[D&D - Actual Play] Games of Divinity campaign

[miss-rynn]

I've been running a D&D 3rd Ed game for a while now, so it's probably not the best time to start an Actual Play Thread... but we all feel like bragging about our games occasionally, so cut me some slack. :)

The full story can be found here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/house_fiona/), with the first session summaries collated in the one spot here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/house_fiona/4023.html#cutid1). Also, this (http://www.livejournal.com/users/house_fiona/11122.html#cutid1) is a list of all of the NPCs who have appeared thusfar in the game. If you are interested in more details about the sessions, feel free to ask.

The Party
Treganter - a strange bronzed-gnome type man (human racial stats, he just looks different). Neutral neutral-good articifer (wizard/rogue). Total levels = 12
Dayne - a tiefling Vassal of Tamara (variant on the Vassal of Bahamut class). Neutral good, but leaning more towards lawful these days (quite a feat considering he started out as chaotic). Total levels = 12 (ECL 13)
Ariss - the requisite elven archer, with a taste for the 'finer' things in life. A very high charisma chaotic neutral ranger. Total levels = 12
Ibrahim - a man with the blood of fire genies running through his veins (varient on the teifling racial stats). A lawful nuetral fighter-wizard (and now Elemental Savant, I believe), trained originally as a dimplomat on the elemental planes. Total levels = 12 (ECL 13)
Tethryn - a human ranger/cleric (with a recent dose of Divine Agent), who originally came from the Lake of Steam in Faerun. True nuetral, and perhaps the most level headed of the party. Total levels = 11
Giovanna - a winged aasimar, and the token female of the party. She is a Cleric and a Divine Agent of Sune. Total levels = 11 (ECL = 12)

The Hook
The party are a disperate bunch at best, but have been thrust together to face common recurring foes. They are also bound by a mutual desire for cash. The game will become more Planescape like in the third act, which will make the game both more interesting, and more difficult to keep the party together.

The Story (in brief) So Far
The first five members of the party were all by accident or design Planewalkers. They found themselves mysteriously trapped on the plane of Hub in a city known as Oubliette - from which there was no escape. Oubliette was under the control of a secretive but powerful being known as the Over-Seer. However, the party soon recieved visions of doom, and were proclaimed the "Five fortold by the Prophecy". Simply put, the Prophecy was that they would prevent the destruction of the plane of Hub.

Many sessions of investigation later, the party came to realise several things; 1) that Hub was being maintained by the dreams of a Crystal Dragon which had obtained Godhood, 2) that the Over-Seer and his minions were manipulating the city for some dark and nefarious purposes, and 3) that the Over-Seer was not as benign as he seemed.

The party managed to escape Oubliette to arrive in Westgate (in Faerun), and met up with Giovanna, only to come to the realisation that they needed to return to Oubliette to kill the Over-Seer (who is, in fact, a powerful ilithid wizard). They have been spending their time in Faerun getting XP and loot, as well as making yet more enemies (such as the Night Masks and a lord of one of the Infinite Layers of the Abyss, the demon known as Anaxie).

What is Next?
I always try to post a little blurb a few days before each session to get the players excited for it. This (http://www.livejournal.com/users/house_fiona/11433.html?) is the latest such blurb.

Stay tuned!

[Mengtzu]

Dayne - a tiefling Vassal of Tamara (variant on the Vassal of Bahamut class). Neutral good, but leaning more towards lawful these days (quite a feat considering he started out as chaotic). Total levels = 12 (ECL 13)

You may remember this guy from the "How do I solo a Dragon?" thread ^_^

He's a lot of fun. I like playing a fighter-type in D&D, even if it means keeping track of dizzying amounts of healing potions!


Many sessions of investigation later, the party came to realise several things; 1) that Hub was being maintained by the dreams of a Crystal Dragon which had obtained Godhood, 2) that the Over-Seer and his minions were manipulating the city for some dark and nefarious purposes, and 3) that the Over-Seer was not as benign as he seemed.



I got completely taken in. The beautiful half-dragon paladin that inspired my character's journey from knockabout noble to Exalted warrior of the Dragon Gods turned out to be the Over-Seer's Blackguard! And after I'd spent ages trying to convince the rest of the party that she was trustworthy (amusingly, though, they generally distrusted her *because* they thought she was a paladin).

I was, quite literally, sleeping with the enemy.

It was a cool story arc though, especially with this great couple of sessions where we repelled an enormous demonic invasion in pitched battle (only to find out later, of course, that the "hero" of the battle, the paladin Vaelenta, was the one that recruited the enemy army in the first place. Sigh :)).



This is the game that got me loving D&D again. miss_rynn is easily the best GM I know (much, much better than me), and her lovingly detailed NPCs are always a joy to play with.

Even when they've made you look like a damned fool. I shouldn't be such a sucker for the pale pretty ones :)

[Mostlyjoe]

My god. This game is almost worshipful. I cry at my attempts so far. :D

[miss-rynn]

My god. This game is almost worshipful. I cry at my attempts so far. :D

What can I say? A game is only as good as its players, and I got real lucky with mine.

But thanks for the compliment. :)

[Mengtzu]

What can I say? A game is only as good as its players, and I got real lucky with mine.




They are an awesome bunch. It's essentially the players of my Sidereal game mashed into the players of our equally cool 7th Sea game (which I'd actual play, but eh, it's 30 odd sessions in and almost over).

[Mostlyjoe]

What can I say? A game is only as good as its players, and I got real lucky with mine.

But thanks for the compliment. :)


Most welcome. I sadly have some really cool players, but can't get at them enough. Grrrr.

[Mengtzu]

Most welcome. I sadly have some really cool players, but can't get at them enough. Grrrr.


We find a strict regimen of blackmail and snacks keeps players coming back.

[Mostlyjoe]

We find a strict regimen of blackmail and snacks keeps players coming back.

Not when you got:

1. Distance

2. GF/Spouce obligations

3. Job

to worry about.

[some guy]

Excellent! We've been hearing a lot about this D&D campaign; it'll be interesting to learn more about it. Consider this a vote for "more please?"

[miss-rynn]

Our intrepid heroes, Dayne, Ibrahim, Ariss and Treganter, discussed what their options were for their next move - all were keen for some measure of revenge against the Night Masks, but most were somewhat reluctant to take any direct action which would end in their messy deaths.

Worrying news came from Ibrahim who announced that a portal to Gelid had been used several times in the past few months in the Travel Dome, but that there were no records as to who or what used the portal in question. While the party took this on board, the main problem with the Night Masks was foremost in their thoughts.

