the end. At the end, he found the Circle of The Sisters. However rather than 3 hags, Sais saw 3 ogre fighters around the fire instead. He then quietly returned to the group and informed them that the sisters had left and now only 3 ogre fighters remained. Well since there were no Hags they changed their plans and readied to head north and take out the stone giants first. Just a they were getting their new plan of attack going, Cereliona said, “I bet you 5 gold, that those hags can disguise themselves with magic and that really was them we just saw.” (GM note: this is a direct quote from the player, and it was said just for fun so as GM gave a free Monster knowledge roll which he passed). And as she did, she remembered that another one of the hag’s coven spells was Veil. An illusion spell that would let them do just that. The plan then returned to the last version and they decided to head in and kill the 3 ogre fighters just in case they were the hags in disguise, first. Following a the pattern, they used before, Alaina agreed to dimensional door in Skovald, Cereliona, Xavian, and Sais; while Zheda would step her self over. Jakardros, Barkenstien, and Yap would then make their way slowly in the tunnel once they heard any noise. Razmus then told them he would take the sleeping giant south and out of harms way. He would then stay with him and that they should call if they needed him. They agreed with him and thanked him for his help. They then waited until Razmus was out of sight before they started their attack. Hags Coven spells: Veil Killing the Sisters of the Hook Once he was out of sight, Alaina casted her spell and brought Cereliona, Sais, Skovald, and Xavian with her into the west room. Zheda used her abundant step at the same time so they would all arrive together. Their arrival surprised the 3 ogres in here. Sais first complained about where Alaina decided to land her spell before he moved up and attack the North east ogre. As soon as his blade hit, the hag’s spell ended which show Sais that he had attack a haged. Skovald then moved up to join him but the Viking, was still a little off balance from the spell so he missed. Alaina then dropped an electric ball on the hags, making sure not to affect any of the group. Most of the hags took the spell well, but the south one was surprised and took full damage. She also thought about using one of her cold ice strikes, but she thought it would be better to save that spell for the giants. Cereliona then let her Chakrum fly, and the hags were perfectly placed to allow here to bounce her chakrum around the circle. She hit the North east one first, it then bounced to and killed the south one, before ricocheting off a wall to hit the North west one before then it magically returned to her hand. Zheda then dropped into dragon style and ran across the southern one’s body to run up to hit and stun the North east one. Sais then stepped a little around the North east one to get a better angle and it paid off. The rogue then finished off the hag with a single stab into the center of her chest. Next Jakardros made his way into the room from the cave and fired a single arrow at the only remaining hag, hitting it. Skovald then stepped away from the dead hags and swung his might swords at the remaining hag. Hit her with 3 very powerful hits (3 confirmed criticals), doing immense damage and slicing the hag up into 3 pieces. As the last hag fell dead, before any of the hags could ever respond to the group’s surprise attack, Cereliona said “Lets hear it for team work.” Everyone enjoyed this successful attack but that did not focus on it for too long because they had more enemies to face. Everyone the moved back out into the middle cave so they could start their raid on the stone giants. As they walked out of the cave, Cereliona waited to be the last one out and as she left she kicked the hag’s cauldron over, putting out the fire. Monster 3 Annis Hags [Briselda, Grelthaga, and Larastine] (Dead) Readying to attack stone giants With the Hags taken care of, everyone was ready to move in on the stone giants. Alaina started by offering to make Skovald and Zheda big but Skovald was the only taker. She also casted bull strength on Skovald and Zheda, before casting greater invisible on Sais. She then offered to turn anyone else that wanted it invisible, but there were no takers for this spell either. The group then broke up into 2 teams. The first team was Alaina, the enlarged Skovald and Cereliona; Alaina planned to teleport them to the east side of thrown room behind the stone giants they saw. However, since Alaina could take one more, Xavian asked to come with them and he was welcomed into their team. Team 2 would be the invisible Sais, Zheda, Barkenstien, Yap, and Jakardros. They would come in through the west entrance, so the stone