Far Isles Session # 8 - Loot, Glorious Loot!!!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Abdul el Abdul (Fighter 1)
Azimer (Calmonari 1)
Chaff (Vivimancer 1) with henchman Herb (Swashbuckler 1)

With a significant proportion of his away crew recovering from grievous wounds, Thorgrim reluctantly relented and allowed Azimer and Chaff to recruit help from amongst the crew of the "Serpents Revenge". Chaff convinced the ships cook, Herb, to come on board as his new retainer/carrier. Likewise, the egocentric Abdul el Abdul was more than happy to lay down the rigging lines and take up the spear in search of treasure. Suitably reinforced, the four had the jolly boat row them to shore to make one last ditch effort to recover some wealth from these caves.

Chaff suggested they investigate the largely unexplored dry well, hoping that no more crab swarms would climb out to bedevil them. Once there, Abdul el Abdul tossed a rock down the well to rouse whatever might lie below. When nothing happened, Chaff strong-armed his new henchman into climbing down the well to determine where the side passage led, and find what may lie at the bottom. Playing out 100' of rope, Abdul el Abdul held on end as Herb descended.  A quick glance down the side passage showed that it went straight east at least 30', then disappeared into darkness. Chaff shouted down the well, telling Herb to keep going unto the bottom. Herb complied, and Abdul el Abdul felt the line go slack just as he noted a faint sound above him. Looking up, the fighter spied four gliding cave lamprey about to drop on the unsuspecting group. Dropping the rope, he pulled out his grappling hook to snag one of the beasts. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten his rope was down in the well and not attached to said grappling hook. Even so, he scored a solid hit on one of the lamprey, and both it and the hook fell to the floor. Of the other three, one attached itself to Azimer, but the calmonari was able to pry it off with his/her trident. Another was bludgeoned to death by Chaff, and the fourth decided there was no easy meal to be had and glided off into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Herb down in the well had found a human-ish skull wearing an elaborate crown of coral, semi-precious gems and shells. When the sounds of combat ended on the surface, he called up for help getting out. Thankfully, the rope had gotten snagged in a crack on the floor when it was dropped, so they were able to pull the cook out of the hole. Showing off his find, Herb stated the crown must be worth at least 1400gp to his discerning eye.  Encourage by this, the party decided to explore the side passage that led out of the well. Tying the rope around the stone well, the four climbed down and east east along the 6' high passage. It did not go far, end in a blank stone wall after about 50 feet. Looking up, they saw that the ceiling at this point rose a few feet higher than the rest of the tunnel. Abdul el Abdul glanced quickly and declared there was no way out in that direction. Azimer wasn't convinced, and after a few minutes search, the calmonari discovered the ceiling was actually a round plug. Chaff ordered Herb up on Azimner shoulders to try pushing it up, but it was much too heavy for the rotund cook. Azimer tried on his/her own, but it was just a little too high to reach. In the end Abdul el Abdul climbed up on the calmonari's shoulders and lifted the plug out of the way, sliding it into a convenient (and thankfully untrapped) slot to one side of the shaft. Looking up, the fighter could see handholds on the side of the shaft, so he jumped up off Azimer's shoulders and started climbing. The others followed, and found themselves, after a 40' climb, in a passage heading east.  Moving slowly forward, Azimer got the distinct impression they'd been here before. They soon came to a Y-intersection, and realized this WAS an area they'd been before, and had the map to prove it. The shaft had led them back to the twisting tunnels west of the room full of technicolor blobs. Well, since they were close, they decided to keep heading that way, figuring there must be more treasure at the end of that trail of coins and gems they'd looted the day before. Azimer, however, first ran back to recover their rope from the well; they seemed to always be in need of more rope.

Now back at the  ooze cave, they hatched a plan. Chaff, Herb, and Abdul el Abdul would stay at one entrance to attract the mobile messes. Azimer would sneak around to the other entrance to see to where the last unexplored tunnel led. This worked well, and the calmonari was able to tip-toe past the immobile jade goops and mauve glops to the tunnel entrance. There he/she stopped, as just 5 feet inside was a ring of jade rock through which the calmonari would have to pass to proceed any further. Hesitantly, Azimer touched the ring with a belaying pin. When nothing happened, she tried again, touching it this time with a single finger. This time the ring started to vibrate, and two jade goops squeezed from the ceiling portion of the ring to fall on the calmonari. Screaming as the slimy stuff burned his/her scaly skin, Azmier ran for the exit just as the resounding BOOM of a pistol echoed from the west.

There, Chaff, Abdul el Abdul and Herb were surprised when a sahuagin fish-man appeared in the tunnel behind them. Thinking fast, they tried to step aside and let him pass, so they could then watch what the goos and globs would do to the creature. But it would have nothing to do with that plan, and instead barred claws and teeth to attack the trio. Well, one shot from Herb's pistol put an end to that idea, and the slightly wounded and thoroughly frightened creature turned and ran back into the darkness.

