Session 20

Members

Lórien - Elf Wizard
Theavaera - Elf Druid
Grimthain - Dwarf Cletic
Milo - Ranger
Cad - Monk

The Adventure

Our 20th session of this campaign was a momentous event.  Filled with intrigue, challenges, and combat.  Our travelers started out in the High Temple, where Lórien received a very powerful spell book, the Book of Infinite Spells.  It remains to be seen if he loans out the book to Grimthain so he can benefit from the Divine spells printed on a few of its pages.

While in the High Temple, the party prayed to Tito, the protector of the weak.  He granted the sense motive skill and a +1 to Cha, and answered a few questions from the party.  Lórien made a deal with him, thinking he got the best of the God, but that remains to be seen.  Lórien is now bound to protect the weak.  There will be repercussions if he breaks the oath he gave to Tito.  No one realized that the protector of the weak may have been the strongest God they have chatted with so far.

After studying at the High Temple, the party headed off in search of the Dracolich that attacked them on the previous day.  They arrived at a large mountain.  Standing alone on the plain in a vast area of dismal moors and tangled thickets.  The mountain itself is an almost perfect conical volcanic hill about 1000 yards in diameter and rising 800 yards into the sky.

Approaching the mountain, the party noticed a force wall barring the entrance, and a rather mangy, bedraggled Androsphinx sitting behind it.  The Sphinx tasked them with a riddle.  Sadly, it was less than challenging, and the party passed without incident.

Travelling further into the cavern, Grimthain failed to notice the green slime under a puddle of water, and had his boots melted off and his feet burned by acid.  His gait was unsteady from that point, and he needs a new pair of boots.  The rest of the party inadvertently avoided the slime by various means.

Following the cave, the party came upon a bound oak door, swollen by the dampness of the cave.  Struggling to open it, the door finally budged, and the party entered the next room.  Once the party entered, the door magically slammed shut.

In the room, suspended from the ceiling were nine glass orbs, each about two feet in diameter.  Lórien got a glimpse of the insides with x-ray vision, and the party started to break them in a search for the key.

The contents were challenging.  From beholders to a magic ring that offered its owner a free wish.  The party put down the creatures who were bound in the orbs and scooped up the loot that dropped from them.  Including some worthless items, like 300 lead coins and cheap glass jewelry.

Leaving that branch for the next, the party stumbled on a cadre of Clay Golems.  The golems were tasked to protect the cave, and gave the party a challenge.  With the numbers 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13, they asked which was out of place, and the timer began.  The consensus that #9 did not belong was reached, and the party avoided combat and gained a servant.

Following the cave, the party came upon a series of copper colored metal plates lining the walls.  The plates created an induction field that superheated any metal that passed through them.  Obviously the creator of this trap did not plan for a wizard who could cast dimension door.  (Grrr)  A party of Quem waited in hiding on the other side for an unarmed and unarmored party to emerge from the induction field.

The fight was over quickly.  The Quem did not fare well.

The net stop was a 30 foot spinning cylinder.  It spins counterclockwise at about 8 miles an hour.  The entire inner surface was coated in a slippery oil.  An alert guard, Burket, watched over the cylinder from a peep hole at the end of the passageway.  He set the oil on fire as the first of the party made it through the cylinder, and a fight ensued.

Burket's lover, Snarla the sorceress put up a good fight.  Her spell book was sadly lost after the fight when someone failed to notice that it was protected by an explosive rune that detonated upon reading it.

Lórien's eye did notice that there was a bit of illusion in Snarla's inner sanctum.  The sweet meats, cakes, and other delicious looking consumables were actually trail rations.  As well, her silken bed and lavish sheets were actually rough strewn burlap and straw tick.

They found a brass bound chest in the corner that Cad tried to open.  In the process, he set off a Stinking Cloud.  They party may think that the chest was empty, or they just may not believe Cad's report of the contents.  After all, why would an empty chest be trapped?

Nearing the end of our adventuring day, the party encountered a strange section of the cave.  There was a spiked pit at the entrance that Grim tried to jump over.  he made it, but hit the floor and slid into another pit.  The room was entirely friction-less.  Morgoth found that the air held no resistance at all after passing the pit, and fell onto the floor and slid into the far pit as well.  Maybe this was the unintended location of the previous dimension door spell.

DM Fiat was used to its fullest extent with this room.  The DM was unhappy no one tried to fly through.