Sage advice came from a somewhat unexpected corner, however, in the form of Bastion. The tiefling told of how he knew of Cinder's escape from Westgate, as well as her planned destination - Starmantle, a city not too far to the east. As it turned out, Bastion was with Cinder at the time the Night Masks made their attack. The two of them incorrectly assumed that the assassins were after Cinder alone, and thusly Bastion helped her escape the city on horseback and told her to head to Starmantle.

Why Starmantle? It was known to both of them that the paladin Randall, a representative form the Lord's Alliance (who the party had done business with in the past) had been tracking a party of Zhentarim for several weeks in that city - as an ally, he would no doubt offer the Sorceress sanctuary. Of course, unbeknownst to Cinder, the Night Masks had not only been after her blood. She was still unawear of the attack on the Harpers, or the kidnapping of her mother Lorena.

(In secret, Treganter recieved word back from a drow he had contacted in regards to obtaining items to protect the party from their future interactions with the Mind Flayer, The Over-Seer. Coincidentally, the fence (named Jabbuk Vayas) was based in Starmantle also.)

For these reasons (and for the possibility of aiding Randall with the business involving the Zhentarim), the party organised a boat and sailed to the port city of Starmantle. In the mean time, Bastion stayed behind to continue investigations into the Night Masks to attempt to find those responcible for the Night of the Poisoned Blades with the assistance of the Company of the Gilded Falcon. Taking the much shorter route, the party arrived long before Cinder, and went about their business tracking down Randall.

(Once more in secret, Treganter located the business establishment of Jabbuk Vayas to inquire about price. The items in question were very expensive to be sure, but the drow had an interesting proposal to make; if the party were to aid in a conflict between Vayas's House and a rival House in the Underdark, then the drow would be willing to give them a discount. The extent of the discount would of course depend on the extent of the assistance offered by the party. Treganter agreed to nothing more than to discuss this plan with his fellows...)

The party visited the embassy of the Sword Coast to gain intelligence on Randall's location, and were rewarded with a tavern name; The Plate and Chain Bodice. Much to the disappointment of many, however the tavern was a paladin's establishment through and through, and not nearly as racey as the name would have suggested. In short time Randall was found, and was more than happy to share his information.

It turned out that the Zhentarim that were present in the city were something of an advanced party of trouble-shooters, who had been sent from the North to make the move for a strong Zhentarim presence more smooth. It was this party which had tried to make a deal with the Night Masks (a deal which the party had foiled some months earlier), and they were also the same party to set a trap at the Temple of Bane (Act 2, Session 6) which left half of the party hovering at the brink of death.

These Zhents had set up a gambling house, with their base of operations on top, in Starmantle. A breif investigation on the inside by Ibrahim and Ariss confirmed the fact that the games were skewed in favour of the house, and that there were guards present as a peace-keeping force (and they lost some small amount of money in the process).

A cunning plan was devised by the party which involved the magical construction of a staircase leading up to the top floor of the building, where the Zhents were located, then the use of a pass wall spell to surprise them. This plan worked remarkably well, followed in short order by judicious use of fireballs. The battle which insued was fierce an deadly for there were six Zentarim in total, three of which were powerful clerics. The party was successful (though rather injured), and managed to take one prisoner.

They rounded off their assault on the building by fighting a Diamond Golem on the floor below them which had obviously been put in place to guard the Zhents, but had not succeded in this goal.

The party retired to a different tavern, Dirty Muriel's Cornerclub, to count their loot. Treganter informed them of the deal offered by Jabbuk Vayas, which the party decided to investigate further before committing to anything. And who should enter the tavern shortly there after, but Cinder! Though a little travel-worn, she was largely fine... right up to the point that she heard the news of what had happened to the Harpers and the fact her mother had been kidnapped. Brief arguments were had, but she was eventually convinced not to enlist the aid of her father to burn down the city in vengance. Instead, she took it upon herself to attempt to get in contact with Elminster.

And the party recieved a whole lot of XP! Yay. The adventures for next session will I'm sure largely involve some poking around in the Underdark. :)

(Cross-posted to House_Fiona)

[Mengtzu]

We totally went Shadowrun on those Zhents :)

Staircase to the third floor magically made from rubble, Passwall to get in, two fireballs ahead of us and then charge.

The only not-so-good point was me losing 126HP to a Harm spell, but other than that it was like clockwork :)

[miss-rynn]

The only not-so-good point was me losing 126HP to a Harm spell, but other than that it was like clockwork :)

That's what you get for underestimating clerics. :p

[Morsla]

*begins to work on Underestimated Cleric Stance*

Sorry I missed it - I'll email you some of Tethryn's plans.

[Mengtzu]

*begins to work on Underestimated Cleric Stance*

Sorry I missed it - I'll email you some of Tethryn's plans.


Can you learn Harm? That'd be really helpful.

[miss-rynn]

Just some background info, in the form of a letter between NPCs.

It's all about the half-dragon Cinder's crazy parents. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/house_fiona/11970.html)

[Mengtzu]

I've been going along thinking that damn Red Dragon had taken that nice lady as a sex slave and repeatedly raped her.

There goes my sense of righteous indignation...he can shift on the Stab List, I guess :)

[Morsla]

*places note in "to stab" collumn of The List*

[Mengtzu]

*places note in "to stab" collumn of The List*


Don't take him off it - he's a Red Dragon, he'll have done *something* stab-worthy - but we can deprioritise him.


Which, given his likely CR, is a Good Thing.

[miss-rynn]

With the return of Tethryn (who saw the safe return of lady Ravalynn to the Lake of Steam) and Giovanna (who was involved in restoration work in Westgate after the Night of the Poisoned Blades), our party of mighty heroes was once more reunited for glorious adventures! The ever-pragmatic Treganter had arranged a meeting with Jabbuk Veyas to discuss terms of business - the involvment of the party with drow politics in return for heavily discounted magic items.

With the general consent of the party, a drow fighter (who wished to be called 'Odette') investigated the party and interviewed Dayne in particular to be assured of their intentions in aiding the dark elves, before giving her aproval for the party to meet with the leader of House Cladd'th (to which Veyas is loyal, and thus recruited the party to aid), the Matron Mother Hundius. After a few comments on drow social structure (including Odette's assumption that Cinder "owned" Ibrahim), Odette lead the party through the back enterance of Veyas's shop to an underground passage.

