Session 56 - Scene 1 (of 11)

Down in the underdark, Tarlyn travels quickly and quietly through the tunnels looking for the spot his mistress told him about.  Coming to a fork in the tunnel, he is unsure which way she told him to go.  He decides to take the left passage.

After passing down the tunnel a bit further, he spots a couple of troglodyte guards up ahead.  The barbarian tries to lie back in the shadows, but he is spotted.  The troglodytes grunt after him in their primitive language.

Tarlyn moves up to get into combat position.  As he does so, he realizes he has made a tactical error – beside him is a small cavern area off of the side of a tunnel where a troglodyte minder is feeding a destrachan.

The handler immediately attacks Tarlyn with his claws, but Tarlyn moves swiftly to dodge the blows.  The destrachan, however, is able to blast him at a distance with its piercing sonic screech.

As the two guards approach with their heavy clubs, Tarlyn activates his cloud of darkness.  The drow then sneaks behind the guards and slashes into them.

While the minder thrashes around wildly in the darkness, the two soldiers have a better idea of where the drow is.  One of them scores a lucky hit, sending a crushing blow into Tarlyn's hip.  He is then blasted again by their pet.

Flying into a rage, Tarlyn summons his feral strength and charges at the destrachan, striking it down in a series of furious blows.

The enraged troglodyte handler charges at the drow warrior in response, and the two exchange furious strikes.  

The two soldiers use the opportunity to move in and surround Tarlyn.  He manages to parry one of their attacks, but the other strikes him in the shoulder.

Further enraged, Tarlyn presses the attack against the burly handler.  Striking the creature down, he maneuvers behind the guards and cuts down another of them with a pressing strike.

The remaining troglodyte decides he's outmatched and makes a run for it.  The barbarian charges after him, cutting him down from behind.

As Tarlyn stops to catch his breath, he realizes he has chased the creature into a large hall.  It is filled with a clan of several dozen troglodytes.  Their leader, a curse chanter, calls out for the drow to stop his attacks.

Using a very broken form of common, the troglodyte chief asks what Tarlyn wants.  When he responds that he is looking for something, the curse chanter seems to know what he is seeking.  The troglodyte asks if it is the "shiny box" left by the "dark woman".

Tarlyn confirms that is the item he is seeking.  The curse chanter declares Tarlyn to be a great warrior and bargains they will give him the shiny box in exchange for him leaving in peace.  He agrees.

As he leaves the chamber with the silver box in hand, the barbarian boldly comments that they should take this as a lesson not to mess with the drow.

Session 56 - Scene 2 (of 11)

Elsewhere below the surface, the rest of the group discusses what to do next.  Krolec isn't sure if they should continue on to the end of the tunnel or wait until after they rest as several of the group were wounded by Rufus' attack.

Leigh wants to press on and find the end.  Krolec makes sure to point out they should lock the door to the teleportation room behind them.

But Yathrin wants to take care of Rufus' body first.  Krolec suggests dragging it out of the tunnel with them, but the drow priestess argues they should hide the body.

Krolec doesn't disagree with the general idea, but remarks there aren't a lot of hiding places down in the narrow tunnel.  Yathrin reminds him he is forgetting about the caves they entered through.

Leigh likes the idea of dragging the body back to the cave and letting the wild animals scatter the bones.  Krolec wonders if they shouldn't see about returning the body for a bounty, but Leigh reminds him the region is still poor and all they are likely to get is more praise.

Yathrin gets frustrated with the two fey.  She points out that the reason they need to hide the body is that Rufus' allies shouldn't know he is dead; if they know he is dead, they can plan around it.

Everyone agrees and they drag Rufus' corpse back into the cave.  Krolec eventually spots a small tributary cavern tunnel with various offshoots they can use to stick the assassin's body into.  They put the body in and partially bury it to keep it out of sight.

Down one of the cavernous passages, Krolec spots movement off in the distance.  He alerts the others and everyone scatters to hide.

Session 56 - Scene 3 (of 11)

As the figure in the cavern gets closer, Krolec can see that it is Tarlyn, weapons at the ready.  The ranger has Yathrin approach him to alert him of their presence.

