At the Stockade

[Wolfgar]

So what happened last week? Did the invisible albino guy reappear? Did the slaves revolt again? Did we find Markessa other spell books? Are we on our way back to Keoland?

[cedrus]

We were in a hostage situation and you stood there twiddling your thumbs instead of charging and murdering the hostage taker (the invisible albino). Other than that, though, we did pretty well. Most of us are still alive, and Winthrop and I are presently resting to regain spells. Max is poisoned and dying, but I'm keeping him alive with slow poison for the time being. That was a close call. Most of the slaves are alive, too. Pavel was watching over them, and now he's telling the children stories about murder and mayhem (seriously; he's training them to be future assassins, I think.)

We ended having just made our way back into the level of the stockade where we killed Icar (we found the secret passageway that comes out in the kitchen where we were attacked by werewolves). Next, we need to secure the area and eventually bring the slaves up (they're waiting in the slave quarters with Pavel and Melba and Raven). Somebody checked the outdoors level and reported that it's a wasteland, so we're a little bit hopeful that we'll be safe for a while. We gave the albinos their weapons back and let them go (complete fiasco but funny in retrospect).

[Ginger]

cedrus said:

We were in a hostage situation and you stood there twiddling your thumbs instead of charging and murdering the hostage taker (the invisible albino).

A more charitable interpretation of that event is that Otto succeeded in making a Wisdom check and decided he shouldn't charge the bad guy.

[cedrus]

Shh!! I was just trying to make him feel bad that he wasn't there. Hehe.

Probably a wise decision anyway. It would have been a bad scene if the albino had decided to put an end to Melba and Ironhand.

[Maximilian]

It’s also worth mentioning that along the way we managed to pick up some interesting papers. Maximilian found a ledger indicating that there may be thirty to forty thousand gold somewhere in the complex. Before we go gallivanting off to find it, though, we'll need to 1) secure the safety of the slaves and 2) confirm that anyone who might know the location of said gold would have some reason to have left it behind (e.g., because he's chopped into little bits, because he/she/it was more concerned with escaping, etc.). Is it possible to heal Dell such that he'll be in a condition suitable for searching the complex? Could Addy or Pavel do it? I trust Dell, er, marginally more than I trust the other two, but I can't think of any folks other than those three who'd be good at searching (is Locate Object a 2nd level clerical spell? If it is and Cedrus has room for it, perhaps it might be useful, if it can be used to look for the object "heap o' gold.").

Winthrop or Cedrus (I think it was Winthrop) also picked up a sheet of paper that picked up impressions from someone's writing on the sheet on top of it. We should check to see if there's any charcoal in the fire pit in the kitchen so that we don't have to take it all the way back to town before making a rubbing.

One other thing worth mentioning is that the portal in the big chamber with the gong seems to be changing colors (at last note, it was goldish). This is probably not a good thing. Time is of the essence, lest something unspeakable emerge and consolidate all our gains -- in its stomach. We need to secure the top level (where the spell-casters are currently recuperating) posthaste and move all those delightful children (hopefully the women can help us keep said children orderly) up the ladder away from where they may get eaten or re-abducted down below. I don’t recall if we had the awake folks go out to start securing the area, but they really should go do that, unless we have reason to believe they’ll run into something they cannot handle. Besides, if any such things are still around, they’re likely to happen upon the spell-casters before they’re rested up anyway, so we might as well send the fighters out now.

I suspect that the physical-types probably won’t have enough strength to carry or haul up on ropes all the kids, so I think the best system is probably as follows: 1) someone strong stays at the top of the ladder holding a rope 2) someone good with knots stays at the bottom and ties the rope around a kid, preferably not around the neck 3) kid climbs up ladder on his own, with man at top taking in the slack as the kid climbs 4) once the kid gets to the top, the rope is taken off and dropped back down.

This system is clinically proven to reduce incidence of splattered-child syndrome by at least 89 percent. Remember, it’s a fifty-foot ladder. That’s five stories. Very high to climb. Ideally, we can do this in a way that doesn’t disturb the spell-casters. Perhaps we can entice the children into some sort of holding pen by offering them roast pork.

[Dell]

Negotiations go badly when Dell isn't around to provide leadership.

Addy says that we should have executed the prisoners, then gone back and punctured their leader with many arrows. Maybe he would have killed one or two of our guys before he went down. So what?