A vastly deep stone staircase spiralled its way down from the surface into the Underdark proper, and the journey was a long, cold and silent one. Eventually the stairway came to a landing and, after passing several heavily armed drow guard contingents, the party was lead to a fairly large dark elf city that was under the control of House Cladd'th. At length, the party was taken to meet with the Matron Mother and to have the particulars of the circumstances surrounding their employ explained.

House Cladd'th was in the midst of preparing for war with House Arab'und for the oldest of reasons in drow society; both hosues coveted the same position of power on the drow ruling council. Hundius believed that House Arab'und was weak and would only weaken the drow as a people if they were allowed to survive (let alone gain more power) - it would be necessary to remove them to strengthen the drow as a people. This being as it may, the drow are a cautious race; they are unprepared to enter into a battle where victory is assured. It would be much better for the people as a whole to suffer a short decisive battle rather than a close, drawn out war.

Simply put, then, the party was to aid in the swift downfall of House Arab'und. Growing tired of the party (though somewhat amused by Treganter), the Matron Mother dismissed them to the further debriefing by her vassals Odette (a tactical adviser) and Getheth (a spymaster). Each of these had two missions to offer the party in return for a discount on magic items. Odette suggested that House Cladd'th might gain the upper hand if the party was to secure an anscestral drow weapon called the 'Peace-Maker' from the tomb known as the Hall of Fallen Heroes, or if the party could prevent an alliance between House Arab'und and the Eye Tyrants. Getheth meanwhile has some more underhanded missions for the party - to assassinate the general of Arab'und's army, or to discredit the matron mother of House Arab'und.

The party eventually decided that their best bet was to visit the Hall of Fallen Heroes. Along the way they were beset with some minor annoyances, but arrived at last at the tomb, ready to fight what ever foes remained within. Odette warned them to be wary, for there were dark things present in the tomb that she herself refused to face - she waited outside for the party to return. The party faced a number of arachnid-type creatures, including Drider tomb guardians, with little difficulty. However, the tell-tale signs of something seriously amiss, which were only picked up on by the cunning ranger Tethryn, were not enough to have them fully prepared for the true beast of the tomb.

A Deep Dragon dropped from the ceiling to land on Dayne in a surprise attack, and the battle was on! (In truth, the battle did not really last long enough to be truly called 'glorious'.) When it was all over, the party took stock of their situation. Apparently the Deep Dragon had moved in to the Hall due to the realitive safety, the ready source of arachnid food, and the already assembled piles of treasure for it to make its hoard. Picking through (or pocketing, I should say) the accumulated wealth, the party found the Peace-Maker and returned triumphant to the drow city.

Next session will find the party housed in a relatively fine drow villa, making the arrangements for the mission that they have already set their sights on; the curious matter of the Eye Tyrants...

Stay Tuned!

[Mengtzu]

This was a really cool session, I'm having lots of fun tromping about in the Underdark.

I'm *really* glad I don't know any other Vassals of [Dragon God], though, since while I slew the dragon and all, having it drop on me from the ceiling was just a shade on the embarrasing side.


Here's hoping Beholders don't make you take too many Reflex saves >_<

[miss-rynn]

I'm *really* glad I don't know any other Vassals of [Dragon God], though, since while I slew the dragon and all, having it drop on me from the ceiling was just a shade on the embarrasing side.

Let alone what happens when you slay the GM's favourite monster of the session in the second round of combat... from the wrong end. :p

[Mengtzu]

Let alone what happens when you slay the GM's favourite monster of the session in the second round of combat... from the wrong end. :p


I wasn't going to mention that.

It spoils my bishi image to have people know I had to have dragon dung burned from my armour by a Flaming Sphere...

[miss-rynn]

So I decided that because I was far too lazy to write my own session summary, I would bribe my players with XP to do it for me. Here is the summary by rpg.net's very own Kasumi, player of Dayne, for your entertainment... (My commentary in italics)

***********

Flush from our success against the Deep Dragon, but aware that events were moving rapidly, and that we could not tarry over-long in the Underdark, we schemed. While we briefly (at Treganter's instigation, after hearing from our patrons (House Cladd'th) how the rival Matron Mother (of House Arab'und) looked after her parents) toyed with the idea of betraying our employers, in the end we resolved to manipulate matters as much as possible to allow multiple missions to be acheived in a single stroke.

This resolution was reached after I whined and whined and whined about how I wanted to get to the end of this campaign arc soon, so that I could take a short break. Eventually the party was chastised into not spending many sessions in the Underdark, and decided to try to kill two birds with one stone. As an aside, the consequence of me wanting to finish this campaign arc soonish is that I am going to be pushing for the party to level up at least once more before returning to Oubliette - this means a great deal of hard fights ahead.

Hence, using Treganter's newly-acquired-through-bribery contacts amongst the Deep Gnomes (whose true name only Treganter's player can pronounce), we attempted to incite warfare between the Beholders and the rival Drow by sending a forged letter, purportedly from the Beholders, to the General of the enemy House (Arab'und), blackmailing outrageously over the secret of the Matron Mother (that she was only three-quarters Drow! The shame!). Anticipating sweeping in on the warring former-allies, we departed bravely towards Beholder territory.

Of course, we discovered how effortlessly the General saw through our plans when she appeared on the opposite side of a rope (actually, chain) bridge over what appeared to be a bottomless chasm, while we were half-way across. Luckily, our hack-handed forgery had also convinced her that we were incompetent, and thus she (as was apparently characteristic of her) decided to engage us single-handed. (She attempted parlay with the party, but they were intent on striking first and fast - the retaliation of which was that she cut through one of the chain supports of the bridge, sending it wildly akilter.) Her audacity would have been rewarded were it not for Giovanna's wings, and the magic of Treganter and Ibrahim, which soon saw part of the party airborne, and the rest Dimension Dooring in behind her. While she proved extraordinarily resilient, she fell in a short, brutal battle. (It was not quite so short; in fact, it was one of the longest battles the party has faced in recent times. It may have seemed shorter, however, due to the fact that there were not multiple opponents to slow combat down.)

During the fight (while falling into the chasm and doing his best to engage a Flight spell after having his own summoned slime minions turn on him...), Treganter had encountered a Beholder-servitor (actually, a Gauth), so any hope of attacking the Eye Tyrants by surprise was dashed. Having dealt a crippling blow to the Drow foe by slaying their general (apparently the only staff officer of real prowess amongst them) (again, mostly true but with some over-looked details. The general made it her business to remove anyone beneath her who could possibly threaten her position - ensuring that she was vital to the success of House Arab'und, but consequently dooming the House should she fall), we decided to take a diplomatic route with the Beholders in order to keep them from allying with the enemy. Eventually, we managed to attract the attention of one of the small servitor-creatures, and set up a meeting with their overlords.

