Carrion Crown Adventure Path – Game Session – 038

by: Charles Plemons - December 26th, 2013   Filed under: Carrion Crown Adventure Path, Gaming, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Add Comment

Game summary for December 26, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Broken Moon adventure; PCs included Caerwen (elf monk), Dario Malavasi (human oracle), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), Stoella Carter (human evoker), and Tigris Inebriavi (elf magus), accompanied by NPC companion Nyssa Pagonis (human cleric).

The team arrived in Feldgrau and entered the first farmhouse they found.  Inside, there was the sacrificed body of a Whispering Way cultist.  Examining the blood-inscribed sigils, they determined this to be the work of worshipers of Jezelda, demon lord of werewolves.  They then moved on to an old blacksmith’s forge and reunited with Duristan!  The joy was short-lived, Dario realized something was wrong, and Duristan transformed into a werewolf!  The battle was fast and brutal, but Duristan was quickly put down.

They then explored a homestead and found the remains of another cultist and three skeletons.  The team determined they were killed by Demon Wolves.  They then found the old butcher shop and discovered a Whispering Way curate, two skeletal champions, and a Menadoran festrog!  Stoella hit them with an ice storm, and the curate responded by casting blindness at Caerwen.  One of the champions stabbed the monk as he was dragged out of the building by an ally.  Tigris then launched a fireball into the building and destroyed the undead.  Dario moved in and knocked out the curate and tied her up.  Stoella then cast charm person, and the team extracted some interesting information about the history of Feldgrau and Auren Vrood’s location.

The group decided to make a run for the edge of town and loop over to Vrood’s tower.  In their noisy haste, they stumbled upon a patrol of burning skeletons and a Whispering Way cultist.  The flaming undead burned Caerwen and Tigris badly but were soon put down.  As they looted the cultist, they realized they had attracted the attention of several other patrols that were moving in!

Harm Incorporated – Ruins of Undermountain – Game Session – 002

by: Charles Plemons - December 23rd, 2013   Filed under: Gaming, Harm Incorporated, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Ruins of Undermountain Add Comment

Game summary for December 23, 2013, Ruins of Undermountain campaign; PCs included Boran Gibbs (human cleric), Kalil Bakran (human sorcerer), Paddy Brandywine (halfling bard [archaeologist]), and Rumbald Shieldcracker (dwarf ranger [dungeon rover]).

The team continued to explore treacherous Undermountain and stumbled upon a trio of drow!  The two blademen attacked with their poisoned two-bladed swords!  An impressive exchange began between a swordsman and Rumbald the dwarf!  Kalil unleashed a scorching ray at the other while the wicked priestess of Lolth blessed her allies.  Boran attempted to run over a bench and table to attack the cleric, but he tripped and fell on his back.  So, he instead blessed the party.  Meanwhile, Paddy moved in and cut down the burnt bladesman and moved to pressure the cleric.  She responded with a hold person spell, but plucky halfling shook it off!  Boran countered with the same, to no avail.  The battle went back and forth, but soon the team had defeated the drow and looted them.

The group then wound its way down a dark twisting passage and triggered several acid arrow traps that fortunately missed (they went over Paddy’s head).  At the end of the passage stood a frightening creature, a skeletal mage!  It unleashed a scorching ray and injured the team but was soon cut down.

They then found a room occupied by a fearsome drider!  The monstrosity warded itself with mage armor and blasted away with numerous lightning bolts.  The team found its spell resistance particularly challenging, and it put up quite a fight!  Finally, Kalil’s fire ray punched through and slew the beast!

Harm Incorporated then opened another door and found a massive yellow terror solifugid!  The ten-legged arachnid ripped into Paddy, rending his flesh and harming him terribly!  The team found the monster easy to hit because it was so large; however, it also injured Boran.  Finally, the group whittled away and dropped the horror!  Boran and Rumbald used magic to heal the injuries thus far sustained by the party.

Continuing on, they came across a room with two frenzied cultists worshiping a beholder!  Fortunately, the beholder turned out to be a gauth beholderkin, a weaker relative of the floating orb of destruction!  The gauth blasted Boran with its six eye rays!  He shook off the worst of the effects but was significantly hampered by exhaustion!  Soon, Rumbald was also magically exhausted.  The team took out the cultists with ease, but the gauth put up a fight!  Fortunately, Kalil caught it with two scorching rays and exploded the inhuman monster if a ball of flame!

The group then discovered the secret hideaway of Undermountain merchant Ludovic Snerd!  He taught them the magic phrase to summon his magical equipment shop but warned them he would only appear in areas that were very safe.  They decided to do some shopping after exploring one more room.

The final room explored by the team appeared to be a tomb of a fallen priest of Shar.  The sarcophagus was flanked by four suits of battered armor which Boran determined where undead with his detect undead spell!  Kalil smiled and hurled a fireball into the room and melted them all to slag!  They then discovered the coffin was infested with brown mold!  The mold sucked all the heat from the room and caused cold damage to the team!  Kalil hit it with a fire ray and caused it to double in size!  Thinking quickly, Paddy used his magically cold short sword to destroy the hazard.  They then claimed the treasures from within the tomb.

Carrion Crown Adventure Path – Game Session – 037

by: Charles Plemons - December 12th, 2013   Filed under: Carrion Crown Adventure Path, Gaming, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Add Comment

Game summary for December 12, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Broken Moon adventure; PCs included Caerwen (elf monk), Dario Malavasi (human oracle), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Tigris Inebriavi (elf magus), accompanied by NPC companion Nyssa Pagonis (human cleric).