(Now that Addy has made it to level one, he thinks he's a bad ass. Just ignore him. But be nice, because I don't think he likes any of you.)

[Dell]

Regarding the finding of huge amounts of gold...

Is this the sort of situation where one would want to use a potion of Treasure Finding, perhaps? Because we have one of those.

[Mr. Trommer]

Keep in mind that Raven wanted us to charge and kill the evil monster even though it would have killed him and a couple of others. A very noble sacrifice of him but Winthrop was against it. The evil creature did escape with Cash's full laden backpack though. That is enough reason to come back and track him down.

I did pick up some charcol already.

After we rest and memorize spells, Dell can use Reduce to make himself small enough to go down the money chute and see what is back there and find out how we can get in (if the 30,00 gp is back there).

[Wolfgar]

Dell cannot use any spells for awhile thanks to the white wolf.

The only ones left who might know about the treasure are Kes and Kelvin. I am sure none of the hobgoblins were given information about it. Also no one is likely to have run off with it since 30,000 gold pieces weighs over a ton.

Treasure finding might be useful. The problem is that it points directly at the treasure as opposed to the direction to go to get to the treasure. There may be lots of intervening earth between you and it. Depending on how long the effects lasts it would be nice to move to several locations and take a reading so that you could triangulate the source. So we may want to map out more of the stockade before we try using the potion. Between Dell and Winthrop I am sure that their intelligence will have no problems locating the source.

[cedrus]

Is there a way to the surface that doesn't require climbing stairs? We may have some trouble getting the injured people (Dell, Raven, the Saltmarsh men, etc., not to mention the children) aboveground. How many of us are still conscious _and_ fully mobile? Otto, Cedrus, Tom, Diego (?), Maximillian, Melba, Addy (?), Winthrop, Pavel. Anyone else? Once again, I think we're facing a logistical nightmare.

As far as enemies, what's left?

Albino creatures (hopefully they won't regroup and attack).

The creature in the hole in the wall in the slave quarters (hopefully stuck behind bars and unable to attack us).

Kelvin and Kessa (if they show up, maybe they'll help us, but I think they're more trouble than they're worth).

Scattered hobgoblins or goblins or other random creatures such as spiders (hopefully they've fled the stockade; leaderless, they're probably not going to attack, but we should be wary).

Reinforcements from outside the stockade (potentially a big problem; by killing off Icar, Markessa, Blackthorn, etc., we've created a power vacuum in the area, and we may have wandering parties of hobgoblins try to invade the stockade now and take it over.) We're not nearly strong enough to secure the entire stockade, but at the moment, staying here is probably safer than wandering through the landscape with all the slaves.

Monsters from the portal? (I doubt it, but it's something to consider. If we end up staying in the stockade for a few days, we might want to secure all the entrances to the lower level, after we bring the slaves up.)

The haunted quarter. (We don't have any reason to think that whatever's in the haunted quarter will invade the unhaunted parts of the stockade, but on the other hand, if whatever's there senses the power vacuum, we might run into problems. I think if we move everyone to a safe place on the surface (in one of the towers, perhaps?) maybe we'll be secure from that worry.

The medusa's husband. Let's try not to run into him on our way back to Blue or Saltmarsh or wherever we're going.

Overall, though, and despite the damage we've taken, I think it's safe to say that by killing all the leaders of the stockade and most of their followers, we've announced to the general vicinity that we kick some major ass.

[Wolfgar]

Hopefully it takes more than a day to create a power vaccuum in the area. I think the only chance of a large force showing up is another caravan from Highport or some of the hobgoblins running off and bringing back friends. Though they might think better of that plan when they consider who we have already taken out.

The albino guys are going to be a problem. We will definitely need to block the lower entrances so they don't come sneaking up on us.

It could be that the haunted quarter is just a rumor to keep the hobgoblins away. Maybe that is where the treasure is actually stored. Of course I would prefer to use the potion to find the treasure rather than finding out firsthand if it is really haunted.

[Mr. Trommer]

I had forgotten that Dell is out of action for a while. I suppose I could do the spell and go down the chute. Of course I do have another option with my potion of clairavoyance but that has one problem. Lack of light in the place that I would be looking at. I suppose it would work for Dell since he can see in the dark so he could use it to look down the chute to see if there is anything of interest.

