Wandered Roads 29

Wandered Roads of Varisia
Session 29
February 8, 2014

Campaign Timeline

They Delved Too Deep

Wealday 26th of Lamashan

After a day of recovering from the most recent exploits and some time to sort and sell gear, the Heroes of Sandpoint were ready to venture once more to the Irespan piling known as the Crow in search for the next shard of Thassilion. Before heading back though, they had to sort out the riddle of the runes that were found on the un-openable door that lead to the rest of the structure because each time the actual runes were touched, an eldritch blast of fire burned whoever was touching them. With some help from Sheila Heidmarch, it was determined that the runes said something like “Listen” on the left and “The Eyes” on the right.

Listen - The Eyes

After some time, it was decided that the runes should be rearranged to say “Silent” and “They See.” Confident that this would open the doors, the group headed back to the docks to make arrangements for passage. Word of their recent exploits had spread through the docks quickly, driving the price of good help up a bit, but that was of no consequence to the group who happily shelled out the required price to rent a boat.

Silent - They See

The Crow was reached with no incident and the boat master was told he would be contacted when passage back to the mainland was required. It looked as if no one had been here since they last left the other day so the group prepared for the long hike up the many stairs to the top of the structure. From there, they got to use their newly procured climbing harnesses to climb up through the trap door at the top of the 100+ foot tall entry shaft. Everyone made it with no trouble, except for Kallin, who just could not get the hang of the harness. He fell several times but was saved a gruesome death by the safety ropes that had been tied. After several tries, the sore Half Orc finally made it through. The group then trekked down through several more floors of the complex to the magical rune blocked doors.

It was decided that each attempt at switching the runes would be done by a different person to minimize the damage taken by the magical nature of the doors. After just a moment, the runes were placed in the correct order and the doors popped open, releasing a dusty waft of stale, ancient air. The heavy stone doors were then pulled open and blocked with some large pieces of stonework that Samad and Ehlyna carried over.

The group headed down the hallway whose only visitor in the last several thousand years had been Daellin just the other day. The Elf showed the group to the balcony overlooking the fetid pool of scum covered water where he had encountered the two giant amoeba creatues. As the companions stood at the top of the 20 foot balcony discussing how to deal with these dangerous creatures, Ehlyna stomped off down the stairs to take matters into her own hands, like she normally did. Trying to get the jump on the creatures, Calina started firing arrows down into the pool, which drove the two transparent blobs of goo into action. Ehlyna started

hacking with her axes as everyone else from above began firing down on them. During the fight, one of the blobs managed to totally engulf Ehlyna, its corrosive jelly-like insides burned her skin and threatened to eat away at her gear. Not to be destructively shown up by a giant one celled organism, Ehlyna opened an escape route with her axes, right through the creatures outer layer! After a few more moments, the beasts were nothing more than quivering piles of stinging goo on the ground. The surrounding areas were explored, revealing the presence of a huge swarm of bats and all their excrement. Not wanting to deal with that, the group went the other way and discovered dust covered stairs leading down. A small area at the top of the stairs and a narrow trail down the stairs had its dust disturbed. Something small had recently been here and retreated below. Undaunted, the group followed the trail down.

After going down several flights of stairs a good distance, Ehlyna states that they are no below the surface of the water in the bay outside. Calina shivered at the thought, a bit of claustrophobia kicking in. The corridor eventually opened up to a large room that looked to have at one time been some sort of catacombs, with burial niches lining the walls. The niches all appeared to be empty, though the center of the stone floored room was covered with six 10’ tall hills that resembled ant hills. While crossing the room to a passage leading out on the opposite side, their conclusions were proven correct as several giant ants (4 feet long each) emerged from the ant hills and scurried down in an attack! The ants were crunchy and dealt with fairly quickly. Wasting no time, the group moved on before more ants could venture forth from the ant hills.

They followed the worked stone corridor around a corner and stopped to search an odd shaped alcove in the middle of the hall. The search revealed a crudely constructed secret door that led to a narrow and short passage carved out of the stone. The passage was barely big enough for Leela to squeeze into and some of the larger members of the party were sure they would not fit at all so the passage was left unexplored for now.