Shortly after, Azimer rejoined the trio and spent a few minutes scrapping off the remains of jade goo and nursing some damaged skin. Stilling wondering how to defeat these things, the party tried burning an aquamarine goop with oil, but it seemed to have no effect. Figuring even if they could find a way to fight them, the number of slimy things was more than they could handle. So instead, sneakiness would have to prevail. In a repeat of the previous plan, Azimer and Abdul el Abdul would head for the unexplored tunnel to search beyond the jade ring. Herb and Chaff would stay where they were and attract the goops attention as best as they could. Once more , this seemed to work, as the mobile slimes crowded over towards the vivamancer and cook, leaving a relatively free passage for Azimer and Abdul el Abdul. The only problem was that the tunnel was now blocked by a pair of jade goops. Abdul el Abdul took care of that by flipping his bedroll onto the slime, and then he and Azmier carefully stepped through the ring (but only after first testing to ensure nothing happened when something passed through rather than touched the ring). Once on the other side, they could see more coloured rings (mauve, vermilion, aquamarine) every 10 feet. These were bypassed the same way, and the two found themselves in a cave. At the far end was a bench carved out of the rock and on it were three small, but elaborately bejeweled and carved, chests. At about this point, they heard another BOOM as Herb discharged his pistol, the signal that the glops were on the the move and Azimer and Abdul el Abudl risked being trapped. Each hastily grabbed a chest, and carrying it under one arm, leapfrogged back out of the cave, just barely ahead of their gooey pursuers.

Meeting again, the four gleefully ran to the open air of the beach with their loot. Once there, Azimer checked each for traps. Finding nothing, but noting both chests were locked, each of the four tied to jimmy the locks. Too bad Gormus was back on the ship abed, as neither were able to figure out the delicate yet complex mechanism. Oh well, brute force it is then. Abdul el Abdul was able to open his the minimal damage, by Azimer's webbed fingers managed to smash up a couple of panels while opening the second. Inside, each chest was filled mostly with decayed scraps of vellum and cloth. Azimer's also held a crystal heart, while in the other was a golden dinner plate and a strange crystal. About 6 inches long, it was inscribed with the same weird squiggle and dot writing the party had encountered previously in the caves. Chaff, being the most learned, and having examined the writing before, tried to decipher it. He had no luck, but a curious thing happened when he held it in his hand. The crystal turned like the needle if a compass, pointing to the south east. It did the same when held by the other three members of the party.


That was all well and good, but there was a third chest to recover. Following the so far successful plan, Azimer and Abdul el Abdul ran into the cave while Chaff and Herb distracted the glops. They recovered the last chest without incident, but rather than ruin this one, opted to call the jolly boat back and find someone on board ship more handy with locks than they. Back on board, Thorgrim broke into a grin for the first time in weeks, and the crew started to whoop and holler at the sight of some real treasure. The beefy captain also proved to be deft with a set of lockpicks, and the third chest was opened without damage. Inside it was the same as the other two, with the only valuable item being a couple of strips of elaborately woven gold cloth. Lothbar, the legless dwarven first mate, appraised all the treasure at quite high value, noting the two damaged chests would have been worth much more in pristine condition ...

TOTAL XP
4069

GAINS
3 elaborate bejeweled chests (800gp, 450gp, 880gp)
2 strips of woven gold cloth (100gp each)
crystal heart (200gp)
Gold dinner plate (75gp)
Crown of the Sea (1400gp)

KILLS
4 gliding lamprey

LOSSES
Surprisingly, none

Far Isles Session #7 - Where's the Damn Treasure!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Villius Paticus (Cleric 1)
Azimer (Calmonari 1)
Chaff (Vivimancer 1) with henchman Conch (Calmonari 1)

After a night of rest and a day of refit, the party was rowed back to the sea caves to search for treasure at their leisure now that their arch-nemesis was destroyed. Passing through the ruined remains of their timber and sailcloth tunnel, the party made first for the prism-shaped column covered in etched vertical and horizontal dashes. Everyone stared at it, trying to discern a pattern. Conch suddenly noted it looked like musical notation, and tried to hum the tune as best as his semi-aquatic lungs would allow. While everyone agree the calmonari was able to do a good impression of a whale song, nothing else seemed to come of the impromptu concert.

Moving on, they quickly scanned the rough stone column at the next intersection for runes or writing, and finding none then turned west to explore areas as yet unknown. They found themselves in a confusing maze of old lava tubes and dead ends, coming eventually to a "Y-intersection" with another statue. It again showed a robed human, in this case with one arm outstretched and pointing with two fingers. Oddly, it was turned such that it was almost facing a blank rock wall, with the arm pointing roughly to the north-east. After it was checked for traps, Conch tried to turn the statue clockwise. It was difficult, but the statue and base did turn about a quarter way around. The calmonari then pushed it back, with similar difficulty.

Continuing on through the intersection, the party found themselves in a long tunnel that rose gradually before coming to the sunlight. Emerging intro the open air, they found themselves standing on a ledge overlooking the sea. The "Serpents Revenge" was not in sight, and the rest of the ring of islets could be seen stretching to the horizon. Obviously having emerged on the south side of their rocky island, and with no obvious way up or down, they turned around and headed back into the caverns. Retracing steps again, they eventually looped around to the south-east, coming to a large, and as yet unexamined, cavern. This one seemed studded floor and ceiling with large blobs of colored rock (jade, aquamarine, vermilion, mauve), similar to that seen throughout the caverns in much smaller veins and nodules. Azimer was just about to step in the room when she noticed one of the blobs started to move! Watching closely, the party could see the vermilion and  aquamarine goops were slowly undulating towards them. The jade and mauve didn't move, but it was obvious now that they were not rocks but also some form of slime or glop. Mild curses echoed through the cavern as the party muttered to themselves about more blobs. Rather than push forward, the four retreated to explore further. They found more dead end tunnels, and disturbed a pair of gliding lamprey (which were both dispatched by a combination of being clubbed in mid-air by Villis' musket, followed by impalement on Chaff's dagger).

