The Venga Campaign

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Omote
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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by Omote »

cinabro wrote: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.
Will need details, stat. ;)

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

That was meant to be the fight with the two spiders, based on D&D Areana, which finished up the session. Sorry that my commentary was not clear.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Party = Lavis[Human Bard 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 6th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th]

Wednesday Continued

Javica finds Spike at the Temple of Posiedon. She uses magic to pin
him to the wall. She is upset that they are not taking precautions,
pointing out that the Pactlords are clearly trying to kill them. They should
be hiding some where. Do they need her help hiding out? She can take them
to the Inverted Pyramid. Otherwise she suggests that they find some place.
They will all meet at the Ghostly Minstrel for lunch.

There they introduce her to the sign and counter sign. Lavis notes
Javica's glass arm, but also notes that from far away she looks ordinary.
She points out that the constant interruptions are delaying work on getting
them to The Quaan, and that it would be bad if they get
killed. They tell her that they have stuff they want to do here in the city,
but they agree that hiding is a good idea. She gives them an address, it is
in downtown Venga, not far from the Red House and the mid-Town Temple of
Apollo. She tells them that the portal only opens at sunrise, noon, sunset
and mid-night. She will be there at sunset today to guide them in.

They attack the Chaos Temple. They note the Town Guard working on
clearing the rubble and building a defense wall across the large cavern to
separate the main area from the many tunnels out. They go to the Chaos
Altar, send the Skaven fleeing, but not before he can release the
Chaos Beast and throw some smoke bombs. They defeat the beast and now
note that the altar is simply grey stone. They push on and fight the
medusa who tries to use her chaostech weapon, but cannot hit a target to
save her life. They kill the skaven, gather her history book with a
piece of paper about the Metrarch Machine, while the Medusa flees to the
Tolling Bell altar. She must have arrived at a bad moment as the party
presses on and finds the medusa being healed by Ildras the Chaos Priestess
who is wearing choastech burning armor. They quickly finish off the
medusa, but Ildras noting that Quilord is the big threat heads towards
him burning him with her armor, while the others swarm her and finish
her off. As she dies her armor goes out and they note that she is naked,
but her skin is embedded with red wires. There is a feeble attempt to
get control of the altar by cutting off her hand or using her dead body,
but nothing works.

Zeebers flies around the big cavern and finds the door to the living
quarters. The three female alcolytes (Fistrial, Theissa, Normas) surrender
without a fight claiming that they either became acolytes or ended up like
the bodies hanging from the altar. Murga does a Detect Evil on them and
finds them neutral. They tell what they know. The Tolling Bell Cult is
led by Wutad, and they have been organizing the other chaos cults for the
Night of Desolation, that is supposed to summon some giant Chaos Lord and
usher in a new age of chaos. The cults got money by building the Metrarch
Machine for the crime lord Aggah Shan. This allowed them to finance their
Night of Desolution project. They have no clue what the Metrarch Machine
does. Zeebers flies them to safety. And the party decides to get out to
recover.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Session 50 is a dungeon crawl through a chapter of the Night of Dissolution. The party is getting very lucky as their opponents are unable to organize effectively against them and my dice are ice cold.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Party = Lavis[Human Bard 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 6th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th]

Wednesday Continued

They change their mind and decide to press on to the Metrarch Machine in an attempt to
gather a mansect for Master Alchemist Idrus. Lavis fascinates
the three women and makes them go to sleep. They are tied up.
As they head towards the Metrarch Machine, they note that the
stairs that would lead to the more direct route to the
ruined tower is filled with rubble.

They get into the Metrarch Machine, and Murga uses the Lyre of
Building to bring down part of the cieling to try to damage
the machine. Murga gets what he wants to happen, but it has
only minor effect on the machine. A bunch of scaffolding around
the machine is destroyed, and a mansect climbs up to investigate.
They get the drop on it and pepper it full of arrows etc. but
not before it can screech a warning to the others below.

They gather up the dead body and retreat quickly. Back at the
Tolling Bell Chaos Temple the women are revived, all they
want to do is get out of here. Zeebers notes that the crystal
of the chamber might be valuable, but he lets Murga read the
Scroll of Consecrate that collapses the Temple, but leaves
the tunnel to the Metrarch Machine intact. At the ruined
tower they have a bit of trouble convincing the Town Guard
that all is OK, but Spike flashes his badge to convince them
that nothing is wrong.

Spike and Lavis take the mansect body to the Sorceror's
Brotherhood. Master Idrus is not there, but they put the body
in a preserving box.

Murga, Zeebers, El, and Quilord take the women to the
Temple of Poseidon and meet with High Priest Dumas. He spends
some time with the girls, finds that they have magical talent,
but ambigous alignment. They will stay here and the Temple
will try to find their families. He will not hold them against
their will as the party has no evidence of crimes.

El departs and tells the party to call her if they need
help attacking the Chaos Cultists.

The party meets with Javica at the portal to the Inverted
Pyramid at an office building in mid-town Venga. She tells them
how the portal works, a mirror in an inner office that is opens
to the Inverted Pyramid realm. It remains open as long as someone
is waiting to go in. They keep someone here all the time, but
do not leave the portal hanging open as that would attract attention.
Lavis and Quilord plan to go to the Red House, and Javica gives
Lavis a ring that can send short messages back to the Inverted
Pyramid.

Spike, Zeebers and Murga go in.

Lavis and Quilord go to the Red House after Lavis tries to make
herself look better. Quilord attracts no attention and goes invisible
to follow Lavis. Lavis is noted, brought to Stanya, who gives her
a fur coat, telling her that it is cold in Aggah Shan's office in
the basement. Stanya tells Lavis that she has nothing to worry about
if she has not done anything to Aggah Shan. Lavis is led down to
the office in the basement, with Quilord following invisibly. They both
note that the covert symbols to Hades, are overt down here. Aggah
Shan greets Lavis, telling her that he is glad to see her, and his
thugs bring in the naked and battered Surgeon in the Shadows. He tells
Lavis that he knows that the Surgeon did something horrible to her, and
gives him to her as a gift. He offers to take care of him for her, she
agrees, and he touches the Surgeon, who howls in pain, and shrivels into
dust leaving nothing but a few metal pieces behind. Aggah Shan mentions
that this has left a bad taste as the Surgeon is nasty. Quilord recognizes
this as powerful necromancy. He asks Lavis to go up to the studio and
write a song, and that he wants her to perform it on Saturday. She
agrees.

She is escorted there by Christos, exagerated gay guy, who sets
her up in the well appointed studio. Quilord manages to follow along.
Lavis works on a song, and Quilord talks to her, startling her, revealing
his presence to the watching Aggah Shan. He then drains them both,
they fall asleep, and are brought to beds upstairs.

