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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Wednesday 21 May 980 Continued Party = Murga[Dwarf Cleric 5th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 5th] As the light dawns some acolytes of Apollo show up and relieve the party. They inform of the struggle with the goblins, and find Zeebers at the Swilling Snake. He tells them what he saw, "Hey, I'm open minded centaur's living with people." Mr. Spike has learned of a bar where legendary type creatures hang out, The Mad Phoenix. He and Zeebers head out to the tenement where the "Great Project" of the chaos cult was supposed to be. It is in the docks area, and they see it among many other such tenemants where workman leave in the morning, and families come out to do laundry, play, etc. The one they are looking at shows no activity. Murga is back at the Temple of Hephaestus and meets with High Priest Dumas who has spoken to the goblins. They say that they were simply watching the mansion when they were attacked by the party. They are asking for compensation for the lost members of their tribe. At the temple of Hephaestus he is told that they are still working on his device, but that something is messing up the magical field around here. Spike and Zeebers approach the building, and the police show up. They tell them that the building has been empty since the battle, last Monday, and they guess that most of residents were killed during the troubles. They are keeping watch as empty buildings can easily be turned into locations of criminal activity. Murga turns up and tells them of the goblins. Spike and Zeebers are unmoved and suggest sending a note to Javica to see if she is willing to pay compensation to the goblins. He also gives to Spike a note from Gatria Solor: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Spike and Friends I have some news about my mis-guided son. Can you please come to see me at your earliest opportunity? As usual, I hope I can trust you discretion in this matter. Gatria Solor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before Murga heads off again, he detects evil on the tenement. He definitely senses evil, but also some hint of something other worldly about whatever is in there. They also ask Murga to check in on Priest of Apollo Thisk to see if his accolytes can also keep watch on the tenement. Zeebers and Spike go to see Gatria Solor and are ushered in to see her. She tells them that she asked an ex-girlfriend of Iltumar's, Lavis Fallomire who always carried a guitar and was armed, to look for him. A couple of days ago she said that she was able, using an item of Iltumar's, to track him to a dis-used warehouse in the docks region. They go there and see a front and rear entrance. They go in the back and find a ruined office, and no obvious way into the rest of the building. Zeebers finds a secret door, and then is sprayed with acid from a trap. He is badly hurt and the two decide to retreat.
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Tue Jun 28, 2011 2:54 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 36 is short as only two of the players are present. I begin to think we need at least one more player, as the party is too fragile.
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Tue Jun 28, 2011 3:02 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Murga[Dwarf Cleric 5th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 5th] Tuesday Continued Zeebers and Spike head back to the Temple of Poseidon. The badly hurt Zeebers is cured and brought to the infirmary for further treatment. He will be here for a bit. High Priest Dumas arrives and talks to Zeebers and Spike about what is going on. He says that with the reconstruction and other activities he has not been paying too much attention to what they have been up to. The incident with the goblins has jolted him. They plan to speak after dinner that evening. He does some more healing on Zeebers and advises him to take it easy the rest of this day and over night. Murga goes off to the Temple of Hephaestus and learns of the disrupted magical field. They are willing to inquire at the mid-town Temple of Apollo, which the party is suspicious of. Spike goes out to some bars and visits the Mad Phoenix, a mythical creature bar. He finds no centaurs, but does hear aobut the new beer called Hidden Still Goblin Ale. They fail to notice any connection with their earlier adventures. Quilord has spent the day learning a spell. In the evening the party meets with High Priest Dumas. They tell him their story, but leave out that they have been into the Banewarrens or that they are working with Javica. He understands their perdictament, and is sympathetic. He advises them to pay off the goblins and avoid any problems with the authorities. He is left believing that chaos cultists, like the one he is holding, are trying to get into the Banewarrens to gather a powerful, and certainly dangerous, magic item. They ask after Alexia, and he says that there is no hurry in sending her away, to the Elves. She needs some time to recover and de-stress before they send her off to the unfamiliar and high pressure environment that she is likely to encounter with the Elves.
Spike goes to the Ghostly Minstrel and asks after Javica. She is not here, but their message from ealier has been passed on. He comes back and give 250 GP to the Goblins, telling the rest of the party that Javica has paid. The goblins accept the cash and leave. Thursday They go to the tenement in the dock area. They look for watchers from the Temple of Apollo, but see none. They go on to the warehouse. They enter at the back, disable the trap, fight, and defeat the three armed chaos creature. They are freaked out by it, and gather its head and its extra arm for study later. They get to the Dwarf's room, fight and knock him out. They are disgusted to realize that the tank on his back is fused into his flesh. They kill him, as being too disgusting and evil to be allowed to live. They break into the operating room, the Surgeon in the Shadows immediately teleports away, and the party fights it out with the swift and tough guardian. They defeat it and rescue Iltumar who is unconscious, he was being prepped for his transformation, and in the storage room find Lavis Fallomire, female bard, ex-girlfriend of Iltumar, who Gatria Solar asked to help find the missing Iltumar. She is bound, all of her stuff is gone, but has not been hurt.
A quick search, they do not find the entrance to the Surgeon's quarters, do find a notebook, that is clearly in some sort of complex code that they cannot make anything of. They decide to burn the place down, planning to claim that some sort of trap was tripped causing the fire. No one notices until they are well away. They return to the Temple of Posiedon, planning to connect with Master Thritas to show him the body parts and notebook.
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Fri Jul 01, 2011 1:02 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 37 advances the Night of Dissolution. After the session I ask the wife of Quilord's character if she would like to join, playing Lavis. She is very enthusiastic. The campaign has a bit of shift as we now have a character with a high Charisma opening some new options Next up will be her backstory.
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Fri Jul 01, 2011 1:07 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Backstory for Lavis Fallomire, human female bard Venga is an unusual city. Located far to the north of the middle sea around which humans first settled when they came to this world, it should be isolated and provincial. Yet it is not. The Morans from their great city on the Talian Peninsula conquered all the lands around the Middle Sea, and took Venga as the northern most outpost of their empire. They recognized its importance as the gateway between the wild lands to the north and more settled lands. The Elves had long lived at the southern end of Lake Venga, and the Dwarves dwelled in the Pelian Mountains just to the east. Venga was important to them as it was one of main bases from which thousands of years ago armies were sent into the Wild Lands to finish off the Fell Creatures that had invaded the settled lands. This tragedy, the armies were overtaken by madness and twisted to chaos and evil, led to the unsettled times that we see today. The members of those armies came back as the Twisted Ones, who still plague the world. The Morans built the great bridge and cleared the Nor River from Venga down to the Middle Sea at Marnor such that barges from Venga can travel all the way down the River and connect with the civilization and commerce of the Middle Sea. Thus began Venga's rise as the cultural center of the north. As a crossroads between the Elvish Lands to the West, Dwarvish dwellings to the East, Humans around the Middle Sea, and Halflings who settled in the rich Venga Vale, this isolated city of the north became one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Empire. Its University not only trained great mages, but also some of the greatest artists the Empire had ever seen. When the Empire fell under a flood of barbarians and civil war, Venga was spared by virtue of its strong walls and ties to its neighbors who recognized that Venga could not fall if there was to be any hope of sparing civilization from the Fell Creatures of the Wild Lands. Thus Venga endures and its devotion to that which makes civilization worth fighting for remains. One of the highest achievements of the University of Venga is the melding magic and art by the School of the Bards. This craft takes years to learn and is only open to those few who can are both master musicians and have an aptitude for magic. Those trained at the University of Venga are reputed to be the best in the world. You were fortunate to join the school. You remember as a young girl, auditioning for the intimidating faculty of the school as they asked to sing, play, and make the cat do tricks. That last bit was the hardest, and the bored grey beards finally took notice when the cat did a back flip as you sang to it. Professor Vess Hanley got down off the podium, and said, "That was very good, dear. I think you will have a long career ahead of you." Even as young girl of 12 you realized that things were going to change drastically. You almost became a stranger to your family over the next years as you spent long days at the University with Professor Hanley honing your voice, playing, and magic craft. You remember the first time you performed in front of an audience and you realized that you could bend them to your will, the first recorder that you painstakingly carved from a block of wood that you had to infuse with some of your own blood to make it hold the magic that your playing would alight, gathering the wood for your guitar on a quest into the wild lands to find the magical Swamp Ash tree that grows in the lands of the Blood Elves, the painstaking hours in the work shop delicately building the guitar, and the applause that broke out when you finished your final original song singing and playing on the guitar that had become almost a part of yourself. Vess was so proud as she hugged you after the performance and solemnly placed around your shoulders the fine cape that is the symbol of a Master Bard. The next few years were spent trying to scratch a living as a performer and part time adventurer. It is not clear in your head what is worse facing some Fell Creature intent on your death, or an audience which is hearing your latest composition for the first time. Both are terrifying and rewarding. You became quite popular often playing for the towns gentry led by the three families the Frangela, the Fenkari, and