Getting tired of dead ends, the party headed back through the room with the crystal skull and quartz pillars. Azimer did a quick recon of the pillars, but then the whole party headed for the exit, coming soon to another large chamber. This one had a floor covered in closely spaced 2" spikes of rock, which would make traversing it difficult. Scattered across the floor was a selection of old bones. Looking up was by now a modus operandi. Which was good, as that revealed a cluster of 10 gliding lamprey clinging to the ceiling and ready to descend on anyone foolish enough to enter the room. Rather than fall into that trap, the four hatched a nefarious plan. Azimer tossed one of the previously slaughtered lamprey just inside the rooms entrance (the calmonari having scooped them up for a later snack). This attracted six of the lamprey on the ceiling, and these glided down for a cannibalistic feast. When they did, Azimer tossed a net over the group to catch them. Unfortunately, his/her timing was off, and the six had sucked the body dry of blood and squirmed away before they could be entangled in the net. Undeterred, the calmonari tossed another dead lamprey, and this time all 10 descended for the feast.  Markedly more successful with the net this time, Azimer trapped about half of them, and Chaff dropped a spore cloud on the whole group to incapacitate as many as possible. Conch took his lamp and broke it over the net (Chaff then lighting the oil for his henchman) and the smell of burning seafood filled the air. Azimer and Villius took aim at the remaining lamprey with musket, javelin and dagger. That didn't make much of a dent in the squirmy foes, so the cleric used his scroll to summon a spiritual hammer to smite them. Which did work better, but three of the slimy things still managed to escape and crawl back up to the ceiling of the chamber. Azimer boldly entered the room to draw them down. Which worked quite well, as one latched on to his/her leg and started draining blood. A second attached itself to the other calmonari to do the same. Azimer managed to use his/her trident to pry off the one on his/her leg, but alas Conch was drained to death by the one on his neck. Villius and Azimer pummeled the third one to death, but meanwhile the one on Conch detached and started to crawl up to the ceiling again. Villius took careful aim with his musket, and was successful in turning that last lamprey into a bloody smear on the rock above.

Chaff hauled himself out of this carrier on Conch's back, and the three remaining adventurers now carefully entered the room. With Azimer in the lead, they hugged the perimeter, avoiding both spikes and any hidden lamprey. They also rustled through the piles of bone as they went, but found nothing of interest. Exiting a tunnel on the opposite wall, they headed north again along a long passage, and soon found themselves back in sunlight on the beach.   With mutterings of wild goose chases and flying seafood, they steeled themselves to face the blob chamber, it being the last completely uncharted area. They approached it from another direction this time, but once more found a mass of technicolor goop, glop and slime awaiting them. There was, however, some treasure at this end of the room. A scattering of coins and a few gems lay along the floor, seeming to lead from another tunnel at the east end of the chamber. They tired to get at the treasure, but the colored masses slowly advanced and pined them in the entrance. But theses things did not leave the room to pursue the party. Knowing there was a second entrance, Azimer and Chaff stayed where they were to distract the things. Villius, meanwhile, looped around to enter the room from the rear, and try to scoop up some treasure before their oozy foes knew he was there. Which worked, and he was able to recover a few fistfuls of silver coins before running off as the things approached. Oddly enough, Azimer and Chaff could see the cleric pointedly ignored the obviously more valuable gems scattered at his feet. Chaff gave Villius a dirty look when he rejoined the group, and the little vivmancer told Villius and Azimer to make themselves useful and guard his back while he did the treasure recovery. Casting a series on cantrips, Chaff painstaking nudged the gems across the room and within arms reach. This took quite some time, but luckily they were not disturbed by any further dangers.

But that was enough for the frustrated trio, so they headed back to the beach and thence to the ship. Where Thorgrim met them crossly, demanding to see the vast piles of treasure he had been promised! The captain was starting to get that look like he was going to make this voyage profitable one way or another ....

TOTAL XP
492

GAINS
3 rose quartz (75gp each), 1 smoky quartz (50gp). 1 lapis lazuli (25gp)
88 sp

KILLS
11 gliding lamprey

LOSSES
Conch the Calmonari
A little bit of sanity

Gods and Cults of Langushur

The languid swamps, volcanic mountains and stormy seas of the Langushur coast long held no attraction for the human race. Until about 800 years ago, the area was home to very few people, left mostly to those not quite human. When people did come, they hailed mainly from the south-eastern shores of Easrae. These were refugees and fugitives who choose to not live under the sway of the expanding Second Imperium and be forced to convert to the Church of the Three Virtues. As such, the gods and cults of Langushur reflect an older, polytheistic, and often crueler relationship between gods and men than is the norm in the lands around the Inner Sea. Many are the gods of the Far Shore, most to be appeased rather than worshiped. A selection is detailed below.

Ysridyl

The Lady of Storms, The Sea Witch, Crone of Wind and Destruction, 

Appearance: A woman dressed in a tattered dress of grey and blue, with four arms  and a demonic visage. 

Symbol: Four arms extending from a swirling storm cloud, like the spokes of a wheel.

Notes: The priests of Ysridyl will appease the goddess by sacrificing a youth at the height of the winter storm season, throwing him or her off the cliffs and into the sea

Brall

He Who Hides Secrets in the Depths, The Bloated One, The Drowned God

Appearance: A bloated, waterlogged corpse.

Symbol: Skull with seaweed in eye sockets

Notes: Initiation into the cult involves being ritually drowned three times; occasionally the ceremony goes amiss and the initiate goes immediately to join the Drowned God. 

Mon-Roth

The Mother Egg, The Ever Ovid, The Formless One 

Appearance: A spherical, pulsating mass of slime, with vaguely human head and appendages that appear and disappear seemingly at random. 

Symbol: A black egg

Notes: The initiates of Mon-Roth all have a colony of some type of slime or ooze grafted to their bodies, to better (and literally) spread to work of their goddess over the world. Only regular ingestion of specific drugs and herbs keep the guest protoplasm from taking over the initiates body.   

