409 - Jun 21
21 June 1200
The party decide to rest up and recover spells. Around 1600 Hester and Aradec were on watch. Hester heard something large moving towards the camp. Attempts were made to alert the rest of the party. Taryyn was deep in reverie and did not immediately respond. Vincenzo continued to snore loudly. Aileil and his canine friend woke up.
As the party got organised Hester saw the intruder more clearly, a large Black Bear which was ambling towards the camp. Aileil perceived that the Bear was a normal (albeit large) mundane creature. He sensed that it was seeking food. He offered a Goodberry, but the bear had more substantial fare in mind. After being offered some dried meat it evacuated its bowels (always a sign a bear feels at home) and wandered contentedly off into the forest.
The rest of the party's rest period was undisturbed and, around 2200, they returned to the caves to complete their exploration.
As they moved into a small cavern, Aradec felt something pull at his belt pouch and had a fleeting glimpse of a shadowy figure. He discovered that his silver Picty charm had been stolen.
Alerting the party to this strange occurence, the adventurers banded together trying to see what was stalking them.
Hester was the next victim, having a Healing Potion pulled out of his backpack and, once again, a strange shadowy presence was briefly glimpsed.
Aileil was the next target, but the wily Druid got a clear look at the thief, a strange one legged monstrosity with its face in the midst of its loathsome grey/green body and with four long arms ending in taloned claws. Startled at being discovered the creature gave out an enraged hiss as Aileil chopped into it with his weapon. Hester put an arrow into it and dropped it. The party searched the chamber and Aradec discovered a loose stone in the wall behind which was assorted shiny junk amongst which was 2gp. The party discovered that the creature had some sort of strange pouch in its lower abdomen and retrieved the missing amulet and potion. Vincenzo, using his senior lecturer voice, opined that the creature (whatever it was) had been using an Ethereal ability to vanish and reappear.
The party composed itself after this disturbing encounter and proceeded onward to check out an unexplored cavern. En-route they had a look at the mysterious door at the base of the pit. It was still there. Aileil decided to lob an arm severed off the mysterious Ethereal creature at the door. The arm struck the door and was promptly absorbed into the door with a revolting sucking/squelching noise.
The party also had a look at the strange door that was created by the Ooze in the room with the statue. Sure enough the door was still there.
Deciding to leave the door alone, the party moved on.
They came to a muggy warm cavern with numerous small passages leading off it. The room contained several largish eggs plus many more borken eggs. Squatting amidst the eggs was a large lizard which appeared to be glowing with intense heat. At the sight of the party the lizard, obviously nervous about its stash of eggs, made an aggressive noise.
Aileil attempted to entrance the creature with a spell, but it showed no interest. Alaricus then tried to Mind Thrust it. The lizard shook its head but was otherwise unaffected. Not to be left out, VIncenzo cast a Sleep Spell. The lizard gave a small yawn but remained obstinately awake.
Having exhausted their awesome magical/psionic barrage the party turned to what it knows best, mindless violence. Aradec attempted to get behind the lizard. This proved an ill advised tactic. Showing startling agility the lizard leapt at the plucky thief and slammed into him. The force of the blow was augmented by the terrible heat emanating from the lethal saurian. Aradec, mortally wounded crumpled in a cloud of steam. Flames appeared briefly on his tanned carcass, but were happily extinguished as his senseless body rolled across the floor.
Taryn, after making sure his hair was in place, pirouetted gracefullly across the chamber and buried his bastard sword in the brainpan of the overheated reptile. It gave a startled grunt and collapsed. Taryn's sword started to glow red hot from the heat from the dying lizard and the Warblade got a nasty burn on his hand trying to pull the weapon free. Aileil went to the aid of Aradec and got him back on his feet with some healing magic.
The lizard proved to be a Thoqqua, a variant of fire elemental. The eggs turned out to be Kobold eggs. Aradec, displaying a previously unsuspected maternal instinct, put one of the eggs into his backpack.
At this point the party decided to rest again.
2300 - 22 June
The following day (23 June), after a quiet night, the party decided to check on how things were progressing with the damaged merchant ship. They found that the ship was now off the reef and was floating in the bay behind the shelter of the reef. The crew advised that they expected to complete repairs (weather allowing) in 24-48 hours). Taryn tried to attract the attention of the Locathah, but without success.
The party decided to explore the barrows.
Upon reaching the clearing with the four barrows they were set upon by an ambush party of 8 Kobold zombies. One of the Zombies was wielding the short sword taken from Aradec.
