Session 50 - Scene 4 (of 13)

Using the magic ritual, Leigh begins reading the information from the tome.  It begins by describing a long-forgotten god of madness and chaos named Tharizdun, also called the Elder Eye, Chained God, or Lord of Darkness.  He created the Abyss inside the elemental chaos, and for that the other gods cast him into chains and locked him far away.

But still the mad god calls out to his chosen people – those with madness and a belief in anarchy.  He gets into their subconscious minds as they sleep.

The tome goes on to explain that as a safety precaution against letting Tharizdun out, the keys were hidden away in remote dimensions, accessible only through a ritual using relics from several of the gods.

Two of the relics were from Lloth – a demon idol statue and a ceremonial dagger.  Another was a necromantic stone from Orcus.

When the portal is active, a special man imbued with the power of Tharizdun himself, known as the Usher of Destruction, will be able to pass through the portal and into the pocket dimension where he can retrieve the key.

The tome ends by warning that once Tharizdun is unchained, nothing will lie in his shadow but death and destruction.  The last illustration in the tome depicts Tharizdun, breaking through the sky to unleash a storm of chaos.

Session 50 - Scene 5 (of 10)

Krolec asks Yathrin if she knows where the drow relics are.  She responds vaguely that she does not.  Krolec explains the Man in the Purple Cloak already has the shard of the necromantic stone.

Yathrin decides to divulge that the man already has possession of the drow artifacts.

Krolec wonders if the man’s temple of skulls in the Astor tunnels is related to the ritual.  Yathrin isn’t sure.

Leigh examines the tome some more and clarifies that the ritual can only be performed in an area where the barrier between worlds is weak.  Using her knowledge of history, she recalls that an old keep near the town of Winterhaven, the Keep on the Shadowfell, would fit that description.  Krolec notes that also ties in with the increase in death cult activity reported in the area by Sage.

Krolec wonders how quickly they can get to the keep.  He thinks perhaps the white portal out of the room might lead there.  Yathrin dismisses the idea, stating that Lloth would have told her if that were the path she was supposed to take.

Just then, Sage’s corpse (which Durmindin had brought into the Shadowfell) becomes animated by an evil spirit, turning it into a wight.

Scrag rushes over and sends the creature to the ground with his earthgrasp strike.  Krolec readies his arrows if the creature gets back up.  Durmindin likewise summons his spirit companion and holds it in readiness.

Sa’lid, not wanting to wait, blasts the prone monster with an energy strobe of radiant light.  The wight forces its way off the ground, only to be quickly taken out by Krolec’s arrows.  Durmindin’s spirit companion bashes in the wight’s head for good measure, leaving a bloody pulp of their friend’s former face.

The giant iron doors to the room then slam open.  Everyone turns to see a 60 foot tall death titan in the doorway.  His booming voices yells out, asking who is intruding into his domain.  Even Scrag is terrified, as the giant’s axe blade is larger than he is.

Krolec immediately tries to yell an apology back to the giant, explaining they are leaving.  Leigh runs as fast as she can back out the portal.  Yathrin, Scrag, and Krolec follow.

Sa’lid tries to grab Sage’s body on his way out, but has trouble lifting it.  Deciding he doesn’t want to risk wasting any more time, he quickly abandons the effort and leaves through the portal.

Durmindin finds himself alone in the room and uncomfortably close to the giant.  He moves his spirit companion in front of the creature.  He then decides to head over to Sage, unwilling to leave his friend’s body behind.  Unfortunately, he, too, has trouble lifting the body, causing him to delay.

The death titan effortlessly slashes through the spirit companion and heads straight for the shaman.  Swinging the axe overhead, the titan proceeds to split Durmindin in half like a log.

Session 50 - Scene 6 (of 10)

Back in the Chamber of Twilight, everyone notices Durmindin failed to return.  After a moment, they assume he is dead and lament the loss of their friend.  They are also saddened they will not have a chance to bring back Sage either.

Leigh immediately focuses on preventing anything else passing through the portal.  She quickly takes out the Stone of Darkness from the wall.  However, as Krolec predicted, this also causes the white portal to disappear.

After a brief debate, everyone decides to put the stone back in and head through the light portal, even Yathrin.

