gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Oct 14, 2020 13:25:02 GMT
Episode 52 - Feed Me!
Having rested, the party looted the bodies in the spider queen's lair, and Rimir identified the magical items. They proceeded through the tunnels, eventually emerging above a large cavern where the hobgoblins could be seen emerging from a tunnel, while others pushed carts back and forth, some of which contained bodies. Tarik was made invisible and scouted the area, discovering a small group of hobgoblins who were overseeing the feeding of corpses to a huge, tentacled plantlike creature, which appeared to be generating fully grown hobgoblins from ground up bodies, with the aid of another large purple crystal. After a brief discussion, the party decided to attack the plant creature first, leaving the hobgoblins for later.
AS the party charged in, the creature seemed to immediately sense their presence, and filled their minds with horrific images, causing confusion and making Ramas hit Gragga. One of the tentacles grabbed Seijin, crushing him and burning him with acid. The party fought back, but many of their attacks were ineffective, as the alien thing seemed resistant to fire and Tarik's punches. Jesus managed to do significant damage with his arrows, and Rimir's eldritch blasts also hurt the monster. Seijin attempted to escape by turning into a giant scorpion, but the creature flung him at Jesus, knocking him over. Gragga and Ramas were also grabbed by tentacles, whilst Rimir was rendered unconscious by toxic gas. Mal blasted it with a powerful lightning spell, but the creature absorbed this energy, healing much of the damage they had caused. Things started to look bleak for the adventurers as Gragga was fed into the monster's gaping maw, filled with razor-sharp teeth....
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gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Oct 16, 2020 17:15:12 GMT
Episode 53 - Weedkillers
Ramas caused the tentacle that was holding him to wither, nearly destroying it. The monster continued to grab the party members, burn them with acid and cause toxic gas to befuddle them. Seijin used a moonbeam spell, and this stopped the creature regenerating. It grabbed Seijin and hurled him at Jesus, but despite this the druid managed to maintain his spell. Ramas was grappled and knocked unconscious. Tarik used his ki powers to slip from the tentacle's grasp and administer a potion to Ramas, saving his life. Rimir blasted the creature, then retreated and ran into two hobgoblins who were heading into the room.
Tarik arrived and attacked the hobgoblin mage, and when Rimir used his magic to appear like a plant creature, the mage was so surprised that Tarik was able to kill him before he was able to cast a spell. The other hobgoblin fled when hit by his comrade's head, but Tarik chased him down and killed him. Meanwhile, back in the main chamber, Jesus hit the creature with several arrows, Mal beset it's mind with spells, and Gragga chopped with his axe. The barbarian was finally overcome, however, as the monster began to digest him. As Seijin continued to blast it with moonlight, Ramas severed the connection to the crystal, and the creature collapsed into a sticky mass. Ramas healed Gragga, and the adventurers breathed a sigh of relief.
Retracing their steps slightly, the party found a safe place to rest. Rimir and Tarik investigated the hobgoblin's chambers and found parchments detailing the assembly of the army. Rimir then summoned several familiars to scout ahead. He discovered a huge hobgoblin city built into the sides of a volcano. The goblins were using lava to power their habitat and were technologically advanced. On top of the volcano was a dark citadel, home to Ryloth, the hobgoblin warlord. Rimir's investigations discovered that Ryloth resided in the topmost chamber of the citadel, and his subordinate, Belmir was in charge of the army. He also overheard mention of 'Velmorg', an unknown horror. In the dungeons below the citadel, he found Andros, and the party began to formulate a plan to free him....
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Post by brumguvnor on Oct 17, 2020 16:34:24 GMT
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gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Oct 23, 2020 14:53:22 GMT
Episode 54 - Jail Break
After carefully planning, Malox was polymorphed into a beetle, and one of Rimir's bat familiars carried her into the jail cell under cover of invisibility. The plan worked well and Malox was able to reunite with her husband and teleport them both back to the elf lands.
After a short rest, the party decide to attack Belmir, the hobgoblin captain. Jesus rode the broomsick and carried Gragga in the bag of holding, Seijin turned into a bat, Rimir and Tarik walked along the cavern roof and Ramas brought up the rear on the flying carpet. As they approached, they heard the sound of drums and the chanting of 'Velmorg!' and realised that somehow the hobgoblins knew they were coming. Despite this, their tactics still allowed them to attack with surprise. Jesus dropped Gragga, who fell like a stone and bowled over a pair of hobgoblins, and after landing he made short work of them with his axe. Jesus continued upwards and dealt with another pair, pushing them off into the lava below. Meanwhile, Tarik landed next to Belmir and quickly killed the two hobgoblin monks that were with him, and Seijin conjured a moonbeam to blast them with holy fire.