A spirited melee ensued. Vincenzo, awash with testosterone, waded into melee with his staff (and, when it became clear that the best weapons against the Zombies were slashing weapons - his MAGIC dagger) and inflicted several hits but also got some nasty wounds from Kobold spears which may have had something to do with the fact that his armour consisted of a flashy nightgown. Taryn executed a number of spectacular attacks which would have seen heads flying and entrails flailing if Zombies had a central nervous system and viable organs Alaricus, in yet another ball bouncing display of mental prowess, used Astral Construct to summon a weird Psionicy thing which took out one of the Zombies with a butch slam attack.
The Zombies were quickly despatched and Aradec got his short sword back. Hester gave his Healing potion to the bloodied but triumphant Wizard.
The party next decided to examine the collapsed burrow. The ruins of the barrow contained the skeletal remains of four Kobolds. Aradec assessed that the barrow had been trapped to collapse. Nothing of value was found on the Kobolds.
Next, the party examined the barrow with sealed stone door. Aradec noticed a small circle of discoloured stone in the centre of the door but could find no obvious opening mechanism. An amusing debate then ensued between Aradec and Vincenzo about how to open the door. Snorting with irritation, Aileil strode up to the door and pushed at the mysterious circle of stone. The door opened inwards to reveal a burial chamber. Six burial alcoves lined the walls. In the centre of the chamber was a stone sarcophagus with the lid removed. Two repulsive Ghouls were at each side of the casket peering inside.
At the sight of the party they surged forward to attack, but were foiled when Vincenzo hit them with a Web Spell. One Ghoul was thoroughly entangled, but the other one managed to dodge some of the sticky tendrils and began moving slowly towards the adventurers. Taryn and Aileil, wielding torches, slowly cleared a path through the web then engaged the Ghouls. At the climax of the battle Vincenzo dismissed the web and the Ghouls were deftly slaughtered. Taryn received a nasty bite, but suffered no major ill effects.
The party searched the chamber. They discovered that the Ghouls had removed the bodies from the alcoves and eaten them and disposed of the bones by throwing them into the sarcophagus.
There was nothing of value in the chamber.
Feeling hard-done by in the treasure/loot department, the party decided to head back into the forest and rest before tackling the remaining two barrows.
The party decide to rest up and recover spells. Around 1600 Hester and Aradec were on watch. Hester heard something large moving towards the camp. Attempts were made to alert the rest of the party. Taryyn was deep in reverie and did not immediately respond. Vincenzo continued to snore loudly. Aileil and his canine friend woke up.
As the party got organised Hester saw the intruder more clearly, a large Black Bear which was ambling towards the camp. Aileil perceived that the Bear was a normal (albeit large) mundane creature. He sensed that it was seeking food. He offered a Goodberry, but the bear had more substantial fare in mind. After being offered some dried meat it evacuated its bowels (always a sign a bear feels at home) and wandered contentedly off into the forest.
The rest of the party's rest period was undisturbed and, around 2200, they returned to the caves to complete their exploration.
As they moved into a small cavern, Aradec felt something pull at his belt pouch and had a fleeting glimpse of a shadowy figure. He discovered that his silver Picty charm had been stolen.
Alerting the party to this strange occurence, the adventurers banded together trying to see what was stalking them.
Hester was the next victim, having a Healing Potion pulled out of his backpack and, once again, a strange shadowy presence was briefly glimpsed.
Aileil was the next target, but the wily Druid got a clear look at the thief, a strange one legged monstrosity with its face in the midst of its loathsome grey/green body and with four long arms ending in taloned claws. Startled at being discovered the creature gave out an enraged hiss as Aileil chopped into it with his weapon. Hester put an arrow into it and dropped it. The party searched the chamber and Aradec discovered a loose stone in the wall behind which was assorted shiny junk amongst which was 2gp. The party discovered that the creature had some sort of strange pouch in its lower abdomen and retrieved the missing amulet and potion. Vincenzo, using his senior lecturer voice, opined that the creature (whatever it was) had been using an Ethereal ability to vanish and reappear.
The party composed itself after this disturbing encounter and proceeded onward to check out an unexplored cavern. En-route they had a look at the mysterious door at the base of the pit. It was still there. Aileil decided to lob an arm severed off the mysterious Ethereal creature at the door. The arm struck the door and was promptly absorbed into the door with a revolting sucking/squelching noise.
The party also had a look at the strange door that was created by the Ooze in the room with the statue. Sure enough the door was still there.