When Yathrin approaches, Tarlyn is somewhat surprised; he got lost trying to get back to the surface and didn't expect to find her and the group along the way.  But his manner remains very formal as he tells her he has retrieved the box, mentioning it was a challenging mission.
 
Yathrin responds that Tarlyn has done excellent work, and the challenge was the reason he was chosen.  After hiding the box under her cloak, Yathrin starts to catch the barbarian up on the events he has missed.

Nearby, Krolec keeps a lookout.  When Yatrhin and Tarlyn start whispering back and forth, he calls out quietly to remind them to hurry up.  He does not like being in such an enclosed area.

Hoping to placate the elf, Yathrin decides to lag behind and catch Tarlyn up as they head back to the room with the teleportation circle.

When they arrive, Leigh decides they should spend more time studying the circle before moving on.  She spends some time studying the symbol next to the one she believes to lead back to the Devil's Attic.  After some time, she discerns the letter "T" and the symbols of a mountain.  Krolec believes it could refer to Thunderspire, though he does not know of any plots related to that location.

Spending some more time, Leigh moves on to the next circle.  It appears to be encoded with the letter "H" and a tomb.  For that one, Krolec has no theory.  The one after that is an "S" and more mountains.

The next hour is spent studying over the remainder – a "K" with a tower, a "W" with a house, an "I" with a cave, and an "F" with a house.

Krolec and Liegh toss ideas back and forth on what the letters might refer to.  The "H" could be Hammerfast, or a specific tomb of someone with a name starting with H.  The S could perhaps refer to the Stonemarch Mountains, but Krolec is unsure.  As to K, W, and F – he suspects they may be the homes with someone with a matching name, but no names come to mind.

In the meantime, the others grow restless.  Sa'lid notes he needs time to rest at length because of his wounds.  Internally, he grows ever more impatient with Leigh and Krolec's dithering; once again they decide to chase phantoms instead of making bold moves.  He gives a knowing glance to Yathrin.

After studying the circles more to figure out how they work, Leigh suggests it is time they move on.  Krolec still isn't sure if they should use the runes or continue down the tunnel.  Yathrin suggests they should first head back to town, as heading into the unknown while underpowered would be very risky.

Although Leigh wants to press on, she relents and agrees to head back.

Session 56 - Scene 4 (of 11)

When the weary adventurers get near Leigh's house, they are immediately alarmed by the smoke in the air.  As they get closer, they see the smoldering remains of her home.  Leigh is not amused.

Krolec looks around to find a guard.  One of the town guardsmen stands nearby.  Meanwhile, Leigh inspects the remains – she can tell this fire was not started using magic.

Sa'lid approaches the guardsman that Krolec is talking to.  He asks what happened.

The guardsman explained that a fire started in the home a short while ago, but a bucket brigade was able to come together to put it out before the fire could spread.  He suspects it was another case of a careless homeowner leaving a fire going in the hearth, mentioning it happens commonly during the cold winter days.

Leigh hears the comment and heads over, trying to control her rage.  In a voice that lacks any uncertainty, she tells the guardsman she did not leave a fire going when she left.

Realizing it is her home, the guardsman tells her he is sorry for her loss.  

The wizard cares little for the man's half-hearted sympathies, insisting that the house was burned down deliberately.  The guard then suggests perhaps she left a candle going, noting women are wont to do so.

Krolec tells the guard he should look closer.  Examining the ashes with his sword, he finds a broken glass container and the stubby remains of a torch.  He shows it to the guard.

The guard is genuinely surprised.  He wonders aloud who would do such a thing.  When Leigh responds "lots of people", he makes the unfortunate jest that she is "one of those women".

Although she does not know exactly what the guard means, Leigh is still enraged by the comment.  She grabs the guard forcefully, asking if he knows who she is.

While Krolec tries to get her to let him go, the man yells out condescending remarks of "unhand me, woman!"  Yathrin makes an aside remark to her as well, warning her of consequences if she burns anyone to death in the city.

After letting the guard go, Leigh stomps off, fuming.  Krolec tries to smooth things over with the guard, saying she is just upset about the loss of her home.  The guard does not begrudge the point, noting he knows "how women can be".  

Nearby, Yathrin half-heartedly wonders if she should have let Leigh kill the condescending man after all.  Krolec prefers to kill the man with kindness, getting his name (Lancel) on the pretext of telling Lt. Gerdrand just how helpful they've found him to be.

