Session 48 - Session Notes

This was another combat-heavy session with a pair of rather large (and deadly) battles.  I will say that this time, the combats went rather fast.  Part of the reason, I think, is we were down to 5 players this session (Scrag's player was absent and was being played by the Sage player as a proxy).

Much like the last session, I spent half the time cringing at the PC's almost complete inability to use tactics.  I mean, seriously, we are two years into this thing and session after session they keep making the same obviously bad choices.

Most of them take a tactic of "run up to the closest guy and start attacking with at-wills" or "stand back and fire at the closest guy with at-wills".  There's no concentration of fire, no paying attention to what anyone else is doing, very little attempts to use powers in useful combinations, etc.  They use to at least attempt to flank or protect the wizard - now they rarely even bother to do that.  And they still wonder why battles get so deadly...

The only real strategizing they do is to try and limit their exposure by fighting in narrow hallways.  Had any of the latest fights been outdoors, I could easily see some TPKs.

Anyhow, apart from that I become increasingly baffled by their assurance (particularly the Krolec player) that the High Septarch is behind all this, despite having absolutely no evidence other than "somebody used powerful magic".  I can understand having a suspicion (sort of), but at this point he's absolutely certain.  What's really funny - the same guy always misses 100% of clues I drop about any type of mystery thing (again, he couldn't solve a Matlock episode) yet completely invents red herrings of his own.

This will likely result in one of those conversations in-game where my NPC dresses down their PCs for acting so stupid.  I'm just itching to get an opportunity to make an allusion to the speech Sawyer gives Jack in Lost about always reacting by running off half-cocked and getting people killed.

With half the temple gone through, I can't wait for them to finish it so they can discover the infodump object will explain some things and move the plot forward.


Here's my big dilemma now - they are trapped below ground for likely several more sessions.  Sage is dead.  Obviously, the Sage player does not want to sit around for the next 2 months or so until they get back to the surface.

My potential options:

* I could have someone come rescue them by opening back up the ceiling hole.  However, that would remove the tension from the current setup of being trapped.

* I could have the Raven Queen finally grant their prayers and send Sage back.  However, that seems like a bit of a cop-out.  I don't think she wants to be another revenant, nor do I think the Raven Queen loves the idea of having to keep letting go of dead group members.

* I could have a new character show up.  Because of the situation, it would have to be something very special.  Maybe only temporary, as I'm not sure the Sage players wants to change characters yet again (as she is already on her 4th one).

I'm going to check with the player and see what she thinks, but I'm leaning towards option 3.

Session 49 - Cast of Characters

Sir Krolec Jar'Bin - Elven Ranger
Dame Leigh - Eladrin Wizard
Sa'lid Dra'lah - Human Sorcerer
Scrag Graveborn - Half-Orc Warden
Sir Durmindin - Wilden Shaman

And introducing...

Yathrin Talaste zyne'Phyrva Noquva - ?? (a surprise)

Session 49 - Scene 1 (of 6)

Looking up at the filled in ceiling, Leigh and Krolec discuss what to do next.  Leigh points out that since the other two exits are sealed, it is likely the entrance down to the catacombs will be as well.  Krolec remarks that it won't hurt to check.

Just then, a female figure emerges from the shadows near the entrance to the chamber.  She is a drow spider priestess.  Krolec immediately readies his bow, but relaxes slightly once the woman speaks.  She says she has a proposition for the group...

After Krolec lowers his bow slightly and indicates he is willing to listen, the woman continues.  She explains that she and Lloth, the demon spider goddess of the drow, have been watching the group; and that the group is delving towards something they need.

Krolec asks what it is the woman needs.  She explains that it is information out of a tome.  The priestess goes on to say that the information concerns a mutual enemy, the man in the purple cloak.  Specifically, she believes the information contained in the book will allow her to find the man.

The ranger wonders what she wants with the mysterious man.  The drow responds only that he needs to be destroyed.  Despite his racial attitudes towards drow, Krolec still smiles at the answer.  He concurs he can understand, as he knows the man had brutally killed several drow in the past.

The spider priestess elaborates on the terms of her deal.  She explains that she will help the group stay alive (help that she can tell they clearly need), help them clear the temple, and help them get back to the surface in exchange for letting her copy information out of a tome that can be found inside this temple.  

Leigh makes sure to clarify that they will be able to keep the book itself, and that the woman is only going to copy some information out of the book.  The drow's patience is very limited, and she begins insulting Leigh and the group, wondering aloud how they can be so stupid as to not understand her clear instructions and insist on asking her insipid questions she's already answered.  Leigh takes the response in stride, refusing to rise to the bait.