the Calmoni. They dominate the commercial life and are those that run the city. The current mayor is Donal Fenkar. You also occasionally played at the dives of the Packet, that large suburb across the great bridge to the west of the city where the alcohol is cheap, the patrons include goblins and orcs who can stick to the law, and there are as many calls for encores as there calls for you to show more skin. Surprisingly in one of these dives you are approached by someone you had met at a high society function just a few days earlier. Iltumar Solar was a bit younger that yourself, but he gushed with praise over your music and you agreed to see him. It was not much of a romance, while you clearly liked Iltumar, he seemed to be more interested in something else. He would often talk of his dissatisfaction with the present order. He described it as a corrupt oligarchy that did not deserve the power that it wielded. On the other hand he did not seem to favor some sort of democratic system, as was popular among the students at the University, but exposed some sort of anarchy which "would allow individuals the ultimate freedom to transform into that which maximizes their underlying potential." Exactly how this could be an organizing principle for a society was beyond you, and the more Iltumar expounded on it, organization seemed to be about the last thing Iltumar was interested in. He was far more interested in talking politics and trying to convince you to go meetings of "a club of those who are working to bring about a better world," for which you fortunately had no interest or time, than in what interested or excited you. In truth things changed when you finally met Iltumar's mother, Gatria Solar. She recognized you immediately from a society function where you had entertained, and seemed to like you. She often secured jobs for you as an entertainer at charity balls or elegant house dinner parties, and you found yourself working, and even better being paid, regularly. Gatria is good friends with Lady Fenkar, the mayor's aunt and matriarch of the Fenkari, and your highest paying gig was at a Fenkari party just a few weeks ago. It was a small price to tolerate the occasional "date" with Iltumar and listen to his increasingly strange ideas. Gatria herself told you that she thought you were a good influence on her son, and a big improvement over his usual choice of girlfriend. The events of the past weeks have been a blur. They began with an apparent coup led by the deputy mayor, the head of the Sorcerer's Brotherhood, and supported by twisted Elves from the Wild Lands. You spent most of the time with your family in their modest dwelling in working class section of the city, your father, Harley, works the docks, and your mother, Andrea, and sister, Tracy, in a shop. There was no work for any one in the troubled times, and you rejoiced along with the rest of the population of the city when the Battle of Venga ended in defeat for the usurpers, and the restoration of the mayor. You saw Iltumar after the battle and accompanied him to the ceremony honoring the following and the celebration that followed. He was exultant that the coup and its aftermath had opened the door to change, while you were actually quite pleased that many things would remain the same. He spoke of his coming "transformation" which would aid the cause of change making him into some sort of warrior for change. In truth you thought he had completely lost it, and you resolved to get on with your life. It was just a few days later that you got a note from Gatria Solar asking you to come see here at once. There she told you that Iltumar has gone missing and gives you a note that he has left behind: Mother I cannot be what you want me to be. Thank you for all that you have given me, but I go to live a new life with a new body. Iltumar Gatria begs you to help find Iltumar. You recall some Iltumar's things, remembering a jacket that he usually wore, and a torn piece of it that you have. It was but a simple thing to have a spell cast to locate the jacket that once joined the piece of cloth. It led you to a disused warehouse in the docks. You sent a quick note to Gatria and gathering your sword and guitar you resolved to bring Iltumar to his senses. Of what happened next perhaps the less said the better. You entered the building, and found yourself struggling with a horror. Something that was once human, but now had an extra arm attacked you and despite your best efforts you were defeated. Later you found yourself bound in some sort of storage room. With you was Iltumar, who exulted that you were going to join him in a transformation, which will be done by some one called The Surgeon in the Shadows. He has apparently mastered techniques based on chaos magic to warp and enhance humans into the sort of creature that defeated you. Iltumar welcomed such as transformation, while you feared that this was to be your fate. You were soon joined by what you guess to have once been a dwarf, who had some sort of metal bottle that was attached to the flesh of his back. The Dwarf prepared you for examination, which involved him taking all of your things, including your beloved guitar and weapons, stripping you naked, and strapping you to a wheeled table. To your eternal disgust Iltumar helped. You were wheeled in to a small bit of hell; a room filled with incomprehensible machines, spattered with and smelling of blood. In this was what was evidently the Surgeon in the Shadows. What you observed was a tall figure cloaked in voluminous robes. His(?) face was concealed behind an metal mask and his hands were fine metal claws with at least ten fingers on each hand. He stabed you in the arm with a very thin knife that was connected by a tube to one of the machines, and poked, prodded, and measured you for what seemed like an eternity. He wrote often in a book. At the end you heard his terrifying voice, which never rose above a hissing whisper, as he said, "You will make an excellent assistant. Your hands are capable of the fine manipulation and control that I require." When he was done he called for the dwarf who wheeled you back into the storage room, and bound you again. You are not sure how long you spent in that room with the obviously mad Iltumar. He ranted about the coming "Night of Dissolution," whatever that might be, and that his friends would soon be using the "Kaledeiscope Temple that they think is theirs, but is really ours" to destroy law and usher in pure chaos. You wonder what you ever saw in this obviously mad man. At some point the Dwarf came back in, telling Iltumar that he needed to be prepared. He was strapped to a rolling table, and wheeled into the other room. The Dwarf promised he would be back for "fun times" with you. Fortunately the next thing to come through the door was a party of adventurers. There is a large man bearing a strange gear headed mace, an overly talkative Dwarf cleric of Hephaestus, an Elf mage bearing a red staff, and small limber man who moves without noise. You are beyond relieved when they untie you, and take you out of the warehouse, apparently where you have been held prisoner. You begin to realize that in your terror you have not slept for you do not know how many days and your last memory before passing out as you carried by the large man is of smoke and flames starting to rise from the warehouse as you are carried away.
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Tue Jul 05, 2011 2:10 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Thursday Continued Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 5th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 5th] Back at the Temple of Poseidon. The Healers there note Iltumar's bald spot and Detection of Magic and Evil reveals something wrapped about his brain, but not much about how it works. This is also inspired by Murga, who does the original Dectect Evil and gets others excited. They suspect that this is causing his raving madness. Lavis tells them that Iltumar was working for change, and planned to become a "warrior of chaos". He also was pleased by the coup and spoke of the Night of Dissolution which would herald great change. He also mentioned the Tower of Kaliadioscope that "they think belongs to them, but really belongs to us." She tells them that he actually helped to restrain her for her examination by the Surgeon in the Shadows who poked her with a long knife, and took some blood. She sleeps peacefully the rest of the night. Zeebers and Spike go to Gatria Solar. She is out for the evening, but they wait. They search around and find nothing out of the ordinary. When she returns they tell her that they have recovered her son, that he is OK, asleep, and she can see him the morning. They try to tell her that he is mad, but she wants to see him any way. They stop by the Ghostly Minstrel and ask after Javica. She has not been here, and the box in which they leave and receive letters has taken theirs away, but none has come back. The party is healed up by the Healers at the Temple. Friday The Healers do not know what to do with the raving Iltumar. To cut out the thing in his head is likely very dangerous to him. They will do some more investigation. Gatria Solar turns up. She thanks the party and Lavis for recovering her son. Lavis mentions that everything she owns has been stolen. Gatria tells her to go buy whatever she needs and that Gatria will cover the cost. She is shaken by seeing her raving son. She makes no decision about what to do with Iltumar, and asks to be brought back home. She tells Spike that she is devastated. Her husband was killed during the Coup and her son is now lost. She will need some time to decide what to do. Murga has the idea that if Iltumar is Polymorphed to something amorphous, it may be possible to extract the evil thing. He and Quilord go to see Master Thritas. Thritas is happy to see them, and they give him the head and arm from the chaos warrior they took from the Surgeon in the shadows. He notes the control device in the head and metalized bones. He notes that it seems something like the thing that attacked the city just before the coup. They buy a polymorph other scroll and take Thritas to the Temple of Poseidon. He looks at Iltumar and thinks that while Murga's idea is good, it is unlikely to be successful. The "control device" is grown into the host, and becomes part of it. Indeed, Iltumar is turned into pond scum, and the control device is not separate. He is returned to his natural form and remains in isolation here. They also give Thritas the notebook that they gathered from the Surgeon in the Shadows. It will take some time to decipher. Lastly they ask Thritas about extracting information from Borloch. Thritas tells them that Borloch has confessed to his treason, but has successfully convinced just about all that he was acting under duress forced by Ugo and Vintor. He does not think Thritas will have much to tell them about any contacts that they may have had with the chaos cultists who are doing this. Note that they do not give him much context about what is going on. Lavis sees her family, she was missing for 3 days and they were not very distressed. They are happy to see her. She goes shopping and collects a suit of Elven Chain Mail, a magical Broad Sword, and some special wood for the construction of a new guitar. They meet for lunch. Spike suggests that they need to go the great project. They stop at the mid-town Temple of Apollo, Thisk is not present, and they ask after the watch on the tenement, but are told that they know nothing about it. They do know about the watch on the Banewarrens entrance, nothing to report. The party is convinced Thisk is dirty, and that they have to act fast as he will now be tipped off to their work.
