RC Jalpiar - Treachery in the Depths

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At the request of the rest of the party, Olanth turned his attention to the cage holding the gnome. Seconds later the cage was rendered useless and the gnome was free. Traveling through the other door on the west wall, the party discovered a supply room with barrels of water and “spirits” along with crates of rancid meat and “elf pudding.” One additional box was found containing 5 flasks of oil, which Knorr distributed amongst the party. A clear path lead to the opposite wall and another door. Beyond this door, they discovered a long hall. Twin rows of pillars ran down the center of this hall, adorned with carvings of dragons, and lit torches allowed them to see while also creating a haze that hindered sight beyond 20 feet.

Knorr immediately hid within the shadows as did Karak. Knorr moved around to the north while Karak went south. Along the northern wall, Knorr discovered three doors, Karak found one on the southern wall. On the far western wall there was a single door. Checking for tracks throughout the hall, Karak discovered goblin tracks everywhere. There were human tracks exiting through the far western door, and Claw marks that exited through the eastern most door on the north wall. Using the prison key found earlier, Naffin unlocked the door, and Knorr entered the room. All around the room they could see many different types of stuffed and preserved animal trophies. In the center of the chamber was a pile of debris, broken tables and cabinets mostly. At the same time Knorr entered the room, a small white dragon wyrmling leapt upon the pile of debris and let out a small roar. Knorr backed out quickly while Meepo and Olanth entered. Olanth threw some of the meat at the dragon but the small creature was not interested in it. instead it fixed its eyes on Meepo. The blast of cold emitted from the dragon signaled its intentions. Meepo managed to dodge out of the way but Olanth was not as quick. Lucky for him the dragon had not yet fully developed this attack form. The dragon then leapt toward Meepo attacking the kobold with all its fury. With the dragon fixed on Meepo, the rest of the party attacked the dragon, attempting to subdue the creature. Naffin landed the first blow, but the dragon was not to be denied tearing the Kobold into pieces with two ferocious claws and a terrible bite, Meepo was dead. Seeming to realize that there were others present, the dragon now turned its attention to the party. A combination of Nyora’s Doom spell and Knorr’s bardic singing coupled with a successful attack from Karak followed by a critical hit by Olanth and the dragon was rendered unconscious. Quickly tying up the dragon, the party made ready to exit this area and return to the Kobold Queen. Olanth discovered a small cache of treasure beneath the dragon’s body; A crystal goblet, a gold dragon figurine, and a pile of fine silverware adorned with dragons.

Returning to the throne room of Queen Drasyl, the party presented her with the dragon, still unconscious and the news of Meepo’s death. Drasyl seemed unconcerned with Meepo’s death, and moved to the altar to retrieve the promised reward. Grabbing the flask, Drasyl turned and heaved the flask toward the party. Knorr attempted to catch the flask, but it soared over the group and landed near the body of the dragon. Drasyl’s treachery was then apparent as the flask erupted into flame, the Alchemist’s Fire igniting upon exposure to the air, the dragon was doomed. The 6 kobold guards positioned themselves between the party and their queen and the battle was on. Karak was able to draw first blood, but the kobolds proved to be very elusive, while their attacks seemed very effective scoring hits. Naffin was hit critically by a spear in the side while Olanth was grazed and Knorr was merely scratched. Drasyl cast Magic Missile striking Karak for considerable damage. Knorr was able to skewer his attacker with his own spear and he proceeded on toward Drasyl, taking up his Bardic singing once again. The battle continued to rage on with Drasyl again casting her Magic Missiles, this time on the approaching Knorr who staggered from the attack. Knorr missed Drasyl with his charge, but she would have to cease her casting. Karak was able to finally kill his assailant, and then moved on to help the others, killing Naffin’s attacker next while Olanth was able to hit and kill the kobold attacking him. Drasyl was able to hit Knorr with her dagger, and the Bard fell to the ground. A combination of Karak’s axe and Naffin’s punches took out the kobold attacking Nyora while Olanth, seeing his favorite bard and cook fall to the dagger of Drasyl, went into rage. He charged the Kobold Queen, cutting her in half with one mighty swing from his bastard sword. As the last remaining kobold turned to flee, Erky caught it in the back of the head with his club, rendering it unconscious, Erky then proceeded to club it to death. Nyora attended to those wounded, healing Knorr and Naffin with her spells.