Krolec wants to know what the priestess wants to do with the information.  She responds only that it will be a matter between herself and Lloth.  Krolec tries to get more explanation on her intentions towards the purple-cloaked man, and she once again goes on a tirade about how stupid the group is and expresses her amazement they've survived this long.

From across the room, Sa'lid smirks to himself.  The woman is not only an exotic beauty, but her acerbic wit is equally attractive.  He wonders if perhaps he would find her company even more stimulating than that of Lady Abigail.

Meanwhile, Krolec stays focused on the task at hand.  He questions the priestess if she has any suspicions on the man in the purple cloak's current location.  She says only that she has no knowledge of his whereabouts at the moment.

The elf mentions he has his own suspicions about who the man may really be.  The woman responds only that the tome will give them evidence on his identity, location, and plans.  Krolec believes the man has nefarious plans to enslave the world in darkness, based on what he's seen of the man so far.

Leigh acknowledges the group and the woman could certainly help each other in the destruction of the purple-cloaked man.  Durmindin likewise notes the two factions have mutual goals, and he is interested in securing an alliance.  Krolec quietly points out to his ally that the goals are only mutual for the moment; he is still suspicious of the drow's true intentions.

As a measure of good faith, the priestess heals Scrag and Leigh using her magic.  She introduces herself as Yathrin then offers to help stand guard while the others sleep.  Krolec and Leigh organize everyone into watches; they certainly want someone keeping an eye on the drow at all times.

Session 49 - Scene 2 (of 6)

Leigh has the first shift with Yathrin.  Although the drow scorns her for asking repetitive questions, she does not appear to inspire the same racial hatred that Krolec does.

A short while into their watch, both of the women hear noises coming from down the hall, back in another part of the temple.  Leigh decides they should stay put and see what happens.  After a few minutes, the sounds appear to wander off and nothing more is heard.

The remaining shifts pass without incident and the group is now fully rested.  Leigh argues the group's first course of action should be to head back to the rotunda and the crypt of the great warrior, and make sure both rooms really are cleared.

Krolec agrees, stating they should focus on clearing out the rest of the temple at this point.

As they head out, Krolec tries to get a better read on their new companion.  He notes to Yathrin that as they are both looking for the man in the purple cloak, she may want to stay on with the group until they can hunt him down.  He then starts to mention he has a theory about the mysterious man, but the drow cuts him off before he can complete his thought.

Yathrin, clearly indicating she has no desire to make conversation, says simply she will stay with the group only if Lloth's will decrees it.

Undeterred by the spider priestess, Krolec takes the lead and he and Scrag help everyone back across the pit then march the group back towards the crypt rooms.  Krolec takes things very slowly, being extra careful about making sure there are no traps as they approach the rooms.

They decide to first head to the Crypt of the Great Warrior.  It is a large, rectangular room with many piles of bones in the catacombs along the walls, and a large vaulted crypt at the end.  The crypt contains the name of Sir Leopold the Great.

Once the area is relatively secured, Leigh goes in for a closer look.  She identifies Sir Leopold as a former paladin of Pelor, who led a successful group of knights in battles in Asandar during the crusades against Nekekharan a couple hundred years ago.  He later returned to the Fallcrest area, where he died of dysentery.

Leigh can detect nothing magical about the crypt, nor does Krolec find any sign it has been recently opened.  To be safe, Krolec and Scrag open the crypt.  Inside, he quickly spots a shining sword with a gold and bejeweled hilt lying across the prostrate remains of Leopold.

Although the sword is not magical, it is of fine quality and will fetch a good price at market.  Krolec takes the sword from the tomb under salvage rights, and has Leigh put it inside the bag of holding.  To preserve it from tarnish, he makes sure it is wrapped with a piece of cloth.

Next, the group heads over to the Rotunda.  It appears to be a series of tombs that have been broken into (or out of) by the wights.  The half-eaten remains of the dead lay here, but they spot little else of interest.

Before heading to the west side of the temple, Krolec suggests taking the time to make sure the east side is still secure.  Given the noises she heard the previous night, Leigh is inclined to agree.

Session 49 - Scene 3 (of 6)

A couple of hours later, everyone is satisfied any remaining threats in the temple will be located in the western side.  Yathrin mutters to herself about what fools she is forced to deal with, wondering how they managed to live this long.

As Krolec passes through the central hall, he can see reflecting light from the Chamber of Mirrors beyond.