In the Inverted Pyramid they meet Vertanitor,
who presents as gold skin human. He feeds them and escorts them to
lavish guest quarters. They are woken at mid-night by Javica telling
them that Lavis and Quilord have not turned up. The rings Lavis has
on does tell them that she is OK. They decide not do anything about
this.

Thursday

Lavis awakens in the Red House. Her door is locked, but a
knock reveals a servant who escorts her to Stanya. Stanya tells her
that the boss found her friend, it seemed to amuse him, and that he is
still resting unharmed up stairs. Lavis will leave and says that some
time later they should waken Quilord.

Quilord is roused and sent uncermonously on his way. He goes
to the Temple of Poseidon and meets Lavis. They go to the portal,
and spot a goblin who is trying not to be seen. Lavis ducks into
a doorway and tries to kill the goblin with a shot from her bow.
She misses and the goblin flees down a side alley. Lavis is unable
to give chase as she has to catch the portal. They join their
friends in the Inverted Pyramid.

The others met a Treant called Lorunian. He shows them the
eight realms (mountains, jungle, forest, scrubby sea shore,
mountains, grassy plain, sea, mansion with a small town) and
they spend much time talking when Lavis and Quilord show up
over lunch.

The device to get to The Quaan will be ready in some
days, but not before Saturday when Lavis has another visit
with Aggah Shan. He describes the four parties involved as
Those Who Dwell Below who they suspect have gathered Witchfire
and intend to use it to harvest things in the Banewarrens and
become super powerful. The Chaos Cultists seemed focused
on the Night of Dissolution, ushering a new age of chaos.
The Pactlords want to get into the Banewarrens, for what
purpose is not clear. Aggah Shan seems to be focused on
the Metrarch Machine which he uses to sustain himself.
The Inverted Pyramid considers the Pactlords the most
dangerous thing, and want to be sure that the Banewarrens
are sealed back up. Thus their focus on helping the party
collect the "Control Device" which should allow them access
to the Banewarrens and the ability to activate repair
mechanisms. The evidence seems to be that something has
gotten in, and that part of the Banewarrens were vulnerable
as it was unfinished. They are not clear about the alliances
among these four. The party does tell them that some sort
of chaos engineer tends the Metrarch Machine for Aggah
Shan.

The consensus is that perhaps they can enlist Aggah Shan
into helping. He probably does not want to see the city destroyed
by the Chaos Cultists, a take over by the Skaven, or whatever it
is that the Pactlords might want. Yes he is some manner of
psychic vampire, but he does not seem to be killing folks to
sustain himself. Thus Lavis will speak to him Saturday.

In the mean time the party will train where there are
extensive facilities, some of them magical, here for their use.
Lavis will work on her guitar.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Session 51 is a last bit of dungeon crawl, a reaction by one of their allies to the obvious attempts on their life, and a bit of role playing by Lavis and Quilord as they try to learn more about another of their allies/enemies. I mangled the plots of the Night of Dissolution and the Banewarrens to get a bunch of groups all working at cross purposes with the party caught in the middle trying to figure out is going on.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

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Party = Lavis[Human Bard 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 6th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th]

Thursday Continued

Skaven attempt to get into the Banewarrens is turned away by the Council
of Zues. Clearly it was the Skaven. A dead rat is in hand. Message to the Party.

Friday

Party training in the Inverted Pyramid. Spike learns the Whirlwind Attack (attack
all opponents in reach 2/day), Lavis completes her guitar (+1 on all Bard actions
when using it, loop function so it can play itself or duet with itself), and the
others train. Quilord gets his staff fully recharged. All are healed up and get
training. They ask about mansects, but they nothing except that it is some sort
of chaos thing. Perhaps with a sample...

Saturday

Party returns to Venga at noon. Zeebers looks out the window and notes the ambush
that is prepared for them. Plan is for Spike and Murga to charge out, Lavis
will fire from a window, and Quilord and Zeebers will be on the roof. They
are confronted by 4 bow welding goblins, 2 orc thugs, 2 goblin mages that
show up after the fight starts, and the Aranea who is hiding on the building
and is not noticed. It begins well, but Murga takes a bunch of damage, and
the spider traps the flying Quilord in a web, then plugs him with a magic
missle, making him unconscious. Murga breaks off and cures Quilord.
At this point one orc is dead, and only one goblin mage survives. The hasted
spider flees chased by Zeebers. Spike finishes off the orc, Lavis the goblin.
The spider falls, and they tangle. Zeebers is poisoned, stops to drink a healing potion
and the spider continues to flee. It gets to a crowd and is lost.

The town guard turns up, but grow frightened when the spider is mentioned.
They fail completely to learn anything useful, but do note that the two dead orcs
are thugs for hire and live in the Packet. Quilord, Murga, and Zeebers go to the
hospital. Quilord will be there for a bit, while Zeebers should stay over night
for observation. They all remain there for the night. Murga expends a bunch
of cures.

Spike and Lavis go to the University and meet up with Vess Hanley. She
is impressed by Lavis's new guitar. Spike leaves them to rehearse and visits the
Temple of Poseidon. There he learns of the Skaven attack on the Banewarrens. He
also finds Alexia and tells her about the recent happenings. She is intrigued
when she learns of Aggah Shan and decides to accompany Spike to the Red House
this evening.

All are treated well at the Red House. Large crowd for Vess Hanley concert
at the Red House. Goes well. Lavis does OK. Vess's fame continues to revive.
Alexia is agitated when Aggah Shan shows up, but Spike convinces her that this is not
the time or place for a confrontation.

After the show Lavis is invited up to see Aggah Shan. They make a deal
that if the Metrarch Machine is left alone, provided it is not dangerous, then
Shan will help them versus the Chaos Cultists. He asks that the Council of Zeus
and Sorceror's Brotherhood get behind this deal. He tells them that the Cultists
built the Metrarch Machine for him, that he uses it to capture the chaotic energy
of people playing the Metrarch game, but that he suspects that it might do more
that he does not understand.

When Lavis does not turn up when Vess is ready to depart, Alexia convinces
them to find her. Christos tells them that nothing on earth would make him go up
stairs and disturb Aggah Shan. Spike gets them past the bartender and up the stairs,
Alexia fells some thug guards and bursts in on Aggah Shan who has begun to drain
Lavis. Aggah Shan releases Lavis who is a bit dazed, but tells them of the
deal she has made. Alexia, Lavis, Spike, and Vess depart without further
trouble.