A quick search of the area yielded the group a key (the one promised which would allow entry to the tomb of the Dragon Priest), three scroll cases (Mage Armor, Feather Fall, & Cure Medium Wounds ), and a feather. Each guard had 5 gold pieces and Drasyl had a dagger, a wand, and a purse containing 50 gold pieces. The party decided to return to their encampment above where Oscar waited.

Each party member received 400 experience.


[This message has been edited by Baldak Oakfist (edited January 31, 2002).]

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2002050329,00.html

"Good to see you again, Oscar." Knorr greeted the huge man and set to cutting the dragon into steaks, leaving the hide for Olanth. After preparing some dragon meat for the party to dine on, he cooked up the rest and salted it for travelling provisions.

"Oscar, did you have any trouble with twig blights or other monsters while we were gone?"

[This message has been edited by Shralp (edited January 31, 2002).]

 

Looking over to his favorite cook, Oscar simply points to a large pile of firewood, then to his greataxe. "Stick things no problem, make good wood for fire."

 

Nyora sat down next to Knorr to dine on the dragon as well as discuss the plans for the rest of the journey.

"Knorr, perhaps you should ask Oscar to return to Oakhurst so that he may purchase some theives tools for our monk friend. He sees you as the lead of our group and might take to the suggestion better, coming from you."

[FYI, Theives Tools are not purchased at the local hardware store. They have to be obtained from the local theives guild. Baldak]

[This message has been edited by Baldak Oakfist (edited February 03, 2002).]

 

Naffin observes his shredded and blood stained tunic (a javelin point, and a spear both introduced themeselves on several occasions), and makes a valiant attempt at straightening it out into some reasonable appearance.

Having failed at that, he sits down on the ground, happy to be at rest, and meditates on getting his ass handed to him by small disrespectful creatures.

 

Karak didn't say much to the others. He was still a bit angry at the kobold queen's betrayal. He sat alone and chewed a tough chunk of meat, downing it with some water from his canteen. It sat like a lump in his stomach. Not that it was the cook's fault or anything, he just wasn't that hungry to begin with.

He was a bit tired though. So he laid back on the grass and began to take a nap. He wanted to get rested up and back into the action. There were some people still to be found.

 

Having rested the night, the adventurers decided to resume their trek into the sunken fortress searching for the missing party. Upon reaching the tower entrance, they were attacked by a small group of goblins. Naffin and Erky were able to get off javelin throws that killed two of the goblins, and the others closed the door. While the goblins were closing the door, Karak tried to jump over the trap door into the doorway, but triggered the trap door, and fell in. Olanth jumped in after Karak and killed the dire rat that was about to attack Karak. While the group was trying to figure out how to get the two out of the pit, the trap door closed. After much contemplation, Knorr finally decided on a method to open the trap door again, and the two were finally retrieved. Inside the pit, Karak and Olanth found the, recently dead, body of a goblin. It carried several items including Erky’s spell book.

Inside the tower, the party could see a trail of blood leading toward the door on the northwest section of the wall. Nyora noticed a secret door on the southern section of the wall. Naffin could detect no traps, and Nyora opened the door, only to be pierced by a small dart taking minimal damage. Beyond the door was a closet sized room containing the remains of three humanoids. As Karak entered the closet to search it, the skeletal remains were engulfed in a cloud of dust. The skeletons became animated, and attacked the party. Nyora was able to turn the undead creatures and they fled through the tower door, only to fall into the pit just outside the door, they were again just skeletal remains. The party decided to follow the trail of blood next. It lead them toward the Kobold area, After traveling for a few minutes and turning north, they came to a door. Naffin could detect no traps on the door and didn’t hear anything beyond it. Olanth, along with some help from Knorr, was able to force the door open, crashing through and falling down. Knorr performed a diving summersault and landed right on the edge of a trap door he triggered open, but managed to not fall in. At the bottom the pit the bodied of four recently dead goblins lay, impaled onto the spikes inside.