The Chamber of Mirrors is hexagonal in shape, with exits in every direction.  Krolec worries about another large ambush, and moves in slowly and quietly.

He can see that the walls in this chamber are covered with mirrors, with some kind of pedestal in the center.  Without getting too close, he has Leigh throw an illuminated pebble inside so they can get h better look.

Once the room is lit up, much more can be seen.  There are numbers carved in the ceiling above each number, starting with the number one just to the left of the entrance, and increasing in a clockwise direction until they get to 359 on the right side of the entrance.

The pedestal is quite interesting to the group as well.  On top of the pedestal is some kind of rotating metal device.  Affixed to it is an upright mirror.  In the middle of the pedestal sits the small remains of a candle.  Krolec can also see there is some kind of inscription on the pedestal, but can't make it out from this distance.

Everyone moves in for a closer look.  They can see the top of the pedestal has a series of numbers from 1 to 359 written around its outside edge, with an arrow pointing to the numbers as part of the rotating device.  Leigh reads the inscription aloud, "May the sun that travels 40 leagues less the age when a man is no longer a child shine its rejuvenating light upon you.  But beware, for death weakens you by inches where he rides a twenty-hand horse."

Krolec can tell it is some sort of riddle, but he doesn't quite understand it.  It seems to be saying that something good will happen if the candle is lit and the light reflected onto a wall mirror at a specific number.  But that something bad will happen if a different mirror is hit.

Leigh tries to use her knowledge of history to recall something about this riddle, but nothing comes to mind.  Krolec focuses on the second part of the riddle, recalling that a 20-hand horse is equivalent to 80 inches.  He believes 80 is the number they need to avoid.

The wizard continues to pontificate on the first part of the riddle.  As 18 is considered the age of majority, she believes "less the age when a man is no longer a child" refers to subtracting 18 from the number referred to by 40 leagues.

Krolec, quite literal by nature, believes the number they want is 22: 40 less 18.  Leigh doesn't quite agree, noting that the riddle specifically says leagues.  As leagues are only expressed in terms of miles, she quickly calculates that 40 leagues is equal to 120 miles.  And thus, the target number is 102.

The elf ranger isn't convinced, but decides they should try both numbers.  He theorizes they can just use the candle more than once.  Leigh notes the candle only has enough left for one use.

They eventually decide to try 102, though Krolec  remains convinced 22 is an equally likely interpretation.  As he goes to turn the apparatus towards 102, he discovers it will not move.  Leigh surmises the candle must be lit first, making them even more careful to avoid hitting 80.

However, Krolec does notice the pedestal apparatus can rotate left or right.  Using the handle to rotate the device counter-clockwise, the elf is able to hit 102 without passing 80.

As the light hits the reflecting mirror at 102, the entire chamber fills with a bright light.  Everyone finds themselves bathed in a warm glow of rejuvenation.  A second later, the candle burns out and the chamber returns to normal.

Durmindin takes a moment to check on Sage's corpse.  To his disappointment, she is not returned from the dead.  He does notice, however, that her corpse appears to be less degraded and looks as if it will remain preserved for at least a while yet.

Sa'lid notes aloud that perhaps they should have saved using the candle, since they were already fully rested.  Krolec grumbles something about not knowing what it did ahead of time.  The sorcerer, however, wonders if the group doesn't have a tendency to react too quickly.

Session 49 - Scene 4 (of 6)

Looking around at the side passages out of this room, Krolec sees two rather uninteresting crypts, a third crypt containing several bags of coins and objects of art, and a fourth room with a bronze statue holding some kind of vial.

Leigh can tell the vial contains a healing potion.  Krolec carefully examines the doorway and room itself for traps, finding none.  The statue itself, however, is trapped with a trigger that will go off if the potion is removed.

Krolec isn't sure what exactly will happen when the trap is triggered, but Leigh points out a hidden panel in the wall that appears to move.

Wanting to get the potion, Krolec has Sa'lid bring Snarg over to deactivate the trap.  Unfortunately, Snarg is having an off day and ends up setting off the trap.  A panel in the wall opens, and a giant blast of flames comes out.  Krolec is able to move out of the way in time, but Sa'lid and Snarg are burned.

Sa'lid manages to stop the flames on himself, but Krolec is forced to assist Snarg in getting his flames out.  Given the relative risk vs. reward, even factoring in the value of the statue itself, Krolec decides they should leave it alone for now and come back for it later.