They head back to the University where Alexia and Vess begin talking.
Alexia notes that the other three have all had part of their life stolen by
Aggah Shan (Vess worst, Lavis next, Spike only a little). Vess puts it all
together and notes after a visit to the library that Aggah Shan is a Thanatos,
a servant of Hades who reaps souls. He apparently is shortening people's
lives. Vess is amazed that he is willing to make any sort of deal. "He
usually dictates terms," and notes that it is frightening that he may be
afraid of something.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Session 52 begins with an ambush that Zeebers manages to spot turning it into a reverse ambush. It is a good fight, again with lots of miniatures being moved on a map. Best feature was the innocent by-standers who scattered away as the fight started. None of them were felled. The spider does take out Quilord, he went negative, and most of the party ends up in the hospital. The survivors haul in some heavy artillery from the last campaign, Alexia, who proves to be just what is needed to deal with Aggah Shan. They make an alliance of convenience that they are not particular happy about. The Castle Keeper is having a great time.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

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Sunday

Early on Sunday morning, the surviving Spider sneaks into the Temple
of Ascaepulus disguised as a doctor. He gets into the room where
Quilord, Zeebers, and Murga are resting. Murga meets him at the door,
and it takes him unaware as it changes back into spider form and essentially
cuts Murga's head off. Zeebers awakes and falls on the spider with
sneak attack from behind. Quilord wakes and uses his Staff of Evocation
to put a Wall of Force through the spider finishing it off. They find
a bone ring on it. Zeebers demands that they get escorted away and they
are given an ambulance that Zeebers drives to the portal of the Inverted
Pyramid. He finds it abandoned and goes to the Temple of Poseidon
where they are made comfortable and guards are posted. Spike, Lavis and
Alexia turn up hearing the sad news and relating the events at the Red House.

High Priest Dumas sends Murga's body on to the Temple of Hephaestus
to prepare him for intombment as an honored Dwarf. Spike accompanies it
and presents them with his armor and mace. He asks that his friends be
allowed to keep using Murga's Compass of Magical Item Detection and the
Lyre of Building to help avenge his death. They have no problem with this
and give him a scroll of Major Destruction that they were preparing
for him.

Spike heads to the Ghostly Minstrel and leaves a note "wtf" for
Javica.

Lavis and Dumas talk about Aggah Shan. She tells him most of the
story leaving out her personal relationship with Aggah Shan. He is in support of the
deal she has negotiated, now more sympathetic to Aggah Shan since he is now
known to be Tantalos.

The party celebrates the life of Murga by drinking from buckets.
Spike tries to convince the three female chaos cultists that they should
mend their ways in honor of Murga who helped save them. They are not
very interested, and Dumas tells them that their story checks, no trace
can be found of their families, but they do not seem interested in serving
Poseidon. Spike also asks after people Murga helped and thinks of Shan Darklin,
who he convinced the party to spare from the Iron Giant, and the thief
from the main prison that Murga convinced to mend his ways.

Vess Hanley pushes for a meeting at the University among the Sorceror's
Brotherhood, Council of Zeus, and Mayor. High Priest
Dumas turns up Sunday afternoon and pledges the Council's full support.
Master Thritas complains that he is busy working on a way into the Quaan.
Do whatever it takes to secure the deal and he will inspect
the Metrarch Machine when it is available for inspection. The Mayor can talk
with them on Tuesday. Up to Vess and party to push forward, otherwise
meeting on Tuesday. Alexia is willing to help out.

Venga Valiant below the fold story. The party finds the story
very amusing.

Street Fight in Midtown
=======================
Yesterday the early afternoon bustle in mid-Town was interupted when
a group of orcs and goblins apparently under the direction of some
sort of spider created a commotion. The usually calm streets of mid-town
were disturbed when arrows and magic began flying amidst a crowd of citizens.
Kaulios Drolios, a local merchant, spoke to our reporter
saying, "Suddenly arrows were flying, a big guy with a wierd club and
a very shiny Dwarf started beating on a couple of scary looking orcs, and
then this mummy elf fell out of the sky. I started running past a goblin
who was slinging magic as he got plugged with an arrow. I head something
behind me, and I saw some guy with gold wings fighting with a big spider.
The spider then ran off and, I swear, turned into a little girl who ran into
a candy shop."

This very strange story was basically confirmed by Captain Sorios
of the Town Guard. The orcs are well known thugs for hire
from The Packet, and the goblins were likely of similar character. The
spider is known to the Guard and is currently being sought in connection
with a recent murder of two Guard members. Apparently the spider and
thugs tried to ambush a group of veterans from the Battle of Venga who have been
working with Guard to track down the spider. Captain Sorios refused to
comment on the alegation that the Guard is working with a flying, undead
elf sorceror who commands an army of zombies with gold wings. He did ask
members of the public to be on the look out for a large spider, and to report
any sightings to the Town Guard.

Monday

Spike gets a note from Javica telling him to sit tight, and she
will be in touch soon when they have re-established the portal.

While visiting the Temple of Hephaestus Spike asks if he could get
Detect Outsider put on his helmet that would glow in the presence of something
like the Aranea, or something else that the Pactlords could send after them.
They are amenable, and will get something for him Tuesday.

They have lunch with Vess at the University. She tells them about
the response to her plan, and that all concerned will meet after Murga's
funeral tomorrow. They would first like to get a look at the Metrarch
Machine. Vess invites Lavis to join her band, the Zealots of Hades,
and play with her next Saturday at the Old Sword.

Tuesday

Quilord is recovered.

Funeral of Murga Wellfinder. It is a low key affair. Imburgh, the
Priest of Hephaestus who know Murga best hints of his past troubles, but notes
his commitment to truth and good was unwavering. Spike speaks
movingly of Murga's bravery and long struggle against evil and chaos. High
Priest Dumas notes that Murga should be honored as a hero, but that his work
has been in the shadows, and he also notes that Murga was tireless in his
struggle against evil and for good. Lavis sings the Ballad of the Wellfinder,
a song recounting some of Murga's more memorable deeds.

They meet with Vess Hanley, representatives of the Council or Zeus,
and members of the administration at the University of Venga. They are
all in agreement to take the deal with Aggah Shan. They want to first
want to get access to the Metrarch Machine and get Shan's knowledge versus
the Chaos Cultists. Vess agrees to lead the discussion with Shan.

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Post by cinabro »

Session 53 opens with the death of Murga. I actually rolled this out myself and was pretty certain that Quilord, who was at limited capacity, was not going to survive the initial surprise attack by the shape shifting spider. The dice have other ideas, and Murga ends up dead. I then make an error, Walls of Force should not go through creatures. I tell the players of my error afterwards, noting that it will not happen again. Then a bunch of role playing to set up the final act of the campaign.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

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Party = Lavis[Human Bard 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 6th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th]

Tuesday Continued

After that meeting, Vess confesses that she is frightened to deal with
Aggah Shan on her own. She asks that the party help, and they think of
Alexia. Spike will go ask her. They plan to meet at the Red House early
this evening to talk with Aggah Shan.

