Things you learned

Their is a very large graveyard in Ptolus, known as the Necropolis. It is very dangerous at night.

The Necropolis houses the Dark Reliquary which is home to many powerful demons and undead.

The Necropolis is patrolled by the Knights of the Veil and Knights of the Pale. Who fight the demons and the undead.

You discovered a secret passage from the Necropolis to the Prison underneath the Dark Reliquary. The Knights of the Veil are currently guarding it.

You met Beck von Tibbitz leader of the Knights of the Veil.

You resecued an angel, Falstef, from the Dark Reliquray prison. Falstef is the leader of a group of angles known as the Malkuth, he has been missing for hundreds of years. Most Ptolus residents thought he was a legend.

The Malkuth live in a tower in old town known as the Pale Tower. You also rescued an Ork, Tinareg from the prison, who apparently had a demon prince stored in his tooth.

Everyone Played 250 xp Each

Symba, Cheva[whatever], Elanna, and Yarkblar all played in session 2. Each of you got 300xp.

You returned the Angel Falstef to the Pale Tower, and met Aoska, a half celestial, she promised you each a reward for rescuing Falstef.

You got two jobs.

Rastor, a weapon smith and merchant wants you to retrieve a green dragon skin from a group of ratmen who stole it from a trade caravan.

Sorum Dandubal, guildmaster of the Delvers guild promised full membership for 6 people, if you would find out who was leading the ratmen.

In the Ratmen’s lair you found an altar to Abhoth, chaos god of filth and disease. Also, ratmen like to use firearms.

You met: Aoska – Half Celestial, member of the Malkuth.

Steron Vsool – Paladin of Gaen, god of light, former adventurer and most likely of Paragon level.

Rastor – Litorian Weaponsmith and Merchant

Sheva Callister – Former Adventure who struck it rich pulling loot out of the dungeon below the city. Drinks Heavily. Knows a lot about the dungeon.

Daersidian Ringsire – Evlen Adventurer who rides a wyvern.

Brusselt Airmol – Halfing adventurer. Owns many knives.

Ebbert Boltcraft – Dwarven owner of Ebberts outfitters, who provides a 10% discount to all Devlers guild members. Sells many items of his own creation. (What? No one wants a rat harness?)

Gaerioth Shadowhand – Harrow Elf Monk Adventurer, Lives at Irithidils Home

Sorum Dandubal – Guildmaster of the Adventurers guild

Vard Hillman – Owner of the Ghostly Minstrel, knows much about adventuerers

Everyone played except Symba. Xp was 815 Symba gets 200 xp for participating in the first part of the quest.

You had 2 quests. One was to recover the Green Dragon Skin from the Ratman, which you did and received your reward of 40 gp each.

The other quest was to discover who was leading the ratmen and why they were so active lately. You weren’t really able to discover why they had been so active but they were being led by a young white dragon, which certainly seems unusual. As a reward for this quest you are all full fledged members of the Delvers Guild now, with the following benefits:

1. Guild Information – The guild keeps reports on the adventures of all its memebers. These can be useful for research or find new areas of the dungeon to loot. In game terms you can use the guild information for a +2 to a skill check on Dungeoneering or if you just want to find an area of the dungeon to loot.

2. 10% discount at Ebberts Outfitters.

3. Access to the guild map room and library. These will give you a +2 to almost any research check you need to make.

4. Access to guild waystations. The guild has scattered waystations throughout the dungeons below Ptolus. You now have access to maps that show the locations of them. The waystations are prepared “safe”spots” to rest in the dungeon. They are not warded or protected by magic but are hidden by an illusion making them difficult to find unless you know where to look.

5. Access to the guild Teleportation Circle. ( No one can teleport yet but this will be nice to have in the future.)

Everyone played but Cheava. You got 526 xp each.

You heard rumors about a dark elf named Shilukar who is robbing houses in the noble quarter.

There seems to be an increase in the number of Shivvel addicts on the streets. You saw a rally by the republican movement, who want Ptolus to become an independent republic separate from the Empire.

The rally was led by Helmut Islestien, a priest of the watcher of the skies religion.

Someone at the Ghostly Minstrel mentioned seeing Blue Gnolls in Midtown. This person was thought to be drunk.

Someone hired a local thug, Tordian Cran to kill Apostle’s friend Phon Quatermain. Tordian farmed the job out to some other local thugs, who hired the Pale Dogs street gang. You were not able to find out who hired Tordian. The name he used was a fake.

Reward from the Malkuth:

Symba – Battle Axe +1 Aposlte – Holy Symbol 0f Radience +1 Yarkblar – Battle Forge Cloth Armor +1 Ellanna – Cherubim Armor +1 Cheava – Boots of Spider Climbing

You group is starting to build a small reputation with the residents of midtown.

Everyone played in the fun filled New Years Day D&D extravaganza! Including our new Halfling Rogue, Shaena.

Everyone got 500xp.

You were contacted by Mand Sceben, a friend of Yarkblar, and high priest of Asche, god of cities. Mand put you in touch with his friends, the lords of Castle Shard.

Castle Shard is an oddity is Ptolus, it is older than the city and the lords of Caslte Shard do not recoginze the authority of the current government. The magical shard within the castle givces the lords incredible magic power. The lords act in what they think is the best interest of castle shard. The current lords are Lady Rill a former Paladin, now a sorceress and Zavere, a former Blackguard.

Zavere wanted you to go and take a job being offered Linech Cran, a minor crime lord and brother of Tordian Cran, who you disposed of in your last adventure.

Linech wanted you to recover his daughters coffin from a sunken ship in the bay.

At Linech hideout you found that he had a large gold statue in his office and that one of the buildings is guarded by gnolls, who seems to come and go without anyone seeing.

You discovered that Linech’s Daughter had become an undead creature not unlike a vampire. A demonic possessed pocket watch stored in the coffin had brought her back. The pocket watch also held the secret to making “shivvel” the highly addictive drug being sold in Ptolus.

You brought both the watch and Linele to Zavere and Rill at Castle Shard. With their advice you gave Linele to the Society of Redemption and the watch to the Malkuth.

Zavere has offered to pay you to recover the gold statue from Linech’s office, which he believes is his friend, Lord Abbercombe.

