1st moon, 12th day, year 4554
Using his ring of change self, Nalfein enters the village of Derrick posing as an elf, and after talking with several fishermen, secures passage for the brothers.
1st moon, 13th day, year 4554
The next morning, he meets Grokard, the fisherman, and sets out. After a couple of hours they pick up the rest of the party. Grokard is surprised and frightened by the dark elves that join them, but the lure of a lot of gold and the realization that they can kill him easily ensures he agrees to sail them to the isle.
1st moon, 21st day, year 4554
The T'orghs arrive to the island, and agree with Grokard that he should return every 3rd day to the island. After a week, he is free to go as he please.
They decide to follow the coast, and look for a lake or similar, as Belos has informed them bronze dragons do.
After a couple of hours, they find a river leading inland. They follow it, and are quickly ambushed by two giant crocs. The crocs die and are raised, one by Belos, one by Nalfein.
Continuing on, the brothers and their new undead guardians are attacked by 24 man-sized, blue and yellow frogs. The fight is long and hard, with Belos almost dying and Nalfein going down as well.
After the fight, the T'orghs decide to rest. They move a bit away from the river, and make camp. During the night, a minotaur and what later turns out to be a psychic tiger try to sneak up on them, but when discovered and faerie-fired, try to flee in order to regroup. This results in a 10-minute hectic chase through the forest, finishing by Nalfein and Tagar catching up with the minotaur. Fight starts, and the psychic tiger returns invisible and joins in. Tagar trades blows with the minotaur while Nalfein holds off the tiger. Belos arrives after a while, and help finish off the monsters.
1st moon, 22nd day, year 4554
The T'orghs continue inland, bypassing some ruins and finally find their lake, hidden in between some hills. Tracks show that the dragon at least comes here occassionally, but no cave in sight. Belos makes them all able to breathe water, and they go exploring underwater. Suddenly the dragon, which is just about bigger than anything else they have seen, arrive, dropping in from above. The T'orghs realize that they are screwed underwater, even if they can breathe, and quickly dimensior door out of the lake while the dragon finishes off their undead servants, including Jeffrey. The battle then continues on land (and in the air), finishing by Nalfein killing the dragon with his wand of fire, mere seconds before the next breath weapon would surely kill most, if not all of the brothers.
Exploration turns up a dragon-lair, complete with a dragon-horde.
torsdag den 13. december 2012
lørdag den 8. december 2012
21st session: The bronze trial
11th moon, 26th day, year 4553
After travelling home towards Menzo for a couple of days, the brothers are, while setting up camp for the night, approached by an old dark dirty and barefoot darkelf, who asks if they will share their fire with him.
They decide to do so, slightly intrigued what a dark elf is doing on his own out here. He doesn't tell them much, aside from the fact that he was banished from Menzo a long time ago by the Council and the brothers' father. He also appear to know Tagar's mother and shows some interest and knowledge about Belos' newfound staff. Nalfein distrust the old man, and decides to take a round, looking for magic or something else. As Nalfein is gone, the old man shapechanges to an old acquaintance, the dragon they met in the Underdark, and assaults Belos and Tagar. Fortunaly, both Tagar and Jeffrey prove very precise and hardhitting, and the (poor) dragon is ripped to shreds in no time at all.
11th moon, 28th day, year 4553
The brothers, still on their way back to Menzo, are attacked by a phase spider, which they kill quickly.
11th moon, 29th day, year 4553
The T'orghs arrive back at Menzo, and complete the first trial by pouring the blood out over the altar.
12th moon, 2nd day, year 4553
After 3 days relaxing and spellscribing in Menzo, the brothers once again head towards the temple.
12th moon, 10th day, year 4553
The brothers arrive at the temple. After having seen that the Earth Symbol only changed a bit, and how it changed, the brothers Belos and Nalfein decide to try to figure out what the other symbols could be. They flex their mental muscles, and come up with the following
From top left, to bottom right
1- Air
2- Brass
3- Bronze
4- Chaos
5- Copper
6- Creation
7- Death
8- Earth (Hill Giants)
9- ??
10- Fire
11- Gold
12- Ice
13- Justice
14-
15-
16- The dead
They decide on the bronze symbol. A horned devil appears in a puf of smoke and says:
"Deliver a scale weighting no less than 5 lbs from the hide of the dragon called Tyrat. Bring it to the altar in the temple of T'orgh, and keep it on the altar for safeguarding until the next trial has been completed"
Not knowing who the hell Tyrat is, the T'orghs decide to swing by their library in Menzo and find out.
12th moon, 15th day, year 4553
At night, the brothers are attacked by seven very brave orcs. They overbear Nalfein and manage to land quite a few blows before they are killed and subsequently reanimated. While a humiliating experience, it does help Nalfein realize that his new ringmail must have been mis-identified, due to the amount of protection it turned out to offer.
12th moon, 18th day, year 4553
Back in Menzo, the brothers start to research.
12th moon, 27th day, year 4553
After nine days of perusing over old books, the T'orghs have found 3 interesting pieces of information.
- Jurat Firemonger is credited to have said: "Tyrat ignored several of my spells, but every one of my electricity spells"
- Jurat also writes: "As we were closing in on Tyrat, we were assaulted by all kinds of animals. It was if nature itself had a deal with the beast"
- Tyrat lives on the island of Nosurax, east of the Silent Forest.
1st moon, 4th day, year 4554
On the way east, towards the isle of the bronze dragon Tyrat, the brothers ran into a live tree who tries to eat them, but they dispatch it quickly enough.