The group continued down the hall until it opened into a large trash and rubble filled chamber that was covered in sheets and sheets of spider webs. It seemed that some of the rubble and trash had been stacked and organized into tiny chairs, tables, benches and other furniture. Before a search of the room could be mounted, its inhabitants revealed themselves. Tiny insect like humanoids with bulbous black heads, two of which were riding giant, furry legged spiders, leaped out and charged, filling the air with a strange, high pitched chittering and squeaking noise.

As they approached, Samad was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming fear. For some

Samad overcomes his fear and attacks with Ehlyna

reason, he was scared of these round headed little creatures. This feeling of fright did not stop him from joining in the fray with his companions though. After a brief clash left several of the insectoids dead or dying, as well as one of their spiders, the rest of them shrieked loudly and began fleeing for a passage on the far side of the room. The party pursued, though the rubble and junk in the room made pursuit difficult and the creatures got away. Calina did manage to take down the other giant spider with a well placed shot from Whisper.

Bug-man mounted on giant spider

Giving up the chase, the room was quickly searched but turned up nothing of interest or value. Ehlyna, ready for more fighting, urged the group to take up the chase once again. They followed the corridor around another corner that led to yet another set of stairs going down. With only a moments pause, the group descended further into the piling, realizing they were moving further and further below the surface of the water surrounding them.

The stairs let out at a corner of two hallways, one running to the south, the other running to the west. The southernmost passage was blanketed in spider webs and Calina was sure that she could see the tracks of the little bug-men in that direction. Deciding that they were done dealing with bugs for a moment, the group chose the other direction, which led to what appeared to be a prison block, with 3 hallways filled with iron doors. Before it could be searched, 4 large crab like spiders scuttled out of some open cells and attacked. These spiders proved to be more difficult to slay due to their hard and thick coverings. In time though, they too were defeated.

Calina moves HERE!

Kalling and Calina fighting the spiders

The far end of one of the cell blocks led to another passage. Following that led to some sort of torture chamber. Two cells lined the eastern wall. Curious what might have been in these ancient cells, Calina forces the rusty window in the iron door open to reveal a very much alive and raging prisoner. The growling face of one of the split jawwed creatures they had battled under Sandpoint was locked in the cell. It began screeching and banging on the door, though the rusty cage would not break. Calina closed the viewing window and stepped back. Ehlyna offered to open the door and slay the creature, but it was decided to leave it alone since it could not harm anyone from inside its locked dungeon. The group followed a passage south out of the torture chamber and discovered more stairs leading down.

Encountering a demonic worm

Not wanting to break tradition, the group descends the stairs, exploring deeper and deeper into the depths of this Thassilonian ruin. After descending several more flights of stairs, the passageway ends in a stone door marked with the 7-pointed Sihedron Rune they had come so accustomed to seeing. The door opens with a little force and they enter a large, 8 sided room with four doors leading out: one to the north (that they had just entered from) and others to the south, east and west.

Demonic larva and Runelord statue

overhead

In the center of this room stands a large red statue of Alaznist, the Runelord of Wrath who once ruled over the kingdom of Bakrakhan, the portion of ancient Thassilon that was centered over this part of Varisia. The floor around the statue was covered in crusty slime trails that were soon shown to be the tracks of a huge, 10’ long demonic larva that attacked the party by spewing mouthfuls of maggots and biting with acidic teeth. The heroes moved about the room and did battle with the slimy behemoth, trading sword, axe and arrow strikes with maggot sprays! Ehlyna was reduced to a vomiting mess after being hit in the face with demon maggots and Samad leaped to her rescue by flinging a vial of Alchemist Fire onto the creatures back. Eventually, the beast was laid open and the vile creature disintegrated into a stinky black mass of bubbling tar-like goo.

Maneuvering into position

Session Notes

Kabam!

This session was fun. We were short several players (1 expected and 2 unexpected) but we managed to get a lot done. The session started with a problem solving puzzle that they were able to unravel fairly quickly. I think the handouts were fun and helpful. The group explored a LOT of the dungeon, moving quickly through rooms, heading downward, downward, downward. They were TOO driven to move downward, in fact,and managed to get past where I thought they would go, leaving me in the 'seat of my pants' territory. Fortunately, that is some comfortable territory for me and it all worked out fine. The session ended with a squeal of tires, screeching brakes, several loud impacts and a horn stuck on just outside the window. Looking outside we see some truck in a neighbors back yard, somehow having crashed into the inside edge of an electrical pole, mowing down a line of bushes and then backing into the wooden fence. We called the cops and went outside to see if anyone was hurt. I had to pry the door of the truck open cause the driver couldn't get out. Were still not sure exactly how the accident happened. He said he hit a slick spot, though the entire stretch of road was clear and dry. The best part for me was when the cop rolled a Crit Fail on his Mechanics skill while trying to disengage the continually blaring horn and somehow made another horn start going off! Anyway.