Anthor
Peacemaker, The Lord of War and Peace
Appearance: A ruddy, bearded giant with a flail in place of each arm.
Symbol: Olive branch and flail
Notes: Followers of Anthor are dedicated to peace, even if they have to shed much blood to achieve it. Cultists form roving gangs which enforce peace wherever they deem it necessary.

Garu Dar
Master of the Impenetrable Void, The Faceless Night
Appearance: A robed, emaciated and androgynous body, with a star filled void in place of a head.
Symbol: Three stars on a black field.
Notes: Initiates of Gaaru Dar imbibe yellow lotus on a massive scale, hoping to penetrate the Void in their visions and learn it's secrets. As a result, their physical appearance in this world leaves much to be desired.

Krug
He of a Thousand Eyes, The All-Seeing Master, Secret-Stealer
Appearance: A 30 foot tall giant in chain mail and open-face helm, inside which can be seen hundreds of eye-stalks in place of a head.
Symbol: A circle filled wilh a dozen smaller circles
Notes: The cult of Krug excels at brazen greed and unrestrained quest for power. No action is too dark in pursuit of these goals. Popular with bankers, spies and adventurers.

Shakrazil 
The Blood Drinker, The Power in the Rot, Lurker in Black Waters
Appearance: A giant black leach, hundreds of feet in length.
Symbol: Three leaches intertwined
Notes: Followers of Shakrazil feed the god with their own blood; the blood off an unwilling sacrifice is considered impure for their master. The cultists, on the other hand, have no such scruples when it comes to choosing their sacrament. Vampires and vivimancers abound in the worship of this deity.

The Leviathan
Watery Lord, World-Swallower,
Appearance: A great sperm whale, miles in length.
Symbol: Whale and globe
Notes: Cultists believe the world was spawned by their god, and ultimately will be consumed by him at the end of time. Rumor is they can summon the god's lessor kin to do their bidding, but only if they sacrifice themselves after the service has been rendered.

Xhusa the Radient
Goddess of Beauty, The Unblemished Lady, Beauty-Death
Appearance: A stunningly, otherworldly beautiful, human female.
Symbol: Golden Dagger
Notes: Devotes believe the quest for beauty is the goal of life. Priestess of Xhusa (there are no priests) will in fact take their own life rather than have their beauty marred. It's a small (and shrinking) cult.

Toi-Su
Decadent He, Somnolent Reveler, Writher
Appearance: A hairless bald man with the lower body of a slug
Symbol: Slug surrounded by a golden halo
Notes: Fat and shaved devotees demonstrate adherence to the faith in various carnal and dipsomaniac debaucheries. Philosophy of enlightened and over-enthusiastic hedonism. Quite harmless really.  

The Gem Gates of the Wind Wizards of Foronaxos

The Wind Wizards of Foronaxos were a semi-mythical cabal of powerful mages, whose origins stretch back to before the Godwars that destroyed the first fabled civilizations of man. The last known member of the order was last seen several hundred years ago, and they would appear to exist no more. They specialized in teleportation, telekinetic and extra-planer travel. Many of the currently known enchantments related to such matters can be traced back to them. They are best known, however, for the magical gem gates they constructed, which allowed instantaneous travel between far distant points scattered across the world.

The gates are typically oval or round portals caved out of stone, but can take almost any form. The only constant feature is a series of peculiar slots or receptacles arranged around the perimeter. The gates are powered by precious gems; star ruby, star sapphire, fire opal, blue diamond, and star topaz. To use the gate, gems are inserted into the slots. Each gate is tuned to particular combination and number of gems; inserting the right number/types/order of gems into any other gate would allow travel to the gate defined by that gem combination. 

  

Gates have a variable number of slots or receptacles. It is not possible to travel directly to a destination gate if the starting gate does not have enough slots to accommodate the required number of gems.

Unless someone is left behind to remove them from their slots, gems must be left in the gate after the traveler has passed through; there is no way to remove them after passing through the gate. Eventually the gate drains the power of the gems and they will crumble to dust. How long a given set of gems remain viable is highly variable and also highly unpredictable. In general, however, a set of gems will power a gate for a period ranging from days to weeks.

Gate locations and gem combinations currently discovered by the party are:

Gate Location	# Gem Slots	Gem Combination*
Westmist	6	R R S R
Forbidden City	6	R R R R R R
Kunth	5	R R R R R S
Land of 1000 Wizards	?	S T R R
Wastes of the Loathsome Gods #1	?	S S S S S S
Wastes of the Loathsome Gods #2	?	S R R S
Wastes of the Loathsome Gods #3	?	R T T R S
* S = Star Sapphire, R = Star Ruby, T = Star Topaz, O = Fire Opal, D = Blue Diamond

Westmist Session #100 - Brigands and Nobles

As twilight descended, the still invisible Kern and Erijay scouted around the ruined keep. Apart from smoke rising from the interior, there was no obvious activity. No guards on the crumbling walls or towers, no pickets in the treeline.They did find the main gate,which was closed and presumably barred or locked. Rather than force their way in, the two decided to position themselves near the gate, and hopefully sneak in behind some returning brigands. It wasn't long before they indeed observed a small party of men emerge from the woods, pulling a cart loaded with firewood, some small game, and casks. When the reached the gate, they called out, and a few minutes latter a guard appeared in the tower above. After a short conversation in a foreign tongue between the guard and returning men, the gate started to open. As the foraging party entered, Kern and Erijay slipped in quietly behind them. They passed into the gatehouse and through another gate (each raised by a separate windlass). From there they headed down a narrow passage, open to the sky, that entered into the inner courtyard. Kern and Erijay did not follow, having observed a number of campfires and a significant number of brigands gathered there. 