The party retreated back into the Kobold territory, and seeing a door just to the east, they decided to check it out. Naffin again didn’t notice any traps and this door was locked. Before Olanth could attempt to force this one open also, Knorr knocked on the door. A voice could be heard from beyond the door speaking in the draconic language. Knorr, being able to speak draconic, replied to the request for the password. He said that Queen Drasyl was in trouble and needed help. The kobolds inside quickly unlocked the door, and were slaughtered as they opened it. Inside the room, the party discovered the bulk of the kobold colony, 20 kobolds, all very young or very old. Knorr was able to intimidate one into helping them locate the entrance to the Dragon Priest Tomb.

The kobold lead the party back to the entry tower and through the door on the southwest section of the wall. The room they entered had another door on the west wall. This one was made of stone and had the carving of a dragon on it with the mouth of the dragon carving being the keyhole. The key they obtained from the treasure altar of the kobolds opened the door revealing a chamber that had not been disturbed for centuries. Along the north wall, three alcoves were set with pillars containing cracked crystal orbs. The south wall contained one alcove, but in this one, the orb was undamaged and glowed blue. Knorr could hear faint notes emanating from the orb as did Naffin. Knorr instinctively began to sing a counter song. As Karak entered the chamber, the notes emanating from the orb became a loud song which filled Karak with feelings of dread. Knorr’s counter song negated the feelings though. Knorr knew the orb needed to be destroyed, and after some initial fumbling, and Nyora fleeing in panic when she tried to pick the orb up, Olanth was finally able to crack the orb with his bastard sword.

Each party member received 500 experience points.

 

Assuming that the orb was the source of the song that had inspired Nyora to caper off, Knorr snagged it for future study.

 

Naffin watches Knorr looking over the broken glass object for a minute before he tucks it away in his pack, who knows why...

Thinking the bard's time might be better spent examining something of potential value to the group, Naffin walks over to him and produces 3 unusual looking quarrels from the quiver he found in the skeleton closet.

"Knorr, perhaps you should take a look at these as well," he says, handing the rune engraved bolts to the minstrel.

"Perhaps these might be of some special use if we run into anything, eh... extraplanar, in this tomb."

 

After a brief rest, the group decided to continue on into the tomb. The Door on the west wall was opened revealing a 20 foot long hallway. Naffin moved into the hallway and after a few steps, triggered a trap that sent an arrow toward him. He jumped back and was unsuccessful in deflecting the arrow taking a hit. Nyora quickly healed the monk. Erky was able to discern the nature of the trap, a 10 feet long pressure plate as wide as the hall was the trigger. Olanth attempted to jump over the plate, but stumbled, landing in the center. Olanth crawled to the other side, using his shield for cover. As he moved along, each of the discharged arrows soared over him. Seeing that the height of the arrows was at a constant height, Erky crouched and moved across the plate. Olanth decided to attempt the stuff the trap hole with a sack blocking it. Karak was the next to move across the trap, but the sack did not stop the arrows. Next Olanth put his shield over the hole, and this time Naffin was the next performing a diving summersault across the trap trigger. Olanth’s shield blocked the arrow, lodging it in the hole. Nyora crawled across next, and 7 more arrows were lodged in the traps discharged hole. At this point, the wall around the hole began to rumble. After a few seconds the rumbling grew to a point where the wall was visibly shaking. Knorr, still on the other side of the trap trigger, exited the hall and hid around the corner. At that moment, the wall collapsed in a small explosion, pelting the group with flying debris. Naffin was able to avoid some of the damage, but the others were not so lucky. After the dust cleared, They were able to crawl over the debris pile into the next chamber.

The sculpture of a dragon was the only adornment in this room, and as Karak approached it, the dragon began to speak. “We come at night without being fetched: we disappear by day without being stolen.” Upon hearing the riddle, Naffin blurted out the word Stars and a secret door in the west wall opened up revealing a long chamber. On the north and south walls, alcoves contained statues of warriors carved out of red-veined marble. On the south wall, one of the alcoves was noticeably empty. Naffin was able to easily see the tracks in the thick dust. Karak inspected them determining that they belonged to some kind of reptilian humanoid, but not a kobold. At the far western end of the chamber an archway led into another chamber containing a sarcophagus. Directly in front of the archway was a pit, 10 feet deep, 20 feet wide and 10 feet across. Much discussion was made concerning how to cross this pit, but finally, a rope was tied to one of the statues and Olanth climbed down followed by Karak. Olanth then used his grappling hook, tied to his rope, to snag the sarcophagus and proceeded to climb out followed closely by Karak. Upon reaching the top, a small creature with bat-like wings emerged from around the corner and tried to push Olanth back into the pit, it simply bounced back upon hitting the large barbarian. Knorr tried to blind it with a flare, while Karak chopped at it with his battle axe. The creature, knowing it was out-matched, flew up and began to retreat toward the open secret door, vowing to return and harass them. Many attempts were made to strike the creature as it fled the area, with Knorr landing a blow with a javelin, but the creature managed to escape. Naffin, Nyora, and Knorr attempted to pursue the creature, but were slowed down too much by the debris field created by the collapsed wall and the creature was gone. As the small creature emerged from the crevasse above, it was met by Oscar who threw a large spear at it, scaring the creature off.