Session 56 - Scene 5 (of 11)

Once again, the group finds themselves standing around asking the question, "now what?"  Krolec suggests they get themselves out of the street and to an inn.

Leigh wonders if Scrag's manor would be more reclusive, but Krolec insists the inn is safer; Scrag's manor is likely to be watched and going there will tip their hand to their enemies.  Yathrin also expresses her concern about putting trust in servants whose lord is dead.

While Sa'lid suggests his own inn, Krolec prefers to go someplace they haven't been before.  The group quickly finds a rather unremarkable, mid-grade inn.

Krolec asks the innkeeper for two rooms – intending one for himself, Leigh, and Sa'lid and another for the drow.  The helpful man behind the desk is able to get them adjacent rooms.  He also reminds them about the free continental gruel breakfast in the morning.

When they get inside their rooms, Leigh is still upset.  She grumbles on about both the loss of her home and the impertinent guard.  Sa'lid is less sentimental, and makes sure watches are set.

In the other room, the drow decide not to both with setting watches.  Yathrin opens the silver box, finding her hidden cache of emergency materials inside.

She takes the healing potion out and puts it in her belt pouch.  She then divides the gold, giving 300 each to Xunrar and Tarlyn, taking the remaining 400 for herself.  

But when she goes to grab the main item she originally sent Tarlyn for, the holy symbol of Lloth, she pulls her hand back.  Her recent experiences have given her a new perspective and she thinks of the private conversation she had with Xunrar the previous day.  She closes the box, leaving the symbol behind.

Later that night, as Leigh takes her turn to watch, some of the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together in her mind.  She thinks back on the first time she and Krolec went to the aviary to meet Lord Varys.  Varys, who is blind!

Session 56 - Scene 6 (of 11)

The next morning, everyone gets together in the hall.  They decide to skip the free gruel breakfast and have a hushed conversation in a nearby alley.

Leigh tells the others of her suspicions.  Yathrin believes it is proof enough – Arlo is Varys.  Sa'lid argues they need to take him out quick.

With the solution in hand, Krolec thinks back and realizes the clues were there all along.  The Raven Queen's vision revealed Arlo's identity as a flock of ravens on the aviary – the same ravens Varys used as his messenger birds.  Furthermore, Father William mentioned Varys was never the same after his pilgrimage to Hammerfast.  Krolec suspects the real Varys never returned from that trip.

The ranger then realizes that Varys' trip to Hammerfast was two years ago, meaning they never even met the real Varys.  "Lord Varys" was Arlo all along.  And his help was all misdirection, distractions to keep them out of the way of the Usher.

Yathrin asks if they know where Varys lives.  She wonders if they should alert the local authorities.

Krolec suggests the quickest way would be to talk to Father William.  They quickly head to the temple.

However, when Krolec knocks on the temple door, he is surprised to find that no one answers.  He carefully opens the door as everyone readies their weapons.

The ranger calls out as he and the others head inside.  There appears to be no one around.  Scanning the area, he notices the torches and lamps in the main entrance chamber have burned out; he concludes it is not a good sign.

Xunrar checks the lamps and finds them cold to the touch.  Everyone spreads out and looks around.  They find no one in rectory, the bed chambers, the kitchen, or in the altar room.

Only one room in the building is locked, the door to the temple archive where Brother Dominic presides over the temple's treasures.

Tarlyn suggests opening the door to the treasury but Krolec strongly cautions against it, warning of the Raven Queen's vengeance for disturbing her sacred areas.

Leigh decides to knock on the door, but gets no response.  She notices the door is not trapped but detects protecting wards and curses.

Looking around, Krolec notes that there are no signs of a struggle.  It appears that the priests left one night and didn't come back.

Leaving the temple, Leigh has everyone check the grounds.  They find no one and no evidence of anything out of the ordinary occurring.

Session 56 - Scene 7 (of 11)

Sa'lid suggests there must be someone else in the city who knows where Varys is.  Thinking on it, Krolec decides perhaps Grundelmar may know.

The group heads over to the Temple of the Sun, with Krolec alone going in.  He finds Grundelmar inside, organizing his candles.

