onsdag den 24. april 2013

36th session: Gone, but not forgotten...

9th moon, 12th day, year 4554
Jegred returns from Hell, with good news. He has found a Balor, named Yrko, who has agreed to do as the brothers want, provided they do one thing for him. They need to find an old elf called Ghera Silverclover, and make sure he is there, when Yrko steps through the portal from Hell.

The T'orghs zap back to Menzo, and spend a couple of days at the library finding information about Silverclover. 

9th moon, 14th day, year 4554
As it turns out, Ghera Silverclover is a former adventurer who led a crusade more than 150 years ago, against the undead and creatures from Hell. When his band of merry crusaders got old and retired, he carried on for a couple of years, but then stopped, after tricking a Balor to return to Hell.

He retired somewhere near Ashenwood.

9th moon, 15th day, year 4554
Before leaving Menzo, the brothers start Ramzok on gathering the items needed for their dragon armors. The T'orghs then zap to the hills outside Hope, and quickly make their way to Ashenwood. There they found a little village and got directions for Silverclover's house.

On the way to the house, which was about 5 miles away, they were jumped by two spirit trolls, rare creatures usually conjured by powerful shamans to protect holy sites or the like.

Once at the house, things quickly turned into a long battle. Silverclover, although old as hell, was still pretty handy with his crossbow. Not only that, but his house was also warded both against demons and devils, but also protected like a king's treasury. And as if that wasn't enough, the entire cabin was cloaked in illusions making it very difficult for the brothers. Eventually the fight ended up outside, with Silverclover caught between the brothers and Jegred. Then he called a purple worm up from the depths, and things got slightly more complicated. Jegred got eaten, and things got very close, although it ended without further deaths.

Silverclover got tied up, and the brothers zapped back to Nedergard with him and his considerable treasure. Aside from all the magical items and the money, there was also a note of interest.
In the Temple of Azarath
Beneath the Mountain of Despair
All that is standing between you
and the ancient artifact
Is four very special locks
And the eternal guardians
The Temple of Azarath is an legendary dwarven stronghold which fell about 1500 years ago. Little is known about the dwarvens that ruled it, except that they were peerless crafters of weapons and armor, and that their King had an artifact, rumored to the Rod of Power, an even more legendary artifact, said to have been used by the gods when the races were created.

onsdag den 17. april 2013

35th session: Coldbreath

8th moon, 29th day, year 4554
The brothers soon decided to attack the dragon, as they didn't want to risk that it could begin to eat the giants. Tagar turned invisible and charged, but the dragon saw him, and ripped half of his guts out. The battle was quick and intense. Jeggred got ripped to pieces in mere seconds, Tagar was out for some of the combat from a nasty tailslap, and if not for his ring, Belos would have joined Asmodeus in Hell. But in the end, the T'orghs killed Coldbreath and claimed the giant hearts (1k lbs in total) and the frost giant treasure.

8th moon, 30th day, year 4554
The next morning, they set out to find Coldbreath's lair

9th moon, 2nd day, year 4554
After a couple of days of tracking in the mountains and casting divination spells, they found the lair of Coldbreath, high up on top of one of the tallest mountains, inaccessible without flight. 

After filling their portal hole, Nalfein decided to use Word of Recall to return to Menzo quickly, while the others walked. But when he arrived, his two brothers were already there, Tagar grinning stupidly.

9th moon, 5th day, year 4554
After taking care of the hearts, the brothers meet up with Father, who presents them with a new opportunity. After their discovery of the House Jhalavar plot, Father fears the drows might attack Menzo at an oportune moment. And that would be a disaster. Therefore, he wants the brothers to travel to Nedergard, the drow capital of the region, and kill the drow queen while framing the murder on one of the most powerful families. Belos is a bit leery about the project, but Nalfein convinces him that it would mean enormous prestige doing so.

9th moon, 7th day, year 4554
After a failed attempt of scribing Tongues, the T'orghs take the portal and arrive near Darkfort.

