| Player | Characters |
|---|---|
| Mike | Agamemnon, Morgan, Patrick, SD, John Z, Yosh |
| Corky | Raifer, Indigo, Marci, Duther, Nord, Andrya |
| Felix | Warrex, Kayla |
| NPC's | Parker, Kunder, Jockbar, PJ, John Drake, Parfek, Vilkrade |
Armed with his new weapon and borrowed armour from Raifer, he joined the party as they proceeded down the corridor by which the evil creatures has run. Morgan and Raifer scouted for secret doors and traps ahead, but they were moving too quickly and a trap was missed. When it triggered, a gas was pumped in to the corridor and served to weaken many of the party. Attempts to Neutralize Poison were ineffective. They moved on and shortly Morgan found a secret door.
She investigated it for traps and then slid the door open. The group readied for a fight and they were not disappointed. As the door swung oen, several Serpent People came racing out to attack. Another door behind the party also opened up and several more raced from it to assault the group. These creatures were not very strong or tough, but they distracted the team for a bit and traded several blows. Patrick dropped several and Agamemnon found himself drawn in to the fight by his new weapon. When he struck with it, there appeared to be a spark of some sort that jumped from the hammer and hit the target. The hammer hit with great ferocity and dropped several as well. This fight only lasted a few rounds as they creatures were dispatched. Kayla searched the bodies and found only their basic short swords and a pendant that bore the strange octopoid head symbol. She took them, 6 in all.
The group pressed on and came to a strange room. It appeared as a cavern that was filled with fluid, but the fluid was filling the cavern from the other side as if they were entering the chamber from the top and across the room was the bottom where the entire surface was filled. The fluid was the same as the oily material they had fallen in to before coming to the Astral Plane. Trying to figure out a way around and not to be fooled a second time, they searched for a secret way around. Kayla grabbed one of the dead Sepent bodies and 'dropped' it in to the fluid, where upon is 'sank'. Trying to figure out how to get past it, Kayla held her breath and dove in. She swam in but could not breath and came back out. With a rope tied around her waist and a good breath, she swam to the bottom, about 12 feet down and reached what she could feel around was a door way. It took much longer than it should have for such a short distance, but the fluid was very thick and she could not see through it. At that moment she ran out of air and was yanked back by the party by the rope. But now they knew there was a door.
After several thoughts on how to get through, including setting it ablaze, it was decided to try an Airy Water spell, and SD cast it. The spell worked and Morgan, Kayla, Raifer and SD went down to the bottom. Aided by several copper pieces imbued with a light spell, they looked around and Morgan found the mechanism to open the door. Bracing themselves in the event that it 'drained' the pool, they opened the door, but nothing else happened. Kayla swam through and emerged on the other side. Giving her a rope, they escorted the group through the fluid. John Z needed to cast an additional Airy Water to get the group through as the one cast by SD expired much earlier than it should have. Once on the other side, they used the Dry cantrip to clean up most of the fluid they had been soaked in.
The group formed up and marched down the corridor, eventually traversing in to a hollowed out area that was almost perfectly rounded above and the floor was made fof marble. Down the now sconce lit corridor was a set of double doors. the doors were solid wood, bound by a metal that upon closer inspection was made from Mithril with extraordinarily fine gems set in the metal. Morgan checked for traps and a lock. She found that there was definitely a trap and it was locked but she could not identify how to undo either. With that, Kayla stepped forward and held up one of the medallions she had taken from one of the Serpent people. The gems all turned to the amulet and catching the light from the sconces, reflected the light back to the amulet. Then the gems rolled over in their mountings and the release of a locking mechanism could be heard. They now readied to enter the room.
SD threw open the door. It was a huge chamber at least 200 feet high. On the walls they saw many paintings hanging that depicted serpent people. Covering the floor in several areas were a green lichen growth vaguely reminiscent of moss. Directly in front of them was a large raised pillar comprised on marble that was 50 feet high. A stairway led to the summit of the large pillar as it reached around the outside of the structure. On top of the pillar could be seen the Gug and the bug like thing, apparently the ones that had escaped earlier, and a female drow. Directly in front of them, they saw two more Drow guarding the entrance. Moving with initiative, they group swarmed in and attempted to wipe out the guards while SD attempted to Dimension Door to the top of the pillar, but it failed.