Grundelmar greets Krolec but quickly asks about the drow.  Krolec mentions they are outside, and the dwarf breathes a sigh of relief.

Krolec then asks Grundelmar if he knows where Lord Varys lives in the city. The dwarf is curious what Krolec wants with him, noting he finds the man to be a loathsome spider he's always believed will cause trouble.  The elf suggests he may be right.

The priest explains that after Varys left the temple, he bought a large merchant's house out near the Fallcrest stables.  Krolec mentally notes the location puts it right in line with the underground tunnel they found earlier.

Unfortunately, Grundelmar cannot point out a specific house, noting he's never visited the man.

Leaving, Krolec still feels the religious angle is the best way to find Varys.  He decides to go to the Moonsong Temple.

Finding one the attendants near the shrine of Pelor, Krolec asks about Varys' home.  The priest is able to describe the house in enough detail that Krolec feels confident they will be able to locate it.

The group then heads out to Varys' neighborhood.  

They find a nearby guardsman and Krolec asks him to seek out Lt. Gerdrand.  The guard notes that Gerdrand is now elevated to the rank of Captain as he is the captain of the city guard, and agrees to go find him.  Or at least, he will once his break is over.

Rather than argue the point, Krolec tosses the man a gold coin to convince him to postpone his break to a later time.  Sometime later, Capt. Gerdrand and several men appear.

Session 56 - Scene 8 (of 11)

Krolec gets straight to the point, explaining how Arlo is masquerading as Lord Varys.  Capt. Gerdrand listens faithfully, but pointedly asks Krolec if this hunch has better evidence than last time, when they attempted to arrest the dying High Septarch.

The ranger responds that they do indeed have more evidence this time, much of which comes directly from the Raven Queen.  Gerdrand remarks that it sends chills down his spine to have the goddess of death so closely involved.

Looking over, the captain remarks that someone else has already stormed the house.  He points out the forced open doorjamb to Krolec.

Examining the ground carefully, Krolec concludes that three men recently entered through the front door, but no one came out.  

The guards get their spears ready as Gerdrand prepares to take the door.  Krolec calls him back, cautioning that he and his group should go in first.  The captain agrees.

Taryln kicks open the door first, blades at the ready.  Krolec follows behind with two swords of his own.

The front parlor of the home is covered in blood, and three bodies lie on the ground.  The one nearest the door appears to have been decapitated.  Another off to the side has a crushed in skull; a heavy, burned mace lies nearby on the floor.  The third is sliced from throat to groin, with his rotting bowels spilled over the floor.

Krolec carefully examines the bodies.  The decapitated head is that of Father William.  Brother Malachi is the one with the crushed skull.  And the nearly cut in half remains belong to Brother Dominic.

The ranger notes the blood is dried.  The bodies have been dead a while, but he can't tell when.

With the immediate area safe, Leigh heads in to assist.  She notes they were likely killed the night before last, some time shortly after they had the séance.  

Krolec realizes that Father William must have figured out it was Varys from Groddic's message.  He must have tried to handle the situation himself.

Everyone files into the house and begins to look around.  Everyone except for Yathrin, who is strangely enraptured by the fallen priests.  She thinks again how she needs a new god if she is to stay above ground.  And the power of death over life has an intoxicating allure.

She spots a raven feather sticking out of the pocket of Father Williams' corpse.  On it is the Raven Queen's symbol, painted in white.

As she stares at the feather, it begins to glow in her eyes.  And in her ears, a voice whispers to her, "Take it.  Join me, and I shall give you the assistance you need..."

Yathrin takes a quick moment then makes her decision.  She grabs the feather.  Instantly, she feels herself transform in a burst of spiritual awakening.

From the doorway of another room, Tarlyn spots Yathrin pick up the feather.  While he can neither see the glow that only Yathrin could see, nor hear the whisper only Yathrin could hear, he can still tell something is different about her.

Session 56 - Scene 9 (of 11)

Off in a different part of the house, Leigh is examining Arlo's bookshelf.  While digging through the books, she discovers one that is fake and apparently the trigger to a secret door.

When she calls over to Krolec, he is somewhat annoyed.  His search was far more thorough and would have discovered the door had Leigh not always rushed to areas with books.  At least, he thinks to himself, he was able to rule out any other exits.  Outwardly, he curtly tells her to quit reading the books and open the door.