The meeting with the Beholders was extremely tense, but ultimately successful. Dayne, with support from his companions, managed to convince the Beholders that the enemy house was sunk, and that they should consider an alliance with our patrons. Indeed, upon our return to our patrons' city, we discovered that the Beholders had acted instantly, razing the city of the rival House (Arab'und) and enslaving its population.

While not overjoyed with that outcome, the party claimed our reward (a discount on magic items with which to thwart the Overseer's psionic powers), and returned to the surface, determining to travel to Tethryn's home in order to help him avenge his village, destroyed by serpentfolk.


(this would have been much better if I could remember how to spell Clann'ath (Cladd'th) and Arab'und or whatever they were)

***********

I await further summaries from my players, if they seek more XP. XP, damn you! See my rampant bribery!

[Mengtzu]

Yeah, that was cool. Dayne the dumb fighter, kicking butt with a great Diplomacy roll :)

I didn't realise the crazy Drow lady wanted to talk...I guess the being nervous about the infinite chasm impaired our judgement :)

[miss-rynn]

Session 15 Summary, as written by Kasumi, as witten by Dayne to his friend back in Westgate, Faith...

******************

Dear Lady Faith,

We've had reasonable success out here in the swamp, but we may stay a little longer than intended, as an unexpected long-term threat to the safety of Tethryn's village demands further investigation.

Please allow me to impose upon your time with a full accounting of the situation.

We travelled via portal from Starmantle to Ankhapur (and a few waystations upon the way), and despite having some very experienced planewalkers amongst our number, we were struck by the abrupt change in climate as we exited the final portal! As you may know, the Lake of Steam is an extremely large volcanic lake, and as such has a character and aroma probably unique in all of Toril. We were all very grateful for the enchantments upon most of our equipment, which protected them against the corrosive atmosphere as a side-effect to enhancing their excellence, though much time was spent upon our journey maintaining our various bits of mortal gear. We certainly looked like tourists amongst the locals, who sensibly avoid metal gear where possible.

Travelling via horse more-or-less parallel to the Thornwash river, we found the increasing swampiness of the terrain as we drew closer to Blackleaf (Tethryn's adopted home) less of an improvement so much as simply a change. I hate to carp on the place, especially since we were guests (as opposed to Ariss, who carped quite cheerfully!), but it was only out of politeness to Tethryn and his ex-wife Ravelin that we didn't mention that we found the region significantly less hospitable than the last layer of the Abyss that we visited. Of course, in that light one has to admire the tenacity of the locals, carving a life out of such hostile terrain while surrounded by so many foes!

The villagers of Blackleaf had made good progress on rebuilding their village since the fateful attack of the serpent peoples five months ago. While they had only built a few structures, they quite sensibly had made sure to fortify them with wooden palisades. As the village is fully reconstructed, I'd hope they keep the palisades in place - while it would be sad to lose some of the intimacy of village life to such divides, the semi-concentric walls would form a rough-and-ready version of a traditional castle defence. Combined with the village's position atop what passes for a hill in a swamp, it should be quite defensible.

We were unable to glean much useful information from the villagers on what had provoked the attack, or where their attackers had retreated to (understandable given the sheer density of the swamp and the passage of time since the attack), but we did discover that there had been no contact with the Black Dragon with whom the village had a loose treaty (the Dragon would keep numbers of large predators and organised foes of the village down in exchange for villagers guarding his horde) for some time. Determining that the Dragon would be the most likely to be aware of the lay of the land (or, if he had befallen some misfortune, the scope of such an incident would leave much evidence), we departed through the swamp towards his lair.



The lair was empty but for dragon bones picked clean of meat. This boded poorly, and we were alarmed when Tethryn's peerless tracking ability discovered that a large party of serpent beasts had very recently left the cave, heading in the direction of Blackleaf! It speaks to the density of the terrain that two heavily armed parties had passed close by each other, apparently entirely ignorant of one-another (though I acknowledge the possibility the serpents spotted us, but were only too happy to see warriors who might defend the village leaving in exactly the wrong direction).



Upon our return to the village, we did not see battle joined, for the serpents were apparently trying a different tack - burrowing under the village through a fresh, muddy tunnel. We were attacked by undead serpent-beasts (skeletons of Naga, so Tethryn tells me) near the entrance, and again further down the tunnel - that these corpses that had lain still for five months were suddenly attacking boded poorly. Giovanna was sadly poisoned, but managed to soldier on as we continued down towards the serpent-folk.

We discovered a surprising sight - directly underneath the village, the muddy tunnel ended in a stone chamber of clearly ancient construction, covered in pictograms - no doubt the language of some ancient tongue. The serpent folk - many Naga and a clutch of Yuan-Ti - were clustered about a huge stone door, seemingly attempting to puzzle out the means to open it. Of course, our entrance put a stop to that, and battle was instantly joined, neither side wishing for parley. The Yuan-Ti had no stomach for battle, teleporting out, but not before summoning a great beast, a Naga-Hydra, each of its seven heads promising a unique form of death! Ibrahim acted fast, conjuring a wall of fire to incinerate the Naga, leaving us free to deal with the summoned beast. As I charged forward, its counterattack fell upon me, a vile ray seeking to disintegrate my very flesh, but luckily the wound was not sufficient to slay me, and my charge was not checked. The beast quickly sprouted arrows as Ariss set to work, while Giovanna called upon the powers of her god, and Ibrahim, Tethryn and I surrounded our foe in a rough triangle, so that even the seven-headed beast could not protect itself from all attacks. It was fierce, but could not stand against our company's united strength.

After the battle, Tethryn set to work deciphering the pictograms. He declares that they tell of an ancient evil sleeping behind the door - a thing of great power. He is resolved to investigate further - clearly the village will always be in danger while this dark sanctuary remains, and either the evil must be rooted out, or the village moved. I am unsure at this time what our best course of action may be - while slaying the beast seems like a worthy idea, it does occur to me we may have no business waking great evil when we already war against so many evils that do not sleep! Perhaps it would be better to hunt down the Yuan-Ti (possibly using Treganter's arcane expertise), discover what became of the Dragon's hoard, and perhaps use that wealth to finance a relocation of Blackleaf (and any excess appropriated for the war effort against the Overseer of Oubliette).

I will write again when matters have developed further - I anticipate we will return to Westgate soon, but only after matters here in the swamp have been decisively resolved. I hope this letter finds you well, and I look forward to taking tea again with you as soon as possible.