At the tenement. They avoid the Violet Slime and do not disturb the open Cocoon. Murga detects evil and he finds a bunch of stuff on the first and second floor. At the rear they destroy the as yet unopend cocoon. They go to the strongest source and fight and kill the two Dretches. Lavis recognizes them for what they are. They see the table, and collect 3 vials of the black Askora poison. A quick attempt to figure it out, pouring some remnants out and sniffing it, reveals nothing. They chop the heads off the demons and pour holy water over the remains. They then head for the Thralls in front and fight in kill them with Zeeberr getting a critical hit from behind on one of them. Lavis, Murga, and Spike are lesserly poisoned in the fight.
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Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:43 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 38 is introduction of Lavis, and further on the Night of Dissolution. Back up to the semi-ideal five players for a short time.
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Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:45 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 5th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 5th] Friday Continued They decide to clear out the ground floor before heading up. They find the prisoners who tell them that a few weeks ago they were gathered up, stuck in here, and inadequately fed and watered. A few were taken out and not seen again, and they cannot account for some others. The party smashes open a window and tell the prisoners to go to the Temple of Posiedon for help. They head up stairs and find the clerics fighting over the body of a dead skaven cleric. They slay them using levitation and command, and find the letter indicating strife and suspicion among the chaos cults. They find the last mansect and dispatch it. Spike finds the Gibbering Mouther, but manages to get back out of the room before it can attack. Zeebers throws in the Vial of Whirlwinds in the room. It destroys the Mouther and tears up the walls of the room.
They find the hole to the sewers and follow it down to the sewers.
They find the new door, and Zeebers notices the trip wire, that connects to an alarm bell. As they pass in, Quilord stumbles and trips the wire. As they enter the Temple they see a ratman, fling a smoke bomb to obscure their view of the other side. Murga casts some protection and they spread out. As the smoke clears they see the line of rats who begin firing on them. Quilord casts an Ice Storm which mows down the rats except for a few giant rats who are dispatched by the fighters. As they cautiously explore the temple the other half of the rats starts to come out of the corridor into the Temple. Quilord mows these down with Chain Lightning, except for a few giant rats that Spike dispatches. As that happens a Rat Ogre appears and is swarmed by Murga, Zeebers and Quilord. The clerics break out and are knocked out by Murga using Command and Hold Person.
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Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:05 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 39 is a blast. The Vial of Whirlwinds is revealed to be great fun, and Quilord's staff is used as heavy artillery to smash through many ratmen. The Night of Dissolution campaign gets pretty twisted by me.
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Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:08 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 5th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 5th] Friday Continued In the Temple amid the carnage. They loot the bodies taking some ammunition, guns, hand weapons and armor. They leave stuff that is not magical. Lavis drinks a Cure Serious and they decide to press on exploring. They explore into the clerics quarters, and then into the sewer tunnels. Quilord gathers up a spell book. They exchange fire with the two rat guards, who flee but are cut down by long range shots by Quilord and Lavis. They then head into the tunnels and waste 30 minutes wandering in them, before heading back to the Temple. They head to the Rat guards chamber, and they find nothing of value. They camp in the cleric's chamber with the plan of recovering their spells and continuing to explore. They set watches with Lavis up first. She sees some folks coming up from below who are checking up when no one from the upper Temple checks in. It is a woman and two Ratmen. They begin shooting at the party. Lavis shoots back and wakes the others. Quilord walls them off behind a Wall of Force. The rats to delay them here, while the woman disappears down the stairs. Zeebers sneaks around and drops the Vial Whirlwinds at the top of the stairs. The two rats are consumed. The Wall of Force comes down, Zeebers gathers the Vial, and they continue below. They descend the stairs and orcs are summoned among the party. Zeebers flies to the tower door, and is hit by the woman. She closes the door and retreats to the walls. Zeebers looks over the walls and sees two mansects and two rat ogres heading to attack. A long complex fight begins. Quilord tosses a fireball that kills two rat ogres, hurts a mansect, and a dwarf who has appeared from a secret door. The mansect fights it out with Spike and poisons him multiple times before going down. The party falls back and Quilord begins flinging fireballs at the woman who is deadly accurate in response with a bow. She hits him twice forcing him to retreat up the stairs to drink a Cure potion. Zeebers chases after the Dwarf who retreats into the Tower. Zeebers tosses in the Vial of Whirlwinds, but the Dwarf manages to get out of the zone of effect and retreats through the Tower to join the woman. Zeebers then flies around the tower getting a glimpse of the other side and tries to attack the woman. A quasit appears and attacks Zeebers, but is killed by Zeebers. The woman badly hurt by two mear miss fireballs, and the Dwarf retreat . Zeebers sees that they are gone, Murga gathers up the Vial and they retreat back with the party. Zeebers notes that the Vial is no longer warm and shiny. Spike is very ill, and Zeebers gives him a Cure potion, which helps, but he is incapable of doing much else. They retreat back to the tenemant where they are greeted by the Town Guard who have occupied the place. The Guard demands to know what the hell is going on here.
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Thu Jul 14, 2011 12:41 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 5th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 5th] Friday Continued In the Temple amid the carnage. They loot the bodies taking some ammunition, guns, hand weapons and armor. They leave stuff that is not magical. Lavis drinks a Cure Serious and they decide to press on exploring. They explore into the clerics quarters, and then into the sewer tunnels. Quilord gathers up a spell book. They exchange fire with the two rat guards, who flee but are cut down by long range shots by Quilord and Lavis. They then head into the tunnels and waste 30 minutes wandering in them, before heading back to the Temple. They head to the Rat guards chamber, and they find nothing of value. They camp in the cleric's chamber with the plan of recovering their spells and continuing to explore. They set watches with Lavis up first. She sees some folks coming up from below who are checking up when no one from the upper Temple checks in. It is a woman and two Ratmen. They begin shooting at the party. Lavis shoots back and wakes the others. Quilord walls them off behind a Wall of Force. The rats to delay them here, while the woman disappears down the stairs. Zeebers sneaks around and drops the Vial Whirlwinds at the top of the stairs. The two rats are consumed. The Wall of Force comes down, Zeebers gathers the Vial, and they continue below. They descend the stairs and orcs are summoned among the party. Zeebers flies to the tower door, and is hit by the woman. She closes the door and retreats to the walls. Zeebers looks over the walls and sees two mansects and two rat ogres heading to attack. A long complex fight begins. Quilord tosses a fireball that kills two rat ogres, hurts a mansect, and a dwarf who has appeared from a secret door. The mansect fights it out with Spike and poisons him multiple times before going down. The party falls back and Quilord begins flinging fireballs at the woman who is deadly accurate in response with a bow. She hits him twice forcing him to retreat up the stairs to drink a Cure potion. Zeebers chases after the Dwarf who retreats into the Tower. Zeebers tosses in the Vial of Whirlwinds, but the Dwarf manages to get out of the zone of effect and retreats through the Tower to join the woman. Zeebers then flies around the tower getting a glimpse of the other side and tries to attack the woman. A quasit appears and attacks Zeebers, but is killed by Zeebers. The woman badly hurt by two mear miss fireballs, and the Dwarf retreat . Zeebers sees that they are gone, Murga gathers up the Vial and they retreat back with the party. Zeebers notes that the Vial is no longer warm and shiny. Spike is very ill, and Zeebers gives him a Cure potion, which helps, but he is incapable of doing much else. They retreat back to the tenemant where they are greeted by the Town Guard who have occupied the place. The Guard demands to know what the hell is going on here.