As the drums and chants reached a crescendo, Velmorg, a huge red dragon, emerged from the pool, dripping with lava, alarming most of the party and causing them to momentarily falter. The dragon struggled to attack in the confined space, swiping at Gragga with his tail and hitting the wall, and taking a chunk out of the rock with a wayward bite. Nevertheless, it managed to hit some of the adventurers, and then beat it's wings, showering Seijin with lava. Seijin retaliated with his moonbeam, and the battle raged on....
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gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Oct 29, 2020 23:16:55 GMT
Episode 55 - The Floor is Lava
Ramas flew in on the carpet and used his magic ring to blast the dragon with lightning. The hobgoblin enchanter hurled lightning at Rimir and he retaliated with hellish fire and Jesus fired at the dragon from on high, including with a dragon-slaying arrow. Gragga attempted to leap down on the hobgoblins, but missed his footing and landed in the lava. He eventually scrambled on to the beast's back and hacked at it with his axe.
Seijin blasted the dragon with a moonbeam, but the creature beat it's wings and showered him with lava, severely injuring the druid. Gragga was hit by the dragon's tail and knocked unconscious, but Ramas revived him. Tarik continued to battle the hobgoblin warlord, and successfully baited the dragon into breathing fire with a barrage of insults. The fire breath nearly killed the hobgoblin, but was absorbed by Tarik's tattoo and healed his wounds. The dragon tried to claw at Tarik, but he was too nimble and then Jesus, but he was able to deflect the attacks with his magical shield.
The dragon shook Gragga from it's back into the lava, leaving the barbarian about to perish. Tarik smashed the dragon's skull, knocking the beast into the lava, dead. He then leapt down and ran across the lava towards Gragga's sinking body. Ramas was able to revive Gragga with his magic just in time for him to grab the monk's hand and be dragged to safety, and Rimir destroyed the hobgoblins with eldritch blasts.
Tarik was able to scavenge parts from the body before it sank, and the hell hound puppy enjoyed swimming in the lava pool. Seijin found a secluded tunnel and Jesus conjured a rope trick so the party could recover in safety before facing Ryloth....
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gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Nov 6, 2020 0:27:23 GMT
Episode 56 - He Has Felt Your Presence
After recovering their strength, the party planned their assault on Ryloth's citadel. Rimir scouted the place with his familiars and discovered the tower was mostly deserted except for the guards amassing on the ground level and two sealed rooms at the top. He also found a trap door which could access the top level. Seijin summoned a storm and blasted the tower, destroying the front entrance, several guards and the trap door. The others entered the top level and waited outside a door, planning their attack. As they did so, the door swung open, revealing a throne room with a magical mirror and mysterious crystal, Ryloth, six of his most powerful allies, and Andros.
Jesus fired two arrows at Ryloth, but he deflected them with a blade of force which sprang from an alien object he held. He mortally wounded Andros, then blasted the party with a mental attack which stunned Rimir, Ramas and Gragga, leaving them reeling. Tarik rushed in and managed to grab Andros and administer aid. As the guards attacked, he was able to deflect a swing on to Ryloth, who retaliated by wounding his ally with his force blade. Tarik managed to pull Seijin's father to safety and bar the door, but not before two guards had made it through.
Seijin arrived and, after healing his father, summoned three spectral centaurs with the magical horn, which destroyed one of the hobgoblins. Ramas unleashed a storm of attacks on the other, wounding him badly, and Jesus finished him off. Gragga and Rimir finally recovered from Ryloth's mind blast, and Tarik quickly sent messages to the elves and dwarves, warning them of the Andros impostor. Rimir's familiar observed the high priest healing Ryloth's wounds and summoning spectral guardians, as the warlord himself invoked the power of the throne, the mirror and the crystal....
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gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Nov 14, 2020 18:28:03 GMT
Episode 57 - Yes, Seijin, I am your father
The party took a few seconds to prepare themselves and plan their attack. Tarik ran in and punched one of the monks, stunning him, then attached the purple crystal to him, which Ramas then blasted with lightning. The magnified bolt destroyed the monk and badly injured the other, but Ryloth absorbed the lightning and seemed to grow in strength. Gragga and Jesus charged in to attack Ryloth and the High Priest, while Andros and Tarik engaged the Mage and remaining monk, and Seijin and Rimir stayed in the corridor sniping with spells.
