Ravagers of Rhûne: Fantasy HERO Campaign

[Gailbraithe]

This evening the players were Hannewig, Rutger, Shaz-ri-Zonni, Ulfgar and new player Loren as Sihyaa al-Ni.
 
In the city of Quado, High Inquistor Corvo calls on the wizard Sihyaa al-Ni.  Sihyaa had once been a rising star in the ranks of the Magisterium, the ancient guild of wizards who reject the dark arts and have sworn to use magic only in service of the people, but had been forced to resign from the organization when he violated the local tower's inner sanctum and used an ancient tome of darkest sorcery to summon a daemon, a terrible violation of the guild's laws.  Most within the guild were ready to forgive him -- he had performed the spell only because the daemon, a plague daemon, had transformed itself into a contagion that threaten to kill all within Quado's walls, and could only be captured by first summoning it.  The daemon had already laid low the guild's leaders, and so Sihyaa could not get the proper permission, but had acted under the direct authority of Corvo.  Sadly, none of these extenuating circumstances could save Sihyaa when random lottery placed his bitter rival Kandi Nari in charge of his trial.  Nari had used the opportunity to rid himself once and for all of the more talented and better liked Sihyaa, and though all had protested the trial's outcome, Sihyaa was stripped of his position within the Magisterium. Now Sihyaa found himself at odd ends, a guild magician with no guild.  Inquisitor Corvo, who feels responsible for Siyhaa's fall from grace, offered the wizard an opportunity to earn some coin and support himself.  
 
Corvo's spies have been tracking a rogue sorcerer, Saidi Yarim, for several years.  Yarim was an apprentice training at the Magisterium's college at the same time Sihyaa was completing his own apprenticeship and had made his mark by doing groundbreaking research in Dream Magic, but was expelled from the Magisterium under a cloud of suspicion when several women at the university were assaulted in eerily similar nightmares.  Yarim had avoided running afoul of any of the Magisterium's laws since then, but the Inquisition had kept tabs on him anyways.  The sorcerer made several trips into the Horns of Hran, and though Corvo's agents had not followed him into the wilderness, it seemed likely he was exploring Kharhat Pol.  In the last year Yarim had relocated to Magath and had been making inquiries about house Bijan.  Now Dame Lan has launched a seemingly insane expedition to the ancient fortress and Yarim has disappeared.  Corvo fears the two are connected and that Yarim has discovered the rumored vault of the wizard Jafa Lan, and he wants Sihyaa to travel to Kharhat Pol and discover if Yarim is behind Dame Lan's sudden desire to return to Kharhat Pol.  Using a spell to enchant a carpet, Sihyaa began the long flight to the Horns of Hran.
 
Meanwhile after seeing Gus Greenshale safely on his way, the Bijan Expedition continued on towards Kharhat Pol, only to discover that a section of the road had collapsed and was impassable. Captain Bury suggested the Expedition turn back for Magath, but Dame Lan insisted they continue forward -- even if it necessitated building a new bridge.  Bury gave up the argument and sent Ulfgar and four of the House Guard back down into the valley to brave the crystalwings and harvest trees, while the remainder of the Expedition returned to the safety of the ruined inn they had taken shelter in the night before.  Sihyaa came across Ulfgar and the Guards and introduced himself, explaining his mission.  Ulfgar agreed to take Sihyaa back to meet the rest of the group. As they made the trek up out of the valley, Sihyaa scans the warriors with his magic sight and realizes one of the Guards, Saeed, has been affected by mind-altering magic. 

 

What Ulfgar didn't know was that the camp was under attack!  Five Aarakocra warriors -- parrot-like birdmen -- announce their displeasure at discovering humans in the high mountain valley by dropping an 40 kg rock from several hundred meters in the air directly onto Manjoon, one of the House Guards.  Seconds later the warriors fly through camp hurling nets over half the group before peppering the rest with light javelins.  Rutger, Captain Bury and the House Guard Saroush managed to return fire with their crossbows, with Saroush even sending one of the creatures tumbling to its death, but the Aarakocra had no interest in standing and fighting, and as soon as they ran out of javelins they fled off into the sky.  In the aftermath, Captain Bury demanded the expedition return to Magath, but Dame Lan was adamant that they could overcome this new challenge as well, and an argument broke out amongst the expedition with everyone taking a side.  When Ulfgar returned with a wizard in tow, the argument was decided for pressing on.  With the assistance of Sihyaa's magic, the expedition was able to reach Kharhat Pol by midday of the next day.  

