409 - Sep 26
The session opened on the morning of September 26. The rune of the Greater Invisibility Ring was copied by Tanis who showed it to Tertius, the High Priest of the Temple of Apollo.
Tertius was disturbed by the rune and demanded to know where it had come from. Tanis attempted to pretend that he had seen it in the sewers but, in the face of forensic interrogation by Tertius, finally admitted it was on a magic ring. Tertius was not impressed by Tanis's feeble attempts at deception.
Tertius, accompanied by 4 clerics went to the mansion to examine the ring.
He said the rune appeared to have two functions:
(1) - It radiates a beacon enabling the owner/maker to know where the ring is at all times. He said the ring had been crafted by a very high level mage and that routine precautions against detection (gold/lead shielding) probably wouldn't work. He said moving the ring constantly between planes might work otherwise it should be put in the care of a powerful temple (he suggested the temples of Apollo at Rome, Ravenna, Constantinople or Antioch) where protective spells might discourage interference. He said the Apollo temple in Trajectum was not powerful enough (Tertius is only 9th level).
(2) - The ring appears to be able to summon extra-planar beings of some sort. Tertius could not detect what these beings would be but did not pick up any evil emanation from the ring.
The party decided to head for the Tower of Pain and moved off at 1000.
They covered 21 miles on the 26th. Tanis has become besotted with collecting herbs to make various alchemical mixtures (specifically opium poppies, henbane, hemlock, dropwater and lily of the valley).
While the party was setting up camp the would be hippy wandered through the forest looking for these plants. He found three sprigs of henbane.
On the 27th the party resumed its journey. In the mid-morning they ran into three Medusae who had taken up ambush positions in tree tops adjoining the track. The party despatched them with little trouble.
Phillip, who was on his first adventure with the party and was unexpectedly sober (though a bit pale) proved useful with Fireball and Scorching Ray spells.
The party discovered a small shrine to Mars not far from the track which was apparently used by the Medusae.
Gaius checked it for traps. Entering the shrine he was attacked by a scythe trap. Inside the shrine was a font with a metal box in it. Above the font Gaius detected a stone trap.
He managed to remove the metal box, dodging the stone trap and tumbling past the sythe trap which had reset itself.
Reaching the outside Gaius managed to open the lock on the chest. Dell, who was standing nearby detected a strong ammonia smell coming from the box when it was opened (later assessed to have been some sort of gas trap which had lost potency over the years).
Inside the box was 1600gp, an Oil of Magic Weapon, a Potion of Levitation and a Potion of Barkskin (+2). There was also a small bloodstone statue of Mars assessed to be worth 200gp.
The party decided to camp.
Tanis went off plant hunting again and was ambushed by another Medusa.
Things looked grim for him as he was 100 yards away from the rest of the party.
He suffered a poison bite from the Medusa's snake hair, but used a spell to mitigate the effects and then ran for it like a big girl.
The rest of the party moved up and the Medusa did not pursue.
As the party explored the forest where the first Medusa appeared, they spied four Medusae conversing. The vile monsters (speaking Latin) were discussing waiting until dark and then ambushing the party.
The party decided it was time to move on and went to the Tower of Pain. They took up position in an observation point about 300 feet from the entrance to the Tower.
Dell and Gaius (both invisible and holding hands so they did trip over each other) skipped to the tower.
In the ground floor room they noticed the trapdoor to the underground section of the Tower was closed. The ladder to the first floor was still there. Gaius found a discarded warhammer of Duergar manufacture.
He ascended the ladder and noticed a curious viscous liquid seeping through the trapdoor. While puzzling over this he heard the sound of a flint being struck and then the trapdoor exploded into flame. The plucky (gutless?) Dwarf dropped back down the ladder.
Dell bravely (stupidly?) ascended the ladder. Reaching the first floor he saw a Duergar holding a curious siphon-like instrument connected to a glass tank. He saw two other Duergar servicing what looked like a giant crossbow (actually a ballista).
Seeing the trapdoor open though Dell was invisible, the siphon Duergar sprayed a jet of flame over Dell while the other Duergar put a large ballista bolt into him.
A furious combat ensued. Dell killed the siphon Duergar but the flame effect of his sword ignited the glass tank. After the resulting explosion nothing recognisable remained of the Duergar or his curious weapon.
The ballista crew were quickly overcome and their weapon recovered intact.
The party checked the floors above the first floor. The second floor contained bunks and chests of clothes and the third floor was a storeroom with provisions. A total of 8 ballista bolts were recovered. The ballista is an improved version of the standard weapon with a range of around 1200 feet and does damage of 5d8.
The party then checked out the trapdoor leading into the underground section of the temple.
