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Post by Wolfgar on Aug 19, 2007 22:33:32 GMT -5
Otto made the mistake of running ahead without his team to support him and ended up slowed, levitated, magic missiled and finally eaten by a demon. The good news is that no one else died and we managed to kill the drow spell caster. But we are definitely all tapped out now. So much for scouting ahead...
We finished breaking the glass in the summoning room and then headed down towards the site of the fight with the drow. Dell, Otto, Fido and Clift lead the way with Raven, Cedrus, Adrienne and Perrin in the second party. Everyone else lagged behind to collect demon parts. Dell successfully heard noise behind the door leading into the room with the books. Otto attempted to open door to surprise the demon guarding the room but only managed to make a lot of noise and then was surprised when he looked under the table by a type IV demon. We saved against its attempt to fear us and it did minimal damage and we almost killed it in the first round before it teleported away. We continued along towards the drow temple room and were attacked by the same demon that was hiding up an air shaft. Otto still was able to fly and took care of it in a couple of rounds. The first round it dropped all of the rocks it was holding which Raven managed to dodge. However when it died it fell right on top of Raven.
We continued to the temple room where we met 10 troglodytes and a type I demon. Dell did a slightly inadvisable taunt after it looked like Raven was going to get mauled and nearly got killed himself. After that we quickly turned the tide, unfortunately Perrin asked the one survivor to surrender and it bolted instead. He tried to chase it down but eventually lost it amongst the hordes of spiders.
By this time the rest of party had shown up and we followed after the troglodyte. Dell took point using a wall of fire to clean out the spiders ahead of us. The last group - Winthrop, Clift and Perrin - got swarmed by spiders driven out by the fire. Winthrop tried his own ring of fire but not before they were all poisoned. Perrin had only a single slow poison which he used on himself. Eventually Hugh was able to make it past the stinking cloud Samantha used to keep the spiders away from her team and the wall of fire to bring Winthrop and Clift back up.
Meanwhile the first team had pressed forward and it quickly went downhill. First there was the fireball that knocked out Antonus (why he was with the first team is still a mystery - something about being able to make smart comments). Then the slow hit everyone but Dell. Dell used the wall of fire to block the passage between us but Otto thought we should run through it anyway to try to take out the spell caster. Raven followed but was unable to see the hidden drow. Otto hit him twice but he was able to retreat during our slowed round. He was joined by another drow fighter and the troglodyte who had fled as well as a type I demon. The combat went poorly with Otto, Adrienne, Perrin and Dell levitated, Raven knocked unconscious and half the party waiting for the wall of the fire to drop. Dell used monster summoning III and of course summoned spiders which he sent after the drow. Raven was eventually brought conscious and finished off the demons. Dell used a stinking cloud that overwhelmed the magic resistance of the spell caster forcing him to leave a protected area with a gate and then backstabbed him. Even Winthrop ran forward and struck him with Foebiter to finish him off (Raven missing twice). The remaining drow disappeared through the gate and we found Eve Merrill bound behind the gate.
I will be out next week. You can decide if you want to resurrect Otto immediately using the rod or wait for Cedrus to be rested enough to raise him. If you are going to leave him dead for an extended time people should use his magic items - ring of regeneration, sword, +4 scale, +3 shield, boots of speed. Also he may still have some of the poison antidote left. He will of course reclaim it all when he revives.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 20, 2007 8:25:05 GMT -5
When the drow fighter fled through the gate, we heard a chiming sound. Upon further reflection (and a perception check) we determined that it sounded slightly different than the chiming of a creature gating in. We also determined that it was this gating out sound that we heard twice immediately after the initial battle with the drow instead of cloud demons gating in like we thought. I'd suspect the drow priestess gating out with the great druid.
Regarding Eve, we saw the drow run behind the gate, heard a woman's high pitched screaming, and saw another type I appear. After the fight, we saw Eve hung upside down and saw blood on the floor underneath her. She appeared uninjured, however. On later reflection, she should have been clobbered by the wall of ice that was dropped on her,
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Post by venger on Aug 20, 2007 9:33:02 GMT -5
Further-
There are no healing spells, slow poisons, Protection from Evils, etc. left and nobody but maybe Cedrus has more than 20 hit points. Winthrop, Clift and Perrin are all poisoned and will die again in X many hours. Perrin is also at "Death's Door," having been brought to negative something. Adrienne, Raven, Antonus, Winthrop and Dell are all in the single digits?
The mages have no spells either. I think Dell has a Wind Wall and Winthrop has a Strength.
We're sitting on an evil Web-Gate to who-knows-where. If the escaped dark elf brings back a couple reinforcements, maybe a demon or two (or the priestess for that matter) we could all die horribly. Not to mention the fact that we need to still escape from the labyrinthine Spider Temple without the benefit of a Wall of Fire to roast the attacking carpets of poisonous spiders.
The "scouting mission" turned into a full-out exploration/assault.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 20, 2007 10:38:44 GMT -5
So, is there a way to shut down the gate? Is it one-way? It seems to require a blood sacrifice to bring in a demon, but I don't know if someone could just walk through it to enter our plane. Maybe if we cut down Eve and wash away the blood with holy water the gate will turn off?
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Post by Dell on Aug 20, 2007 11:39:59 GMT -5
So, is there a way to shut down the gate? I have a radical idea. The door swings both ways, we could reverse the polarity flow through the gate. We'll cross the streams.
