Grand Duchy 30

Grand Duchy of Adventure

Session 30
August 28 - September 9, 2014

Laying in Wait

Lunadain 11th of Flaurmont

Bailakask No More

Statue of Orcus

The mother werewolf had been defeated, as had several of her pack, including a large dire wolf. Griffin had sustained some minor injuries from a bite from one of the normal wolves and Akaios had taken a pretty nasty beating from the Dire Wolf that had leapt on him and knocked him down before gnawing on his shoulder. No one else appeared to have been injured though there was another casualty, Marcel’s sprig of wolfsbane had been broken and scattered across the floor after repeated strikes on the Werewolf.

Now that the battle is over, a better look can be taken of the area. It is a large space, open to the sky above. There are several smaller cave openings around the perimeter. High above on a rocky point overlooking the wolves lair stands a large, ominous stone statue of Orcus, the Demon Prince. A narrow rocky path appears to lead up along the back side of the lair to the statue.

The lair

Akaios walks over to where the werewolf lays, now a naked Human woman blood pouring from her chest. He looks at her neck and hefts his axe. “Should I do this?” he asks the others.

“That head will do her no good anymore.” Marcel is all for chopping her up but looks for an approving nod from the smarter people in the party. He bends down and gather the wolfbane on the ground in hope to re-bundle the thing.

He looks up, “them statue up there is a good place for ranged folks to hang out. Traps near the entrance and on the path up to the statue?”

Meanwhile, Marcel will be looking for a spot on the cliff-like wall near the entrance, underneath the status, where he could climb up to get height advantage.

Griffin nods to Akaios. “Best separate her head from her body, but leave it there for now.” He looks around the area. “But I don’t think putting the traps near the entrance would be a good idea. My concern is with getting Kalkask’s head as well.  We don’t want to tip him off too soon.”

He limps over to Bailakask’s body. “If this is Kalkask’s mom, I think I’ll put the big trap right near her. And I’ll take a spot on the wall over the door, and throw down the caltrops after the wolves enter - make it harder for them to leave.”

Griffin heads back down the tunnel to retrieve his gear and traps.

The big Thyatian grips his axe tightly then raises it over his head. He swings it down at the neck of the Werewolf with all his might, his grunt echoing off all the walls for what seems like several moments after he has completed the grisly task.

Draven puts his good hand on the big fellow’s shoulder. “Fear not, my friend. What you’ve done here is the work of the gods. Their blessing cleanses you of any guilt you may feel.”

Griffin turns back after a second. “We should probably drag all the other wolf carcasses into one of the side caves. Give the rest of the pack more to be curious about before we spring the trap.” He looks at Akaios and Burik as he says this.

“And Ree, could you climb up to the edge up there and serve as lookout? Watch for the pack and listen for those bird calls from the Elves?”

He points around the corner, out of sight of the entrance. “That might be a good place to hide until Kalkask is well into the area. Then some of us can rush out and try to cut off his retreat.” He thinks for a moment. “But don’t come out until he’s at least had a chance to hit the trap. It could make things much easier.”  He stands at the entrance, lost in thought for a moment.

Akaios, Burik and Remar get to work dragging the lifeless bodies of all the wolves to the other side of the main chamber. “Does this look good?” Remar calls out to his companions on his choice of dead wolf placement.

Feeling troubled after recent events, Iris looks to Griffin to hopefully ascertain something he had in mind for her to do. Her utopian image of this band of adventurers felt a great deal more real after the experiences of violent battle.

Griffin can feel her eyes on him as he tries to strategize. Well, she knows some magic - maybe she can do a sweep of magical stuff. He turns decisively to her, “Iris, I’m not liking the way that statue is staring down on us. Could be cold stone, could be more. Get on up there and check it out. And Draven? Akaios and I got chewed on a bit. Might want to look to that, if it’s not too much bother.”

“Okay, I need to get my traps. Let’s get a move on, people. No telling when the rest of the pack will wander back in.”

Noticing the wounds on Akaios, Draven shakes his head. “You must be quicker to tell me of these things!” He busies himself with a bandaging, trusting to his magics to finish the work.

Griffin falls under his tender ministrations when he gets back with the traps, first bandaging then a quick review of injuries and some magic to heal the wounds.