Moving on, Krolec looks through the two seemingly empty crypt rooms.  Looking them over carefully, he finds nothing of interest.  Finally, the last room with the treasure is making him nervous.  

Leigh examines the room carefully, noting the treasure inside is cursed and will cause something bad to happen if they disturb the room.  After making sure the room is otherwise clear, Krolec decides they should leave it alone and move on, once again noting they can always come back later.

Heading out of the chamber, they pass beyond into the Hall of the Faithful.  As they step inside, four phantom warriors materialize out of the air.  

Yathrin immediately responds by blasting three of the creatures with a flamestrike.  Leigh follows up the assault with a fireball and a fireburst.

Krolec's arrows have less luck, missing their target.  Scrag prefers a more direct approach, charging in after them.  But he likewise finds the ghost warriors difficult to strike.

The phantoms surround Scrag and begin cutting into him with their ghostly blades.  Durmindin attempts to help his companion by summoning his spirit companion and calling forth his spirit of the healing flood spell.

Sa'lid tries to help out as well, but his explosive pyre misses the mark.  Yathrin further heals the warden with a healing word, then uses her Light of Arvandor spell to attack the spirits.

With her big attacks already used, Leigh focuses on hitting one of the creatures with a magic missile.  Krolec follows up the attack with a pair of arrows.

Scrag tries to get away from the shadow warriors surrounding him, but misses with his thunder ram assault.  They respond by cutting into him again.

Durmindin blasts the undead spirits with his spirit of autumn's reaping spell as Sa'lid fails to connect with an energy strobe.

Nearby, Yathrin casts a curse on the spirits then says another prayer to Lloth to heal Scrag.

Leigh decides to use another fire attack.  The wizard causes Yathrin and Scrag to fall to the ground as she blasts the ghosts with her firescythe, causing one of them to disappear.

Krolec and Scrag coordinate their attacks on another of the apparitions, engulfing it in a hail of thorns and arrows.  The phantoms counterattack Scrag, wounding him twice.

Durmindin continues to stay on the offensive, but misses with his thunder bear assault.  Sa'lid tries to follow it up with his swirling stars spell, but only manages to injure Durmindin as it only hits his spirit companion.

Yathrin then stands herself up and calls out in the name of Lloth, causing the undead to repel away.

With the undead weakened, Leigh moves up and blasts one away with a magic missile.  The remaining two are quickly finished off by Krolec's arrows, Sa'lid's energy strobe, and Yathrin's sacred flame.

Session 49 - Scene 5 (of 6)

The group takes a moment to make sure the hall is clear and then stops to rest for a few minutes.  Once they are ready, Krolec leads them through the empty antechamber as he and Leigh ensure it is free of traps or magic.

As they pass through, Krolec notices gold inlays in the wall in the symbol of Pelor.  He elects not to try and take them, staying focused on advancing to the altar room.

Beyond the antechamber lies the altar room.  Even from beyond the doorway, Leigh can feel its magic.  In the center of the room is a tall statue of Pelor.

Once again, Krolec takes the point and begins to head in.  As he approaches the statues, he jumps back when it begins to move.  The statue looks up to the ceiling, where a sun is painted.

Just then, a ray of blinding light comes down from the ceiling, hitting the altar.  At the top of the altar, a giant storm of fire appears – a fire elemental.

The fiery creature moves towards the two and causes a blast of fire to hit Krolec and Scrag.  Krolec tries to fight back using his swords, but misses with both an adaptive assault and an evasive strike.

From the back, Durmindin steps up to help his friends.  Casting a wrath of winter spell, he blastw the creature with a ray of frost.

Engulfed in flames, Scrag finds himself unable to move or otherwise do anything.  He screams out in pain.

Rather than try to assist the burning warden directly, Sa'lid takes to the offensive, blasting the giant flame with a moon and stars spell.  Leigh follows it up with an acid arrow.

Just then, four fire bats emerge from the body of the fire storm.  Durmindin beats a hasty retreat as Scrag and Leigh are blasted by the flames from the bats.

Yathrin uses a Light of Avandar prayer to attack the closest bat.  Meanwhile the elemental continues blasting the area with flames, hitting Sa'lid but missing Leigh and Scrag.

From the back, Krolec fires off a pair of shots at the bat nearest him, hitting it once.  On the other side of their group, Durmindin hits another of the bats with a thunder bear's warning.  

In the middle, Scrag slams one with a thunder ram assault.  Sa'lid steps up to help Scrag.  He blasts two of the bats with his rimestorm.

