GoCorral

This session was attended by Avery, Jamie, Ben, Will, and Tyler. The session was held using Skype for voice and video and using Roll20 as a virtual tabletop.
In out of character news we had our big Fake New Years party before this session where we all get together at a time around New Years Eve, but not actually New Years (people want to do other things on the actual day usually) and stay up all night playing games. We played a bunch of games with a trust/deception theme. The highlight game was Betrayal at the House on the Hill. It moved a little slowly for our tastes to be honest, but perhaps that was because it was our first time playing it.
Finally, we experimented with a new method of initiative in this session. We tried a Monsters Turn/PCs turn method, where the PCs were allowed to act in whatever order they chose with even some move and standard actions being separated. It worked well and we should be using it in subsequent sessions when appropriate. And now on to the D&D fun!

Tagenadi’s Vision

Upon arriving at King Mero’s court, Tagenadi had a vision. Tagenadi shared the vision with the party in private later on.

Tagenadi glanced at the dragon’s head. Wait! Did an eye move? He looked closer to make sure. Tagenadi stood paralyzed as the head slowly rotated and the eyes looked straight at him. No one else in the room seemed to notice. The dragon’s putrefying lips moved, “Lord Hades wishes to speak with you.”

In a flash Tagenadi was no longer in Mars’ Oasis. He stood in a column of light within a vast dark space. Looking down he saw not the armored skeletal form he had grown accustomed to but his old human body! Albeit naked, but he was truly himself again! Ecstatic, Tagenadi reveled in the feeling of his fingers against his skin.

The feeling of joy was soon replaced by that of dread. An impossibly large human figure appeared over him, shrouded in darkness. Hades voice reverberated throughout the seemingly infinite dark space, “Think you’re a clever little shit don’t you?
“Thought you’d outsmarted old Hades did you? Pulled the wool over his dark eyes? Slipped one by ME? THE LORD OF HELL?!?!? NOTHING ESCAPES ME MORTAL! NOT EVEN THE DEAD!
“Now I don’t want to hear your pitiful mewling excuses. We had a bargain. You would lead my armies in the surface world and in exchange I gave you life. Your dithering and attempts to escape this compact through refusal to contact me or carry out my wishes surprise me, but I am not without my mercy. Since you seek a return to your mortal form I shall grant it to you.
“BUT ONLY IF YOU COMPLETE WHAT I RETURNED YOU TO LIFE TO DO! I DID NOT CREATE AN ARMY OF UNDEAD TO WASTE THEM AGAINST THE FORCES OF HEPHAESTUS AND ATHENA! THEY ARE NOT MY TARGETS! DIRECT MY ARMIES AGAINST ARES AND BLENDEGAD OR BY THE STYX I WILL THINK OF A TORTURE FOR YOU WORSE THAN THAT DEVISED FOR CRONOS!
“Use the Black Crystal. Take the three armies, the desert, Thanatos’s, and the dead dwarves. Take them against Xoria. Find me the Lots. And then I shall restore your human body,” the immense form leaned down so Tagenadi could see his teeth, as large as wagons.
“I will require one small task from you after this. When the time comes you will know. In return I will reunite your drowned sister with you. Do these things and you will be rewarded.” His sulphurous breath blew in Tagenadi’s face, “Do not… and you will regret it.”

Smoke poured forth from his mouth, obscuring Tagenadi’s vision. Tagenadi tried to clear the air in front of himself with his arm. Fanning the smoke away revealed that he was back in the courtroom. The dragon’s head had not moved and conversation continued between the members of the court as if nothing has happened.

Later discussion of the vision resulted in little real decision. Tagenadi was certainly interested in reclaiming his body and his sister, who had not known was dead, but what was the real cost of using the Black Crystal? A cursory plan was drawn up for transporting the undead horde at the Lich Shade across Xoria, no action was undertaken. Similarly no action was taken to control the undead dwarves or the city of Crux.

