Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 87.5 - Interlude with Demon Baby

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 8 / Thief 8) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 8) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 7)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 6)]

Date/Time

Harvester 18 (early hours)  - Harvester  18 (slightly later)

The party paused a few moments to catch their breath, while Goro took this moment to collapse into an exhausted sleep. Undoubtedly a side effect of the kiss of the Lady Deveri. Meanwhile, the rest of the party searched the Lady's chambers for loot and secret doors. Loot they found, including two chests of gold and a curious locket with an ancient cameo image of what appeared to be the Lady herself. Skeef also noted curiously that there were no clothes in the room; the Lady's wardrobe was empty.  

Leaving the snoring half-orc behind for now, the party pressed on into the next room. There they found at the far end a crib from which came the sounds of a cooing newborn. They also noted the bowl of bloody raw meat sitting on the feeding table, and so were not too surprised to find that the swaddled newborn sported a pair of horns, fangs and tiny bat wings. There was a spirited debate as to what to do with the demon-child, but in the end Chanee convinced the party this cute bundle of joy was indeed irredeemably evil. And so the paladin slew the horned babe; but he still felt bad about it. 

 Meanwhile, the rest of the party had pushed aside the crib and discovered a secret, door. This led to a set of stairs that circled down into what appeared to be the family crypt. And as they entered, they could see at the far end the Lady Elohira Deveri. Once more clad in human form, she stood behind a stone sepulchre. And between her and the party stood a towering demon of the Abyss ... 

GAINS

1265gp

68sp

Locket (2000gp) 

KILLS/VICTORIES

Josette, the Baby Demon 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 87 - A Date with the Deveri's

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 8 / Thief 8) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 7 / Fighter 7) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 8) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 7)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 6)]

Date/Time

Harvester 14 (morning) - Harvester 18 (early hours)  

Taking a few days to spend their new found wealth, the party finds themselves now the centre of attention in the City. Word of their success with Judge Porthos attracts others looking for men (and women) of brawn and brains to help them with their troubles. After separating the wheat from the chaff, the party finds themselves with three possible offers of employment/pleas for help:

• The merchant Merzueos Zhen, looking for someone to recover the contents of a caravan of fine cloth, pigments and dyes that's been lost to a bandit ambush. He offers 3000gp for the successful recovery of his goods. 
• A delegation of villagers look for help dealing with a medusa that is turning them, one by one, to stone.
• Another group of villagers carrying a request from a Lady Elohira Deveri, asking for their assistance with an unspecified problem

Immediately turning down the medusa problem, they opt to negotiate with the merchant. However, their hard driving bargaining to squeeze more coin from Merzueos Zhen simply drives him off to look for cheaper help. Throwing their lot with Lady Deveri instead, they get directions from the peasants to her small manse just under the eves of the Gnarly Forest. They fly there easily and swiftly, arriving in the late afternoon at the village. There they are directed to the Lady's home a half mile deeper into the forest. 

Her home proves to be a small stone manse surrounded by very overgrown grounds. After a short encounter with the half-elven groundskeeper Gothwald and his dogs, they are presented to the Lady Deveri. Of faintly fey appearance, the Lady is so pale of skin to be almost translucent, wearing a long blue gown and much jewelry. With her are two men in full armor and bearing knightly livery; Sir Garon Attriris and Sir Raith Attiris, knights errant from the Kingdom of Geoff. 

Lady Deveri brushes off all questions regarding why the party has been summoned. Instead they are feted with a fine meal and the attention of the Lady. Chanee in particular draws her eye, to the somewhat visible discomfort of the two knightly brothers.  Feast over, the party is led to their chambers. Two to each room, except Chanee who gets a private room. But the paladin is not alone for long, as Skeef sneaks over in mouse form to join him. And very soon someone tries to enter through a secret door to the outside, which the paladin had fortuitously found ahead of time and barred shut. 

Shortly thereafter, a woman's screen is heard in the hallway. Rushing out, Chanee and Skeef see one of the brother knights looming over a struggling Lady Elohira. The paladin does not hesitate and rushes in to save the lady in distress. As he forces the knight back, he indeed feels his place is truly at her side rather than with his usual wandering rabble. Which rabble now begins to appear in support, with Goro dropping a dispel magic as the fight moves into the Lady's chamber. This breaks the charm on the paladin, and seriously displeases Lady Elohira. Who is more displeased as a now suspicious party turns on her, as well as the pair of knighly brothers. And the cocktrice she suddenly releases from a hidden cage.  As the battle rages, the Lady suddenly begins to transform, bat wings growing from her shoulders and fangs from her mouth. A succubus! Turning on her demonic charms, she uses her kiss to drain strength from the half-orc who by now is flailing away at her with his mace.  The rest of the party tries their best to help the now bruised and bleeding paladin, while also dealing with the cocktrice. Both quite difficult to do in such cramped quarters. 

The party, however, is successful is slaying the brothers and the cockitrice, but the lady/succubus escapes them by suddenly disappearing ...  