The mage set off a fireball which caused some damage, and conjured illusionary duplicates of himself. Jesus managed to remove two of them, and Tarik eventually destroyed the other and the mage himself, as well as the monk. The air elemental he had summoned continued to attack Jesus and Gragga, before it was eventually destroyed. The High Priest wounded Gragga badly and Ryloth damaged everyone with lightning, knocking out Andros until he was revived by Rimir's shouts. Ryloth took heavy damage from Jesus's arrows and Seijin's moonbeam, but continued to invade the minds of the party, causing Jesus to kneel before him. The spectral centaurs inflicted grievous wounds on the cleric and he was eventually killed.
Jesus became distracted by the magical mirror, and Ryloth caused black tentacles to emerge from the throne along with spectral hobgoblins from the eye crystal. Badly wounded by relentless attacks from Seijin, Gragga and Rimir, Ryloth blasted the minds of most of the party, knocking Andros and Gragga unconscious, and damaging Seijin, who only survived by taking his scorpion form. Tarik was behind him, however, and managed to strike the killing blow. As Ryloth died, his memories and evil plots flooded the minds of the party: he was 'one of nine', each a Vilak disguised as a warlord in charge of an army.
Andros and Gragga were quickly revived, and the adventurers planned their next move, wondering - if this was the real Andros, who had been sent back to the elves with Seijin's mother?
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Post by brumguvnor on Nov 15, 2020 11:22:14 GMT
Do we know how long the summoned centaur spirits will stay? - and how often they can be called? - this was a bit of a game-changer - we would have been a LOT worse off without them...
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Post by brumguvnor on Nov 15, 2020 13:47:58 GMT
Also - something that would be fun to do would be to fight a horde of lower level monsters - such as (picking a random example) an invading army of hobgoblins that we could get in front of and have a limited amount of time to set up ambushes for.
Which in fact might be exactly what we do next session!
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gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Nov 15, 2020 17:56:56 GMT
Do we know how long the summoned centaur spirits will stay? - and how often they can be called? - this was a bit of a game-changer - we would have been a LOT worse off without them... 1 hour or until they die. You can't use it again for a week.
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gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Nov 20, 2020 19:31:11 GMT
Episode 58 - 'No, I AM ALL YOUR FATHERS'
With Ryloth defeated the party noticed that Jesus was still staring at the mirror, so Tarik had to drag him away. Dark smoky tentacles emerged from the throne and wrapped around Tarik, but Seijin, in scorpion form, managed to sever these. Tarik smashed the throne with his hammer and the mirror was covered with a cloth to prevent it enchanting the rest of the party. Rimir peeked under the cloth and again had to be dragged away by Tarik, after becoming fascinated by the other realms that he could see through the mirror. Gragga's mind was affected by the crystal and Rimir realised that this could possibly be used to control the hobgoblin army. On the bodies they found magical rings as well as a strange weapon and carapace-like suit of armour that Ryloth had worn.
After barring the door and resting for a while the party investigated the rooms downstairs. In the mage's and priest's chambers they found potions and scrolls, as well as a magical book. Ryloth's room was protected by a magical glyph, which Tarik set off, although rather than damaging him it empowered him due to his magical tattoo. Inside they found more magical items and treasure as well as the final dark shard and Andros's sending stone.
Back in the throne room, as the party prepared to leave, Meldar arrived in mist form. He explained that the elves had betrayed them and the Queen had given orders to kill the rest of his fellows. Realising that the fake Andros was responsible, the party debated whether to allow Meldar to instantly transport them back or whether they should rest first. Seijin and Andros were keen to return quickly, but the others were exhausted, so Tarik asked if Meldar could seek divine intervention. His first attempt failed, but when Tarik passed him a pint Odin answered the call! The All Father granted them his blessing and emboldened them for the fight ahead. They grabbed the loot, including the eye crystal, and Meldar transported them back to the elf lands.