Spike goes to the Temple of Hephasteus and meets with Imbrugh. He tells
Spike about the Dwarven Life Bar. Spike suggests that it be fashioned
into a hammer. Spike also impresses on him that there is some urgency
since Murga's friends are still struggling against those that killed
Murga and menancing the city.

Spike finds Alexia at the Temple of Poseidon. After reporting to her,
she is willing to work with them and keep Aggah Shan in check. She tells him
that he does not firghten her, and that she is pretty certain that she
could handle him.

At the Red House, Vess is greeted warmly by Stanya who seems surprised
to see Vess here in a non-professional capacity. Quilord is denied
entry, but Lavis says that he is her guest and they let him in.
Vess says that they have to see Shan, and are ushered into the main room,
strippers are entertaining, and wait. Vess orders a stiff drink sharing
it with Spike.

Not long they are ushered up to Aggah Shan's upper office. He readily
agrees to work with them, but notes that it is difficult to attack
the Metrarch Machine now. It is swarming with cultists repairing it after
a recent attack. He suggests that he and his people can deal with the
Metrarch Machine if the main body of the cultists are distracted. He,
unfortunately cannot amount any sort of attack due to its location.
He reveals that it is beneath the Temple of Zeus, and his followers
are powerless there. He suggest a joint attack on the two locations.
While the party is amenable they do want someone to watch over him
and think of El and Alexia. He is willing to accept El and Alexia
joining him. They ask if he knows anything about the Skaven or
the Pactlords. He knows that the Chaos Cultist had Skaven help in
building the Metrarch Machine, but that it was mostly the product
of the Chaos Cultists. He is not sure what they are all after, but
he is aware that something is going on but not what. He asks them
if they would like to share anything with him, but they do not.

They agree to go first thing in the morning, and break up without
incident to prepare. He will send them someone to guide them to
the Chaos Temple, and Alexia and El will meet him at the White
House.

Quilord writes Thorakil. He tells him that Chaos Cultists seem to
be working with outsiders, the Pact Lords and that they may have something
to do with the Metrarch Machine. He tells him that the current plan
is to take out a Chaos Cult Temple in Venga.

They speak with High Priest Dumas. He recognizes that he should keep things
descrete and offers them Lijot, a not too bright Cleric of Posiedon who has
studied at the Temple of Aescapulus, and a squad of acolyte paladins of
Poseidon to join their expedition. He will gather them at the last minute
tomorrow to reduce any chance that information might get to the Temple
of Zeus. They also send a message to El to meet them here tomorrow morning.

Wednesday

First thing in the morning the girl that Spike lost time with at the Red
House turns up to guide them. El turns up and reminds the party of the
password "Nastarex", and she and Alexia head off to the White House,
while the party is led to the Temple of Zeus. In a side alcove
she shows them a secret door which leads down an obviously old, but
clearly well used narrow stairway. The girl departs and the party heads
down.

At the bottom they find the demon. He questions them but
lets them pass when they give the password. As they begin to file
pass, Spike attacks, and they begin to fight with the demon. He
is felled when Quilord hits it with a Ray of Enfeeblement and Lavis
is exhorting the bunch with her songs. Lavis then goes to the
communication device and sets them all off causing confusion, but
alerting all that something bad is happening.

The Ogre goes forward to see what is going on while
the party is attacking the two acolytes. Spike bursts in on
them while Quilord eliminates the ogre. As the party rushes into
the meeting room, two orcs go to rouse the others. The big
female barbarian chrages out, bulls over Spike, while Lavis
rushes in to seal off the orcs. One of palladins kills the women,
while Lavis and Quilord pick off the orcs. Lijot heals up
Lavis and the party prepares to head up the wide tunnel to the
double doors.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Session 54 is the consummation of their deal with the necromantic crime lord, who seems to enjoy discomfiting them. We start a big dungeon crawl, and a nameless grunt, that would be Mr. Grunt to you, fells a big opponent with a critical hit.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Party = Lavis[Human Bard 6th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 6th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th]

Wednesday Continued

They bust into the main temple. Quilord puts up a Wall of Force which
cuts off most of the gun firing rats. He then flies launching spells
over the top. Spike and the paladins race around to the middle level
fighting with the priests. Zeebers flies up and heads towards Wuntad.
Lavis is lobbing arrows and playing her guitar.
As Spike and the Paladins fell one of the Priests, the turn coat rat,
Killor, abandons the ritual and climbs up to attack Wuntad with Witchfire.
Wuntad tries to launch some acid arrows at the attackers, but one
misfires and hits him, and the second crashes into the wall of force
aimed at Quilord who pops up to launch some magic missles. As the
rats abandon the fire holes and re-appear at the back of the altar,
Killor fells Wuntad with Witchfire. Spike, Zeebers, Lavis,
and Lijot wade into the rats while the turn-coat rat flees dropping
a grenade behind him. Spike and Lavis try to pursue, but by the
time they get through they find a new hole burned out of the Temple
that leads to the sewers. They are unable to find Killor, even
though Lavis uses Murga's Compass to track Witchfire.
Eventually they become lost in the sewers and come out into the city.

Zeebers rescues the children by cutting open the altar and
they are escorted out by the paladins. Zeebers goes on to open
the glass cages and rescue the sleeping mages. Quilord reading the
book realizes that they have disrupted the Night of Dissolution, and
is able to identify many of the magic items that they have gathered.
He inspects the giant hand, finds it made of rock, but it seems
very detailed and lifelike. It is no longer bleeding blue blood.
They do note that they find no bone rings among the cultists. As they
leave they wreck the place with the Lyre of Building doing a very thorough
job. As they carry the mages up through the Temple of Zeus they
are noticed, and tell the Zeus folks that they have destroyed a hidden
Chaos Temple beneath the Temple or Zeus. They are let through by
showing their badges, and noting that High Priest Dumas will
offer a complete explanation.

They first head to the Sorceror's Brotherhood where the
mages are recognized as members that have gone missing recently.
At the Temple of Posiedon they are met and healed up. The children
are telling a similar tale as the women, they were kidnapped by the
cultists and do not know what happened to their families. Dumas
will take care of them as orphans.

Alexia, the badly injured El, and Shan Darklin turn up.
Alexia tells them that the attack on the Metrarch Machine went
well. Aggah Shan attacked with his human thugs and undead.
There was sharp struggle, but the undead were unstoppable.
They swept away the cultists, got out of control, and consumed
a bunch of slaves who were laboring on the repairs of the
machine. Aggah Shan consumed the chaos technician who made
and worked the machine. The only failing is that the mansects
escaped into the sewers.