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Now left alone in the narrow passage, they decided to check out the doors they'd passed on the way in. Using a combination of listening at doors and searching for minds using the medallion of thoughts plucked from Jax, they found that three of the four doors appeared to have no one behind them. On the opposite side of the fourth door a number of human minds were encountered, including several brigands and a noble or leader of some type. Sifting through their thoughts, Kern was able to get a rough layout of the keep, including the fact that the main living quarters were not in the keep itself. Not sure what to make of that, the two went to investigate the other three doors. Two lead into the defenses surrounding the gatehouse, while the third led into a small, bare room seemingly carved out of the side of the cliff. Erijay decided to search for secret doors, while Kern started the process of summoning with the censor of controlling air elementals, to have it ready to summon in case all hell broke loose. 

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Erijay found nothing along the walls, but deftly spied a suspicious flagstone on the floor. It was lifted out of the way to uncover a passageway 10' below, heading roughly north into the cliff. Kern, once more listening and brain prying, sensed canine minds in the passage below. Erijay cast sleep to take down the animals, and the two entered the passage. Stepping over the sleeping bodies of 3 wolves, they quickly came to a branching tunnel leading left, and a door straight ahead. The branch ended in a heavy leather curtain, while the door was locked with a massive metal padlock. Kern probed beyond the curtain with the medallion, detecting faint thoughts of men both awake and asleep. A quick look, however, revealed nothing but an empty room. Going back to the door, Erijay stood guard while Kern quietly picked the lock and opened the door. On the other side was a storeroom, filled with crates, barrels and a pair of small footlockers/lock boxes. Kern pried open one lockbox, finding it stuffed full of gems! As he went to check the second, however, Erijay passed a silent warning; men were approaching.  Erijay carefully shut the door and replaced the lock (but not locking it), hoping the brigands would pass on by, she being still invisible. As the brigands approached, however, the leader noticed the open lock and screamed a warning as he drew his sword. Erijay slipped the lock out of the hasp so Kern wouldn't be trapped, then dropped invisible to the floor. The leader swung wildly, but the spear-wielding brigand behind him struck the elf a hard blow. Kern, meanwhile, threw open the door , brandishing his somewhat worst-for-wear preserved medusa head, but to no avail. Erijay now crawled through the melee and behind Kern, to be in a better position to cast her spells from a protected location. A trio of magic missiles slammed into the katana swinging leader, and another spell hasted Kern and Erijay.  The elf next polymorphed herself into a giant python as Kern struck the patrol leader dead with a final swing of the great silver hammer of Lughrin. Erijay then struck at the remaining brigands, crushing and slaying two. The third, however, had already run off to get help, and the sounds of shouting and approaching reinforcements came from beyond the curtain in the passageway. 

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Kern, pausing only briefly to lift the shiny sword from the corpse on the floor, went back into the room and threw open the second foot locker. In it lay the books for which Toi !lo was waiting. Slamming the case shut, Kern threw it onto his shoulder and he and the snake-Erijay headed back from whence they came. Hasted, they were able to keep ahead of their pursuers and get back to the front gate. There they had to pause as Kern turned the windlass and snake-Erijay stood guard. He was just getting it open when a crowd of brigands burst into the passage. Erijay slithered into the gatehouse, switched back to elf form, and incinerated their pursuers with a  fireball. Throwing open the second gate, they fled into the night, dodging a volley of spears from the guard tower. 

The duo raced back to their horses, and galloped west along the Road of the High Sun, reaching the city of Kunth the next morning. There, they once more requested the presence of their minder "Perfect Spreading of Merit", who led them back to Toi !lo's library to trade the recovered books for more information on the Wastes of the Loathsome Gods. Toi !lo let it be known there was little left of civilization in the blasted wastes. A scattered of insular villagers and nomads, long tumbled ruins, and loathsome twisted beasts of chaos spawned by the pure evil of the place. He suggested the best place to search for the Fetters of the Gods would be in the ruins of the capital of the once dreaded D'war empire, which had risen and fallen in power along with the fortunes of the Loathsome Gods. At Kern's request, the slug man also researched some gem combinations for the gate which could get them to or close to the Wastes. Toi !lo came up with three that should lead to gates in the general area of the Wastes, but could not say for sure which would be closest to the ruined city. He also, once more at Kern's request (and in return for another gift), provided a gem combination to a gate in the Land of 1000 Wizards. Erijay, again in return for more gifts, was able to get information on the four artifacts listed in the book she had recovered so long ago. The "Golden Mask of Nythal" and "Skull of Chodak" could be found in the Land of 1000 Wizards, while the "Machine of Radioactive Light" and "Throne of the Ancient Ones" were both to be found in the Burned Lands. 