1st moon, 7th day, year 4554
The brothers stumble over a couple of hardened elves resting for the night. They ambush them and make short work of them, before reanimating one of them.
1st moon, 11th day, year 4554
The T'orgh brothers are attacked by a wyvern. After killing it, Nalfein tries to animate it and create a very powerful guard, but fails. Instead Belos does it.
1st moon, 12th day, year 4554
The T'orghs arrive at the coast, near the village of Derrick.
After travelling home towards Menzo for a couple of days, the brothers are, while setting up camp for the night, approached by an old dark dirty and barefoot darkelf, who asks if they will share their fire with him.
They decide to do so, slightly intrigued what a dark elf is doing on his own out here. He doesn't tell them much, aside from the fact that he was banished from Menzo a long time ago by the Council and the brothers' father. He also appear to know Tagar's mother and shows some interest and knowledge about Belos' newfound staff. Nalfein distrust the old man, and decides to take a round, looking for magic or something else. As Nalfein is gone, the old man shapechanges to an old acquaintance, the dragon they met in the Underdark, and assaults Belos and Tagar. Fortunaly, both Tagar and Jeffrey prove very precise and hardhitting, and the (poor) dragon is ripped to shreds in no time at all.
11th moon, 28th day, year 4553
The brothers, still on their way back to Menzo, are attacked by a phase spider, which they kill quickly.
11th moon, 29th day, year 4553
The T'orghs arrive back at Menzo, and complete the first trial by pouring the blood out over the altar.
12th moon, 2nd day, year 4553
After 3 days relaxing and spellscribing in Menzo, the brothers once again head towards the temple.
12th moon, 10th day, year 4553
The brothers arrive at the temple. After having seen that the Earth Symbol only changed a bit, and how it changed, the brothers Belos and Nalfein decide to try to figure out what the other symbols could be. They flex their mental muscles, and come up with the following
From top left, to bottom right
1- Air
2- Brass
3- Bronze
4- Chaos
5- Copper
6- Creation
7- Death
8- Earth (Hill Giants)
9- ??
10- Fire
11- Gold
12- Ice
13- Justice
14-
15-
16- The dead
They decide on the bronze symbol. A horned devil appears in a puf of smoke and says:
"Deliver a scale weighting no less than 5 lbs from the hide of the dragon called Tyrat. Bring it to the altar in the temple of T'orgh, and keep it on the altar for safeguarding until the next trial has been completed"
Not knowing who the hell Tyrat is, the T'orghs decide to swing by their library in Menzo and find out.
12th moon, 15th day, year 4553
At night, the brothers are attacked by seven very brave orcs. They overbear Nalfein and manage to land quite a few blows before they are killed and subsequently reanimated. While a humiliating experience, it does help Nalfein realize that his new ringmail must have been mis-identified, due to the amount of protection it turned out to offer.
12th moon, 18th day, year 4553
Back in Menzo, the brothers start to research.
12th moon, 27th day, year 4553
After nine days of perusing over old books, the T'orghs have found 3 interesting pieces of information.
- Jurat Firemonger is credited to have said: "Tyrat ignored several of my spells, but every one of my electricity spells"
- Jurat also writes: "As we were closing in on Tyrat, we were assaulted by all kinds of animals. It was if nature itself had a deal with the beast"
- Tyrat lives on the island of Nosurax, east of the Silent Forest.
1st moon, 4th day, year 4554
On the way east, towards the isle of the bronze dragon Tyrat, the brothers ran into a live tree who tries to eat them, but they dispatch it quickly enough.
1st moon, 7th day, year 4554
The brothers stumble over a couple of hardened elves resting for the night. They ambush them and make short work of them, before reanimating one of them.
1st moon, 11th day, year 4554
The T'orgh brothers are attacked by a wyvern. After killing it, Nalfein tries to animate it and create a very powerful guard, but fails. Instead Belos does it.
1st moon, 12th day, year 4554
The T'orghs arrive at the coast, near the village of Derrick.
fredag den 30. november 2012
20th session: The trials of Asmodeus
10th moon, 29th day, year 4553
After a quick trek back to the duergar mine, the brothers hand in the head of the drow and secure safe passage out of the Underdark.
10th moon, 30th day, year 4553
The brothers meet Krul, their duergar guide, and head out into the maze-like Underdark. They quickly realise that even though they are only a few miles below the surface, they would probably never have gotten out alive.
11th moon, 3rd day, year 4553
After a 3-day march through the Underdark, where the only significant opposition was a handful of hook horrors, the T'orghs finally see the sun again. They exit the dark below in a cave in Dragon Mountain and soon head for Menzo.
11th moon, 4th day, year 4553
At once back in Menzo, the brothers brief their father on the mission of Master Rhylar, especially the part about a traitor house working against Asmodeus.
High Priest Venar uses Nalfein to connect magically with Master Rhylar, and Nalfein explains that they have his bottle, and Master Rhylar agrees to swing by and to pick it up in person.
While they wait, they spend some time training, buying new spells. Amongst others, Belos learns identify and immediately succeeds in identifying the maul. It is indeed the Maul of the Titans.
They also learn that the vampire they killed in the Underdark was a noble of House Jhalavar.
11th moon, 10th day, year 4553
Master Rhylar arrives, sitting atop a very big and very shadowy dragon. He informs Father, uncle and the brothers that the scrolls of Asmodeus that they have are as suspected the original ones. Asmodeus planted them in the mortal world, so that his followers could proove themselves to him. In order to gain access to the scrolls' powers, one must surive and complete 16 trials posed by Asmodeus himself. He also explains that the runes on the wall in the temple are keyed to the trials. Activate a rune to get a trial. He also shows them how to do that.