This guy defied the laws of physics. 

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
Leela Cardnool, Gnome scout, cartographer and Illusionist - played by +Lisa Smith
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
Ellie - Halfling Finder of Things - played by +Megan McCarron

and +Jason Woollard as the DM

Wandered Roads 28

Wandered Roads of Varisia
Session 28
November 23, 2013

Campaign Timeline

In The Crow's Nest

Moonday, 24th of Lamashan

The party quickly resumes their exploration of the Crow, taking only minimal time to check the their fallen opponents. There will be time for that later. The hallways and corridors were all similar: ancient and falling apart, or more to the point, being taken apart. It was clear that someone, possibly the Tower Girls had made quick work of removing and defacing murals, carvings and other bits of artwork adorning the structure.

Pushing on into the Tower Girls lair, evidence was found of hastily set up living quarters and other signs of life but it was clear that the gang had recently picked up their base and moved it further in. Eventually the group came to a ledge overlooking the large shaft they had encountered when they first arrived. Down below, they could see the water from the bay and the 2 rafts they had arrived on. The 3 rowboats they had encountered were missing, obviously Fenster the Blight had made his way back to Magnimar with them.

Ten feet above their heads, at the top of the shaft hung a wooden platform hanging close to the ceiling with complex system of ropes and straps. There were several hanging ropes, one even long enough to reach the 200 feet below to the base of the shaft. Unwilling to swing and climb across without knowing what was there first, Daellin used his magic to levitate Samad up to the platform. Once on the platform, Samad could see that it led to a trapdoor in the ceiling that led up to another passageway in the tower.

Using a length of the looted Tower Girls silken rope, the group took turns tying each other off, swinging across to another ledge, climbing up onto the platform and then going up through the trapdoor. There were a few close calls, but safety ropes and a good bit of luck saved the day. Daellin followed the last of his companions by flying up under magical power.

Now in the upper most level of the tower, the band of heroes traversed down a long hallway that was once some sort of burial chamber, its niche-tombs having already been destroyed and looted. Upon entering a chamber at the far end of the hallway, Ehlyna, out in front, stopped suddenly, looked down and muttered “oops” as the sound of a bell could be heard nearby. She had walked into a tripwire.

Not waiting for the others, she charged off down the passage, axes waving and Dwarven curses pouring from her mouth. The rest of the group arrived right behind her in what appeared to be guard camp. Two bedrolls and some food lay on the floor. One dead Tower Girl was bleeding at Ehlyna’s feet, only halfway out of her bedroll. The owner of the other bedroll could not be seen.

A quick search of the area and a side passage revealed a latrine and some stored treasure: a crate bearing a bronze Thassalonian statue and an urn containing about 100 ancient Thassalonian coins. Pressing on, the heroes found a stairway winding back down into the tower.

An ambush by the Tower Girls!

At the bottom of the stairs, the Tower Girls lay in ambush. Two jumped out and attacked Ehlyna,

Kallin waits for an opening.

but her armor was enough to stop the blows. Several more Tower Girls revealed themselves and fired their crossbows. Quickly the party spread out and engaged their opponents. Before long, the battle was joined by another Wererat and more donkey rats. Calina shot the Wererat from across the room in low light and managed a hit, but the arrow merely bounced off the lycanthropes skin. The Wererat threw her head back and laughed as she continued to charge!

Vexeron prepares a Glue spell!