 

 

KHARHAT POL

 

Reaching the fortress requires crossing a broad parade ground, and the party can see dozens of aarakocra circling the highest tower of Kharhat Pol.  Sihyaa shrouds the party with an invisibility spell and begins making the crossing, but the spell fades before they've reached the halfway point.  Sihyaa is able to recast the spell, but the aarakocra have spotted them and the skies fill with hundreds of the birdmen.  The party races for the fortress but the wagon transporting the Lan noblewomen breaks an axle and its wheel is sent careening off.  Sihyaa's spell runs out as they are still unloading the noble ladies, and there is no time to cast it again -- with hundreds of aarakocra circling above they can only run as javelins pour from the sky like rain.  Two of the guardsmen, Balthazar and Sha'Trevar, fall under the assault, but the rest of the expedition is able to reach the safety of the gates of Kharhat Pol.

 

Seconds after the expedition enters the fortress, the aarakocra break off their attack.  One of the guardsmen, Casper, seizes a lever and causes a massive iron gate to fall -- almost crushing Hannewig and killing his horse.  Meanwhile two more of the guardsmen, Saeed and Bahram, seize hold of Captain Bury and slit his throat.  As the confused survivors try to make sense of the sudden betrayal they realize they are not alone, as standing at the far end of the courtyard is a strange bald man dressed in regaly finery with emerald green skin.  He is a gens magica, or magically created life, of the Galvanic Magen variety, and the expedition has run straight into his trap.

 

Hannewig, Rutger, Shaz-ri, Sihyaa and Ulfgar are awarded 2 experience points.

[generalripphook]

Miles you go through all the trouble to finally bring all thnames of the guards.....then you kill them off.

[generalripphook]

It looks like I am leaving Thursday day to go to Moses Lake. Apparently my grandma shot at a ukranian dog and then hunted it down and killed it on the owners porch. So I have to go and help prevent a race war.

 

I won't be able to make it this Thursday.

[Gailbraithe]

Well, as excuses go, points for originality.

[generalripphook]

My grandma is crazy and baddass

 

She once tried to get my (at the time) 12 year old uncle to shoot out the tires of car that cut her off. 

 

She broke out of a convent.

 

As a mother she got half the teachers in a school fried over a 5 year period. 

 

She coralled a herd of wild horses so she could get her run away horse back in an old VW bug. 

[Hobbitron]

My grandma is crazy and baddass

 

She once tried to get my (at the time) 12 year old uncle to shoot out the tires of car that cut her off. 

 

She broke out of a convent.

 

As a mother she got half the teachers in a school fried over a 5 year period. 

 

She coralled a herd of wild horses so she could get her run away horse back in an old VW bug. 

 

I think the only appropriate response to this is that this campaign thingy needs an "Eli's Grandma" NPC that shows up to save the group after they get into some serious trouble.

[huggies01]

My grandma is crazy and baddass

 

She once tried to get my (at the time) 12 year old uncle to shoot out the tires of car that cut her off. 

 

She broke out of a convent.

 

As a mother she got half the teachers in a school fried over a 5 year period. 

 

She coralled a herd of wild horses so she could get her run away horse back in an old VW bug.

She Doesn't always drink your grandma. But when she does....she drinks Dos Equis. Stay Thirsty My friends.

[generalripphook]

Mite is back from Germany.

[Gailbraithe]

This evening the players were Rutger, Shaz-ri-Zonni, Sihyaa al-Ni and Ulfgar.

 

With Hannewig trapped outside the fortress by the falling portcullis and force to run for cover and find an alternate entrance, the rest of the Bijan Expedition confronts the strange green man.  He announces his presence by throwing his hands into the air and unleashing arcs of lighting to ignite torches on the walls behind him, cowing the party before introducing himself as Kârgar, Master of Kharhat Pol.  He gives the party a simple ultimatum: hand over Dame Laina Lan and go free or die where they stand.  Rutger speaks for the party when he says simply and plainly: "No surrender" and throws a knife at the artificial Kârgar.

