Wandered Roads 42

Wandered Roads of Varisia
Session 42
month day, year

Campaign Timeline

Securing the Area

Starday 6th Neth

Where Is That Elf Off To Again?

Daellin finds himself, once again, in a location different than that of the rest of his companions. After taking a second to get his bearings, he sees that he is standing in a gold paneled alcove at the end of a large, lavish chamber. The domed ceiling is frescoed with an image of a starry night sky while a thick rug of exquisite manufacture covers much of the floor. Two black benches carved in the likeness of coiling serpents line the nearby walls. Another golden alcove lies to the north. There appears to be a passage leading out to the south of the chamber and across the far end of the room is a hallway with stairs leading up and out of sight.  

More Sinspawn

More importantly, two armed figures stand near each exit from the room. They appear to be the Sinspawn, creatures that were previously battled in the ruins underneath Sandpoint. These Sinspawn are wearing heavy leather armor and carry long polearms. They immediately see the newly arrived Elf and ready their weapons.

With a wry smirk creeping slowly across his face Daellin rolls his eyes in feigned surprise.  "Of course this side would be have to guarded, and by four of these fiends no less" he mutters under his breath.  "I really do need to talk to my companions about these predicaments they keep getting me into.  Sooner or later someone is bound to get hurt.  I can't always be there to protect Ehlyna and the others if duty keeps pulling me forward."

Pretending to notice the guards for the first time Daellin grabs the edges of his cloak and flourishes them dismissively as he offers the guards a curt bow.   Not giving the guards any time to react he steps forward and summons his most arrogant demeanor.  "You there!  Where are the refreshments?  Have you not been instructed to have the kitchen at my full disposal?  What sort of hospitality is this?  Heads will certainly roll if our master hears of this!"

As Daellin is putting on his best spoiled lord imitation (thankfully not much acting required there) he is trying to position himself for slipping around the guards position.

One of the creatures from the far end of the hallway yells something to Daellin in a language he cannot understand, probably ancient Thassalonian. One guard from each position begins to advance slowly, their long pole arms ready to attack. As they approach, Daellin notices some differences between these Sinspawn and the ones previously encountered. These look the same in the arms, legs and head area, but their torsos are different. Even through their heavy leather armor, Daellin can see they shaped like voluptuous, large breasted women.

The nearest advancing guard will be in range to attack within a few seconds though it will take the other one longer to close the distance. The remaining two guards each take up a position in the middle of the exit they are guarding.

The creatures ignore all of Daellin’s attempts at trickery and diplomacy and eventually make it to attack range. Not wanting to risk another combat away from his companions, Daellin quickly casts a spell and teleports himself back to the room he had just been in. His friends were still there, waiting for him to return.

A Sweet Discovery

With Daellin safely back, the party heads back to find Ehlyna and Samad and tell them what they had discovered. When they pass back through the bathing chamber, Vexeron notices a secret door that had not been previously discovered. “Well I say, I do remember casting my See Secrets spell AFTER we came through this room earlier. Good show, chaps. Let’s see where this leads!” he announces in his familiar thick accent.

It is decided that they should retrieve Ehlyna before exploring further and the Dwarf is called from her post in the next chamber. Eager to be done with guard duty, Ehlyna leads the way through the secret door even before Calina and Daellin get through checking it for traps!

The Heroes follow an ancient and seemingly undisturbed hallway around several turns until it ends at a set of double doors. A sweet, perfumed scent can be detected in the air. Daellin and Calina begin checking out the doors and when it is deemed safe, Ehlyna kicks them open. Just as Ehlyna does so, Vexeron notices another secret door just behind the party, directly opposite of the doors Ehlyna just kicked.

The liquid filled orb is quite desirable.

The air in this room is thick with the scent of expensive perfumes. Dozens of delicate crystal jars and vials are displayed on pedestals of polished pink marble along the walls. A glass orb that swims with liquid amber light hangs from the ceiling above on a delicate golden chain. As several of the Heroes enter the room, they are suddenly overcome by the intoxicating cloud of perfumes, causing quite a bit of confusion. Kallin begins looking at his hands and laughing while Vexeron smashes his own foot with the butt of his staff while Daellin and Ehlyna both try to reach the hanging globe. Ehlyna tries to use Daellin as a climbing post but as she does this, Daellin attempts to use her advance to position himself closer to the orb by using a Blink Spell but something goes terribly wrong and Ehlyna finds herself unexpectedly hanging in midair right in front of the glowing amber orb. She grabs for it, causing it to explode, which in turn causes several other vials in the room to explode as well. Glass and dangerous fumes fill the room as the Dwarf crashes back to the ground, landing squarely on top of a confused Daellin. The noxious fumes begin to cause everyone in the room to cough and choke while several of them are still confused by the overpowering perfumes. Eventually the room is cleared and the doors are slammed shut, keeping the toxic gas contained.