9th moon, 8th day, year 4554
The brothers run into a small patrol of drows. Although obviously skilled, the drows are no match for the dark elf brothers, and they are quickly run over.

Later the same day, the brothers are attacked by 3 phase spiders. While the spiders are quick to phase in and out, they fail to poison anyone and eventually die.

9th moon, 11th day, year 4554
The brothers arrive at Nedergard, the drow capital. Nalfein disguises his tattoos with some minor illusion and casts Tongues, while his two brothers disguise themselves as members of the Fellowship of the Raven Queen, a drow assassins clan who are mute.

The enter Nedergard fairly easily, and get directions for Devil's Corner, where they are supposed to meet up with Yakkar, a spy of their father's.

On the way to Devil's corner, they are stopped by some guards, but Nalfein, with his newfound charisma, talks them out of the bind.

Arriving at Devil's Corner, a luxurious house of ill repute, Nalfein gains admission, while the two others choose to stay out, near their weapons. Inside, Nalfein forgets himself and is recognized as a dark elf. Luckily for him,  the girl runs to her boss, who happens to be Yakkar. Yakkar kills the girl before she can warn others, and the 3 brothers gain admittance. 

They quickly hatch a plan. They will, using the dagger Nalfein has, summon a Balor and convince it to wreck havoc in Nedergard. When the Balor attacks, they will in her temple/throneroom, posing as important merchants. Hopefully most of the guards will head out to help deal with the balor, leaving her somewhat less protected. In order to deal with the balor and strike a deal, they kill Jeggred sending him back to Hell, so that he can convince the balor beforehand. 

9th moon, 10th day, year 4554
While they wait for Jeggred to return, they plan the ambush of one Tagar V'rex, the oldest son of a very powerful noble drow family, and a wellknown fighter. The ambush goes well, and the Vrex son and his bodyguards are dead. The body gets dumped in the portal hole, for later use.

Now they just have to wait for Jeggred to return and see what he says.

onsdag den 10. april 2013

34th session: The Ice Symbol (part two)

8th moon, 28th day, year 4554
With a runner gone, the brothers felt they had no choice but to enter the caves. However, before long, they spot - or rather the magical owl does - some giants making way towards them. The T'orghs run back out and Nalfein plants (haha) a wall of thorns right as the 8 giants arrive, so that their force in split in two. The dark elf brothers start killing off those giants on their side of the wall, but before they can kill them all, the frost giant "king" and his shaman as well as a couple of guards manage to get through the wall of thorns. Luckily for them, Nalfein offs him immediately with a Phantasmal Killer, while Tagar and Jegred tear through the remaining giants helped by another wall, this time of fire.

No sooner that the brother take a breather and the wall of fire shuts down before more giants arrive. The brothers balance on the edge, and Jegred is (once again) killed. Yet they somehow manage to kill the all and then run for the woods in order to hide and rest.

8th moon, 29th day, year 4554
The next morning, they return only to find the remaining giants (all 17 of them) in the middle of making some sort of giant (haha) ritual. The brothers decide to attack them and somehow manage to win the battle, but not before the giants offer their souls to Coldbreath for vengeance. Tagar informs that Coldbreath is one of the oldest, biggest and meanest white dragons in the wold.

The T'orghs hurry inside the cavern system in order to find treasure. As they find the loot, Coldbreath arrives and starts hunting them in the cave system. The T'orghs grab whatever can be in the portable hole and dimension door back out into the woods.