The brothers and Father decide that the best course of action to take is for the brothers to attempt to complete the 16 trials, so that they can command the power of the scrolls in the coming face-off with House Jhalavar.
11th moon, 11th day, year 4553
The brothers once again leave Menzo and head northwest, to the temple where they found the scrolls.
Belos' health improves as well, he doesn't feel as weak from the energy drain as he has the last month, but he is still not at his best.
On the way to the temple, they run into a snake of epic proportions, but even though it is big, it is no match for the blades of Tagar.
11th moon, 19th day, year 4553
The T'orghs arrive at the temple, and activate a random symbol. It changes to the symbol of earth, and a horned devil appears.
"To the south-west, 10 days on foot from this forsaken place, lies the nameless hills north of the Red Lake. There, Chief Grask, leader of the Skullsmasher clan plans a ritual in 8 days, at midnight. You must stop the ritual and bring back 10 liters of the chief's blood to be poured over the altar in the House of T'orgh. Eternal life to the Lord of Light, so it was at the beginning, so it will be at the end."
Wasting no time, the brothers head out again, and by using fly and free action spells, they make up for the time and arrive at the giant lair seven days later, after stumbling over some well-equipped goblins whom they interrogated about the precise location of the giants.
11th moon, 26th day, year 4553
The brothers sneak into the chieftain's lair, bypassing most of the tribe, and try to kill him while he is sleeping. Unfortunately, a magical alarm wakes him, but they still manage to kill and drain his blood before the wall of fire that is blocking for the other giants ends.
After a quick trek back to the duergar mine, the brothers hand in the head of the drow and secure safe passage out of the Underdark.
10th moon, 30th day, year 4553
The brothers meet Krul, their duergar guide, and head out into the maze-like Underdark. They quickly realise that even though they are only a few miles below the surface, they would probably never have gotten out alive.
11th moon, 3rd day, year 4553
After a 3-day march through the Underdark, where the only significant opposition was a handful of hook horrors, the T'orghs finally see the sun again. They exit the dark below in a cave in Dragon Mountain and soon head for Menzo.
11th moon, 4th day, year 4553
At once back in Menzo, the brothers brief their father on the mission of Master Rhylar, especially the part about a traitor house working against Asmodeus.
High Priest Venar uses Nalfein to connect magically with Master Rhylar, and Nalfein explains that they have his bottle, and Master Rhylar agrees to swing by and to pick it up in person.
While they wait, they spend some time training, buying new spells. Amongst others, Belos learns identify and immediately succeeds in identifying the maul. It is indeed the Maul of the Titans.
They also learn that the vampire they killed in the Underdark was a noble of House Jhalavar.
11th moon, 10th day, year 4553
Master Rhylar arrives, sitting atop a very big and very shadowy dragon. He informs Father, uncle and the brothers that the scrolls of Asmodeus that they have are as suspected the original ones. Asmodeus planted them in the mortal world, so that his followers could proove themselves to him. In order to gain access to the scrolls' powers, one must surive and complete 16 trials posed by Asmodeus himself. He also explains that the runes on the wall in the temple are keyed to the trials. Activate a rune to get a trial. He also shows them how to do that.
The brothers and Father decide that the best course of action to take is for the brothers to attempt to complete the 16 trials, so that they can command the power of the scrolls in the coming face-off with House Jhalavar.
11th moon, 11th day, year 4553
The brothers once again leave Menzo and head northwest, to the temple where they found the scrolls.
Belos' health improves as well, he doesn't feel as weak from the energy drain as he has the last month, but he is still not at his best.
On the way to the temple, they run into a snake of epic proportions, but even though it is big, it is no match for the blades of Tagar.
11th moon, 19th day, year 4553
The T'orghs arrive at the temple, and activate a random symbol. It changes to the symbol of earth, and a horned devil appears.
"To the south-west, 10 days on foot from this forsaken place, lies the nameless hills north of the Red Lake. There, Chief Grask, leader of the Skullsmasher clan plans a ritual in 8 days, at midnight. You must stop the ritual and bring back 10 liters of the chief's blood to be poured over the altar in the House of T'orgh. Eternal life to the Lord of Light, so it was at the beginning, so it will be at the end."
Wasting no time, the brothers head out again, and by using fly and free action spells, they make up for the time and arrive at the giant lair seven days later, after stumbling over some well-equipped goblins whom they interrogated about the precise location of the giants.
11th moon, 26th day, year 4553
The brothers sneak into the chieftain's lair, bypassing most of the tribe, and try to kill him while he is sleeping. Unfortunately, a magical alarm wakes him, but they still manage to kill and drain his blood before the wall of fire that is blocking for the other giants ends.
mandag den 19. november 2012
19th session: The Genie in the bottle
10th moon, 1st day, year 4553
Using his ring of change self, Nalfein enters Laketown to scout and find the sage. His first stop is at the Wet Fish Inn, where he bribes a local to tell him about John Ghutol. Apparently the local merchant does not know of this sage, but he directs him to Master Ryghlar, *the* sage in Laketown. He lives in a tower-house on the island furthest from land. Nalfein quickly heads over to the island, only to be turned away by the sage's majordomo. He is however told to return the next day.
10th moon, 2nd day, year 4553
Nalfein returns to Master Ryghlar's place, and this time, he is in luck. Master Ryghlar meets with him, and informs him that Ghutol died 250 years ago. But Master Ryghlar does know of the scrolls, and proposes a deal. He knows of a genie, and if the brothers can deliver said genie to Master Ryghlar, he will tell them all they need to know of the Scrolls. In order to find the genie, the T'orghs must head to the Dragon Mountains and use magic to enter a special underground dungeon. There they will have to find 8 keys to open a portal, which in turn will lead them to the genie. Nalfein accepts on behalf of the brothers, and return to camp.
