Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for October 17, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Caerwen (elf monk), Dario Malavasi (human oracle), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), Kelemen Ambrus (human cleric/conjurer/mystic theurge), and Tigris Inebriavi (elf magus), accompanied by NPC companion Nyssa Pagonis (human cleric).

The party moved up the stairwell into the second level of the tower and found it filled with webs and smeared chalk notations on the walls.  The party saw the webs moving, and Tigris hurled a vial of alchemist’s fire at the movement which ignited the webs and burned the whole party.  It also injured a homunculus, but the party gently picked him up and discovered he wanted to communicate with them.  He got them to examine the chalk markings, and they discovered there was some device called the Bondslave Thrall on the roof.  The homunculus also indicated there was something large and dangerous in the next level.  Tigris went outside and flew to the roof where he activated the Storm Caller and the Bondslave Thrall and was able to meld with the Beast of Lepidstadt.  He could see the Beast was charging toward Schloss Caromarc at that very moment!

He flew down and helped the rest of the party up the tower where they discovered lightning striking all about.  Then, the floor heaved as something massive railed against it from below.  Within moments, the floor heaved upward to reveal a hideous amalgamation of man, giant, and arachnid!  At the same time, the Beast surged over the side of the tower and roared in challenge.

A titanic battle ensued.  Gnok was drawn into the construct’s tentacles and paralyzed while Kelemen and Nyssa frantically healed him.  The flashing lightning struck individuals one at a time as the battle waged.  The electricity harmed the party but healed the two golems.  Up in the Bondslave Thrall, Tigris discovered he could not only control the Beast but could also channel a protective shield around him.  Caerwen and Dario entered the fray, and both got severely injured by the construct, even to the point of knocking Dario unconscious.  Nyssa ran low on magical tricks and began edging toward the ladder up to Tigris’ location.  The Beast took numerous hard blows and looked pretty beat up.  Fate conspired against the enemy though as the Beast’s ogre hook caught under its chin, and he ripped its head from its neck and hurled it into the river.  The decapitated construct toppled off the tower and plunged 200 feet into the roaring waterfall below!  Fortunately, Gnok fell out of its grip and through the hole the creature made in the tower.  As Gnok stood, he observed a strange sight:  a woman preserved in an enormous jar, and an iron idol or maiden with eye slits.  Within, two terrifying eyes peered out!

Game summary for October 8, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast 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).

With a new party assembled, Gnok returned to Schloss Caromarc and the flooded towers.  Within they discovered the ruined remains of the previous party’s statues.  The team went left instead of toward the basilisk chamber and encountered swarms of writhing leeches!  The group was engulfed and fled while Tigris flew to the ceiling and consumed the swarms with a fireball.

Moving forward, the party discovered a round chamber with three cages filled with headless girallons.  Suddenly, three girallon-headed vargouilles swooped down and attacked!  The fighting was intense but brief, with Tigris and Gnok landing the killing blows on the monsters.  Tigris again used fly to go toward the ceiling and went through one of the second level doorways.  He dropped a rope and hauled the rest of the team up.  They peeked into a few more rooms but avoiding going in, choosing instead to go across a large stone bridge to the next tower.  They found the doors arcane locked, and Dario attempted to disable the ward.  Unsuccessful, he deferred to Nyssa’s attempt using dispel magic.  She was able to dismiss the effect and allow the team inside.

Within the circular tower was a shattered cage and girallon flesh golem!  The fearsome creature rushed to the attack.  Nyssa called down a blessing from Razmir, enhancing all of the party while Dario enhanced his magical nine-ring broadsword with lead blades.  The monks Caerwen and Gnok moved in and flanked the creature but took several deadly blows in the process.  With astounding grace, Dario performed a blade dance and ended up behind the construct.  Finally, after warding himself with shield, Tigris charged in, completing a total flank of the monster.  Nyssa slipped in and attempted to defensively cast a curative spell on Gnok but failed and suffered a gash and lost the spell.  The girallon golem then tore into her, leaving her barely able to stand.  Dario stepped over and healed Gnok’s injuries while the monks and Tigris continued their onslaught.  Although their attacks were landing, the golem’s impressive resistances mitigated much of the damage.  Nyssa fell back and was able to heal herself while Tigris channeled frigid touch through his blade, slowing the construct.  From there, the tides turned, and the party, surrounding the creature, picked it apart until finally, with a loud “kia!” Caerwen landed the killing blow.