giants would be trapped between the two teams. Just as they were finishing their final preparations, everyone noticed the frost wright that used to be Lamatar, leave its cavern and start to head into the throne room. Seeing this everyone said “Go” so Alaina casted Haste on the entire group, then she dimensional doored into the cavern. Once that team disappeared the other team head up to face the wright. Fighting stone giant soldiers, Lucrecia, and a stone giant wizard As everyone entered the cave either through the east tunnel or magic, they all noticed that snow was coming in from the open roof. It was only a little powdering that was mostly just ground snow being blown around (GM Note: Weather had no game effect on combat). Just as Cereliona and Xavian came out of the void that was the teleport spell, they immediately noticed 2 other threats in the cave. To their north was a red-haired half snake lady and to their south east was a 7th stone giant. This one was seated on the throne. However, no one else in the group noticed the new threats they were too focus on the enemies in front of them. Even though there may have been more enemies then Cereliona and planned, she still charged in not wasting their surprise. Cereliona aimed her chakrum at Lucrecia hitting her before it bounced to hit one of the northern stone giants, and then back to her hand. Barkenstien was with the other group so he waited for them to move. The stone giant in the thrown then casted a spell and used a magical semi corporeal hand that floated in the air next to him to deliver it to Cereliona. The spell drained a large amount of the ranger’s strength and transferred it to the spellcaster. On the West side, Sais then charged up and stabbed the Wight. Barkenstien followed the rogue but the cave was too tight for the large dog to reach the Wight. Then back by team one, Lucrecia casted entangle were it affected all of team one, including Alaina because she was still hovering only a few inches off the ground, but only Xavian was trapped by the plants, everyone else was able to keep them from wrapping them up. Zheda then charged in to join Sais where she kicked the Wight hard in the chest knocking it to the ground (punishing Kick). Sais used the Wight’s momentary distraction to stab it in the side as it went down (Advance Rogue Talent: Opportunist). Skovald then charged into the middle of the giant where he attacked the one lone giant, not on a ledge, and hit it hard. Alaina then flew 45 feet up in the air where she used all three of her “holy” charms to summon a medium Air elemental that she commanded to appear next to Lucrecia. Once summoned, the air elemental attempt to attack her but she was far too well defended so it missed. Xavian then broke himself free of the entanglement and move west out of its area. Cereliona next took one step to got out of the entangle spell’s area of effect. She then through he chakrum at the 3 north giants, hitting all 3 one after the other before her weapon returned to the hand. Barkenstien then tried to overrun the wright, but it stopped him by swinging at the dog’s face. Barkenstien dodged the attack but that ended his forward progress. Next the giant on the throne, casted another spell which he again used the floating hand to send to Cereliona. Once the hand touched her, she became paralyzed and started to give off a carrion stench. Jakardros was not as fast as the others on the west side so instead of attacking, he moved clockwise around the wright, ended up on the west with a much better angle of fire. Sais then tried to blind the Wight, but his flash bomb missed by a mile. The rogue followed up his mistake by stabbing the undead twice, once with each sword. Lucrecia then quickly drew 2 daggers that she used to shred the Air elemental in front of her with 3 hits from each dagger, killing the summoned creature. Back by the west entrance, the Wight got up from Zheda’s attack which allowed both Zheda and Sais to take advantage of its distraction. This allowed Sais to stab its leg, tearing several tendons and damaging its leg which slowed the undead (Critical hit: ½ speed). However, the power this hit cause the creature to lean back at just the right time to avoid Zheda’s punch. The Wight, then slashed at Zheda with its ice claw but it missed. Zheda then took a single step to the north east to move around the wight as she caused acid to coat her hands. Then she laid into the undead, punching it 3 times in the face, burning it with acid with each hit. Yap then flew invisible into the room and casted an entanglement of his own. It encompassed most of the east area, effecting Lucrecia and 2 of the stone giants to the north; but all of the group was safe from the spell. The stone giants where all held tight by the plants, but Lucrecia was too fast and avoided