Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for October 4, 2007; present characters included Ashkor (lizardfolk barbarian/battle sorcerer/dragon disciple/fighter), Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/scout/vigilante), Lady Aridarye Phylund Brokengulf (human aristocrat/harbinger/ranger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/ring sage/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Stormwind Abthek (illumian soulknife), and Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor).

A few hours after defeating the spellweaver lich, the party heard a tremendous crash that shook the entire temple. As they went to investigate, they discovered all the Kyuss worms were gone. In addition, the preserved bodies had all begun to rot. They found the doorway they had yet to open was standing agape and any occupants gone.

Outside, the Mercenaries discovered the Spire of Long Shadows had toppled and shattered the obsidian ring. No longer did teeming worms surround the Spire. Anything that had survived the party’s temple raid had apparently fled through the opening before the party could get back to the surface. With nothing remaining for them here, the Mercenaries returned to Longsaddle via the magic of their dwarven priest, Beardfist.

Once in Longsaddle, the team took little time contacting Cymria and Malchor Harpell. They found the Harpells had discovered some new leads indicating Balakarde had gone to Mintarn to investigate the origin of the cult of the Ebon Triad. Utilizing Malchor’s mystic paintings once again, the Mercenaries transported to the church of Kelemvor in the center of Mintarn. Within minutes they were discussing the clues they had gathered with the high priest, Long Sleep Bradic Scytheswing. He told them what he could about the city, its ruler—Tyrant Tarnheel Embuirhan, and Lashonna, an elven noblewoman Balakarde had sought out.

The streets of Mintarn proved a bustling, exciting place filled with men, halfbreeds, goblinoids and more. All around the city seemed in preparation for some sort of festival. A nearby man was able to tell them about a gala and celebration coming in a week for Tyrant Tarnheel Embuirhan’s 20th year of rule. Banners, emblazoned with the symbol of Bane, and other decorations flapped in the wind everywhere one cared to look. This gala appeared to be a big event in Mintarn. After taking all this in, the group continued on toward Mistwall Manor, home of Lashonna. As they moved through the market, they witnessed a priest of Bane publicly hanging three accused members of the Ebon Triad. The crowd cheered and shouted “death to the Ebon Triad” as the bodies spasmed and jerked on the ends of their ropes. It seems justice is swift and harsh under the thumb of Tyrant Embuirhan!

An obstacle was found at Mistwall Manor. No one could see Lashonna for at least two months; however, Taravin was able to discover the noblewoman would be in attendance at the Tyrant’s personal gala. Someone with an invitation would certainly have opportunity to speak with her there. Armed with this knowledge, the team decided it was time to delve into Mintarn’s black market.

The search began at the seediest of Mintarn’s wealth of seedy establishments, an inn dubiously titled Medusa’s Bastard. Inside was a riot of drinking, gambling, womanizing and wanton disregard for propriety. All around stood men and women of questionable repute, from pirates, bandits, mercenaries, drunkards, whores, cutthroats, and even worse. The group sidled up to the bar and encountered a peg-legged half-orc wearing an eye patch and missing two fingers on his left hand. He introduced himself as the bartender, Lucky. Taravin paid for several rounds of drink with gold coin, which drew immediate attention from everyone in the establishment. After talking to Lucky for a minute, he agreed to get them in touch with a black market dealer in exchange for 50 gp. Aridarye slipped a pouch of coin to the brute, and he gave them instructions to go to room 7 upstairs in 10 minutes.

Upstairs, the Mercenaries met Szentarr Ravin and his two half-orc goons. The half-orcs were ugly masses of muscle, scar, tattoo, and tusk wearing breastplate armor and carrying gigantic greataxes. Stormwind winked at one of the half-orcs, and much to his horror, it smiled at him and showed a bit of lace under its armor. The future of this romance is yet to be seen. The goons allowed one person to come into the room with Szentarr. The choice was between Aridarye and Taravin, and the group opted to send in the smooth-tongued, not-so-by-the-book paladin.

