Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Of Giants and Dragons

Recap of recorded session# 4

The following recap comes courtesy of Lord Darmot Kromwell.


This session finds our heroes in the midst of exploring an ogre cave. Sent here by Black Rhrett to find several missing ale shipments. At the start of the session, Raell is picking himself up off the floor after being shoved off of a steep incline by an ogre. Said ogre stood at the top of the incline long enough to take an arrow to the chest from Ademar before running off into the dark unknown. After some debate over how to proceed, Cor’Nal used his abilities to reshape the stone slope into a very nice set of stairs.



After a quick climb up the new stairs the group went off to find the ogre. As the group marveled over the clean and smooth cave floors they continued onward to find not only the ogre they had seen at the slope but three more of his ogre friends. As a javelin sailed over the head of Cor’Nal, battle began. With a mix of steel and magic the group cut down the ogres until the final two fled. Not wanting any of the creatures to get away the group gave chase. Around a bend and down a long dark hall the group continued to chase the creatures. The ogres lead the heroes down a series of passages only to lead them back to the cave entrance. It was there that the ogres made a serious mistake and went outside, into the druid’s element. Fire rained down from the sky to obliterate the running pair.



Still inside the cave, the half blind ranger stopped near an opening to adjust his equipment so he could carry his own light. While standing there unaware of any danger, the group aroused a nest of rust monsters. Thrusting his weapon away and drawing his bow the ranger screamed like a little girl, trying to avoid the creatures that were attracted by the scent of his armor. As the creatures moved past the group, they took swipes at others but could not resist the draw of the ranger’s armor. While the group did the best it could to quickly take down the savage rust monsters, nothing they did could prevent the destruction of Raell’s armor. Even with Cor’Nal’s faithful companion chewing up the creatures, Raell was left without any armor. As he stood by silently, crying over the loss of his breastplate, Leuthar removed the glands from the rust monsters hoping they would sell in town.



With the dreaded rust monsters destroyed, the group moved on. Checking the bodies of the first dead ogres, the group watched as Raell lopped off the ears of the dead beast. Ademar found one of the bodies contained a belt of healing potions. With the looting of the dead completed they continued deeper into the cave. The group passed into what appeared to be a staging area, where they could readily ambush unsuspecting adventurers. As they looked around at the filth and refuse they found something that shocked them all. A living and breathing human male, bound by rope. Badly beaten and out cold the human appeared to be a prisoner of the ogres. While the group was willing to spend a little healing to bring the man into talking condition, the untrusting bastards did not want to untie the poor soul until they had a chance to talk to him.



While the man seemed to improve after a very small healing spell by Cor’Nal he did not awaken. Taking a more direct approach Raell smacked the bound human to wake him up. Once the human was awake he was attacked with questions from the untrusting group. He stated his name as Gareth Denton from North Hembers in Arcadia. He told a tale of woe of his adventuring party being ambushed by ogres. While he was captured the rest of his party was slain. He also told the group that he was being kept alive to be fed to something called Frosty. After Raell untied Gareth, he tried to talk Gareth into leaving the caves. Asking only for a weapon and a chance at revenge for his fallen companions Gareth pleaded with the group to stay with them. They were reluctant to agree but in the end he was allowed to join the group. If for no other reason than to keep an eye on the human. Raell gave Gareth a hammer to use for a weapon but that did not solve the problem of a lack of armor for the warrior. From there the group pressed on, continuing to explore the caves.



Finding a fork in the path the group pressed on down the right hand path. Finding a large empty room, they continued to press on to the south, deeper into the caves. As the group continued on Ademar signaled to the companions to stop, warning that he could hear something from the room ahead. Raell growing impatient with being blind tossed his light into the center of the next room. As light filled the once dark room, it showed three ogres waiting for them. Not waiting for a hail storm of javelins to come their way, the heroes were quick to launch an attack. Gareth, with no armor and just a small hammer in hand runs into the room screaming for revenge, quickly stopping short when he saw the three creatures in front of him. Gareth watched the battle rage around him, feeling his confidence grow he moved into the battle himself. One by one the ogres fell to the group, who completed the battle with little to no harm done to their selves. As the group started to search the room and the bodies of the ogres, Raell went from body to body removing the ears from each creature. Ademar finding a discarded Rapier he offered it to Gareth so he may have a proper weapon, after some convincing.