Decapitation Celebration

King Mero regained his composure after his momentary lapse, “Your deeds will be rewarded and remembered for all time. Let us rejoice! For Bavastatner is dead and our kingdom is safe!”
The court cheered! “Hip hip hurray! Hip hip hurray! Hip hip hurray!”
Before another cheer could begin, Hektor interrupted, “Your majesty, could we speak of what you could do with your newfound freedom from Bavastatner’s shadow? Perhaps joining the Alliance against the Xorians?”
“Yes, in time. For now, we celebrate! Bring on the succulent foods and let the wine flow!” Servants ran from the courtroom to organize the celebration. “And where are the entertainers? Let there be music and dancing in the castle and throughout the realm!”

Wine was served first, putting everyone in a good mood. Amalius teleported off to Jipangu to collect members of his family to join in the fun. Joining the psion were his wife, Denara; his sister, Amelia; his brother, Amalchus; and his mother, Hiroka. Amalius spent the evening constantly refilling his cup with wine and talking with multiple members of the court in an attempt to find a husband for his sister. He’d had his eye on Hektor as a potential groom, but the Aractrashan turned him down.

Tagenadi stood aside from the others, unable to enjoy the fabulous food and drink. Danar stood with Tagenadi, ensuring that the skeleton man wasn’t alone at a triumphant moment such as this. Sabriyya was present in the court. She nodded at Tagenadi from across the room, but elected to not approach her old friend.

Eathirilu enjoyed the free alcohol to its fullest extent while also keeping his ears open for any suspicious activity. He picked up the words of the captain of the guard, Alabaster, as he spoke to the guardsmen, “Keep at the ready in case our guests of honor get violent.”

Origenes joined Amalius and Eathirilu in letting loose. He ate pieces of the succulent pig and enjoyed it. Wary of the succulent camel hump, he tried a bite. He found it much to his liking and helped himself to a larger portion. Origenes tried the succulent succulents as well, but found the retrieval of spines from his teeth was a tad uncomfortable.

The party continued late into the night with entertainment provided by musicians, dancing, jugglers, and a circus animal act. Amalius succeeded in finding a noble interested in marrying his son to Amelia, but sadly the hero was unable to remember the noble’s name in his drunken state.

As the party began to wind down, King Mero III stood from his throne and addressed the crowd, “Thank you all for joining me in honoring these heroes! I will now be talking to them in private to address their future in Mars’ Oasis.” He signaled to his men and then left the throne room. Guardsmen elbowed their way through the crowd to reach each of the heroes and guide them towards a room where the king awaited them. Amalius drunkenly waved goodbye to his wife. The psion almost fell asleep in the guard’s arms and had to practically be carried out of the throne room.

The party took their seats in the back room across from King Mero and his ever-present companion, Alabaster. Mero began, “I am prepared to give each of you a medal honoring what you have done for Mars’ Oasis and one wish if within my power to grant. All except your undead. I can barely tolerate his presence in my city, but I will bow to the wishes of the people.”
Hektor said, “And the Alliance? Can we expect your support?”
“Yes. I cannot commit troops immediately. Bavastatner’s spawn may attack the oasis to avenge his death. I’m going to plan some preemptive strikes against a few of the blue dragon nests we know of to forestall any such attacks. Once that is done and once the army is mobilized, we will enter the war with as much strength as we can spare. There are details to be worked out for this arrangement, but from what I know I will need to speak to the Alliance Council directly for that.”
“Your majesty is correct.”
“There were undoubtedly a few items in Bavastatner’s hoard that belonged to my great grandfather when he attempted to slay the beast,” the king continued, “I expect their return. We can talk more in the morning. I am tired as I am sure all of you are as well.” Mero glanced at the sleeping Amalius as he spoke.
The party bowed and excused themselves. Some walked out while others had to be carried.

