Game Notes

I don't think the summoned creatures reamin around for very long (4 rounds, as opposed to minutes or hours). McCenna and Celia could clarify.

There are 3 potions of invisibility - don't know how long they last (realistically only until we have to attack), but worth remembering.

Are there some things we should borrow from Truxton (seem to recall he had a ring +1 protection for example)?

Not saying we were careless before, but we did do things like walk down the streets in the open and have not been super quiet. Anybody posted in a viewing position could have seen us and notified Eramein (who in turn sent the demon after us). Don't think any of can do anything about magical detects in any case, but hopefully we were spotted by more simple means.

If there are more of those demons (like if this was something she could summon easily) - then doing something about the magical darkness would be nice, but again I don't think we have anything magical. Recall it was a 3rd level spell, so to overcome it we would have to counter with something as powerful (and as 4th level characters that won't be innate magic). That leaves organization and tactics to cope. At the least we should come up with formal communications - remember how Eric gave everyone a plus by observing the darkness moving from outside of it.

Also reminds me that if we should face that type of demon again, it would be nice if we could find a way that Eric could actually damage it. I recall it was immune to all but good-aligned and cold-steel weapons. Of course with Truxton dead there goes the good-aligned path...

I did not take notes at the last game, though I thought I saw other people doing so. Hopefully one of them will post a summary of what occurred.

I wanted to bring up the topic of Truxton's death. Now I am sure Frank and Michael will talk about a new character (or alternative character if we manage to get Truxton raised), but until those results are somehow revealed we need to deal in the aftermath of working without Truxton. It seems to me that the obvious holes are healing and undead.

For healing, we can get a little from McCenna and there is the wand of Cure Light. Question who should carry and use the wand, can anyone use the wand other than McCenna (Ty and Celia both have a decent, for a 4th level character at least, Use Magic Device skill if I recall correctly). In any case, if past experience is any guide, we have pushed the limit of our healing before and we will now have considerably less capacity.

The lack of firepower effective againt undead is also important since it looks like undead are 1 of the 4 primary things to worry about in the city (the other three being constructs, traps, and of course the remaining Razmir cultists). Losing the ability to do area attacks that ignore many immunities is a serious blow.  

The only way Eric can see this succeeding is to avoid the need for healing and undead offense, e.g. become much more cautious. But being cautious to the point where it is actually effective requires time; and there is the small matter of the incoming flood to worry about. Any other ideas?