 

The blade bounces harmlessly off the magen's ensorcelled robes, and he responds with a lash of lightning that throws the party to the ground and the battle is on.  Kârgar barely gives the warriors any attention, allowing the possessed house guard to attack while he strides into the party and seizes Dame Lan.  Rutger launches himself into combat with Kârgar only to discover that every blow he lands against the galvanic magen sends shocks of lightning through his body.  The battle goes poorly for the party at first, but soon Kârgar grabs Dame Lan and flees the room, sending another portcullis down to cover his retreat.  With Kârgar gone, the party is able to quickly subdue the possessed guards, though the enraged Ulfgar defines "subdue" as "chop into tiny bits."

 

With the guards subdued and Kârgar's exit blocked, the party searches for an alternate path into the fortress and discovers a curious set-up.  Two exits leave the room, leading to nearly identical rooms with staircases ascending into the fortress.  The first staircase is blocked by a metal wall in which is set a keyhole and a sign that reads "You'll Need A Key To Go Further."  When Sihyaa casts his Knock spell on the wall it responds by spraying the crowd with bolts of molten metal, nearly killing Fatima Lan, but refuses to open.  In the second room they find a metal tube, large enough for a man to walk down, has been laid over the staircase, with a second staircase built inside the tube.  The tube itself is wrapped in what appears to be miles of copper wire and continuously rotates.   With the aid of Sihyaa's Eye of Wizardry spell, they can see that beyond the strange tube is a room containing a pedestal with a large, ornate golden key.  Ulfgar approaches the tube and feels the pull of magnetism against his weapons, quickly backing away before the tube's draw can pull him off his feet.  After some discussion, Shaz-Ri volunteers to strip down and dare the stair.  Though the spinning tube is disorienting, he traverses it safely.  Once inside the chamber, he spots a blade of wicked, three foot long metal spikes affixed to the wall some thirty feet up. Sihyaa joins him and upon seeing the spikes, is able to deduce the tube's purpose -- a massive Gauss gun designed to launch anyone foolish enough to wear armor into the spikes at neck-breaking speed.  After exploring an apparently long abandoned and empty section of the fortress connected to the chamber, Sihyaa decides there is nothing to do but take the key.

 

The key opens the metal wall, revealing another chamber with another of the metal walls, once again reading "You'll need to go further."  Another staircase leads to another chamber with a golden key, this time blocked by a large glass jar containing a hellswarm -- a swarm of infernal wasps bred in the pits of the Abyss.  Rutger remembers that he still has a vial of holy water, given to him by Simonite priests in Magath for the battle with Malekith, and by putting his head together with Sihyaa realizes they can pour the holy water into the jar through its perforated lid, and use the wizard's Vortex of Wind spell to disperse the liquid throughout the jar.  The holy water is devastating to the daemon wasps, but in their death throes they shatter the glass jar -- with Rutger on top of it.  Fortunately the nimble mariner rolls away without damage and Sihyaa is able to finish off the swarm with a Blast of Flame.

 

With a second key retrieved and a second gate passed, the party steels themselves for the next challenge of Kharhat Pol.

 

Rutger, Shaz-ri, Sihyaa and Ulfgar are awarded 1 experience point.

[intrizic]

so

much

chain lightening

[Wiccus]

So many open palm nerve strikes to the dick as well.

[generalripphook]

Hmmm that sounds weirdly painful...I don't know how to picture that.

[Gailbraithe]

Hmmm that sounds weirdly painful...I don't know how to picture that.

 

Like this:

[generalripphook]

Miles did you wanna meet up Wednesday for what happens to the poor Brovan?

[Gailbraithe]

Yes, and if you can get Jacob to show up too, that would be great.

[generalripphook]

Miles, What time did you want us to meet? Normal Time? 

[Gailbraithe]

Yeah, that was what I was thinking.

[generalripphook]

Do you want to play a game of frostgrave or anything before?