After the battle, Raell told Gareth to stay back during the battle as he did not have any armor. Not liking the rangers tone he started to demand payment for his services if he was going to follow orders. Looking around the room at the group, he demanded one fifth of the party’s findings. This only drew more outrage from the companions, as Raell tried to remind Gareth that he was only alive to due to their kindness. In the end he agreed to a lesser share, if he could stay with the group. His only desire being revenge for his fallen friends. As the group moved on they found a second staging area where the ogres had stored the gear they had taken from Gareth and his friends. Gareth was pleased at finding his armor and other minor items he had lost to the ogres. Once again Gareth was properly armored and ready to fight.



As the party pressed on, the group found what appeared to be a room where the ogres rested and took their meals. Finding nothing of interest beyond minor pilfered goods, the party pressed on. Not long after they came to another small room where Cor’Nal spotted some kind of creature hanging from the ceiling of the cave. He called out to the group that it was a Choker. Caught by surprise, the druid stood by helpless as the creature lashed out at him, wrapping him in his tentacles. As the group attacked the creature, Cor’Nal was able to break free. Raell, using his bow was able to kill the creature in the end. As the searched the room they found a strange belt with seven flask of acid. After waiting for the druid to heal himself the group pressed on. As they pressed on the sound of rushing water filled the cave again. Finding a second rope bridge, they stalled discussing how to get over to the other side. After much debate, the turned away from the rope bridge, hoping to explore other areas of the cave before trying to cross the rope bridge.



Deeper and deeper the group went into the caves. As Raell and Ademar discussed wine and rocking chairs Cor’Nal called for the group to halt. Soon all the companions could hear the deep breathing sound coming from up ahead. The farther they went, the louder the sound grew. Soon all the companions could feel what was ahead of them, the air so thick with frost and fear it became clear just what kind of creature was ahead of us and who it was that the ogres called Frosty. Not wanting to rush headlong into a fight with a dragon unprepared, the group fell back trying to find a safe spot to rest.


The group wanting to find a safe place to rest, fall back to the area where they first fought the rust monsters. Using the nesting area, the group set up a watch rotation and starts to rest in order to prepare to fight the dragon. While resting Raell continues to question Gareth about his past and where he had been. Gareth tells Raell about his part in the Arcadian Civil War. Stating that he had fought in the war under Arturo’s command. Raell fishing for information on his distant relation asked Gareth what he thinks about his half brother.

After a night of rest, the group plans on how to attack the dragon. After a quick plan is hammered out, protective spells are cast on the party by Leuthar and Cor’Nal. Cor’Nal, obsessed with wanting to kill the beast reaches down deep within and uses dark magic, forbidden by the gods. As the group travels down the passage, Gareth complains of an arctic cold breeze coming from ahead. When they get to the end of the passage they find a massive cavern that opens to the sky. They also find a large sleeping white dragon. Next to the dragon is a human with long white hair in white robes. He sees the group come into the room and jumps up to wake the dragon. The dragon, not liking that he was awoke from his nap sits up and chomps down on the old human. He gives the human a little shake in his mouth and whips him across the cavern, crushing him on the wall. The human in white, lay dead in a bloody mess.

Gareth, marching forward to attack the beast falters a step as dragon fear washes over the room. All but the druid are affected, who seems immune. Ademar launches a pair of shots at the beast but they fly wide. The dragon turns to look towards the group, taking a deep breath say’s that he has smelled them before. Cor’Nal not caring to chat with the beast launches his first magical attack at the beast. Flames fill the air and explode around the creature. Leuthar summons a flaming sphere and launches it at the dragon. Not wanting to wait for the small creatures to overwhelm it on the ground the dragon launches into the air. Raell fires a shot at the creature while hiding behind the druid and curses as he watches his arrow deflect off the scales of the beast.

The magical assault continues from both the druid and Leuthar as the creature stays in flight. Drawing a deep breath, the dragon unleashes its breath weapon at the druid. Cor’Nal laughs a deep and hearty laugh as his sphere of protection prevents the breath from doing any damage to the companions around the druid. Gareth holding his weapon overhead wanders around looking at the flying creature with a hopeless look on his face. Flames once again fill the air, striking the creature with a massive explosion. The once pristine white scales, scorched and smoking the dragon drops down to directly attack the druid. Repelled by the druids forbidden spell, the frustration continues to build for the dragon.