Shan Darklin tells her story that she fled the Iron Giant
to the city. She met someone who promised her work, and she awoke
imprisoned next to the Metrarch Machine. The chaos technician
taught her how to maintain it and repair it. He also abused her,
and thus she is happy to work for Aggah Shan who has rescued
her and offered her employment.

She tells them how the Metrarch Machine, takes a little
bit of life from those who play the game, and that Aggah Shan
consumes it to sustain his life. It also does something else
that she thinks is meant to control some being. It may do
other things, but she confesses to not completely understand
it. To fully understand it one would have to embrace chaos
and probably be insane. She is willing to spend the night with
Spike. Alexia is not bothered by this.

Javica turns up. She tells them that the events of
a few days ago triggered the standard operating procedure
of pulling out and closing down the portal. They guess that
the Pactlords must have noticed it and struck at an opportune
time. Since they have worked hard to re-establish the portal.
In a few days the Inverted Pyramid will have completed
a device to get them to the Quaan.

There is a discussion on what to do next. How will they
gather the "brass hand" key from the Frangela? Dumas suggests that
now with clear evidence of horrible going ons, it may be possible
to just ask for it. This might be better than trying to sneak
in (Zeebers) or get in as music group (Lavis).

Quilord writes a note to Thorakil recounting the recent
events.

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cinabro
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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Session 55 is a big fight in the final location of the Night of Dissolution. It goes well for the party, I grow to hate that Staff of Evocation, but Witchfire eludes them. An NPC that they were nice to turns up and reveals some of the plot. We hurtle towards conclusion having to finish off the Banewarrens.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Party = Lavis[Human Bard 7th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 7th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th]

Wednesday Continued

Alexia and Dumas discuss with party why Witchfire was not put to
use against them. They also think that some how the sword must
have been cloaked to have not been seen by Murga's Compass. Perhaps
a metal box or bag of holding? Their discussion is interrupted when
Dumas is called away. He comes back visibly upset, saying that a
muck-racking reporter has come to investigate the raid on the
Chaos Temple. He seems to be portraying it as some sort of struggle
among the Olympians.

Lavis wants to see him, but they get no where as she will
tell him nothing about the events this morning, and he wants to
know why the party is working for Poseidon versus Zeus. His name
is Alant Breig and Zeebers follows him to Slan's complex in the
Packet.

Spike escorts Shan Darklin back to the White House,
Aggah Shan has given her a place to live there. She
tells Spike that Shan is going
to pay her well to take care of the Metrarch Machine. She
also mentions that there is a "demon" who helping out. Her
plan is to make enough money to get passage down river
and out of here. This place is too crazy. Despite her
willingness, Spike declines to accompany her. When he
returns he asks High Priest Dumas to check her out.

Thursday

Newspaper articles on the fall of the chaos cults.

Packet Pulse - Front Page Headline
----------------------------------------------
Struggle Among Olypians

Revealing the depths of corruption and strife among the elite
of Venga, an assault by the followers of Poseidon routed a secret
shrine to chaos gods beneath the Temple of Zeus yesterday. Unnamed
sources within the city administration revealed that a long festering
nest of chaos cultist had been active in the city for some time.
They have been responsible for many heinous acts committed within
the city over the last month. The suspicion is that this latest
incident is a struggle among the members of the Council of Zeus
for dominance in Venga. Guards at the Temple of Zeus were seen
confronting worshipers of Poseidon who were taking victims out
the Temple of Zeus. Archbishop Youlden denied, what else could
he do, that there was any strife within the Council of Zeus and
that he was surprised as anyone that a chaos cult had taken root
beneath his Temple. High Priest Dumas also denied that there was
any strife, but that followers of Sea God had acted with speed
when they discovered the lair of the chaos cultists.

Sources reveal that the assault on the chaos cultists
was led by an irregular group that has long been used by the
Temple of Poseidon to intimidate its opponents in the city.
This group includes a performer of some note, Lavis Fallimore,
who has recently been appearing at the infamous Red House.
She apparently leads a group of foreigners including an
elf warlock, a large thug, and a man who is usually seen
wearing a pair of gold wings. High Priest Dumas did say
that this group had been working with the Temple of Poseidon,
the Sorceror's Brotherhood, and the city of Venga for some
time, and they were Heroes of Venga due to service to the
city during the Battle of Venga. He claimed that they
had risked their lives countless times in defense of the city,
and that one of their members had been killed recently
by enemies of the city. He was unwilling to be more specific
about threats facing the city. While the truth of this story
is not clear it is undeniable that this group serves as a
secret police force. While this time they may have been
acting against a possible threat to the city who knows what
they will do next? Will we all be forced to worship the Earthshaker?

To add a further disturbing note to this story reporters
from this newspaper have observed that the White Necromancer is
in residence at the Temple of Poseidon. What can the followers
of the Lord of the Seas mean to do with a secret police force and
a powerful necromancer?

Venga Valiant - Back Page Story
-------------------------------------------
Disturbance at Temple of Zeus

Yesterday morning there was a disturbance at the Temple
of Zeus. A group claiming to be acting in defense of
the city was confronted by temple guards when they
were seen dragging unconscious bodies from the Temple
grounds. Investigation revealed that a prank had gotten
out of hand. Fortunately no one was hurt in the incident
and normal operations of the Temple resumed by mid-morning.
------------------------------------------------------------

Spike spends the day relaxing in a bar, drinking too
much, and telling tall tales. Lavis is angry and goes to find
the reporter, Alant Brieg, despite Dumas' advice that it would
be best to ignore the whole thing. She dresses to attract.

She tracks him down at Slan's complex and finds him
to be attractive. He is smitten by her and spills everything
he knows to her. He tells her that Borlach leaked the whole
story in an attempt to discredit the party to get back at them
for what they did to him. He also tells her that Gornan Slan
has gone missing. After the fire he has not been seen and his
underlings are starting to fight over his holdings (newspaper,
emporium, bars in the packet, brothels in the packet). He
promises to see her concert on Saturday, she will get him
comp tickets.

Zeebers goes off to sell stuff and contact people
he knows in the Thieves Guild about the opportunity to
take control of Aggah Shan's leaderless holdings. They
are interested, but he tells them that he is busy at the
moment. He will contact them when he has some time.

Friday

Message from Javica to the Party. They have a device to get them
back and forth to The Quaan. They meet at the Ghostly Minstrel.
It is a big ring, can get them there and back at least once, and
maybe another time. They have to be close together and any being
within about five feet of the ring will be transported.