After passing the friction-less room, the party entered the next section of the cave and saw a suspended tube of water.  This stream is suspended in mid-air and enters and leaves through two tunnels, each about six feet in diameter.  The stream only half fills the tunnels.  Objects can be thrust into the streams, but no water other than a few drops will flow out.   The stream flows very quickly from the east to the west, and within it blind cave fish dart about.  It is lukewarm.  Also in the room are three small two man kayaks (with no paddles).

This is the point where our adventuring day ends.  Much is in store for the next session.

Loot

300 Lead Pieces
11 Worthless gems
A few pieces of phony glass jewelry
6 gems (worth 100 gp each)
Gold necklace with a diamond and sapphire pendant (worth 1200gp)
Ring of Flying (4 charges)

Magic Items

Potion of Flying
Wand of paralyziation (1 charge)

XP Breakdown

XP this session: 15,000

Current level: 13

Total XP:  135,000

XP til level:  15,000

Book of Infinite Spells

Book of Infinite Spells: This work bestows upon any character of any class the ability to use the spells within its pages. However, any character not already able to use spells gains one negative level for as long as the book is in her possession or while she uses its power. A book of infinite spells contains an undeterminable number of pages.

Once a page is turned, it can never be flipped back—paging through a book of infinite spells is a one-way trip. If the book is closed, it always opens again to the page it was on before the book was closed. When the last page is turned, the book vanishes.

Once per day the owner of the book can cast the spell to which the book is opened. If that spell happens to be one that is on the character’s class spell list, she can cast it up to four times per day. The pages cannot be ripped out without destroying the book. Similarly, the spells cannot be cast as scroll spells, nor can they be copied into a spellbook—their magic is bound up permanently within the book itself.

The owner of the book need not have the book on her person in order to use its power. The book can be stored in a place of safety while the owner is adventuring and still allow its owner to cast spells by means of its power.

Each time a spell is cast, there is a chance that the energy connected with its use causes the page to magically turn despite all precautions. The owner knows this and may even benefit from the turning by gaining access to a new spell. The chance of a page turning depends on the spell the page contains and what sort of spellcaster the owner is.

Blood of the Martyr

4th Level Necromancy
Blood of the martyr is a necromancy spell that transfers the caster's life force to heal others.  You may transfer your own life force directly to a target creature within range.  The creature takes the caster's transferred life as if receiving a cure wounds spell.  An unconscious target is considered a "willing creature" for purposes of this spell.
Casting Time (Swift): 1 action.
Effect:  Choose a target that you can see within 25 feet of you.  If it is living, it regains 1d8+4 of the caster's hit points.
  If the creature is undead, it must make a Con save.  It takes 4d8 necromantic damage on a failed save and half as much on a successful one.  While the caster takes 1/4 of the damage roll.

Razor Rimmed Hat

This black hat has a red band and a wide razor sharp brim.  There is an adamantine ring embedded in the brim that shines in bright light.  This hat is most often worn by monks.

Property (attuned):  You are proficient with the hat as a weapon, and gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls you make when using the hat as a thrown weapon (1d8 damage, range 30/90) .

If you hit a creature with a thrown Razor Rimmed Hat, you can cause it to ricochet and strike a secondary target in an adjacent square (within 5 feet of the primary target). You immediately make an attack roll against the secondary target, at a -2 penalty. If the attack hits, you deal damage normally.

Once per day you can take an action to roll the hat in a straight line on the ground up to 50 feet, any creature in its path must make a DC 15 Dex save.  On a failed save: take 2d8 damage and half on a success.

Returning:  After making a ranged attack with the hat, you can catch it as a free action. If you do not wish (or are unable) to catch it, it teleports back to your head with no action, or into your hand if you wish.

X-Ray vision

X-RAY VISION - 5th Level Wizard Spell

School transmutation
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components  50gp piece of clear crystal or quartz
Range touch
Target creature touched
Duration 1 round/level

You gain the ability to see through solid matter. You can see up to 20 feet as though looking at objects in normal light even when there is no light source. You can see through up to 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal or up to 3 feet of wood or dirt. Thicker substances or a thin sheet of lead blocks the vision. X-ray vision does not confer true seeing or other visual powers.

Using this spell is physically taxing. You gain the dazzled condition while the spell is in use. Once you stop using the spell, you gain the blinded condition for a number rounds equal to the time the spell is in use as your eyes readjust to normal vision. A successful DC 17 Con save halves the blinded duration. You also take 1 point of Constitution damage per minute after the first 10 minutes of use in a day either from a single casting or multiple consecutive castings.