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Thanking the illustrious slug-man, Kern and Erijay took their leave. Kern, recalling the treasure they'd recovered from the Hanging Tree while crossing the Untamed Lands with the barbarians, showed "Perfect Spreading of Merit" the signet ring recovered with the Kunth woman's skeleton. Examining it, he told Kern the wearer had been a member of the "Pearl" clan, a powerful human noble family in the city. In fact, the patriarch of the family was one of the 11 nobles who ruled the city in the name of the slug-men. The ring in fact had belonged to the patriarch's daughter "The Radiant Pearl of Kunth". The young woman had disappeared some years ago, supposedly kidnapped and carried off by a secret lover. Kern, sensing the chance to do the right thing to get a powerful ally in Kunth. asked "Perfect Spreading of Merit" to get them an audience with the family so he could return their daughter's remains and belongings. Their minder complied, and several days later Kern and Erijay found themselves at a palatial manor house in a rich part of the city. Led into a great hall, there they found, sitting at the head of a long table, was the clan patriarch, "Unchanging Noble One". Behind him stood a grim faced guard, and  to each side sat a woman. The lady to his right was obviously his  wife, while the relationship  of the other was uncertain. Kern explained who he was, how he had come into possession of his daughter's remains, and returned her bones, clothes and jewelry to the family. Glancing around, Kern was a little startled to see that of the four, it was the guard captain and the second woman who seemed most upset to learn the fate of  "The Radiant Pearl of Kunth". He did not dwell on it long however, as the patriarch thanked him for finally bringing closure to the family. He presented Kern and Erijay with rich robes of fur, fish-scale and gems in thanks for their service, and then signaled the guard to take the them away. The guard led them though the manor to the front gardens, and to Kern and Erijay's surprise, there rushed "Perfect Spreading of Merit" out the door. The guard then very quickly spoke in broken, heavily accented Common, asking if the body of a man of Kunth was found with "The Radiant Pearl of Kunth". When told there was not, he grunted and sent the duo on their way. Puzzled, the two headed back to the Forgein Quarter to wait for Bjorn to fully recover and begin their search for the Fetters of the Gods.

Far Isles Session #6 - Blob go Kablooie!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Gormus (Thief/Specialist 1), with henchman Villius Paticus (Cleric 1)
Azimer (Calmonari 1)
Vort (Dwarf 1)

Treasure seeking was temporarily put on hold as the party focused on finding a way to destroy the blob. A cunning plan was hatched requiring sailcloth, tar, timbers and manual labour. All of which required the acquiescence and assistance of Thorgrim and the crew of the "Serpents Revenge". The Captain was reluctant to put resources and risk his crew on a hair-brained scheme. Why not, he pondered, just go in there and wrest the treasure from the monster like good adventurers are supposed to do? Gormus and Azimer argued that more treasure could be gained if the blob was taken out first, a fact which Thorgrim was willing to accept. However, in return for the use of more of his supplies and his crew, he negotiated a new arrangement for splitting the treasure from this voyage: 50/50.

That done, the jolly boat was loaded with supplies and crew and all were set to work on the beach. At one of the cave exits, the crew set to work building a 20' extension to the tunnel out of wood, old sailcloth and tar. With the project completed, the crew headed back to the ship and the party headed into the cavern to lure the blob towards their feat of engineering. But they were barely out of the sunlight when a trio of gliding lamprey descended on the four. Two latched onto Gormus, and in less than half a minute had drained the thief of much of his blood, leaving him unconscious on the floor. A flurry of flail, trident, and belaying pin destroyed the three beasts (which Azimer scooped up and popped into his/her backpack). Gormus, his wounds bound, was dragged back to the beach to rest while the remaining three adventurers started off once more. They did not go far, as the ruckus with the lamprey must have attracted the blob's attention. They encountered the amorphous thing advancing towards them a short distance down the passage. Villius and Vort ran back to the new construction, while Azimer lured the creature onward, taking care to stay out of pseudopod range. The blob advanced to within 15' of the end of the tunnel, stopping at the point at which fresh air and sunlight was entering. Azimer shouted to Vort and Villius, and the calmonari then dove into the ocean. In response, the cleric and dwarf yanked on strategically placed ropes, pulling the tarred cloth off the wooden frame and exposing the blob thing to the air and sun. It started to hiss and steam, and retreated back into the safety of the cave. Disappointed that it was not destroyed, Azimer stood watch while Villius and Vort rebuilt the tunnel. The calmonari also placed the three dead lamprey in the tunnel, hoping that the dead flesh and Gormus's blood might attract the blob. But no luck; it advanced to the edge of the timber tunnel but would not enter it again.

The trio convened a quick conference on the beach and hatched a new plan. Propping the barely conscious Gormus up in the sand as a decoy/lure, the trio stripped the tarred canvas from the wooden frame and rolled it up. With Vort walking point, and Villius and Azimer carrying the bulky canvas, the three headed to a previously explored entrance to the cave. They looped around trying to get behind the blob and catch it in the tunnel, It, however, nearly caught them in an open cavern; Gormus was apparently not much of a distraction. A mad rush by the bearers, however, allowed them to roll out the canvas in the tunnel in front of the blob before it could emerge into the cavern. With fingers and fins crossed, the three waited in anticipation, hoping the blob would move onto the tarred carpet. Which it did! Before it could advance too far, Azimer and Villus, using a trident and musket respectively, lifted the near edge of the tarred canvas and flipped it onto the blob. With impeccable timing and perfect aim, Vort hurled with torch at the now inflammablly wrapped blob, and it went up in a burst of flame and smoke. Villus then ripped the black powder filled apostles from around his neck and tossed them into the inferno to add another serious of explosions and more flame. This was too much for the blob, and it withered into a blackened mass of goo on the tunnel floor.