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Thu Jul 14, 2011 12:41 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 40 is an epic fight. Spike goes down via poison. Quilord duels with a woman with a bow and he slinging fireballs. She rolls real well to save from the fireballs and to hit, and Quilord is fragile. This makes the fight even, and both have to withdraw. Zeebers is disconsolate when the Vial of Whirlwinds is consumed. He will spend the rest of the campaign waiting for it to get recharged. Everyone is hurting, and on the return to the surface they find irate authorities.
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Thu Jul 14, 2011 12:50 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 6th] Saturday Town Guard immediately takes Spike to the Hospital, aka the Temple of Aescapulus when the party shows them their hero of Venga badges. Captain Escolar asks what should be done, and they are told to keep watch, but not go in. They can find the party at the Temple of Posiedon. Murga stays with Spike. The party rests at the Temple of Posiedon where they each get a Cure Light Wounds. To the hospital where Lavis thinks to offer the doctors a vial of the black poison. They say that this will help Spike heal faster as they can analyze and use it to make an anti-venom. They also ask if a poison can be manufactured, and the doctors do not know. They are told to come back Monday. They also learn that Iltumar is here, and that they think he can, in a long time, be healed. Spike will be cured in 3 days. Note and bank check to Spike from Javica to compensate the goblins. Note that the check is drawn from something called the Inverted Pyramid. The note is very terse, simply saying that it is best to pay them to keep things quiet.
Quilord goes to see Master Thritas. He would like the spell book identified. Thritas tells him that he thinks he can make link back to the maker of the Chaostech they got from the Surgeon in the Shadows, but will not do that unless the party wants to go investigate further. He does encourage them to continue to investigate the chaos cults rather than waste time on the Banewarrens. Zeebers spends some time at the Temple of Posiedon getting stuff IDed and buying some cure potions. Lavis works on her guitar and talks with her advisor professor Vess Hanley. She tells her of the bad break up and her encounter with the Surgeon in the Shadows. Tells of her adventures and encounters with the chaos cults. Hanley knows about them and ID's the symbols of the Shattered Square, Crimson Coil, Brothers of Venom, and finds in very strange that they can all be working together. She will look into the Night of Dissolution. Spike when he awakens sends a note to Alexia and Javica. Murga is told that his Compass will finally be ready tomorrow, but that it costs 4000 GP. At the end of the day they meet up at the Hospital. Spike should be out on Tuesday. Back page article in the Venga Valiant --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tenement Collapse ================= Yesterday a tenement formerly inhabited by dock workers and their families partially collapsed. The building which had a number of apartments was abandoned except by squatters since the troubles that beset our city less than two weeks ago. The town guard had noted that the windows of the building were boarded up recently and there followed no activity at the building. The buildings owner cannot be found. Captain Estolar of the Town Guard said that the guard had placed the building under watch which was common practice for abandoned buildings in the docks. Former deputy mayor Borloch, now Head of the Reconstruction Commission, said that this incident would lead to a program of inspections of buildings in the city to try to insure that dangerous structures were identified and pulled down before any danger grew too large. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday Murga's magical item compass is complete at the Temple of Hepheastus in Venga. Master Smith Imburgh tells Murga that something is very wrong with the magical field around here and the item does not work very well. Needs 4000 GP of materials. Party uses the Compass and see what they expect. Quilord tries to get more charges into the Staff of Invocation. He finds that it costs 600 GP to charge it (3.5 level spell), and he casts some of his own 3rd Level spells on it to get some (75% effect) new charges. Alexia visits Spike. She tells him that she is preparing to travel off to the Elves to learn magic. She does not know anything about chaos cults. Monday Spend time spending and shopping. Zeebers is very busy selling and buying stuff. Tuesday Spike is released from the Temple of Aescapulus. Javica returns to Venga. She sends a note to the party. She and her friends have located a key to the Banewarrens at the country estate of the Frangela. It is shaped like a human hand and is made of brass. The party should go get it. She gives them a ring that will guide them to Banewarren control items. Neela, now dead, was a Frangela, and the head of the clan is the chief justice. Lavis has some connection with them via her performing career. The party is more interested in heading back to clear out the chaos cults rather than the Banewarrens thinking that not much is happening there.
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Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:44 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 41 is lots of social interactions and setting up for further plot development.
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Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:48 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 6th] Tuesday Continued After learning that the Order of Aescapelus cannot make anything of the mansect venom, Lavis brings what they have to the Sorceror's Brotherhood. Master Thritas sends them to Master Alchemist Irdis who will try to make something, an anti-venom and a mansect poison is requested, based on the two vials of serum that they give him. He tells them to come back on Monday to see what he can do. After a discussion among the party they plan to head back to the Chaos Temple tomorrow and talk with Captain Escolar about adding some Town Guards to help them out. Escolar does not know any other way into the Temple and is willing to help out. Murga and Spike join the Guard as they explore the sewers. Quilord learns some spells, and Lavis works on her guitar. Murga is able to locate a tunnel above the Temple, and using the Lyre of Building is able to dig a tunnel down to the big cavern. They are not noticed and they set up an attack for first thing in the morning. They collect Zeebers and he flies down. He realizes that they are behind the wall, and sees someone manning one of the walls. The plan is to launch a diversionary frontal assault by Spike with five guards. The party plus five guards and Captain Escolar will come down the tunnel and strike from behind. Spike will make lots of noise as they attack to alert the others. Wednesday The battle goes well. Two of the Town Guards are killed in the frontal assault by Dire Rats, but Zeebers and Spike surround the Dwarf who leads some ratmen in a flank attack. In the rear the Archer is held by Murga and then burned by two fireballs from Quilord. The rats are routed and one manages to flee, but the others are killed. Lavis collects the bow of the Archer which has survived the fire. Captain Escolar is happy to secure this area, while the party explores deeper. Murga uses the Compass and sees some stuff which entices the party. They head into the tower and up to the second floor where they encounter the spider. It tries to trap them with flung webs, and Quilord sends a fireball which explodes in the web, but does not start a fire. The spider retreats up realizing that the party is too tough for him alone. Zeebers tries to fly up and cut at the web, but he gets trapped in it. The spider ignores him and the party cuts him down. They decide to move on and do their best to seal up the second floor to trap the spider.
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Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:36 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 42 is back to the big dungeon of the Chaos Cult. This time the party gets behind the rampart and the sequel to the epic battle is a cake walk for the party.
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Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:40 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 6th] Wednesday Continued After some discussion the party decides to chase after the fleeing rat. They find the empty rooms, loot the room of the Dwarf, see the pool, and the disused room of the rat ogres. They get to the Chaos Beast alter, spend some time trying to figure out what the glowing means, Murga looks at the altar and sees the seam. They decide to ignore it and go on. They encounter the two demons and dispatch them rather easily. They ransack their chambers and find the secret door. They see the stairs down just beyond the door. They decide to Hold Portal that door and explore the prison. They avoid the two diases as too creepy, but Murga does try to cast an Unmend on one of them, but it has no effect. They get to the prison, and dispatch the ogre who was running it. With the keys they start opening cells. They rescue the two town folk and halfling fighter El. The troll and ogre they leave in their cells. They go back to the tower room and leave the townsfolk with the town guard. El is eager to join them and she draws them a map showing the location of the "floating chaos altar" and the long corridor that leads to the "Metrarch machine". She advises them away from the door to the left and they take on the devil in the old temple. Spike does most of the work killing it, they see the stairs down, and decide that they will head down the long tunnel to the Metrarch machine.