Everyone played in this session. You got 457 xp each.

You went back to confront the Half-orc crime boss, Linech, and to recover the statue of Lord Abbercombe. You were without Linech’s daughter or the demon possessed watch, which is what he really wanted. Not surprisingly, he refused to pay you. Also not surprise, this started a fight. You defeated Linech and his bodyguards and thanks to some quick thinking on Cheva’s part you avoided fighting the rest of the guards.

On the way out, Linech’s Shivvel addicted sister threatened to have her boyfriend a powerful dark elf wizard name Shilukar take revenge on you.

Zavere and Rill were very pleased to have their friend back and you celebrated long into the night.

Later that night on your way home you encountered a group of ogres carrying a large chest. The ogre, being ogres, attacked you out of hand to defend their chest.

After defeating them, you discovered that the chest was a demon possessed box which can only be opened if you know the name of the demon.

After a few inquiries you found out that there may be a key that will open the chest. Neveran’s All Key is said to be an artifact that will open anything. Through research, you discovered that the key was last known to be in possession of the Cult of the Crimson Coil, who had taken up residence in an old Brothel known as he Pythoness House. The Knights of the Pale raided Pythoness House two years ago and chased out the cult but did not do any further investigations of the house. The reports from the Knights of the Pale stated they did not pull out any significant artifacts. It seems likely that if the cult had the Key then it is still in Pythoness House, somewhere. Both the Adventurer’s guild and the Knights of the Pale still consider Pythoness House to be very dangerous.

In the meantime, Zavere summoned you back to Castle Shard. It has proved impossible so far for Rill to free Lord Abbercombe from his paralysis. (Lord Abbercombe has always been a golden statue, apparently, he was just mobile before.) The Dark Elf wizard Shilukar contacted Zavere and offered to free Abbercombe from his paralysis, if he were allowed to come live in Castle Shard under the protection of Zavere and Rill. Zavere surmises that Shilukar must have powerful enemies that he needs to get away from. Zavere does not wish to have the dark elf living in Castle Shard,but due to his curious senses of honor, he is unwilling to hire you to simply go kill Shilukar. He did mention that he and Rill would be “very appreciative” if someone were to recover the way to free Lord Abbercombe. He also mentioned that there is already a reward of 1000 gold for Shilukar.

You went back to Linech’s hideout, to find that it had mostly been burned down by the Balcazar crime family. You found Linech’s sister, who was more than willing to spill her guts about Shilukar, who had spurned her. Shilukar’s hideout is underneath an abandoned lot in the Guildsman district. It can be entered from the lot or from an entrance in the sewers.

Session 7

Everyone Played 470 xp Each

Session 8

Everyone but Marc Played

Marc gets half xp for the session and the quest xp for obtaining the Vial from Shilukar

232 xp for Marc

397 Xp for everyone else. (That’s slightly more than I told you last night)

In session 7 and 8 you delved into Shilukar’s Lair. It was defended by a tribe of gnolls and two very large demonic Blue Gnolls. You had been hearing rumors of Blue Gnolls being spotted around the city, so this must be where they came from. Shilukar had some kind of evil gnoll idol that was allowing him to both summon and control the gnolls. Shilukar was experimenting with Chaositech. A form of organic technology created by the Galchutt, the evil demons who once ruled over the area that is now Ptolus. Shilukar was creating monstrosities, such as winged spiders and rat-men with spider legs on their backs in his lab using Chaositech. He was being hunted by someone because of his experiments, though you don’t know who. He wanted to be able to live in Castle Shard so he would have protection from whoever was hunting him. After a pitched battle, you were able to defeat Shilukar and acquire the elixir to restore Zavere’s friend, Lord Abbercombe. When Shilukar died, strange “growths” covered his body and his body disappeared leaving only his clothes and items. Zavere was very pleased rewarding you with 3000 gp and giving each of you a friendship band. The friendship band allows you to pass through the wards surrounding the castle, so you can now enter and leave without being invited or escorted. (Marc I believe the group decided that your share of the 3000gp was 300, since you participated in half the adventure.)

The evil Gnoll Idol is still in his lair you might want to do something about that.

Over the next few days, while shopping resting, and training if you went up a level, you all had very disturbing dreams about 3 swords and a scraggly looking man. Soon after, You were contacted by Mand Scheben, the high priest of Asche, God of cities. He has been having the same dreams, except his dreams also include your group. He said that the swords are a prophecy from Ptolus itself. (Mand believes cities to be living organisms.) The man in the dream is Spyncer Coil, and Mand believes him to be a prophet of Asche. He asked you to find the swords. He said that Asche is not a gentle god and that if the swords and Spyncer were not found the dreams may become more and more disturbing. (Mand looked pretty haggard himself.) He also said that is Spyncer is most likely disturbed because of the visions from Asche.

Investigating Spyncer you found out that he was formerly a blacksmith who worked for the Iron Workers Guild. He had been found wandering the streets babbling about swords nearly two years ago. He was committed to the Darkbirth Madhouse for almost a year until Kalbert Nom a somewhat famous weaponsmith, secured his release. When you investigated Kalberts house you found him dead and his shop had been ransacked. You then spoke with Veda Medaris, the guild master of the Iron Workers guild. She confirmed a lot of what you knew about Spyncer and said that he and Kalbert were working on three magic swords that Spyncer had seen in a vision. Veda thought the whole thing was a load of crap until Rhunien Hand, a very scary individual, came looking for Spyncer, Kalbert, and the swords. Spyncer has another acquaintance, Lirion Voss, who is a member of the Pale Dogs street gang. She believes that Spyncer may have killed Kalbert and fled to the Pale Dogs. After some investigation, you learned that the Pale Dogs have recently been sticking to their home turf, the Warrens, and Lirion Voss has not be seen outside the Warrens in a few days. You also heard rumors that the Pale Dogs recently robbed a weaponsmith or maybe a blacksmith.

Cheva checked with his contacts in that Vai about Rhunien Hand. They said that Rhunien is, in fact, very dangerous. He’s a a vampire who often does work for the Balcazar crime family. The Vai also said that the Sorn, a group of magical assassains who work for the Kilraven crime league, are also looking for the swords.

