Well, up to 5th level now. The party consists of an Elven Ranger, Dwarven Bard, Halfling Rogue, Human Rogue/Barbarian, Halfling Cleric, Human Wizard, Human Cleric and a Human Swordsage. No a bad mixture, even if lacking a little in up front muscle.
The party started off by seeking out additional equipment, and accidentally went off in different directions. Consequently one of their number - the Human Rogue/Barbarian - suffered an unfortunate rip to his backpack in the Delvers Market - oddly enough all of his valuable items stored there appear to have fallen through the mysterious clean knife cut that appeared at the bottom of his pack! Must try not to go alone into a den of thieves in future!
Eventually, after a bit of trading, begging and so on the party got around to trailing Iltumar (the young shop lad who they are trying to keep out of trouble). The Swordsage noticed that someone was following Iltumar, and decided to take that person out by sneaking ahead of them and grabbing them, dragging them into a back alley. A good plan, which almost worked. However the fight - conducted in almost total silence between two almost evenly matched individuals practiced at the subtle arts - ended in almost total tragedy for the party. During the fight our Swordsage suffered a knife wound from a poisoned blade. Glass inserts into the side of the blade from - an assassin? - the blade quickly incapacitated the Swordsage. Luckily he was being followed, as arranged, by the Human Wizard, who managed to lift him and take him back to the Ghostly Minstrel.
The knife wound was easily cured. However. the poison within his blood stream is still very much present. It has started a process of necrotising his body whilst he lives. The effects are clear - the area beneath his skin is discoloured, black and green. The area of infection is spreading quickly. As the party find out, the effect will be to turn his body to that of the undead, whilst his brain remains of the living. This will drive him insane!
The party then sought out a Half-Orc priestess, who has set the party a challenge, in return for which she offered to provide a temporary respite for the Swordsage. She brewed up a potion which will negate the poisonous effects of the knife wound for a day (24 hours). Should any more poison enter the Swordsage's system in the intervening period then it will overwhelm the effects of the potion she has provided and the effects of the poison will resume.
Meanwhile the Swordsage has suffered terrible dreams of swooping out of the skies, falling towards the city. Flying through the city at astonishing speed, and then into and through the Necropolis area. He sees visions of a Skeleton King, wearing a crown, he sees the colour BLUE, he sees a map of Ptolus being washed over with blood. All very psychedelic and disjointed....
Oh ! Get Her !Before setting off on the quest to save the Swordsage the party decided they did need to track down the young Iltumar, who may by now be in serious danger. They questioned his master the shop keeper, and found out that he often frequented a pub on Tavern Row where he met the girl (who the party know is in the Chaos Cult plot). They proceed down there and observe (without being seen) the girl Annikka and Jermilla (a Shivvel addict) patrolling the alley. The Halfing Rogue - in disguise and bearing the Broken Square ring that they got from Iltumar - is given the signal by Annikka as to where he should go, and makes his way up to the first flooer entrance to a meeting location. He gets invited into a meeting of Chaos cultists, who plot murders, assassinations and so on. They then engage in an orgy! The Halfling decides to "take one for the party" - we'll leave that one there.
After several hours, the rest of the party make an attempt to rescue the Halfling, and do so by having the Bard sing whilst others sneak through the kitchen of the Rat's Nest tavern. They get away with the trick, and the Swordsage manages (by going invisible) to sneak past the guards and rescue the Halfling. He had been locked up after the party by a large Centaur and his henchmen, who were suspicious.
The Swordsage and the Halfling found several books and manuscripts which they have yet to decipher in detail, although there is some information about the Chaos Cults in them.
To the Land of the Dead !After resting for the bare minimum time they can, the party sets off in pursuit of the challenge which the Half-Orc priestess has set for them. They must seek out a small blackwood chest, bound in red-iron, which the priestess has interred with her father in their Mausoleum. The Mausoleum is in the area of the city known as Necropolis - an area the size of a small town itself, which after some investigation the party discovers is the haunt of the undead. Indeed the city fathers built a substantial wall around Necropolis to keep the undead from straying too far.
There are rumours of conflicts between undead creatures, of a society which is developed in many ways along the lines of the city itself. What powerful creatures have such control over the undead? In any event, the party know that to tarry beyond the fall of night is not a great idea.
On approaching the most used and safest of the two main gates into Necropoils shortly after the break of day, the party decide to hire a professional mourner and her friend to help guide them to the correct part of the graveyard, as there is significant information that the earth and graves are somehow being moved around, causing maps and such not to be reliable. They hire Gertrude and Maud - two well known and dependable professional mourners (they also offer a wailing service if required).
The girls guide them as well as they can, but even their sense of direction becomes useless and they depart, leaving the party to wander around, killing time as well. Eventually through use of magic, the party find the correct Mausoleum, although it has sunk some 15 feet into the earth. The Ranger has also detected that there is an unearthly chill in the air - even though there is no breeze. He has also noted that the ground itself feels unnaturally cold.
At the Mausoleum, the only entrance the party can find is to strip off some of the finely crafted tiles, and then attach ropes down into the sarcophagus room. When they get down into the sarcophagus room, they see that one end of the room has had a tunnel burrowed through to it, and several of the sarcophagii have been upended and desecrated - contents removed etc..
The party follow the rough tunnel downwards, led by the Bard who uses his dark vision to find out what is ahead, until they come to a bend in the tunnel. Upon rounding the bend, they are attacked by 3 dire rats. They dispatch those in short order, and emerge into a cross road tunnel. They use the residual elements of the locate object spell that has guided them to this point, and choose a tunnel which continues down. The dwarven Bard estimates they are some 30 feet underground now, and consequently the tunnels are more stable, having reached the heavy clay sub-strata. Proceeding on they find the tunnel emerges into an ancient sewer, several thousand years old. The last gasp of the Locate Object spell shows them which way to go. They follow the sewer, ignoring any tunnels or alleys off the main sewer, until they come to a metal door, with a rotating handle. They enter, and see a skeleton, on a throne, wearing ancient armour, holding a large ancient sword, and wearing a crown.
Ghastly !Warily they enter and after using Detect Undead spells decide the skeleton is just that, so they approach the next door. The Bard leads the way, and goes through the next door. Immediately the Bard is attacked, suffering a slash wound and a bite wound from the jaws of a Ghast! The Bard fails to resist the paralytic effects of the creature and crashes to the floor. In leaps the Halfling Rogue, tumbling through to the corner of the room, and enabling the others to see in the otherwise total darkness (he is holding a Sunstick).
The fight is joined by the Ranger, the Swordsage and the Rogue/Barbarian. The latter suffers the same injury as the Bard and is caught by the paralysing effects of the Ghast. They are also joined in the melee by the Halfling Rogue firing his crossbow rather expertly, and the Human Wizard firing off a Disrupt Undead spell.
and so it begins.....
All images courtesy of
www.montecook.com