Just Rewards

When morning came the group was treated to a small breakfast. Afterwards a guard led them to a meeting with a royal clerk who asked for the items listed as belonging to the Mars’ Oasis royalty in the previous update. Curiously, the clerk mentioned that the Dythalidium fullplate had enchantments on it that protected the wearer from all attacks, incorporeal creatures, and sonic attacks.

Eathirilu gasped when the clerk mentioned this, “Just like th-”
“Shush!” Amalius cut him off.
The clerk said, “What was he going to say?”
Amalius explained, “Nothing. Just a druid thing.”
“Hmm…” The clerk tapped his lip with the feather of his pen and wrote a note down upon his paper.

The royal items were turned over to the clerk. In exchange he presented them with five medals of honor, one for Amalius, Eathirilu, Hektor, Origenes, and Danar, but zero for Tagenadi. The clerk also accepted any requests the heroes had for the wishes King Mero had offered. Hektor asked the king to take care of Lakatia should Hektor die. Danar asked that the magic within his bardiche be enhanced to allow him to cast powerful spells quickly (Danar was using a Rod of Lesser Quicken as the shaft of his weapon. He wanted it pumped up to a Rod of Normal Quicken.). Amalius wanted something akin to a landed title but he hadn’t decided which particular title to claim. Eathirilu and Origenes elected to save their requests for another time.

Kidnap or Kill

Heroes can’t rest for long. The dragovinian threat still loomed and continuous action was the only way to turn the tide. With their important business completed in Mars’ Oasis the group sought a new objective. Find the Lots? Find Apollo’s Bow? No! The group decided they needed to get the Pitchfork of Ruin from the Dahak.

Why is the Pitchfork of Ruin important? It is the weapon that poisoned Zeus, preventing the Olympian King from stomping Blendegad into dust. Ironically, the weapon is also required to cure Zeus. The Dahak still possesses the Pitchfork. The party brokered a deal with the Dahak (Xorian Wars 48/Alliance 37). In exchange for politically “dividing Nomingburg” the Dahak would hand over the Pitchfork. The party could do this or confront the Dahak, a creature of legendary power who had defeated Zeus himself. Logically the party chose to go along with their deal instead of poking the bear.

Nomingburg is a city ruled by assassins guilds. The guilds once fought amongst each other for control of the city, but that practice was stopped by the halfling Duke Jingo. He has kept Nomingburg stable for decades since. This goes against the Dahak’s desires, so in return for ending this stability he will grant the party the Pitchfork of Ruin.

The party landed on three different plans for stopping Duke Jingo’s influence.
1. Bargaining with him to leave the city for a time. The group’s reasoning was sound. Gaining the Pitchfork would be instrumental in the return of Zeus. Zeus could halt the advance of the dragovinians. Stopping the dragovinians is good for everyone. Everyone includes Nomingburg. Ergo, Duke Jingo would want to step aside and let Nomingburg descend into chaos. Plus, the group isn’t exactly short on bribes.
2. Kill Duke Jingo. Can’t stabilize the city if he’s dead!
3. Kidnap Duke Jingo. After all, he only needs to be missing for the guilds to begin fighting amongst each other again.

The group settled on the 3rd plan with the possibility of going back to the second if necessary. They feared that plan 1 might fail which would lead to the Duke being forewarned for plans 2 and 3. Plan 3 and plan 2 were effectively the same, commando-esque strike on the Duke’s residence; plan 3 was just less evil than plan 2.

Amalius’s hangover was cured with a quick lesser restoration spell. Buffs were put in place. A plan was made. The party teleported off to Nomingburg!

Your Defeat is Inevitable

The group had been to Jingo’s palace previously when following a prophetic dream that led to the assassination plot on King Ballard. They went there again. The group silently flew over the roof. Hektor used a locate object spell on a distinct hand crossbow he’d seen in Jingo’s possession last time. He locked onto the weapon as they flew above the building until he came to the spot where the signal was directly below him.

Hektor said, “Alright. He’s here.”
Everyone else chimed in with, “Ready,” and “Let’s do this.”