Everyone but Cheva played in this adventure.

You got 544 xp each.

The loot had never been split up from Session 7 so Eric you have 615 more gold.

In this session you had decided to confront Lorion Voss at his home to see what he knew about Spyncer Coil, Kalbert Nom, and the Swords of Ptolus.

As you approached the house you saw a large number of Pale Dog thugs including two Dragonborn mercenaries. You were able to draw off two of them with the clever ruse, “Sorry wrong turn.” This ruse did not work a second time however, as the Dragon born breathed fire on everyone and started a general melee. After defeating the thugs you entered the house to discover Lirion Voss and Spyncer Coil himself, who was wielding one of the swords! Lirion shouted at you to leave saying the Balcazars were one their way to buy the sword. Before you could react, Spyncer ran him through with the sword saying that the Balcazars would not get his creation. Yark then proceeded to put Spyncer in a martial arts hold and the sword seemed to slip from Spyncer’s grasp. Apostle picked up the sword and it intermediatly began speaking to her telepathically. It stated that it was the sword “Insight” whose goal was to reveal the secrets of Ptolus. Before you could come to grips with an intelligent sword you heard screaming outside and a flaming pale dog stumbled in through the front door.

Fearing the Balcarzars had arrived you went out to face them only to discover 4 mages of the Sorn assassins guild. After a pitched battle with the mages, you retreated to the Ghostly Minstrel to recover and decide what to do next. Spyncer, in a moment of clarity, told you that the two other swords are known as “Power” and “Deciet.” He said that the Skulks had taken Power and cryptically, said that Deceit cannot be found.

The skulks are somewhat of an “urban legend” in Ptolus. No one knows if they were once people who were cursed or some kind of magical being. All that is known is that that are very hard to see, extremely stealthy, and act as spies for hire in Ptolus. At this point you decided that Mand Scheben, high preist of Asche, might be able to help. Mand did know more of the skulks and was very pleased that you had recovered one of the swords and Spyncer. He was able to put you in touch with a Skulk.

The Skulk, known as Shim, told you that he did not know where Deceit was but he did know who had it. Rhunihan, the vampire bounty hunter, currently has Deceit. Deceit’s power prevents it’s owner from being detected by magic so he would be very difficult to find. Shim said he did not know where Power was either but he knew where it would be soon. A group of Skulks has Power and they are planning to sell it to Rhunihan tomorrow night at a warehouse near the Docks.

You have begun making preparations to intercept one or both of the swords.

Everyone but Symba Played.

756 Xp Each.

Symba gets 100 xp for his part in retrieving the swords.

With much preparation, you were able to set up an ambush for Ruhnihan and the Skulks. Somehow Ruhnian was able to spot someone and a battle over the swords ensued. Through clever use of sovriegn glue and the willingness to sacrifice himself for the sword, Yark was able to wrest Deceit away from Rhunihan. You were able to defeat Runihan, drive off the remaining skulks and acquire Power.

Unfortunatley, Symba was not their to help. He had been captured by Navaanna Vladaam, who is looking to get back her chest that was being delivered to her by some ogres. Symba has little love for the Vladaam’s but Navanna used power socery to pry the information from Symba and find out where you were.

At first, Navanna seemed happy to simply get her good back, until one of her servants noticed the sword, Deceit still glued to Yark’s hands. Another battle commenced over the swords. You were able to defeat Navanna and her werewolves, but Navanna escaped.

Mand Scheben, who originally told you about the swords, is very pleased that the swords have been recovered. He says that the swords choose their own wielders and that they seem to have found suitable owners for the moment.

Everyone played in this session.

You got 680 xp each.

Way back in Session Six the players defeated a group of ogres. Who were carrying a large chest. The chest was lock and impossible to open. Through various researches you discovered that an artifact that could unlock any lock was rumored to be in the Pythoness house. A former brothel and chaos cult hideout. The time had come to finally delve into the pythoness house and see what could be found.

At the entrance the players encountered a group of ratmen, who seem to infest any run-down part of Ptolus these days. Despite the ratmen’s love of firearms and bombs and their willingness to use them on anywhere who gets near they were easily defeated.

Venturing further into the house, a statue of a large, obese naked man was discovered. The statue appeared to be able to slide backwards but no amount of force seemed to be able to move it.

Exploring further, the adventures encountered a group of wights, who were the remnants of the long slain prostitutes.

In an abandoned tower, some strange items were discovered, including a jar that may have a soul trapped inside.

The session ended with a climactic battle against the Ratlord leaders of the various rats and ratmen that were infesting the house. A surreal fight as the ratlord leaders were riding giant dire rats, which is kind of like a horse riding a horse.

Everyone but Symba played Symba was played as an NPC so receives some xp.

300 xp for Symba. 675 xp for everyone else.

After the defeat of the ratmen and some rest the party continued to explore the maze-like Pythoness house.

A journal written by one of the former mistresses of the brothel was discovered. This journal contained quite of bit of information. It told that the statue of the naked man could be moved but it required a key. Radanna, the other mistress of the house, had hidden one key in her secret crawl space and the other had been given to the “Cobbledman” who lived in the NE tower. The journal also spoke of a “demon” that had been summoned by the chaos cultists.

Exploring further, the party encountered a large group of skeletons led by none other than Radanna herself risen as an evil undead. The skeletons were no match for the one-two punch of Turn Undead and Color Spray and fell easily to the party.

Examining the ceiling in Radanna’s room, Apostle and Cheva managed to set off and nearly be squished by a falling block trap. This however, revealed the entrance to Radanna’s secret crawlspace where the adventurers discovered the hidden treasure of the brothel along with the first half of the key to the lower levels of the house.

Climbing higher up in the manor house the party spotted what they believed to be the “Cobbledman” himself wandering around on a bridge between two of the house’s towers. The Cobbledman appeared to be some kind of Chaositech creation with 3 arms, 2 heads and lots of tubes and wires protruding from his body.

Before engaging the cobbledman, the party decided to explore in open area of the next roof only two discover 2 Hellhounds! The battle with the Hellhounds was joined, much to the annoyance of Symba and Yark who had to wade through fire breath and auras to reach the hellhounds. Unknown to the adventurers, the hellhounds were the watchdogs of the demon who lived in a nearby tower. The demon joined in the battle but all were eventually defeated.

