Dark Paths and Wandered Roads: Wererats

Showing posts with label Wererats. Show all posts

2013-11-27

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

2013-10-26

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.