Heading to the throne room the party bumped into one of the elf captains, who explained that the Queen had been 'contained', and that Andros and Mal were probably in their quarters. When they arrived there, they found Mal standing over the body of the Vilak. Ramas sensed that something was afoot, so Seijin questioned his mother more closely. Something tried to affect his mind and he became more suspicious. When he blasted the body with a moonbeam it was revealed to be an illusion, and really his mother lay dead there. Realising the Vilak had taken the form of his mother and killed her, the party attacked the creature, as it turned to assail them with its mind powers….
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gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Nov 29, 2020 19:04:09 GMT
Episode 59 - I Want to Break Free (Queen)
The Vilak assailed the minds of the party, stunning everyone except Seijin, who used the Elf Queen's blessing to resist. He restored Malox to life and used a moonbeam to damage the creature, which seemed more effective than many of the other attacks that seemed to bounce off the thing's amorphous form. Jesus recovered and began firing arrows, and Gragga and Tarik also caused damage with bladed weapons. Seijin turned into a scorpion but the creature was resistant to most of it's attacks, and it continued to blast the party with lightning and psionic attacks.
The creature caused Gragga to turn on Jesus, but when it was attacked by Mal the mind control was broken. Tarik managed to knock it down, damaging it badly. Jesus and Gragga were compelled to run away, leaving Tarik, Seijin and his parents to attack the creature. Severely wounded, the Vilak hit them once more with a mind blast, stunning Tarik and Andros again, but Seijin managed to incinerate the creature with his moonbeam.
After being healed by Ramas, they quickly headed to the throne room. The council of elder elves had surrounded the Queen with a force cage once they had realised she was acting unnaturally. They had tried everything to removed the enchantment, but failed. Meldar arrived and reminded the party that he had been under a similar compulsion, and Tarik recalled that this had been due to a silver worm in his ear. They asked the elves to drop the force cage, and Tarik and Seijin, in constrictor snake form, grabbed the Queen, with Tarik preventing the Queen casting any spells by putting his hand in her mouth. They succeeded in manoeuvring her ear towards Rimir, who was able to pull the worm out with his telekinetic hand. The Queen recovered, and the elves were able to discern that she was herself again.
The elves reported that despite the troops rallying, the hobgoblins were over-running the elf army and coming closer. Looking through the loot from Ryloth's lair the Queen discovered the final obsidian shard, which she said could be used to locate Mordreth. Furthermore, when she saw the crystal containing the eye, she determined that it could be used to control the hobgoblins. Grasping the crystal, she pitted her will against it and was able to see into the minds of the hobgoblin army, and cause them to retreat. The elves were saved, and there was much rejoicing. The Queen pledged her allegiance to the dwarves and promised to help in the continuing wars.
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gilbo
2019 Group
Posts: 1,446
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Post by gilbo on Dec 5, 2020 17:38:12 GMT
Episode 60 - A Right Royal Knees Up
After the defeat of the hobgoblins, the celebrations went on into the night and Tarik, Gragga and Ramas consumed many pints of 'fruit beer', entertaining the elves with tales of their exploits. Seijin enjoyed the company of an elf maiden, while his parents, although initially disapproving of his behaviour, relaxed and enjoyed themselves too. Jesus couldn't really hold his wine or tell a good story, so felt a little out of place. Rimir feigned illness and went off to read the magical tome he had found.
The following day, the adventurers went shopping and took advantage of the elves' hospitality. Jesus purchased a new magical arrow, and Seijin bought some potions and a staff of healing. Tarik had been speaking with an elven smith, and used his expertise to craft some impressive armour for Meldar and a bangle as a gift for the queen. He also combined a crystal with a staff to make a lightning conductor for Ramas. Rimir collected many new rituals for his spell book and continued to read his tome. In the evening, a feast was held and the elven queen spoke of the bravery of the party, and once again bestowed a magical blessing upon them.
The next day, the queen called a meeting with the party and her high council to discuss what had been discovered from the combined shards of obsidian that the party had collected. The mages had managed to peek into the consciousness of Mordreth and discover more of his machinations. Mordreth was a collective of nine Vilak, each of whom had assumed control of one of the great armies of Jarl. Each had a magical mirror and a control crystal, and sometimes another Vilak subordinate like the one who had impersonated Andros. The hobgoblin had been defeated, but the others remained. Most pressing seemed to be the army of frost giants slowly marching south to Palthas, and the onslaught by the fire giants against the dwarves of Crag Thongar. Having glimpsed the throne room, with the Vilak Fire Giant King attended by a warrior and a sorcerer, the party resolved to travel to the dwarf lands with a battalion of elves and help in the defence of the realm....
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