getting entangled in the spell. From where he was Skovald was almost in the center of the 6 main stone giants, so he started to drop them. First, he aimed at the center one again, hitting it one which killed. He then took a step to the north and swung one of the entangled stone giants there. The Viking hit twice, the first hit opened a large wound in the giant and the second one killed it. The stone giant to the south west then through a rock at Skovald but it missed. The 3 remaining giants, all surrounded Skovald and then they each swung at him twice with their great clubs, each hitting the Viking once. This heavily wounded the fighter, but it did not stop him. Seeing her friend in danger, Alaina casted an electric ball centered on Skovald and as she did this, she tapped into her book of spell pages to bring her desire for power into the mix making the spell that much more powerful. Thanks to his immunity Skovald was unharmed by the spell, but the 3 giants around him were severely burned. However, none of the giants died. Xavian then moved over by Cereliona and used his faith in Irori to remove the paralysis from the ranger. Cereliona thanked the dwarf before she quickly turned and through her chakrum at the stone giants around Skovald, bouncing the weapon between all three. While each took a hit, the north west giant was caught off guard and took a very bad hit to the chest (Critical). Barkenstien tried again to overrun the Wight and this time he managed to push his way by the undead and thanks to the training Cereliona had given him, he was even able to avoid the Wight as he moved. (GM note: Barkenstien AC 29, Wight rolled 29 to hit, but Barkenstien has mobility so only missed because of the +4 feat bonus to AC). The stone giant in the throne, then tried to blind Alaina but she resisted the spell. However, he then used his magical rod to quickly cast a magic missile which all hit Cereliona. Jakardros then fired a single arrow from his location which went straight into the Wight’s head, killing it and dropping it to the floor. Sais then left the wrights body and moved in to the join the group, but as he tried to get up the side ledge to reach the western most giant, he slipped and fell. He was able to catch is footing so he did not fall to the ground, which meant all he lost was time. Next Alaina and Cereliona watched as Lucrecia turned invisible, but Alaina was surprised that she did not see a magical aura like she did with Yap, which meant that the Lamia Matriarch had using some sort of supernatural ability to accomplish this instead of a spell. Zheda then followed Sais in, but she had better luck with the climb, so she was able to reach the stone giant where she kicked it once to get its attention. Skovald then held his ground and swung at all the giants around him; but he was only able to land two glancing blows. Yap then fired an invisible arrow at the north west giant, but it resisted his fey magic and stayed awake. The 3 giants around Skovald then swung at him again and just like last time, each hit once. However, unlike last time Skovald did not survive. The last club crushed in Skovald chest pushing his soul out of its mortal body (GM note: Skovald was taken to -12 hp and his Constitution score was 12 so he was completely dead). The angered Alaina dropped another electric ball on the 3 giants, which killed one but also had another surprise. Inside the electric ball, Alaina could hear Lucrecia’s noise of pain, meaning she must have been in the radius of the spell as well. Xavian, then knowing there was nothing he could do for Skovald at the moment, moved up to Cereliona and healed her wounds. Cereliona then bounced he chakrum between the 2 north giants, killing another one. Barkenstien then followed Zheda and bit the giant near him, while avoid the giant’s reach. The giant on the throne then casted a Ray of Exhaustion that hit Alaina. The Sorceress was able to resist most of the spell, but it still fatigued her. The giant caster then used his rod to quickly cast another spell, animate dead. The floating hand then flew over and touch Skovald’s body, animating it as a zombie. The zombie then rose and quickly moved over to attack Xavian, but the zombie Skovald missed. As the zombie raised its right hand and the tattoo Skovald got from Xaneshia became visible, everyone heard Lucrecia scream, “Murderer!” She then invisibly moved up and shredded the Zombie Skovald. While she stayed invisible, her words and actions, had given away her location to the group. Jakardros then moved into the main room and fired a single arrow at the north west giant, killing it. Sais then blinded the last giant, before he stabbed it 3 times. Zheda then left the blinded giant for Sais to deal with, she had only one target in her mind, Lucrecia, the being that just shredded