Amalius disintegrated the section of roof beneath them with a ray of green energy. Revealed below was a large solar. Two bookcases held numerous volumes and a fire blazed in the fireplace on the northern wall. Two padded armchairs faced a door on the eastern wall. An ornate carpet covered the floor. A book rested on a small table between the armchairs and the crossbow laid upon the southern armchair. In the middle of the room stood Elijas, the old man whom the party had seen with Duke Jingo during their last visit. Elijas was looking straight up at the party with his twin daggers drawn. He held the daggers in a reverse grip with his thumb around the end of the hilt and his pinky finger being closest to the blade. The dagger in Elijas’s right hand was made of pure energy while the left was wreathed in cold black mist.

“Duke Jingo stepped out for a little bit, but I’m sure you’ll find me just as entertaining.”

Amalius, Hektor, and Eathirilu had true seeing active. They saw a different creature in the room below. Instead of an old man, Elijas appeared as a shadowy humanoid figure. His skin was as dark as the midnight sky. His eyes twinkled with starry voids.

Hektor, unsure of the difference between Duke Jingo and Elijas, flew down and threw a point blank dimensional anchor at Elijas. A direct hit by the ray ensured that Elijas would not escape the fight through teleportation magic.

Elijas shouted, “Why would I need to escape?! Your Defeat,” he hefted the misty dagger, indicating its name was Defeat, “is Inevitable!” He swung the energy dagger named Inevitable at Hektor. Elijas attacked with Inevitable in a flurry of strikes. Tagenadi recognized the avalanche of blades technique that his master, Nidiri Sukon, had once used. One, Two, Three, Four, Five Strikes! Hektor collapsed from blood loss on the fifth strike. His contingent teleport activated, sending him back to the chapel in Lakatia where a cleric was always on staff, ready to heal Hektor in the case of just such an emergency. Elijas’s starry eyes shone with a bright light and a feline grin crossed his shadowy face.

Eathirilu transformed into a tyrannosaurus and began casting his short term buff spells. Tagenadi, Origenes, and Danar descended into the room to go toe to toe with Elijas. Tagenadi swung with his white raven hammer strike. With expert dagger skill, Elijas deflected the blow off of himself and onto Danar. The draconic knight was hit on the head by Tagenadi and stunned. Elijas took advantage of the situation and stabbed at Danar with both of his daggers. The energy dagger, Inevitable, pierced Danar’s liver, causing him to bleed profusely.

Origenes tried to attack Elijas from behind, but the Duke’s bodyguard nimbly dodged aside. Amalius tried a powered up dominate to end the fight with one spell. Unfortunately, Elijas was protected against magic. Amalius had not prepared for this and the spell was botched. Eathirilu aimed a dispel magic spell at Elijas and peeled away a few of the enchantments protecting their foe.

Danar attempted to safely retreat from the fight but he was caught by Elijas. Two daggers plunged into Danar and he went unconscious. Elijas’s starry eyes shone with a bright light and a feline grin crossed his shadowy face. Tagenadi struck back against Elijas. He pierced the man’s skin, but found it resistant to his blow. Eathirilu cast a heal spell on Danar, bringing him back into the fight. Origenes repositioned, but still found it impossible to get the drop on Elijas.

Elijas slashed at Origenes, inflicting a few cuts before disappearing completely in the shadows. Amalius shouted, “It wasn’t magic! He’s just hiding somewhere in the room! I’ll find his mind.” The party went on guard preparing for Elijas’s return. Amalius cast iron body on himself while Eathirilu completed his buff spell routine.
Eathirilu said, “We don’t have to fight. Come on out, we can talk about this.”
A voice spoke from behind Origenes, “Oh no. Our violent conflict is Inevitable.” Elijas thrust his daggers into Origenes and the man from Dalleer collapsed. Elijas’s starry eyes shone with a bright light and a feline grin crossed his shadowy face once more. The shadowy opponent agilely flew up the wall and across the roof to land behind Eathirilu.