Javica does not know much about the Quaan except that
it is not as large as a full world, it is cold and wet.
Probably the item that they have will be able to lead them
to the other part that they seek. She admits that this is
not helpful, but does offer them some other help. She will
provide them with some cure potions, a Scroll of Invisibility
Sphere, and Belt of Strength for Lavis (effective strength of
19 giving her a +3 to hit and damage). She will meet them
again this evening, just after sun down, and suggests that
they go to the Quaan as soon as possible. She suggests that
they be stealthy as it is unlikely that the Pactlords are
aware of what they have. The item that Spike found looked
very ordinary until he grabbed it.

They secure cold weather gear and long boots. Lijot
and the squad of paladins of Posiedon will accompany them.
They meet Javica, and go from the pool in the Temple of
Poseidon so that if they are pursued they can dump it
into the pool with Herman.

They go to the Quann. Yashala, the dagger, tells
them the general direction to go. Using Murga's Compass
and Zeeber's Wings they make their way. They avoid the
lakes and the green ridges. Fortunately nothing happens
to them and they get to the building. As they get close
Zeebers flies to the top of it, and the party is spotted by
the ogre guards. Quilord turns the rest of them invisible
with the scroll as the ogres sally out of the front of the
building. Quilord, Lavis, and two of the paladins scramble
into the building guided by Yashala to look to the right.
Spike, paladins, and Lijot meet the charging ogres and they
begin to fight with Zeebers firing on them from the
building top and then flying down to join in the fray.
The ogres are getting the worst of it, with
them falling and only one paladin falling who is cured by
Lijot. Quilord sneaks into the main hall and sees the big
bug guarding the main entrance. Lavis finds the store room
with the Mephit, who bumps into her making her visible.
She kills it and gathers up unusual things among his junk.
As she leaves, Yashala tells Spike that what they are
seeking is getting closer, and he calls out to the others
to come back. The bug notes that something is wrong behind
him, and begins to head for the rear. Quilord notes the pile
of notes and enters a room, but is startled when he finds it
full of spider webs. He contemplates burning them, but then
decides to retreat. They all get out as the bug reaches the
back entrance and fills the corridor with fire.

They get back safely. After sorting through the items
that Lavis gathered, Yashela ID's the wood rod with iron ends,
as the other part of the control device. They decide not
to put them together.

It is late Friday heading towards Saturday morning.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Session 56 is an NPC from the past coming back to bite them, some role playing, and then "dungeon crawl" in a pocket dimension. Through a combination of good play by the players and good luck, they get out unscathed and with what they sought. The end of the campaign is in sight.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Party = Lavis[Human Bard 7th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 7th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th]

Friday Continued

They decide to wait until they get all the pieces to put them together.

They have a conversation about the use of Witchfire. Alexia points out
how difficult it is to not use it. When she first got it she was focused on
using its power to resurrect her mother, and thus was able to avoid using it.
The second time she used it to ressurect the Legion of Lost Souls, sort of for
its intended purpose. If someone had a major personal use intened for Witchfire
they could possibly avoid using it. This seems to frighten everyone.

Spike heaps praise on Lijot and the Paladins for their excellent performance
in the Quaan. One of the paladins is seriously injured and will be out for
a few days.

Javica turns up soon after they return. She collects the items she lent
them, letting them keep healing potions. She is thrilled that they have returned
without being followed and guesses that it is possible that the Pactlords may not
even be aware that they have taken something valuable as the Banewarren control
devices can "cloak" themselves using the Banewarren magic. They ask if Javica
will have someone accompany them into the Banewarrens. She demurs saying that the
Inverted Pyramid will think on it. They can provide some sort of tracking device
that can follow them and allow help to find them if they get stuck in.

They rest for the night.

Saturday

In the morning, Lavis goes to meet Vess to rehearse for their concert in
the evening. Vess has been studying up on the Banewarrens. Its magic hides
other magic and thus could be very valuable to someone like the Inverted
Pyramid who could then hide their activities much more easily. Lavis ends
up looking quite good and performing well at the concert. Alant Breig shows
up and is in the audience.

Spike goes to the Temple of Hephaestus to check on Murga's hammer,
but it is still being built. He then hits some bars and begins raving about
the imminent end of the world. He then collects Alexia who accompanies
him to the concert.

Zeebers talks to Larios of the Griffons (Fenkaris) about moving on Slann's
leaderless organization. Zeebers suggests that the Packet Pulse is the juciest
target, but Larios does not know how the Griffons can do anything to help with
that. Zeebers says he has to think on it.

Quilord goes to the Sorceror's Brotherhood to spend the day learning
a new spell. He asks a Yasila, a female elf magic user, to join him tonight
at the concert. She agrees.

The concert at the Old Sword Hall starts well but Quilord notes that there
are some Skaven methodically working their way through the crowd. He Messages
Spike and he and Zeebers begin searching and notice a few more. Spikes gets
into the way of one, they bump, and an altercation breaks out. A melee develops
with Zeebers taking down one, and one hits Alexia who morphs it into a slime mold
as the crowd flees and The Zealots of Hades play a new song, "Beat On The Rat". Lavis
tries to join in but is delayed by the crowd, jumping over seats, etc.
Quilord tries to Hold one, but he makes his saving throw
and then Holds Quilord. Yasila hits this one with a magic missle and the Skaven
begin to flee. Yasila grabs the motionless Quilord and tries to drag him
out of harms way. Two skaven make it to the bathroom and use a stone shape to flee into
the sewers. Alexia and Spike decide not to follow. Zeebers tangles with the
assassin who then speaks with Zeebers telling him that "We seek the Sword. Killor
has gone mad and stolen it. He has ruined the Night of Disolution and fled
with the Sword. He is a traitor to the Horned One." Eventually all begin
to talk with Kiled, the assassin, and they strike a deal to look for Killor. Kiled tells them
that Killor is an expert on the Banewarrens and all conclude that he plans to use
Witchfire to break into the Banewarrens, power up by harvesting things there,
and then do something horrible, not clear what. They let him go and they
plan to communicate at the Ghostly Minstrel.

The incident at the concert is little noticed. Not many saw what
happened and conclude that it was simply a scuffle in the crowd of concert
goers that got out of hand. Vess Hanley thinks things went well
and the Zealots of Hades continue their rise. Lavis hooks up with Alant
Brieg. He was swept up in the crowd and did not see what happened. He
promises to write a good review and they spend the night together. Yasila
found the experience exciting she spends the night with Quilord.

Sunday

Letter from Thorakil to Quilord. How it arrived at the Temple of Posiedon
on a Sunday is not at all clear. Not very helpful, but asks why
Whitchfire is not being used.

The party talks with High Priest Dumas. They are alarmed and think they have to
accelerate their recovery of the Banewarren control device. Dumas agrees
and takes them to meet Chief Justice Ronal Frangela. He says that the item
was at their country home, and is being retrieved by servants. It should
be back here this afternoon, and he will send it immediately to the Temple
of Posiedon.