Everyone else is called over to the study.  Krolec, Leigh, and Sa'lid can all tell Yathrin is acting different; there's nothing specific they can identify, but something is definitely off with her.

Krolec asks the priestess if she is all right.  She responds that everything is going to plan, a curious phrase that only confuses the elf more.

Yathrin then turns to Xunrar, telling him it is time.  He agrees.  She gives him the feather as the others watch, dumbfounded.

In a whisper only Xunrar can hear, a voice asks if he gives himself freely.  He responds aloud that he does.  Instantly, he garb and symbols change from Lloth to the Raven Queen.

Leigh notices the magical change and points it out to Krolec.  The elf smiles and gives his congradulations to Yathrin and Xunrar.  He half-jokingly points out they've "seen the light."  Yathrin rephrases it as "we accept the darkness."

The priestess then tells them that Yathrin is no more.  They are now to call her by her real name, Talaste.  She notes their almost giddy reaction and expresses her surprise that they are taking it so well.  Krolec explains they have performed many missions for the Raven Queen, and see her as an ally.

In the back of the room, Tarlyn isn't so sure.  Having forsworn the Raven Queen, Talaste and Xunrar have marked themselves for death.  If he stays with Lloth, he will be honor-bound to kill them.

The drow weighs his options.  He could gain glory by killing Talaste and Xunrar for Lloth, but he has been out of the drow city for some time now and would lose station if he returned.  Moreover, he knows he cannot take on the entire group.

Tarlyn realizes his choices are to either wait for an opportune moment to strike his mistress and her consort down, or else choose one of the surface gods to follow.  He has no great love of Lloth, but neither likes the sound of the death goddess.  Thinking a moment, he feels the warrior god Kord would be the most appropriate choice.

Session 56 - Scene 10 (of 11)

Turning back to the mission at hand, the group informs Capt. Gerdrand of their discovery.  They then open the secret door behind the bookshelf, revealing a set of stairs leading down.

The bottom of the stairs goes into a tunnel not at all unlike the one they were in before.  But the tunnel continues on in both directions.

Leigh ascertains heading to the left would take them back towards the area where they fought Rufus.  While the right, she concludes, heads on straight for Moonstone Keep.

Krolec pops back up and tells Gerdrand about the tunnel.  The captain gathers his men and heads down.  They plan to take the right tunnel while Krolec's group heads left.

Before they separate, Talaste takes Gerdrand aside for a private conversation.  She explains how she will be taking over the Raven Queen's temple.  Gerdrand cautions her against trying to take Father William's seat on the council as well.  He is relieved to find she is of the same mind.

They disagree, however, on how public of a figure she should be.  Talaste points out that as head of a temple she can no longer keep her presence in the city a secret.  The captain cautions it will take much time for people to accept her, and suggest she follow the example of House Azaer and remain out of sight.  But Talaste holds firm, committing only to her intent to handle the situation delicately.

Gerdrand tells her he will inform the king.  He then grabs his men and the two groups go their separate ways.  However, they are not more than a few seconds apart before Gerdrand is already yelling for Krolec to come over.

When the group arrives, they find that Gerdrand has discovered a nearby door.  Leigh detects no magic on the door, but Krolec discovers a poisoned needle trap he is forced to disassemble.

After removing it, he opens the door quietly, and has Leigh toss a light stone inside.  Once he has ensured there are no more traps in the entryway, he opens the door fully and steps inside.

The room inside is another study area, but much more chaotic than the fake study above.  A desk on the far walls lies filled with scattered papers overflowing onto the floor.  The walls of the room are marked with chalk, showing the spiral symbols of Tharizdun everywhere.

But Leigh is most disturbed when she looks up at the ceiling.  There are many names there written across in a haphazard fashion – hers, Krolec's, and Sa'lid's – along with many others of their past companions.  Many of the names – Rhogar, Xena, and Merend among others – have a line through them, crossing them out.  She realizes those are the names of their dead friends.  Talaste is happy to see that she and her drow warriors are not listed.

Krolec tells Gerdrand to proceed down the hallway towards the keep; he wants to make sure the area is secure.  He also wants Gerdrand to get back and have the king swear out a death warrant for Arlo.