When they head through, they find themselves in a thick grove of vines and trees, with sounds of strange creatures all around.  Leigh can tell they are back in the Feywild, though she is not familiar with this particular location.

Krolec looks around the immediate area, spotting some tracks.  They are humanoid.  Scrag helps identify some of them – they include eladrin, unicorn, and a banshrae.

Eventually, the group decides to go ahead and follow the tracks.  Before they leave, Yathrin makes sure to make a note about their current location so they can find their way back.

A few minutes later, the group hears loud noises nearby, following a path somewhat parallel to their own.  As the noises get closer, they spot two large blackroot treants crashing through the forest.

Not wanting to fight with the immense undead plant creatures, Krolec signals for the others to retreat back to the portal.  He runs back, not as quietly as he would have liked.

Leigh, Scrag, and Yathrin follow his lead.  Sa'lid, however, thinks that hiding in the forest is the better way to go.  Unfortunately, the treants hear the others running.  And when they turn to look for the source of the noises, they spot Sa'lid's poor attempts to hide in the shadows.

Sa'lid tries to make a run for it, even using his sorcerous powers to fly himself and Snarg towards the portal.  But the treants are able to cut him off.  The last thing he sees is vines emerging from the ground and wrapping themselves around him as the treants close in.

Session 50 - Scene 7 (of 13)

Once again, the group finds themselves back in the Chamber of Twilight with a group member missing.  Scrag notes the success rate for each portal was the same.

Assuming Sa'lid and Snarg are now dead, Leigh takes out the stones and gets ready to put them in her bag when Yathrin tells her to stop.

Yathrin tells Leigh they must separate the stones, demanding the wizard hand her over one of them.  The two argue back and forth, with Yathrin insisting she will not let Leigh keep both of them because of the risk of re-opening the portals.

Eventually, Krolec ends the argument by taking one of the stones.  With the dispute over, Yathrin says simply that they will need reinforcements and everyone should follow her.  Not really paying attention, the group follows Krolec as he leads the group down the hall.

The group heads down the hallway to the entrance to the lower catacombs.  As they approach, they spot another of the magic mouths.  Unconcerned, they approach it.

When they get close enough, the mouth speaks out, "Hello Krolec, Leigh, Scrag, Durmindin, Sa'lid, Sage...  Or whichever of you are still living.  If you've gotten this far, then you know there is no escape.  I offer you a chance to end your lives quickly.  Step through this doorway, and you will die instantly and painlessly.  Or, if you choose, you can die brutally at the hands of the monsters inhabiting this tomb, or wait for the long, slow, painful death of starvation.  Live or die, make your choice."

Yathrin, with a smug sense of superiority, notes that the wizard who placed the magic mouth was clearly not omniscient.  Ignoring the cavalier attitude she has toward their dead friends, Krolec asks her if she came in this way.  

The drow responds that she told them to follow her.  When Krolec responds that he didn't hear her, she once again makes a disparaging remark about his hearing.  He tells her there is no need to get upset over a simple misunderstanding and invites her to lead the way.

Yathrin takes the group back up the hall a little way then opens up a secret door leading to a set of stairs.  The stairs take the group down into the lower catacombs.

The drow priestess quickly does some calculations in her head, realizing she may need this group longer than she thought.  Knowing that Xunrar and the others are off to the left, she decides to take the group to the passageway on the right.

Session 50 - Scene 8 (of 13)

Sa'lid regains consciousness to find himself and Snarg tied up by vines and hanging from a tree a little ways off of the ground.

Down below sit a group of humanoids around a fire in a camp.  They appear to be an eladrin ranger, an eladrin magic user of some kind, and a banshrae warrior.  Nearby is a dusky-colored unicorn.

The eladrin ranger notices Sa'lid's movement and announces to the others he is awake now.  The ranger asks the human where he came from.  Sa'lid very diplomatically explains he came in accidentally through a magic portal.

The other eladrin is pawing through Sa'lid's belongings which have all been stripped from him and Snarg.  He notes to Sa'lid that he has some nice things.

Sa'lid, catching the drift, tells the group he brought them some gifts and asks if they would kindly point him in the direction of the portal.

There is, however, some contention among the three about letting Snarg go along with him.  They don't appear to be fond of goblins.

The sorcerer gives an impassioned plea for the life of his friend and manservant, explaining how he rescued Snarg and that he is a "refined goblin".  The eladrin chuckle at the description.