They go to the Ghostly Minstrel and leave a note for Javica describing
what they have learned about the rogue Skaven Killor. They do the same
to Master Thorakil at the Sorceror's Brotherhood Tower. They tell both
that they plan to enter the Banewarrens soon.

Upon their return to the Temple of Poseidon they have the Brass
Hand. They decide to assemble the Banewarren Control Staff. The Staff,
Yashala, now speaks in an adult voice, and can now be heard by all rather
than just who is holding it. She notes that she was built to control
and maintain the Banewarren items. There are doors and generators.
She can open doors control the generators. Based on what they have
told her, the outer vault is breached and its generator is down. Perhaps
it can be repaired. Reading the note that they recovered from the
Pactlord expedition they guess that something may have gotten into
the Inner Vault. but its door is still sealed. She suggests that they
will have to enter, search for whatever may be in there, repair
any broken generators, and be sure the doors are sealed. She spills
some history that the Banes were items recovered in the Mad Wars (2500
years ago), originally tried to destroy them, but they did bad things
when they were destroyed. Thus develop the Banewarrens, a vault for
them, that would have mis-direction magic to hide them. The original
maker, Danar Rotansi, was badly effected and eventually he was locked into the
Banewarrens. What is the Grail and Tremore Kirin that are mentioned
in the note that they have? Grail she does not know, but Tremore Kirin
sounds like Tremoc Korin, which is a vault at the end of the Banewarrens
that houses the most important thing.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Session 57 is full of stuff. We have another epic fight in a theatre. Again the innocent by-standers survive the mayhem, and the dice say that the Skaven are ready to deal. One session left as the party plans to head into the Banewarrens.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Party = Lavis[Human Bard 7th], Quilord [Elf Wizard 6th], Spike[Human Fight 7th], Zeebers[Human Rogue 7th]

Sunday Continued

Killor's notebook is left for the party at the Ghostly minstrel. Marked
urgent.

Killor's Notebook
-----------------
Section 1 - The world that we live on is infinite in extent like a
table that goes on forever. In the "center" it is "normal", but
away from the center it gets "unstable". To the north it gets
colder, to the east it gets drier, to the south it gets hotter, to the
west it gets wetter, down it gets denser, and up it gets emptier.
Magic gets stronger away from the center. Down is the underdark
populated by the powerful dark races like the skaven, dark elves,
red dwarves, etc. They are limited on the surface as their magic
weakens. North is dominated by the "ice races" such as snow
elves, frost giants, and ice trolls. To the east are the dust
devils, rock men, and lizard men. To the south are the salamanders,
lava folk, and fire giants. To the west are the mer-folk, the fishmen,
and the giant clams. Above is a mystery, but it should be the
opposite of the below dominated by beneficant races like the
dragons.

Section 2 - Travel to the world above is difficult. Winged
creatures can only go so high before the air becomes too thin
for them to fly. Magical flight also runs out of power and
is limited by many things. To get around this immense power would
have to be concentrated and expended. A whole bunch of other
precautions would also have to be taken.

Section 3 - Skyland is dominated by the dragons. They have enough
magical power to move in it and travel to and from the surface world,
and to overcome all the problems of travel in the skyland. They
rule the skyland from the highest peaks of the surface world
and from floating rocks that do the "dance of the cosmos". The
dragons probably work to limit travel from the "cesspool" that
is the surface world to the "heaven" of the skyland.

Section 4 - The Banewarrens are dsfjwei s ndfewhawe nvsd ewojnvsd
fddfsihnsd dfojfenio ewfnsi naweknv n ew37fm dsfdiefuw vsdkdmv s
dsfnvdsnsdi sf ddkeiwksdfjv kwefcndewf ew vsdkjvweorrerwkujvd
dsfnsdbirj dvibnewrkn avdsideni dijadn aiein cnaiehi v8edsgn
savdsibfina; dinsajehisdn 8iaewnv*n d'jie dsijes n SFDNNIE A
ANEIN AIEN;L/.KNI EKNWEAN IOSDVNEWGYUHF./ED ;ION ;JE A;WJNOI NE
DFSNFEA;IN AEMA;LIE;N ANIEN ADVNINE 9A'NELKNLUNK EDAJFEN ANFE76TE3RJ
DSFNDF.CVCKXVH AWENRFEVEWONFCF QWERTYIOP ASDFGHJKL;'
ZXCVBNM,./.

Section 8 - On Witchfire. Repeats what is already well known
by the party about Witchfire. It is clear that Killor realizes
that Witchfire can hold immense power. There is also a chart:

|
|
| *
| *
Power | *
| *
| *
| *
| *
|______________________________________
Harvest Level

That evenings Javica turns up and offer help to the party. She provides
a Belt of Strength for Lavis and scrolls of Delay Blast Fireball and
Mass Invisibility for Quilord, and a tracking ring for Spike.

That evening Alexia gets a note from the Mayor asking her to meet tomorrow
about a position with the city. She is excited, not get shipped off to
the Elves, and shares her excitment with Spike. He asks her to come look
for them if they do not return after three days.

Party sends thanks and presents to El when they learn that she is no longer
able to adventure. High Priest Dumas tells them that she will be taken
care of by the city since she was hurt helping to stop the Night of Dissolution.
They prepare last will and testaments.

Monday

Party into the Banewarrens. The squad from the council of Zeus tells them that nothing
has moved on the tunnel since they turned back the Skaven. They have noticed
rats moving around in the tunnel.

The Staff of Banewarren Control notes that the Generator in the
Outer Vault is not repairable with the parts there. Clearly the parts have
been looted. They will have to go in to the Inner Vault. Spike leaves
a note on the door saying that they have gone in.

The Staff has trouble reading the door, but it says that things have gone
in, but nothing has gone out. The Staff leads them towards another
parts room. They see the vampire apparently sucked dry by Witchfire and
the Staff thinks this is Danar. As they make their way to the parts
room Zeebers is stuck by the crystal room, but Quilord uses a Shatter
to destroy them and release Zeebers. They gather the parts they need
to repair the broken generator, and begin to head back. They begin
fighting with a bunch of rats (Giant Rats(1/2) x 20, Rat Ogres(6) x 4, Rat
Soldiers(2) x 8, Rat Sargents(4) x 2, Rat Mages(4)) and much use of the
Staff of Evocation by Quilord (fireballs, wall of force, chain lightning)
plus some Hold Portals they cut through them and head back out. While they
are fighting a bugbear from the Pactlords is fleeing to get out, but
they block him. Yasila is helpful with magic missle on a Rat Mage
that almost finishes off Quilord, and Spike makes a Whirlwind attack
and fails to hit anything.

