Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for July 10, 2007; present characters included Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/vigilante), Lady Aridarye Phylund Brokengulf (human aristocrat/harbinger/ranger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Pitamian Kalal (human yang monk), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger), Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor), and Thoril Songsteel (human thug).

With the air elementals defeated, the Mercenaries searched the room over. They lowered Taravin 340 feet into the fog and still found no bottom. With no more rope, they gave up that route. Eventually, their elven tracker, Syvarius, discovered an indention on one of the pillars. When the Mosaic of Icosiol was placed within, the party found the route up into the true tomb of the fallen Djen general. Within the room floated a seemless stone sarcophagus carved with images of Icosiol on top and bottom. The bottom depicted him with a pair of swords, while the top held out empty hands.

Soon after entering the room, they were assaulted by a powerful oculus demon from the foul layers of the Abyss. The hulking creature wielded a deadly sword particularly deadly against good creatures. Dark rays of negative energy blasted forth from the eyes covering its body, and those who met its gaze for too long found themselves paralyzed by the sight. The arcane casters, Lyrin and Moreto, found their spells rolled off the creature more often than not, and flaming arrows seemed not to phase it. The fighting was brutal and bloody, but eventually, Lyrin began a barrage of lesser sonic orbs capable of inflicting devastating wounds. The simian caster ended the battle with a well-placed orb that exploded the demons head like a melon.

After nursing their substantial injuries, the party turned to the room. They searched it top to bottom and eventually placed the Mosaic of Icosiol into the upreaching hands of the sarcophagus. This caused the slab to flip over, lower down and the top to melt away. Inside were the dusty and bone remains of General Icosiol as well as his weaponry, preserved through the ages to fight rising evil when needed. The spirit of Icosiol washed over the group, filling them with its anger and jealously at their living state, but once it divined their intent, his blessing settled up them. In addition to the treasures within the sarcophagus, the ring of the Djen, a lightning sword, the sword of Teshyllal, and a fragment of the Shattered Scepter of Calim, Icosiol’s blessing also awakened the full power of the party’s talisman of the sphere and the diadem of Icosiol.

The rejoicing was short-lived however, because the hiss of a drawing blade filled the air, and a wickedly grinning Moreto boldly told the Mercenaries, “I’ll take those.”

Game summary for July 5, 2007; present characters included Ashkor (lizardfolk barbarian/battle sorcerer/dragon disciple/fighter), Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/vigilante), Lady Aridarye Phylund Brokengulf (human aristocrat/harbinger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Pitamian Kalal (human yang monk), Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor), and Thoril Songsteel (human thug).

After spending some time examining the doors, the party decided they needed to try using the strange seal to open it. They had to revise their deal with Moreto, however; in addition to their normal deal, he asked for three shares of any treasures found beyond the doors. With no other options, they agreed, and Moreto whispered the command words to Taravin. Holding the seal aloft, Taravin uttered the words, and the doors swung open.

Beyond was a large room with a high ceiling and a plunging pit for a floor. About fifty feet down, blue swirling flog obscured everything else. Across the rooms (about fifty feet away) stood two more identical doors. Between the party and this door was the gaping pit and a series of stone pillars. With astounding agility, Ashkor lept from pillar to pillar, skipping some entirely, until he made it to the other doors. Following suit, Pitamian made the trip across. Unfortunately, a pair of greater air elementals came up from the depths and assaulted the party.

The clash was epic in scale, with the party divided and the air elementals buffetting the team with vicious blows. One even took the form of a tornado and swooped up several of the party. The Mercenaries threw everything they had at the creatures, from melee, to ranged attacks, to spells. Moreto and his mohrgs joined the fray, although the mohrgs appears fairly useless agains the airy monsters. The Marquis, however, revealed at least some arcane might, as he blasted away with lightning bolt after lightning bolt against the creatures. He even used a black-rayed wand to weaken one of them.

Tarravin attempted to smite one of the elementals only to discover he could not. Pitamian, from within the tornado unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks. Thoril rained punishing blows from the edge of the pit while Aridarye peppered the elementals with moonsilver shards. Dwarven battlepriest, Morak, ran about healing his companions and Ashkor joined Pit in the swirling vortex. Even Iapetus got into the fray, abandoning his hit-and-run tactics for some solid flail-bashing. Eventually, spell and steel won out, eliminating the elemental threat.