Ser Dayne Hawkwood

******************

[Mengtzu]

I'm sure it will come as a shock to no-one that, being a D&D party, we buffed up and went through the door of "Seriously, guys, you'll all die."

^_^

[miss-rynn]

A brief session report from Act 2, Session 16, as written by me...

Our intrepid heroes, having found the awfulness which lay beneath the remains of the town of Black Leaf, thought long and hard about what to do next. The idea suggested by Ravalynn, to seal the chamber under the town from the outside using powerful swamp magics, was flatly rejected. Dayne suggested crushing the chamber from above without even opening the door, which was also vetoed through discussion. Ibrahim, against his better judgmement, suggested recruiting the aid of Elminster to deal with the unknown horrors, to which Cinder suggested the answer could lay with sorcery. Ibrahim replied that they needed the aid of a powerful sorcerer, of which they knew none.

Needless to say, Cinder was displeased.

It was eventually decided that the party would move the remains of the town to the near-by rival town of Green Leaf, before going through the door and facing the terror head on. They unlocked the puzzle door and, having dropped all of their support spells, charged in to face their destiny.

They fought first a series of yuan-ti guardian types, before throwing open a door to face the sleeping sarruhk... setting off a time stop trap as they did. This gave the sarruhk ample time to wake up and prepare, but in the battle which insued it was obvious the serpent folk were out-matched. One had survived long enough to begin summoning some unknown horror to face the party...

********************

The CR system is completely whacked in certain sections of D&D, so the main fight which I was expecting the destroy the party was in fact way easy for them (although, granted, they did buff up something chronic before facing the supposed 'difficult' fight). Consequently, I'm going to have to spank them with something truly horrid for the next session - hence the "unknown horror" being summoned.

The countdown to facing off against the Over-Seer has also officially begun, with all sorts of crazy stuff going on behind the scenes. Stay tuned for more info!

[Mengtzu]

The CR system is completely whacked in certain sections of D&D, so the main fight which I was expecting the destroy the party was in fact way easy for them (although, granted, they did buff up something chronic before facing the supposed 'difficult' fight). Consequently, I'm going to have to spank them with something truly horrid for the next session - hence the "unknown horror" being summoned.



We're so dead. This is all going to end in some CR30 horror.

[miss-rynn]

Act 2, Session 17 - The Summoned Horror
When we last left our intrepid heroes, they were in the midst of battle against the mysterious (though a lot easier to fight than anyone has suspected) Sarrukh, the sole survivor of which had just begun summoning some unknown terror...

An Ancient Night Twist! After which the cautious (some would say cowardly) Sarrukh teleported away. The insuing battle as bloody, violent and drawn out. Not only was the plant-thing impervious to most attacks, what with its iron-hard bark, but it had a variety of attacks to deal out against the party. After staving off attacks from the writhing branches, the party was faced with an unexpected and deadly weapon - the Night Twist's own magical abilities.

A wierd spell (or spell-like ability, I should say) was dispatched against the party, and (after a series of failed saving throws) Tethryn and Ariss were slain by sheer terror! The rest of the fight was a brutal combination of Ibrahim, Giovanna and Treganter thowing all of their magical might against the hideous plant, while Dayne did his best to hack the tree down.

In the end he was successful, but recieved a Death Curse in the process.

(There was a brief break while everyone leveled up their characters - what can I say, it was a tough fight!)

The fallen members of the party (as well as a hefty collection of loot stolen from the Sarrukh) were hauled back to Green Leaf. Reserrections and financial transactions were performed, leaving the party alive and wealthy. A good thing, too, as the party have debts to pay to the Drow in return for magic items they plan to use against the Over-Seer.

A few other surprises were waiting for the party in Green Leaf as well. Cinder had packed up her bags and left, having left a letter for Ibrahim (who promptly burned said letter and lost all patience with the moody half-dragon). A second letter, for Tethryn, was also waiting for them, from the monk Shadow. Her report of the happenings in Westgate in the party's absence was confirmed when the party returned to the city, putting the swamps surrounding the Lake of Steam far behind them.

In the time they had been away, Bastion had gone deep under-cover into the Night Mask organisation to try to locate and identify those responcible for the Night of the Poisoned Blades, and to try to find the location of the captured Lorena.

Also during this time, Elminster had been attempting to move on with his plan to liberate Oubliette from the Over-Seer; having been promptly turned down as an employer by the perty, Elminster had approached the Company of the Guilded Falcon to aid him in this quest but, alas, they are professional adventurers, not heroes, and refused to aid him in this quest. Thusly, Elminster went about finding another party of heroes to aid him and eventually managed to hire on the Dragon Riders (decent sorts who the party had dealt with before) who were more than happy to aid him.

As far as Elise knows (being the hub of gossip in the city), the Dragon Riders left by boat with Elminster to go to Suzail - the capital of Cormyr, and the city in which Cinder was supposed to be residing under the protection of ther Purple Dragon Knights.

The party then set about planning their next moves. Rather than strike the Night Masks straight away (as they were still waiting for word from Bastion), they decided that the time had come to approach Gulgumah, Cinder's red dragon father, for information regarding the half-dragon's role in the downfall of the Over-Seer (as it had been previously theorised by many that the Great Wyrm had many answers no-one else did).

Before they could act on this plan, however, the party was approached by Lord Faultenroy of the Council of Nobles of Westgate, who had an interesting proposition. The Council, consisting of seven noble councilmen, was in a difficult position as four out of the three members were directly under the influence and control of the Night Masks. Lord Faultenroy abhors the villianous organisation and, being an opportunist at heart, thought that he could make it worth the party's while to continue on their course of action against the Night Masks - in short, if they could remove one branch of the Night Masks and by extension one of the corrupt Council Members, Faultenroy would ensure that the party could have the vacant seat on the Council. After some argument on this point, the party eventually decided to agree on the basis that the seat of the Council would go to their companion Elise, an eminently practical and long suffering noble who had been degrading herself to the humble state of servent for far too long. (The party, of course, would also benefit, what with being given lodgings in the noble quarter and free use of any of the planar gates in Westgate).

And thus, the party prepares to set off for the mountainous surrounds of Cormyr in search of the legendary great red wyrn, Gulgamah...

[Mengtzu]

"I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK"

I've got to tell you, at about the point I'd personally done 300 damage to the bastard, I was getting worried.

[miss-rynn]

I've got to tell you, at about the point I'd personally done 300 damage to the bastard, I was getting worried.