August 1, 2010

• Next game is Aug 11, if this won’t work let us know right away.
• Everyone in the party is very tired, spent night at inn (inn keeper arranged for some guards).
  • That night through a dream, Oak discovers an animal companion. He goes into the woods and meets up with a wolf Oak names Last Ridge. Last Ridge had fought with the alpha wolf and lost; hates fires even more than most wild wolves, but enjoys storms and lighting.  
•  Reginar calls a meeting, and there is a patched up Sean there. An offer is made for us to enter the pathfinder society.  If we return with a good chronicle of our journey and it was worthy (almost certainly it will be we survive). If they send us as probationers, where they will lend us material support (see below). Other option is to be hired mercenaries, 1000 gp each.  The group decides to take the Pathfinder’s path.  
  • Reginar proposes that we turn over the amulet fragments to the Pathfinder society, rather than return to the founder’s tomb.  
  • Learn about Tar-baphon, who was known as the Whispering Tyrant. Kestrlon metropolis was on the island, conquered by Tar-baphon. City was renamed to Zingrefar. He made a god trap, (part of the legend, tried to capture the god Eradin, made a gateway to the negative plane, and became a scourge of the living). Lured Eradin to the island where he hoped to trap him in a pit which had the negative plane at the bottom. Eradin thwarted him, where Tar-baphon died (eventually coming back as the Whispering Tryrant).  The pit still lies open, and this gives the island its current name – The Isle of Terror. There are storms of negative energy, poisoning the water and food, and causing all manners of special distraction.
  • Captain Walrun of the Blackmist will take us to the island, and brief us further.
  • Reginar gives us a rough sketch of the island. Will start at ruins of Fort Landing. Advises to stay out of the forests. People who have returned from the island, typically don’t talk about their experiences (one reasons they are giving us the journal).  
  • Waterproof packs, swampwaders, flask of endless water, 12 scrolls of create food and drink, scroll of raise dead, and 6 amulets of deathwarding. Also will get as a reward a Wayfinder device (base compass + glows, can attach ioun stones) and a waterproof journal that fills in itself and echoes back to the Pathfinders.
• Party treasury started with 1550 gp. Spent 350 gp on 1^st level potions mostly carried by Truxton. We buy a wand of Mage Armor (Eric kicks in 400 gp, other party members contribute some), carried by Celia. Now have 50gp left.
  • Eric finds and purchases a master work Nunchaku (302 gp), and picks up a number of other monk weapons (2 sai, kama, and 20 shuriken; 8gp total).
• Captain Walrun will drop us off, and wait 10 days within sight (we should light a signal fire). Expect inclement weather during the trip. We have no encounters on the trip, and arrive on the island at dawn. Ty has recovered from his raising, but Truxton still has 2 days left.
• We find traces of the previous group, looks to be around 20 people (a grave with two bodies is also found), about 2-3 days ahead of us. They are heading north-east, and we follow them. Within an hour or so, we are being trailed by a pack of 4 wolves. They seem to be cautious, so we decide to bait a trap with Eric. There is much surprise (but to our dismay we forget to put mage armor on Eric -- which would have made both of the successful attacks miss him). The wolves are unnaturally silent, and their blood sizzles. We find they are actually evil when Celia’s hawk smite attack takes effect (they also have strange mutations). We overcome them fairly easily, +133 xp.
  • But Eric resolves to avoid avoid touching things on the island (use weapons, booted feet and gloves). Our trail is a little easier because the party in front of us has cut some trees down and we see where they avoided danger (like a mule leg sticking out of quicksand).
• We note that something medium size is following us, and when we start to camp it approaches us. It turns out to be a man covered in mud, with an arrow in his leg, who tells us a tale. He says something about having swum for days, that he and all his group died, that he was came back, Later he talked about the men with masks who came upon him at the many doors by the river.
  • He continually covers himself in mud which seems to provide both visual and scent camouflage.  After healing him, he gains enough lucidity to say that he is Dusone Dreamlock, pathfinder and explorer. Dusone says he will lead us on the safe path to the doors by the river. He tells us we are naked, that the mud will protect us. McKenna thinks about trying to cover with the mud, but can’t stand the smell. We decide to go naked. Dusone sleeps in a mud patch with his nose barely out and his hands tangled in a tree).
• On third watch (Ty and Oak are on watch up), a swarm of centipedes heads towards the camp. Ty has a light and the swarm heads towards him. He starts taking Dex damage from the poison. Ty does a burning hand, and then Truxton channels positive energy and routes the swarm (they scream almost like humans and about half the swarm dies). Oak casts Delay Poison, but Ty has lost 3 dexterity points. We get 200xp.
  • That morning Dursone smears some kind of clay on Ty’s wound which helps deal with the symptoms of the Centipede poison.  He is much more lucid and tells us how to mask our scent, but we again decline. We decide to try the clay though (which is where Dusone slept).
• We follow Dusone off the track and travel avoiding the brambles, mostly going under the mangrove roots. The top predator appears to be a monitor lizard, who Dusone mostly avoids but occasionally faces down. His scent seems to help him there. We occasionally see black bolts of negative lighting rip through the canopy.
• The water seems to get more caustic but the mud keeps it from burning. We eventually get to the Whispering Lake which is green, with a black waterfall (Dursone calls it Baphon’s Fall).  The river and lake are poisonous, and Dursone says something about twisted, black lizards in the lake, and warns not to touch the water.
  • There is an area where there was a camp, and perhaps an abandoned tent. Dursone says he will wait for us. As we cautiously approach, we see the bodies of 9 cultists and 3 black lizard-men. Seems like the bodies have been here for a couple of days, and they have been gnawed upon. Tracks show the lizard men went West, and the cultists went North-East.
• We attacked by black lizard men with odd bone spurs and mutations (much like the wolves). The chief lizard man is wearing a metal mask, and charges Ty. The negative to AC from the charge makes 2 hits succeed that would other have missed. The other lizards throw javelins before closing.  McCenna entangles all the lizard men, and Last Ridge too.  Eric tries his new Shuriken and manages to kill one of the lizard men (thanks it being entangled). Celia’s summoned ant kills a third, and we surround the last entangled lizard man. Truxton uses a comprehend language spell and tries to (he is shouting defiance about metal faces and saying Whisper Scales will kill them all for violating their territory). We note that all of the lizard men had mask trophies.
  • Find 2 suits of +1 studded armor, light xbow with 12 bolts, 3 more masks, 2 mw rapiers, 7 short swords, 3 potions of cure light wounds, 1 potion of cure moderate wounds, 2 smoke sticks, 2 sun rods, thief tools, 150 gp, 4 bottles with 8 does of greenish black fluid {blade venom}, magical bracers, 3 javelins and 2 MW morning stars).
  • Ty gets 2 cure lights, McCenna gets cure light, Eric gets cure moderate, Oak takes one mw morning star. We put all into bag, but if it gets too full, will save the 2 +1 studded armor, 2 mw rapiers, and 1 mw morning start, + 150 gp. 400 XP each.