10th moon, 4th day, year 4553
After two days of walking in the mountains, the brothers and their pet goblin are surprised and attacked by two ettins. Although Tawri almost blinks his ass out over a ledge, the giants prove to be fairly easily dealt with. Later the same day, they find the secret magical entrance and get teleported inside the dungeon.
The dungeon appears very large, and in the first room that they enter, they find a chest. As Tagar wants to open it, it morphs and bites him. While that could arguably be somewhat expected, the fact that the walls were suddenly alive as well certainly did surprise the brothers. The fight against the living wall and the mimic is a tough one, but in the end, the two monsters are dead and the brothers are already fairly exhausted but they have their first key.
But deciding not to let the dungeon dictate their pace, they head further in. The next room has the key on a keychain in the middle of a long narrow room, complete with autoclosing walls. Tagar shows off his speed and jumping skills, and manages to get the key unharmed.
The brothers move on, into an empty room. Suddenly they find themselves trapped in the mindscape of an intellect devourer which stalks them in an imaginary forest, while attempting to sow division and distrust. Tagar ends by downing Tawri, but manages to shake the spell and turn around the fight with two perfect hits in a row. They now have 3 keys, and decide to rest here.
10th moon, 3rd day, year 4553
After a good night's sleep, the brothers continue on their quest for keys. They find a small statuette in the next room, which they have to remove from a pressure plate releasing poison to bring it along. The removing doesn't go too well, and Nalfein and Tagar get poisoned. But noone dies, and they continue to the next room they can find, which turns out to have nothing, but some odd markings which they can not decipher on the floor.
Next they find an alchemy lab, and Tawri attempts to make some water breathing potions, but without a positive result.
Then they find a room full of gems, gold and magic, but it turns out to be nothing but an illusion designed to trigger a curse. The imp guarding the room tries to kill them, but fails.
After the imp follows a junk-room, where some mustard goos attack the brothers. They kill off the weird monsters with some difficult and now have yet another key.
After the goos, the brothers discover a room that looks mostly like an ancient temple. With some luck, the brothers manage to defeat the two mummies that guard the room. And while there is no key in the room, there is (amongst others) a Pelor-decorated magic longsword which disappears from the hand of Tagar when he is struck unconscious, only to reappear seemingly out of nowhere later on, when Tawri searches for it.
10th moon, 4th day, year 4553
After a good night's they find a library and the brothers spend the day identifying items and finding 6 rare books. It turns out that the longsword Tagar has acquired is a holy avenger. He decides to keep it, citing that it suits him doing Asmodeus' will with a Pelor-blessed weapon. Nalfein and Tawri approve. The six books are:
Thoran Blackwater's Most Intriguing Life and Death
Fairie Fauna
Navigating the City of Brass
Lighting A Fire In A Snow Blizzard, A Treatize On Arcane Cold And Fire Magics
Jeffroz Ranzibel, A True Death
The True Story of the Lightbringer
10th moon, 5th day, year 4553
The T'orghs continue their exploration of the dungeon complex. They head towards the last room, which is a small ruin submerged in water. The 7th key is at the bottom, protected by a vampiric manta ray, which attack them while Tagar is using a combination of water walk and levitate to get to the key. Tagar gets drained before the brothers kill the beast. The 8th key is in the clay statue they found in a previous room, and after "freeing" the key, they head back to the portal room.
They activate the portal and find themselves in a fungal forest underground. Soon after arriving to this mysterious place, they are attacked by a beetle the size of a small elephant, but it is quickly dispatched. Size does not always matter, apparently.
As they venture further into the fungal forest, they run into a large number of Fungi men. There is a standoff, and the brothers convince the fungi men to lead them out of the forest. As they exit it several hours later, they are told that there be drow to the north-west and dwarves to the south east. The T'orghs decide to stay away from the drows - for now - and head east along the border of the forest.
As they get tired, they get to a river. They levitate and get dragged across, and then camp for some much needed sleep. During the night, Belos goes off on his own when he sees some fluorescent shrooms in the river - and almost drowns.
10th moon, 6th day, year 4553
The brothers continue east, where they find the ruins of an ancient elven city that mysteriously disappeared about 1500 years ago, in the year 2987. They enter the ruins, only to run into almost 20 elven wights. A battle for their lives start, and while they manage to kill the foul beats, Belos has been drained dry and is in a coma, and the rest of the brothers do not feel much better. They retreat back to their last camping spot, where they rest up.
10th moon, 7th day, year 4553
When Belos doesn't awaken the next morning, the brothers are worried.
10th moon, 11th day, year 4553
After more days of hiding invisibly, the T'orghs have had the chance to examine their new acquisitions. In Thoran Blackwater's Most Intriguing Life and Death, they find notes on a ritual that can help those who have been drained. If it doesn't kill them first. Deciding that Belos would want that, Nalfein and Tawri perform the ritual and Belos awakens, although still very weakened. They decide to wait some more.
10th moon, 14th day, year 4553
Not knowing what to do, Nalfein uses Divination and is told: The Genie is guarded by those who can not see, fear not the water, least the Genie you will not see.
The brothers head north, and after dealing with some spiders bigger than horses, they arrive where the river enters the cavern, a waterfall on the northern wall. They get the idea to levitate up and enter the hole where the water flows from. Inside, they stumble over a grey-purple-ish dragon. After some negociation and such, the brothers pay the dragon with the gems their father had given them for the sage. The dragon, which calls itself Xixiral, informs them that the genie is down south, near where the river hits the south wall.