The eladrin ranger eventually relents, noting they can make an exception after Sa'lid's generous donation to their cause.

They cut the two down and take them a short distance, where they kick them through a portal in the thick trees.  After the two are gone, the group members remark to themselves about their good fortunes for finding the sorcerer and his lovely magical items while hunting the corrupted treant creatures in the grove.

Session 50 - Scene 9 (of 13)

Sa'lid and Snarg, after being kicked in the rear through the portal, find themselves emerging from a wardrobe into some kind of bedroom.  It appears to be rather old and worn out.

There is a single door to the room.  Outside the door, Sa'lid can hear movement and people talking.  He quickly instructs Snarg to put together some kind of trap for the door.  Snarg uses the wardrobe.

Outside in the hallway, Yathrin leads the others down the hall.  Spotting the door, she stops and tells Scrag to open it, referring to him as "slave".  Scrag doesn't take too kindly to the term, calling her worthless.  She reminds him she's saving their lives.

Out of frustration, Scrag kicks in the door, setting off Snarg's wardrobe trap.  It comes crashing down, blocking the doorway.  Scrag smashes it back, knocking it into Snarg.

As Sa'lid helps his goblin companion get the shattered remains of the wardrobe off of him, he tells the others he was wondering what took them so long.

Scrag ignores the sorcerer's comment, focusing on asking him why he is missing his armor and equipment.

Sa'lid starts to tell a tale about finding the unicorn and being guests of honor at a banquet, but no one is buying it.  Krolec simply asks what really happened.

The sorcerer then clarifies that "prisoner" might be the more appropriate term and reports he was forced to give up everything to the band of fey warriors he encountered.

Leigh tries to help by giving him her old bloodthread armor and a non-magical dagger.

Sa'lid goes on that he intended to get information out of the eladrin he encountered, but decided the more prudent course was to make sure he could get back.

Krolec then updates Sa'lid and Snarg about their progress so far.

Since they are already in the room, everyone decides to take a look around.  Leigh notes a chest in the room, and determines it is not trapped.  Inside, she finds a pair of fine black gloves, which she identifies as magical panther gloves.  Scrag is overjoyed to find another piece of his armor set and quickly puts them on.

The group then heads back out of the room.

Session 50 - Scene 10 (of 13)

Yathrin continues to lead the group through the catacombs, trying to determine a path back to where Xunrar and her men are but to get there from a more circumspect path to avoid any killings.

Krolec can tell they are taking a roundabout path and asks Yathrin where they are headed.  She once again mentions going to get reinforcements; a thought that puts Krolec ill at ease.

Up ahead they spot a large cavern with multiple exits.  Yathrin leads them into it.  But as they head in, they can feel themselves passing through some kind of portal veil.  The cavern appears to have sections of the Elemental Chaos bleeding into it.

The passage behind them is now filled by solid rock.  Up ahead is a large pool of magma blocking the passageway directly ahead.  Across the chamber are two more exits, one near a pit of bubbling mud, the other near a waterfall that appears in the middle of the air, pouring down into a large pool of water.

Krolec confronts Yathrin about not knowing where she is going.  She concedes this is not the cavern she was looking for.

The ranger notes that they will obviously need to cross the room.  Scrag senses trouble brewing.

As they head across the cavern, forms begin to emerge from the magma, mud, and water – elementals.

Leigh immediately lets loose a fireball at the mud lasher and the water elemental, hitting them both.  She then activates her blur spell for defense.

The magma brutes swing wildly at Sa'lid and Yathrin, missing them both.  Meanwhile, the water elemental rushes at Krolec, but he retreats back behind Scrag before it can attack him.

Scrag puts himself between the mud and water elementals, changes into his panther form, and scores a brutal strike on the mud creature.  Krolec follows it up with a ranger's recovery tactic, causing the mud to collapse back into the earth.

Sa'lid tries to blast the magma brute in front of him with a rimestorm, but fails.  Yathrin decides to be defensive, engulfing the area around her with a cloud of darkness then stepping back and casting a curse on the brutes, affecting one of them.

Blinded by the darkness, Leigh steps back and casts a firescythe, hitting one of the magma creatures and the water elemental.