Leigh, however, stays focused on the fire elemental itself.  Using a jump spell, she lands over by the altar.  Using a blur spell, she obfuscates herself.  Finally, she lets loose with a shock sphere, hitting the elemental and three of the bats.

The firebats continue their assault with a vengeance.    Doing a series of fly-by attacks, they engulf both Sa'lid and Scrag, causing them both to collapse to the ground.

Session 49 - Scene 6 (of 6)

Yathrin immediately whips into action.  Using her prayers, she calls a healing word for each.  She then attempts to attack the nearest bat with a zealous sanction, but fails.

As Krolec fires a pair of arrows into a firebat, Durmindin heals Sa'lid further using his magic powers.  He then attempts to blast  a bat with his wrath of winter but fails.

Recovered, Scrag stands himself up and shifts into panther form, giving out a furious yell.

Sa'lid picks himself up as well.  He starts to move back but is blasted by more flames from the bats.  He attacks back with his moon and stars spell, hitting one of them.

From back at the altar, Leigh fires into the fire elemental with a magic missie.

The fire bats once again whip themselves up into a fury, Krolec manages to get away in time, but Scrag falls victim to another series of flame attacks.  He goes down for a second time.

Yathrin steps over and lays hands on the half-orc.  Krolec tries to provide cover fire with his bow, but misses.

The fire elemental blasts out at Leigh, setting the area behind the altar on fire.  However, her blurry form prevents her from being hit directly.

Durmindin decides to heal Sa'lid instead of Scrag.  He then moves his spirit companion in to assault a bat, ripping it apart with his spirit renewal strike.

Scrag picks himself up again.  After hitting one of the bats with a thorn burst, he tries to connect with his panther strike, but misses.

Sa'lid then lets loose a tremendous assault, blasting the bats with his cosmos call and energy strobe.  Leigh follows up with a pair of magic missile attacks that kills another of the bats.

The remaining fire bats blast at Scrag, but he blocks them with his shield.  

Yathrin then moves up and purifies the area with her consecrated ground prayer.  She follows up by blasting a bat with her vengeful flame.

The fire elemental lets loose another fiery blast, this time at Yathrin and Scrag.  Krolec moves into position and attacks the elemental with his ranger's recovery maneuver, destroying it.

Scrag slices into the bats with his wildling strength as Durmindin and Sa'lid miss with their spells.

Leigh has better luck, hitting the creatures with a fireburst that kills one of them.  The remaining bat responds by blasting Yathrin and Scrag with more flames.

Yathrin tries to summon forth all kinds of spells to finish off the beast, but fails.  In the end, Krolec finishes it off with another of his arrows.

As the flames in the room die down, everyone stops to rest.  Leigh carefully examines the altar, finding not only the golden Stone of Light she was expecting, but a set of Sunleaf cloth armor as well.  After some discussion, it is decided she will wear it.

The group plans to rest in this chamber for the night.  And the next morning, they will head back to the Chamber of Twilight to see what will happen when the stones are placed in the wall.  Yathrin in particular is anxious to get the information she desires...

Session 49 - Special Bonus Prologue

27 weeks ago...

Yathrin Talaste zyne'Phyrva Noquval, a young priestess of Lloth, sits planning in her chambers of the temple far below ground.  Her rivals at the temple have recently begun to make more overt moves against her.  She knows she needs to do something soon to regain the upper hand.

Just then, a knock at the door catches her attention.  She opens it to find Xunrar Torar, the head of her personal guard.  He explains that his spies have discovered evidence of a scandal at one of the rival temple.

Intrigued to know more, Yathrin invites him into the chamber and has him debrief her.  It seems that a human male somehow infiltrated their city and stole a relic from the temple.

Yathrin is shocked, and warns Xunrar she will have him executed for spreading such slanderous accusations about a temple of Lloth.  Xunrar insists it is true.  The man was described as a middle-aged human wearing a black cloak with a colorful purple lining.  The matter is being kept quiet to avoid humiliation.  Thus, Xunrar is passing the information along to her, as it may give her a political advantage.

But Yathrin sees an even greater potential here...


23 weeks ago...

The drow priestess is annoyed and has a short temper with her underlings.  Despite having command of a full Spiderguard assassin squad, Xunrar has yet to locate the man in the purple cloak for her.  She is growing weary of being forced to hide along with her forces in the sewers below the stinking human city they tracked the thief to.

Xunrar nervously recounts their successes so far.  He points out they did briefly catch sight of the purple-cloaked man a week ago.  They were unable to catch him, but did find that he was down there dropping off a body.  Since then, they've been sure to fortify the sewers with some defenses in case the man returns.  But so far, he hasn't.