So they head south.
10th moon, 17th day, year 4553
After heading south for 3 days and searching along the southern wall, the dark elf brothers find a cave with grimlocks. And after utterly destroying most of a patrol, they succeed in making an alliance with the grimlocks, which apparently have been living under the genie's figurative iron boot.
They enter the efreet's cave and face it. Soon they are fighting in an inferno of flames and fireballs, and just manage to bring the evil creature down and trap it in a bottle.
10th moon, 18th day, year 4553
After a good night's rest in the efreet's cave, they leave and head south-east, to the dwarves, which turn out to be duergar with a mining facility. Tawri tries to spy on them, and gets caught. The brothers strike a deal with the triplet leaders of the colony. Bring back the head of Zakris Darkmantle, leader of Darkfort, the drow enclave at the opposite end of the cavern. They also learn that a mindflayer has often been spotted in the ruins to the north, where the brothers almost met their end.
10th moon, 23rd day, year 4553
As they approach Darkfort, the T'orgh brothers run into a basilisk, which they readily dispatch, then an umberhulk that confuses Belos so much that Tagar has to knock him out cold.
10th moon, 24th day, year 4553
The brothers arrive at Darkfort. Belos does some magic and explains where Zakris is. He also explains that he is talking to someone from Menzo, and they are talking about a revolution, a plot to take down the city. He also mentions that Darkmantle warns his guest about House Mizzrym.
The brothers dimension door their way in, and find themselves facing Zakris Darkmantle, an expert warrior and a dark elf vampire. After a short but brutal fight, Zakris slays Tawri just before the vampire is forced to turn to mist and flee and he himself is slain by the brothers. Seconds later, they dimension door back out, with the body of Tawri and the head of Zakris...
Using his ring of change self, Nalfein enters Laketown to scout and find the sage. His first stop is at the Wet Fish Inn, where he bribes a local to tell him about John Ghutol. Apparently the local merchant does not know of this sage, but he directs him to Master Ryghlar, *the* sage in Laketown. He lives in a tower-house on the island furthest from land. Nalfein quickly heads over to the island, only to be turned away by the sage's majordomo. He is however told to return the next day.
10th moon, 2nd day, year 4553
Nalfein returns to Master Ryghlar's place, and this time, he is in luck. Master Ryghlar meets with him, and informs him that Ghutol died 250 years ago. But Master Ryghlar does know of the scrolls, and proposes a deal. He knows of a genie, and if the brothers can deliver said genie to Master Ryghlar, he will tell them all they need to know of the Scrolls. In order to find the genie, the T'orghs must head to the Dragon Mountains and use magic to enter a special underground dungeon. There they will have to find 8 keys to open a portal, which in turn will lead them to the genie. Nalfein accepts on behalf of the brothers, and return to camp.
10th moon, 4th day, year 4553
After two days of walking in the mountains, the brothers and their pet goblin are surprised and attacked by two ettins. Although Tawri almost blinks his ass out over a ledge, the giants prove to be fairly easily dealt with. Later the same day, they find the secret magical entrance and get teleported inside the dungeon.
The dungeon appears very large, and in the first room that they enter, they find a chest. As Tagar wants to open it, it morphs and bites him. While that could arguably be somewhat expected, the fact that the walls were suddenly alive as well certainly did surprise the brothers. The fight against the living wall and the mimic is a tough one, but in the end, the two monsters are dead and the brothers are already fairly exhausted but they have their first key.
But deciding not to let the dungeon dictate their pace, they head further in. The next room has the key on a keychain in the middle of a long narrow room, complete with autoclosing walls. Tagar shows off his speed and jumping skills, and manages to get the key unharmed.
The brothers move on, into an empty room. Suddenly they find themselves trapped in the mindscape of an intellect devourer which stalks them in an imaginary forest, while attempting to sow division and distrust. Tagar ends by downing Tawri, but manages to shake the spell and turn around the fight with two perfect hits in a row. They now have 3 keys, and decide to rest here.
10th moon, 3rd day, year 4553
After a good night's sleep, the brothers continue on their quest for keys. They find a small statuette in the next room, which they have to remove from a pressure plate releasing poison to bring it along. The removing doesn't go too well, and Nalfein and Tagar get poisoned. But noone dies, and they continue to the next room they can find, which turns out to have nothing, but some odd markings which they can not decipher on the floor.
Next they find an alchemy lab, and Tawri attempts to make some water breathing potions, but without a positive result.
Then they find a room full of gems, gold and magic, but it turns out to be nothing but an illusion designed to trigger a curse. The imp guarding the room tries to kill them, but fails.
After the imp follows a junk-room, where some mustard goos attack the brothers. They kill off the weird monsters with some difficult and now have yet another key.
After the goos, the brothers discover a room that looks mostly like an ancient temple. With some luck, the brothers manage to defeat the two mummies that guard the room. And while there is no key in the room, there is (amongst others) a Pelor-decorated magic longsword which disappears from the hand of Tagar when he is struck unconscious, only to reappear seemingly out of nowhere later on, when Tawri searches for it.