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Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:14 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 43 is classic dungeon crawl.
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Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:19 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 6th] Wednesday Continued Planning to head down the corridor towards the Metrarch machine, they think if anyone knows anything about Metrarch. Lavis knows it as a famous Twisted One who was a giant and ruled a swamp in the Chaos Lands. Long ago some heroes attacked and killed him. He fell and a great pit opened, that remains to this day. The swamp is very dangerous and is avoided by any one who wants to live when they go to the Chaos Lands. They head down the long corridor. They explore a side passage, find nothing, they see the battle between the Minotaur (spiral) and two Priestesses (snake) and despite the pleas of the preistesses they attack them seeing the Chaos symbol on them. They kill one while the minotaur kills the other. The minotaur tries to bargain out with some healing scrolls, but they see the symbol on him and Murga holds him. They kill him. Further down the tunnel they encounter the Rat Patrol. Quilord kills two soldiers and hurts the mage with a fireball. The rats fire a volley, doing some damage, and then go invisible. The party moves forward cautiously, the rats appear around them with the mage using Burning Hands hurting Quilord, Zeebers, and Spike. They strike back with Quilord felling the mage with Shocking Grasp, and the others eventually killing the others. They note and gather the grenades on the sergeant. Further down the corridor they ignore the side corridor and get to the big iron door with swamp plants and swamp creatures on it. Zeebers finds no traps, but notes that the door is warm. He opens it and they go in. They see the giant machine. They fight with a mansect at the top of the machine, and it poisons El and Spike. Murga uses delay poison on Spike, and they dispatch it. It made lots of noise. They note that it is tougher than the ones they faced in the tenement and that its shell has a metallic sheen. They see more climbing up the scaffolding from below. Quilord launches a Fireball which hurts one mansect, they decide to retreat, Quilord launches an Icestorm trying to kill more mansects and damage the machine. He does fell a second mansect, but does minimal damage to the machine. Murga tried to study the machine to see any way to damage it. They retreat back to the large cavern without trouble. They have to take El and Spike to the hospital soonest to deal with the mansect venom.
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Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:40 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 44 is another dungeon crawl ending with the discovery of the McGuffin. Dealing with the Metrarch Machine from the Night of Dissolution will keep things going for some time.
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Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:49 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 6th] Wednesday Continued In the cavern, the Town Guard insist that El and Spike get taken to the hospital. The party complies. He will be healed on Friday, El will be here until Monday. When the party gets back to the Temple of Poseidon Quilord has a letter. Quilord gets a response from Thorakil. Warning that something very chaotic is stirring. More important than finding Ingelt. He shares the general contents of the letter with the party. Murga speaks with Father Dumas. He tells him of the Metrarch Machine and convinces him that he should try to motivate the authorities to do something, such as stopping the playing of Metrarch. Unfortunately the party has no evidence of their suspiscion that machine is some how gathering energy when the game is played. Murga and the others do convince him to bring it up at the Council of Zeus (meeting of all the high priests) and to preach against the game in his sermons. They are unsuccessful at convincing patrons in a local bar to stop playing the game. They have grand plans of trying to convince newspaper folks, Spike knows a reporter, to write tabloid stories (Metrarch Turned Me Into A Mansect!) about Metrarch. Lavis spreads the rumor at the hospital that Metrarch has something to do with the Mansect poison. Murga sets up a meeting with Master Thritas who is not available today. Lavis works on her guitar. Thursday Note from Thisk inviting them to the mid-town Temple of Apollo as his tunnel watch has turned up something useful. Spike is in the hospital. Quilord is learing a spell. Murga and Lavis using his compass and his knowledge of the underground tunnels, head down to where the two rivers join. They cannot convince themselves that the machine is under the river or the Watchtower. The most unusual thing they find is a bar called the White House. They go in and it is soon obvious that it is a brothel. Murga hires one of the girls. She is very accomodating to his "fantasy" of being an evil cleric but both his spells, Detect Evil and Command, fail to get anything useful out of her. He fakes being satisfied and returns to the bar. Lavis encounters two of the women in the bathroom and Fascinates them while telling them that she has interest in working here. They describe a good working environment for a prostitute. In general they are treated well by Jewelette, the madam who runs the place. The establishment is owned by Aggah Shan, who they say has an office in the basement, and whom they have never seen. They do say that some folks have gone down to his office and never returned. He also owns similar establishments (The White House (in the docks area and serves dockworkers and traders), The Blue House (near the lake shore for those in the fish business), The Red House (near the market square serving merchants and artisans), The Gold House (in the northern part of the city and very exclusive and expensive serving nobles, officials and the very rich)). Nothing in the Packet and his establishments are at the higher end. The girls mention that there is a Priestess of Aphrodite (forbidden) who sees to their health and needs. They also mention that they believe that their activities with clients are some how recorded and used for blackmail. Lavis cannot bring herself to ask if they know her father. As they leave they notice subtle symbols for Hades, Lord of the Dead, carved into the bar and in some of the art work. In general the main religion honors, but does not worship, the Lord of Dead. Zeebers spends the day selling things. He retains a Broach of Protection (raises AC by 2) which he gives to Quilord, an Elixir of Hiding which he keeps, and two Glass Globes full of a green glowing liquid that the normal folks cannot identify. Murga talks with Master Thritas. They talk about Metrarch. Thritas does not know if the game is magically active. He has to investigate Murga's speculation that the game is being tapped at a small level to power the machine. No one has any clue what the purpose is. He knows of Aggah Shan. He is a crime lord who runs four brothels (White House, Blue House, Red House, Gold House). Via the White House he has infiltrated the docks (bribes and free access to women) and is able to smuggle anything in and out of the city. He also fences high end items and sends things down the river. He is not human as he has been around for 100+ years. Thritas ID's the glass globes as hand grenades used by the Ratmen. He ID's the bow that Lavis has been using as Sneak Attack bow that acts like a Rogues sneak attack ability (+4 to hit, triple damage) when the target is unaware of the attack. He also has the Vial of Whirlwinds and will see if he can figure out how to recharge it. Lavis sees her advisor Vess Hanley. She does not know anything about the big machine. She has played Metrarch in bars and such. She recalls that it appeared perhaps one and a half months ago and she mentions the White, Blue, and Red Houses as the first place she encountered it. She has a gig on Saturday and she can try to see if energy is being extracted from those playing Metrarch.
Zeebers goes to the mid-town Temple of Apollo to meet with Thisk. He is met by the halfling Faldon who escorts him to see Thisk. Zeebers notes that someone is waiting within an interior room, and refuses to go further. Faldon attacks him in the main sanctuary, and Zeebers flies up. The brothers, Thisk's thugs, pile in to the room while Faldon tries to block a door. Zeebers fells Faldon with cross bow shots, and then goes invisible, hiding near a window. They bring Thisk and another humanoid type who cures Faldon. As they search around the room, Zeeber's feels like they are eventually going to find him and he breaks out through a window.
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Mon Aug 01, 2011 2:00 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 45 is a bunch of role playing as we advance the plot. Zeebers does real well to survive an ambush, as one of the groups working against the party decides that they are becoming too much of a nuisance.