The water creature tries to reach out and grab Scrag, but misses.  The magma brutes are more effective, hitting Yathrin and Sa'lid with their rocky fists and setting the two on fire.

Scrag then uses his thunderstep to teleport in front of the water creature and attack it.  Sa'lid follows it up with an ice stalagmites spell that viciously injures all three elementals.

After healing herself, Yathrin blasts the water creature with a vengeful flare, killing it.

Krolec launches into an attack on the nearest magma brute, hitting it with an adaptive assault and a boar assault.

Leigh blasts both brutes with a shocking sphere.  The brutes try to fight back, but are fended off by Yathrin and Scrag.

Sa'lid then finishes one of the beasts off with his swirling stars spell.  Yathrin blasts the other with her zealous sanction.

As Krolec helps Sa'lid put out the flames still engulfing him, Leigh uses an acid arrow to finish off the other brute.

For now, the cavern appears to be safe...

Session 50 - Scene 11 (of 13)

The men file into the room one at a time.  Sir Phillip of Burgundy greets each man by name and has them take a seat.

Sir Wilfred Death and Guy de Gastonbury take the chairs opposite of the head of the table after Sir Phillip explains the head chair is reserved for their host, Lord Reiner.

Friar Bellows, Three-Fingered Pete, and Sean the Irish Bastard take their seats as well.  Trouble starts to arise when Jack Large arrives, madly insisting on moving his chair to the other end of the table.  Eventually, Sir Phillip acquiesces to the paranoid dwarf's demands.

Once everyone is seated, Sir Phillip alerts Lord Reiner who steps in and lets Phillip introduce him.

Lord Reiner greets his guests, most of whom have met each other before.  He announces his intentions to depose Lord Markelhay and crown himself king of the "Reinteria".  The gang of criminals are less than impressed until he explains he will divide the city's treasury amongst them as well as grant them all noble titles.

The gang begins making their detailed plans on who is doing what, with Reiner explaining Rufus the Red is already in place to take out Baron Stockmer.  

Once Phillip is sure things are going according to plan, he excuses himself from the remainder of the proceedings.

Session 50 - Scene 12 (of 13)

Reaching his underground sanctuary, Phillip changes back into his natural form.  Using some chalk, he begins making notes on the room's walls.  They are filled with his many notes, diagrams, and a great many spiral symbols.

The doppelganger then prepares himself for his next task.  He changes shape again, this time into his usual false identity.

Stepping into the circle of power, he instantly travels back to his secret room in Fallcrest.

He moves over to his desk, spotting several messages that have been delivered to him.  He reads through them quickly then sends out word looking for a report on the group of local adventurers who have caused him so much trouble.

It doesn't take long before he learns the information he was seeking.  The adventurers have not been spotted for days.  The man's thin lips curl up into a hideous smile; his trap worked.

Once a few other plans are set in motion, the doppelganger changes back into his natural form again.  He then steps into a different circle of power, sending him to another of his remote locations.

Bragosani sees the doppelganger arrive.  He greets the creature as "Arlo", and explains that Karalel is just getting ready for another sermon to the cultists, to prepare them for their sacrifice.

The necromancer also notes that his old ally, Drylak the Impaler, and his barbarian forces stand ready to come down and unleash their destruction on the valley; they simply await his word.  Arlo tells him to hold the warlord off, as his plan to weaken the leadership in the area is almost ready to bear fruit.

Finally, Bragosani explains that he and the Usher are making good progress at the Keep on the Shadowfell and that it will be ready soon.

Arlo is very happy to see everything going according to plan.  It will not be much longer now...

Session 50 - Scene 13 (of 13)

A crowd of people sit in rows of seats inside a large chamber, nearly dark except for one small torch burning before a dark altar.  Near the back, a small force of goblins stands guard by the entrance.

A priest wearing the robes of Orcus appears from behind a curtain at the back of the dais, holding an hourglass.  

The priest unscrews the top of the hourglass and slowly turns it over, letting the sand slowly spill out onto the altar.  The room is so quiet the sounds of the sand particles hitting the stone table can be heard until the dark priest begins to speak.

"The sands of time are shifting, brothers and sisters... counting down to Armageddon...

The wyrm reveals himself in many guises across this once great land.  From the intellectual elite, cruelly indoctrinating our children with the savage blasphemy of wizardry, to the false prophets cowering behind their temple pulpits, to the vile parasites in the merchant square, to the craven nobles grown fat on the misery of their subjects.