As they surrounded the first targets, the Drow to the left attempted a spell, but it failed. Parker and Agamemnon cast Bless spells, but Agamemnons failed too. The Drow to the right was overwhelmed quickly by Magic Missiles from Indigo, Arrows from Marci and a big blow from Yosh. As it fell, it transformed in to a human male that appeared to be clad in slave like attire. Meanwhile, Raifer scored a critical on the one to the left. The female drow then cast an Entangle spell and caught most of the party. SD, who by virtue of his position was engaged with the woman, struck her and dropped her, she too morphing in to a female human, likely a druid of some sort. But at that time, the Gug creature clapped its' 4 hands togather and a wave of force echoed through the room. The paintings on the walls began to ripple.
Immediately, Serpent people began emerging from the paintings. The party now decided to split. One group attempting to charge up the pillar steps and the other to stay behind and deal with the serpents. Raifer gave orders to attempt to destroy the paintings because more might be coming out of them. As they charged to their new targets, the group felt the presence of evil again. Looking up, they saw the evil Githyanki looking creature that they had seen before but had escaped away. It peered over the edge and stepped back. With that, the Serpent people closed on the party. They moved slowly, but when they reached the green mossy growth on the floor, they slide along it like a surfer riding a wave and gracefully leapt from it to move in quickly and attack. Seeing this action, SD attempted to perform the same action, but did not move on the moss. He was able to continue walking through it, but it was slippery going. He led his group up the stairs.
The attack plan was to use the archers to weaken or kill the serpents from a distance. Patrick used a humming bulb (otherwise known as a 'screaming oriental balls') arrow filled with flaming oil and found that it caused extra damage to the creatures. The arrows flew. Marci, Indigo, Duther and Patrick fired at will and began to drop them. Kunder dropped one with a heavy hit from his axe and followed that with a thrown axe at the picture in front of him. He hit that hard too and shattered it. As the wave of about 10 of the creatures were being weakened and thinned, Patrick turned his target to the paintings and began destroying them. Nord, who had charged at and killed on of the creatures, was now in front of a pidture and he attacked it too, destroying it. Indigo pulled another spell out to attack and used an Aganaver's Scorcher on them to great effect. And the volley of arrows continued.
SD and his group of Kayla, Yosh, Jockbar, Agamemnon, John Z and PJ charged up the stairs. It was slow progress as the staires were long and wound around the large pillar and only wide enough for one person to pass at a time comfortably. From above a Githyanki attempted to drop a flaming oil on the group, but dropped it at his own feet, damabging himself. The Gug approached the edge, looked over and followed the group along the stairs waiting for them to be close enough to swing down on. Which it eventually did, striking both SD and Yosh. On they raced up the stairs and Kayla was the first to reach the top. Seeing on the large pillar crown the Gug, the bug, The evil Gith and two additional Gith, 2 Drow, another that was later identified as John Drake and what seemed to be a blind White Ninja bowman. As SD reached the top, John Drake signaled the bowman. He drew out an ornate oversized arrow and aimed for SD. The Gith directed one of his followers to kill her and take the medallion from the body.
The battle below continued and just as the wave appeared to be under control, another wave emerged from the paintings that had not been destroyed. Breaking them now became a priority. Indigo continued his use of Aganaver's Scorcher to great effect. Patrick concentrated on shooting the pictures. The volleys continued, several creatures engaged Warrex, Marci, Parker and Raifer while Nord charged forward with his spear to attack the paintings on the right side of the room. Duther continued to hit with his crossbow but Andrya was hit critically and dropped to one knee with one leg incapacitated. At this point, with the paintings assaulted by Patrick and his longer range accuracy, Raifer began jumping the serpents and dragging them in to hand to hand, his yawara in hand. The creatures stood little chance against his skill in this area. He quickly rendered them unconscious and dispatched them easily.
Up on top, the archer fired at SD hitting him solidly. A wave of weakness struck SD, but he did not fall and shrugged off the feeling. With this, a look of surprise and anger flushed across the face of John Drake. A curse escaped his lips. He turned to the Githyanki leader and said that this was now his problem and that he would kill the person who gave him the wrong materials. It became obvious that the arrow used by the White Ninja was a Slaying Arrow for SD. John Drake then turned and walked into the pillar that extended to the ceiling of the chamber that stood in the center of the pillar tey were on. It was apparently a gate.
The Gug swung down on John Z and Agamemnon hitting both, but Agamemnon was able to retaliate and his new hammer did not let him down. With one blow, the sparks flew on contact and one of the four arms of the creature was knocked off. One more exchanged set of attacks and this time, Agamemnon's strike created a clap of thunder and the Gug was blasted apart in to two drow creatures that fell lifelss on the pillars' summit. SD was now engaged with the bug creature as he reached the summit and moved in. Yosh moved to his side and attacked the drow and Gith warriors that had moved in. It took two swings to kill the wounded bug thing, but SD was able to drop it thinking it was a good thing that these creatures were still wounded. But during those attacks, the Gith leader cast a Cone of Cold at them hitting and killing Yosh and Kayla, wounding SD.