Meanwhile, Leigh looks through the various papers on and around the desk.  Many are letters sent from various informants about the locations and actions of various people.  Others are requests for meetings from various names, including Bragosani, Lord Reiner, and someone named "Paldemar".  Still others are notes that Arlo wrote himself, one of the more recent ones is strangely cryptic, saying only, "Cuiylak is helping them!"  The wizard decides the papers aren't all that useful  except as further evidence that Arlo is both insane and involved in a large conspiracy.

Session 56 - Scene 11 (of 11)

After spending the last ten minutes standing around the room, Talaste is anxious to get going again.  She starts talking about the supplies they need and how they should rest then depart in the morning.

Leigh and Krolec aren't following the drow at all.  They ask what she is talking about.  She responds curtly that they need to head to either Hammerfast or the Keep.

Krolec probes more about Hammerfast, not understanding why they would go there.  After a brief exchange, Talaste realizes she misspoke and meant Winterhaven.  

Talaste explains she is trying to get a decision out of them whether to go to Winterhaven then try and get into the keep, or whether it would be better to pop in to the keep directly.  The ranger understands the benefit of not going straight into the keep, but worries about having to get past the keep's defenses.

In any event, they decide to handle the issues of the day first.  Krolec wants to get the priests' bodies buried and check in with Gerdrand, while Talaste has some preparations of her own.  Tarlyn also expresses interest in finding a shrine to Kord.

When Captain Gerdrand and his men reappear, he explains to Krolec that the tunnel continues on and eventually leads into the sewers, in the area behind the locked gate that Krolec's group previously found.  The elf is put ill at ease by this information, as it means Arlo had access to Moonstone Keep.

After making sure the captain will seal off the entrance to the keep, the group heads back to the temple of the Raven Queen and buries the priests in the garden of the abbey.  Krolec makes sure to help with the burial and express his thanks for all the help Father William had given the group.

With the burial ceremonies over, Talaste has a theological discussion with Krolec and Leigh about the Raven Queen and marriage practices.  She explains that she and Xunrar plan to perform the elf bonding ritual.  Krolec tries to be as accepting as he can, congratulating the couple.

After a long discussion about whether or not a separate officiant is required, Talaste elects to perform the ritual herself, with the rest of the group as witnesses.  Afterwards, everyone disperses to pray to their gods.  Once he is done at the Correllon shrine, Krolec escorts Tarlyn to the shrine of Kord inside the old tombwoods groundskeeper's building, where the resurrection stone was destroyed by the guardian.

As Tarlyn prays to his new god, he realizes he will need to prove his new faith by earning it in battle in the name of Kord.  But he knows he won't need to wait long.

Session 56 - Session Notes

This session was probably one of my favorites.  Although not a whole lot actually happened in terms of plot development or action, there was lots of character development in the calm before the storm.  My guess is that from here until the end of the campaign (or at least, this arc - see below), it will be a lot more action.

Some various notes about the sesison:
* The Tarlyn mission was a way to A) explain Tarlyn's absence, and B) give the kid a chance to try the character out.  This is technically the first session where the Tarlyn player got to actually play the character.  It was also intended to replace the holy symbol Yathrin lost, but since she decided to convert (more on that below), that point was lost.

* Tarlyn's objective was a McGuffin.  None of the players knew what was in the box until way later in the session when Yathrin opened it.

* I know, the Tarlyn storyline makes little sense the way it was written up.  The original story I planned involved Tarlyn getting the box from a duergar ally of Yathrin's (after getting past the trogs), who would have been connected back to the Thunderspire arcs.  However, players were getting bored watching the one-man fight, so I kind of rushed that along.

* The other part that doesn't really make sense is how Tarlyn had time to get down in the underdark, get back up, and coincidentally meet up with the rest of the group.  Call it artistic license - I just wanted to get the group back together quickly.

* The teleportation circle "codes" were not all that hard to figure out IMO.  And yet, they acted like I was speaking Swahili again.  I mean, the center was described as a house with an "F".

* Sa'lid and Yathrin had previously plotted somewhat over email.  It's not in the session notes because the Leigh and (especially) Krolec players are terrible at keeping OOC knowledge OOC.  Basically, Sa'lid thinks Leigh and Krolec are too easily distracted, moralistic hypocrites, and too spineless to seize the potential for true power that he sees.  Yathrin doesn't want conflict, but wants to make sure Sa'lid has her back if it comes.