After much discussion of tactics, the party closed to do battle on the bridge with the Cobbledman. Despite his choasitech powers, which left Yark and Symba both stunned and weakened during most of the battle, the abomination fell and the second part of the key was recovered.

Now to enter the basement…..

Pythoness House Map 1

Pythoness House Map 2

Everyone played in this session.

Xp is 1235 each which includes the quest xp for obtaining the key and opening the chest.

*IMPORTANT* As I mentioned at the start of the campaign, you have to roleplay buying and selling any magic items. Some of you use the Character Builder to keep track of your characters. It makes it really easy just to buy any magic item you can afford, however most of of the items are not available from the shops in the game. If there is a magic item you want to buy ask me and I’ll let you know if its available. As I said before that shops around Delvers Square almost always have +1 items available.

This goes the same for selling. Some of the items from the Vault of Chaos aren’t very useful to you and you probably want to sell them. However, most of the normal merchants around Delvers square won’t touch evil magic items. That doesn’t mean you can’t sell them, you just have to find the right buyer. Seems like someone has contacts that would help with that…...

The adventure itself is now open for you to see here. Night of Disolution

The items from the Chaos Vault are here. Chaos Vault Items

The items in the chest are here. Chest Items

I forgot to mention last night that the chest also contained 50 vials of Alchemists fire. Why house Vladaam wanted 50 Vials of Alchemists fire, a resist fire shield, and two fire weapons is anyone’s guess.

In addtion to these items you also found * +2 Cloak of resitance * Gloves of Agility * +1 Scale Armor * +1 Mithril Plate Armor

I’m not sure who has those but I’m assuming you guys do.

Power, Deceit, and Insight are very happy with their owners and are granting new powers.

• Power now grants +1 to Fortitude.
• Deceit now grants +1 to Reflex.
• Insight now grants +1 to Will.

You can look at the full stats of the swords here. Swords of Power

All the swords like that the Galchutt was defeated. Power just likes to fight; it’s especially happy about Symba tanking the Chaosamaton. Deceit is almost beside itself about the Neveral’s All-Key. Insight is happy to have discovered a secret vault of chaos items.

Okay last thing, critical hits, seems like there was some confusion last night so here’s how they work.

When you roll a 20 on a “to hit” roll you score a crit. The exception to this is if the only way you could have possibly hit was to roll a 20 then you don’t score a crit.

Crits do max weapon damage, so if your weapon does 1d8+5 then a crit does 13 damage.

If you crit with a magic weapon, and this includes holy symbols and wizard implements, you do additional damage on a crit. Usually 1d6 per “plus” of the weapon. If you crit with a +2 Holy Symbol that does 1d8+7, the crit damage would be 15 (max weapon damage) plus 2d6 for the holy symbol. Some weapons do even more damage when you crit, so check your magic weapons.

The group, now known, at least “unofficially” as Adventurers Guild 18, completed their quest to find Nervans All Key and unlock the demon bound chest.

They entered the basement using the chaos key they had found in the last session. Descending into the basement of the pythoness house, they discovered a strange membrane blocking further passage. After much discussion, they cut through the membrane to be hit by a frigid blast of cold air.

They entered the basement to find a large wall of ice was blocking their path and a pile of bones in the corner.

They didn’t have too much time to look around before 2 minotaurs burst forth from the ice and the pile of bones began to move and take shape into an undead hill giant.

After defeating the monsters, Elanna proceeded to blast down the ice with scorching burst. The adventures then emerged into an icy cavern filled with frost covered chests and a large sealed door. They rifled through the chests and discovered the Weapons of Chaos

The door was locked, sealed and covered in strange writing. The gist of the writing was ” This vault contains a very powerful weapon of Chaos, don’t open unless you are the high priest.” There was very little pause in opening the door.

Behind the door, the powerful weapon was revealed to be a giant Chaositech hydra! Through some super-tanking by Symba the beast was brought down.

Thinking that opening the vault may have alerted someone, the party decided to rest before emerging from the house. A good choice since they were confronted with a whole band of Tolling Bell cultists as soon as they walked out the front gate.

The cultists proved to be powerful but not unstoppable. Mysteriously, their leader, Wutand,a vested of the Galchutt died in much the same way as Shilukar did in earlier encounter.

(Whew I really gotta do summaries rather than a play-by-play, I’ve written a book today.)

Everyone but Symba played.

Each character receives 525 xp.

The session started out with the adventurers making deals for some of the magic items they acquired last session. The magic armor was purchased outright by the Bull and Bear Armory. The flaming flame was put on commission at Rastor’s weapons. The anglebane weapons were turned over to the Malkuth of the Pale tower for a future favor. The other weapons of Chaos were given to Cheva to be sold in the Dark Market.

While running around making deals for the items, the group encountered people who seemed to be inflicted with random magic powers. An orc suddenly burst into flames, a woman floated 20 feet up in the air, a man started shooting lightning out of his eyes, and a dwarf was randomly summoning spirits.

The party was able to determine that a nearby Drow was causing the problems and engaged him. Fater a short battle, the Drow was captured. He claimed to be Tavin Zith, self proclaimed avatar of chaos, and that he had been trapped in a prison called the Banewarrens by a cleric named Danar. He also had no knowledge of recent events or even the city of Ptolus.

Before much more could be gotten out of Zith, AG 18 was contacted by Jevica Nor, a mge of the inverted pyramid. Her message said that she wished to speak with the characters about Tavin Zith.

The group met Jevicca at the Ghostly Minstrel and she filled them in on the Banewarrens. Long ago, thousands of years, a good cleric named Danar Rotansin began collecting evil artifacts, spells, curses, diseases, even creatures and storing them in a special prison. He called these itms of evil “Banes” and the prison, the Banewarrens. Unfortunately for Danar, he was ultimately corrupted by the concentrated evil of the Banewarrens, mostly by a powerful artifact known as the “Book of Inverted Darkness.”