Vexeron waited for a clearing in the battle then cast a Glue spell, trapping two nearby Tower Girls. Samad quickly dispatched one of the with his superior reach. Behind him, Kallin and Leela slowly moved up, watching for the right time to enter the fray. Daellin and Ehlyna meanwhile charged across the room at the crossbow firing Girls. As the Wererat charged, Calina quickly readied one of her new silver arrows and let it fly, striking the Wererat square in the face, instantly dropping it to the ground, dead. In no time, all but two Tower Girls were dispatched. The remaining Girls were given the opportunity to surrender and they did so immediately. They easily revealed that there were no Tower Girls left except their leader, Alaya and they explained exactly how to get to her chamber. They also explained that most of their loot had been sold already and that Alaya had the money.

Hoping to catch the leader off guard before she realized her hideout had been infiltrated, the party continued on, heading down further, now on the 2nd level. They entered a large, arrow head shaped chamber with several doors and a few columns. The most striking feature of this room was the massive pair of silvery metal doors at the western end of the room. The doors, each 5 feet wide and nearly 10 feet tall, had no visible handle, knob or hinges, but were decorated with many sets of burning eyes all facing in toward a set of runes on the face of each portal. They were Thassilonian runes that were present in many other ancient ruins they had explored recently, though nothing could be made of them.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Daellin went over and pushed on the doors, trying to open them. The metal doors did not budge, though he was met with a fiery blast that burnt the fingers of his hand. His surprised yelp summoned Alaya to the chamber from the doors at the far end of the room. She opened her door, looked out at the assembled adventurers and quickly retreated back, closing the door behind her. Muffled sounds of locking doors and moving furniture could be heard as Ehlyna attempted to bash through the door. It took a few hits, but finally the surly Dwarf knocked the door off its hinges and crashed through, lodging herself inside the wardrobe that had been shoved in front of the door. A strange cross shaped room was discovered, recently decorated with all the modern luxuries the leader of the Tower Girls ws afforded, but Alaya was no where to be seen. An open window near her bed indicated she may have climbed out of the window into the familiar shaft near the Crow’s front entrance. A quick search could not find her. Vexeron stepped up and used his magic to See Secrets and noticed a chest hidden under the bed and a secret door in the side of the fireplace.

Expecting to find Alaya hiding behind the secret panel, Ehlyna readied her axes as the door was opened. She swung her axes ito the space behind the doors but did not find Alaya. Instead her blades impacted the skeletal remains of a long dead body, quickly turned to dust and bone shards. The body was wearing a curious yellow bird pendant that radiated magic and was equipped like an adventurer with chain mail, a rapier, some rope and a sack of gold!

Another quick search was made for Alaya, but she could not be found. Looking out the window again revealed that one of the two rafts Fenster had left was now missing, presumably taken by Alaya! With her out of the picture, the group was drawn back to the metal doors. Daellin again touched the doors, attempting to move the runes like they had on the paradox box back in the Pathfinder Lodge. The runes did in fact behave the same way, by glowing and switching places, but he was again burned by magical flame!

Curious as to what was behind the door, Vexeron used his magic (Glasswall) to see through it, revealing a dusty and cobweb covered hallway with brightly colored and fully intact frescoes, murals and reliefs. This hallway had apparently been untouched for many years! Eager to get past this barrier and delve further into the Crow to find their intended prize, another Shard of Thassalion, Vexeron and Daellin devised a plan. Vexeron cast Glasswall on Daellin so he too could see past the doors, then Daellin tried his newly learned Teleportation spell and magically placed himself on the other side of the door.

While Daellin explored behind the door, Calina, Leela, Ehlyan and Kallin went back through the Tower Girls hideout, dispatching a few remaining donkey rats and gathering up any valuable loot.

Batting the many cobwebs out of the way, Daellin made his way down the hallway to a set of stairs leading down. He followed them down and finally came to some sort of ancient bath area, which still held a small amount of fetid and scum covered water. He descended from a 20 foot balcony down to the pool and noted several side passages leading out as well as a large crack in the wall with numerous guano markings nearby, obviously bats laired somewhere further in, also indicating that there was another way out, possibly one of the illusion covered windows that had been discovered in the upper floors.

As Daellin approached the pool, the green slime covered surface exploded toward him in a chaotic green splash. Not interested in being covered in slime again, Daellin Blinked away and saw that there were two amorphous globs of scum lurching toward him slowly. He quickly sunk an arrow into one of them and began retreating. The blobs followed him up the stairs and he loosed a few more arrows in their general direction, all hitting, though there was no indication as to whether it was doing any good or not. Decicing that it would be best to face these abominations with the group, he retraced his steps back upstairs and Teleported himself back past the door, somehow making a miscalculation in his spell and injuring himself in the process, but fortunately not whisking himself away to some unknown locale!