Session 19

Members

Lórien - Elf Wizard
Theavaera - Elf Druid
Grimthain - Dwarf Cletic
Milo - Ranger
Cad - Monk

The Adventure

  We started the adventuring day travelling to the High Temple.  A monk of Tito chose to accompany the group and the High Temple hired a mercenary bounty hunter to help guard him and the party.

Theavara changed into a mount, and everyone climbed aboard.  On the way there, they saw a large dragon on the horizon.  It started toward them, getting close enough to blast the party with a stream of poison, then turned and headed off towards a distant mountain.

Lórien's ring told him that this was in fact a Dracolich.  He wanted to go after it, but was overruled.  The party headed on to the High Temple.  When they arrived, they found it under siege.  A grooup of Taldor, Quem and Rakshasa were trying to get in.

Plant growth shut down the tactics of the enemy.  The Taldor soon fell, and the Quem and Rakshasa began to fall as well.

After the fight, the Lórien headed off to the research facilities at the temple, and the rest of the group engaged in some training and tests of strength.  Thea was not happy when Cad began punching trees, but they quickly smoothed things over.

Loot

Necklace of fireballs (5 pearls)
Scroll of x-ray vision

XP Breakdown

XP this session: 12,000

Current level: 13

Total XP:  120,000

XP til level:  30,000

Congrats on the level up.

Lórien's conversation with the ring

"Hey!  Yo mage!", says the attuned ring.

Lórien awakes from his trance, and wonders about the voice.  "I am Tsubotai.  My soul is trapped in your ring",  comes another telepathic message.  "I know you.  No, we have not met, but I have met many like you.  You are all the same to me."

I have a story for you ...
     Centuries ago, the god wars shook the pillars of civilization and plunged all of Tarq into anarchy.  While established religions fell into chaos, many high level clerics and wizards turned to the ancient writings of Zane, a long dead necromancer.  The gods were active at repressing his insane texts until then, but now, absent their formidable influence, his works began to resurface.  Followers of Necromancy began to flourish, converting numerous people to a bizarre mix of wizardly mysticism and an infatuation with death magic.
     Little information concerning this cult survives today.  It is known that its members delighted in conundrums, disdaining those who failed to equal Zanian mental prowess.  The Necromantic rituals involved evil elemental forces and vile acts.  The cult flowered in the chaos that ruled at the time, and the Necromancers grew wealthy and prosperous in only a few years.
     Not a group to rest on their laurels, the Necromancers soon discovered forbidden oracles.  Many virgins were sacrificed in order to give them a glimpse of the future.  They found a future that displeased them.  It troubled the Necromantic Council.  They met in dark chambers and fiercely debated methods by which to thwart fate.
     They chose to construct labyrinthine crypts beneath the Earth.  There, the most powerful Necromancers would hide in temporal stasis.  Meanwhile, trusted minions would carry on the Necromantic traditions in secret, waiting for the day they could awaken their masters.
     Years later, when clerics of the gods realized that they could gain guidance and help from their patron gods if they visited their resting places, they joined together and hunted down those minions and put them to the sword in what historians call the Great Purge.
Centuries passed, and the cult became little more than a footnote in obscure histories.  Until now, all adventurers who stumbled upon the ancient crypts perished.  I know the location of one of these crypts.  You are the first bearer of this ring I deemed worthy and powerful enough to undertake the challenge of getting in and out ... There is treasure and knowledge undreamed of ...

Pleased Eye of Iban

• Gain Infravision, but starts to lose normal sight.
• Take a -5 penalty to diplomacy checks.
• Gain 1 increase in skill die for Arcana, Insight, and Perception checks and +1 to Passive Perception.
• Once per day, you can create an aura of clear sight for 50 feed around you.  This aura lasts until the end of your next turn and gives a +3 bonus to all attack rolls, skill checks, and ability rolls.

Orb Spell Learned:

Handfang (Level 2 Necromancy):  You create a fanged, biting mouth in the palm of your hand. 
Casting Time: 1 Action.
Effect:  When you lay your hand upon a creature, the mouth bites it doing 3d6 necrotic damage. If the target makes a successful Dex save, he takes only half damage.

If the target fails it's Dex save, you may start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If you establish a hold, the fanged mouth sinks its teeth into the target’s flesh and continues to bite for additional damage each round until the hold is broken or the spell ends.

At Higher Levels:  When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher,  it does an additional 1d6 damage for each level above 2.