With several of their resources depleted, the party must now decide how to figure out the room. Just moments before the elemental onslaught, Ashkor had discovered the far doors to be fake. Is there anything else of interest here, or is it just one big elaborate trap?

Game summary for June 28, 2007; present characters included Ashkor (lizardfolk barbarian/battle sorcerer/dragon disciple/fighter), Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/vigilante), Lady Aridarye Phylund Brokengulf (human aristocrat/harbinger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Pitamian Kalal (human yang monk), and Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor).

After some discussion, the Mercenaries began to free climb the waterfall chasm. They traversed around outcroppings, narrows, and mini-lakes for about 1,800 feet. The going was slow and tedious, and they used Pitamian, tied off to a couple of ropes, as their plumb and scout. As he found “safe” ledges, the others would make their way to him, and then he would be lowered further into the darkness.

Eventually, Pit discovered the end of the waterfall in a massive room filled with crystals in the ceiling. A strange green light refracted off the water and crystals to cause a twinkling like starlight above. The Mercenaries all went into the room and swam toward shore. There, they were greeted by a well-groomed man with pale skin and dark black hair. He wore no armor but carried a massive sword across his back. In his hand rode a green-lit lantern that cast cool rays about the chamber.

Although leary, the group spoke to the man, who introduced himself as Moreto, Marquis of Ravenstone. Taravin used his paladin senses to determine the man, if he is indeed a man, as evilly-aligned; however, Moreto made no aggressive moves or threats. They discovered Moreto seeks to do some undisclosed research on the surface but ran afoul of Flycatcher above. The party revealed they made a deal with the spider to kill the Marquis. At this, Moreto laughed and made a counteroffer. He wished to reach the surface and would help the team back up the waterfall and engage the spider as well as give them a strange crystal he had stolen from the spider. Lack of trust made the team debate for a long time, and they finally reached an agreement. Moreto’s companions, a pair of mohrgs, were of particular concern to Taravin. They agreed the mohrgs would accompany them up to the chambers above, but they would have to stay within and not go through the Daggerford portal. Moreto agreed to this stipulation only because the Mercenaries offered to protect him until he got to a surface library.

In a show of good faith, Moreto gave the crystal, wrapped in cloth, to Taravin but warned that unless one spoke the correct words of power, touching it would cause monsters of air to appear and attack. When the portal is reached, Moreto will give the command words allowing safe handling. The Marquis then cast levitate on the party and then shifted into the form of a bat. Approximately a third of the way up the waterfall, Taravin noticed the glowing outline of a door that only he could see. He and the team investigated and found a massive staircase. As Moreto and his minions arrived, the team climbed the stairs to discover a pair of gigantic 50-foot-tall metal doors of gleaming black metal.

What riches, and dangers, lie beyond?

Game summary for June 21, 2007; present characters included Ashkor (lizardfolk barbarian/battle sorcerer/dragon disciple/fighter), Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/vigilante), Lady Aridarye Phylund Brokengulf (human aristocrat/harbinger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Pitamian Kalal (human yang monk), and Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor).

Lyrin used a fireball to melt the ice plug in the ceiling, and Pit and Ashkor climbed up into an ice-slicked room. Within were two doors, an open hallway leading out, and a pair of red ice statues carved with smoking white runes. As the party began moving into the room, the statues came to life and attacked. The team attempted to flee back down the hole, but the golems snatched two up and pulled them back through. Forced to engage, the Mercenaries fought the golems and eventualy destroyed them.

Moving on through the hallway, they came upon another room with six statues of Djen. After about half the party moved into the room, one of the statues moved and triggered a lever, which dropped bars across the doorways. Trapped inside with what revealed itself to be a kolyarut inevitable, three of the party fought for their lives. The creature was able to blast forth black rays of negative energy, which took its toll. However, in the end, the Mercenaries succeeded in turning the mechanical monster into scrap. Exploring the room behind the inevitable, the Mercenaries found it completely empty.

Iapetus discovered a secret door in the room of statues and opened it. They found it went into a huge cavern where the blood-red river cascaded down into the depths. After considering a climb down, the party went back and explored the other room they had not entered.

Within the room, the floor was a swirling, churning, semi-liquid mixture of snow and ice. The best swimmers, Pit and Ashkor dove in, and Pit found it enhanced his chaotic nature. The cold was brutal, however, so both quickly got out after finding the depth was 10 feet and went nowhere.

Now the Mercenaries face the depths of the waterfall chasm. Can they safely descend? Does it really lead to the Marquis of the River? What else lies in the deep realms below?