He filled his companions in and it was then decided to head back to the mainland and they started the process of hauling their loot and the remaining two Tower Girls back down to the hidden boat dock at the base of the piling.

Continuing Story Doc

Continuing Story Summary

This is an ongoing story and will be updated when it is complete.

Session Notes

Another good session of exploration and combat. The characters have just entered into what could be described as a mega-dungeon. I'm excited about this next bit of campaign. We have done our fair share of dungeon exploring so far, but each of them have been small and contained, this one is a bit bigger and spread out over multiple, separated levels. I just had to jump on the mega-dungeon band wagon!

Ehlyna's favorite dream

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
Leela Cardnool, Gnome scout, cartographer and Illusionist - played by +Lisa Smith
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
Ellie - Halfling Finder of Things - played by +Megan McCarron

and +Jason Woollard as the DM

Wandered Roads 27

Wandered Roads of Varisia
Session 27
October 19, 2013

Campaign Timeline

Where, rat?

Monday 24th of Lamashan

Acting on information gained from the newly recovered Shard of Pride, Shelia Heidmarch and Natayla Vancaskerkin, the heroes plan to visit the Irespan piling known as the Crow to engage with the Tower Girls, a Sczarni gang of deadly cat-burglars and second story girls and search for the next Thassilonian shard known to be hidden somewhere within.

A day is spent planning and procuring needed supplies before the assault is begun. Samad, using his streetwise contacts, becomes reacquainted with Fenster the Blight, the wretch of man that was not so instrumental in leading the group to Natalya’s hide-out a few days previous. Fenster, it appears, can arrange to get the heroes out to the piling by boat and suggests to go by cover of evening fog. Begrudgingly, Samad accepts the terms of Fensters deal, 2 fists of silver.

As the Moonday sun begins to set, the heroes gather at the dirty waterfront of the shadow, not far from the recently fallen Shadow Clock and their most recent triumph. Fenster shows them 2 piles of lumber and driftwood that more resemble upside down beaver dams than boats of any kind. He assures them they will not get wet, well, not very wet. He pilots one while Leela relives her days as a riverboat crewman and pilots the other.

He gives them a brief tour of the other pilings as they approach the Crow, one of the farthest out pilings, nearly a half mile from the shore. By the time they arrive, the sun has set and it is nearly dark. Fenster pilots the ramshackle raft toward the stone tower jutting out of the Varisian Gulf and through an archway in the side of the piling that leads to a sheltered landing area where several small rowboats are tied up. Once inside the piling, it is nearly pitch black so previously hidden enchanted items are brought forth to shed light on the area. 

The landing rests in a shaft that appears to run nearly to the top of the piling. A side passage can be seen far above leading off the main shaft. The nearby landing, resting at the top of a submerged set of stairs, appears to have been recently used as a camping area, though the back wall has been knocked down, revealing access to the interior of the Crow.

Ambushed by the Tower Girls!

Quickly, the heroes disembark and move inside, making arrangements for Fenster to return to within 24 hours with the rafts. Several rooms are explored but nothing of great interest is discovered until the heroes move up and into a long hallway lined with carved columns of an interesting blue stone. Upon entering, they are fired upon by two Tower Girls who had been hiding in wait for them.

Fighting between the columns.

Tower Girls defeated!

Quickly the heroes moved to engage with the two ambushers and in the middle of things, a Wererat leaped out and attacked Ehlyna. The Wererat did not remain, though, she turned and sprinted up the stairs quickly shouting an alarm while the other two Tower Girls were finished off. Two donkey rats soon appeared, charging down the stairs, but they too were dealt with easily.

Wererat... where? Rat?

Without delay, the heroes pushed up the stairs, which ended up probably leading all the way up to the top of the piling, as the many flights turned back on themselves multiple times. At the top, they were soon ambushed again by more Tower Girls. This time, several Girls had taken up positions behind an overturned table and fired hand crossbows. The Wererat, who had been hiding behind a corner, leaped out and attacked as the group entered the room. Another Wererat appeared from a side passage with some more donkey rats in tow. Calina started peppering the new Wererat with silver arrows while Ehlyna engaged the other one, though she found her usually effective axes not quite cutting it in this case.

