Scarred Lands - Rolling on the River

Game Date: 8/14/2010
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Alek Corman (Ted) - Human Paladin
Aria Thatcher (Matt) - Half-Elf Bard
Blast Flashing, Jr. (Nick) - Gnome Warlock
Gorn (Jesse) - Half-Orc Ranger

Notes:
Ted will be playing a new character next week.

Recap:
Last session we were sent to find a magic bell. We explored some ancient dungeon tunnels, and saw a historic vision involving a Titan.


Um, yes. That's... that's exactly how it went down. The story climaxed with an epic battle against a colossal demon. We were granted the title of "Kelder" (clanless Dwarf), and each of us was given a runic tattoo.

The Session:
As the new heroes of Burok-Torn, we took a much-needed rest. As we prepared to leave town and resume our travel to Vesh, we had a big decision to make. Leave from Burok-Torn, and take a path through the swamps? Or go back through the mirror to the other town, and leave from there? We finally settled on the latter, which was a much easier route. Other than a long rope bridge and a 10 gp toll (plus tip, for the nicer party members), it was an uneventful trip.

We arrived at Vesh, where a Vigil escorted us to the capital city of Lave. Lave turned out to be a cosmopolitan town, bustling with activity. As we prepared to meet the commander, we found that a few other adventuring parties were sitting in the waiting room as well. Gorn tried desperately to flirt with a female Half-Orc in another party, but he kept getting interrupted.

We met with the commander. We read "The Tale of the Serpent Amphora" which tells of the defeat of Mormo by Madriel. This helped us understand the origins of our Amphora, but the commander still wanted to know more. He asked us to travel to Hedrad, which is apparently has second greatest Library in the world. He is paying us 300 gold each (half now, half when we get back).

He also planned to send out those other adventuring parties with fake Amphoras, in order to throw off our enemies. He even gave us the option to give them our Amphora and carry a fake one ourselves, but for some reason we decided to hang onto the real one (it seemed like a good idea at the time).

While in town, we also finally dropped off the dead Ranger we'd been dragging around since our first session. I don't know if they plan to raise him or just give him a proper burial, but at least it's out of our hands.

Hedrad was best reached by river, so we started for the docks. We were passing through the merchant district, when we caught a pickpocket trying to steal Alek's coin pouch. We thoroughly searched him and let him go. As we were heading out the town gates, a merchant started running after us. He was calling for the guards, and accused us of stealing a brooch from his stand.

We told them about the pickpocket, and told them we weren't thieves. Aria managed to roll a whopping 38 on her Diplomacy check (using Words of Friendship and with Blast assisting). They let us go and said they'd do further investigating on their own.

We hired a boat. We spent each day traveling down the river, our speed slightly increased by Aria's "Traveler's Chant" ritual. Each night we camped on the riverbank.

On the first night, Blast was keeping watch when we were attacked by some Acid Shamblers, led by an Ice Ghoul. You know, Aria should write a ballad about this someday...



...or maybe not. The boat captain helped us fight, mostly protecting Aria throughout the battle. His crew high-tailed it back to the ship. Blast kept getting grabbed by the Acid Shamblers, who delighted in chewing on him (Nom nom nom Gnome gnome gnome...). As usual, our heroic Alek kept most of the enemies busy while the rest of us offered support.

Aria rolled a rather entertaining fumble this encounter (using our Fumble Deck). She used Scorching Burst on a group of enemies. Not only did she miss every single one, but one of her attacks was a 1, which summoned a hostile Fire Beetle. Not really helping!

After the battle, we searched some nearby ruins, and found a little treasure.

That night, Gorn had a dream about a maze of doors. Aria had a dream where a bull-headed Sphinx ate all of her friends and chased her.

At our next campsite, we heard some music in the distance. The captain said he knew of no towns in that direction. We decided to check it out. The source of the melody was a beautiful Dryad, who requested that we keep her company. Gorn and Blast were very eager to make her acquaintance. Aria tried to play some music with her, but the Dryad didn't seem as interested in Aria as she was in the men. Alek decided to stay back and watch.

The Dryad entranced Blast and Gorn, and the rest of us were attacked. Alek and Aria were stuck fighting the Dryad, two dogs, two birds, and our teammates. Luckily Blast and Gorn were able to shake off their enchantments in a few rounds, but it still wasn't easy. Early in the battle Aria was dive-bombed by a bird and lost a huge amount of hit points. We eventually defeated the animals, but the Dryad escaped.

After the battle, we found that merchant's brooch was pinned to Alek's cloak. We debated a little, but we've decided to sell it. (Though we probably do have time to change our minds. Personally I think we should wait until our next trip to Lave, and pin it to the outfit of someone we don't like.)

Another day of river travel, another night of camping. This time we were attacked by 3 swarms of Needlefang Drakes and one large Mockdragon. The swarms were able to knock us prone, then did extra damage to prone targets. The Mockdragon was no picnic either.

Alek bravely took enough damage for three Paladins, using every power in his disposal to keep all attacks on him. Aria buffed his defenses, and we all did everything we could to keep him on his feet. But it wasn't enough. With just two bloodied enemies left on the board, Alek failed his final death save and went to the Great Beyond.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The rest of us managed to finish off the enemies. Ted has asked us not to raise him, as he wants to try a new character. Aria is using the Gentle Repose ritual on the corpse, but only to preserve it for our journey so we can give him a proper burial later. We have decided not to loot his magic items.

GP:
-10 each (toll/guide on way to Vesh)
+150 each (half of reward for trip to Hedrad)
-5 each (boat ride)
+45 each (180 gp found in ruins)
Total +180 each for the session

XP:
+220 (Ice Ghoul encounter)
+175 (Dryad encounter)
+194 (Drake encounter)
Total 589 each for the session.
Aria, Gorn, and Blast are at 5083 (Level 4)