Setting the Trap

The bright full moon shining into the lair makes it easy enough to maneuver around and do things. There are plenty of good spots to hide out along the wall above and to the side of the main entrance. Ree casts a spell then magically walks up the side of the cliff wall as if it were flat ground. She positions herself above and to the right of the main entrance.  

Marcel thinks better than to perch himself up a wall where his freedom of motion would be diminished. He considers Ree's position and the location of all traps, baits and other companions. He figures out that his best best is well in range of the others, anchoring his position against the wall on his left somewhere underneath the statue. There, he shall meet in combat the returning goblins. The mouth of the path going up will be his fall back position.

Iris is anxious in preparation for battle. Seeing her comrades and discussing tactics with them briefly, she makes the decision supported by Griffin and stands around the corner, out of sight, ready to charge in.

Warily eyeballing the horrible statue overhead, Draven takes a position to the rear, well within reach of his comrades and ready to provide succor should they be immediately wounded or overwhelmed by superior numbers. He may not be spot on with his mace and shield, but he stands at the ready.

Remar nods at Iris and takes up a position near her, just out of sight of the main battle area. With Marcel moving off to the side of the area, Akaios and Burik begin arguing for position near Bailakask’s decapitated form. Both men want to be the focal point of the upcoming battle, want to be in position to gather all the glory like Marcel had in the previous encounter. After a moment, they agree that they can both stand there to draw the Werewolf out. Burik eyes his enchanted blade and smiles, hoping it will give him an edge over his mighty companion Akaios.

Griffin hisses at Marcel, “Comrade, if you stay there, they will attack you and not get to the trap! You need to stay out of sight until they’re all the way across to Burik and Akaios! Remember, we need to keep Kalkask from fleeing - if he sees you he might be able to turn around and escape! Get over near where Draven and Iris are!”

He notices Burik and Akaios as they mill about near Bailakask’s corpse and winces. He grabs his crossbow and hops down from his perch, making his way across the littered dirt.

“Um, guys, just to make sure, you know where all the traps are, right?” He looks at his friends, crossing his fingers.

Akaios scratches his head and looks at Burik, who shrugs. Griffin sighs. “Okay, everyone listen up! The big trap is right there,” and he points to a spot just in front of the headless corpse. He stomps across the bones and dirt to a second spot. “There’s another one here,” and he moves to a third place off to the northeast corner of the lair, “and the last is right here. The hope is that the monster one will grab Kalkask when he charges Akaios and Burik here, limits his movement. The other two are just to slow down the other wolves, limit the chance they have to swarm us.”

“Basically, the brave Akaios and stalwart Burik here will act as a lure to get the other were well into this area. We don’t want him running off - we need his head for the Fairy King of Horses. Once he engages these two, the folk hiding around the corner will charge out, hopefully surprising him and his furry friends. Once he’s well inside, I’ll dump all my caltrops by the door to keep any stragglers from coming in, and then take potshots at the were with my crossbow. Remar, if you’re not engaged, pour all your damage at Kalkask - these guys don’t go down easy.”

He looks to Marcel, “Of course, all bets are off once this thing starts. Look to Marcel to make calls on changes in tactics in the fight.”

He looks around to all his comrades, “Any questions? Thoughts?”

The howl of a wolf can be heard in the distance.

Griffin swears as he looks up at Ree on her perch. She holds up a hand with 3 fingers. He swears some more and races to get back to his post on the wall over the door.

Marcel listens to Griffin’s prompt and decides to lurk into the cave to the right of the bait. This will allow him to spring to their rear faster. He bends down and places himself in the dark, covering his shield with his bedroll, ready to pull the cover, blind his foe and strike first and hard.

Ree calls down from her perch high above the main entrance. Her voice is a whispered yell, “Imryll says that some wolves have been spotted coming from the east. A few miles out still, but moving fast! Get ready!”