Hey, Kasumi, do you know what the CR of a red great wyrm is?

^_^

[Mengtzu]

Hey, Kasumi, do you know what the CR of a red great wyrm is?

^_^


I'm guessing > 15.

Time to bust out the Diplomacy.

[miss-rynn]

Time to bust out the Diplomacy.

There's an interesting question... I wonder if Diplomacy works when you are on fire? :p

[Mengtzu]

There's an interesting question... I wonder if Diplomacy works when you are on fire? :p


Sure. Red Dragons would find burning diplomats more pleasing!

[harkon]

Sure. Red Dragons would find burning diplomats more pleasing!

Nice and crispy, with a lovely smoky flavour. Probably lower in fat too...

[miss-rynn]

Session 18 - Prelude

Now, Kasumi and I have just moved into a new house this weekend, and thus I haven't had a whole lot of time to prepare for a session. Thusly, I have taken the only course of action avaliable to me tonight when dealing with a group of dice-hungry boys...

Cooking.

It is my plan to use reverse-GM-bribing, otherwise known as player-bribing, to distract the party from the poorly contrived session. I am cooking them all an abusive amount of tasty food in the hopes it will make them sleepy enough to not notice the weak session. A five course meal, in fact.

A report on this experiment, as well as the events of the session, will follow... ;)

[Morsla]

But if we're dice-hungry, surely we'll just eat the dice...

Unless - you have hit upon the ultimate scheme to use all those pesky polyhedrals. Five courses, eh? A D4 soup, rice paper and D6 rolls for entree, a hearty stir-fry of D8/D10 accompanied by a D12 salad, finished with a big bowl of deep-fried D20's and icecream. Mmmmm....

[Mengtzu]

But if we're dice-hungry, surely we'll just eat the dice...

Unless - you have hit upon the ultimate scheme to use all those pesky polyhedrals. Five courses, eh? A D4 soup, rice paper and D6 rolls for entree, a hearty stir-fry of D8/D10 accompanied by a D12 salad, finished with a big bowl of deep-fried D20's and icecream. Mmmmm....


Someone needs to make d20 chocolate.

[miss-rynn]

DnD, Act II, Sessions 18 and 19
Session 18 - The Journey to Meet with Gulgamah.

Our intrepid heroes, fresh from their return from the ex-village of Black Leaf, talked long and hard about what their next plans were. As they were unable to get in contact with Bastion, who was infiltrating the Night Masks to gather information (in a very 'Infernal Affairs' type move), they decided to go forth to meet with the one being who may know of what Cinder's place in the downfall of the Over-Seer might be - her father, the Ancient Red Wyrm known as Gulgamah.

However, from information gleaned from the Company of the Gilded Falcon, it would appear that Elminster and his hired heroes, the Dragon Riders had already set off for Suzail - a checkpoint on the way to the Sunset Mountains, where the dragon's lair was located, but also where their earstwhile companion Cinder was supposed to be... the only problem being, no-one was exactly sure where the half-dragon was, having abandoned the party back in the swamps.

Determined to overtake Elminster, who was travelling by boat, the party made their way to Suzail by portal and made their way on horseback (accompanied by a small herd of sheep intended as tribute for the Great Wyrm) to the lair following a map given to them by the Company of the Gilded Falcon. Their way was not without incident, however, as they we pounced on my a brown dragon (who was promptly frightened off with a very stern talking-to by Dayne), and ambushed by a trio of purple wyrms.

After a mighty battle, the party eventually made it to the lair of Gulgamah... A truly impressive beast. He swam through a pool of magma to parlay, which mostly consisted of the party amusing him with small gifts and trinkets until he grew tired of them and sent them on their way (lest he eat them). What Gulgamah did tell them, however, was that Cinder's blood had a particularly peculiar quality - it was a transmutable fluid of some sort, and could be altered depending on what vessel it was collected in. For the case of a being such as the Over-Seer, the dragon suggested that the holier the vessel the better (in terms of making him die, that is).

Thusly, the party returned to Suzail, reletively intact...

Session 19 - An Attack on the Night Masks.

Upon arrival in Suzail, the party was met by a young aspiring henchman by the name of Sylph who had sought them, or rather, Ibrahim, especially. Hailing from a people who worshipped those who could 'command the powers of the elements themselves', and fuelled apparently by stories of Ibrahim's greatness from none other than Cinder. After many pleads and praises from Sylph, Ibrahim agreed to take the henchman on.

Back in Westgate, the party arranged to meet up with Bastion, via the avatar of Halenda, Faith. The teifling was a little worse for wear when they finally met up with him, but the information he had gathered proved to be extremely worthwhile. He had discovered the woman responcible for the order against the Harpers, Darklady Dahlia Vhammos, also known as the duchess of venom. Not only that, but he was resonably sure that Lorena was still alive and in the clutches of the Darklady. Bastion, with more than a little distaste, told the party that Dahlia had taken a liking to him, and his presence was requested the following evening by her side... which provided a perfect opportunity for the party to act, as they knew where to expect her to be. Bastion provided a map for them, and the party planned their attack.

Having spent a great deal of time apart, Bastion spent that evening in the company of his favoured companion Ariss.

The next night, at the appropriate time, the party boldly strayed into the vipers next which was the Night Mask stronghold where Dahlia held court. They were met by fierce opposition from a party of warriors, the strength of which took the party quite by surprise. Though they succeded in the battle, it was a close thing, and the party was left feeling perhaps a little out of their depth...

But there was no time left to back down, for even as Giovanna cast her healing magics, dark and dangerous things were stirring in the shadows, alerted by the sound of battle...

Stay tuned for the next session, 'Duel with the Duchess'!

[Mengtzu]

The next night, at the appropriate time, the party boldly strayed into the vipers next which was the Night Mask stronghold where Dahlia held court. They were met by fierce opposition from a party of warriors, the strength of which took the party quite by surprise. Though they succeded in the battle, it was a close thing, and the party was left feeling perhaps a little out of their depth...


Six level 15 fighters.

I got mauled!

I'm not looking forward to the rest of the dungeon :eek:

[miss-rynn]

Six level 15 fighters.

I got mauled!

I'm not looking forward to the rest of the dungeon :eek:

You folks *totally* had it coming. I've been warning you for months about the Night Masks, and you guys were far too relaxed about it.

"We'll just go in there and kill them all," you said. "How tough could it be?" you said.

And it's not like any of you actually died or anything. :p

[Mengtzu]

You folks *totally* had it coming. I've been warning you for months about the Night Masks, and you guys were far too relaxed about it.