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Mon Aug 01, 2011 2:04 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 6th] Thursday Continued Zeebers flys up and lands on the top of the mid-town Temple of Apollo. He sees the four thugs leave the temple and head down for the lake shore followed by a dwarf and a 1/2 orc. These last are dressed as paladins of Apollo. He tries to discreetly follow them, but the dwarf makes him, and he slows down as he tries to avoid being seen and get ahead of the dwarf to see where the others are heading. Zeebers tries to fly down and take the Dwarf by surprise, but he responds quickly and lands a heavy blow on Zeebers who retreats to the roof tops taking a healing potion. At the Temple of Posiedon on the lake shore, Quilord is disturbed by something crashing through the main doors into the main temple. He goes out and sees a centaur/lammia. As the centaur starts charging him, he casts a Hold Person on it, which sends it skidding to a halt next to the salt water pool containing the Blessed of Posiedon, which the priests call Herman, a large tentacled sea creature. Lavis arrives and the two of them work on dumping the Lammia, which they now recognize for what it is, into the pool. The thugs arrive at the front door and Quilord hits them with a Chain Lightning, while Lavis meets up with Murga who arrives in the midst of the fight. Zeebers figuring out where the thugs are heading flies up and gets to the Temple. He tries to get in behind the thugs, but they are felled by another Chain Lightning from Quilord. Lavis gets her bow from Murga and moves to fire at any others concealed behind a pew. Herman kills the Lammia, while the 1/2 orc and dwarf pile through the front door. The 1/2 orc turns to fight Zeebers and does some serious damage to him, while Lavis plugs him from the rear doing lots of damage using her bow. Murga mixes it up with the dwarf who is finally stopped by a Hold Person from Murga. Quilord lifts him using a floating disk over Herman. The 1/2 orc falls, the dwarf recovers, but suicides by diving into Herman's pool. Acolytes of Posiedon arrive from elsewhere in the Temple and ask what the heck is going on. They send them to fetch High Priest Dumas right away. The Town Guard shows up and ask what is going on. Zeebers says that these attackers came from the mid-town Temple of Apollo, and with Dumas' support the Town Guard send some folks to watch that place. Dumas suggests that they head up to the Temple of Zeus and get to the bottom of what is going on the mid-town Temple of Apollo. Things slow down considerably as High Priests are fetched, etc. A major road block is that the High Priest of Apollo is unavailable as he is communing with the god. They decide that tomorrow morning there will be an emergency meeting of the Council of Zeus. Back at the Temple of Poseidon, Dumas gathers the faithful and acolytes and they spend a fitful night waiting for trouble that never comes. Lavis stays there getting a room in the Temple, deciding not to share a room with Alexia. Murga does lots of healing and accolytes of Poseidon also heal. Friday Spike released from Hospital and turns up at the Temple of Posiedon having missed all the excitement.
Vess Hanley sends a note to Lavis saying that she has swapped gigs with a friend and that she is playing at the Red House, one of Aggah Shan's establishments, tomorrow evening. She asks Lavis to join her, they will meet at the University around noon to begin rehearsing for the evening gig. Lavis sends a note agreeing. The watch on the mid-town Temple of Apollo reports that the doors are locked, which is unusual, they see lights and hear noise coming from the tower, and they swear that they saw some large thing get pushed out of the tower and disappear before it hit the ground. Emergency meeting of the Council of Zeus. They hear about the Banewarrens and are convinced of the reality of this legendary place. They guess that perhaps Thisk has been corrupted by a Banewarren item. The party asks about Kalrecent, who is a known Paladin of Apollo and has been recovering at the main Temple of Apollo. Zeebers says that Thisk and company attacked him at the mid-town Temple of Apollo and he says that Thisk was accompanied by some sort of goblinoid that brought a fallen thug back from the dead. The party volunteers to go in and explore the mid-town Temple of Apollo, they will go in this afternoon, and the Council will provide them with whatever they can to help in the short term. Murga specifically suggests scrolls of Consecrate.
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Wed Aug 03, 2011 2:23 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 46 is another epic fight as the dice tell me that one faction strikes hard against the party. I printed a very nice Temple map and we had great fun moving miniatures around on the map playing out this fight. Why, oh why did I ever let Quilord start with a Staff of Evocation? The thing is just too powerful. At least he is running down its charges. The party should have taken a much harder hit with Mr. Spike down and out. As it was it was pretty close for Zeebers and Murga.
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Wed Aug 03, 2011 2:28 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 5th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 5th], Spike[Human Fight 5th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 6th] Friday Continued The party gets Cure Moderate Potions, Murga gets a Consecrate scroll, and Quilord gets a Project Image. They head off to attack the mid-Town Temple of Apollo. They invade the bottom floor from many directions (Lavis and Murga the back door, Zeebers via the broken window, Spike and Quilord through the front doors). They find the entrances barred or forced closed. They wander about the first floor and find nothing. As they go up they find the halfling recovering in his bed. They gather him up and send him down to the guards on the first floor. They encounter the Basilisk, Spike fights with it and is turned to Stone. They dispatch the Basilisk and Murga uses a high level Devine Favor scroll that he had to beg Hephaestus to reanimate Spike. This works and Spike notes that it is not a good idea to go face to face with a "stoner". Murga uses his magical compass and sees large somethings on the floors above. Murga does gather a magical organ from the Basilisk, which he calls the gizzard. On the top floor Murga takes out the Bugbear with a command, and Holds Person on Thisk after he has set the Disintergrator on Overload. As Thisk tries to make his way over the side, the Hold Person stops him, he falls over the edge, and is killed has he tumbles down to the ground. Zeebers kills the Bugbear. As the sound from the Disintergrator grows Quilord hits it with a Dispel Magic, and Murga uses two Unmends on it. Spike runs down the stairs, Zeebers flies off the far balcony, Lavis tries to see what Thisk was trying to do and realizes that there is a one way portal below the balcony, eventually she climbs down, suffering some damage as she falls the last bit. The thing eventually explodes doing some damage to Murga, and a little to Quilord and Lavis. A fire starts and despite the party's efforts to get the Town Guard to deal it, most of the tower of the building is destroyed. Meanwhile Spike gathers some stuff from Thisk and once he grabs the dagger begins to hear its story which condenses to it is one part in three of a staff designed to control the Banewarrens. It fell into a Twisted One elf hands, who formed the Pact Lords with a Beholder, Illithid, and Black Dragon. The portal leads to their pocket dimension, called the Quaan. The dagger wants to be reunited with its other pieces one of which she thinks is in The Quaan, and the other is in the Banewarrens. Based on this the party wants to get back together with the Council of Zeus as soon as possible.
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Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:48 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 47 is the party striking back using a chapter from The Banewarrens. They begin to see what a mess they are facing.
