torsdag den 24. januar 2013

26th session: Disrupting the ritual

4th moon, 26th day, year 4554
The brothers ask Gurax to find out the hows and whys of the ritual. Then they head down near the "palace" and Belos uses his necromantic arts to get the lay of the land. There seems to be at least 10 guards on duty at all times.

4th moon, 27th day, year 4554
The next evening, Gurax returns. He informs the T'orghs of the ritual and such. Apparently the dragon is trapped in the lava behind the palace, with only it's head (which is nailed to the ground) out of the lava. This is where the high priest and his flunkies will conduct the ritual. The chief will be atop of the palace building, where he will, after the dragon being sacrifized, demand a boon from his god, the Raven Queen. He will ask for an avatar, a champion, to come join them in their upcoming battle with the drows.

The brothers formulate a loose plan...

4th moon, 28th day, year 4554
The next morning, they protect themselves against the lava and breath of the brass dragon, then fly out over the lava in order to approach the palace island from "behind".

As they fly in, they are spotted, and as they "engage", Belos makes the mistake of staying out over the lava. His flying and protection from fire spells are dispelled, and he drops into the lava. He manages to get out, but is very very crispy. Battle continues with the guards, who are soon joined by more guards, the high priest and then finally the chief. The battles swings back and forth, before the Belos finally manage to kill the last duergar, while the two others are incapacitated.

After dealing with the under-dwarves, the T'orghs equip Rexnar with Belos' amulet and kill the helpless dragon and fly off, back into the Underdark. Since they have only 7 days until the soul is no longer preserved by the amulet, they use magic to travel like the wind through the tunnels and the forest.

5th moon, 4th day, year 4554
The brothers arrive home in time, and place the soul-stone on the altar, on the bloody scale. Before their eyes, it changes to a shield sporting a bloody symbol of Asmodeus.

søndag den 13. januar 2013

25th session: Going down...

4th moon, 19th day, year 4554
The brothers follow the trail of the chained dragon into the Underdark. They are attacked by a huge Swordspider, which is quickly dispatched.

4th moon, 21st day, year 4554
At night, as they are resting in a small cavern with two exits, the T'orghs are swarmed by 20 grimlocks. One draws a darkness stone, plunging the battlefield in complete darkness. The fight is touch and go, but in the end, they manage to pull through.

4th moon, 22nd day, year 4554
The brothers stumble over some strange mist that rolls towards them. As they notice three circular shapes with tentacles in the mist, they think they are facing 3 beholders. Tagar tosses a dagger, and the 3 beholders explode - it was only gas spores.

4th moon, 24th day, year 4554
The T'orghs are ambushed by derro, mad underground dwarves that rely heavily on poison - and the attack almost proves fatal to several of the brothers.

4th moon, 26th day, year 4554
The brothers arrive at Rythome, a duergar town of some 7000 souls, built on a lava lake. When the duergar find out that they are dark elves, and not drow, the T'orghs are allowed in. Inside they run into an opportunistic duergar named Gurax. He offers to help them with information and the like against them taking out Chief Horax. He tells them that:
- Chief Horax has the dragon, and has told that his advisor, Raven Queen priest Nutar has is preparing a grand ritual in 3 days, one that will assure victory over the drow of Darkfort.
- The whole town will attend the completion of the ritual, although on the opposite side of the lava.

søndag den 6. januar 2013

24th session: The brass trial

2nd moon, 1st day, year 4554
After killing the assassins, Nalfein cast a quick Speak With Dead in order to try to find out who they were. The soul told him that they were working for someone called Chr'ukar was their leader, that he was of House Xoliz (a destroyed house) and that they were all part of the Black Hand, a mercenary band in Menzo, frequently used to do the dirty work of the noble houses.

The Torghs continued to Menzo, arriving at evening. They quickly sought audience with Father, and told him of the attacks by House Hume. He believed they probably knew about the scrolls, and reminded his sons that the scrolls were of outmost importance for the House, and that he rather have them die than spill the secrets of the scrolls.