When they return later, the white dragon is sitting atop a huge frozen pile of frost giants, which usually means that they are getting prepped for dinner, according to Tagar.

onsdag den 3. april 2013

Menzo and T'orgh Timeline

Year Event
2445 Fleeing the continent of Ular, 24 noble dark elf families land on the eastern coast of Nala and head into the Silent Forest.
2447 After a less than amicable dispute, the families split up. 18 of the Houses stay and found Llur'gel, while the remaining 6 families chose to follow the vision of Jy'ak T'orgh, and go deeper into the immense forest.
2448 Almost 3 years after they arrived on Nala, the 6 families settle down near Dragon Mountain and the building of Menzo begins.
2458 A young, but very skilled priest named Da'kar of House Argith is named the first High Priest of a newly finished Temple.
2555 The biggest red dragon any dark has ever seen lands on top of what is now called Dragon Mountain. For 60 days, it is seen entering and leaving a cave at the top of the mountain, then it disappeared, not to be seen again. Several of the leading High Priests and their best men went up to explore the cave, but nothing was found.
2711 To the south, Ched Cinlu is founded by a fraction of dark elves who has left Llur'gel behind.
2733 Jy'ak T'orgh dies of old age. Pyrzi T'orgh becomes new High Priest of House T'orgh.
2998 First encounter with drows on Naja by an expedition in the caves below the Green Peaks.
3076 Pyrzi T'orgh dies and his eldest son, Razza T'orgh becomes High Priest of House T'orgh.
3077 Razza T'orgh is killed by the Council for heretical thoughts. Q'aro T'orgh becomes new High Priest of House T'orgh.
3421 Q'aro T'orgh dies and Mezro T'orgh becomes the new High Priest of House T'orgh
3467 Council expanded to 11 Houses.
3499 First and last dark elf-drow war starts, as Menzo, led by House Argith, sends a small army below the Green Peaks and wage war on the drows.
3537 The war between the dark elves of Menzo and the drows ends, with great loses on both sides. The Council decides that as long as the drow stay down below, they are to be left alone.
3599 Mezro T'orgh dies, and G'azz T'orgh becomes new High Priest of House T'orgh.
3733 Exactly 1000 years after his death, the ghost of Jy'ak T'orgh is seen walking the halls of the Temple,
3815 HP Venar T'orgh takes charge of House T'orgh
3980 A large army of humans lands on the shores of the Red Lake.
3981 Colonists follow the army, and start building New Laketown, clearing the forest around the lake.
3999 The combined might of Menzo descends on the settles of Red Lake, and more than 8.000 humans are slaughtered on the borders of the lake, coloring the waters red.
4102 A coalition of most noble Houses of Menzo begin an aggressive and rapid expansion northwards with House T'orgh in charge.
4117 Menzo's expansion stretches all the way to the Hills of Blood, the Black Hills and 30 miles west of Blackwell. A truce is made with the humans who have not been subjugated.
4169 Venar T'orgh convinces the Council to break the truce and to let the coalition attack Blackwell.
4170 Blackwell falls and is sacked, but at great cost. The humans, horrified by the sacking of Blackwell revolt. King John of Laketown leads the human army.
4172 The dark elves are soundly beaten and expelled from the human lands. House T'orgh loses a lot of men and status.
4178 King John wins the battle in the Forest of Death and unites Ra'kar under his rule, forging the Iron Empire
4401 Collapse of the Iron Empire
4553 Current year






33rd session: The Ice Symbol (part one)

8th moon, 14th day, year 4554
The Torgh's use their newly acquired portal room (due specifically to the portal room, Father has decided to take over the Jhalavar palace and installed Hu'ar there) and beam to the temple with the symbol room. There they activate the ice symbol, and learn that they must harvest the heart of every single member of the Icebear clan and burn the hearts on the altar in Menzo.

Tagar informs the others that the Icebear clan is probably up north of Laketown, near a volcano called Blackhole. Nalfein is skeptical.

8th moon, 22nd day, year 4554
Returning to Menzo (with 50 new orc minions in tow), they once again use the portal room, this time to land in the hills south of Laketown.

8th moon, 23rd day, year 4554
The T'orghs stop by Laketown, to investigate. They learn that the Icebears are one of the most powerful frost giant clans in the area, and that they live on the north side of the extinct volcano called Blackhole Volcano.