Szentarr turned out to be a middle-aged dwarf with a bald head and a gray-speckled black beard braided down to his stomach and ending with a small skull. The skull could be from a halfling or a goblin. Szentarr did, indeed, have invitations, but he was not willing to simply sell them for just gold. He tasked Taravin with telling tales of the Mercenaries’ misadventures to make sure they were the kinds of people the Tyrant would enjoy having at his gala. Szentarr was particularly amused by the party’s involvement in the calamity in Waterdeep (a rival city). That alone likely would have gained them entrance. For a mere 500 gp per person, Szentarr handed over invitations for the group. Then, Taravin decided that selling some unholy weapons recovered from Kuluth-Mar would go a long way for funding their efforts to fight the great evil, Kyuss. For most paladins this would be unthinkable, but Taravin’s gray guard training allowed him to dabble in a bit of darkness for a greater good.

After the transaction with the dwarven merchant, Szentarr mentioned that he runs a large entertainment and goods procurement operation called the Deluxury. He invited the party to come by and let him earn back some of the gold he had traded for the unholy weapons.

Now the Mercenaries are armed with invitations to a high-class noble gala in a week. How will these adventurers fit in with the upper crust of Mintarn? What will they do in the seven days’ time between now and then?

Game summary for September 27, 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/ranger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Stormwind Abthek (illumian soulknife), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger), Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor), and Thoril Songsteel (human thug).

The Mercenaries set out further across the sea of worms after Lyrin dropped his wall of fire. They discovered a pair of locked doors, and so they knocked on them. After a few moments, they heard shuffling and creaking on the other side as well as mumbling and swords being drawn. Ashkor smashed through the doors and found himself face-to-face with a trio of Kyuss knights. They immediately began hacking away with their unholy swords and damaging his mind with their intelligence-draining eye-worms.

The rest of the group moved in quickly, with Syvarius laying down a steady rain of arrows. Lyrin attempted to use ionize on the creatures and found them unaffected by the electrical magic. Taravin marched in with his glowing holy sword, Lightbringer, and drew the attacks from several of the knights. Their eye-mouths dripped drool as they longed to rend the flesh of the paladin. In the end, the team rather easily dispatched the trio.

Afterward, the party went to investigate another room and discovered a spellweaver lich! In no time, hostilities erupted. The Mercenaries soon discovered the lich’s apparently frail body was stronger than steel and resisted their weapon attacks. In addition to this resistance, the lich’s innate aura of fear proved too terrifying for Ashkor and Syvarius, driving both into a blind panic away from the room. The rest of the team pressured the lich and backed it against a wall. However, it surprised everyone when it isolated a small portion of the party within using a wall of force.

Things looked bleak for Aridarye and Stormwind, trapped as they were with a lich protected by displacement. Fortunately, Lyrin’s knowledge of all things arcane provided an answer, and he disintegrated the wall of force. With the barrier removed, Iapetus’ silence spell hampered spellcasting from the lich. This allowed the party to batter the creature with melee attacks, but they discovered its damage reduction and displacement were tremendously effective. The party tried to grapple the lich but ended up with Stormwind paralyzed and the undead sorcerer moving about freely. The lich then positioned itself near Morak (and far from Iapetus) and unleashed a prismatic spray!

The rainbow of energy flooded the room, catching those within. Fortunately, Syvarius and Ashkor were safe (having fled earlier), Morak was behind the lich, and Lyrin was out in the hallway beyond harm’s way. The others were not as fortunate. Scathing acid tore into Stormwind and flames whipped about Taravin. Iapetus took the full force of a yellow ray and its electrical blast. Aridarye was bathed in a green ray and succumbed to a lethal poison instantly. An insidious violet ray caught Thoril full on, and he disappeared. Unknown to the party at the time, he was transported into the Plane of Negative Energy where he met an almost immediate and truly excruciating death.

After seeing this blast, Lyrin sealed his allies in the room with the lich using a blade barrier. Of course, it sealed the lich in as well. The lich then jockeyed around the room with the survivors a bit and ended up far from Iapetus and his globe of silence once again. It unleashed a chain lightning at the giant, but he evaded the blast. All of his allies took the brunt of the secondary bolts, however.

Taravin, Morak and Iapetus moved to pin the lich into the corner and prevent it from casting. They succeeded in driving it back, but it reached out and paralyzed Iapetus with its horrific touch. As he fell to the ground, the lich attempted to slip past. The paladin slapped the monster with the full force of his lay on hands, filling the undead with positive energy. Having just taken a brutal hit from one of Lyrin’s hunter missiles, the lich was in bad shape. It continued to try to move, but a raging Morak Beardfist chopped it down with his magical battlehammer.