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Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:52 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 6th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 6th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th] Friday Continued The clerics outside the Temple are unable to heal Murga, Lavis, and Quilord. They suggest that they immediately go to the hospital. There they are told that whatever has hurt them is resistant to magical healing. They advise that they should avoid taking further damage and that in a few days, they should come back on Monday, they should be OK. They go to the Temple of Zeus to meet with the Council of Zeus. The Council meets after dinner. They listen to the story of the dagger. The party asks them about Metrarch game. They cannot figure how such a small amount of energy from the game could actually power anything useful. Why go to all that trouble? Maybe they are doing it in more than one city? The church will investigate in all the near-by cities. The church will also guard the tunnel that leads to the Banewarrens. Finally they will find a way to get the party in and out of The Quaan, with help from theh Sorceror's Brotherhood, whose help they find distasteful to ask for. They will keep in touch via Dumas. The party checks out Thisk's equipment, but find nothing unusual. Fire at Gornan Slann's city home, the Haverfeld Asylum. As they go out they see the fire. Lavis and Murga decide to head to the Druids and see if they can be cured with their methods. They head off to the south of city and eventually get to the Sacred Grove of Duris. They wake him, and he checks out their wounds. He notes that they have been infected with something that absorbs magic and thus prevents the healing from working. He gives them a purgative tea that will cleanse them of the poison at a higher than normal rate. Instead of being unable to magically heal in four days, it will be reduced to two days. Spike and Zeebers go to investigate the burning asylum. They do not notice much of anything. The Town Guard is doing nothing to fight the fire, but are simply keeping people from entering the perimeter. They have checked with Slan's people, and are told that no one is there. Spike heads back to the Packet and finds the place in pandemonium over a fell creature attack. He stops in at the Howling Owl and spends the night with a working girl. Quilord recharges his staff. Upon returning to the city, Murga heads up to the burning Abbey. He uses his badge to get into the grounds, and uses the Lyre of Building to destroy one wing of the Asylum. He thinks he is both helping the Druids (returning lands to nature and causing trouble for Slann). He tells the Town Guard that using his Dwarven knowledge that this site is unstable, and that no one should build anything there. Back page story in the Venga Valiant --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attack on the Temple of Poseidon ================================ Yesterday afternoon there was an attack on the Temple of Poseidon by a group of vandals. Late in the afternoon, when the temple is normally quiet, a mixed band of humans and non-humans arrived at the temple and burst in apparently bent on stealing the treasures of the Temple. They were met by some members of the faithful who defended the temple with vigor. The Town Guard showed up and gathered the bodies of four humans, known to the Town Guard from earlier encounters with the authorities, and a half orc who was dressed as a devotee for Apollo. High Priest Dumas said that he had no idea who these people were, and why they would attack and try to steal from the Temple, as Poseidon would provide to any in need. As night fell devotees of Poseidon were maintaining a watch on the Temple to ensure the safety of the Temple. Saturday Note to Spike from Javica suggesting that they talk as soon as possible at the Ghostly Minstrel. Suggests that they move quickly on the Banewarrens as with knowledge of it starting to leak out, she obviously knows some of what transpired at the Council of Zeus, there is likely to be some sort of stampede. It has also been awhile and the other folks interested in the Banewarrens are going to take advantage of the distraction. Spike goes to meet Javica. He tells her the story of the dagger. Hearing of the involvement of the Pactlords she suggests that they move quickly to get the key, she has pointed them to the country estate of the Frangela, told them it looks like a brass hand, even given them a ring that will help them locate the key, that she and her friends will help them with a way in and out of The Quaan, and give them some measure of protection while there. She notes that she has no idea what either the Pact Lords or the Skaven might want in the Banewarrens, the possibilities are endless, but neither of them are signatories of The Compact, and thus are unconstrained as what they can do, while her friends cannot overtly take action on the Banewarrens. She will be in touch. Spike communicates this to the party at lunch. They want to move on The Quaan. They make plans to meet at the Red House for Lavis's show. Murga spends the day learning a spell. Quilord searches about with Murga's Compass. He is trying to locate portals. He finds that the one at the Temple of Apollo is gone, he notes that Murga and Lavis are magical sinks, which is unusual. He also encounters Alexia and notes that she is scarily powerful. He does not find anything else unusual. Zeebers and Spike head to the main jail and find the halfling, Feldon Renlein, in the infirmary. He tells them that he has been working for Thisk for about six months. His main job was to keep folks from realizing that Thisk was no longer running a legitimate Temple. He kept people out of the Temple while Thisk was out doing other stuff. Thisk some how learned of the Banewarrens and worked with other servants of the Pactlords to break in. He then used Kalrecent and another adventurer to explore. There was a creepy Black Snake who gave Thisk orders from the Pactlords and at the end a gangly black haired guy who seemed to have extra eyes. One of his last jobs was to arrange for a place for the "centaur" to stay near the Temple. He also mentioned that Thisk did business at a Packet bar called the Swilling Snake, which Zeebers recalls tracking goblins to, and met a man who was likely Thisk, who then went and talked with the "centaur". The last job was to try to stop the party. He does not really know what went wrong as he has little memory of the day they attacked Zeebers. They leave with the halfling asking for some consideration. He will get little. They sell treasure. They are unable to get a clear ID on the wand they took from the bugbear at the Temple and leave it with Master Thritas. Lavis spends the afternoon rehearsing with Vess. Vess spills that she used to be in a band. They had a big hit 15 or so years ago and they toured the world and else where. She married, had a couple of children, and became a Professor at the UofVenga where she has taught music for the last ten years or so. She continues to write songs and do solo shows around town to keep her craft sharp. She knows a lot about what is going on around here. She tells of the tension in the city, and that she has no insight on the recent events in the Packet and with Slann. She suspects that the city has come to some sort of accommodation with Aggah Shan. Those that have gotten into his business have simply disappeared. The party heads to the Red House. Spike engages a working girl and notes nothing of interest besides her until the next morning. Quilord and Zeebers sit quietly at the back and learn little. Murga sits with a halfling working girl, but leaves learning nothing. Lavis notes that the decor has overt symbols honoring Aphrodite, and subtle symbols honoring Hades. Vess and Lavis have an excellent show. Lavis talks with some of the girls who explain that the Blue and White House are the lower end establishments, serving the docks and fishing industry, the Red House is the medium end serving the commercial heart of the city, and the Gold House is for the rich serving their sexual needs of any sort they want for the very highest price. Here they have entertainment here on the weekends as the business crowd likes a break from the buisiness lunches and dinners plus female entertainment of the week. They know nothing of what happened in the Packet yesterday, but note that that sort of thing does not happen within the city, where the town guard protects these places. None of them have met Aggah Shan, but he does have a basement office there. They note that the madam, Stanya, and the head of security do see him regularly. Lavis takes a break and hustles Murga out as she guesses that Vess's ability to magically trace the energy flow is being disrupted by the two of them. This works and Vess notes that energy is being drained from people playing Metrarch, but that it is so small she cannot imagine why someone would be doing it. Lavis notes a powerful magical presence behind the bar and watching the show. At the close of the show Lavis tries to sneak in back. She does get around a bar tender, but is unable to find any secret passage. She is handed a note that Aggah Shan enjoyed her show and wants to see her. Stanya prepares her, helping her do some make-up, telling her to not be nervous as he will not actually do anything to her. She meets him in a back office, not where she guesses he watched the show. He is shrouded in black, and Lavis is unable to see his face. He talks in a hissing, quiet voice. He tells her that he enjoyed her show, that it has been a long time since he has been in the presence of such a lively person, and offers her food. She partakes, but he does not. He tells her that he is sustained by what happens in his establishments due to poor choices he made long ago. She tries to charm him, but he resists. He seems amused by this and tells her that he would like to see her again. He has some of the security staff escort her to the UofVenga where she meets up with Vess Hanley. Front page headline in the Venga Valiant --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fire at Gornan Slann's Suburban Home ==================================== Late yesterday evening a spectacular fire broke out at the home of Gornan Slann, noted Packet business man. The home is perhaps more famous as the former Haverfeld Asylum, which has been closed for more than 25 years. Local residents noted strange noises coming from the building earlier during the day of Friday 30 May, but they described this as not unusual. They attributed such noise to Slann's long announced, but often delayed plans to completely restore the building. Late in the evening the noises became much louder with the sounds of screaming being punctuated by the impossibly loud sounds of a large pendulum clock. Old timers recall that the entry way to the Asylum featured such a clock, but it was known to be inoperative at the time of Asylum's closing. Soon after smoke and fire was seen and parts of building began to collapse. The Vengan Town Guard and Fire Brigade made the journey from the town to the Asylum to try to help, but upon their arrival all they witnessed was a partially collapsed ruin. No inhabitants or victims were evident. The building was immediately condemned as unsafe and the grounds sealed off to prevent any of the curious from attempting to enter the ruin. Members of the Town Guard were stationed at the entrance to the grounds and were seen to turn away many who tried to get a closer look. No word has been heard from Gornan Slann on this. His representatives report that he was not at the Asylum but that he usually spent the weekend at his country home of Castle Ravenloft. They in fact have received regular communications from him and are not concerned for his safety. They had no comment on what would be done with the now wrecked Asylum. The Town Guard had no comment on whether the fire at the Asylum was connected to the other unusual events in the Packet on Friday that are described in another story in this edition of this newspaper. Fell Creature Attack in the Packet ================================== Friday evening saw an attack by a form of Fell Creature not seen before. It was a typical Friday well known Packet bar, The Dancing Cooper, with a large crowd enjoying a freshly brewed batch of ale and watching the entertainment when screams were heard from the upstairs area. Upstairs at the Cooper is a well known location for the exotic dancers who provide private entertainment for their most ardent admirers. When bloody patrons and entertainers came down the stairs, brave members of the crowd armed themselves with make shift weapons and headed up. To their horror they found a pair of flat, flying creatures about the size of a bed sheet that had engulfed and were draining the blood from two unfortunate victims. The attack by the crowd drove off the two creatures and subsequent actions by the Town Guard drove the creatures north towards the Wild Lands. Unfortunately two victims, an exotic dancer known only as Strawberry and a patron known as John Smith, died from their blood loss. Steve Cooper the owner of the Dancing Cooper reported that nothing like this has ever happened before, and expressed sympathy for the injured patrons. He declared that today ale and entertainment would be half price at the Dancing Cooper and that all would be welcome. He urged patrons to contribute to fund being established to defray funeral expenses and compensate the family of the slain entertainer Strawberry. The Town Guard are mounting a vigil at the northern border of the Packet to insure that the unusual fell creatures would not trouble our city again. Back page story in the Venga Valiant Fire Damages Temple of Apollo in Mid-Town ========================================= Yesterday afternoon a fire broke out in the Temple of Apollo in mid-town. The Fire Brigade was quickly summoned by members of the Town Guard. Sloiy Orsiy, who owns a warehouse that abuts the Temple said that he heard a loud bang from the upper floors of tower of the Temple. He then went out and observed a Priest of Apollo lying motionless at the base of the tower, and quickly saw the upper stores of the Temple consumed by flames. The fire was put out but the tower of the Temple was completely destroyed. Fortunately the fire did not spread to other buildings in the crowded commercial center of our city. Kodios, High Priest of Apollo, expressed dismay at the damage to the Temple and the death of Priest Thisk. He had communed with the god, and foresaw an improved and repaired temple. He asked the faithul to be abundant in their prayers and sacrifices to the god. Front page headline in the Packet Pulse --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vengan Authorities Slow to Respond to Packet Emegencies ======================================================= Yesterday evening two incidents reveal the lack of interest the Vengan city authorities have in the safety and well being of the residents of the Packet, Venga's western extension. A fell creature attacked the patrons of a well known Packet establishment, the Dancing Cooper, resulting in two deaths. The creatures were only driven off by the brave actions of the patrons of the establishment. One patron, who declined to give his name, said, "It was horrible. The girls were screaming and in one of the rooms these two bedsheets had wrapped themselves around a couple who were struggling to get out. The bed sheets had teeth and we attacked them with clubs and knives. The sheets flew out of the window, but Strawberry and the John were dead. The Town Guard did not show up until half an hour later." Representatives of the Guard later claimed that they had responded promptly to reports of trouble at the Dancing Cooper, and that they had driven the animated sheets north of Packet into the foot hills of the Wild Mountains. A few hours later a fire broke out at the home of leading Packet business man Gornan Slan. It was hours before the Town Guard and Fire Brigade showed up to investigate by which time the building, the former Haverfeld Asylum which Slan has been restoring after years of neglect, was completely involved in fire and beyond help. Apparently their only action was to seal off the estate and prevent anyone else from going in to help. Gornan Slan, who was apparently not at this Vengan home yesterday, expressed his sadness at the loss of the historic building, and vowed to rebuild in a manner that would "bring acclaim to the Packet and its citizens for years to come."