Amalius attempted another mental attack on Elijas that failed. Tagenadi donned the Cap of Hades and moved next to Elijas to prevent escape. Eathirilu tried to bite Elijas, but found his attack deflected towards Tagenadi. Thankfully the undead knight’s armor protected him from the dinosaur’s teeth.

Meanwhile, Hektor had recovered in Lakatia. His clerical servants had healed some of his wounds, restoring him to a conscious state. Unfortunately, Inevitable’s energy blade inflicted wounds refused to close. Hektor cast a sudden maximized time stop. With his extra time, he cast shapechange. He consulted his lexiconic memory for celestials that could cure his condition. He landed upon an avoral, using the bird angel’s power to heal his wounds. Next he teleported back to Jingo’s Palace. Once there, he transformed into a leonal to restore his lay on hands ability. He used this on Origenes. His final two actions were to cast true strike and a forcecage on Elijas and Tagenadi.

Time resumed! Amalius had found Elijas’s mental defenses too strong to penetrate, even for his strongest attacks. He focused his full attention on telling the party where Elijas was when he disappeared into the shadows and dust. Elijas and Tagenadi were locked in a battle within the forcecage. The Cap of Hades granted Tagenadi impenetrable invisibility and Elijas’s skills granted him the same protection. With Amalius’s guidance, Tagenadi reached out with his warrior senses and swung his kusari-gama. Success! The attack collided with its target. Not with Elijas, but with Inevitable! The dagger was knocked out of their opponent’s hand. Amalius followed the disarm up with a retrieve on the glowing dagger.

Hektor followed this up with a true striked disintegrate. Sadly, even the best laid plans fail from time to time. The ray zipped in and out through the bars of the forcecage to collide with another portion of the roof, destroying it. Elijas narrowed his eyes and disappeared into the dust kicked up by Hektor’s ray. Tagenadi swung his weapon around trying to locate his foe but encountered only air.

Hektor spoke to their hidden adversary, “Please! The Dahak needs the city divided and in return he will help us bring back Zeus!”
A voice whispered from the shadows, “I serve my master, even though his principles may be corrupt. United is more static than divided.” Elijas reappeared as he kicked the forcecage wall. His boots shined and the cage disintegrated. Elijas faded into the shadows again.

Amalius directed Tagenadi, Danar, Origenes, and Eathirilu to surround Elijas, cutting off his escape. With Hektor’s dimensional anchor in place, all means of retreat were cut off for Elijas. Striking from the shadows he battled on. Even with Inevitable gone he still struck with two weapons, although the party never saw his second weapon for the fleeting moments that Elijas was visible. Elijas continued to redirect missed attacks against him back towards the party, but without Inevitable this became harder and harder for him to accomplish.

Tagenadi got another lucky break and knocked Defeat out of Elijas’s hand. Amalius snatched it up with a second retrieve spell. In a fury, Elijas launched himself upon the closest person to him, Origenes. He attacked with tiger-like claws that had replaced his hands. A blow to the face caused Origenes to bleed, another to the stomach knocked him out, and a final blow to his back as he fell killed the party’s newest member.

Tagenadi screamed in rage and used his white raven hammer once more. It connected this time, stunning Elijas once more. Eathirilu picked up their opponent in his huge jaws and began to crunch down. Amalius swooped in and blasted a full force cold energy wave at Elijas and Eathirilu. The druid had warded himself completely against cold damage that morning. Elijas could not say the same. Freezing pulses washed over Elijas, nearly killing him. The old man said, “I serve my master,” as Danar chopped him in half with his bardiche. As Elijas died his body returned to its natural rakshasa state for all observers. Their opponent had not been a human or a shadowy star monster, but a tiger demon.