Cast of Characters: 

Garrett "Griffin" Constantine, a Thyatian rogue of a gambler from Penhaligon rolled by +Arne Jamtgaard 

Marcel Maas, a homely but sincere wielder of spears aspiring to cooking greatness commanded by +Christian Blouin 

Draven Rickart, a Thyatian Acolyte of the Church of Karameikos ministered by +Jason Packer 

Iris Varda, a Thyatian explorer and historian searching for answers and adventure guided by +Alex Safatli  

Remar Umerus, an Alphatian battle mage that escaped forced service in the Thyatian army conjured by +Ben Lipe and currently in NPC mode. 

and +Jason Woollard as The DM

Dark Paths 49

Dark Paths of Riddleport
Session 49
September 7, 2014

Through the Portal

Despite the loss of their two companions, the rest of the Gold Goblin Crew carries on. But first, they have to overcome the aqueous afflictions that have stricken Aragon and Snargash and forced them to remain underwater. Even communicating between the surface of the pool was difficult. After a few moments of contemplation, the sounds of battle carried into the room from the south, followed by a few familiar Elves stumbling into the room. One of the Elves, a friend named Sairalindë, was skilled at the magical arts and was able to help Snargash not begin to choke when he stuck his head out of the water. With the ability to do this, Snargash was able to play some tunes on his flutes that relieved the afflictions, though at quite a great cost as he had already far surpassed his safe threshold of asking his patrons for divine aid. After his casting, Snargash found he had a strong aversion to water of any kind!

Sairalindë told them that the Drow and their Demon allies were rallying behind them and trying to push into this area of the Academy but that in the early moments of the assault, their other companion, Kwava, had fallen and been taken. The trail (of blood) lead through this room and into the next. Sairalindë urges the Crew to follow the trail, stop the Drow masters from completing their foul plan and that she and the other Elves would do their best to keep the pressing forces of evil from following.

The portal

The Crew followed a fairly obvious trail of blood into the next chamber and found they lead up to a large, apparently functioning gate. The two Elves in the group recognized this as a re-purposed Aiudara (ancient Elf-gate), now topped with what appeared to be a chunk of rune covered stone cut from the indestructible Cyphergate as the keystone. The image past the gate revealed a shadowy, but strangely beautiful image of an Elven city in a sylvan setting. 

Ancient Celwynvian

Wasting no time, the Crew passed through the gate and found themselves in a strange place indeed. Though they could see and feel and hear and smell the environment, all of these senses were some how muted or shaded from their full effects. Most disturbing, though, was the sky. The entire sky seemed to swirl into large, grey vortex that seemed to be formed around a giant dark blot in the sky, similar to the one they had first encountered some time ago in Riddleport, but this one was much larger. 

The old Observatory

Almost immediately, a strolling, tall Elf gentleman nearly walked right into them, his attention focused on the activity in the sky. He introduced himself as Ilamin Silverwind. He shared that this city was in fact, Celwynvian and that the date was some 10,000 years earlier than it should have been, indicating a time just before the Starstone fell from the sky and nearly destroyed the entire world. The conversation with this ancient Elf carried on for a while and the Crew gleaned a few bits of important information from him. He told them that he didn't think that the vortex or blot was anything to worry about. They learned that some strange activity had been occurring in the old Observatory on the other side of the city. They also learned that he knew nothing of "dark skinned, white haired Elves" though he mentioned that a Human, Talgoren, living in the city nearby had made some similar comments about "dark elves." Ilmin pointed out the way to his house, which happened to be on the way to the Observatory.

Hideous winged Demons... The Vrock

The Crew set out to find this Talgoren to learn more about what was going on in this strange shadow version of ancient Celwynvian. On the way to Talgoren's house, the Crew was spotted by a pair of hideous winged vulture like demons, called Vrock by the other Elves. As the demons approached, it was quickly apparent that they were very different than other things in this realm. They seemed very solid and real. Though dark and hideous, their colors contrasted sharply with the shadow grey of everything else in this world. 

Fighting the winged Demons!

The battle was on. The demons stopped at a good range and summoned two more of their kind while Aragon charged down the street. Aethel and Guy began firing projectiles at them while Snargash began using his magic, now strangely refreshed, to help his companions. It almost seemed that the battle might take a bad turn when the sky was filled with the roar of a Dragon and the green wings of Razorhorn were seen flapping overhead, but fortunately the beast paid no attention to the fight in the streets and flew away.

Tower, this is Razorhor requesting a fly by.

The battle was tough but with a few good shots and lucky breaks, the Crew was victorious. Aragon had been stunned during the fight and taken a few good hits in addition to being afflicted by some disgusting skin condition that caused little green and purple tendrils to grow from his flesh.

Why's everyone always picking on Aragon?