Jockbar tried to join the battle on top but was repulsed by some force at the top of the stairs which damaged him, He then turned and climbed up the side of the wall to reach the platform. Luck was on his side as the Gith over him swung down and dropped his sword giving the Paladin enough time to lay hands on Yosh to revive him. Meanwhile, Agamemnon used a Death's Door and an Aid to revive Kayla. From the stairs, John Z could see the battle now and let loose a Fireball on the other Drow and Gith, who fell dead. The Gith Wizard attempted some spell then, but it failed. At that time, the Drow wizard began to notice that those down below needed some assistance and cast a Magic Missile at the party on the floor, spreading it amongst 4 of the party. The Evil Gith wizard then cast a Slow Spell effecting the whole group on top, except SD and Yosh.
The battle below continued on with the party slowly stemming the tide of creatures by destroying the paintings and fending off the ground assault. A third wave had emerged from the paintings now, but there were many fewer. This gave Indigo time to use his Aganaver's Scorcher on the group on top of the pillar. He could see the female Drow wizard and he shot at her, this time the spell coming from his book. The floor party pressed forward, only Warrex was outnumbered now, but the archers came to his aid. Nord moved forward attacking more paintings. Morgan, unseen for most of the encounter continued to move around invisibly and attacked several of the paintings as well. The battle on the floor was soon all but done.
On top, John Z attempted to use a Feeblemind on Drow Wizard, but its magic resistance protected her. But Indigo continued to fire up at her, now with his bow, and continued to hurt her. The Gith Warrior and Jockbar now traded blows, both wounding the other deeply. PJ and the drow exchanged shots with PJ getting the upper hand, dropping the enemy. The female Drow wizard continued to try to aid her associates below and cast a Fireball that hit Kunder and Patrick. John Z continued to try everything, now trying a Dispel Magic on the woman, but it also failed.
Sensing the battle turning now, since 3 of the 4 warriors defending the summit had been killed, the Gith leader stepped forward, drew out an object, threw it at SD and stepped in to the pillar gate. SD recognized it as a star from a Robe of Stars. He immediately jumped and covered the item to prevent it from harming the rest of the group. It was gone, but the female Drow wizard remained. She was then struck by arrows from Kayla and Marci distracting her spell casting. John Z cast an Ice Storm at the female to try and make her slip off the edge of the pillar, covering the area with snow and ice. Her reaction was to cast some for of transportation spell and she was gone. The Star then exploded. SD's Fire resistance triggered and the explosion was muted, but not completely stopped. All those around him took minor damage and with one last Lightning Bolt from John Z, the last Gith was dropped. The top was now empty of enemies except for the Ninja that fired one arrow and then stood still for the rest of the combat.
Clean up was continuing on the creatures below and Patrick and Nord destroyed the last two paintings. John Z cast Magic Missiles at Serpents that were surrounding Nord and the archers assisted Warrex. Raifer tried to join in, but slipped in the mossy area, the stuff covering his body. It reacted somewhat like an acid, eating at him and his gear. He cleaed it off and continued on. The last one was killed by Indigo and the chamber was devoid of enemies and filled only by the sounds of mining emanating from the caverns located in the rear of the room.
They now had to figure out where to go and what to do. They went in to the mining area where they found more than 150 Xvart slaves mining away here. Using the name of Parfek, they gathered the attention of the slaves and set them free. Now they needed to figure out how to get out. The pillar gate at the top was the only solution. Taking the mined minerals the Xvarts had extracted, some gems pried from the door, the Ninja and the freed slaves, they went through the gate and were deposited in the room from which they had entered the Astral Plane. To destroy the gate, SD jumped back and used lightning bolts on the pillars supporting the chamber and then jumped back through. After a few minutes, the gate on their Prime Material Plane blinked out, closing off the third gate in the carverns.
The group gathered up their gear and trudged back, joining up with those left behind to watch their backs. They found Vilkrade, who was more than happy to join them in leaving and then all the way back to the dwarven post they had not seen for some time. Here they rested. The dwarves sent demolition teams in to the caverns and collapsed them so no one could use them again.
Next time ...
This page and its contents are presented solely for the purpose of the RPG game events conducted by a private group. Any references to people or places is explicitly within the context of these RPG games and has no connection to any other similarly named source.
Bob Senkewicz / Howell, New Jersey / senk@optonline.net