The signs of the end times are all around us... etched in blood and fire by the left hand of our god!  You have but to open your eyes brothers and sisters.  The truth is that He is here.  The Sight of the Elder Eye... the Son of Darkness... the Usher of Destruction... walks among us cloaked in the flesh of a man!

Do the gods not weep at this degradation?  Do they not tremble at our righteous fury?  Shall our Lord not seek retribution?

I open my eyes and I see a black sky that tears apart and screams with a voice that is thunder.  

Rise up!  Rise up brothers and sisters and take your place at my side!  For you shall be my scythe!  And your faith shall shine like a thousand suns, and the streets shall be sanctified with the steaming black blood of the heretics!  

And together, brothers and sisters... together we shall build a dark temple of destruction... a kingdom of death and pain and chaos that will last for thousands and thousands of years!"

Session 50 - Session Notes

This session was a lot of fun.  We finally had all six players back to the game plus they got to sort-of visit the Shadowfell, Feywild, and Elemental Chaos all in one session.  Not to mention my exposition explosion at the end.

Various notes about the session:
* Yathrin's vision was my DM nudge to get them to go into the black portal first.  The reason - it was possible to do a lot more in the Feywild and end up in the catacombs (which could have been a real problem if they didn't have the tome first).

* Not being a big drow fan, nor versed in the various drow/FR books, I had no idea Yathrin was a title either.

* I loved how Yathrin yelled at the group every time they acted dumb.  The indecision and second-guessing (much of which I don't include in these writeups) can be so annoying at times.

* I thought bringing Sage into the Shadowfell was asking for it.  Hence, my wight attack.  The death titan was always planned, but just to scare them away.  Durmindin dying was totally his own fault (which he readily admitted).

* I had a hand-out with pictures and gibberish text for the tome that I gave to the PCs.  The text was a random mix of symbols, cuniform, and a couple of different sanskrits.  Pictures were off the web.  The picture of the key I have to make myself by splicing together various keys until it looked suitably bizarre.

* The Scrag player (also the Goldar player) loved that I tied in the demon idol from the other group's adventure into the plot.  In general, everyone likes how I always end up tying in the loose threads to the main plot (though most of them hate having to wait for it, lol).

* I didn't remember Leigh had the comprehend languages ritual.  Hence, I wasn't expecting to have to explain the text this session so it came out somewhat jumbled from what I originally intended to say (it was suppose to make more sense originally).  Sort of like what happens to a movie when things that would make other things make sense get edited out.

* I was originally hoping the Feywild trip would have lasted longer, but after the death titan they got awfully skittish (boy do those huge minis freak people out when they are put down on the map).

* Sa'lid could have died, but I didn't want to completely wipe out the group plus the eladrin encounter was somewhat planned.

* The wardrobe in the catacombs makes no sense, I admit.  It's just a cheap joke reference to Narnia.

* The other magic mouth speech was planned for a while.  Once again, I'm channeling the guy from the Saw movies.

* My original plan for the elemental chaos area was supposed to be more otherworldly and interesting and less ambush attack.  But it got late and I kind of rushed it.

* The last three scenes are all epilogue sent out in an email to everyone after the session.  The last one, a repurposing of the preacher's speech in the season 1 finale of Carnivale, was planned for awhile.  The other two were added later, because I want to instill a sense of the larger conspiracy and that there is a lot left to do other than just hunting down one guy.


So where do things go from here?  Well, the Durmindin player will be getting a new PC (most likely Xunrar, a paladin of Lloth).

And the campaign as a whole?  Not as sure.  The group is reaching paragon level, most of the open plot threads are coming to a resolution, and we're in the third year of the campaign now and I get bored after a while.  It's starting to feel like maybe we're getting to a good stopping point once the Usher is stopped (which could be another 6 months for all I know).

I'm still going through ideas for a new campaign.  I want to switch genre.

Already tried one new one shot on New Year's Day.  It was a Marvel Supers game set in Cedar Rapids (my oft-mentioned Cedar Rapids Under Siege campaign idea).  But, some people dislike contemporary settings and supers is so heavy on reaction and investigation, I'm not sure its a great fit.