10th moon, 4th day, year 4553
After a good night's they find a library and the brothers spend the day identifying items and finding 6 rare books. It turns out that the longsword Tagar has acquired is a holy avenger. He decides to keep it, citing that it suits him doing Asmodeus' will with a Pelor-blessed weapon. Nalfein and Tawri approve. The six books are:
Thoran Blackwater's Most Intriguing Life and Death
Fairie Fauna
Navigating the City of Brass
Lighting A Fire In A Snow Blizzard, A Treatize On Arcane Cold And Fire Magics
Jeffroz Ranzibel, A True Death
The True Story of the Lightbringer
10th moon, 5th day, year 4553
The T'orghs continue their exploration of the dungeon complex. They head towards the last room, which is a small ruin submerged in water. The 7th key is at the bottom, protected by a vampiric manta ray, which attack them while Tagar is using a combination of water walk and levitate to get to the key. Tagar gets drained before the brothers kill the beast. The 8th key is in the clay statue they found in a previous room, and after "freeing" the key, they head back to the portal room.
They activate the portal and find themselves in a fungal forest underground. Soon after arriving to this mysterious place, they are attacked by a beetle the size of a small elephant, but it is quickly dispatched. Size does not always matter, apparently.
As they venture further into the fungal forest, they run into a large number of Fungi men. There is a standoff, and the brothers convince the fungi men to lead them out of the forest. As they exit it several hours later, they are told that there be drow to the north-west and dwarves to the south east. The T'orghs decide to stay away from the drows - for now - and head east along the border of the forest.
As they get tired, they get to a river. They levitate and get dragged across, and then camp for some much needed sleep. During the night, Belos goes off on his own when he sees some fluorescent shrooms in the river - and almost drowns.
10th moon, 6th day, year 4553
The brothers continue east, where they find the ruins of an ancient elven city that mysteriously disappeared about 1500 years ago, in the year 2987. They enter the ruins, only to run into almost 20 elven wights. A battle for their lives start, and while they manage to kill the foul beats, Belos has been drained dry and is in a coma, and the rest of the brothers do not feel much better. They retreat back to their last camping spot, where they rest up.
10th moon, 7th day, year 4553
When Belos doesn't awaken the next morning, the brothers are worried.
10th moon, 11th day, year 4553
After more days of hiding invisibly, the T'orghs have had the chance to examine their new acquisitions. In Thoran Blackwater's Most Intriguing Life and Death, they find notes on a ritual that can help those who have been drained. If it doesn't kill them first. Deciding that Belos would want that, Nalfein and Tawri perform the ritual and Belos awakens, although still very weakened. They decide to wait some more.
10th moon, 14th day, year 4553
Not knowing what to do, Nalfein uses Divination and is told: The Genie is guarded by those who can not see, fear not the water, least the Genie you will not see.
The brothers head north, and after dealing with some spiders bigger than horses, they arrive where the river enters the cavern, a waterfall on the northern wall. They get the idea to levitate up and enter the hole where the water flows from. Inside, they stumble over a grey-purple-ish dragon. After some negociation and such, the brothers pay the dragon with the gems their father had given them for the sage. The dragon, which calls itself Xixiral, informs them that the genie is down south, near where the river hits the south wall.
So they head south.
10th moon, 17th day, year 4553
After heading south for 3 days and searching along the southern wall, the dark elf brothers find a cave with grimlocks. And after utterly destroying most of a patrol, they succeed in making an alliance with the grimlocks, which apparently have been living under the genie's figurative iron boot.
They enter the efreet's cave and face it. Soon they are fighting in an inferno of flames and fireballs, and just manage to bring the evil creature down and trap it in a bottle.
10th moon, 18th day, year 4553
After a good night's rest in the efreet's cave, they leave and head south-east, to the dwarves, which turn out to be duergar with a mining facility. Tawri tries to spy on them, and gets caught. The brothers strike a deal with the triplet leaders of the colony. Bring back the head of Zakris Darkmantle, leader of Darkfort, the drow enclave at the opposite end of the cavern. They also learn that a mindflayer has often been spotted in the ruins to the north, where the brothers almost met their end.
10th moon, 23rd day, year 4553
As they approach Darkfort, the T'orgh brothers run into a basilisk, which they readily dispatch, then an umberhulk that confuses Belos so much that Tagar has to knock him out cold.
10th moon, 24th day, year 4553
The brothers arrive at Darkfort. Belos does some magic and explains where Zakris is. He also explains that he is talking to someone from Menzo, and they are talking about a revolution, a plot to take down the city. He also mentions that Darkmantle warns his guest about House Mizzrym.
The brothers dimension door their way in, and find themselves facing Zakris Darkmantle, an expert warrior and a dark elf vampire. After a short but brutal fight, Zakris slays Tawri just before the vampire is forced to turn to mist and flee and he himself is slain by the brothers. Seconds later, they dimension door back out, with the body of Tawri and the head of Zakris...
søndag den 18. november 2012
18th session: Destination: Laketown.
9th moon, 1st day, year 4553
After a couple of more days travelling, the brothers stumble over something very rare. They spot a patch of violet shrooms, the rare Echo Drops, magical shrooms that grow where rifts spill magical energies in from the Faerie Realm. You can use them to create a wide range of potions, most noticably healing potions.
9th moon, 5th day, year 4553
During the night, the brothers are awoken by a inhuman shrieking from somewhere nearby in the forest. As they discuss how to investigate the sound, some ogres sneak up upon them from behind, and the ogre mage, which had been making the sound, comes flying in, invisible. A hard fight follows, with Belos nearly dying, but in the end, all the ogres end up dead.
The next evening, as they are setting up camp, they are approached by the leader of a band of goblins from Farlang's tribe. They ask permission to set up camp nearby, which is granted, as long as they stay the hell away from the dark elves.