I just didn't realise there were that many high-level people around!

[miss-rynn]

I just didn't realise there were that many high-level people around!

My theory? All them high-ish levelled folk in Faerun had to be somewhere. I mean, the level progression of the populace doesn't go Joe Blogs, level 5 farmer, CR 5 to Elminster, level everything, CR 40. There has to be some middle ground.

Apparently, far from being under Waterdeep (and thus in Undermountain), they were all under Westgate.

Surprise!

[miss-rynn]

DnD Act 2, Session 20 - The Pieces Fall into Place
Our party continued they foray into the depths of the Night Mask base...

Beset my an ominous magical darkness, the likes of which they had never encountered before, they warily headed further into the catacombs. Their next encounter was a swarm of Vampire Spawn which threatened to overcome the party by sheer force of numbers...

... Until Giovanna called forth the holy fires bestowed to her my Sune. Fire ripped through their ranks, utterly destroying their foes (except for one lonely straggler, which was soundly filled with arrows by Ariss). Beyond them, however, the darkness grew all the thicker, and an ominous femal chuckling echoed towards the party...

... Who boldly charged headlong into the blackness, heedless of the danger such an action posed! A deadly battle ensued between the party and Darklady Dalia Vhammos, the Duchess of Venom herself. All looked fairly bleak as the Vampire managed to evade most attacks while not only healing herself at a fantastic rate, but dishing out unholy magics from her dark god...

... That was until Giovanna called forth a curtain of holy light to banish the Blacklight which bathed the area. His target finally revealed, Treganter quickly assembled his latest invention - a disintergration ray! Before the very eyes of the party, Dalia Vhammos was banished into nothing more than a thin dust, and two pearly white fangs that clattered to the ground. Truly, it was a deeply impressive vistory.

The rest of the base had been abandoned by the Night Masks (save for some unfortunate rogues, who were prompty sliced, skewered, or melted by Cloud Kill). In the dungeons of the base, however, the party was able to uncover the unconscious - but alive - figure of Lorena, mother of Cinder and legendary Harper, who had been captured during the Night of Poisoned Blades and had been tortured relentlessly since.

The party returned victorious, bringing Lorena to their home to recover from her ordeal. Once news of their vicotry had spread, Lord Faultenroy kept his promise and gave the position of Council Member to Elise (who was rather surprised, but accepted the posting in her loyalty to the party, who pressed the honour on her relentlessly).

However, all was not well in Westgate. The party swiftly learned that there had been an attack on the Temple of All Gods - where the Aasimar Faith had been spreading the word of Halenda. They arrived too late, finding only the trashed temple, a great deal of blood, many white feathers and, most surprisingly, the Teifling Bastion who had been suspended, pinned to the wall by his own sword.

Alive, but full of frustration and rage, Bastion explained to the party what had come to pass. Vaelenta had stormed into the temple and taken Faith, for what she said was to satisfy the Precepts of Godhood. The implication of such an event slowly but surely dawned on the party. When she had been captured by Anaxie, Cinder had told a story about how a book, known as the Precepts of Godhood, had been stolen from the Over-Seer by the demon prince.

The Precepts, simply put, are a summary of the deeds mortals have achieved before ascending to Godhood. It was reasonable to surmise, then (with additional information from Bastion), that the Over-Seer planned on sacrificing Faith, an Avatar, as the last step to achieve godhood.

The path of the party is clear - to find Cinder, so as to harness the properties of her blood to fight against the Over-seer, and to rescue Faith. The time has come to return to Oubliette.


... but a few things yet remain for the party to do. Ibrahim, with his new henchman Sylph, has taken on the task of seeking out Cinder. Much to this point, the rest of the party looks to their allies, including possibly the Dragon Riders, to find aid in their attack on Oubliette. Dayne, meanwhile, is suffering under the pangs of conscience - having been requested by the Vassal of Tamara to locate a Ring of Three Wishes (by which Dayne plans on not only delivering Vaelenta from the curse which turned her Evil, but to give Cinder the chance to choose her own destiny (as she is prevented from being a creature of Evil by a blessing from Mystra)), the deep wood sniper Maya, a member of the Company of the Gilded Falcon, has ventured alone to the base of the Zhentarim, the northern fortress of Zhentil Keep. Danye, feeling at least partially responcible, seeks to rescue the archer.

All this and more next session!

[Mengtzu]

That was a great session - our Cleric and Wizard really shined.

We're getting close to that magic point where my role as a frontline fighter means I pull up a comfy couch, buy Combat Reflexes, and smite anybody trying to charge the spellslingers with a reach weapon ^_^

[Ujio]

Awesome stuff here... very inspired and useful ;)

[Morsla]

Meanwhile I, er, take notes on what's going on.

I've found the not-so-magic spot - most encounters at the CR of the group (16) are likely to be impossible for me to affect in any way - I can't hit the AC, and my spells aren't of any real use.

It was a good session though :)

[Mengtzu]

Meanwhile I, er, take notes on what's going on.

I've found the not-so-magic spot - most encounters at the CR of the group (16) are likely to be impossible for me to affect in any way - I can't hit the AC, and my spells aren't of any real use.

It was a good session though :)



I wonder if Miss_Rynn would let you rebuild Tethryn to ensure his capabilities reflected his concept properly?

[miss-rynn]

I wonder if Miss_Rynn would let you rebuild Tethryn to ensure his capabilities reflected his concept properly?

I most certainly would. I mean, it's no good if the party isn't all balanced-like. Morsla has my permission to re-mix Tethryn, as it were, to make him a) more like his evolved vision of what the character should be and b) more effective in combat (if that's what he wants).

Because I'm all nice and stuff.

[miss-rynn]

Act II, Session 21 - A rare moment of patience
Well, last night's session was the first session in a long time with no combat. In fact, I didn't roll a die the entire evening. Why? Because there was plotting afoot...

Our brave heroes sat down and examined their situation (after the players spent a good while levelling up their characters after the masses of XP they had earned last session). They all agreed on three main points;

1) That they would soon need to invade Oubliette.
2) That they would have to rescue Faith.
3) That they would do their very best to kill the Over-Seer.

That, it seemed, was the easy part of the situation - the harder task at hand was to determine how best to do such a thing. They would need allies, and they would need Cinder, for it is her blood which must be used to strike a mortal blow against their enemy.