My other idea is Traveller 40K (because I like the 40K setting but find the RPGs overly fiddly).  Working on my setting customizations for that.  One problem is that I'm focused on adding setting rules material but haven't really built up campaign ideas yet (one thing I don't want to do - more cult-related stuff).  Will do a one shot once I'm ready and see how the group responds.

Otherwise, I'll have to think of different ideas.

Session 51 - Cast of Characters

Sir Krolec Jar'Bin - Elven Ranger
Dame Leigh - Eladrin Wizard
Scrag Graveborn - Half-Orc Warden
Silas Ballard - Human Sorcerer
Yathrin Talaste zyne'Phyrva Noquva - Drow Cleric

And introducing...

Xunrar Torar - Drow Paladin

Session 51 - Scene 1 (of 5)

The elementals are all dead, but the group doesn't seem to know what to do next.  Yathrin grows weary of their indecision.  She starts to wonder if changing her plan was the right decision – perhaps she should have led them straight to Xunrar and killed them after all.

But Yathrin knows letting the group live is in her best interests.  Still, she reaches her breaking point when Leigh insists on re-examining the closed-off passageway that they don't even need to go down anyways.

She starts heading towards the passageway near the bubbling elemental mud; if they won't make a decision, she'll make it for them.  Krolec notices her leaving the cavern and calls out to her.  He questions if she knows where she is going.  She responds curtly, saying they can't stay here.

Krolec lets her walk away as he carefully examines the two passageways and the surrounding area.  Both appear to be long, cavernous catacomb hallways with nothing of distinction.  He does notice, however, something sparkling from the pool of elemental water.

The ranger approaches cautiously, calling Leigh over to investigate further.  As he gets near, he sees a couple of diamonds in the pool of water.  The wizard can tell the water is magical (being elemental), but the gems are not.  

Leigh asks if Krolec wants to attempt to get the gems.  He responds that he does not; he feels the risk is too high and that treasure is no longer their concern.  Instead, they need to focus on stopping the man in the purple cloak from releasing the chained god Tharizdun before he destroys the world.

Session 51 - Scene 2 (of 5)

Using her darkvision, Yathrin is able to navigate the catacombs even without light from the group's sunrod.  However, she is not as careful as Krolec usually is, and doesn't notice a tripwire until just after her foot snags it.

Suddenly, a large explosion rips through the wall to the side of the catacombs, knocking her down and half-filling the area with rubble.

Hearing the loud noise, the group carefully follows down the passageway after Yathrin, with Krolec and Scrag in the lead.  The half-orc spots the prone priestess, but Krolec cautions that he sees movement up ahead of her in the darkness near a side passage.

Apparently attracted by the noise, a hideous balhannoth creature appears from the shadows.  It moves straight for Yathrin, trying to swipe at her with its barbed tentacles.  She manages to roll out of the way.  The monster then disappears.

Krolec cautiously makes his way towards Yathrin, scanning the area ahead.  He spots no sign of the creature.  Once he's sure it is clear, he asks if Yathrin is OK.  She responds she needs no help from an elf and stands herself up then uses a prayer to Lloth to heal herself.

The others move up as well.  Leigh and Sa'lid hang back towards the rear while Scrag moves up with Krolec.  Sa'lid casts a shroud over himself for protection.

Krolec asks Yathrin if she knows if the creature has the ability to teleport or turn invisible.  As Yathrin explains to the ignorant elf that the creature can both turn invisible and teleport, it appears right beside the three of them and lashes out with its flailing tentacles.

Yathrin and Scrag manage to fend off the attack, but Krolec's shoulder is cut.  He rushes back to a safer vantage point and fires at the monster with a hawk's talon shot, but its thick, rocky hide proves difficult to penetrate even with his elven accuracy.

Leigh has better luck with her magic, blasting the creature with a magic missile.

Scrag quickly discovers the creature is not alone.  Crawling around the corner of the side passage on the ceiling are two cavern chokers.  They reach out with their tentacle arms at Scrag, one of them wrapping around the warden's throat.

Yathrin steps back from the balhannoth and places an assassin's shroud over it.  She then blasts the creature as well as the cavern choker next to him with her flamestrike.  Sa'lid tries to follow it up with an energy strobe, but misses.

