Session 36

For Session 36, we had a few new additions to the team today. Thea took off with Lórien and was replaced by Cally, a halfling fighter. Bruce disappeared and was replaced by Stryker the warforged, and Jam, the half-orc barbarian joined us. Vincent and Grim rounded out the party.

After the conclusion of our last adventure, the party took an extended rest. In the morning, only Grim, Vincent, and Cutter were in camp. They hopped on Uzrivoy and headed back to see the Seer.

The Isle of the Seer was unchanged. Heading down into the cave, Grim and Vincent encountered Stryker, Jam, and Cally. They drank from the cursed water of the river and were charmed into guarding the Seer's lair. The caves had also been repopulated with all kinds of creatures.

A hell hound and beholder sat by while the party walked past them. Grim angered a dragon enough for it to break the Seer's charm and it attacked, blasting a spout of fire down the hall after the party. The battle was raging, and in the middle of the fight, Grim jumped onto the back of the dragon and wailed away on it.

Although the rest of the creatures were passive, the hall of traps was still fully functional. The way in was mostly uneventful. Just a few delayed fireballs got triggered.

In the Seer's chamber, he demanded that the party return the hilt. When the party questioned his motives, he ignored them and went back to reading his book. The party relented and handed over the hilt, and the Seer

"Death to you all! Now that I have the sabre again, the curse shall be fulfilled, and the land remain savage for all eternity! With this sabre in my hands I am invincible!"

No one was listening much when the Seer uttered the above quote. Cutter was absorbed by the hilt and became the blade of the sword. It actually did make the Seer invulnerable.

The Seer was shut down though. He was stunned for the entire fight, not even getting a chance to teleport away to safety. During the fight, he called in a 'wing' of sabreclaws. They fought savagely. Adding a new element to the game, the saberclaws used a pool of hit points. Grim was surprised to continue to do great damage to one of them and it stayed alive.

Stryker managed to get the sword away from the Seer and finally used it. That was all it took to send the Seer to the next life. As soon as the Seer died, the walk began to crack and water started flowing in. Stryker was already ahead of the group on the way out.

"I have been saved and I thank you, but my task is not complete. The Seer is gone, but his curse remains. To lift it, you must plunge my blade into the festering sore at the Heart of the River. Only if I remain at the Heart will the curse be foiled forever."

Jam triggered an invisible stalker trap and Cally set off two of them. Cally managed to teleport out, but Jam was the last man in the trap room, and was cornered. With the water levels continuing to rise, things were looking hairy.

Grim had a plan though. He hopped on Uzrivoy and took the boat through solid earth and rock. Emerging right next to Jam and Cally, he called, "All onboard!" Moving through the crumbling caves, Grim headed back up. Stryker misinterpreted the advice that Cutter/sword gave, and was madly trying to stab the water of the river. It was ineffective. The curse was still there.

The sword, now full again, has a name. It is Sabre (details to come later). After talking with Sabre, the party headed up the river. Travelling for a few days. As the party approached the head of the river, they saw many tributaries. Invariably, the water was clean and clear, but it was cursed when it joined with the main water flow.

When they made it about as far as they could go, a flock of giant birds swooped down and attacked. They were quickly dispatched though. Those birds were followed by a second flock who were more powerful, and finally very near the heart of the river, a third flock attacked. This last one was larger and stronger.

This brings us to the end of this adventure. Next week, we will head into the 'Heart of the River'.

Current Level: 18

Loot:

chainmail +3, sword of slowing +2, shield +1, boots of levitation, wand of cold (8 charges), scroll of protection from elementals, crystal ball with clairaudience, ring of spell turning (6 spells), displacer cloak, scarab of protection (4 charges), potion of gaseous form, potion of healing, potion of invulnerability, wand of negation (5 charges)

Ring of Spell Turning

Ring of Spell Turning

This ring distorts the three normal dimensions, causing many spells cast at the wearer to rebound upon the spellcaster. Sometimes, a spell's entire effect is turned against the caster; sometimes, a portion of the effect rebounds.

Some spells are immune from the effects of a ring of spell turning:

• Spells that affect an area, and which are not cast directly at the ring wearer, are not turned by the ring.

• Spells that are delivered by touch are not turned.

• Magic contained in devices (rods, staves, wands, rings, and other items) that are triggered without spellcasting are not turned. A scroll spell is not considered a device.

Up to three times a day, this ring acts as the Spell Turning spell.  Up to 9 spell levels per day can be turned against the caster.  If more than 9 spell levels are absorbed, the remaining damage is split between the caster and the recipient.

Khamalkhad L18

As you advance in level Rohrkhad and Khamalkhad are pleased. At level 18, gain the following Properties:

Critical: +5d6 damage

Aura of Thunder:  Once a day, as a free action, the wielder can call forth a blast of thunder.  Any enemy within 5 ft takes must make a DC 16 Con save.  On a failed save, a creature takes 3d6 thunder damage and is knocked prone.  On a successful save, it takes half damage and is not knocked prone.
Healing:  Once a day, as a free action, you can roll a hit die and heal for the result.
Special:  You now have a clearer link with Rhorkhad.  On occasion, you can ask for prophetic advice or guidance, and Rhorkhad will listen.  Whether he answers or not is a different story.