Deciding to leave the door alone, the party moved on.
They came to a muggy warm cavern with numerous small passages leading off it. The room contained several largish eggs plus many more borken eggs. Squatting amidst the eggs was a large lizard which appeared to be glowing with intense heat. At the sight of the party the lizard, obviously nervous about its stash of eggs, made an aggressive noise.
Aileil attempted to entrance the creature with a spell, but it showed no interest. Alaricus then tried to Mind Thrust it. The lizard shook its head but was otherwise unaffected. Not to be left out, VIncenzo cast a Sleep Spell. The lizard gave a small yawn but remained obstinately awake.
Having exhausted their awesome magical/psionic barrage the party turned to what it knows best, mindless violence. Aradec attempted to get behind the lizard. This proved an ill advised tactic. Showing startling agility the lizard leapt at the plucky thief and slammed into him. The force of the blow was augmented by the terrible heat emanating from the lethal saurian. Aradec, mortally wounded crumpled in a cloud of steam. Flames appeared briefly on his tanned carcass, but were happily extinguished as his senseless body rolled across the floor.
Taryn, after making sure his hair was in place, pirouetted gracefullly across the chamber and buried his bastard sword in the brainpan of the overheated reptile. It gave a startled grunt and collapsed. Taryn's sword started to glow red hot from the heat from the dying lizard and the Warblade got a nasty burn on his hand trying to pull the weapon free. Aileil went to the aid of Aradec and got him back on his feet with some healing magic.
The lizard proved to be a Thoqqua, a variant of fire elemental. The eggs turned out to be Kobold eggs. Aradec, displaying a previously unsuspected maternal instinct, put one of the eggs into his backpack.
At this point the party decided to rest again.
2300 - 22 June
The following day (23 June), after a quiet night, the party decided to check on how things were progressing with the damaged merchant ship. They found that the ship was now off the reef and was floating in the bay behind the shelter of the reef. The crew advised that they expected to complete repairs (weather allowing) in 24-48 hours). Taryn tried to attract the attention of the Locathah, but without success.
The party decided to explore the barrows.
Upon reaching the clearing with the four barrows they were set upon by an ambush party of 8 Kobold zombies. One of the Zombies was wielding the short sword taken from Aradec.
A spirited melee ensued. Vincenzo, awash with testosterone, waded into melee with his staff (and, when it became clear that the best weapons against the Zombies were slashing weapons - his MAGIC dagger) and inflicted several hits but also got some nasty wounds from Kobold spears which may have had something to do with the fact that his armour consisted of a flashy nightgown. Taryn executed a number of spectacular attacks which would have seen heads flying and entrails flailing if Zombies had a central nervous system and viable organs Alaricus, in yet another ball bouncing display of mental prowess, used Astral Construct to summon a weird Psionicy thing which took out one of the Zombies with a butch slam attack.
The Zombies were quickly despatched and Aradec got his short sword back. Hester gave his Healing potion to the bloodied but triumphant Wizard.
The party next decided to examine the collapsed burrow. The ruins of the barrow contained the skeletal remains of four Kobolds. Aradec assessed that the barrow had been trapped to collapse. Nothing of value was found on the Kobolds.
Next, the party examined the barrow with sealed stone door. Aradec noticed a small circle of discoloured stone in the centre of the door but could find no obvious opening mechanism. An amusing debate then ensued between Aradec and Vincenzo about how to open the door. Snorting with irritation, Aileil strode up to the door and pushed at the mysterious circle of stone. The door opened inwards to reveal a burial chamber. Six burial alcoves lined the walls. In the centre of the chamber was a stone sarcophagus with the lid removed. Two repulsive Ghouls were at each side of the casket peering inside.
At the sight of the party they surged forward to attack, but were foiled when Vincenzo hit them with a Web Spell. One Ghoul was thoroughly entangled, but the other one managed to dodge some of the sticky tendrils and began moving slowly towards the adventurers. Taryn and Aileil, wielding torches, slowly cleared a path through the web then engaged the Ghouls. At the climax of the battle Vincenzo dismissed the web and the Ghouls were deftly slaughtered. Taryn received a nasty bite, but suffered no major ill effects.
The party searched the chamber. They discovered that the Ghouls had removed the bodies from the alcoves and eaten them and disposed of the bones by throwing them into the sarcophagus.
There was nothing of value in the chamber.
Feeling hard-done by in the treasure/loot department, the party decided to head back into the forest and rest before tackling the remaining two barrows.