Meanwhile, Scrag focuses his attention on the cavern choker grabbing him.  He grabs the creature's arm and yanks him violently, sending the monster crashing to the catacomb floor.  However, with his attention focused elsewhere, the balhannoth is able to slash him badly with its tentacles.

Using a shadow wasp strike, Krolec fires an arrow into the side of the balhannoth, causing it to scream in pain.

Leigh decides to take a calculated risk and uses a scorching burst that hits the balhannoth, both the cavern chokers, and Scrag.

Burned but still highly capable, Scrag fends off a series of attacks from the chokers as Yathrin heals him with a prayer.  The priestess then blasts the balhannoth with the light of arvandor.

Sa'lid once again fails with an attempt to make a follow-up attack against the monster with his energy strobe.  Scrag has better luck, sending it to the ground with his earthgrasp strike.

The warden is dismayed when the creature teleports itself upright without taking further injury.  It lashes out at Scrag again, but his mighty shield continues to fend the creature off.

Session 51 - Scene 3 (of 5)

Just as things couldn't seem to get worse, all of the fighting seems to have attracted more creatures.  From down the hall, two rust monsters come into view.  Scrag is terrified for his axe.

For the moment, however, the rust monsters are far enough away that everyone focuses on the threats at hand.  Krolec fires an evasive shot into one of the chokers while Leigh follows it up with another scorching burst, this time managing to avoid hitting Scrag.

Unfortunately for the half-orc, the chokers are also accurate.  Both of the creatures manage to wrap their arms around him, cutting off his air.

The balhannoth still attracts more concern.  Yathrin places another assassin shroud on it while Sa'lid misses with yet another of his spells, this time his swirling stars spell.

Scrag fails to escape from the choker's grasp.  Unable to reach them, he transforms into his form of the frenzied wolverine and chops into the balhannoth with his axe.  The rock-like monster responds by biting him with its sharp teeth.

Hoping to save the warden, Krolec takes aim at one of the cavern chokers.  He fires off a pair of shots, but only one finds its mark.  Still, it is enough to kill the creature.

The rust monsters charge ahead, attacking Scrag.  One of them manages to bite him.

Leigh fires off another scorching burst, hitting all of the creatures and Scrag.  He begins to worry her tactics will kill him.  It's his last thought as the choker tightens its grasp, sending him into unconsciousness.

Sensing the situation growing desperate, Yathrin moves up to the balhannoth and consecrates the area.  She then blasts the remaining cavern choker with her darkfire.

Sa'lid takes advantage of the dark fire, sending down ice stalagmites.  They hit the cavern choker and one of the rust monsters, cutting them off from Scrag.

The healing aura of the consecrated ground allows Scrag to recover.  He manages to shrug off the arm of the choker still around him and takes a moment to recover himself.  He then fires off his manticore shield, killing the choker in a hail of tiny darts.

The balhannoth then falls over dead as well, stricken down by the cold emanating from the ice stalagmites.

However, dangerous threats still remain.  The rust monsters attack at Scrag and Yathrin, destroying their axe and holy symbol, respectively.  Scrag lets out a long Nooooooo!

Krolec and Leigh take aim at the rust monsters, blasting them with magic missiles and arrows.  Yathrin steps back and blasts one with her vengeful flare.  In the end, it is Sa'lid who scores the kill with his energy strobe.

Unarmed, Scrag retreats from the other rust monster.  It attempts to follow him, but he manages to fend off its bite with his shield.

Krolec hits with another arrow as Leigh misses with her magical one.  Yathrin has no better luck with her zealous sanction nor does Sa'lid manage to his with his energy strobe.

As Scrag makes a run for it, the monster moves over to Yathrin.  After it bites her, Krolec finishes the creature off with a twin shot of arrows that go through each of the monster's eyes.

After the monsters are dead, they collect the residuum from their remains.  Scrag is despondent about losing his axe and Yathrin is equally sensitive about her lost holy symbol.

Krolec decides to rattle her cage a bit by taunting her about her lost symbol, and using a derogatory nickname for her of "Cinder".  She is not amused.

The two squabble back and forth for some time.  Yathrin wants to send Snarg ahead as a scout to make sure the passage is safe.  Krolec notes he is better than Snarg at spotting dangers, causing Yathrin to remark how useless the goblin is.  They continue to argue...