[Mr. Trommer]

Another thought comes to mind. How many days will Dell have to rest until he can cast spells again? If we want everyone to be able to fight we have at leat nine days of rest for the Saltmarsh guys to rest and six for Raven. I doubt we want to travel the Pomarg with a horde of freed slaves without everyone back up to snuff.

Back to the money chute. We could send an Unseen Servant down the chute with a glowing stone while using the clairavoyance potion. Of course I don't know how far a Servant can go from the caster. Ooh ooh we can let Ziggy hop down to the end of the chute! That'll work.

[Maximilian]

More things to consider:

Did we put the slaves back in the cell area, or in the largish corridor outside? The critter in the hole in the wall is almost certainly not confined to its one cell, for while I was confined originally, I definitely saw it come out and attack/eat/do something nasty to other prisoners. If it were confined to that one cell, then its neighbors would probably learn not to stray too near the coadjacent bars after the first victim got dragged through. If any slaves are in there, they need to be taken out and the doors to the pens need to be barred.

We should take inventory of food stores available in the kitchen/pantry, if we haven't already.

I don't think there's a way up that doesn't involve climbing stairs, or, worse, climbing a ladder. For the invalids, we could rig up a rope harness and haul 'em up through the trapdoor.

As regards a Reduce spell, we could tie a rope around Winthrop in case he needs to be hauled out of the hole in a hurry, or if there are more drop-offs and he needs to be lowered down (though being hauled back quickly on a rope might be painfully hilarious, like retracting a measuring tape, except that the little hook on the end of the tape is a person). Reduce could also work if we want to dispose of the thing in the slave pens; I think the thing came out of a hole too small for any of us to fit through normally.

As for tracking down the albinos, they're likely to beat us like drums if we're not careful, given their superior vision, hearing, and knowledge of the terrain. Unless we have a way to neutralize their advantages, I suggest we get everyone upstairs ASAP, seal off the bottom floors, block up the tunnel that the albinos departed by (I doubt we can erect something they can't get through, but at least we can check it to confirm if they've come back in), and only venture back underground with battle-ready types once the noncombatants are safe (well, less unsafe). The fact that the portal may be opening of its own accord is another reason why we need to hurry the evacuation of the underground floor.

[Mr. Trommer]

If I am going down the hole in a reduced manner. I will be flying with maximum shields up. If there is 30,000 gp down there it will be guarded by something unpleasant. It's just the way things work.

[Ginger]

While I am all for resting here until the weak members of our group are well again, don't forget that Al is dead, and if we wait a week here, we'll need an extremely high level arch-priest to raise/ressurect him.

[Dead Greyhawk]

About Hit Points

Any character brought to -3 (or fewer) hit points and then revived must rest for a full week, minimum. He or she will be incapable of any activity other than that necessary to move slowly to a place of rest and eat and sleep when there. The character cannot attack, defend, cast spells, use magic devices, carry burdens, run, study, research, or do anything else. This is true even if cure spells and/or healing potions are given to him or her, although if a heal spell is bestowed the prohibition no longer applies.

About the hole in the slave cages
It's big enough for a person to fit through, and the creatures Maximillian saw creeping through it and snatching mind-numbed slaves was slightly smaller than a man and bipedal (mostly).

About treasure finding potions
They are known to work typically for around 10-15 minutes and locate treasure within two to three hundred feet. Generally large masses of treasure are required (on the order of 10,000 coins or more).

How many of the party are still conscious and fully mobile?
Otto, Cedrus, Tom, Diego, Maximillian (who is poisoned), Melba, Addy, Winthrop, and Pavel. There are also a bunch of former slaves.

Where are the former slaves?
They are in the cell area, since there was serious congestion in the corridor before.

Anything else?
Yes. Jasper, the monk, is at negative 9 following poisoning by a giant spider and successful field surgery by Diego and Cedrus to drain most of the poison, and his blood, from him.

[cedrus]

A technical question: If I were alone and had to do an emergency blood draining, could I? Would that go against the priestly stricture against using pointy weapons? Or is it that clerics are simply not allowed to use sharp objects _as_ weapons? Also, for instance, would it be permissible for me to pick up somebody's knife and cut through a web to free one of the company? I'm guessing that the key idea is not to use sharp _weapons_, but I'm not positive about that, so I was wondering.

[Ginger]

Maybe those of us who are too wounded to do much helping can have "Fly" cast upon us and hover above the stockade with a spyglass.