In the aftermath, a new vision filled their minds. Then the Mercenaries took everything of value while Morak restored Aridarye to life. The fleeing party members were brought back, and the team holed up in the slain lich’s lair to nurse their wounds. Where shall they go from here? Are there additional dangers lurking beneath the Spire of Long Shadows?

Game summary for September 13, 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), Stormwind Abthek (illumian soulknife), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger), Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor), and Thoril Songsteel (human thug).

The Mercenaries decided to explore the water chamber before going through the unopened doors. They heard noises within, so Lyrin cast two walls of fire along a walkway going over the worm-filled water. Stormwind and Syvarius had moved out onto the bridge when one of the walls of fire was suddenly dispelled. A pair of wormcallers attacked, dropping a flame strike on Stormwind. The soulknife illumian ran for cover while Lyrin launched a fireball at one of the wormcallers. Unfortunately, something seemed to absorb the energy leaving the undead menace unscathed.

With an explosion of water and worms, a gigantic Kyuss worm (an overworm) burst from the water and swallowed Syvarius. While the bulk of the party fell back into the main chamber and used spells to boost their abilities, Syvarius transformed into gold dragon form and tore his way free of the overworm’s stomach. He then began to cling to the worm’s hide. Iapetus and Aridarye used spells such as invisibility, good hope and haste to boost their allies, and Morak used a combination of spells such as bless, mass resist energy, and reach cure critical wounds to aid friends and harass enemies. All the while, the wormcallers blasted away with empowered rays of slashing darkness, and the overworm flooded Stormwind’s mind with horrid images of Kyuss and worms.

Thoril snorted a dose of the powdery magical ogre piss the party took from the trolls days before. He surged with power, doubling height, gaining tremendous strength and going into an absolute rage. He advanced out onto the bridge and was soon waist deep in the overworm’s mouth! This did not deter the raging thug, as he pumped his sword arm vigorously, piercing and electrocuting with his lightning sword. Lyrin discovered his ionize had no effect upon the wormcallers, but his maximized hunter missile blasted a hole right through one.

Flipping his bastard sword over in mid-stride, Taravin charged down the side of the bridge and leaped out over the worms toward the overworm. With a triumphant shout, he plunged his blade to the hilt in a truly devastating blow. The worm writhed in agony and gnashed its razored teeth into Thoril, still clutched in its mouth. Iapetus ran out and jumped on the overworm as well and began poking away with Stalker desperately trying to slay the beast. Syvarius continued to bite chunks out of the overworm with his draconic teeth, turning his golden muzzle into a fearsome blood-slicked mask.

Frustrated Lyrin hit one wormcaller with disintegrate and caused it to turn to dust. Its ancient armor plunged into the worm-infested waters. Meanwhile, Morak was dispelling the air walk from the other wormcaller, and it crashed into the bridge and met its final death. Aridarye attempted to use encourage failure on the overworm, but it seemed unaffected. Then, the dwarven battlepriest unleashed a flame strike on the back of the overworm, killing it. As it sank into the water, Syvarius flew his allies to the safety of the walkway.

The roaring flames of Lyrin’s wall of fire drowns out the sound of the worms swarming in the water. Ahead, the pathway ends and crumbles into the water. What lies across the gap? Do more overworms lurk beneath the water’s surface?

Game summary for September 6, 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), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger), Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor), Thoril Songsteel (human thug), and Zebaum Whitefeather (wood elf druidic avenger/ranger).

Syvarius tied together several ropes, and he, Thoril and Morak went down into the central hole in the ziggurat. Approximately sixty feet down, they discovered a cave opening and entered. Soon, the entire party was brought down into the cave. After exploring for a bit, they were attacked by a pair of worm nagas who struck Taravin and Thoril dumb with feeblemind. Despite this, the party was able to descimate the nagas with deadly sword blows and burning spells. In no time, the worm nagas lay dead. Further exploration of the cave revealed nothing of interest, so Syvarius was sent on to scout.

The central hole went down around five hundred feet into darkness. At the bottom was a man-made chamber covered with teeming Kyuss worms. Syvarius returned to the surface to report to the party. While Morak used heal on Thoril, Lyrin unleashed every fireball he had into the hole in a catastrophic conflagration of fiery destruction. They then waited until Morak could heal Taravin.