The Tower of Terror

We finished up the Tower of Terror last session.  The magic hilt was recovered, and the party is carrying it back to the seer.  Cutter is in tow as usual.

The battles this session were epic.  The party failed to notice a revenant among the corpses in one of the rooms, and that tailed Grimthain to the next room where the party encountered a powerful fire elemental.  The revenant jumped into the fray as the party fought.  It was quickly hacked to pieces, but the pieces then animated and started to attack the group.  Thea shut down the elemental, and protected herself from its attacks with a timely elemental mantle.  Grimthain could not be hit by the monsters.  The severed limbs and head however mercilessly bit and scratched his ankles.

Moving on, Bruce found a room full of Gorgons.  It was a hairy fight, with many of the party getting restrained and one even turning to stone.  Bruce lost his right pinky finger after being turned to stone and falling from the ceiling.  The gorgons escaped Thea's creeping doom through the magic barrier to the south, but before they could all get away, one of them died.  After a brief rest, they came back, but only two could make it through the teleportation doors.  The third butted against the magical barrier again and again.

Moving north, the party came across the chamber of the hilt.  Bruce's nose twitched at the apparent riches in the room.  Thea was cautious.  I think it was Grim who lassoed the hilt from the alter it sat upon.  It was a decoy though.  Truesight allowed the party to see through the illusions and find the real hilt.

Heading to the bottom of the caldera, the party destroyed the efreeti and its minions.  A few timely spells helped the party immensely.

The current party level is 18
XP:  330,000

Loot

+1 wooden shield

Holy Avenger

Ring of Radient Storm – Once per day, you can roll your radiant damage twice

Gauntlets of Destruction – These gloves increase the minimum damage of each weapon damage die to 2. (For daggers, that only deal 1d4 damage, this is a 20% increase in average damage per weapon die.)

Revenant Ankh - Legendary:  This powerful ankh temporarily imbues an ally with life force, allowing him to return to battle.

Power (Daily): Action. Choose an ally within your line of sight who died since the end of your last turn. That ally returns to maximum hit points. For the duration of the encounter the ally can take either one action or one movement each round on their turn.

The ally can’t regain hit points. At the start of each of the ally’s turns, the ally takes damage equal to his or her level. The ally dies again when reduced to 0 hit points or fewer or when the encounter ends.

No character can be affected by a revenant ankh more than once per day.

The Mural

The tale begins with a huge fleet of thousands
of ships arriving off the coast of a
wild land. The nearest ships are already
disgorging hordes of sword-wielding,
bloodthirsty invaders who begin plundering
a hapless seaside village. The army
flies the blood-spattered flag of Alphatia.
Several small, detailed pictures show
other villages burning or falling to the
heavily-armed attackers. In each case, a
handful of barbarian warriors makes a last
stand while the rest of the population flees
inland.
Finally, the invaders arrive at broad
fields that lead to the largest barbarian settlement
pictured here. A barbarian army,
much smaller than that of the Alphatian
attackers, prepares to do battle.
At the end of the mural is apparently
the story of this climactic clash. Spells of
fire and lightning fly from the Alphatians,
while the barbarians respond with their
crude war machines and plenty of raw
courage. Finally, the invaders are caught
between the river and the barbarian army.
In another collection of small, detailed
scenes, individual pockets of Alphatians are
surrounded and killed by the barbarians.
Finally, one man—a high commander by
the look of his uniform—stands alone, his
back to the river.
His face is a picture of anger and frustration
as he holds his sabre high and seems to
be pronouncing a potent incantation. His
blade is sundered by a sudden stroke of
lightning.
In a final scene, the waters of the river
close over the head of this last survivor. The
barbarians turn toward home and heavy
stormclouds gather in the distance.

The Hilt

Nail of Pointing

Nail of Pointing

The user may command this wearable fingernail to point at anything nonmagical (a door, stairway, gold piece, etc.); the nail then turns into a finger of bones and points toward the closest item of the type named. It continues to point at the item for one turn and then returns to nail form. There is no limit to the range of the nail's detection, but it cannot detect living or undead creatures of any type or any magical item or spell effect. The nail can function once per day.

Broom of Flying

This magical broom is able to fly through the air at up to 30 ft per round. The broom can carry 182 pounds at this rate, but every 14 additional pounds slow movement by 5 ft. The device can climb or dive at an angle of 30°. A command word (determined by the DM) must be used. The broom will travel alone to any destination named. It comes up to within 300 yards of its owner when the command word is spoken. 

Lamp of Long Burning

When this lamp is filled with oil and lighted as a normal lantern, it burns and sheds light without using oil. If the flame is doused by water, the lamp becomes nonmagical.






Room 12 loot
17,800 sp
5,000 ep
2500 gp
750 pp

Potions (3 doses each)
animal control
diminution
ethereality
gaseous form
healing
levitation
poison
speed
super-healing

Weapons
+1 sword
2 daggers +2
1 short sword+2, +3 vs. giants
+1 javelin, returning
20 arrows +1
1 suit of leather armor +2
1 suit of chain mail +2
3 shields +1

Magical items
1 lamp of long burning
1 broom of flying (Fly 30ft/round)
Nail of pointing