As Yathrin is dressing down her lieutenant, two other drow appear back from patrol.  The senior warrior, Belglothar, announces they have spotted the man in the town square.  Yathrin gathers her available men, sending small team of the assassins after the man while she and the others (including Xunrar) stay back in the sewers.

Xunrar suggests sending more men, but Yathrin does not want to attract too much attention.  Besides, she reasons, how difficult can it be to kill one human...


9 weeks ago...

Down in the underdark shallows, Yathrin and Xunrar discuss their next move.  Xunrar can tell she is getting nervous; she clearly refuses to return back home until they've found the trespasser, killed him, and recovered the relic.

But in the past several weeks, they have yet to find the man.  They know he is living somewhere below the city, but have not been able to locate them.  At this meeting, Xunrar relates more bad news; another of his patrols has gone missing.  The remaining men are getting nervous.

Worse, one of his teams has spotted incursions of city guard into the sewers along with rumors of a hunt for a large beast.  They've also spotted an elf ranger down in the shallows.

Yathrin decides to investigate personally.  Taking Xunrar and another guard with her, they track the elf to an ancient door that leads down to a chamber below the underdark.

From the shadows, they see him exchange some words with the man in the purple cloak, followed by an attack by two large, strange beasts.  As the mysterious man disappears into the shadows of the back of the chamber, Yathrin decides a retreat is in order, leaving the elf to his fate.

However, an hour later one of the other patrols report the elf ranger escaped.  They are also able to identify him as one of the same group of people that entered the sewers after the initial assassin team was killed.

For the first time, Yathrin starts to show interest in learning more about this elf...


1 week ago...

After weeks of watching the elf, who she now knows is named Krolec Jar'Bin, and his associates, Yathrin's patience is beginning to wear thin.  She had hoped they might lead her back to the man in the purple cloak, but so far they seem to be entangled in webs of intrigue in the city's politics.

In fact, after all this time, the closest they've come to information about the man marked for death is that he was spotted in the Seven-Pillar Hall a few weeks back, buying another drow artifact, this time a demon statue, from a merchant there.  They also know, from Krolec's group's investigations, the man appears to have also taken a shard of a necromantic stone.

Just as she is about to give up, she receives a divination during her meditation.  Lloth shows her that Krolec's group has discovered a hidden temple below the city.

When Yathrin and her men go to investigate, they spot someone else there.  The man is neither the man in the purple cloak, nor someone in Krolec's group.  He appears to be setting some kind of magical traps and sealing up the exits.

Xunrar wants to investigate the man further, but Yathrin advises him to wait.  A day later, she spots Krolec's group re-entering the temple then discovering they are trapped there.

That night, she receives another vision from the spider queen.  She sees Krolec's group discovering two stones that, once placed into grooves in a wall, reveal an ancient tome.  Inside the tome is information about the man in the purple cloak and what he is up to.  Lloth makes it clear it is of vital importance that Yathrin retrieve this information and return it to her city's elders.

Yathrin explains to Xunrar she has a cunning plan.  Knowing one of their member has already perished and they are trapped, she will attempt to ally with the group.  In exchange for assisting them in clearing the temple and helping them escape, she will ask to copy the information in the tomb.

But, she explains to Xunrar, she has no intention of letting these interlopers live.  Instead, once she has what she needs, she will lead them back to Xunrar and his men, and murder them all...

Session 49 - Session Notes

This session introduced the interesting new drow character, Yathrin.  Obviously, the "Special Bonus Prologue" was not shown to the PCs (well, except for the one playing Yathrin).  One last note on that - it will be up to the player to decide if she goes through with the "screw them over" plan (the PC is chaotic evil) or has a change of heart.  I did warn the other players ahead of time that they should be very suspicious of her character and would probably expect her to try and betray them at some point.

I was hoping for a bit more character interaction, but there didn't seem to be a lot of interest.  Perhaps I overempathized that I wanted them to go along with the deal in the interested of letting that player play.  Or it could just be the whole reluctance of inter-party conflict thing that some of them can get sensitive about.

The other half of the temple got cleared this session, it was nice to get that done with.  The less players that are around, the faster the combat goes.  Though once again, crap-tacular tactics nearly led to the group being in danger of being killed.

The mirror room was very loosely inspired by the lighthouse scene in Lost.

This is perhaps the first time I've ever used a riddle in my RPGs.  I'm not really a fan of them, but I thought I'd give it a try for this special case.  