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Wed Aug 10, 2011 2:10 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 48 is again a bunch of running about advancing the plot. The Caron Campaign intrudes on this campaign with the fire caused by the other party. Note the sort of interaction with NPC's that is at last enabled by having the high Charisma Lavis as a party member.
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Wed Aug 10, 2011 2:15 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Party = Lavis[Human Bard 6th], Murga[Dwarf Cleric 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 6th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th] Saturday Continued Vess notices that Lavis is being escorted by Aggah Shan's men. She tells Lavis to meet her for lunch Monday as they have to talk. Sunday Mr Spike sleeps most of the day, and cannot recall much of what happened last night after he went up stairs at the Red House. This seems strange to him as he did not drink that much. He tells Zeebers to get Murga and Quilord to help him. Murga and Quilord try some spells on him (Detect Poison, Slow Poison, Detect Magic), but find nothing. He just seems to be very exhausted. Lavis, Murga and Quilord finally can heal their wounds from the explosion, and Murga heals up himself and Lavis. Glowing review of Vess and Lavis concert at the Red House in the Venga Valiant. Mention that Vess will be there again next week. Lavis works on her guitar. Monday Master Alchemist Idrus is not able to make anything of the mansect venom. Still it is very interesting. Can they bring a live mansect for further experiments? He will be eager to help, by offering broad spectrum poison protection. He gives them two Potions of Cure Poison, and will be working more this week to produce more. He should be done with three more by Friday. Spike sends a note to Javica. They will meet tomorrow. El is released from the Hospital. Interested in joining the party if they are going to move again on the Chaos Cultists. The healers at the hospital note that Lavis, Murga, and Quilord are now OK. Lavis goes to meet Vess, and they have lunch. Vess was Aggah Shan's "girl" for awhile. He liked her music, supported her carreer with bookings and such. He would have her play for him, and liked to be present when she was writing songs. He gave her a room and studio space at the Red House. Eventually he confessed to her that he was sustained by stealing energy from living things. He started by draining people, but it was too dangerous, made too many enemies, and he learned that strong emotions could also be stolen. First he used terror, but that led to too much stress and strife. He then learned that sexual energy is also very effective. This led to him moving out of the usual business of organized crime, and becoming the main procurer in Venga. She has since verified all this by studying city records and archives of the news papers.
After a few months this finally came to an end when at one of her concerts, two of her ex-lovers fought, one killed the other, and the town guard took the suvivor off to the mines. She stormed into her room, smashed the mirror, to reveal Aggah Shan, and threw her self on him. She felt like she was falling into a deep well, and got colder, and colder. She woke up many days later in the hospital. Aggah Shan financed her world tour, which she left on very soon after she got out of the hospital. She was away more than a year, and suspects that it saved her life. She came back, married, got a job at the University, and had children. She has not seen Aggah Shan again, but regularly exchanges letters with him, and he continues to support her music career. She thinks that if he asked she would not see him, but she is not really sure. Her husband, who she met on the world tour, does not know this story, and she has never told anyone. She guesses that he is some sort of psychic vampire. She also has hints from him he has recently completed some sort of project that allows him to feed on something else. She cannot see how the Metrarch game could be useful unless there was some sort of big concentrator that captured all the energy from the whole town. She is telling Lavis this so that she knows what she is getting into. Lavis describes the Metrarch Machine, which Vess thinks might be the "concentrator" that would be needed. Vess invites Lavis to dinner with her family, showing her a scene of domestic bliss. Lavis communicates the story to the party. Hilarity ensues as the party assumes that Spike was drained by having sex with Aggah Shan. They talk about destroying the Metrarch Machine. Lavis works on her guitar. Tuesday Spike sees Javica at the Ghostly Minstrel. He tells her about the Metrarch Machine and the supposed connection to Aggah Shan. She is not sure, saying that she is busy with getting the party to The Quaan. She will look into it. Murga talks to the Priests of Hephaestus, to try to get a scroll with a Major Destruction spell on it. It will take four days to make. Zeebers tries to find more Cure Poison potions, but is stymied as everyone points back to Master Idrus. Message from Captain Escolar that something is going on in the Chaos Temple and can they meet him there. They will be waiting in the ruined tower where the Town Guard has set up a sort of office to guard the Chaos Temple. They enter and get into a fight with the two spiders who have disguised themselves as Captain Escolar and his Sargent. They kill one, but as the other climbs up, Murga uses the Lyre of Building to try to dislodge it, but this causes the ruined tower to collapse. The spider gets out the top and hits Quilord with a Lightning Bolt, while the attacks from the others and Quilord drive it out the top. After some confusion, they explore up with an image from Quilord and they find that a fissure in the roof leads up to the sewers. They realize that it is hopeless to track the spider as it can shape shift to a town guard and essentially disappear. In the rubble they find a bone ring on the dead spider. They would like to explore more of the Chaos Temple, but are a bit drained after the fight and healing, and plan to do this tomorrow. They head up to rest and recover. Spike sends a note to Javica about the events in the Chaos Temple. Wednesday They get a note from the Town Guard saying the Captain Escolar and Corporal Kepner were found dead. Aggah Shan invites Lavis to see him at the Red House this evening. Lavis works on her guitar. They meet up with El to have her join the expedition to the Chaos Temple. They set up a password among themselves as they are concerned with a shapeshifter running about. (Bucket with counter sign Vermin).
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Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:26 am |
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cinabro
Red Cap
Joined: Fri May 26, 2006 7:00 am Posts: 210
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 Re: The Venga Campaign
Session 49 is chock full of stuff. I completely mangle the Night of Dissolution plot and again they survive an ambush by something very dangerous.
In the real world this Murga's player last session. He decides to concentrate on his PhD. I am ambivalent as I am his advisor. This leaves Spike's player as the only original player. We decide not to look for a replacement as the end of the campaign is in sight, and we plan to move on to something else after its completion.
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Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:32 am |
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