8th moon, 28th day, year 4554
After some day of traveling, where the most scary monster they encounter is a mountain lion, they enter the frost giants' territory and ambush a couple of giants, killing them quickly. They investigate further, and find a plateau at an altitude of more than 2 miles, and behind a pine forest, they find the huge entrance to the giant lair. The brothers attack the giants outside, killing eight before proceeding inside, or rather, luring some more outside. They finish those off as well, but one escapes and runs into the cave....

Dragon armor

In order to enchant 1 suit of dragon armor, you need:

- Enchant an Item spell
- A flame that has burned for 1 year.
- 200 lbs of wood from an oak that has been struck by lightning twice.
- 1 gallon of blood from a greater demon or devil
- 5 gallons of water from the Faerie Realm
- Enchant an Armor spell (researchable, 4th level spell)
- Permanency spell

- Place the armor on a 1000 year old altar
- Cast enchant an item
- Set the armor on fire (with the flame and the wood)
- Douse the flames with the water and the blood
- Cast enchant an item on the armor
- Cats enchant an armor and enchant it depending on level (+1 at 12th, +2 at 14, +3 at 16, +4 at 18th, +5 at 20th)
- Cast Permanency on the armor

Rod of Lordly Might


Rod of Lordly Might
This metal rod resembles a mace with a flanged head at one end and six brass buttons in a row along the haft.
The rod of lordly might is a +2 mace
Additionally, you can use the following properties.
Paralyzing Strike (1/day): Save or be paralyzed (melee reach)
Invoke Fear (1/day): Save or fear in 5' radius (must be able to see rod)
Drain Life (1/day): Make a melee attack with the rod against a creature within your reach. If the attack hits, it deals 3d6 extra damage, and you regain 3d6 hit points.

Buttons: Once per round on your turn, you can press one of the rod’s six buttons (no action). The button’s effect lasts until you push a different button or until you push the same button again, which causes the rod to revert to its normal form.

1. +1 flame tongue longsword (+2 vs regenerating, +3 vs cold-using, +4 vs undead)
2. 
+4 battleaxe
3. 
+3 spear
4. Climbing pole. A spike at the bottom anchors the pole in surfaces as hard as granite, while the other end sprouts three sharp grappling hooks. The rod stretches to a maximum length of 50 feet, stopping at whatever length you choose. Horizontal bars 3 inches long fold out from the sides, 1 foot apart, in a staggered progression, forming a ladder. The rod is firmly held in position by the spike and hooks, and it can bear up to 4,000 pounds.
5. Battering ram, which can be used to break down doors, barricades, and other unattended objects. The force exerted by the rod is equivalent to Strength 30.
6. The rod indicates magnetic north and gives you knowledge of your approximate depth beneath the surface or your height above it.

Dispel Magic

The following changes to Dispel Magic have been agreed upon.

You choose to target one target or an area.
If you choose one target, you get to roll against all spells in place on that target.
If you choose an area, you get to roll against the highest spell in place on each target.

mandag den 1. april 2013

The portal room

After investigating the portal room, the following is known:

There are 7 portals. The use of a portal is possible by anyone who holds a portal key. 23 portal keys were recovered. In order to work, they need to be aligned with the portals, so your uncle has now re-aligned the portals and keys so that if more keys exists elsewhere, they are useless.

The 6 portals who are linked to a specific location work in the same way. You activate the portal with the key, and about 10 minutes later, it opens up an inter-dimensional door to the portal on the other side for you and anyone touching you. The portals can be used in reverse.

  • Darkfort, drow city (in a secret cave about 2 miles north of Darkfort)
  • Laketown (secret cave in hills south of Laketown)
  • Blackwell (secret cave in hills north of Blackwell)
  • Hope (secret cave in hills north-west of Hope)
  • Ched Cinly, dark elf city (secret cave on Mount Heavenly)
  • Ungraeth, dark elf city (secret cave on Mount Mayan)
The seventh portal, who isn't linked to a specific location works somehow differently. By focusing on a place you know well enough to picture in your mind, you can open the portal there after about 1 hour.