9th moon, 6th day, year 4553
During the night, Nalfein spots a young goblin, called Splug, spying on them. He sends him away. But the next morning, as they leave, they realize they are being followed. They set up an ambush, but it turns out to be Splug, whom they allow to tag along.
9th moon, 7th day, year 4553
The next day, the brothers stumble over an ancient temple of Asmodeus, older than Menzo, and definitely not created by dark elves. They search the ruins, and find some ancient stone tablets holding forgotten knowledge about the art of divine magic. Unfortunately, the secret place holding the tablets is trapped with a magical curse that feebleminds Tagar. Belos brews a potion using some of the Echo Drops and pours it into Tagar.
9th moon, 8th day, year 4553
Tagar snaps out of his coma, and the brothers can move on.
9th moon, 10th day, year 4553
The brothers leave the familiar confines of the Silent Forest and start hiding and resting during the day and travelling at night.
9th moon, 11th day, year 4553
After a couple of nights of travelling, the T'orgh brothers enter the Ironwood. Where the Silent Forest is dense and claustrophobic, Ironwood is almost sparce and majestic. Incredibly tall straight Ironoaks fill the forest, called that way because the core of the trees can be made into very durable wood.
9th moon, 12th day, year 4553
The brothers are attacked by a boar bigger than a draft horse, but once the initial shock has gone over, the beast is quickly and cleanically killed.
9th moon, 13th day, year 4553
The T'orghs exit the Ironwood and pass by Rilow Village, a small fishing village.
9th moon, 14th day, year 4553
They arrive at the Forest of Death. Mist is everywhere, screams, trees are gnarled and twisted, they seem dead, but aren't, there is a sickness in the air.
As they travel through the diseased forest, they are suddenly attacked by 25-odd ghouls and ghasts. But with Asmodeus' help, the undead are not a problem.
9th moon, 17th day, year 4553
After leaving the Forest of Death, the brothers rest during the day under the shade of some trees. A merchant named Ragnar approaches, a potter wanting to share the area with the dark elves. Nalfein uses his ring of change self to appear as an elf and tell the human off.
9th moon, 20th day, year 4553
The brothers stumble over a caravan of humans, and debate whether to use it to enter Laketown, but decide to leave them alone.
9th moon, 23nd day, year 4553
At night, the T'orgh brothers cross the Dragon River, invisible and levitating.
Shortly after, they pass by Ravenholm, a small village sporting a huge temple of the Raven Queen, which has a blackstoned roof shaped as a raven's head.
9th moon, 27th day, year 4553
The T'orghs pass by Icewell village, but pay no notice to the small human enclave.
9th moon, 30th day, year 4553
They arrive at Laketown, a town with about 15.000 inhabitants, built on small islands in a lake. The smell of water and fish is very noticable and in the middle of the town towers a huge temple dedicated to Bahamut.
After a couple of more days travelling, the brothers stumble over something very rare. They spot a patch of violet shrooms, the rare Echo Drops, magical shrooms that grow where rifts spill magical energies in from the Faerie Realm. You can use them to create a wide range of potions, most noticably healing potions.
9th moon, 5th day, year 4553
During the night, the brothers are awoken by a inhuman shrieking from somewhere nearby in the forest. As they discuss how to investigate the sound, some ogres sneak up upon them from behind, and the ogre mage, which had been making the sound, comes flying in, invisible. A hard fight follows, with Belos nearly dying, but in the end, all the ogres end up dead.
The next evening, as they are setting up camp, they are approached by the leader of a band of goblins from Farlang's tribe. They ask permission to set up camp nearby, which is granted, as long as they stay the hell away from the dark elves.
9th moon, 6th day, year 4553
During the night, Nalfein spots a young goblin, called Splug, spying on them. He sends him away. But the next morning, as they leave, they realize they are being followed. They set up an ambush, but it turns out to be Splug, whom they allow to tag along.
9th moon, 7th day, year 4553
The next day, the brothers stumble over an ancient temple of Asmodeus, older than Menzo, and definitely not created by dark elves. They search the ruins, and find some ancient stone tablets holding forgotten knowledge about the art of divine magic. Unfortunately, the secret place holding the tablets is trapped with a magical curse that feebleminds Tagar. Belos brews a potion using some of the Echo Drops and pours it into Tagar.
9th moon, 8th day, year 4553
Tagar snaps out of his coma, and the brothers can move on.
9th moon, 10th day, year 4553
The brothers leave the familiar confines of the Silent Forest and start hiding and resting during the day and travelling at night.
9th moon, 11th day, year 4553
After a couple of nights of travelling, the T'orgh brothers enter the Ironwood. Where the Silent Forest is dense and claustrophobic, Ironwood is almost sparce and majestic. Incredibly tall straight Ironoaks fill the forest, called that way because the core of the trees can be made into very durable wood.
9th moon, 12th day, year 4553
The brothers are attacked by a boar bigger than a draft horse, but once the initial shock has gone over, the beast is quickly and cleanically killed.
9th moon, 13th day, year 4553
The T'orghs exit the Ironwood and pass by Rilow Village, a small fishing village.
9th moon, 14th day, year 4553
They arrive at the Forest of Death. Mist is everywhere, screams, trees are gnarled and twisted, they seem dead, but aren't, there is a sickness in the air.
As they travel through the diseased forest, they are suddenly attacked by 25-odd ghouls and ghasts. But with Asmodeus' help, the undead are not a problem.
9th moon, 17th day, year 4553
After leaving the Forest of Death, the brothers rest during the day under the shade of some trees. A merchant named Ragnar approaches, a potter wanting to share the area with the dark elves. Nalfein uses his ring of change self to appear as an elf and tell the human off.