[Gailbraithe]

Sure!  I'll proxy some minis for my warband.

[generalripphook]

You could also borrow some if you want. Wpuld that change our start time? Or just play after?

[Gailbraithe]

You could also borrow some if you want. Wpuld that change our start time? Or just play after?

Let's just play after.

[Gailbraithe]

This evening the players were Hannewig, Mite, Rutger, Shaz-ri-Zonni, Sihyaa al-Ni and Ulfgar.

 

Having been trapped outside the fortress, Hannewig was forced to find an alternate entrance.  His meager climbing skills were put to the test, but after a half-dozen falls and some bruised bones he managed to climb through a window 15 meters off the ground.  Inside the fortress he found dusty and long abandoned quarters for the soldiers who once lived there.  Several of the rooms he investigated were stuffed with construction supplies,   Soon he discovered a room full of machinery with a pair of horses attached to a wheel, guarded by a single bandit, whom he quickly dispatched after learning the man was one of a dozen ruffians .  Meanwhile inside the fortress, the rest of the expedition had reached the next room in their path deeper into the fortress.  A pair of obvious spiked sliding walls protected the keys, with several obvious pressure plates.  However the party was confounded when nothing they did would activate the walls, and they were able to easily take the key -- not knowing that Hannewig was moving above them and had killed the operator who was supposed to set the machines in motion.

 

Hannewig continued deeper into the fortress and found himself following behind Saidi Yarim and Kârgar, carrying Dame Laina Lan.  He overhears enough of their conversation to learn they are holding a mysterious prisoner in the highest tower, and that the true purpose of the maze is to break Fatima Lan's spirit, though Hannewig doesn't learn the reason they want Fatima's spirit broken.  Hannewig is forced to stop following the pair when they pass through a chamber guarded by four ruffians from the gang.  Hannewig circled back but could find no other route, so he decided to take out the guards -- they proved to be poor fighters.

 

Meanwhile the rest of the expedition find themselves in a strange room.  The door opened into a caged-off area of a much larger chamber, which has three more doors.  A bell-shaped contraption with a door sits inside the cage.  Inscribed on the bell is "Safe Passage For One," and opening the door reveals a velvet lined interior and bench seat.  The contraption is bracketed onto a steel rail that leads out of the caged-off area via a swinging gate.  Opening the gate also causes a door at the far end of the room to open, and its clear that some sort of monster is lurking behind the door.  After some deliberation, the party agrees that Fatima should get inside the device and they'll try to move it along the rail to the exit.  As they drag the heavy throne into the larger chamber, the monsters come pouring out -- four grells!  Grells are massive floating brains with beaks and jellyfish-like tentacles  that deliver a paralytic shock.  The grells prove to be little challenge to the party and are soon dispatched.

 

Hannewig continues upstairs, almost catching up with Yarim and his servant, but they exit the stairwell on the sixth floor, and he continues all the way to the 11th floor, where much to his surprise he discovers Mite!  Mite has been held prisoner, his powers suppressed by a drugged incense, by Yarim for the last two weeks.  The day after the raid on the Lachrymose Society, Mite had been attacked by assassin just as the other party members had. Afterwards he tried to find the rest of the party, and eventually  tracked Hannewig to House Bijan where he chanced to cross path with Yarim.  Yarim had recognized Mite's altered nature immediately, and attacked Mite, somehow overwhelming him.  Mite had woken in the tower, and the drugged smoke had kept him to insensate to act.  Once Hannewig gets him free from the smoke, Mite quickly returns to form and finds his powers restored.  Together they return downstairs, testing more doors.  They open a door into a massive chamber full of strange machinery just as the rest of the expedition enters the same chamber a floor down.  Ulfgar tosses up a rope and the party is together once again.

 

Mite, Rutger, Shaz-ri-Zonni, Sihyaa al-Ni and Ulfgar. receive +1 Sight PER Checks and 1 experience points.

Hannewig receives +2 Climbing and +2 Lockpicking 

[generalripphook]

Miles, uhh Ben said he can't make it anymore.

[Gailbraithe]

Miles, uhh Ben said he can't make it anymore.

 

Oh, that's a shame.

[Ser Warwick]