At the bottom of the hole, the team found the worms destroyed by Lyrin’s rain of fire. To one side, they could see closed double doors down a hallway. To the other a chamber filled with perfectly preserved corpses lying head-to-toe in neat rows. Ahead seemed to be the undulating waves of lapping water. The Mercenaries opted to investigate the corpses and found fifty in the room. A faint necromantic aura radiated in the chamber. In the room next door lay another fifty bodies, but these were decayed to a skeletal state. A hallway from this room lead to more double doors and a side passage.

The group went to the side passage and discovered the floor had given way into the water; however, the surface of the liquid writhed with Kyuss worms. Lyrin blasted them with electricity, but in moments the worms had been replaced. The Mercenaries opted to leave the water alone and went back to the first set of double doors they had found. They opened the doors and found a temple dedicated to the Wormgod. Instead of an altar, a black-stoned fountain rested in the middle bubbling with clear blue water. Several of the party realized there was no water within but instead it bubbled with Kyuss worms! Syvarius, searching the room, seemed overcome by the fountain and dove face first within, slurping away at the worms. Taravin grabbed his ankles and wrenched him from the fountain, but Zebaum took his place. Within moments, both men were able to regain their senses and spit out all the worms.

After a moment of discussion, the Mercenaries decided they should investigate the other double doors. What horrors await behind them?

Game summary for August 23, 2007; present characters included Ashkor (lizardfolk barbarian/battle sorcerer/dragon disciple/fighter), Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/vigilante), Jimiath “Jimmy” Firespark (halfling rogue/spellwarp sniper/wizard), Lady Aridarye Phylund Brokengulf (human aristocrat/harbinger/ranger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger), Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor), and Thoril Songsteel (human thug).

Almost immediately after defeating the corrupted angels and eladrin, another pair of doors burst open, and three swords of Kyuss led by a wormcaller attacked. Jimiath unleashed a wall of fire to hem in the undead and slow their advance. The flames proved particularly effective against the dead flesh and did slow the advance. Much to the chagrin of the Mercenaries, as the swords of Kyuss emerged from the flames, they revealed a horrific power. Channeling the dark, negative energy of their god, the swords dropped invocations of the worm on the clustered party members. These explosive bursts of fell energy tore into the heroes but actually healed the burned flesh of the undead. Within moments, the monsters healed the damage they took from the fire as well as the mighty blows landed by the Mercenaries’ frontline.

The barrage of negative energy proved too much for Aridarye and Jimiath to withstand, dropping both of them. A quick-thinking Morak cast a spell that revived Jimiath, but another invocation of the worm tore into the paladin, Taravin. His body could not stand the shock of the blast, and he was hurtled into oblivion. Ashkor and Iapetus held the front line while Syvarius blasted away with arrows. Thoril was rocked back on his heels and forced to fall back to recover. All the while, Morak Beardfist ran to and fro conjuring forth the healing blessings of Moradin. As things seemed most bleak, Lyrin unleashed the mightiest fireball he had ever cast, destroying two of the undead outright and weakening another significantly. Soon, the party proved victorious.

Staggered by their losses and depleted resources, the team barred themselves into the torture chamber to recover. Their slain allies were called back from the dead by the power of Moradin. The next morning, they gingerly crept out and began their exploration again.

The team experienced a vision in the library and saw the man they believe to be Kyuss studying some worn and pitted bronze disks under the tutelage of the six-armed insect creature. A deeper vision revealed the Netherese depiction of Jergal inscribing the disks while they were new.

Later, the team explored the outside of the Spire and flew to the top to investigate. Ashkor received another vision wherein he saw a trapezoid-like black monolith atop the Spire with some kind of figure raging within. Suddenly, a massive red dragon flew up, snatched the monolith and ripped it from its moorings. As Ashkor watched, the dragon and monolith faded into the distance as the beast flew North.

Game summary for August 16, 2007; present characters included Ashkor (lizardfolk barbarian/battle sorcerer/dragon disciple/fighter), Frank Urthadar (human evoker/sorcerer/ultimate magus), 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), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger), Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor), and Thoril Songsteel (human thug).