* I burned Leigh's house down because I wanted them to feel unsafe and to move things along.  Plus, it was fun to poke the Leigh player with a stick.  Evil, I know.  Within the story, it would have been done by some random agent of Arlo around the time that Rufus was following them.

* The sexist guard NPC was there for comedic relief.  Also - one way I like to reinforce the idea that they can't rely on the town guard is by showing the town guard to be routinely ineffective.

* No one liked my idea of the free gruel breakfast buffet at the inn, lol.

* The Leigh player did not figure out any of the information about Varys, I had to tell her.  I was getting tired of the "you never give us good clues" vibe and wanted to play the "Duh!" card.  Naturally, once I reveal it was Varys the Leigh and Krolec players start to go, "oh yeah, that does fit the clues".  That's right, the problem wasn't a lack of clues - it's just that you guys suck as investigators.  My clues suck, indeed.

* Trying to find Vary's house is another one of those moments where I wonder how some of their brains work.  I don't get the connection that lead to "surely Grundelmar will know!"  Rather than fight it this time, I just let Grundelmar know, more or less.  Naturally, they insisted on continuing to ask priests until they got an exact location.  Sigh.

* The Yathrin and Tarlyn players had read the special scene in the last writeup and were expecting the Raven Queen priests to be dead.  The others did not and were fairly shocked.

* The Krolec player was pissed I had the Leigh player find the secret door because he rolled a higher perception.  My reasoning was, Leigh would go straight for the bookshelf while Krolec would be more apt to investigate everything.

* The Tarlyn player went back and forth a lot about what he should do.  In the end, my warning that I wasn't going to create another character for him was enough.

* The names on the ceiling is clearly a reference to Lost.  I thought it was fitting in with the crazy.  The spirals all over the walls, on the other hand, are the homage to Dark City.

* I was surprised they weren't more interested in Arlo's notes.

* I cut a lot of the conversation from the writeup about the drow marriage because it was a lot of back and forth rambling about who else could perform the ceremony and was pretty dull and pointless.


So, where does that leave things?  I'm not sure.  I fully intend to end this campaign after the climax with the Usher.  However, the Talaste player is lobbying for continuing on with a high-powered campaign.

Personally, I dislike high-powered campaigns.  I find becoming the hero to be interesting.  I find being the powerful hero to be dreadfully dull.

Still, I'm tossing around ideas in my head.  Although its not my preferred level of play, there are still some interesting opportunities.

There's a risk here as well with not trying to accomodate.  If I flat out say "no", there's a risk the Krolec player will try to resume his old 3e campaign as a high-powered game instead.  And I'd rather gnaw off my arm than play in that.

At the present, the idea is to break and play something different for a short while.  My proposal is a palette-cleansing arc with my Traveller 40K ideas.  I'd previously tried my hand with my "Cedar Rapids Under Seige" superhero one-shot and that flew like a lead balloon.  Hopefully Traveller 40K will be more successful.

My hope is that they will like that well enough that I can quietly kill off the idea of continuing on with a paragon campaign.  Otherwise, I'll be having a new sequel campaign (complete with new actual play thread).

Session 57 - Cast of Characters

Sir Krolec Jar'Bin - Elven Ranger
Dame Leigh - Eladrin Battle Mage
Sa'lid Dra'lah - Human Sorcerer
Talaste zyne'Phyrva Noquval - Drow Cleric
Xunrar Torar - Drow Paladin
Tarlyn Delal - Drow Barbarian

Session 57 - Scene 1 (of 5)

As morning comes, Talaste notes that the new moon draws near.  As they meet outside the inn in the morning, she tells them it is time to head back down into the secret tunnels, to the teleportation circle.

Leigh wants to know what their destination will be, but the drow priestess is non-committal, saying only that she will know when they get there.  Krolec and Leigh aren't so sure they like the answer, but agree to go along.

When the group reaches the teleportation network, Talaste can feel the Raven Queen pointing her towards the symbol Leigh previously identified as being a "K" with a tower.  