The three returned to the matter at hand, the sarcophagus. In this chamber, a single torch burned with an eerie green light. Knorr determined that the torches color was only for dramatic effect, but while fiddling with managed to trigger the secret compartment door located on the west wall. Inside the small opening, was a single book, iron bound with silver inlay and gems encrusted on it. Naffin was checking for traps and upon finding one, managed to stop Knorr right before he grabbed the book. Knorr decided to move the book with his javelin, and the scythe blade cut the tip off. Again he attempted to use his javelin and it was again shortened further. Erky offered a dagger that he had found on Queen Drasyl’s body, and this time as Knorr moved the book, the scythe blade was stopped. Knorr retrieved the book. The book explained about a Cult ritual whereby cult members were entombed alive for crimes. A separate note in the back of the book explained that this particular tomb contained the Dragon Cult High Priest who had turned himself into a troll and offended their Dragon Goddess, Tiamat. Against all common sense, the party decided to remove the lid and released the troll-priest from a state of suspended animation. The years of being trapped in that state had driven the priest insane and it attacked the party. Naffin struck the troll-priest with a stunning blow which proved to be its undoing. As it sat inside the sarcophagus, stunned, the party struck it with a savage barrage of blows, rendering it weak. Erky, knowing it was a troll, had readied two flasks of oil, and doused the creature. Olanth lit the oil on fire, and the rest continued their attacks, The troll-priest attempted to climb out, but was beaten down, and succumbed to the assault, falling unconscious. The cut wounds were healing, but the burns seemed to be permanent. Three more flasks of oil were added to the fire as the attacks continued, and the Troll was finally burned to death. The party collapsed from exhaustion. Inside the sarcophagus, the party found the following items: 220 silver pieces, 150 gold pieces, an amulet, two bracelets adorned with dragons, a dagger with a dragon handle, a mace, and a scroll case made of bone.

Each party member received 400 experience points.

OoC: The battle with the troll-priest took one hour of play time to complete, during which the party hit the troll 18 out of 25 times, and used 5 flasks of oil to finally kill the beast.

 

Knorr pointed out that the weapons are magic of some sort and the jewelry is not. He gave the scroll case to Nyora.

 

Following the roasting of the Troll, the party headed back to Oakhurst to re-supply. The trip back was uneventful, and the party arrived about one half hour before the general store closed. Naffin, Karak, and Nyora went to the store, while Oscar, Olanth, and Erky went to the inn. Inside the Store was a female halfling browsing around. After the three finished purchasing supplies, they also went to the inn to make arrangements for the night. The halfling in the store followed them over and once inside the inn, she offered to pay for their stay. She introduced herself as Verna Highhill, thief extraordinaire. Naffin asked her if she knew of a place where he might purchase some specialty tools, but she informed him that they were only available in New Jarla. He offered to buy hers, but she would have no part of it. Instead, she offered to join them, they accepted.

In the morning, Olanth was up early. He headed over to the general store to purchase some more supplies. He also stopped by the blacksmith shop to see if the local smith could craft a shield out of the dragon hide. He was informed that it would take at least 3 weeks. Once the entire party was ready, they set off back to the crevasse and the sunken citadel. Oscar set up camp above, and the rest returned to the depths.

Traveling through the familiar paths, the group decided to head back to where they found the dragon. Unfortunately, the goblins sealed off the passage that they had used before, and so they returned to the hallway with the spiked pit. When they entered the chamber before the hall with the pit, Nyora noticed Kobolds hiding behind the pillars. Naffin and Verna, moving silently and hiding in the shadows, sneaked through the chamber and took up a position behind the kobolds. They then dispatched the creatures one by one, attacking from the rear using as much stealth as possible. The kobolds were carrying a total of 72 gold among all of them.