 Added more details on magical items.

1. Having mostly cleared out the bottom of the temple, we determine the dumbwaiter does not go up to the second level. Eric takes the cure light wounds potion before action. Mcenna brings her lion down the hallway.
2. Previously we had found:30 gp, 52 silver,silver dice (5gp), scroll of prayer, bone  wand of bless (21 cl3),snake stick,2 masterwork rapiers, smoke sticks (5), bunch of thieves tools, ring worth 50 gp, belt pouch with 18 gp, 2 pp,1 large pearl (100gp), artists tools.
3. Ty and Eric go through a door guarded by two white robes (apparently successfully bluffing past them, one of them a foe Ty has been contending with), and go through to the kitchen.  One hitch is that we have to lock the door behind us (and only Ty has a key) We spot Krant sleeping in the Dining room, and successfully sneak over to him. Just as we start the coup de grace Ty spots his foe, apparently the bluff was not successful. Both perform the coup de grace but Krant survives. During the ensuring melee  Eric is knocked unconscious (in one round) and Ty manages to run back and open the door (remaining guard misses). Rest of group bursts out, and Oak manages to kill Krant. The acolytes in the barracks retreat into the room. Acolytes come running down from the courtyard (maybe alerted by Ty's foe), and hits Ty. Mcenna stabilizes Eric, and Celia gives Eric her healing potion, and Truxton uses one his last healing spells. Celia summons a celestial dog. We kill most of the ones who have not surrendered.  Several of the acolytes try to defend the main courtyard. The alarm is raised and we batter our way through into the outer chapel. Truxton found50 goldsearching bodies of acolytes, but no healing potions.
4. Inside the chapel we face three white robed acolytes and 2 gray robe priests. We cut down 4 fairly quickly, but one of the gray robes is a very good sword and shield. We eventually bring him down, but not before he knocks Elvar unconscious (who Truxton stabilizes).  A black robe priest suddenly appears and does a devastating sneak attack on Ty, killing him.  We get a couple of attacks on him before he runs through a pair of silver doors into the priest inner chapel, and someone else  closes and lock the door. Eric runs up to the door, attempts to kick it down, fails and is hit with a magic frost trap knocking him unconscious. As the group deals with Eric, 3 black robes come out on the attack.
5. In the middle of the fight Celia searches priest bodies and finds4 healing potions (yay!), 4 sunrods, and 32 gp. She feeds Eric a potion (and gives him another), which brings him back to fighting capability. 2 of the black robes are down, the last one is fairly wounded when a black robe with a silver mask comes through the door and summons a hell hound. The other black robe goes down, but the silver mask guy remains confident. There is a mask golem which challenges, us but we successfully guess the password (what are the names of the true gods - answer power and treasure).
6. We hole up in the inner sanctum (outer chapel door, than silver doors, than gold doors). Do lots of searching (see below). While inside we hear the Razmiarian priests pounding down the doors bit by bit, but eventually three Pathfinders come and help the group leave (Reginar, a female barbarian, and a hobbit illusionists)
7. Find 4 cure moderate potion (all used),3 stabilize potions,3 +1 light shields,  4 +1 studded leather armor, magical collar of the inferno (one use, but it summoned 1d3 hell hounds, level 5), andbroach of shielding (85 points left), wand (shield w/42 charges) and Protection +1 ring, misc keys. Egarthias's room - map of city with routes, from desk (letter to Eramien on your triumph, + lots of crumpled paper), golden dagger 5000 gold(from isle of Gelmaray, gemstones) with dried blood. Platinum ring (45gp), string of ears that have been dried, female priest has 8 bottle of Andoran wine (25gp each), small chest with cache of wealth,100 gp coins, silver necklace with small pieces of jet,3 invisibility potions, a deed to a small manor house outside of Absolum. Behind double doors, small whip, small manacles, a whip, 4 vials of exotic perfumes (50gp each); 2 bottles of Andoren brandy (20gp each) desk with 3 ledgers (behind books with false face), 50 pp, silver raven figuring radiates magic.
8. Letter appears to be a love letter. Find another letter written by Eramein (about going to Isle of Terror to recover the treasure, with at least 3 accompanying temple priests.  
9. Pathfinders raise Ty and give us a reward (?) and a token saying we performed a service with the Pathfinder. Each character now has 8500 xp.