Now, I thought I did a halfway decent job with it, but the players were fucking clueless and I pretty much had to walk them through it.  The Krolec player in particular really got on my nerves - just once it'd be nice if he got it through his thick head that something was a metaphor.  He takes everything so literally that it drives me nuts at times.

Anyhow, overall the session moved pretty smooth (I'll just add riddles to the list of things they suck at, along with investigations, combat tactics, etc...)

Another note about the session -

So even though most of the time no one bothers to read the write-ups or remember what happens from session to session, this time I get two complaints.

The first was from the Yathrin player. She's mad because I threw in the line about her giving her name to them. See, during the game, that never actually happened because the players tend to forget they haven't met the latest new PC before. So, to make things make any kind of sense, I just threw it in as a small retcon that happened "off screen".

I guess she wanted to make a big deal about the introductions and roleplay it out. The irony here is that had I not included it in the write-up, it likely never would have came up at all; her actual introduction was so short, she pretty much said two lines and the group was all "OK" about it and that was it.

So I said, yeah whatever, feel free to do it next session. Personally, I kind of hate this sort of petty whining - I wouldn't let somebody not give their name to the other PCs anyhow. Why can't we just assume it happened and move on? Is it really the kind of thing we want to spend a lot of time on, seriously...

The second one is the Krolec player. He has a different memory of how the discussion over the riddle went down. All I can think there is that the session notes don't include the 5 minutes he was debating whether a "20-hand horse" referred to an actual horse or not, nor do they include the parts where I had to heavily hint what the riddle meant because they spent 10+ mins just going "what could this mean???"

As an aside, I'll just say that I try to explain all the time that the write-ups aren't a 100% accurate, literal account of the session. I don't have a frickin' stenographer in the corner or anything. It's a mix of my shorthand-esque notes, imperfect memory, and artistic license.

Actually, I can pretty much guarantee a literal write-up would be confusing and awful, what with the long stretches of indecision and the times they want to "do over" some action or speech. Not to mention all the times they repeat discussions because they forgot they already discussed that (and I mean 2 mins ago, not like last session or something) - something that the Yathrin character here got to criticize them for.

Session 50 - Cast of Characters

Sir Krolec Jar'Bin - Elven Ranger
Dame Leigh - Eladrin Wizard
Sa'lid Dra'lah - Human Sorcerer
Scrag Graveborn - Half-Orc Warden
Sir Durmindin - Wilden Shaman
Yathrin Talaste zyne'Phyrva Noquva - Drow Cleric

Session 50 - Scene 1 (of 13)

That night, Yathrin receives a vision from Lloth.  She sees herself passing through a dark portal and into an old library.  In the center is a pedestal with the tome sitting on top.

She says nothing to the others when she wakes.  Leigh is getting everyone ready to head to the Chamber of Twilight.  Seeing Yathrin getting up, Leigh notes that the group has never made formal introductions to each other.

Leigh asks Yathrin to give her name.  The drow sighs and announces herself to everyone as "Yathrin Talaste zyne'Phyrva Noquval", but tells everyone they can call her by her title, "Yathrin".

The eladrin expresses her surprise that "Yathrin" is a title.  The drow in turn expresses her disdain for the ignorance of the group, explaining that Yathrin is the title of a drow priestess of Lloth.

After the introductions are finished, the group heads to the Chamber of Twilight.  Leigh tries to determine which stone goes in which hole, but quickly concludes the Stone of Light should be placed in the hole next to the mural depicting the transition from birth to adulthood, while the Stone of Darkness should be placed in the hold next to the mural depicting the transition from middle age to death.

As she prepares to place the stones, Leigh tells the others they should leave the room.  But Krolec won't hear of it, insisting on the dangers of splitting the party particularly if the stones cause her to become cut off.  Yathrin likewise notes that she has no intention of letting Leigh get access to the tome without her being around.

Krolec is bothered by Yathrin's harsh tones and accusations that Leigh might be deceitful about the tome.  He reminds the drow they already have an agreement to share the knowledge in the tome.

Yathrin dismisses his promises, clearly not trusting him.  The elf then remarks that she is the one acting suspicious.  He goes on to suggest that she has a hidden plan, perhaps to grab the book for herself.

The priestess snaps back at him, asking if he has hearing issues and reminding him she only wants to copy the book.  Krolec again expresses his surprise at why she has such an attitude, making an aside comment to Durmindin that Yathrin appears to have "woken up on the wrong side of the spider web".