They entered the hall with the pit, and since Verna was unable to disable the pit trap, they used a 1 foot wide path against the wall to bypass it. Verna discovered that the door leaving the hall was trapped, and was able to render the magical trap harmless. Another short hall and one last door lay ahead of them. The next door led into a room occupied by 6 goblins. The battle with the goblins didn’t last very long with the party taking them out with out any damage to themselves. A search of the goblins produced 120 silver and 60 gold.

Each party member received 550 Experience

There was another door exiting this room, and after checking to ensure it was safe they discovered that through this door, lay one of the chambers controlled by the goblins. It was the wide hall with the pillars adorned with dragon carvings. As Naffin approached the door on the west wall, it was easy for him to hear the low rumble of goblinoids from beyond the door. They next checked the far western door on the north wall. Beyond this door was a hallway that led to the northern end of the Goblin colony chamber. A door on the south wall of the hallway led into the colony as did the door on the west wall of the pillared hall. After a discussion of some length, a plan was formulated. Verna and Naffin would open the door in the hallway, while the others waited by the door on the western end of the pillared hall. Naffin and Verna would attract the goblins attention, and when the goblins were heading toward them, the others would enter the room and attack from the rear.

The plan would have worked very well except for one problem, Verna failed to pick the lock to the door in the hallway, and on her second try alerted the goblins to their presence. Naffin and Verna, having noticed the sudden lack of noise from the room, stopped and waited for the noise to return. While they were waiting, four hobgoblins opened a door at the end of the hallway and threw javelins at the pair. Verna responded by killing one with a quick shot from her bow while Naffin, having deflected one javelin, leapt to the attack and dropped another. The remaining two hobgoblins quickly shut the door. Upon hearing a commotion from the hallway, the others burst into the room, surprising the occupants, 34 goblins and 10 hobgoblins (only 4 goblins and 3 hobgoblins defended the colony, the others were children and elders). Knorr immediately broke out into song, and would keep singing for quite a while. Nyora would have gotten off a quick shot if she hadn’t broken the string on her bow while Olanth took out the first hobgoblin with a mighty swing from his bastard sword. Knorr took out another one with an arrow and Karak felled a goblin with his axe. Verna picked the lock to the door that the hobgoblins retreated through, and Naffin opened it up revealing the Goblin Chieftain’s throne room. Naffin quickly closed the door again. Olanth took out the last hobgoblin defender in the colony room, and was then attacked by three goblins taking several blows from their morningstars. Karak killed another goblin with his axe. Verna moved to the door entering the colony room, and proceeded to unlock the door. Naffin dropped a sack full of caltrops in front of the door leading to the Goblin Chief and entered the colony room. Karak dropped another goblin while Olanth took another blow. At this point Nyora decided to stop missing with her weapons and started to cast cure spells on party members in need of healing. She began with Olanth, using her cure moderate wounds scroll and fully healing him. Filled with renewed strength, Olanth dropped the last goblin.

As the party was preparing to question the cowering children and elders, the door in the northwest corner of the room burst opened and 2 goblins and one hobgoblin entered attacking. Another similar group entered the hallway to the north, and were met by a floor full of caltrops, they exited the hallway screaming in pain. Knorr was the first to hit the new intruders followed quickly by Naffin and another hobgoblin was down. Verna decided to sneak back into the hallway and enter the chieftain’s chamber from the other door. Karak was hit by a goblin, and Knorr took a javelin throw from the goblin chief. Karak and Olanth quickly took out the two goblins, but the other two goblins and one hobgoblin from the hall took their place. The goblin chief pulled out a short bow at this point. Naffin took out one of the goblins right away with a flurry of blows. Olanth dropped the hobgoblin standing in front of him and Verna, having snuck up behind the goblins, fired an arrow at the chief dealing some damage. Naffin dropped the last goblin, but The goblin chief was healed by a goblin cleric that was standing next to him. Karak attacked the cleric, killing her with one blow. Olanth scored a massive blow to the goblin chief and he was finished off by an arrow fired by Verna.