Game summary for October 3, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Amras Amandill (half-elf inquisitor), Annoc Zantar (human barbarian), Dinendal Ironbow (elf ranger), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).

Three more tethered homunculi emerged with the faceless flesh golem, and a battle erupted!  Annoc began cutting down homunculi while Amras cast a spell and activated his bane ability.  Dinendal launched arrows at the golem while the party shifted around.  Suddenly, the golem lashed out and pulped Amras’ skull.  He dropped dead instantly.  Horrified, the party doubled their efforts with Irnadette slowing the creature with fire.  Although the golem landed more blows, it was eventually cut down.  The team then mourned the loss of Amras and ceremoniously dumped his body into the raging waterfall in tribute.  After looting his corpse.

The team continued exploring and triggered an acid fog trap.  They then found a trio of jars.  Within, Gnok discovered yellow mold!  The team left the other jars alone.  They discovered a rear pathway leading up to a series of towers with a rusted iron door.  Annoc used his ring of the ram to bust it open revealing a flooded area within.

The party waded into the hallway and turned right.  They found a flooded pit filled with advanced draugr!  The noxious creatures caused Annoc to get violently ill while the rest of the party fought.  In moments the creatures were slaughtered.  The team then moved past the pit and pushed open some doors into another flooded chamber.

While looking around, Annoc and Gnok spotted a creature in the water!  They tried to close the doors but struggled with the water weight.  The creature surfaced and attacked, revealing itself as an aquatic basilisk!  In moments, very bad things happened.  One after another, the party turned to stone!  Gnok, savaged by the beast, struggled out of the tower and fled.  He could hear the basilisk gnawing on one of the statues as he ran!  Gnok got to his horse and rode back to Lepidstadt to regroup.  Literally.

Game summary for September 26, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Annoc Zantar (human barbarian), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).

The party entered the double doors to another building in the Schloss Caromarc complex.  Within they discovered a bizarre collection of preserved monsters and animals.  In one room they found a pair of sarcophagi, and Gnok began poking around.  He discovered one of the sarcophagi was a mimic!  Annoc charged in and injured the creature, but it swung a pseudopod at him and glued itself to his chest!  Gnok then punched it and found himself glued to the aberration as well.  As the party pummeled the mimic to death, a mummy emerged from the other sarcophagus and paralyzed Annoc with fear.

The mummy moved forward and backhanded the helpless barbarian.  Still glued to the dead mimic, Gnok struggled to fight the mummy and was soon cursed with mummy rot!  Irnadette used fire psionics to damage the mummy while Heidi channeled positive energy to heal injuries.  Annoc snapped out of his stupor and sliced off the mimic appendage to make himself more mobile.  The team battered the undead creature, and Irnadette blasted it out off of its feet with more fire.

The group then looked around and discovered a secret door leading upstairs.  The team went up and found a room of chests and crates.  Annoc blasted one of the chests apart using a ring of the ram found on the mummy and found two shrieking medusa heads within!  The horrendous creatures screamed and attacked!  The party soon defeated the monsters but turned around to see an enormous blind monster emerge from the doorway tethered to a trio of homunculi!

Game summary for September 19, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Amras Amandill (half-elf inquisitor), Dinendal Ironbow (elf ranger), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).

The team decided to rest in the seemingly secure manor house and were rejoined by Amras and Dinendal.  The group the returned to the alchemy workshop and examined the rope bridge.  They tied a rope around Gnok’s waist, and he strode out onto the bridge and promptly fell off.  After smacking into the cliff, they hauled him back up.  This time, he tried to crawl across the bridge and made it halfway across before a trap triggered and summoned an erinyes devil!  The black-feathered Hellspawn unleashed arrows at Gnok and Amras as the monk scrambled to get back to cover.  Dinendal hit her with an arrow or two as she flew back and forth over the bridge firing.