Session 50 - Scene 2 (of 13)

With the argument over, Leigh proceeds to put in the Stone of Light.  As soon as it is emplaced into the wall, that half of the room becomes illuminated with magical light.  She then puts in the Stone of Darkness, causing the other half of the room to become shrouded in magical darkness.

Everyone also notices that two portals have appeared.  One is made of bright white light and sits to the left of the scene depicting birth.  The other appears to be pitch black and sits to the right of the scene depicting death.

While everyone else stands around, unsure of what to do, Yathrin begins heading straight for the black portal.  Not sure where the portal leaves, Leigh quickly takes out the stone.  The portal and magical darkness both immediately vanish.

An annoyed Yathrin turns back to Leigh and yells at her, asking her if she is stupid.  She points out that the tome is behind the black portal.

Krolec grows tired of Yathrin's primadonna attitude.  He tells her to calm down and wait a minute to allow Leigh to explain.

Leigh wants to put the stones back in, but switch the order they were put in.  She is not convinced that opening the portals was the desired result.  Krolec agrees they should go ahead and try it.

Leigh starts with the dark stone this time, but once both stones are in the same result occurs.  Yathrin pointedly asks, "Are you done playing with the stones yet?"

The drow priestess then heads in through the portal.  Everyone else pauses behind, still a little concerned about heading through a portal when they don't know where it goes.

Inside, Yathrin finds herself in an old library, circular with very tall walls filled with shelves of books.  Just as in her vision, it is a dark, dreary place.  The paint peels from the walls and the shelving appears rotten.  Even the books on the shelves look as if they could fall apart into dust if disturbed.

The priestess spots the pedestal in the center of the library.  On it is the tome she seeks.  She opens the book and uses her prepared scroll to create a copy of its pages.

Session 50 - Scene 3 (of 13)

Eventually, the rest of the group enter through the portal and find Yathrin standing at the book, creating her copy.

Thinking tactically, Krolec immediately looks around the room for an exit.  In addition to the portal, he spots a pair of ominously huge iron doors at the far end of the library.  Scrag asks aloud where they are.

Using her knowledge of the arcane, Leigh determines they are somewhere in a pocket dimension of the Shadowfell.  She then has to explain to Scrag what the Shadowfell is.

Leigh tries to determine what, if anything, in the room could be magical.  She detects magic from the tome (which doesn't surprise her) as well as noticing a small flask of oil.  The oil appears to be used for oiling hide armor.  She grabs the flask and puts it into her bag of holding.

Yathrin completes her copy of the book and steps aside to read it without the others seeing.  Krolec keeps a close eye on her while Leigh approaches the book to have a look for herself.  She detects the tome will set off a magical alarm if removed from the pedestal.


Back in the corner, Yathrin guardedly looks through her pages.  She is dismayed to find it written in a language she cannot understand.  She does decipher that it discusses a summoning ritual for some kind of entity.

There are several illustrations throughout the pages.  The first depicts a spiral symbol of some kind; she recognizes it as the same one the Man in the Purple Cloak was carving into her soldiers that he killed.

As he and Leigh are examining the actual book, Krolec asks Yathrin if she found what she needed about the identity of the Man in the Purple Cloak.  She corrects him that it was the man's motives she was seeking, not his identity.  He then asks her if she can read the writing in the book.  She curtly responds that obviously he cannot.

Back over at the pedestal, Krolec spots the spiral symbol as Leigh is flipping through the pages of the book and recognizes it from his confrontation down in the Devil's Attic.

The next two illustrations on the page display Lloth and what appears to be an idol of Lloth.  Yathrin recalls her spies reporting the Man in the Purple Cloak being spotted buying such an idol in Thunderspire, one recovered from a Duergar fortress by a team of adventurers.  She says nothing to the others about it.  

On the next page, the first illustration is of the ceremonial dagger that was stolen from Yathrin's city.  She begins to understand how the pieces are starting to fit together, but again says nothing.

Meanwhile, Krolec and Leigh recognize the two pictures after the dagger.  One is of Orcus, and the second is of the dark crystal of the necromancer from the Tombwoods.  The one with the piece missing that was likely taken by the Man in the Purple Cloak who killed Pace just for seeing him there.

The last couple of illustrations are less clear.  They appear to be of a man at a portal of some kind, some sort of strange key, what appears to be an unlocked chain, and a very malevolent-looking creature of chaos and darkness descending from the sky.  Krolec finds the last illustration especially ominous.

Using a magical ritual, Leigh creates her own copy of the tome.  She then uses a second ritual to be able to read it.