9th moon, 20th day, year 4553
The brothers stumble over a caravan of humans, and debate whether to use it to enter Laketown, but decide to leave them alone.
9th moon, 23nd day, year 4553
At night, the T'orgh brothers cross the Dragon River, invisible and levitating.
Shortly after, they pass by Ravenholm, a small village sporting a huge temple of the Raven Queen, which has a blackstoned roof shaped as a raven's head.
9th moon, 27th day, year 4553
The T'orghs pass by Icewell village, but pay no notice to the small human enclave.
9th moon, 30th day, year 4553
They arrive at Laketown, a town with about 15.000 inhabitants, built on small islands in a lake. The smell of water and fish is very noticable and in the middle of the town towers a huge temple dedicated to Bahamut.
17th session: Communication is key
8th moon, 22nd day, year 4553
After dispatching the two mages, the brothers first have to face some guards and a Xiltyn cleric, followed by another Xiltyn cleric and some more guards. The brothers persevere, despite facing powerful foes and as they finish off the last cleric, the doors break down and Fathers forces are here.
As soon as their father arrive, they are instructed to soon go to Laketown and locate a sage named John Ghulton, who, according to the oracle, knows something important about the scrolls. The brothers are warned that Ghulton has been around for more than 250 years.
They stay in Menzo for 3 days, getting newly acquired items identified and preparing for the long journey north.
8th moon, 27th day, year 4553
After a couple of days of traveling, they are attacked at night, by a noble of House Hume. The brothers manage to defeat him, despite his impressive skills with the blades, but not before he kills Tawri.
Luckily for Tawri, Nalfein has in his possession a scroll of raise dead, acquired on an earlier adventure.
After dispatching the two mages, the brothers first have to face some guards and a Xiltyn cleric, followed by another Xiltyn cleric and some more guards. The brothers persevere, despite facing powerful foes and as they finish off the last cleric, the doors break down and Fathers forces are here.
As soon as their father arrive, they are instructed to soon go to Laketown and locate a sage named John Ghulton, who, according to the oracle, knows something important about the scrolls. The brothers are warned that Ghulton has been around for more than 250 years.
They stay in Menzo for 3 days, getting newly acquired items identified and preparing for the long journey north.
8th moon, 27th day, year 4553
After a couple of days of traveling, they are attacked at night, by a noble of House Hume. The brothers manage to defeat him, despite his impressive skills with the blades, but not before he kills Tawri.
Luckily for Tawri, Nalfein has in his possession a scroll of raise dead, acquired on an earlier adventure.
søndag den 4. november 2012
16th session: Destroying House Xiltyn
7th moon, 30th day, year 4553
After a good night's rest outside, with various skeletons guarding the brothers, the T'orghs went back down to check out what they could find in the library. Apparently the undead had been (for unknown reasons) re-enacting part of the ritual necessary to summon a Balor, mighty demon of the 11 Hells.8th moon, 1st day, year 4553
The next day, the brothers returned to the library, to find out more about the ghost they had killed. Apparently, Hamzat, a member of the demon-cult, had been sort of a librarian, with a undying passion for his work.8th moon, 2nd day, year 4553
The next morning, the T'orghs headed north, following the edge of the Darkswamp. Entering human lands, they found what they were looking for. A farm with several carts, wagons, horses and mules. As they were taking them, the farm's owner and his sons arrived to stop them, but when they saw that the thieves were dark elves, they quickly fled inside to the "safety" of their house.8th moon, 3rd day, year 4553
Returning to the fort, the brothers put the skeletons to work, carrying all books up into the two carts.8th moon, 5th day, year 4553
After finishing collecting all the books, the dark elf brothers turned southwards towards Menzo.8th moon, 9th day, year 4553
Shortly before dawn, the brothers are attacked by two angry brown bears, but the beasts are quickly dispatched, albight not without some new wounds and scars being acquired.8th moon, 12th day, year 4553
The T'orghs return to Menzo.8th moon, 19th day, year 4553
After a week of R&R, setting up the library, training weaponsmithing, getting some magical items identified (still no maul!) the brothers are summoned by their father.In front of all nobles of the house, their father informs them that the oracle has told him how to find the sacred scrolls of Asmodeus, artifact of the god himself. Some humans have unearthed the information and holds it in a fort, near the Silent Forest. The fort iswell protected but with sufficient force, it is doable. Most of House Menzo marches in 3 days, so all have to get ready for battle and march. Afterwards, after everyone else has left, they are brought back in by R'azz. Father informs them that it is a ploy to get House Xiltyn to split their forces and leave their palace open for attack. In 3 days House T'orgh marches, but not north. Instead they are going to crush House Xiltyn by first destroying their palace, then marching north to ambush the army sent to destroy the fort.
In order to help with this, the brothers must find a way into House Xiltyn within 3 days. Shortly before the attack, they must take control of their "control center", where they have quick and easy communication with their army outside the walls of Menzo. The brothers are then to hold said center, until the palace is under T'orgh control.
8th moon, 22nd day, year 4553
After much debate and preparation, the brothers have their plan. Using some acquired potions of dimunition and invisibility, they hide amongst the wares of the Black Dagger Consortium, the merchant company delivering food and drinks to House Xiltyn.They manage to get in, without too many hickups. Then they hide until shortly before the attack, and then attack the control room, a room with maps and a crystal ball. They find themselves facing two wizards of no small skill, but after a hard battle, both wizards are dead, the room is theirs, and they can hear the sounds of battle from the outside. But ressources seem low, and it will be a while until Father can breach the Xiltyn defenses and come to their rescue....
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