Another Tower Girl ambush!

One Wererat down!

Daellin surveys the scene.

Ehlyna's axes aren't the best weapon vs. wererats.

Vexeron used his magical powers to stick the some of the Tower Girls to the ground and then put his fire magic to work, lighting fires on and around various foes. The battle raged on for several moments until, finally, the last foe had fallen. Ehlyna was the only one to have suffered any serious injury, and Kallin quickly moved in to heal her up.

Continuing Story Doc

Continuing Story Summary

This continuing story is a flashback to the previous day when the heroes spent some time selling loot, shopping and preparing for the assault on the Crow.
This story is ongoing.

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
Leela Cardnool, Gnome scout, cartographer and Illusionist - played by +Lisa Smith
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
Ellie - Halfling Finder of Things - played by +Megan McCarron

and +Jason Woollard as the DM

Wandered Roads 25

Wandered Roads of Varisia
Session #25
September 24, 2013

Campaign Timeline

The Shard of Pride

Fireday, 21st of Lamashan

The group of heroes continued their search for Natayla. Daellin, Calina, Kallin, Samad and Leela paused for a moment to take stock. There remained one door ahead of them, no doubt leading to the last remaining room of the ramshackle building. Daellin takes a moment to use his Farstrider magic to allow everyone to see in the darkness as if it were daylight. From his vantage point in the attic, and newly found darkvision, Samad could make out the shapes of several figures, some of which may be Goblins, crouching in the rafters above the next room. He relayed this information to his companions below as they prepare to move into the next room. Before they can enter the room though, a voice calls out to them, a female voice speaking in fluent Varisian. The voice demands the ‘interlopers’ to ‘flee from her realm’ and that they are ‘not worthy to take audience with her.” This goes on for a moment, with Daellin calling back some smart mouthed comments. It was clear that whoever was shouting was becoming agitated by the refusal to comply. Daellin led the charge into the next room and found it to be similar to all the other rooms of the building with its floor rotted and fallen away to reveal another sewage filled pit. A large fireplace could be seen in the far wall and a ladder could be seen leading up inside it. Three Goblins were crouched on a non-collapsed section of floor near the fireplace. They immediately shouted threats and engaged, leading off with thrown poo-pots and charged in with their dogslicers held high.

Meanwhile, as Samad made his way forward through the attic space, the Goblins watching him began firing arrows at him, which he was fortunately able to avoid. As he got closer, he realized that the 3rd figure he had spotted above resembled the description of Natalya. She continued to command her Goblin minions to deal with the intruders.

Down below, Daellin nimbly followed the narrow ledge around one side of the room while Calina and Kallin moved more slowly around the other edge. Leela held back in the doorway, waiting for the right moment to make her move. Calina and Daellin were quickly engaged by the Goblins and suddenly a huge purple black beast of a worm erupted from the fetid pool of below. It was large enough to reach all the way up to the crumbling ceiling of the room. It undulated back and forth as it looked for a target to swallow in its large, fang lined mouth. Calina and Kallin both attacked the thing and quickly realized that it was nothing more than an illusion, though it took the others a few moments longer to realize it. The heroes presses on, trying to make their way to the fireplace and access to the attic. Daellin reaches the fireplace first and squeezes in, only to find a Goblin Snake hiding in the corner. The beastly Goblin faced serpent belches a horrible cloud of disgusting gas at Daellin, it nearly incapacitates him and Calina who is crowding into the fireplace behind him. Daellin stops to battle the creature while Calina heads up the ladder. Kallin crowds in next and attempts to climb the ladder, but the cramped confines of the fireplace make it difficult for the large Half Orc to make his way up. Leela quickly follows once Kallin makes it up. Daellin dispatches the Goblin Snake and heads up as well.

Battling Natayla and her minions!

Meanwhile, Samad manages to somehow lose his balance and the mercenary falls from the rafters all the way down to the nasty brown and green liquid below, joining a Goblin who had also fallen. The two scrambled in the liquid near the thrashing giant worm and Samad managed to dispatch the Goblin before he could even get his footing along the shallow edge of the pit. Samad then hurries up the ladder and joins his friends above.