Talgoren

Pressing on, the Crew arrived at Talgoren's mansion and were drawn inside by an open door, an inviting path and the soft sound of harp music playing. There they found a lounging Human, Talgoren. He was one of the Azlanti, the First Humans, known to inhabit Golarion before the Starfall. He was polite and welcoming. He offered wine and snacks to all, though Aethel and Aragon appeared to be in too much of a hurry to partake in refreshments. He says he too has seen the "dark skinned" Elves, though no one else has listened to him. He also tells that he believes that the strange occurrences in the sky are probably nothing more than backlash from the battle that his people are currently waging against the Aboleth, or Devilfish, as he calls them. Aethel waits impatiently outside, keeping watch and Aragon paces stiffly back and forth near the door until he spots a cooling pie on a silver tray nearby. His mood immediately changes and the normally stoic Elf smiles and almost giddy as he asks for a piece of pie. Though the wine and desserts were only shadowy imitations of the real thing, those who had consumed felt revitalized after the recent battle with the Vrock.

Talgoren confirms that the "dark Elves" have been quite active near the old Observatory and he has seen them trafficking with Demons, Troglodytes and even a Dragon. He packs some treats to go and gives the Crew an extra decanter of wine for the road. After saying goodbyes to this strange Human, the Crew heads off down the street for their next target, the Observatory.

Notes

Finally, we have gotten back to the Dark Paths of Riddleport after a 2 month hiatus. Things go busy, then busier, then even a little busier and I could not get the time to sit down on a Sunday evening to get this game done! But finally, we got to it. By my estimation, we have one more session to go, and that will be next Sunday, and one way or another, this campaign will wrap. Ahh.

Cast of Characters: 

Aethelarian "Aethel" Flitterseed - Noble Elf wizard played by +Daniel White 
Aragon Whisperwind - Elven Bladedancer played by +Arne Jamtgaard 
Guy Greystone - Gnome telekinetic played by +Gren Drake 
Snargash Windblown - Half-Orc monk played by +Amergin O'Kai 
and +Jason Woollard as the DM

Grand Duchy 29

Grand Duchy of Adventure

Session 29
August 26, 2014

Assault on the Wolf Lair

Lunadain 11th of Flaurmont

The Prince of Demons

Thallan and his Elves acted as scouts while the rest of the Grey Company advanced to the Wolf Lair. They followed the landmarks just like the Fairy King of Horses and Wyrtung had instructed them to. Checking their bundles of wolfsbane, the Company moved in. The Company entered
through a 5 foot high cave opening that led to a large, steep sided canyon like space that was open to the night sky above. The bright light of the full moon illuminated the entire area and revealed several smaller cave openings around the perimeter of the space. The moonlight also shone down on a disturbing statue of a winged demon overlooking the area from a ledge high above. It was identified as Orcus, the Prince of Demons. 

Before the investigation could progress further, they were beset by wolves, several normal wolves and a large Dire Wolf, similar to the ones the Goblins had used as mounts. The normal animals were easily held at bay but soon Bailakask revealed herself, emerging from one of the many small caves located inside the larger lair. She howled with rage then cursed and challenged the Company in Traladaran, taunting them all the while.

Silver bullets

Marcel moved forward and engaged her while Griffin followed, trying to keep the other wolves from attacking Marcel from behind. Akaios and Burik were dealing with the other wolves while Ree got into position to pepper the Werewolf with her silver sling bullets. After a short duel, Marcel emerged victorious and Bailakask lay dead in a pool of her own dark blood, bleeding from numerous puncture wounds to her vitals.

The Wolfmother is dead.

Notes

Missing 2 players tonight, but we pressed on anyway. This was pretty much an all combat session, but that's ok sometimes. We do a lot of sessions with no fighting at all!

Cast of Characters: 

Garrett "Griffin" Constantine, a Thyatian rogue of a gambler from Penhaligon rolled by +Arne Jamtgaard 

Marcel Maas, a homely but sincere wielder of spears aspiring to cooking greatness commanded by +Christian Blouin 

Draven Rickart, a Thyatian Acolyte of the Church of Karameikos ministered by +Jason Packer (ABSENT)

Iris Varda, a Thyatian explorer and historian searching for answers and adventure guided by +Alex Safatli  (ABSENT)

Remar Umerus, an Alphatian battle mage that escaped forced service in the Thyatian army conjured by +Ben Lipe and currently in NPC mode. 

and +Jason Woollard as The DM