The remaining Skaven decide to chase Killor and Witchfire
and the party gets back out and spends some time repairing the
broken generator. This is successful and they decide what to do
next. The Staff tells them they should collapse the tunnel to
seal off the Banewarrens, but the party decides to head back in
and stop Killor and try to recover Witchfire. One paladin who
was badly hurt in the fight with the Skaven, goes out.

Back in they find doors that had Hold Portal on them were
smashed open and guided by the Staff they find a trail of
destruction, smashed statues, dead bugbear and some skaven, and
dead cavemen types as they enter into the big caverns. They have
gone down and east and are pretty sure they are under the lake.
They find rope bridges that they are able to traverse, and hear
the sound of a struggle as they get to the final vault.

It is a cylindrical room with a big metal cylinder in
the center rising out of the floor. There are Skaven on the floor
stymied on the floor, as Killor welding Witchfire is climbing
up the side of the cylinder. He is difficult to attack as he
often disappears into a tube on the side of the cylinder. The
Skaven plead for help, many dead litter the floor, and Zeebers
and Quilord take to the air to chase Killor. Spike, Lavis,
and Yasila approach the cylinder and either enter hatches
or begin climbing up. Lijot and the Paladins hang back guarding
the entrance. The two fliers get has high as they can
and enter the tube chasing after Kilor. A clang is heard
from above, and an alarm begins to sound with a warning to
clear the area. Doors to the entrance begin to slide close,
sending the Skaven fleeing, while the party members scramble
to enter the cylinder. Within they find couches, Spike
recalls they look like things seen in the Iron Giant, and
warnings that crew have to be secured in 10-9-8...

They get into couches and feel shaking as they see
screens apparently showing an outside view. They see bubbles
on a blue background, and breakout over the surface of the lake.
They see the lake with the mountains to the east and west and
the city of Venga at the southern end of the lake. They continue
to rise up, the sky grows dark and full of stars, and then they
hear a voice, "This is Dragon Control to the unidentified vessel
leaving the surface of the (word they do not understand).
Please proceed to Dragon One." The Staff tells them that
this was final secret of Banewarrens. The "rocket" was
powered by and to be loaded with Banes and was going to drop them all into
the sun.

Where are they headed?

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Session 58 and last. A good dungeon crawl through the last bits of the Banewarrens. Sorry for the cheesy ending, but as the campaign was nearing its end I asked the players what they wanted to do next. The consensus was not continue this campaign, but to do something else. We are now playing 7th Sea, which is a nice world but not such a nice game system, with someone else running things. I decided to end the C&C campaign heading in a direction I had in mind for a future campaign, kind of a mash up of Spelljammer, Dragonstar, and Space 1889. At the time, nearly six months ago, I only had a vague idea what I wanted, but have been reading a bunch, and am starting to hatch dark plans for a new party.

I will try to review and sum up in the next few days. It was the longest campaign I have ever run. It was good fun, but I needed the break.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by Omote »

Thanks for the awesome campaign updates Cinabro. It's been a blast to read, and has springboarded ideas of my own.

~O
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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by Go0gleplex »

Definitely been a fun read. Well done. ;)
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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

CAMPAIGN REVIEW
===============
Character..Sessions.Levels.Levels/Session
Spike..........56............1->7......6/56=0.11
Murga.........46............1->6......5/46=0.11
Zeebers......45............3->7......4/45=0.09
Quilord........34............5->6.....1/34=0.03
Lavis............21............5->7.....2/21=0.10
Celebrin......10............1->3.....2/10=0.20
Neela.............6............2->4......2/ 6=0.33
Calsen...........5............3->4......1/ 5=0.20
Shiu-Feng.....5............3->4......1/ 5=0.20
Rolthane.......4............5->5.......0/ 4=0.00
Tilly................2.............1->1......0/ 2=0.00
---------------------------------------------------------
Totals.11........234.......+24.......24/234=0.10

Level progression was good. It does grind to a halt above Level 5, but that is how
the rules are meant to work. Quilord's player wins the frustration award, but in my
defense he did start at the bottom of level 5 and have the steepest progression
as a Wizard.

Modules........................................................... Sessions.Source................Rating
Meeting.............................................................1...............Home Brew
Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho............................4...............Goodman DCC..****
Witchfire #1: Longest Night...........................3...............Privateer..............****
Into the Wilds....................................................2..............Goodman DCC...***.5
Crater of Umeshti/Deeper Darkness............1..............Troll Lord..............***
Interlude.............................................................1..............Home Brew
Witchfire #2: Shadow of the Exile..................3.5...........Privateer.............****
The Adventure Continues: Like Clockwork..1..............Goodman DCC.***
Against The Iron Giant......................................2.5..........Goodman............****
Interlude..............................................................0.5..........Home Brew
Last Initiate.........................................................3..............Monkey God.......***
Witchfire #3: Legion of Lost Souls.................6..............Privateer..............****
Interlude.............................................................1..............Home Brew
Ptolus: Night of Dissolution..........................12..............Malhavoc..............***.5
Banewarrens.....................................................8.............Malhavoc...............***.5
Interludes........................................................8.5.............Home Brew
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total.11.............................................................58.........................................<3.6>

Uniformly good modules. The Witchfire trilogy is great fun. Dungeon Crawl Classics are always a
good bet. I wanted to get back to the Crater of Umeshti, but it never happened. Against The Iron
Giant Was great fun. I messed up the Last Initiate by letting too powerful an NPC, unexpected
player loss, along for the trip. I completely junked the plots of the Monte Cook mini-campaigns
which is why there were so many home brewed interludes in the second half of the campaign.
There were great locations and NPC's that I made liberal use of.

I did do some things wrong. Too many healing potions and letting loose a Staff of Evocation.
Thus no player character died at the table. There were a number of close calls. Spike almost
died twice, poisoned by mansects and stupidly facing down a basilisk. Quilord was seriously
hurt by a magic missile from a shape shifting spider popping up out of ambush. Murga was killed
by that same spider just after going NPC. It was an experienced, cautious bunch of players.

Excellent campaign that lasted about 3.5 years of real time.

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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by Omote »

I've never seen a campaign analysis like this. Are you a "stats" kinda person? Wow. Neat!

~O
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Re: The Venga Campaign

Post by cinabro »

Thanks for the nice words of encouragement. I am a scientist, and measuring stuff is just what I do. On a more serious note, I do like to have an idea of how fast characters advance and how many sessions I can guess a module to take. Both of these aid in figuring out what to prepare for the future. I take a while to prepare, and thus I have to have a good idea how long the module we are working on and the module that is coming up next are going to take and what the character levels are going to be so that I have an idea when and what I should be buying/reading such that the campaign has a long break while the CK tries to figure out what to do next. Also it is good to know who produces good modules as it is a big waste of time to read bad ones and even worse to actually play a bad module.

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