A Darker Discovery

After some healing and poison recovery, the party turns their attention to the newly discovered secret door. The usual precautions are taken and the door is opened to reveal a dark and secret shrine of some sort. This black marble-walled chamber’s ceiling is lost in a layer of shimmering black fog, while a long golden rug runs down the center of the room on the floor. A rectangular block of polished stone, black with blood red streaks, sits at the far end of the rug. Several objects sit atop the stone, and Daellin and Vexeron can tell that some of the are magical from the doorway. The air is filled with a strange, nagging hum and the thick scent of cinnamon. The wall beyond the stone altar is decorated with a mural of a voluptuous demonic woman with bat wings, a serrated tail, legs of molten stone and a crown of seven horns. Both of her hands are held out to her sides, palms turned upward toward the ceiling. A globe of blackness hovers above each palm.

a dark altar

Fearing some dark magical trap, the heroes forgo entering the chamber but instead send in Bob, a warrior/ butler created with Vexeron’s magic. The knife wielding butler enters the chamber and approaches the altar. In turn, he retrieves the items off the altar and brings them to the party waiting eagerly in the hallway. The gathered treasure consist of a 7-pointed unholy symbol made of onyx and pearl similar to the headdress worn by the demon in the mural, a blood stained golden goblet, a blood crusted and curved magical knife, a magical incense burner that emits the smell of cinnamon, a case with several hunks of magical incense and a silver scroll case containing a magical scroll.

The Heroes decide to head back to check in on Samad and the prisoners before doing any more exploring and find their companion doing just fine. They tell him about the encounters they have had and that they plan to do some exploring in the natural caverns outside the Grey Maiden’s base before using the teleporter again.

Several of the Maidens have made a case to be set free, they have promised that they are no longer associated with the current goals of the Grey Maidens and want no part in the events going on. They give up what other information they know and pledge to do no ill will toward the party. The members of the party consider it and release 4 of the Maidens who make themselves useful around the camp while the others rest.

Shadow dogs attack!

While the group is resting and Vexeron is analyzing some magic items, Dallin leads Samad off to show him the areas they had previously explored and they return to the exploding perfume room and each take several vials of fragrant ointments without setting off further traps. Daellin then shows Samad the dark altar room and when they enter the room to get a closer look, two huge dog like beasts form in the mist and descend to attack. The shadow dog’s sorrowful howl stuns Samad and Daellin is able to remove his friend before anything bad happens. The doors are closed and the shadow beasts do not pursue. They return to the rest of the party and decide that resting is a good thing.

Sunday 7th of Neth

Don’t Be Such a Hag

flooded tunnels

At the behest of the recently freed Maidens, the Heroes of Sandpoint set out to explore the natural caverns on the entry beach, looking for one of the Maidens that had been led that way by “Sorshen” but never returned. They follow the caverns, which twist around and often end in submerged passages. In one such watery chamber they encounter a tiny fiendish beast that throws water bolts at the party before fleeing into deeper, darker water. Not wanting to engage such a foe in its natural environment, they press on and bypass the submerged chambers until they come out to a small underground lake with a rocky island in the middle.

A single stone post extends from the middle of the island while watery tunnels lead east and west. A naked woman with a scarred face is bound to the post by lengths of dark seaweed. She is covered in fresh wounds and the rock below her is stained with blood. Standing over her and poking her with the butt end of a long spear is a hideous hunchbacked woman with wet, green skin, dripping white hair and bulging orange eyes. Several strange creatures caper and dance at her feet, the same wolf-headed, lobster-clawed beasts that were encountered in the other watery rooms.

When the Hag sees the party on the narrow beach, she cackles with joy and cries out, “Oh no! New playmates here for Daefu to toy with! Sorshen is good to Daefu! Sorshen loves Daefu as Daefu loves her! One? Two? Three? How many more playmates come to Daefu? More sweet, pink flesh to poke and prod, more mouths to sing songs of agony, all because Daefu is loved by Sorshen. She sent you to me, yes? Who wants the first kiss from Daefu? Be patient, new flesh, all will get a turn!”

The Heroes face off with Daefu the Hag

As she cackles and everyone fully takes in her hideous appearance, several members of the party feel their strength sapped from them. The evil Hag then stares at Kallin, cursing him with her Evil Eye. She sends her little gremlins forward to attack while several of the party members engage her on the island. The battle is fierce and Daefu holds her own for some time before falling to the combined might of the Heroes of Sandpoint. The Hag attempts to flee underwater but Daelin takes a deep breath and flies under the water and stops her.

As everyone recovers on the beach, Daellin swims beneath the water and drags back her treasure that had been hidden away in an underwater cave. The treasure consisted of several magical healing potions and a bag of assorted gems, two of which look to be magical in nature as well as her enchanted long spear and a magical necklace she had been wearing made of the bones of dangerous looking sea creatures. The Heroes of Sandpoint then drag themselves back toward their current base of operations to regroup and rest again after such a taxing encounter. Kallin hopes to use some of this time to meditate and contemplate on his recent actions since he seems to have overstepped his boundary with his goddess, Pharasma during the battle with the Hag.

Session Notes

This session saw the departure of an old friend and the re-acquaintence of a different old friend! Greg has unexpectedly had to leave the group but we recently reconnected with an old member of the group, Don, who stepped in and took the reins of Greg's character, the wizard Vexeron.

Session Photos

Daellin and Samad flee from the shadow mastiffs

Hag battle from above

Evil Eye point of view

The Hag, Daefu!

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 Donald K
Ehlyna Fuzziface - Dwarven Warrior - played by +Jodi H
Samad Aldhul, Human ex-mercenary - played by +JeCorey Holder

and +Jason Woollard as the DM