Skovald’s body. Her uncontrolled rage caused her punch to go wild as she cried out in an unholy scream of pain and suffering. Yap then tried to kill the last giant, but his tiny arrow did almost no damage (1hp). Alaina, then flew over by the caster and placed a true fireball on him. Shen then quickly followed that up with a cold Ice Strike; both spells hit the caster, but he was tough and survived both. Xavian then moved to the center of the group and channeled to heal. Cereliona then sent Barkenstien in to try and finish of the last giant which the dog did with one bite to the giant’s throat. She then turned to attack the invisible Lucrecia. She first through her magical Chakrum, then her Adamantine one, and finally two of her basic Chakrums. She hit with the first two, but Lucrecia’s invisibility ability tricked the ranger on the last two, so they missed. The stone giant caster, then focused on Alaina. He started by using his rod to quickly cast blindness which this time succeeded in effecting Alaina. The giant then casted magic missile and sent the 4 missiles of force to strike Alaina. However, they were stopped by Alaina’s shield spell. Jakardros then moved up again before he took aim and fired an arrow where he knew Lucrecia to be. The arrow struck true and hit the Lamia Matriarch in the heart, killing her and making her visible as her body fell on Skovald’s. Sais then ran up to the giant caster, but he was too far away for Sais to reach yet. Zheda then stepped over, right next to the caster, ready to distract him if he tried to cast another spell. Alaina was blinded from the giant’s spell, so she did not know she would effecting Zheda when she dropped another fire ball in the exact same spot as last time. Thankfully, Zheda’s monk skills had improved so she was able to complete evade Alaina’s spell. The giant failure to move, was its undoing for Alaina spell was just enough to finish him off and drop him dead at Zheda’s feet. Monsters Lamatar Bayden [Frost Wight Ranger 8](Dead) +1 chain shirt: 1400 gp +1 icy burst composite longbow: 18,400 gp with 20 arrows: 1 gp 6 Stone Giants(Dead) Masterwork greatclub: 310 gp Lucrecia(Dead) Sorcerer’s Belt: 7500 gp Modified Sorcerer’s Robe: Moved from Chest slot to belt slot for a 1.5 increase in price Robe of Arcane Heritage (Fey): 16,000 gp wand of scorching ray (22 charges): 1980 gp +1 keen dagger: 8302 gp masterwork dagger: 302 gp Sihedron medallion: 3500 gp gold and pearl ring: 300 gp silver necklace: 200 gp Barl Breakbones [stone giant necromancer 7] (Dead) Metamagic quicken rod, Lesser: 17,500 gp wand of enervation (12 charges): 5,040 gp masterwork earth breaker: 380 gp headband of vast intelligence +2(enhances Craft [blacksmith]): 4000gp Sihedron medallion: 3500 gp 13 black onyx gems: 50 gp each 2 gift wrapped packages: One each for Teraktinus and Mokmurian Contents unknown Rod of Flame Extinguishing: 15,000 gp Spellbook: 6965 gp 0 lvl: Bleed, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Read Magic, Touch of Fatigue 1st: Bed of Iron, Cause Fear, Chill Touch, Decompose Corpse, Grasping Corpse, Interrogation, Itching Curse, Magic Missile, Phantom Blood, Positive Pulse, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Sickening, Repair Undead, Restore Corpse, Sculpt Corpse, Touch of Blindness 2nd: Blindness/Deafness, Bloodbath, Blood in the Water, Bone Fists, Boneshaker, Brow Gasher, Command Undead, Companion Life Link, Curse Terrain, Lesser, Defending Bone, Defoliate, Dress Corpse, False Life, Ghoul Touch, Languid Venom, Life Pact, Limp Lash, Pernicious Poison, Scare, Sentry Skull, Skinsend, Spectral Hand, Steal Voice, Stricken Heart, Touch of Bloodletting, Unshakable Chill 3rd: Accursed Glare, Animate Dead, Lesser, Aura of Cannibalism, Barrow Haze, Deathwine, Eldritch Fever, Fireball, Gentle Repose, Halt Undead, Healing Thief, Howling Agony, Hydrophobia, Ki Leech, Malediction, Marionette Possession, Ray of Exhaustion, Sands of Time, Symbol of Exsanguination, Toxic Gift, Unliving Rage, Vampiric Touch 4th: Aggravate Affliction, Animate Dead, Bestow Curse, Bloatbomb, Bloody Arrows, Boneshatter, Contagion, Contingent Venom, Curse Terrain, Earsend, Enervation, False Life, Greater, Familiar Melding, Fear, Flesh Puppet, Hunger for Flesh, Masochistic Shadow, Positive Pulse, Greater, Sadomasochism, Shadow Projection, Skeleton Crew, Umbral Infusion, Wall of Blindness/Deafness, Wall of Bone The Last thing that happened Barl Breakbones was just defeated, literally. Barl’s body had just fallen to the ground. GM Favorite moment Jakardros getting to be the kill stealer. He managed to land the finishing blow on several opponents, each with a single arrow: Lamatar, one of the stone giants, and Lucrecia. Experience Each Player received 27,460 experience points (Total: 173,530 [12th level]) for Monsters and Role-playing.