GAINS

A good meal 

KILLS/VICTORIES

Sir Garon Attriris and Sir Raith Attiris 

Cockatirce 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 85 - Midnight Opal Meets Soul Gem

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 7 / Thief 7) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 7 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 7) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 6)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 6)]

Date/Time

Goodmonth 11 (later night) -  Harvester 11 (day) 

... Solcha, in the lead, reaches the end of the shaft first. She emerges into a large dome of that blue-silvery metal. And then is then nearly blinded by an intense flash of light off to the left. When her vision clears, she notes that the only thing in the room is a large white gem floating 4' off the floor at the centre. This could only be the Soul Gem, twin of their Midnight Opal. The party emerges one by one, the spell casters dropping protective spells as they emerge, and Skeef staying hunkered down in the shaft for now and supporting with spells. The intense light flashes again, and they realize it emerges from the gem, illuminating a different sector of the room each time. They try guessing where each flash will appear, assuming it is not good for them, as they try to figure out what to do with the Opal and Gem.  And it is not good, as one flash catches them. Baqua turns a translucent white and drops dead, her soul floating towards the Gem. The others are lucky to just have themselves and their belongings bleached the same white. 

Finding there is a force-field round the gem, they try many ways to get past it. In the end they just press the Opal against it, and eventually it breaks through and smashes into the Gem. Solcha then uses her rope trick scroll to get her out of there, except Channe who stays behind to guard Baqua's body and to see what happens. The paladin sees the two combine into a swirling cloud of ectoplasmic black and white before exploding, sending a shower of thousands of black and white souls throughout the dome. Baqua's soul returns to her and she stands up once more alive. The rest head for the shaft and head down into the tower. 

The tower now begins to shake and rumble, so the party (now out of the rope trick refuge) figure they have to get back to the first room and get out of here. They do this with relative ease, finding all the monsters who might stop them have been killed. They successfully get back to the room with the padded chairs, then out of the dungeons below the ruined keep to emerge onto the surface just as the twin moons Clene and Luna are setting and the rosy fingered dawn rises to the east. 

After a day and night to rest and recover, they load onto the carpet (and Skeef turns into his eagle form) to head for the City of Greyhawk to prepare for the next stage of their journey west to the Lost Caverns. There they rest more, train and trade, and then look at their empty coin purses trying to figure out what comes next. 

 

GAINS

None

KILLS/VICTORIES

None

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 86 - Public Service

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 8 / Thief 8) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 7 / Fighter 7) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 8) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 7)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 6)]

Date/Time

Harvester 11 (day) - Harvester 14 (morning)  

The party is sitting in their inn, commiserating over a lack of ready funds, when a foppish young man enters. He goes to the bar and speaks to the barkeep, who points in the party's direction. The man comes over and introduces himself as Tristram Whackerton-ffoulkes, chief clerk to the Honourable Judge Porthos, a senior judge of the Free City of Greyhawk. The judge it seems is in need of short term bodyguards; very short, as in just for one night. Based on what Tristram has heard, the party is both highly capable and highly broke. Well, he's not wrong there, so the party accompanies the clerk to Judge Pothos manse in the Garden District. 

They find Judge Porthos awaiting them; a short round man in saffron and gold robes. He is unwilling to provide many details of why he needs protection, but is willing to pay 1000gp per person to keep him safe here in his mansion this night. Probing by the party reveals little more (though Solcha uses ESP to later learn someone is stalking the Judge, someone the Judge seems to have unknowingly wrongly convicted and had executed), but in the end they settle on a fee of 1350gp each and a free raise dead should they need it. The Judge is also adamant that he not be left alone at all during the night, and he refuses to spend the night anywhere but his mansion. 

The party spends the day preparing the manse with traps and tripwires, identifying choke points, and preparing spells. Judge Porthos treats them to a fine meal (but no wine, please) before dismissing the servants. The Judge then equips himself with what the party assumes to be magical defensive gear, and they all settle down inside Goro's protection from evil 10' radius to await what may come. 

What comes first is two groups of humanoids, a quartet of troglodytes and one of gnolls. These stumble into the room where the party and Judge are hunkered down, but only fight briefly before fleeing. presumably to let someone/something know the target has been found. All is quiet for  another hour, until Skeef hears faint chanting outside. And suddenly the wall of the room bursts inward, revealing a blocky earth elemental. Unable to pass the protection  circle, it goes to work on the ceiling trying to collapse it onto the party and the Judge. This forces the party to act, with Solcha and Skeef heading for the hole in the wall and the rest of the party battling the elemental and protecting the judge. 

Skeef and Solcha see, on the patio below, a shadowy human form who is obviously directing the elementals' actions. Flanking him are the gnolls and trogs, who now begin to climb up the rubble from the wall to attack. Druid and magic user drop a series of spells on the figure, which results in the elemental breaking free of control and turning on it's summoner. The figure quickly flees into darkness, but not before hurling something up into the house and shouting a word. And suddenly there is a mastodon creaking the floorboards in the room. While most of the party fights the beast, Goro drags the Judge away to a safer place while Skeef (as a bat) and Chanee head outside to find the shadowy figure. This is easy, as he has circled back to the front of the house. Confronted  there, the figure screams "Make way! I have no fight with you! I want Porthos!!!" before finally falling to the paladins' blade. 

Dawn finds the manse somewhat worse for wear that before. But the party fulfilled the terms of their contract, and walk away with a few more gold to prepare for their next adventures. 

GAINS

6 x 1350gp

chime of opening

wand of paralyzation

figure of wonderous power (marble mastodon)

scroll (limited wish) 

KILLS/VICTORIES

4 troglodytes

4 gnolls

1 earth elemental [16HD]

1 mastodon  

Arkalyne Tottoni the Shade