Among the rubble in the goblin colony, the body of Talgen Esterhauze was discovered, while his signet ring was found on the hand of the goblin chief. A search of the area and bodies of the goblins and hobgoblins produced one chest containing 231 gold, a dagger, 2 gems, 2 vials, and 1 scroll case, 320 silver and 150 gold on the guards, and a scroll case on the cleric.

Each party member received 350 Experience

 

Knorr checks out the loot.

"The vials seem to be some sort of anti-toxin. The gems are worth about 50 gp each. The dagger is magical somehow, but I can't tell the nature of the magic. And the scrolls are Knock and Daylight."

Knorr pockets the scrolls and one of the vials and passes the other vial to Nyora.

He turns slowly and gives the gems to Verna. "Perhaps you should carry these for safekeeping. And I trust you'll share anything else you come across."

[Edited to add, after Verna's comments below:]

Knorrs tries to snatch the dagger back as Verna grabs for it, but the halfling is too quick. Realizing that she's the logical one to be sporting a magic dagger anyway, Knorr lets it go. "Ok, keep the dagger. But let's not make stealing from each other a habit, Verna."


[This message has been edited by Shralp (edited February 26, 2002).]

 

Verna gives her comrade a crooked grin, and tucks the gems away. "You trust a thief, that’s...er... brave of you, my friend.” She glances at the dagger, “You mind if I just…”she says tucking it into her belt without waiting for a response. She glances around the room, her eyes stopping on the one door they haven’t thought about. “And what’s behind door number four?” she says making her way to the west wall. “Hmm, it seems there are no traps, and it’s unlocked. Shall we?”




[This message has been edited by Serena Lynx (edited February 22, 2002).]

 

After accepting the vial from Knorr, Nyora listened to the conversation he had with Verna.

Nyora then walked over to Verna.

"I wanted you to know... that we are all very grateful for your accompaniment on this quest. Your..... expertise will help us complete this quest with much more ease and efficiency than we would have without your help.

But you see, we have all only been traveling together for a few days now, and only a couple of us have known each other prior to accepting this mission. We all must try to trust each other, with our lives, and with our quest, if we are to succeed. We look to each individual here, to help with certain... specific skills that the others do not possess. For instance, my ability to heal, or your ability to disarm magical traps. My point being, if one of us should attempt to deviate from the task at hand, and having deluded the rest of the group, that attempt should prove most dissapointing. Those who would even bother with such unnecessary deeds would not benefit in the least from anyone else in the group. We all must help eachother in this pursuit, and we all must be willing to do what is best for the group. For what is best for the group, will prove to be what is best for the individual."

With that, Nyora bows her head briefly at the halfling and turns away.



[This message has been edited by Xenecor (edited February 22, 2002).]

 

Karak looked around the room at the "commoner" goblins. He didn't mind them so much as the commoner kobolds. At least the goblins were upfront with whose side they were on, rather than the traitorous Kobold Queen and her guards.

Their recent finding hadn't left him in the best of moods, but he hoped they weren't too late for the young man's sister and anyone who might be traveling with her. He had a feeling though that as they traveled on through this dungeon, they were going to find worse things than kobolds and goblins, or even psycho troll priests. Erky had even mentioned wererats. All you had to say was "rats" and Karak got upset. He decided he'd better ask Knorr a quick question concerning weaponry before Knorr got started conversing with the goblins for possible information.

"Excuse me Knorr," he tapped the cook on the shoulder. "I was interested in taking a look and possibly holding onto that mace we found in the dragon priest's tomb for the time being. What say you?"

 

"You want the mace?" Knorr looks a bit surprised. "Um, ok. Here. I don't know what it does. Hope it's not cursed."

Knorr hands the mace to Karak.

 

Verna sighs as she watches the cleric walk away. “I’m not use to working in a group” she thought to herself, “but perhaps I should be more honest with these people.” She paused for a moment, then reached into her money pouch. She tapped Nyora on the shoulder and handed her 10gp. She did the same for Naffin, and walked away without any explanation.

 

Knorr watches the new girl return the gold and grins, vowing to make up a song of the glory of Verna, the last honest halfling thief.

He also briefly contemplates picking Karak's pocket.

 

Nyora stood, for a brief moment, staring at her hand in quiet astonishment. She than glanced towards the thief and smiled a very grateful and pleased smile.