As Talaste directs the group to stand in the appropriate place, Leigh asks where they are going.  The priestess says only that they are going where they need to go, starting to lose a little patience.  She loses it completely when Krolec asks a follow-up question about what they intend to do, forcefully telling him that they are heading to the Keep on the Shadowfell to stop the Usher from bringing back Tharizdun.

Talaste then begins to perform the ritual to teleport them, telling the others to have their weapons ready.  But the divine hand guiding her through the ritual is not enough, and something goes wrong.  The transportation feels as if they've been turned inside out and back again.

Session 57 - Scene 2 (of 5)

Momentarily disoriented by the trip, the group is temporarily stunned.  They see they have arrived in some sort of small graveyard, filled with several undead.

Before they can react, the undead creatures move into action.  A pair of gravehounds comes out from a nearby tomb alcove, charging at Tarlyn and Sa'lid.  Despite their disorientation, the two manage to fend the creatures off.  Sa'lid uses his magic to teleport away to safety, leaving Krolec to face the beast.

Off to the other side of the graveyard, a small force of skeletons armed with swords begins moving towards them.    

On the side between the two forces is a third cadre of undead, this one a host of skeletons with bows standing behind the cover of gravestones.  They fire shots at Krolec, Talaste, and Tarlyn.  Tarlyn manages to duck out of the way, but both Krolec and Talaste are hit with arrows.

Leigh blasts back at the archers with a fireburst spell, hitting them all.  She is dismayed to see that the attack does not destroy them.

Meanwhile, Xunrar attacks the gravehounds with his astral thunder, blasting one of them.  Tarlyn shifts away from the one Xunrar hit to make a pressing strike on the other gravehound threatening Krolec.  With deadly aim, his blade strikes straight through the creature's brain, killing it instantly.

The group of skeletal warriors splits up and moves in, surrounding the group on two sides.  Krolec retreats back to safety while Tarlyn engages in swordplay.  The barbarian parries one of the attacks but another catches him on the leg, making a slight cut.

From his safe vantage point, Krolec fires a hawk's talon shot at one of the skeletons, killing it.  Sa'lid takes out two others with his swirling stars spell.

The skeletal archers then fire arrows of their own, hitting Tarlyn once in the shoulder but missing Xunrar and Talaste entirely.

Still surrounded by undead, Talaste decides to pray to consecrate the ground around them.  The remaining gravehound tries to attack her, but is fended off by her divine power.  Xunrar defends his wife by hitting the undead dog with a bolstering strike.

Despite the close proximity of the skeletal warriors, Leigh stays focused on the archers, blasting them all again with a shock sphere.

Tarlyn decides to assist with the skeletons.  He slashes at the hound then shifts over to meet the warriors.  As they prepare to attack him and Sa'lid, Tarlyn goes into action, whirling around cutting all three of them down before they can act.

With the skeletons under control, Krolec shifts into position to attack the gravehound.  He hits it with an arrow and drives it back away from Talaste.

Another wave of arrows fills the air as the skeletal archers attack, this time each firing two shots.  The torrent of arrows leaves Tarlyn hit twice, Talaste hit twice, and Xunrar hit once.  Sa'lid blasts back at the creatures with his blazing starfall, hitting two of them.

Talaste moves her consecrated ground to cause the gravehound to burn with radiance.  She also says a healing word for Tarlyn, who is starting to bleed from his wounds.

As the undead flesh burns off of the monster, the gravehound tries to strike at Xunrar, but he knocks the creature back with his shield.  He follows up with a slash of his sword, killing the beast.

Leigh again attacks the archers, this time using a forceful retort spell.  The blast hits the front three of them, destroying two and knocking a third down.

Tarlyn tries to charge at one of the remaining archers, but his sword strikes one of the tombstones.  Krolec assists him by firing two shots into the creature.

Sa'lid has better luck, blasting away another of the archers with an explosive pyre.  Leigh blasts the remaining ones, as well as Tarlyn, with her fireburst spell as Xunrar charges forward.  The blast destroys the prone skeleton.

Tarlyn cuts down the archer next to him then whirls back around to attack the remaining one.  Krolec tries to assist with another pair of arrows, but misses, as does Sa'lid with his energy strobe.

The remaining archer steps back, firing two shots into Xunrar.  Before he can react, Leigh takes it out with a magic missile.