Gareth seeing the creature fly down, rushes forward to attack the dragon only to get whipped by the creatures tail. Raell and Ademar unleash a worthless barrage of arrows that fly past the dragon without hitting him. The druid’s faithful companion charges and lunges at the creature biting deep into the dragons flank. After a third massive flame strike from the druid the dragon takes flight, leaving the cave. Cor’Nal not wanting to let the creature live changes into a bird and takes off after the beast. So swift is the flight of the dragon, the druid only catches a minor glimpse of the creature as it escapes off into the distance. The companions look around at each other, stunned at the fact that the dragon fled, they then look towards the massive pile of treasure that the beast left behind. Gareth begins to salivate over a beautiful set of full plate in the pile of coins. All the while Ademar begins to collect a massive pile of gems, inspecting each with a careful eye. The group overjoyed at their victory, fail to notice the frustration on the face of the druid who is angry at himself for letting the dragon escape.

Leuthar using his magic powers begins to scan the horde. He finds a small scarab, a bag of dust and a container full of scrolls. He tucks away the bag of dust and the scarab while looking at the scrolls, the rest of the group is oblivious to his actions as they are standing about trying to figure out what to do with the large pile of coins and the plate armor. While Raell and Gareth haggle over the armor Ademar walks over to the body of the human that is lying dead on the floor. Pale white skin and white hair with pink tinted eyes. The group assumed he was some kind of albino. They then saw a medallion around the man’s neck with CoW in elven scrip and the image of a white dragon etched into it. The group studied the medallion but where clueless over what it was for, the only thing they cared about is how much they could sell it for. After dividing up the dragon’s horde of coins so the group could carry it out of the cave, they started to explore the rest of the cave.

As they traverse the cave they once again come to a rope bridge. While the group was hesitant to cross the bridge they knew in order to find the stolen goods Black Rhett wanted, they would have to cross. Cor’Nal changed shape into a Dire Hawk and carried some of the group across the gaping chasm. Gareth was far too heavy to carry across so he had to risk the bridge. Once the entire party was across they pressed on, even deeper into the cave. They find a large open area with the bodies of two dead ogres. Raell not wanting to pass up extra body parts cuts off the ears of the creatures. Leuthar points out that one of the bodies appears to have been chewed on. Not finding anything else in the room, they press on. The next open area they come to the party finds the room full of ale cask, most of them smashed or empty. Now knowing the fate of Black Rhett’s stolen ale shipments they press on to search the rest of the cave network. The next room they come to they find more than a dozen ale cask, being guarded by a trio of female ogres. Ogres who are also keeping company with a Frost Giant.

The group quickly launches at attack against the creatures. As Raell and Ademar fire arrows, Gareth charges forward to attack. Scoring a wicked slashing blow against the first of the ogres. As it stumbled back from the attack, it lived long enough to die in a magical assault by Leuthar. The enraged frost giant, screaming at the group reaches down and picks up a bolder to throw at Cor’Nal when it see’s the bird shaped druid summons a pair of wolves. Boulders fly across the room, striking both the druid and Ademar as Gareth cuts down a second ogre. Raell seeing Ademar hurt joins him in launching arrows at the giant. As the fight rages on, boulders continue to fly at the archers. Raell seeing Ademar struck by the boulder fires a nearly lethal arrow at the giant hitting him in his open mouth. As Gareth cuts down the third of the ogres, the entire group turns its attention to the giant who was trying to drink a potion with an arrow stuck in the back of its mouth. With the entire group attacking the giant, it was only a matter of time. While the giant was able to put up a fight, it fell to the bite of one of the druids summoned wolves.

Raell wanting to see the look on Black Rhett’s face went about the grim task of cutting the head off of the frost giant as the others searched the area. After all the treasure was discovered, the group set about to rest before trying to leave the cave. As the others laid down to rest Ademar decided to explore another area of the cave. Finding a large open area, Ademar looked around, seeing the body of a dead ogre that had been mangled. Ademar moved deeper into the room, seeing that the floor dropped off into a lower area. Unable to resist the lure of the unknown he moved closer to the ledge in the center of the room. As he neared the ledge, something rose up out of the hidden area. Ademar was now face to face with a Remorhaz and very much alone.

3 comments:

  1. Did the best I could.

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  2. You did well Mi'lord. Very nicely done. Rust monsters...(shiver) 'Twas no surprise they went for a hearty ranger's armor. My condolences to Raell for the death of his armor. May he find better along his journeys. It does surprise me however that the good druid was using dark, forbidden magic. I must watch him more closely....

    Oh Ademar! The remorhaz.... (Wethiel grips the side of the portal tightly)

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