Danar became Eslathagos Malktih, “the Dread One.” He constructed Jabel Shammar, a fortress over the Banewarrens and used the power of the Banes to conquer most of the world. The concentrated evil of Malkith and the Banes was so great that the earth itself rebelled and thrust Jabel Shammar away from the earth creating the impposbily large spire that looms over Ptolus to this day. Jabel Shammar still sits at the top of the spire.

Malkith was eventually defeated and the Banewarrens resealed. (That’s a whole nother story.)

NOTE: More recently (a few hundred years ago)Ghuul, the skull king, declared himself as Eslathagos Malktih returned. He built a fortress halfway up the spire known as Goth Gulgamel. He was also defeated, but that’s a different story.

Jevica told you that Tavin Zith was originally imprisoned in the Banewarrens and that if he has escaped, then either the Banewarrens have become unsealed or someone has broken in to them. She offered you 850gp each to find out what was going on. MAJOR QUEST worth bonus xp. She also revealed to the group that Tavin had emerged from a cellar in Old Town.

On leaving the Ghostly Minstrel, Apostle was stopped by an acolyte of Lothian saying that Brother Fabitor of St. Gustav’s Chapel, wished to speak with her.

Brother Fabitor explained that the Paladin, Kalrecent and his squire had been investigating monster activity in Old Town and have disappeared. Using divinations he was able to determine that their disappearance had something to do with Tavin Zith. He offered 2000 gp to you to bring back Kalrecent. MAJOR QUEST worth bonus xp.

Upon reaching the cellar where Tavin Zith Emerged from the adventurers encounters a large group of Orcs guarding the cellar. After defeating the orks, the group noticed that each of the orcs had a ring bonded to the bone of thier finger. Apostle was able to determine that the orks were part of the group known as the Pactlords of Quann. A monster-terrorist organization that seeks to wipe out all non-monster humanoid life.

Everyone gets 821 xp for this session except Symba who gets 363 xp.

Banewarrens Chapter 1 and Banewarrens Chapter 2 are now public should you wish to bore yourself with monster and trap stats.

This week the crew of AG-18 continued the exploration of the tunnels underneath the old city in search of the Banewarrens entrance. Cheva determined that the tunnels were not natural and had been dug out my a creature, most likely an umber hulk.

After sucumbing to a pit trap and bypassing a rockfall the group encountered some ochre jelly attached to the ceiling. A battle ensued and the umber hulk took the group by surprise by emerging from a nearby wall.

After defeating the monsters, the adventurers came upon an abandoned camp full of mining tools and equipment. Investigating the camp, a note was discovered.

Kikanuile,

Once you get inside the unsealed portion of the Banewarrens, you will have to find a massive iron door. This is a warded door. It may be trapped, we do not know. It is, however, sealed beyond your capacity to breach. Therefore, you will use a wish from the ring to open it—and even that will keep it open only for a moment.On what lies beyond that door, our spells are silent, except that you will find the Grail within Tremoc Korin. The last wish will be your key to get out.

Yuinthu

The umber hulk tunnel ended at a constructed stone wall that had been broken through.

Entering the Banewarrens, the adventurers encountered wraiths and swarms life draining bugs. As always the swarms nearly proved to be the groups undoing.

The group also discovered the warded door referred to in the note with a large arcane device near it. Ellanna was able to determine that the device was a kind of “warding generator” but that it had never been finished. This explains how someone was able to tunnel into the Banewarrens, which was supposed to be impregnable.

All Players played in this session. Everyone received 830 xp each.

The group continued their exploration of the Banewarrens. Encountering some kind of troll-like creature that could become ethereal. While fighting this creature, the adventures were nearly ambushed by another group of explorers from the Pactlords of Quaan. A Minotaur, Lamia, and goblins put the group through the ringer. The Lamia, being a swarm-type creature again proved to be a most difficult foe.

Further exploration revealed a series of vaults, most of which were empty but two appeared to have once contained Tavin Zith and the Ethereal Troll.

Quest Note Jevica Nor hired the group to find out where Tavin Zith came from, if the Banewarrens had been opened, and who had opened them. All three of these things have now been completed.

Further exploration led the group to find another Lamia who was attempting to hide in a pit nearby. The Lamia used some kind of magic item to summon a storm elemental but it wasn’t enough to save the creature from destruction.

Due to the numerous swarm creatures encountered, the group is interested in acquiring some bombs, choasitech or otherwise. Also any magic items with blast/burst powers would help. Here are some bombs you can get in Ptolus. A standard power bomb costs 150 gp and has the following stats:

• Power Bomb
• Dex vs Reflex
• Move Action to Light; Standard Action to Throw
• Burst 1
• Hit:3d6 Damage Miss:No Damage

Choasitech bombs are deadlier but much harder to acquire.

Everyone played and you received 620 XP each.

In this session, the adventurers finished up their exploration of the breached area of the Banewarrens. The group found Kalrecnt, the paladin of Lothian, hiding in one of the rooms. He had been investigating reports of underground digging and monsters in the area. He had fought that same group of Pactlords that AG18 had dispatched in the last session. Kalrecent and his squire had attacked them when the pactlord attempted to gain entry to the large banewarrens vault door. Kalrecent was able to shut the vault door and fend off the Pactlord however his squire was killed in the process and a medusa slipped through the vault door and deeper into the Banewarrens.

The group took Kalrecent and his dead squire back to Brother Fabitor at the temple of Lothian in Midtown. After hearing the story and raising Kalrecent Squire, Bother Fabitor asked you to come to the main Lothian Temple and report to the head preists about the Banewarrens.

The priests (and one mage) of Lothian listened to the group’s report. They are very concerned about the openign of the Banewarrens. They have asked AG18 to head back to the Banewarrens and read a ritual divination scroll near the vault door to see what can be found out about the Banewarrens. QUEST ( I believe they agreed to pay you 2000 gp for this.)

The group had also been retained by Jevicca Nor of the inverted pyramid to investigate if the Banewarrens had been opened and who opened it. The answers being “yes” and “it was the Pactlords.” Jevicca wants the Banewarrens resealed, but that’s easier said than done. See says there is a key somewhere in Ptolus that will open the Banewarrens vault door. For right now, she simply wants the group to find this key. She also said that yes, the Banewarrens can be resealed. To do this, the group has to find the sealing rod. QUEST (Jevica will create you a 2000gp magic item or give you a 2000gp discount on a more expensive item.)