The Mercenaries moved up the stairs into the ziggurat and were assaulted by two eviscerator beetles and a Kyuss knight. The undead monsters tore into Iapetus, causing him to retreat by flying and turning invisible. After a few moments of intense fighting, including a flurry of smites from Taravin, the undead were destroyed. Realizing they were weakened by their fight with the trolls earlier in the day and the brutal attack from the undead, the team pulled back and made camp in the jungle.

The next day, the team returned to the ziggurat and entered the central chamber. As they investigated a gaping hole in the floor, a flood of creatures spilled into the room, causing a riot of violence and carnage. A pair of angels of the worm, their arms turned to flaming swords and their feathery wings dripping worms, spearheaded the attack, followed closely by swarms of Kyuss worms. A worm-drenched ghaele eladrin entered the battle and used destruction to annihilate Frank. Seeing his ally destroyed, Lyrin fired back with a disintegrate, which completely eliminated the eladrin. The Mercenaries then finished off the remaining foes with stunning efficiency. As the last of the worms wriggled and died, another vision overtook the team.

Again the party sees a man they believe to be Kyuss. This time, the man is wearing robes and accepting a golden box from a six-armed rotting insect creature. He opens the box and extracts a single Kyuss worm with a pair of tongs. Taravin saw an even deeper vision, revealing a two-armed insect creature looking down on the proceedings holding an identical box. The paladin believes this matches an ancient Netherese depiction of Jergal, Seneschal of the Dead.

Ashkor used some of the remaining minutes of the fly spell Frank had cast to go 80 feet into the vapor-filed central hole. He then returned to the temple proper and the team investigated a side room the enemies had burst from. They discovered it to be an abandoned torture room with rusting equipment which Taravin quickly pocketed. Now the Mercenaries face a serious problem. Swarms of Kyuss worms cover the ground between the ziggurat and the obsidian ring, and Frank was the one who could make the party fly. If they leave the temple to recover, they may be unable to return; however, if they stay, they may be too weak to continue.

Game summary for August 9, 2007; present characters included Ashkor (lizardfolk barbarian/battle sorcerer/dragon disciple/fighter), Frank Urthadar (human evoker/sorcerer/ultimate magus), 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), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger), Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor), and Thoril Songsteel (human thug).

Some of the Mercenaries opted to drink from the Fountain of Fortune’s Folly, while Taravin and Lyrin abstained. Ashkor’s drink produced greater strength, but his left arm withered into uselessness. Frank’s physical frailty amplified even further, but his force of personality greatly rose, making his sorcerous talents even more impressive. Iapetus discovered new insight and understanding with an increased intellect, but he found himself unable to naturally heal injury and resistant to magical healing. Lady Aridarye’s physical resistance to damage decreased, but her sharp mind became more able to repel mental influence. The dwarven cleric, Morak Beardfist, found his reaction times greatly slowed, but his profound wisdom deepened, making him a divine caster of phenominal strength. Syvarious found much of his physical wealth turning to vapor, but his fluid grace to avoid damage amplified. Finally, Thoril’s body surged with new strength, but his reaction times declined.

After their preparations, Malchor Harpell revealed a magical painting that looks in on Kuluth-Mar. Unfortunately, the party had no means to transport themselves magically to the city. Malchor used a powerful spell to send them to the city, and Morak was prepared to use word of recall to get back home later. Once within Kuluth-Mar, a vision filled their minds. They saw the jungle city in its heyday filled with humans bowing before a bethroned man. The chant of “Kyuss” roared from the crowd as the black-armored man stared out across the throng.

The Mercenaries set out cutting a swath through the overgrowth toward the Spire of Long Shadows. Before long, a trio of trolls assaulted the team. The Mercenaries had little difficulty bringing them down and burning their bodies. The most resistance was encountered by the female troll druid who entangled the group.

Finally, the Mercenaries arrived at an obsidian ring rising 30 feet high with the draconic inscription of “Kyuss Forever Bound” around the rim. Syvarious and Thoril flew up to the top and looked out at the ziggurat and rising Spire about 100 feet from the inside of the ring. They noticed a worm-covered figure walking on the ziggurat. The creature seemed to notice them and quickly went inside.

Now, the Mercenaries are all flying at high speed from the obsidian wall toward the ziggurat. What horrors await?