Wandered Roads 36

Wandered Roads of Varisia
Session 36
November 15, 2014

Campaign Timeline

Hey Lady (Sorshen)

Oathday, 4th of Neth

The group got into the boats and poled to the east. Daellin waited on the shore for a bit then

the underground river

used his magic to follow by flying. The boats entered a large cavern with strange and colorful motes of light blinking and flitting about. Thin stalactites hung from the high ceiling. A wide beach could be seen to the south and a large, flat stone platform sat in the center of the lake. The platform was clearly worked stone as it was perfectly flat and regularly shaped. The only thing on the island was a sparkling glass statue of a woman in a jumping pose. Instead of hands, she seemed to have long, curving blades. Two mooring posts could be seen at the front edge of this “island.” Past the island, at the far end of the cavern, a cloud of churning mist and roaring sound of rushing water indicated a waterfall where the water dropped out of the lake into some lower chamber.

The group headed for the island but quickly the lake became too deep and the boats could no longer be controlled. They were caught in the quicker current of the waterfall on the far side of the island but Daellin was able to fly down and grab the ropes and easily pull the boats to the safety.

the glass golem

The moment the Elf touched down to tie the boats up, the glass statue sprung to life and moved to attack. As it approached, it was seen to have the same visage as Sorshen, the Runelord, a common theme for the statues and decorations of the complex. The glass golem was a nimble and quick and proved to be a tough opponent, though in short order, it was destroyed. The construct shattered and was no more than a pile of glass dust on the ground. The island was searched but nothing was discovered.

With Daellin’s help, the group maneuvered the boats over to the southern shore. This sandy beach was similar to the one they found the boats on except this one had two sandy grave mounds, each topped with large metal shields. Each shield seems to have been hastily painted over to display a Thassalonian rune, that of Lust, the mark of Sorshen. At Kallin’s urging, the group left the graves alone and pressed on through a stone door leading into the rough stone wall behind the beach.

The room behind the door was covered in numerous detailed murals and paintings of various otherworldly beings participating in wanton sexual acts. Every vertical surface of the room was covered but stop abruptly after turning down the hallway to the south, as though abandoned by the artist. A thorough search of the room turned up nothing of significance except for Kallin, who learned several new things he had not even dreamed of before.

The passage twisted and turned for a bit before ending at a set of iron bars blocking the way. Past the bars laid a large chamber, brightly lit by some sort of magical light. The floors, walls and ceiling of the chamber were polished to an almost mirror like shine. The arched ceilings were supported by two rows of columns that had been carved to resemble Runelord Sorshen in various levels of undress. Before the bars could be examined closely, a voice called out from the chamber, challenging the group as to whether they were friend of foe. A well muscled, pale skinned man appeared from behind one of the pillars and approached.  He was armed with a long, thin blade and he wore his silvery white hair in a long braid that stretched past his waist. As he spoke, it was noted that he bore sharp, fanged teeth, like that of a Vampire. He conversed for a moment with the group before declaring them foes and stated that he would stop them if they attempted to pass. He then stepped back behind the pillar and could no longer be seen.

a pale and skillful guardian

Ehlyna began bashing on one lock while Calina started trying to pick the one on the other side. This brought on an attack from the pale man, first with his bow, then closer up with his rapier. He seemed quite strong and skilled and moved with an unnatural speed. Kallin used his Pharasmic magic to find out more about this foe, and was able to determine that he was NOT a Vampire, not an Undead being at all. This guardian continued his harassment of the group as they attempted to breach the bars, skillfully avoiding injury and always ending his attacks back behind another pillar.

Realizing that bashing and picking the locks was taking too long, Vexeron summoned powerful earth magic and reformed the stone wall to the right of the bars, making a narrow passageway into the room. The group quickly flooded into the room and attempted to engage their new foe. The pale man moved about the room nearly twice as fast as some of the party members and wielded his rapier with skill. Though it took longer than their typical battle, eventually the 8 heroes were able to vanquish this foe without even taking any hits from him, though there were several close calls, and despite being one verses many, he held out for some time. Ehlyna quickly severed his head and as she was cleaning the blood from her axe, Vosk leaped forward and drove a wooden stake through his heart. “Just in case,” he said, looking warily at the sharp teeth sticking out.

The group gathered up his equipment, most of it being of a magical nature, and moved on. The next chamber was a wide hallway curving off into the darkness to the right. Running down the center of this hallway was a row of pillars supporting the ceiling. Each pillar was carved, once again, to resemble Sorshen. The first pillar was strangely missing its head. A quick search of the area showed it to be safe and the party progressed down the hallway.

creepy heads!

When they reached the 2nd pillar, the eyes of the statue started to glow, then the head started to wobble and shake. Most of the party stepped back a bit as the head lurched upward from the statue and rose up on spindly, black legs. The glow of light in the eyes grew brighter and then a magical bolt shot out of them at one of the party members. On cue, the heroes attacked, though their weapons seemed fairly inefficient against the stone creature. The head crawled around the top of the statue and continued to send glowing green bolts of energy down upon the party. After a few moments, several of the companions had been magically paralyzed by these bolts. After what seemed like forever, the party was victorious over the magical stone guardian and within a few minutes, the paralyzed members were able to move again.

Looking ahead, several more similar statues could be seen before the hallway curved out of sight.

Session Notes

We were missing several players again but we played on. In fact, one player that was not able to be present managed to play anyway through the wonders of modern technology. We used an extra laptop propped up on a box and ran a Hangout with +Jodi H so she could still play despite being laid up due to a recent surgery. It's not an ideal way to play, but it was definitely better than not having her there!

remote connect win!

Characters Present:

Kallin Hawkril, Half-Orc shaman and budding Priest of Pharasma - played by +Daniel Ernst
Calina - Varisian Human archer and scout - played by +Carol Coburn
Daellin Silvanthalas, Elven Farstrider Ranger - played by +Ben Lipe
Vexeron, Human wizard - played by +Greg Grady
Ehlyna Fuzziface - Dwarven Warrior - played by +Jodi H
Samad Aldhul, Human ex-mercenary - played by +JeCorey Holder
Vosk, Half-Orc Pathfinder who gets the job done, no matter what - played by +james schaffner 

and +Jason Woollard as the DM