Session 10 Adventure Notes

It's hard to believe that we are already at Session Ten and yet we have been playing for four months now.  It's also hard to imagine that we have had yet another unique session, so different than all the rest.  To summarize the oddness, we only had one combat encounter at the very end, and our heroes have opened up three more minor quests and ignored the major quest while in the very castle they were supposed to go for the quest.

Some other interesting session numbers:
10 sessions
4 months
~2 lbs of Swedish fish (that surprisingly don't taste like fish)
4 pizzas
1 potato chip bag of bring your own strength to open it
and a "golden sack"

Here is our per player XP so far, before we get to the story:
Session 9: 342 XP
Session 8: 787 XP
Session 7: 524 XP
Session 6: 562 XP
Session 5: 278 XP
Session 4: 432 XP
Session 3: 321 XP
Session 2: 585 XP + 50 XP for Shava and Yelsha
Session 1: 375 XP
Total so far: 4206 XP

We opened on our party late in the morning of Day 12 walking out of the Ye Olde Shop of Magic empty handed.  Rhaegar buys a few miscellaneous items and the decide to see what they can find at the Dog's Wag, before sunset.

Through conversation with the barmaid, Helga, and the games master, her husband, Bastrad, they learn that Carric, the Cavalier that was sacrificed at the altar of Vecna, had frequented this establishment, drinking and gambling between jobs.  They also learned that the cloaked figure had not been seen before he met with Carric, but has been back fairly often around sunset, and doesn't ever buy anything, to Helga's dismay.

The whole party, except for Varis sent down to enjoy some dice and card games at the Dog's Wag.  Jadis was the first to break the ice with some play at Roman's Dice and then Chuck-a-Luck.  Eventually others joined him, starting with Yelsha, and then everyone but Varis (who kept watch) playing Three Dragon Ante Emporer's Gambit.  Overall the party did well at the games adding about 100gp to their coffers before realizing the sun was settings as they were cashing out their chips back to gold.

As they were, Varis noticed that a cloaked figure opened the door into the Dog's walk, seemed troubled at seeing Shava, Yelsha, Jadis, Glyth, and Varis, and closed the door and hurried off.  The party followed outside and began to track the figure.  They could tell he was running fast, and despite enthusiasm by Shava, they decided not to run after the trail grew cold. 

The party felt that the cloaked figure was most likely gathering forces, so they rented a few rooms at the end in strategic outlooks locations, they had Yelsha and Jadis sneak around the back so the barmaid wouldn't know they were here (in case she was interrogated), and Doz waited down stairs while chatting up a Minotaur patron.  Those upstairs (sharing some rooms) took turns sleeping and keeping watch.  Around three hours in, the cloaked figure indeed returned, but alone, and Doz overheard him talking to Helga.  He simply asked what she knew about the adventurers that were in earlier (he did show that we felt superior to the barmaid), and having learned little left.  Having been alerted to his presence by a mage hand from Doz, Rhaegar and Jadis moved into a vacant room and caught his return path.  The cloaked figure had headed into the castle, and was not stopped or questioned by the guards.

From then, our heroes decided to take a long rest if nothing more than to prevent from being tired later.  During the night Shava, again had difficulty sleeping, and as he later reported to the party, his dreams are becoming more clear and compelling.  He is being called by Pelor, to a pyramid in the midst of a clearing in a thick forest to the north west.  After they woke on the morning of Day 13, our party decided to send Doz, someone that the cloaked figure did not seem to recognize and was not with them at the arena (they assumed that based on who the cloaked figure noticed this figure must have been at the arena), to the castle to seek an audience with King Helgon.  Yes, they just split the party.

Doz, who later confesses he expected death on this errand, comes to the guards at the castle entrance.  The guards stop him stating that only those on the King's business may enter.  Doz attempts a diplomatic approach with the guards and convinces them to let him pass so that he may offer the king his services to gain his favor.

As he is escorted into the throne room where King Helgon sits, he notices that the cloaked figure is standing behind the left shoulder of the king.  Doz appeals to the king in speech by seeking a homestead and safe passage through his land, in exchange for whatever service the King wishes.  The King offers him a quest to seek out his missing powerful mage.  Helgon had sent the Mage to the Maze of Madness, west from the North Gate of Hilliana through a pass called Tock's Crack in the mountain range to the west.  The mage was to retrieve a "trinket" for him and he has asked Doz to retrieve the trinket with or without the mage.

Doz accepted the quest and after stating that he would gather six other adventures for the task, had a page draw up mission documents that would be proof the party was on the king's business while travelling.

Doz reported back to the party, still at the Dog's Wag, and they were excited to hear about the safe passage. They didn't, however, seem interested in the new quest, and on their way to the north gate of Hilliana stopped by to see the Eladrin at the Religious Center to see how her research was going.