Using Ptolus Knowledge, Streetwise, and Insight the group discovered all the following:

• House Vladaam has the Banewarrens Key
• The sealing rod was in the possession of Malkith when he was destroyed, it may very well be deeper in the Banewarrens.
• Nicalon Regelis, a member of the “Knight of the Chord” is a former House Vladdaam Enforcer and may be able to help you get the key from the Vladaam’s.

• A number of the group reasons to not like house Vladaam for other reasons. Exploiting those will earn bonus xp.

Before the group could act on an of these leads, Apostle received a note.

“I hope your friend enjoys her trip to the Surgeon. – Shilukar”

Apostle quickly discovered that her friend Phon Quartermain is missing. Through judicious use of streetwise, the group was able to surmise that she has probably been taken to the “Surgeon in the Shadows,” a choaitech surgeon. The surgeon in the shadows implants chaositech in peopel for a fee. It’s also rumored that man of his “customers” are unwilling and he is simply using them for Chaositech experiments. In any case, with Shilukar involved, (wasn’t he dead?) it’s unlikely Phon went to the surgeon herself. The surgeons lair is rumored to be in the sewers underneath Ptolus. Rescuing Phon is also a Quest

The swords of Ptolus are providing more abilities now.

Deceit can change into a ranged weapon or back into a melee weapon once per day. Deceit raised it’s reflex bonus from +1 to +2.

Power raised it’s Fortitude Bonus from +1 to +2.

Insight raised it’s Will Bonus from +1 to +2.

Everyone but Elanna played you got 1900 XP each.

Also everyone gets an extra 183 xp. I forgot to give you the XP for the traps in the last adventure.

In this session the group tracked Phon back to the Surgeon in the Shadows Lair in the sewers of Ptolus. After fighting through Shader-Kai guards and 2 horrific chaositech monstrosities, AG18 faced the Surgeon himself. The Surgeon proved to be a very tough opponent who teleported after fighting the adventurers to a standstill. The group was able to rescue Phon and return with her to the city.

Unfortunately, this leave a few unanswered questions:

How was Shilukar involved? Was someone trying to kill Phon again or was he simply taking revenge on the group? And how did Shilukar survive anyway?

1338 xp each.

Everyone but Symba played.

In this session the group had quite a few leads to follow-up.

You have, for now, convinced Phon to stay in the Chapel of St. Gustov in Midtown with Brother Fabitor.

You were able to contact Naven Blueflight, owner of the Pythoness house. He stated that he would give the house to whoever could beat him in a game of Dragonscales.

• Dragonscales
• Int based skill
• Can gain a +2 by playing regularly in taverns and bars.
• Can use a feat to gain a +5.
• To beat Naven is a Skill Challenge, you must pass 5 Dragonscales skill checks before failing three to defeat him.

You traveled back down to the Banewarrens and read the scroll given to you by Brother Heth. Brother Heth is the head priest of the Lothian temple in Rivergate. After reading the scroll you discovered that the sealed door can only be opened by Danner himself, the creator of the Banewarrens. House Vladaam has his mummified hand, though they do not realize that this is what it is for.

You contacted Nicalon Regelis, a member of the Knights of the Chord, and former enforcer of House Vladaam. He told you that he had seen such an item in the vaults below the main house in the nobles quarter and that he would lead you to it.

In the house, you encountered many traps, and fought some of the house guards but managed to recover the mummified hand. While escaping you encountered some of the urban werewolves that are allied with House Vladaam led by a fearsome were-tiger. In the ensuing combat, Nicalon pilfered the hand and teleported away. Why he did this is not known.

You managed two rescue two prisoners from the dungeons below the house.

• Thariad Rivelost is a Half-Elf commoner. He might be willing to work for you at the pythoness house.

• Degar Ravenspell is a 5th Level Wizard and is willing to help you in whatever way he can. Currently, he needs to recover from being tortured by the Vladaams.

Game Time: 6th and 7th of Wind

Everyone played in this session you received 1135 XP each.

Regrouping at the pythoness house, AG 18 immediately set out to track down Nicalon, who had stolen the Hand of Danar, which is the key to the Banewarrens.

Cheva and Yarkblar went back to the Griffon, where you had first met Nicalon. He was nowhere to be found but the watch showed up asking about AG18 and a break-in at the Vladaam estate.

Thinking Nicalon might have used to key to enter the Banewarrens or more likely sold it to someone who did, Cheava and Symba went to check on Kalrecent, the Paladin, and his squire who were guarding the sealed door in the Banewarrens.

Unfortunately, someone had returned to the Banwarrens. Kalrecent and his squire were dead and Kalrecent appeared to have his brain eaten out. Most likely by a mindflayer.

Raising the squire from the dead, you discovered that a group of monsters, including a mind-flayer, an ogre, spiders, and “spider people” had attacked them. During the fight, a woman with dark skin and four werewolves had used the key and slipped through the door. Seems like another group of Pactlords are trying to get into the sealed door.

Entering the Banewarrens past the sealed door, you encountered numerous traps and many of the banewarrens guardians. Moving through the warrens and using tracking, you were able to determine that the pactlords came and left, leaving a gnoll and dire ape to guard the entrance, but the woman and werewolves had pushed further into the dungeon.

You discovered the woman, who turned out to be Navanna Vladaam, conversing with someone or something in one of the rooms deep in the Warrens. You were noticed by the werewolves before you could discover anymore. During the fight, a green hag appeared and grabbed the key away from Navanna. AG18 was able to defeat the Hag, as well as Navanna and her werewolves. As Cheva prepared to finish off Navanna once and for all she said she knew where his sister was located.

You finally have the banewarrens key and two different people willing to pay you for it. Jevica Nor of the Inverted Pyramid wants you to find they key, though she didn’t necessarily say that she wanted it. You suspect that she wants you to find the sealing rod and reseal the banewarrens. Right now your only lead is that the sealing rod is somewhere deeper in the Banewarrens.

Brother Heth, of the church of Lothian, wanted you to find the key and bring it to him. Most likely to keep it away from anyone who would use it to unseal the warrens further. Unfortunately, the Banewarrens are now unsealed.