As she crossed over the bridge for the third time, Gnok stunned everyone by summoning his reserves of ki and hurling himself 45 feet through the air to slam into and grapple the astounded devil!  They slammed into the bridge, and because Gnok was still tethered to the rope Amras was working, Amras hauled in the rope.  He intended to drag the pair across the bridge, but instead they fell off!  Holding tight and spinning the devil around, Gnok succeeded in slamming her against the wall, cushioning his own impact.  He then wrapped her up in an amazing grapple and pinned her while spinning on the end of the rope.  As Amras painfully hauled them up foot by foot, Dinendal fired arrow after arrow into the devil.

The team hauled the grappled pair onto the platform where they began pummeling the devil.  She struggled desperately to activate greater teleport but was unable to maintain her concentration.  Soon, the party defeated her, sending her back into Hell in a puff of brimstone and smoke.

Afterward, the team carefully crossed the bridge.

Game summary for September 5, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).

The party opened the doors and raced across the arched bridge dodging crossbow bolts from the troll in the tower.  They discovered a door with a bell and rang it.  A porthole opened, but no one was on the other side.  Soon thereafter the port closed.  The party determined to open the door because the trolls were coming down from the tower.  Irnadette used a breach power to unlock the door and triggered a trap summoning a huge air elemental!  It buffeted the party as the trolls stepped out onto the bridge.  The team slipped through the unlocked door as the elemental transformed into a whirling tornado and tore into the approaching trolls!

Things were not safe inside the manor proper, however.  A mechanical form crawled out from beneath the stairs, its twin scythe-arms swiping at the party!  The group locked the front door while Irnadette used sonic attacks against the construct.  Gnok went toe-to-toe but could only dent the monstrosity.  Heidi channeled positive energy to heal the wicked blade wounds.  In the end, it was Irnadette’s powerful psionics that brought the creature down.

The team then explored the rest of the main house.  They found several trappings of wealth but no real sign of current occupants.  They discovered a secret passage in the dining hall leading to a rear exit.  Opening the door, they found a 3-foot-narrow stone bridge stretching out over a plunging waterfall hundreds of feet below.  Across the bridge stood another stone building with a wooden door.  The group moved across the perilous bridge and entered the room.  Inside they found a damaged alchemy workshop with a portion of the wall and floor missing.  Outside a missing doorway the remnants of a fallen stone bridge were instead spanned by a swinging rope bridge.

As the team moved about the rubble, a trio of insectoid rust monsters emerged and attacked!  They focused on Heidi’s gleaming magical chainmail and damaged it with their rusting touch!  Gnok and Irnadette fell in around her to fend off the ravenous metal-eaters.  The team killed two of the creatures, but the third slipped through to menace Heidi yet again!  Gnok grappled the creature, heaved it up upon his shoulders and ran to the edge of the rope bridge.  The squirming bug thrashed wildly and nearly broke free, but the monk’s training proved too good!  He hurled the rust monster over the side, and it plunged hundreds of feet to its death in the waterfall below.

Game summary for August 29, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).

The party squared off against the charge trollhounds, and Gnok discovered they were healing from their injuries quickly.  He beat them unconscious while Irnadette burned them with psionically conjured fire.  They then ignited torches and killed both beasts with a coup de grace.  They then opened the gate doors to find three goblins and two trolls trying to hold another gate closed while something pounded upon it from the other side.

The creatures spun around, and one of the trolls snatched up a goblin and hurled it at Gnok as hard as it could.  It smashed painfully into him hard enough to bruise his ribs and snap the neck of the goblin!  Another goblin charged forward and was killed by Gnok in moments.  A colossal battle ensued with psionic flames ripping through the room, tiger style kung-fu, and heavy crossbow bolts flying.  One troll and the last goblin went down as the gate burst asunder to reveal another flesh golem hound!  The troll and hound squared off, but the hound soon ripped the troll to pieces.