But the battle wasn't over yet! Even as they watched, the blob began to come together and reform. Desperate, Villius and Vort swung again and again with flail and belaying pin, beating the thing into submission. Meanwhile, Azimer grabbed the iron helm off Vort's head, and scooped up as much of the goop as possible. Then running at tip speed, the calmonari headed for the beach. There, the goop was hurled into the sand, where it smoked and hissed into oblivion. Azimer continued scooping and running, while Vort and Villius continued to smash at the creature to keep it from regenerating and reforming. This worked well for a few trips, but after the third or forth run to the beach, the oozy materiel ate through the bottom of the helmet. Nonplussed, the clamonari grabbed the dwarf round metal shield for the next 'scoop and run'. This, unfortunately, caused the dwarf to miss his timing when swinging his flail. Villius likewise missed, and in the confusion the blob began to grow large and strong again. The quickly strengthening monster lashed out a pseudopod at Vort, and the unfortunate dwarf was hurled across the room, his rib cage shattered. He held precariously onto life however, as Azimer and Villius tried to beat the blob into submission again. But when Azimer took a hard blow, both decided it was time to cut and run. The slowly expiring dwarf had to be left behind, as he was lying on the opposite side of the blob.

Calmonari and cleric run back to the beach, the blob following close behind. The two turned to face their foe once they were in the sunlight. Villius, grabbing some powder from Gormus (still sitting, sunburned and suffering in the sand), loaded his musket and fired at the thing. And struck it right in the centre, blowing to smithereens in a spray of hot glop. Wasting no time, Azimer rushed forward and using the shield again, started scooping the remains out into the sunlight until all of the deadly blob was gone. At last, their amoebic foe was vanquished!

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After a brief rest to bind wounds and catch their breath, the two ran back to where Vort lay, Alas, the dwarf had expired before emergency aid arrived. They carried his body back and lay it in the sand for Gormus to watch over. The remain two adventurers decided to make one last foray into the cavern to look for easy treasure. But at the first sign of trouble, the plan was the hightail it out of there and come back with reinforcements another day. Back at the intersection containing the crystal prism, they took an as yet unexplored tunnel. Which ended almost at once in a pile of stones. Villius looked closely, and noted that it didn't look like a collapse. Instead, it looks like something or someone had deliberately pilled the stones there to block the tunnel. Thinking they didn't want to actually meet that who or what right now, they backtracked and choose another tunnel to explore. It led to another intersection, this one with a large 10' diamater black basalt pillar in the centre. After a cursory examination, this was bypassed and the duo moved on, coming to a large cavern. This was filled with pillars of purple and white quartz, stretching from floor to ceiling.  Looking around, Azimer also spied another pillar, only five feet tall, but topped with a crystal skull. The calmonari approached and examined it for traps. Finding nothing, Azimer moved around behind the pillar and tried to lift the skull. No luck; it appeared to be firmly attached. Upon touching it however, the calmonari's hands began to sink into the skull until she/he could feel a slippery, soft mass. Oddly enough, Villius at that same moment had the sensation of someone sticking fingers into his brain, a feeling which disappeared when Azimer pulled his/her hands from the skull. Villius pondered hard on the matter, but for some reason could not make a reasoned mental investigation as well as he once could. Curious ...

Deciding they'd pushed their luck enough for one day, the two turned back to the beach and the ship. They did not get far before encountering a pair of fish-men. They looked just like the remains found the previous day, except these two still had legs and lower torsos. The two were emaciated and looked weak, but upon seeing Villius and Azimer raised their tridents to attack. Azimer tired to use aquatic telepathy to communicate feelings of love and friendship, but the two creatures were unresponsive. The calmonari then used aquatic charm to bend one to his/her will, which did succeed. The charmed creature was able to convince it's companion to not attack, and the two followed Azimer and Villius back to the beach. Once their, the charmed fish-man signaled goodbye to Azimer before it and it's companion dove into the ocean and disappeared. Azimer and Villius, meanwhile, signaled to the jolly boat to return to the safety of the "Serpents Revenge"  

TOTAL XP
848

GAINS
nil. nadda. zilch.

KILLS
The Guardian AKA The Blob
3 gliding lamprey

LOSSES
Vort the Dwarf
lots of canvas and tar

Westmist Session #99 - Kunth to Westmist to Kunth to Westmist ...

Having received and studied the pilfered volumes, Toi! lo proceeded (through his human intermediary) to lecture Kern and Erijay on Yg and how to defeat the aspects of the god. Only after first going into an in-depth and esoteric exposition on the  non-existence of the gods, of course. That said, Toi! lo noted that Yg was one of the so called “Loathsome Gods”, those first foul gods to be worshiped by mankind.Yg was particularly interesting as it consisted  of the three aspects of Yg, who could combine into one  super-powerful god with the abilities of the three individuals. Of the aspects themselves, he could find little of specific powers. Very large and very strong. Some of the old texts told of sacrifices  swallowed whole, of poison bites and venomous spit, of the ability to charm  weak-willed humans. The three aspects were very difficult to fight, as all would  regenerate when injured.

As for the motivation of the god, it's immediate goal would be to seek the third aspect. The real  driving force, however, would be the cult of Yg. It’s goal was to enslave the world in their dread god’s name, and although much weakened, the cult survives to this day (a fact neither Kern nor Erijay needed to be told).

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Historically, most of the Loathsome Gods were bound and imprisoned with magic specifically designed for such a task. In particular the items known as “Fetters of the Gods”. These were powerful
artifacts which could place the god/creature in a magical stasis, unable to be  harmed but likewise unable to harm anyone or anything.  Destroying Yg would be  difficult, as it was one of the gods the heroes of old could not kill. However,  locate these “Fetters of the Gods” and it may be possible to re-imprison it. Each of the aspects need to be imprisoned separately; try to use one of the  artifacts on a combined Yg and it will split, leaving only one aspects bound. The final battles against many of the the gods and their cults took place in  what is now known as the “Wastes of the Loathsome Gods”, a land of bleak moor, hills and bog between the Black Spine Mountains and the Skaarl Sea. That  would be the most logical place to start looking for traces of the “Fetters”.