Up above, Calina confronts Natayla while standing on the neck of a fallen Goblin. Natayla continues on with her prideful demands and will not entertain any possibility of surrender. She throws some potion vials and misses as Calina continues to cover her with Whisper. Natayla tries some magic, but it is not effective until she flings a bolt of magical acid directly at Calina, striking her and nearly disintegrating her enchanted armor. Calina begins letting arrows fly at her but it seems she is somehow magically protected. Eventually Kallin, Leela, Daellin and Samad arrive in the attic space and join the fray. Samad manages to disarm Natayla and Daellin moves in close and attempts to grapple her, but that is not successful and she manages to break free and nimbly run across a nearby attic beam. Set on not letting her get away, Daellin follows her and makes a flying tackle, knocking both to the floor below. Another brief struggle ensues, but then suddenly, Natayla clutches her side and collapses, unconscious.

She is quickly tied up and a search reveals some potions, thieves tools and climbing gear and a strange coppery shard of metal, no longer than an Orc’s hand. Daellin can see that the shard contains strong magic and before he can caution her, Leela grabs it.

Almost immediately, Leela begins making demands and ordering her companions to do her bidding, calling them unworthy servants at best. Realizing that she has somehow been cursed by the object, possibly in the same way that Natayla had been the heroes try to devise a plan. Daellin attempts to knock it out of her hand but is unsuccesful. Samad shoves her into the sewage pit, which only incenses her even more, now that her clothes are covered in filth. Calina and Kallin enter the pit and begin to act as if they are willing servants, which calms Leela a bit. Calina offers to help her out of the pit but then just picks her up and holds her. When Leela begins to suspect treachery, she starts to kick Calina over and over. Kallin then comes up and uses his magic to place Leela in a healing slumber. The sleeping Gnome drops the shard in the muck and is hauled out of the pit. Daellin quickly removes his shirt and begins searching through the cesspool for it, being careful to not touch the artifact. Eventually he finds it.

Meanwhile, Natayla and Leela both wake groggily. Both seem somewhat confused, ahsamed and sorry for their recent actions. Natayla explains that she found the shard and was going to turn it over to Shelia Heidmarch, but was overcome with its prideful curse, turned on her own gang and then went on the run, as they wanted her dead. She thanks the party for ‘rescuing’ her and continues to apologize. She is untied and wishes to accompany the group back to Heidmarch Manor.

Before setting off across down reeking of a sewer and dripping filth, Kallin has everyone gather close in and uses his divine magic to cleanse everyone from head to toe, though some of the nasty odor lingers on.

Eventually they make it back to Heidmarch Manor and Shelia meets them in one of the parlours. She is excited to hear about everything and is quite astonished when she is shown the artifact. She explains that she thinks it is one of the pieces of the Shattered Star, an ancient Thassalonian artifact of great power. She explains how the curse can be mitigated by placing an Ioun Stone in the small indention in the base and she offers one of her own Stones to test her theory. When the Ioun Stone is placed on the coppery metal, it flashes and the Stone is fused with the Shard, becoming a coppery bump where once was an indentation.

Before more can be discussed, Samad reaches out and picks up the Shard. He is immediately bonded with the artifact and gains access to all its abilities, it even shows him an image of where the next Shard is located, somewhere within the Irespan piling known as the Crow. Natayla then exclaims that is where she found the first Shard and it makes sense that the other one might be there. Shelia makes no design on keeping the artifact and in fact, encourages a search for the rest of the Shards. She even offers to help research them to at least track down which types of Ioun Stones would be needed to suppress the curses in the other Shards.

Shelia eventually bids the group farewell and they head back to Kaijitsu Manor. Natayla asks if she can walk with them and along the way she tries her best to explain what had happened to her and what she knows about The Crow. She then heads back to Heidmarch Manor.

Back at home, they are greeted by a drunk Ehlyna who complains that they had been off all day having adventures without her. She then goes on to say that Vexeron is getting close to locating the whereabouts of the ravens whose feathers they stole in order to magically seek them.

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
Leela Cardnool, Gnome scout, cartographer and Illusionist - played by +Lisa Smith
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
Ellie - Halfling Finder of Things - played by +Megan McCarron

and +Jason Woollard as the DM