As Mathus and Cybrisa died, the werewolf archers shifted into wolf form and fled into the woods pursued by the Primals.  The team spent the next 24 hours cleansing the temple of Desna.  Once completed, the enacted the communion ritual and were shown a vision of a potential future directly from the goddess herself:

The PCs see themselves facing a black-robed necromancer wearing a bone breastplate as he stands before a ruined tower; fighting a terrifying, tentacled monster deep beneath the sea; confronting a beautiful female vampire spellcaster in an underground chamber; and battling a decaying lich, blazing with arcane power, atop a high spire beneath dark, churning clouds.

Following the vision, the party members’ eyes turned silver, and they found themselves inherently enhanced by the experience, either by greater Wisdom or Charisma.

The team then decided to return with Delgros’ body to Ascanor Lodge with the heart of Mathus Mordrinacht.  Along the way, they discovered the slaughtered horse of Duristan but no sign of their friend.  After the grisly discovery, they ran into Rhakis Szadro, pack leader of the Prince’s Wolves!  He and four others approached in human form and offered to make a deal with the team.  According to Rhakis, the Demon Wolves led by antipaladin Adimarus Ionacu, were in hot pursuit of the Whispering Way to gain the remnants of Kvalca Sain’s heart.  If the Demon Wolves become the dominant pack, Rhakis claimed a new era of bloodshed and demonic sacrifice would spill out of the Shudderwood into the rest of Ustalav.  He proposed the party allow him to consume the heart of Mathus and claim title of packlord.  He would try to enforce some stability among the werewolves from Highthrone if the party would chase after the Whispering Way and Demon Wolves and make sure Adimarus does not claim Sain’s heart.  He would tell them where the Whispering Way is going and provide them tokens denoting their friendship with the Prince’s Wolves.  The party decided the enemy of their enemy was, if not a friend, not an enemy.  They agreed, and Rhakis wolfed down Mathus’ heart and proclaimed himself the new packlord of the Shudderwood!  He provided the tokens and directed the party toward an old ghost town called Feldgrau deep in the Ardeal.  He also agreed to return the body of Delgros to the lodge as well as seek out the body of Echtmoor Dravin for Margrave Cilas Graydon.

The party rode out toward Feldgrau and discovered an old farmhouse with a strange tree with four dead werewolves hanging from the branches.  They all realized it was an illusion or hallucination and the bodies were actually dead humans.  Spooked, the team skirted wide and left the tree behind.

Two days into their four day journey, they made camp.  Before they could rest, a pair of monstrous undead charged into their midst!  The festrogs were the size of ogres and tore into Caerwen!  He fought back, but the pestilent creatures ripped flesh from his bones to repair their own!  A nasty battle ensued with pus spraying around, but the party dropped the creatures fairly quickly.

Carrion Crown Adventure Path – Game Session – 036

by: Charles Plemons - December 5th, 2013   Filed under: Carrion Crown Adventure Path, Gaming, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Add Comment

Game summary for December 5, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Broken Moon adventure; PCs included Caerwen (elf monk), Dario Malavasi (human oracle), and Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), accompanied by NPC companion Nyssa Pagonis (human cleric).

The team decided to make an attempt for the roof and darted out the temple and around to the stairs.  The Primals saw them and sprinted in pursuit as the Mordrinacht opened fire on the Primals with silvered crossbow bolts.  With the werewolves engaged with one another, the team was able to make the stairs on the roof leading up the tower toward the observatory.  The team sprinted up the stairs.  For a while.  Although armored Dario was soldiering on up the steps, but the two monks tuckered out and nearly had to drag themselves up.  The werewolves below occasionally fired volleys their way but kept most of their attention on keeping the Primals at bay.

The party reached the top of the stairs and fought a trio of Silverhide rangers in hybrid form.  The werewolves fought a vicious battle, but the team prevailed.  After having watched the team struggled against the three guards, Nyssa cast bless and good hope on everyone.  The team ascended to the next level and found Mathus Mordrinacht seated on the Highthrone!  He leapt to his feet as they emerged, and Cybrisa Dorzhanev launched into spellcasting beside him.  Caerwen brought the fight to the werewolf, hitting him once with his ki-enhanced fists.  Mathus, however, focused on Dario.  Apparently the werewolf had a seething hatred for humans!  With his bastard sword and dagger, the werewolf pack leader tore into the oracle.  He cut him savagely with sword and dagger, and then he bit his shoulder and hurled him crashing to the floor.  Meanwhile, Cybrisa attempted a heat metal spell on Dario with no effect.  Nyssa used magic to heal the injured while Gnok and Caerwen tried to cut Mathus off from the critically injured Dario.

With Caerwen in the way, the team learned if Mathus can’t kill a human, he’d just assume kill an elf.  Thus, the mighty werewolf assaulted Caerwen and dealt grievous injury!  Cybrisa moved to the end of the tower and began casting call lightning.  Gnok decided he could not let that spell go off, so he bull rushed the druidic werewolf.  The hefty dwarf slammed into her slim frame and catapulted her twenty feet into empty space from which she plummeted 150 feet to slam into the earth below.  Somehow the tenacious druid retained concentration upon her spell!  Unfortunately for her, the Primals surged in and ripped her to pieces.  Mathus’ hatred grew, and launched a furious assault all about and brought several of the team nearly to their knees.  Blood flowed freely from heroes and foes until finally, Dario stepped forward and cut down the mighty werewolf with an overhand chop from his nine-ring broadsword!