Irnadette slowed the hound with psionic fire and lured it out the front gate.  The team tried to slip past, and Heidi was gravely injured while dodging crossbow bolts from a troll that appeared up in a tower!  As Gnok slammed the gate closed, Heidi channeled positive energy and healed the team.  As the flesh golem hound began slamming into the gate, they could hear creatures moving around up overhead as well.

Game summary for August 22, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).

Gnok led the way up the ladder and triggered a sonic trap that stunned the party.  Meanwhile, a third snapjaw homunculus attacked.  After shaking off the disorientation, Gnok surged up the ladder and smashed the homunculus.

The team then moved down the ladder and down the hallway and discovered a hideous monstrosity, a fleshless man hurling vials of exploding fire and acid!  Another violent battle erupted, and the fleshless man was pinned into a corner.  He grievously wounded Gnok, but Heidi’s channeled energy kept him upright.  Meanwhile, Irnadette fired heavy crossbow bolts into the man’s torso.  Finally, Gnok succeeded in using his Tiger Style to rip out the man’s throat.

The team discovered a locked closest with a morbid content:  a cabinet filled with suits of flesh!  They figured out the man could wear the skins of others, including a large Shambling Man with scales, feathers, and other mismatched flesh.  They found the suit had tears in the shoulder, and the fleshless man (whom they determined was Vorkstag) had scars on his shoulder matching a blood caiman bite.

The group carried Vorkstag’s body, the flesh suits, and a bound Grine boldly through Lepidstadt to the courthouse, which caused quite a ruckus among the cityfolk.  The authorities swarmed to Vorkstag and Grine’s to secure the area and collect any additional evidence.  The party retired for the evening to prepare to defend the Beast in court.

The next day, the team took the stand and gave astounding evidence to the innocence of the Beast including the confession of Grine!  After an hour of deliberation, a verdict of not guilty was delivered on all counts!  The courthouse erupted in an uproar, but the Beast was ordered to be released under the cover of darkness in an undisclosed location.  The Beast thanked the party and called them his dearest friends.  He invited them to come visit him at the home of his “father” at Schloss Caromarc.

The party then met with Judge Daramid to collect their payment.  She encouraged them to seek the Beast at Schloss Caromarc and learn more of the Beast’s creator.  They agreed and headed north to the castle.  They arrived after a few days of travel in miserable weather.  As they approached the gatehouse, two enormous hideous hounds stood up and charged forward!

Game summary for August 8, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Amras Amandill (half-elf inquisitor), Dinendal Ironbow (elf ranger), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).

The party engaged what turned out to be three mongrelmen on the floor of the chymickal works.  Several of the party were nauseated by the fumes, but they quickly wiped out the mongrelmen and stole their gas masks.  They then scampered up the ladder to the catwalk while the flesh golem hound burst through the lower doorway.  Unable to follow up the ladder, it just snarled and barked.

The team entered a loading bay and found some alchemical items but nothing of real interest.  They then opened another door, and Amras caught a throwing axe to the chest!  Within the small room stood the red-haired Grine!  The wicked little man’s axe was smeared with poison, and Amras immediately felt weakened.

The group tried to press into the room, but the small space limited their options.  Amras fought from atop a bed while Gnok and Dinendal forced Grine to slink backward.  Having been punched and smacked in the face by Gnok, Grine sought retreat.  Grine used his poisoned handaxe to further weaken Amras before dropping a globe of magical darkness in the room while he scampered up a ladder.  Amras countered with a light orison and pursued only to take another hit from Grine’s sharp little axe!  At the top of the ladder, Amras found himself surrounded by Grine and two snapjaw homunculi!  Gnok, Dinendal, and Irnadette scampered up as well, and the seven combatants went at each other’s throats in the 15’ x 15’ room!  Both Gnok and Irnadette succumbed to sleep poison from the homunculi and Amras suffered several sneak attacks from Grine.  Just as things looked the most bleak, Dinendal knocked Grine out with a well-placed mace!  Heidi then entered the room and channeled positive energy to heal the party.  Amras cut apart one homunculus, and as Gnok came to, he destroyed the other.