Erijay and Kern pondered this for awhile, and proceeded to ask the mighty slug-man a few more questions abut the “Wastes of the Loathsome Gods” and where to start their search in that barren land. Answers, however, were curtly not forthcoming. The great Toi! lo had kept his part of the bargain; any other questions would require further services! With little choice, unless they wanted to stumble around lost in a haunted land, the pair agreed. Once more Toi! lo asked them to recover some books, but this times from bandits rather than a rival ("Perfect Spreading of Merit" looked very relieved). A merchant caravan, carrying among other things books purchased by the slug-man from one of the arcane inhabitants of the Land of 1000 Wizards, had been ambushed 2 days ago on the Road of the High Sun. A pair of bearers had escaped to bring the news to the city, but the rest of the people and goods were lost. And Toi! lo wanted his books. Kern and Erijay had "Perfect Spreading of Merit" track down the bearers for questioning, and the two impoverished men confirmed the slug-man's story. They could provide little detail on the bandits other than they saw only men, no monsters. Kern paid the two men for their information (unintentionally once more committing a social faux pax), and they returned to Toi! lo's archive.  Kern and Erijay agreed to the job, but informed the slug-man they had some personal business to attend to first.

That business was to go back through the gate and recover Bjorn's body, and hopefully have him raised from the dead. After confirming with "Perfect Spreading of Merit" that such a service could be found in Kunth, the duo had their minder take them out of the city and they headed up through the fields back to the magical gate. First, Erijay cast invisibility on herself and Kern. Then, inserting the gems, they once more activated the gate and passed through into their ruined cellar. Above was a small hole through which daylight filtered and rubble could be seen, and the sounds of someone moving around could be heard. The sounds were far off, so Kern boosted Erijay up to climb out of the hole. Unfortunately, the elf grabbed a loose bit of timber and a pile of wood and stone tumbled down on the pair. This attracted some attention, and a trio of grimy and grim faces soon appeared above. Obviously townsfolk and obviously much worst for wear, the three peered into the hole for a bit, but moved on when they saw nothing of interest. Once the coast was clear, Erijay and Kern climbed out of the cellar and looked around. The scene was one of almost total devastation. On the hill to the southeast lay the tumbled ruins of Westmist Keep, and on the southwest hill was the ruins of the Temple of the Three Virtues. Much of the rest of the town was likewise in ruin, and a significant portion of the northern and western walls were destroyed. A few clusters of townsfolk seemed to be working on repairing the wall (one led by the unmistakably ugly Lanthan the Undervirtue), and a few others picked through the ruins. But there were not many to be seen.

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The two did not linger long, however, but made their way quickly to the Keep. Luckily, Bjorn still lay where they'd left him, wrapped in his cloak. The picked up the rather ripe body and made their way back to the gate. There, they first disguised the gate it as best they could, to prevent any one else from finding it, and then slipped back through the portal to Kunth. Making their way back to the city, they were met by "Perfect Spreading of Merit", who led them to the high philosopher of the "Path of Truth and Knowledge to and of All". Kern was a little underwhelmed when he was presented to a short dirty man in a loin cloth, living in a filthy hovel in  slum. However, the merchant was convinced to turn over the requisite gift of jewelery and gems to the little man, who proceeded to burn incense and chant of the magic users remains. And it worked, for Bjorn was drawn back from the dead once more, arriving spitting mad, plus dazed and confused. Kern explained where they were and what had happened, then they brought him back to the Foreign Quarter and rented rooms so he could rest and recover. Knowing the lawless nature of the Quarter, Kern also hired a pair of big Skaarling mercenaries to guard their countrymen while he and Erijay went about their business.

That business involved going back to Westmist once more, for the pair had remembered the pit full of gold left behind in the ruined Yg temple. After first spending a few days in preparations and shopping for some spell scrolls, the two set off once more to the gate and back to Westmist. They went invisible once more, which was good as the town was not as quiet this time. Arriving back in their old cellar, they could now hear screams and faint sounds of battle in the ruins above. Climbing above ground, they could see the barbarians of the Ram tribe moving through the ruins, cutting down anyone who resisted and hauling away others as prisoners! Kern agonized over intervening, since he was the chief's brother in law. Erijay pointed out that given his wife's history of offing unwanted husbands, he might not be welcomed with open arms. Especially as the tribeès relocation didnèt go quite as planned. Agreeing with the elf, Kern went along with the original plan: looting. They headed back to the Keep and the temple. Erijay took the magic chest from Kern. The elf flew down into the pit recently vacated by the aspect of Yg, and started to shovel coins into the chest until full. This was repeated twice, which the first lot getting hidden in the secret safe back in the old cellar; for future recovery. On the second trip, Erijay was attacked by a shadowy snake-like thing as she flew out of the pit, but was able to soar away safely on the wings of magic. With the chest now full, the two took care to avoid the fighting, and scurried back to the gate. There, Erijay used a scoll of hallucinatory terrain to disguise the ruined cellar to avoid it's discovery, and the two then headed back through to Kunth.

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There, they finally headed out along the Road of the High Sun to recover the books for the slug-man. Purchasing a pair of horses, they made it to the ambush site in a single day. At this point, the wooded hills came close to the river, forcing the road into a narrow defile between high land and water. Kern looked around, and was able to find traces of tracks heading up into the wooded hills. The two hitched their horses to a tree, and followed the faint traces into the shrubs. On the other side, they found a rough but clear cart track winding its way up the hill. Following it for about an hour, the trees thinned and they could see above them a ruined keep nestled at the base of a high cliff. There were no sign of of any occupants, but they were pretty sure they'd found the bandit hideout ...