Everyone but Symba gets 1098 xp each. Symba gets 488 since he was played as an NPC.

You decided to go ahead and kill Navanna Vladaam, at least temporarily, since that seemed the easiest way to carry her around without her teleporting away. You discverd that Navanna had been speaking to Geristranomos, a clockwork man. Geristranomos had been built by Danar to perform maintenance on the Banewarrens. During the earthquake that created the spire, he was trapped in the room you found him. “Geri” knows a lot about the Banewarrens so you decided to take him with you.

Continuing you exploration you encountered mechanical scorpions in one of the vaults and recovered quite a trove of evil magic weapons. On the way out you defeated a second team from the Pactlords of Quan who were searching the Banewarrens, now that the outer vaults have been opened.

You placed Navanna’s body in a trunk, preserved with gentl repose and stored the trunk at Castle Shard. Zavere seemed highly amused by this and promised to look after the trunk for you.

You rested for the night and it is now the 8th of Wind.

The magic weapons you took to the Dark Market sell for 720 gp total.

Everyone played in this session.

You received 1590 XP each. That includes the quest xp for finding the Banewarrens key.

You received another quest in the session. Jevica Norr would like you to continue to investigate the banewarrens and hopefully find the pieces of the staff of shards as well as the sealing rod so the Banewarrens can be sealed permanently. She would like to meet with you in a week see what you have found out. She offered to pay you 5000 gp each depending on how much progress you make.

You negotiated with Navanna Vladaam for her freedom. She agreed to tell you where Cheva’s sister was, to write a writ that will get the watch off your back and as an added incentive not to kill her, “other information that pertains to the banewarrens.” She would only provide this last bit of info after she was let free.

Cheava’s sister, according to Navanna, is being held in the Dark Reliquary. Lilith, the succubus, thinks she knows some important information.

Cheva and Symba proceeded to mull this over at the Ghostly Minstrel while the rest of the group went to Rivergate to discuss the Banewarrans key with Brother Heth.

Navanna was true to her word and provided some important information to Cheva. Brother Heth is actually a member of the Pactlords of Quan, and is seeking the Banewarrens key for himself.

Rushing out the door, Cheva and Symba arrived just in time to help the rest of the group fight of a group of pactlords that attacked them at the rivergate temple.

Investigating the temple further you discoverd that it had been used as a base of operations by the pactlords. Ultimately you confronted Brother Heth, a Naga, and a Basilisk in the Belfrey of the temple. The belfrey had been converted into some kind of lab with 2 choasitech machines.

After defeating the pactlords, you discovered that Heth had a magical dagger that spoke to you. The dagger is one of the 3 pieces of the staff of shards. (The dagger has a much longer story to tell but that will be in the next session.)

The Swords of Ptolus are very pleased by the recent turn of events. All three swords are happy that the Pactlords (at least this group) has been defeated. The swords consider the pactlords “invaders” to Ptolus.

Power liked the heroic “nick-of-time” rescue of your comrades. (Power likes to be heroic and deeat enemeies)

Insight likes that fact that you have found both the banewarrens key and a piece of the staff of shards. (Insight likes to discover secrets.)

Deceit is pleased that you are using it to hide the banewarrens key, which is much desired by many people at this point. (Deceit likes to keep things hidden.)

The swords are now providing the following additional powers.

Insight now adds +2 to Will Defense instead of +1. You may also now use the “Consult Oracle” ritual once per day instead of the “Consult Mystic Sages” Ritual.

Power now adds +2 to fortitude Defense instead of +1. Once per day power will give you an additional action just as if you had spent an action point.

Deceit now adds +2 to reflex Defense instead of +1. Deciet also now had the following daily power.

• Move Action
• Teleport 5 Squares and become invisible till the start of you next turn.

Everyone played and you got 1250 Xp each.

You have one outstanding quest from Jevica Norr of the Inverted Pyramid. She has offered to pay you 5000 gp each to discover how to seal up the Banewarrens forever. (With the recovery of the dagger, Yaelsha from the pactlords and the information from Gary the metal man, you have probably completed this.)

Apostle, Symba, and Yark informed the church of Lothian about Brother Heth and his involvement with the Pactlords. Thr church has asked you to recover the “Sword of Lies” from the Banewarrens. The church believes that the sword of lies is actually the sword of truth, a powerful artifact of Lothian. The sword is rumored to be stored in the inner vaults of the Banewarrens. The church offered to pay you 20,000 gp to recover the sword.

While all this was going on, you had left Gary the metal man with the Shuul to be repaired. Once he was repaired, he took it upon himself to return to his duties in the Banewarrens, despite the Shuul’s opinions to the contrary. Gary returned to the Banewarrens with the Shuul not far behind. When they reached the Banewarrens they were set upon by a new group of Pactlords, led by a Beholder. You found out about all this mostly from the horrendous amount of gunfire that occurred when the Shuul encountered the Beholder.

AG 18 investigated and discovered that the Pactlords have captured Gary and are going to attempt the penetrate the inner vaults. You followed the pactlords deeper into the Banewarrens encountering Wisps, Gorillons, and firelasher elementals, before having to stop and rest.

At the end of this session, it is the 13 of Wind.

Everyone played but Cheava. Cheava was played as an NPC so he gets half xp. Cheava gets 746 xp. Everyone else gets 1680 xp. (I think that’s slightly higher than the amount I gave you last week.)

Ag 18 continued their pursuit of the Pactlord team lead by the Beholder. They emerged into the the room with the Vault Door leading t0 the inner vaults of the Banewarrens to discover a battered and broken “Gary.” Gary told the group that the Pactlords had passed through the Vault door, but he had managed to close it afterwards. Ag 18 used the banewarrens key to open the vault and prepared to face the pactlords. When the Vault opened, “Gary” shape shifted into an Orge Mage! The Beholder and his 2 wyverns attacked from their hidden spot near the ceiling. (Thanking the adventurers for opening the inner vaults and laughing like Jabba the Hutt.)