(In the meanwhile, several party members recieved gifts and equipment to aid them in their quest; the teifling Bastion gave a suit of rare and precious armor to his companion Ariss - Dark Pheonix Armor, +3 studded leather, DR 5 vs Devils and the power to cast True Ressurection on ther wearer upon the wearer's death. Shadow, having been the custodian of Faith and her equipment in the past gave two items to Giovanna that belonged to the aasimar which may prove useful to the cleric of Sune - A Whip of Grappling and a Dancing Mace of Disruption +3. SHe also gave Tethryn her family sword, The Dragonfly Clan Katana, which can only be wielded by one on the path of Neutrality. In a deeply symbolic gesture, Tethryn returned her gift by offering Shadow his own sword.)

The party met first with the Dragon Riders, who had returned to Westgate in secret with Cinder in their close care. Cinder, in a somewhat uncharacteristic act of fatalism, told the party that she did not care if her blood was required to slay the Over-Seer, but only that the deed was done that she may be free of the destiny which had plagued her whole life. The party took it upon themselves to invite the Dragon Riders over for dinner to discuss the possibility of working together to this end...

... And this plan quickly snowballed. The party set about inviting everybody that they could think of who might be convinced or hired on in the fight against the Over-Seer (pointedly NOT inviting Elminster), and a spectatular dinner party insued.

Umong the guests were the Dragon Riders (who would be glad to help provided that their employer, Elminster, approved), the Company of the Gilded Falcon (who were convinced in no small part by a side-long adventure with Dayne, where he rescued the archer Maya from certain doom), the Scions of the Broken Flame (a company of mercenaries with whom Ibrahim had worked with in the past, and who agreed to join the fight as a favour to their old friend (as well as a choice pick of the treasure)), and a motley assortment of other adventurers the party had come in contact with in the past (such as Blake Wiseblade, Nabek, Odette, Shadow, Bastion, Brunhilda, and other likely sorts).

Having convinced these mighty sorts to join in the fight with them, all that remained was to somehow win over/fool Elminster into agreeing to allow his hireling and his ward - Cinder - to take part. This was done by taking advantage of his hubris, and not informing the wizard of the plans already established with the Dragon Riders.

And now the Planeshifter Nabek works to secure a portal to the guarded and shielded plane of Hub, in the forbidden city of Oubliette, with the assistance of Ibrahim and Treganter. Should they prove successful in this endevour, the assult on Oubliette will commence in but a few short days...

... and who knows which way the tides of battle will turn?

Stay tuned for next session to find out!

[miss-rynn]

I'll be brief with this one - last session, nothing terribly important happening.

Tonight's session, however, is going to be pretty darn exciting.

It's the last session of the second campaign arc (second of three) - with a massive show-down between the party and two long running adversaries, The Over-Seer and Vaelenta.

Here's to hoping that I make the bad guys tough enough to create excitement (and to avoid an anti-cliamx) and yet not too tough as to have a TPK! Woo!

[miss-rynn]

Act 2, Session 22 – The Taking of Oubliette: Part 1, A Foothold (Summary)

Our intrepid heroes returned to their former residence in Oubliette through the mirror portal (once liberated from the head of the Thieves’ Guild, Aphex). This move was not unexpected, however, and Vaelenta had the house booby-trapped, and the party were sent plummeting into the sewers of Oubliette!

The party was not to be overcome by such a simple trick, however, and after giving instructions to the other teams they were leading into battle against the forces of Oubliette (the Company of the Guilded Falcon, the Dragon Riders, the Scion of the Broken Flame, and a hand-picked ‘random’ group), they set forth to navigate the sewers to the Over-Seer’s palace.

The way was not all smooth sailing, however, with the party having to negotiate through the debris of the sewer and enter into combat with a collection of ilithid vampires that had been nesting in the area.

Upon exiting the sewers at the foot of the Over-Seer’s palace, the party faced the last line of defense there – an elder eidolon. A terrible battle ensued, but the party was at last victorious!

Act 2, Session 23 – The Taking of Oubliette: Part 2, The Final Showdown! (Summary)

With their companions holding the line behind them, the party set forth to rescue Faith and to defeat the Over-Seer! They met up with Cinder, to bleed her into the Crucible so as to transmute her blood to allow them to use their weapons to nullify the Over-Seer’s resistances and to defeat him once and for all.

Cinder, being left weak from the blood drained from her, was hidden in the palace as the party pressed on ahead. They met brief resistance from the Quick Silver Razors, as lead by Fletcher (who had been the one responsible for sending Cinder to Gelid), and Lo the party smote them most definitively.

Upon finding a secret passage through the palace they finally found Faith, bound and gagged to a stone slab. As soon as she was able to speak, Faith told them that it was all a trap! Vaelenta, who had been hiding in the shadows, agreed.

She had Cinder in her grasp, her humming vorpal sword pressed against the sorceress’s throat. Vaelenta explained that the Precepts of Godhood required two final steps for the Over-Seer to ascend to deification – the defeat of his lieutenant who had turned against him, and the death of an avatar. Cinder, it seemed, filled both requirements for, as Vaelenta explained, all of Cinder’s good fortune, all of her surprising magical prowess and her abilities to survive thus far have all been due to the fact that she was, in fact, an avatar of Mystra, and had been all along.

There was a horrific, metallic sound, then Vaelenta tossed Cinder’s head at Ibrahim’s feet.

Reality twisted as the Over-Seer, burgeoning with god-like powers, altered the very fabric of the plane to bring to party to his lair, set in the chamber of Ziggaranthe herself. A horriffic battle ensued between the Over-Seer, Vaelenta, and the Over-Seer’s brood (who were attempting to infect the crystal dragon) and the party.

In the end, however, the party was victorious, and the Over-Seer was destroyed…

… Or was he?

In the debrief, Cinder was resurrected by Dayne to fight another day. Vaelenta, too, who had been killed (so that the cursed collar could be removed and thus allowing her to return to her proper alignment) as resurrected.

Moreover, Ziggaranthe herself appeared to the party and gave them her blessing. Each received a special gift from the Goddess of Hub, and Giovanna in particular was made her “mouth piece”, through which she could communicate with the denizens of Hub.

In a final twist, just as the party returned to a heroes’ welcome in Faerun, they were met by the Butler of Anaxie, who was there for two reasons. The first, to collect the debt for Cinder’s return – that Anaxie could have any one item he wished from the party, in return for whatever price they named. Anaxie, it turned out, requested the Crucible, and the party received the 400,000 gp they requested. Before he left, however, the Butler passed on Anaxie’s thanks to none other than Bastion for his assistance, and that Anaxie expected that such assistance would be given in the future.

With that, Act 2 ended…