[Dell]

cedrus said:

A technical question: If I were alone and had to do an emergency blood draining, could I? Would that go against the priestly stricture against using pointy weapons?

Of course not. How else are you going to do your animal or human sacrifices? Hell, how else are you going to peel potatoes?

[Dell]

Priority #1 is getting out of here. We'll need to find our horses, collect the treasure, and pack our stuff and get out of here as quickly as possible. We should be able to get that taken care of in 2-3 days, by which time all the fighting men should be healed, and the unconscious people should be awake.

Now, it wasn't too hard getting here, and it shouldn't be too hard getting back. Our huge caravan of slaves may bring more attention, but it should also make them leave us alone, because they'll think we work for the slave lords.


Priority #2 is getting Al raised. Question for the DM: Do we know if there's a powerful cleric in Blue? I mean, the party didn't observe one, but the Saltmarsh men were in town for quite a while doing investigating - perhaps they would know? If we can get Al raised from the dead, that'd be great - otherwise, we can wait and have a high level cleric use the resurrect scroll on him.

I don't want to go to Highport while we're weakened - it's not a town for the weak, and we don't have the resources to protect 80 slaves if Tenma wants a rematch. It's not like the people in the town won't remember us. If there's a bounty on us - which is possible - then the evil cleric won't bother with our offer of paying him to raise Al. He'll have his friends in the bar kill us and take our stuff.


Priority #3 is collecting treasure. If we can find the money, great. If we can get Markessa's luxury furniture moved out, great. But we're not going to spend weeks chipping out precious metal filigree like we did at the Nerullite temple. We came to get Melba, we got Melba - now we're done. Anything else is just gravy. Although I love gravy.

After we get Melba back to Keoland, we take a vacation for training and then decide what to do next. If Al is alive and still wants to adventure with us, we should go after the lost Dwarven colony - he needs groovier armor and a better axe. Otherwise, we can help out the Colnets in their gang war. Then again, there's always the painting... but speaking for myself, I've seen too many Nerullite temples lately. Can't we invade a Pellorite temple instead? They've got lots of money, right?

[cedrus]

Human sacrifices are easy, Dell. I just wait around until someone goes unconscious *sizes you up* and then bonk them over the head a few times while chanting in Old Entish. I already know I don't need a sharp object for that.

[Dell]

cedrus said:

Human sacrifices are easy, Dell. I just wait around until someone goes unconscious *sizes you up* and then bonk them over the head a few times while chanting in Old Entish. I already know I don't need a sharp object for that.

Alas, Dell is only part human, and as such is no good for a human sacrifice.

[cedrus]

Which part? Ehlonna isn't greedy.

I agree with your priority assessment. Treasure hunting is fine if it doesn't take up much time; it should be a low priority. I suspect, too, that Tom (and the other Saltmarsh men once I heal them) might demand that we immediately make a plan for getting Melba back to Lord Morgan, and if we delay, that might do us some damage when we go to collect our reward. As it is, I think we'll be lucky if we don't have a mutiny on our hands.

[Maximilian]

I also agree with the priority assessment. For what it's worth, if there's time while we prepare, members who aren't busy healing, readying for the trip, or keeping watch could do the following things:

1) finish mapping the complex (if we don't find the hoard before leaving, we may want to come back; by the time we return, however, new occupants may have taken up residence)
2) block up the tunnel down into the natural caverns (at least enough such that we'll know if the barrier's been breached)
3) make a sketch of the portal and altar to show to folks later who might be able to tell us where it leads

[Mr. Trommer]

We could work out a way to sacrifice Dell's human half. Especially as he is pretty touchy about it he might be happier wothout it.

[Dell]

winthrop said:

We could work out a way to sacrifice Dell's human half. Especially as he is pretty touchy about it he might be happier wothout it.

We have plenty of slaves to sacrifice, I don't think that will be neccessary. Come to think of it, those dazed and confused slaves might come in handy for feeding giant spiders, setting off traps, opening doors... maybe we should keep some of them for later.

[cedrus]

Hmm, I don't know Dell. We could get a reward for slaves. Is there anyone who would pay a reward for your human half? I kind of like Winthrop's idea. How about a vote. All conscious members: aye or nay?

[Dead Greyhawk]

"our air conditioner is broken. instead of being frigid in our house, it will likely be a bit sweaty. INFORMED. love, nicole"