The party recovered and mourned Origenes. Although death is not permanent in the realms of Cimmeria, it is still a sad thing. Amalius and Tagenadi regretted that their combat led to the death of Elijas as well. They had hoped to resolve things relatively peacefully.
The party’s practical side induced them to search Elijas’s corpse for magical items. They found a black belt, his boots, a spidersilk shirt that he wore underneath his black clothing, an adamantine spider figurine, and two magic rings. One of the rings was particularly interesting, as it was only detected by true seeing. Perhaps this was what had shielded Elijas at least partially from true seeing?

While examining the items, Eathirilu heard a scrabbling beneath the carpet in the, now half-frozen, lounge room below. Hektor flew down and lifted the carpet, revealing Duke Jingo. The halfling had magically tunneled into the floor with his bare hands and had come back up for air.

“Ah. Hello there,” said Jingo.

Out of Session Activities and News

The session concluded when Jingo emerged from the floor, but a lot of discussion continued out of session.

First things first, Will has been a little unhappy playing Origenes. The character doesn’t really have the same place in the group, making it difficult to find real ways of roleplaying him during group discussions. Additionally, Origenes is kind of boring/bad mechanically compared to the rest of the twinked out party. Will has decided that after Origenes is resurrected he’s going to say, “That was too much. I’m out,” and leave the party. We’ve already planned a replacement which may even be ready by the next session! I’m excited for Will’s new character and it should highlight how strong the group has become.

Next, while Elijas’s items haven’t been detailed yet in game, I told the party what the results of future identify spells would be. Inevitable and Defeat are their first epic weapons. Magical enchantments can be transferred between items, so the group is looking to move the epic bonuses on to the weapons they actually use. Only problem is they need someone who can craft epic items who can do that. Only two known wizards are that strong in Cimmeria, Vecna and Sherlock. Vecna was already encountered in Crux and most of the party views her costs as too high. Sherlock is insane, so he might do the transfer for free or he might turn the party into fish and laugh at them.

There were a couple other big items from Elijas. The Shadow Belt, which allows the wearer to dimension door as a move action at will between shadows that are up to 50’ apart and make a hide check at one’s destination as a free action. The Boots of Force Destruction, which allow their wearer to dispel a force effect by kicking it as a standard action. A +5 Spidersilk Chain Shirt which provides a +9 armor bonus with no armor check penalty, max Dex bonus, or arcane spell failure. The adamantine spider figurine which is a figurine of wondrous power. A ring of invisibility and then the Invisible Ring. The Invisible Ring makes the wearer immune to all divinations, even true seeing. True seeing reveals a shadowy figure with starry voids for eyes. The ring itself is invisible too, but can be detected with divinations. Looking at the ring’s gemstone while it is worn reveals a tiny version of the wearer on whom divinations do work correctly.

The party also received a general update on the state of the war in Cimmeria through their various sources.

The dwarves are gearing up to reclaim their Underdark territories underneath Xoria. The Xorians abandoned these territories and used negative energy to execute all the dwarven slaves left within. The slain dwarves turned into wights who the living dwarves must now defeat. Deekgaon, a dwarven King, will lead the attack, with considerable assistance from the other dwarven kings, Torngar, Dainlin, and Sandil. Torin as high priest of Athena is the religious authority of the attack.

Krodius, the leader of the Sky Patrol in Greshendale, joined the dragovinians. Soon after the city officially declared for Xoria. Dragovinians in attendance at the treaty signing were Krodius; Barejando, general of the Xorian army; Lady Li, sorceress extraordinaire; and Wu Lang Li, Lady Li’s husband returned after his long absence. There were many exclamations from the PCs as they realized Will’s old character had returned to his former dragovinian status.

The Rebels have occupied the city of Gazeara and are sieged by the Xorians’ Amazon force. The sun continues to beat down on the Amazons and it looks as if the summer will continue into November. This has caused a serious drought making it difficult for the warrior women to find water for themselves and all of their horses. The city remains miraculously unaffected.

Aractrash has begun negotiations with the Alliance for entrance into the war.

The Alliance continues to train their recruits with the assistance of the water of Talos and Agamemnon’s ritual. Gradorian and Junai are taking the lead on this training.