The team quickly bound Grine and searched the two rooms.  They discovered a small steel box which Irnadette was able to open with her lock picks.  However, it triggered a poison gas trap, but she was able to shake off the effects.  The party debated heading back to the courthouse with Grine or staying and searching for clues.  They decided they still needed hard evidence and opted to stay.

Game summary for August 1, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Trial of the Beast adventure; PCs included Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk) and Irnadette Steelsoul (elan psion), accompanied by NPC companion Heidi Loenhardt (human cleric).

The team went to the Karb Isle Sanctuary and poked around the old ruins.  They discovered a heat-warped iron strongbox and delicately forced it open with a hammer…  Inside they discovered charred papers that they could not make any sense of, so they tucked them away for later.  Gnok then noticed a dark hole leading down into what appeared to be a cellar or sublevel, partially collapsed.  It appeared to be about fifteen feet deep with several bodies within.  An iron candelabrum adorned with severed charred heads dangled from chains.

The team secured a rope and dropped into the cellar where they “bodies” rose up to attack!  As they approached, Gnok got violently sick from their stench and spewed all over the room.  Repeatedly.  Moments later, Irnadette did the same.  A brutal fight ensued, but Irnadette’s fiery and electrical psionics proved too much for the four ghasts.  Having defeated the undead, the team searched the room and discovered a glass container labeled “Vorkstag and Grine Chymickal Bleach.”  They then examined the severed heads and found one resembled the missing and presumed late Dr. Brada.  Their new companion, Heidi, happens to be a trained medium, and she agreed to cast speak with dead.

From the whispering head (it has no lungs), they discovered it was indeed Dr. Brada, and he had been betrayed by Vorkstag and Grine over a business deal gone south.  He had demanded more money for the prisoners he had been selling the merchants, and Grine brought his “monster” to kill Brada, which is what resulted in the Karb Isle fire.  Dr. Brada described the beast as seven feet tall with a scarred shoulder and chest and patchwork flesh.

The team returned to Lepidstadt to speak with the Barrister.  He was intrigued by their findings and was able to make out the words Vorkstag and Grine in the charred ledger they had discovered.  The group went to talk with the Beast who denied ever being at Karb Isle and seemed to know nothing of Vorkstag or Grine.  The Beast did not react to seeing Dr. Brada’s head other than to remark he was ugly.

The group then went over to the Vorkstag and Grine Chymic Works, a small brick factory with a massive chimney dumping pollutants into the air.  As they got close, Gnok (a trained alchemist) recognized the smells of bleach and acid.  They rang the bell at the gate and were greeted by a gnome with orange hair and horrible scars on his face.  The little man was not friendly.  Gnok tried to intimidate him, but he called a flesh golem hound to his side!  He then slammed the door in the parties’ faces.  They rang the bell again, and he yelled at them.

Gnok did not feel good about the idea of breaking and entering, so they used the law to their advantage.  As officers of the court, the spoke with a judge and made an argument based on their evidence that they should have a warrant to search the factory.  The judge grudgingly agreed but would not commit any guardsmen to enforcing it.  He simply stated as officers of the court, they could serve the warrant themselves which suited the team just fine.

The group returned to the chymic works and were denied entry by the gnome, so Gnok smashed the gate open and was promptly savaged by the terribly dangerous flesh golem!  Fortunately, Heidi was able to cure his wounds as quickly as the hound mauled him.  Irnadette discovered she could slow the golem with fire magic, and the girls slipped around to a door and picked the lock under the cover of a silence spell while Gnok kept the hound busy.  They went in to a large room filled with choking, nauseating chemical vats, and Gnok came running in behind and slammed the door.  As the flesh golem hound clawed at the door, the party looked around and saw eight horribly scarred humanoids wearing gas masks standing in shock around the room.  A trio began advancing on the team!