They also met with Hu'ar, who invited them to stay, as he was getting annointed as High Priest of Asmodeus the very next day. They accepted - of course.

2nd moon, 2nd day, year 4554
After the grand annointment, the brothers were contacted by Ty'var, the secondboy of House T'orgh. He told them:
Hu'ar has become driven. Ever since he realised that he could now claim House T'orgh for himself, he has definitely changed. He often mumbles about the scrolls. I think he wants to take over your quest and use the scrolls to gain leadership of the House.

2nd moon, 16th day, year 4554
After a couple of weeks of spell research, the T'orghs once again set out into the wild of the Silent Forest, back towards the Temple.

2nd moon, 17th day, year 4554
Razz catches up with the brothers. He wants to warn them. Some clues, as well as his gut points towards Ty'war being the attempt on their lives.

2nd moon, 20th day, year 4554
At night, Belos is surprised by a couple of trolls during his shift. While ferocious, the monsters are no match for the brothers.

2nd moon, 23rd day, year 4554
The brothers arrive at the temple, and start the Brass trial. A horned demon appears and says:
Very impressive says the lord of light. Now you must capture the soul of the brass dragon Rexnar and crush it on the altar. Use the soul to infuse the scale on the bloodied altar, and you will have something to help you in the remaining trials.


2nd moon, 26th day, year 4554
Nalfein tells the others that during the night, he was visited by a Pit Fiend, and told that their Father was sacrosankt, but that none of their brothers were.

2nd moon, 28th day, year 4554
The brothers are attacked by two trolls and an ettin shaman. The monsters are dispatched without too much hassle.

3rd moon, 2nd day, year 4554
The T'orghs return to Menzo, and start digging for information about Rexnar.

3rd moon, 26th day, year 4554
After many days of research, the brothers finally have all the information they think they can find. They have learned the following
- Rexnar was once described by one Baris the Beautiful as "talks more than half the whores of Drahar put together". "He likes tales of ages past and fancies himself a great storyteller, but in fact, he is nothing but average, if that"
- Aghnar One-Eye, famous living dwarven adventurer, recounts how he once faced Rexnar and ended up walking away with 5.000 gold after a 9 hour long game of Kings.
- Lives in a cave a couple of miles east of Rumble
- Like all other Brass dragons, Rexnar is Immune to fire
- Like all other Brass dragons, Rexnar can breathe heat or sleep gas

Armed with the knowledge, the T'orghs set out again.

3rd moon, 27th day, year 4554
As they cross the bridge over a river, they find themselves facing Ty'var, in full battle armor and clearly protected by a dozen spells or so. He wants them to pledge him their alliance and help him kill Hu'ar. Nalfein declines on the grounds of Hu'ar being too weak, to un-dark-elf, and the battle starts. Its long and hard and all the brothers go down and bleed out, while Jeffrey kills Ty'var.

Luckily for them, Razz notices that Ty'var doesn't come back from his nightly escapades, and voices his concern to Father, who scries on the brothers, only to find them dead. Shadowwalking to the place and getting them back on their feet takes somewhat longer.

4th moon, 5th day, year 4554
Nalfein and Tagar are back on their feet after being ressurected. Belos didn't really die, apparently. They head back out into the forest.

4th moon, 15th day, year 4554
After a tenday of walking and not encountering anything even remotely dangerous, the brothers are attacked by a living tree.

4th moon, 17th day, year 4554
The brothers are attacked by some huge spiders with swords for legs.

4th moon, 19th day, year 4554
The T'orghs arrive at Rumble, and find a burning village. They encounter an orc shaman who once lead the village. It was supposed to be protected by Rexnar, but apparently he didn't come this time, when their village was sacked by other orcs. The brothers quickly head to the cave, but find it empty, but signs of struggle and chains, and lots and lots of dead orc bodies. They enlist the old shaman to track for them.

The trail leads into a cursed undead village, which they bypass with dimension door, and then into the Underdark....