She was excited to see them as she indeed has found something.  Here is what she shared:

“I believe I have found something, though obscure.  I found a reference to both an artifact and Vecna in a tome regarding the goddess Melora. I found it so quickly as our center had recently researched Melora on an errand from one of the King’s pages.  Melora is the goddess of the wilderness and the sea.  She is not known to be good or evil and tends to want nature to be untamed and unfettered with.  Sometimes her acts can seem cruel to humans, but she is the closest thing to what some ancient tribes called ‘Mother Earth’.

“What I found in the tome is that there was once a cult, that one reference called them The Ancient Ones.  The Ancient Ones performed some form of dark ritual and/or quest that allowed them to steal power from the gods.  It is written that they were able to channel the power of several gods into a single artifact. 

“This tome describes the powers of Melora, Gruumsh, Sehanine, Moradin, Tiamat, and Vecna.    I can’t tell if that is all the gods trifled with or gather much more than that from this text on Melora, except that there was a new cult formed in the aftermath that were called ‘Light Seekers’ who found a way to destroy the artifact.

“This is the part that excites me as a student of tomes and proud sister.  My sister, Meriele, has been studying the rise and fall of the ancient ‘Light Seekers’, at the Abbey for the Religious Arts on the Isle of Fire.  I haven’t had word from her in a few months with all the road blocks around Hilliana.

“Would you mind carrying her this package along with this tome of Melora?  The book has a note in it to help her see what references I am talking about for you.  We usually send each other little pleasantries every few months, and it’s been dreadful not hearing from her.  Also, and I hate to ask you this, but these books are invaluable and I am already breaking protocol loaning this to you.  Would you be willing to place a 10gp deposit so I can at least fall back on that, if my superiors come complaining?   I will hold it here for you safely on your return of the tome.”

The party asked where the Isle of Fire was.  “Oh, I’m sorry; you must be new in this region.   Most take a ship from the docks at Palancia.  Weather permitting, it’s about two days sail south east to the isle.  They call it the Isle of Fire, because the mountains that make up the isle are frequently throwing smoke into the air.”

Before departing, they had Meriele's sister draw them a map of the northern regions of Hilliana, which was mostly nondescript hill country and the mountain range to the west wrapping around to the north and ending in a dense forest.  It also showed a road heading North from the Hilliana and the splitting into a West and East road.  The west road heads into the mountains through Tock's Crack, and the east road heads closer to the river going east and past the docks that server Hilliana. 

Our heroes accepted the package and proceeded out the North Gate.  When they get to the end of the north road before it heads east and west, they ask Shava for directions who feels that heading due northeast is the proper course.  They walk through the hilly country for over two days before coming to the edge of a dense forest at the morning of Day 15.  Shava again leads the way northeast through the dense forest.  Around midday of Day 15, they come to a clearing in the woods with pile of rumble in the middle.  Some arcana checks, which Yelsha ultimately succeeds in shows immense magic flowing from the rubble. 

During their inspection, three dwarves, two humans, and a drake spring from the trees surprising all but Varis.  Midfight, a dwarf asks, "What have you done with our leader?" to Varis.  Varis answers, "We ate him!"  The dwarf was surprised by the answer.  Our heroes killed all their foes except the dwarf who asked about his leader, who they knocked unconscious for interrogation.  As they revived the dwarf, he burst into ashes and a spectral image of a tiefling appeared over the pile of rubble.

The image of the male tiefling asked "What do you seek in the Pyramid of Shadows?" and Shava immediately answered "The answer to my dreams!"  The image responds, "So shall it be!  Welcome the Pyramid of Shadows.  The only way to win your freedom is to kill us - three times." and the world went black then returned with the absence of the smell of a forest and the stench of too many animals in too small a space in its place.  I think I heard Glyth say, "Shava, what have you gotten us into this time?!?"

And this is where we ended Session 10.  What is the Pyramid of Shadows and what did he mean by kill us three times?  What will happen to the other gazillion quests our party has collected?  Stay tuned; we may have some more answers next session.

Players: feel free to correct and update the story in the comments.  Anyone is welcome to make story suggestions and comments as well.  We actually just transitioned into a pre-made module called Pyramid of Shadows.  Another new and very different session awaits.

Also, we are tentatively schedule to reconvene on Saturday, March 24th, at 4pm.  This is not as firm as we usually have when leaving a session, but a few folks had to do some more thorough calendar checking.  Let me know!

Games of Chance - 175 XP
Encounter 25 - Chasing Shadows - 0 XP
Encounter 26 - Fighting Shadows - 0 XP
Encounter 27 - Hilliana Castle Gate - 362 XP - Doz only
King Helgon - Safe Passage
Encounter A1 - Forest Clearing - 1400 XP

Session Experience:  1575 XP / 7 PCs = 225 XP + 362 XP for Doz
Adventure Experience: 4206 XP +  225 XP = 4431 XP + 50 XP for Shava/Yelsha, & 362 XP for Doz
Level 5 at 5500 XP

DM Ruling:  I awarded the XP for Encounter 27 to Doz only.  Had it not been for a lucky Diplomacy role, he could have well triggered a combat encounter by himself and died before his party could assist.  Give that Doz is also behind in experience points, I doubly felt this was fair for everyone.