Despite disintegrations and death rays, AG 18 was able to prevail over the pactlords. Rather than venture deeper into the warrens the group decided to rest and check the vaults they had passed by in their pursuit of the beholder. They discovered a suit of armor haunted by an ancient evil warlord, a skull that allows communication with evil gods, a particularly strong poison, the hand of a lich,a disk that disintegrates both target and user, and a knife that turns anyone killed by in into a Vairgoulle.

The group then ventured into the Inner Vaults, expecting the worst. The very first room was inhabited by a pair of black puddings which were dispatched with some difficulty.

Everyone but Symba played. You got 1525 xp each.

In this session AG-18 continued their exploration of the inner vaults of the Banewarrens. The inner vaults were converted into a prison and lair by dreadlords more powerful servants. The group was nearly ambushed by a group of wights and their commander. These undead were servants of the Dreadlord and continue to defend the inner vaults as if no time has passed. Forging deeper into the dungeon, the group encountered the jailer of the prison, who had become a lich, and his two skeletal guardians. Dispatching these creatures, the group was able to recover the lich’s magic items from his previous life. Exploring further AG-18 discovered a silver Dragon trapped in a glass floor, and a large area where the dungeon appeared to have been destroyed by some kind of magical catastrophe. The magical conflagration appeared to be inhabited by Slaad.

Treasure gained:

• Cloak a Resistance +3
• Targeting Bow +3
• Staff of Fiery Might +3

At the end of this session, it is the 14th of wind.

Everyone played, you got 1580 xp each.

AG 18 continues their exploration of the banewarrens, in search of the Sword of Lies and the sealing rod. They began by trying to figure out how to get the silver dragon, who was encased in glass, out of his prison. Exploring the area, no way to free the dragon was discovered, however the ever-present banewarrens vaults were not in short supply. Many of the vaults had been opened and plundered already. Some were not empty and AG-18 had to deal with a winery elemental and a pack of specters. Soon they also discovered a profane temple inhabited by a vampire lord and his wight minions. Having dealt with these creatures and sanctifying the vampires crypt, the group rested for a night.

It is now the 15th of Wind.

Items gained:

Swift-step boots

Symbol of Demon-Turning +3

Everyone played in this session, you got 1980 xp each.

As they were resting in an out of the way room in the banewarrens, AG 18 was contacted by Jevica Nor of the inverted pyramid. She had not heard from the group a a while and wanted to check their progress through the banewarrens. The group informed her that they now knew how to seal the banewarrens, (using sealing rod and staff of shards) and they were currently searching for them deeper in the banewarrens. (The quest for Jevicca has now been completed. The XP is figured in above. She owes you 5000 gp each)

Ag 18 freed the silver dragon, Sagirantus from his prison. He has been trapped there by Malkuth many years ago. After some initial confusion and some overzealous use of his breath weapon, he realized time had passed. He asked the group many question but ultimately decided to meditate near one of the warding generators, which he had helped to build some many years ago.

Exploring further, AG 18 dispatched Slaad, a Xorn, and a pack of Kruthik and removed the contents of some of the banewarrens vaults.

The group also gained access to the heart of the banewarrens by figuring out the correct phrase to open the door, well after a few tries anyway.

The way into Tremoc Korin,the Baneheart, now lays open before you.

It is now the 16th of wind. According to your notes on the pad o’ initiative, your were to report back to Jevicca on the 16th of wind. She did contact you already, but she owes you 5000 gp each (which can be used to purchase a magic item from the dreaming apothecary.) Between this session and the next let’s say you went back into town so you can collect your money. At the very least someone needs to go back to town, you are running out of food and water. (Xorn burger anyone?)

We can run the in-town interaction over email before the next session. If there is anyone you wish to speak with during this time, or anything you want to do, let me know. You can spend any money you have to purchase any magic item level 10 or below. Elanna and Apostle also have access to some fairly useful ritual magic now so you might purchase some of those as well.

In addition to whatever money you have on your sheet you have the 5000 xp from Jevicca. You also gained 744 gp each in this session from the loot in the Slaad cave.

You also have the following magic Items that need to be dealt with:

Gem that causes Nightmares

Dagger of Varghul Curse

Disintegrating Disc

Jug of Posion (not identified)

You can sell these items if you find the right buyer. The inverted pyramid might be interested in the evil items for study, you could also give them to the Malkuth for destruction, which would earn extra xp.

You still have an outstanding quest from the church of Lothain to find the Sword of Lies, they have offered 20k gold for this. (Total not each.)

Everyone but Jadera played in this session.

Jadera Gets 750 xp.

Everyone else gets 1688 xp.

At the beginning of the session, you spent 2 days in town. It is now the 19th of Wind.

You spoke with Jevicca Nor, who again warned you that the Church of Lothian had sent a group of adventurers into the Banewarrens to seek the Sword of Lies. Jevicca said that the Sword of lies was a powerful artifact that was used to slay mages. Of course, unbeknown to Jevicca, AG 18 is the group of adventurers who are seeking the sword. Jevicca has also offered a reward for retrieving the sword for the Inverted Pyramid. She left the amount somewhat vague, simply saying that they would create a magic item for you.

The group completed the exploration of the inner vaults of the banewarrens. AG 18 freed an angel who had been trapped by Malkith many thousands of years ago. (Seems like freeing angels is becoming a habit.) The angel warned the group that the Baneheart contained a malignant magical force that would tempt spellcasters into using it. The Baneheart is also inhabited by the Malificite, a fallen angel who was Malkith’s most powerful servant. The angel also said that the sealing rod and the staff of shards were almost certainly located in the Baneheart.

The group encountered and dispatched a group of skeletons and opened the last few vaults of the in the inner vaults.

Having cleared out the dangerous monsters and retrieving the evil magic items from the inner vaults, the group set off through the secret door leading into the Baneheart. The legends state that the concentrated evil in the Baneheart was so great that the earth itself rebelled and pushed the Baneheart away, creating the spire that looms over Ptolus. Entering the next area, its hard not to believe this legend. The area is full of large deep caverns, treacherous ledges, and long climbing staircase. AG 18 was set upon by a group of monstrous humanoids who inhabited this part of the Banewarrens. After this tough fight, the group decided to rest before continuing. The entrance to the Baneheart itself looming before them.

You gained two magic items:

Periapt of cascading health +3

Shielding Girdle

Both of which went to Symba