Gaius detected the odour of the strange flammable fluid on the door and, once again, the door exploded into flame.
At this point the session ended at 1600.
Tertius was disturbed by the rune and demanded to know where it had come from. Tanis attempted to pretend that he had seen it in the sewers but, in the face of forensic interrogation by Tertius, finally admitted it was on a magic ring. Tertius was not impressed by Tanis's feeble attempts at deception.
Tertius, accompanied by 4 clerics went to the mansion to examine the ring.
He said the rune appeared to have two functions:
(1) - It radiates a beacon enabling the owner/maker to know where the ring is at all times. He said the ring had been crafted by a very high level mage and that routine precautions against detection (gold/lead shielding) probably wouldn't work. He said moving the ring constantly between planes might work otherwise it should be put in the care of a powerful temple (he suggested the temples of Apollo at Rome, Ravenna, Constantinople or Antioch) where protective spells might discourage interference. He said the Apollo temple in Trajectum was not powerful enough (Tertius is only 9th level).
(2) - The ring appears to be able to summon extra-planar beings of some sort. Tertius could not detect what these beings would be but did not pick up any evil emanation from the ring.
The party decided to head for the Tower of Pain and moved off at 1000.
They covered 21 miles on the 26th. Tanis has become besotted with collecting herbs to make various alchemical mixtures (specifically opium poppies, henbane, hemlock, dropwater and lily of the valley).
While the party was setting up camp the would be hippy wandered through the forest looking for these plants. He found three sprigs of henbane.
On the 27th the party resumed its journey. In the mid-morning they ran into three Medusae who had taken up ambush positions in tree tops adjoining the track. The party despatched them with little trouble.
Phillip, who was on his first adventure with the party and was unexpectedly sober (though a bit pale) proved useful with Fireball and Scorching Ray spells.
The party discovered a small shrine to Mars not far from the track which was apparently used by the Medusae.
Gaius checked it for traps. Entering the shrine he was attacked by a scythe trap. Inside the shrine was a font with a metal box in it. Above the font Gaius detected a stone trap.
He managed to remove the metal box, dodging the stone trap and tumbling past the sythe trap which had reset itself.
Reaching the outside Gaius managed to open the lock on the chest. Dell, who was standing nearby detected a strong ammonia smell coming from the box when it was opened (later assessed to have been some sort of gas trap which had lost potency over the years).
Inside the box was 1600gp, an Oil of Magic Weapon, a Potion of Levitation and a Potion of Barkskin (+2). There was also a small bloodstone statue of Mars assessed to be worth 200gp.
The party decided to camp.
Tanis went off plant hunting again and was ambushed by another Medusa.
Things looked grim for him as he was 100 yards away from the rest of the party.
He suffered a poison bite from the Medusa's snake hair, but used a spell to mitigate the effects and then ran for it like a big girl.
The rest of the party moved up and the Medusa did not pursue.
As the party explored the forest where the first Medusa appeared, they spied four Medusae conversing. The vile monsters (speaking Latin) were discussing waiting until dark and then ambushing the party.
The party decided it was time to move on and went to the Tower of Pain. They took up position in an observation point about 300 feet from the entrance to the Tower.
Dell and Gaius (both invisible and holding hands so they did trip over each other) skipped to the tower.
In the ground floor room they noticed the trapdoor to the underground section of the Tower was closed. The ladder to the first floor was still there. Gaius found a discarded warhammer of Duergar manufacture.
He ascended the ladder and noticed a curious viscous liquid seeping through the trapdoor. While puzzling over this he heard the sound of a flint being struck and then the trapdoor exploded into flame. The plucky (gutless?) Dwarf dropped back down the ladder.
Dell bravely (stupidly?) ascended the ladder. Reaching the first floor he saw a Duergar holding a curious siphon-like instrument connected to a glass tank. He saw two other Duergar servicing what looked like a giant crossbow (actually a ballista).
Seeing the trapdoor open though Dell was invisible, the siphon Duergar sprayed a jet of flame over Dell while the other Duergar put a large ballista bolt into him.
A furious combat ensued. Dell killed the siphon Duergar but the flame effect of his sword ignited the glass tank. After the resulting explosion nothing recognisable remained of the Duergar or his curious weapon.
The ballista crew were quickly overcome and their weapon recovered intact.
The party checked the floors above the first floor. The second floor contained bunks and chests of clothes and the third floor was a storeroom with provisions. A total of 8 ballista bolts were recovered. The ballista is an improved version of the standard weapon with a range of around 1200 feet and does damage of 5d8.
The party then checked out the trapdoor leading into the underground section of the temple.
Gaius detected the odour of the strange flammable fluid on the door and, once again, the door exploded into flame.
At this point the session ended at 1600.