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Post by venger on Aug 20, 2007 11:53:16 GMT -5
With effort we could probably dismantle the gate. However the animated statues might have a problem with that.
Also, is shutting the gate down inadvisable? Until we locate the Great Druid in this complex, who is to say he isn't on the other side? That would suck. Especially if we had to sacrifice an elf to open it again.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 20, 2007 13:02:46 GMT -5
Thanks for the input, but we're not, under any circumstances, going through that gate. It either leads to the Abyss or the Underdark.
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Post by venger on Aug 20, 2007 14:40:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the input, but we're not, under any circumstances, going through that gate. It either leads to the Abyss or the Underdark. Do we finally have a use for the awesome power of the Wizard's Eye?
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Post by Ginger on Aug 20, 2007 15:06:50 GMT -5
Do we finally have a use for the awesome power of the Wizard's Eye? Sure. You'd look awesome in an eyepatch.
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Post by Dell on Aug 20, 2007 15:22:05 GMT -5
Why don't you use the ESP ring to look through the gate?
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Post by Ginger on Aug 20, 2007 15:30:10 GMT -5
Why don't you use the ESP ring to look through the gate? Too bad the ring is back with Jasper. We'll get right on it when they arrive the following day.
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Post by Wolfgar on Aug 20, 2007 16:14:16 GMT -5
With effort we could probably dismantle the gate. However the animated statues might have a problem with that. We can have Dell polymorph into a drow and he should be able to walk right past them like the summoned spiders did. The statues only stop what appears to be wrong from entering. So long as we conform with the allowed list we should have no problem reaching the gates and for that matter Eve.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 20, 2007 16:27:25 GMT -5
You should probably be able to polymorph into a spider and crawl along the ceiling where they can't get you.
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Post by venger on Aug 20, 2007 16:43:51 GMT -5
Assuming we can reach the gate by polymorphing into whatever- the plan is to pour holy water on it and hope it goes away?
We need to get out of here ASAP before a bunch of troglodytes finish us off.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 22, 2007 14:21:19 GMT -5
So, do we pack up and leave entirely? Do we pull back to one of the rooms with fewer doors and no spiders?
We've already received an announcement from on high that we could sit for 10 rounds or so in that room without any danger. I think it's fairly safe to say that we've cleaned this place out of intelligent and hostile creatures. We killed the one troglodyte which escaped us earlier. In our rounds and rounds and rounds of combat, we've yet to have bad guy reinforcements arrive.
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Post by venger on Aug 23, 2007 12:56:58 GMT -5
Yes?
Lead us Raven!
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Post by Ginger on Aug 23, 2007 13:43:32 GMT -5
It sounds like we cut Eve down and back out. Maybe we camp out in the corridor between the chasm and the first altar room with the grasping hands. Cedrus gets the ring and sleeps enough to raise Otto. Everyone else gets 4 hours of rest and memorizes. Maybe someone can run back to get the henchmen in the meantime.
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Post by Dell on Aug 23, 2007 15:59:33 GMT -5
I'm torn. I like for Otto to take all the heat in combat, but I also really want his boots and sword. Can we keep him dead for a week?
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Post by Ginger on Aug 23, 2007 16:19:25 GMT -5
I'm torn. I like for Otto to take all the heat in combat, but I also really want his boots and sword. Can we keep him dead for a week? If I take the boots and shield I'll have AC -7. With prayer and a protection from evil, I'll be unhittable with AC -10! But you all know how distasteful I find shields, so we'll just raise Otto.
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Post by venger on Aug 23, 2007 18:16:38 GMT -5
It sounds like we cut Eve down and back out. Maybe we camp out in the corridor between the chasm and the first altar room with the grasping hands. Cedrus gets the ring and sleeps enough to raise Otto. Everyone else gets 4 hours of rest and memorizes. Maybe someone can run back to get the henchmen in the meantime. Though she won't like it, might I suggest- if we aren't leaving immediately- camping out in Eve's old cell. It had a single, defendable entrance. Of course we'd be trapped... but at least we wouldn't have to worry about two different fronts. Otto will need a full day of rest after being raised... during which time we will have to carry him down a mountain/defend him from harm... Either way he's just gonna be dead weight. I thought we established the Rod of Resurrection would take minimal charges and restore him fully, without loss of constitution? Also, since it'll take Winthrop/Hugh/Dell etc. 16-50 hours to memorize their spells- maybe some people can sleep longer than 4 hours. I know Antonus will gain the use of an additional 3rd and possibly two 4th level spells with a complete 8 hour rest.
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Post by Dell on Aug 23, 2007 19:18:42 GMT -5
I thought we established the Rod of Resurrection would take minimal charges and restore him fully, without loss of constitution? The Rod makes you lose a point of Con, just like Raise Dead. Besides, the rod can't be recharged, but Cedrus can be.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 23, 2007 19:58:24 GMT -5
Dell's right. The CON loss is still there, as is the ressurection survival roll. The only benefit to the rod is that we can do it immediately and he isn't weakened for a day. Given that Cedrus can take the ring, sleep for 2 hours, memorize for 2 hours, and cast Raise Dead and Death's Door on Otto to bring him to fighting power, that's a better plan. The rod has 7 charges. Otto would take 3. Let's not go crazy here.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 23, 2007 20:05:17 GMT -5
13 people can't sleep and memorize in a cell. I think a corridor is the way to go. We can find one that has stuff on the surrounding sides to minimize the odds of a secret door. It'll also allow us to hear people moving through the complex.
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Perrin
Junior Member
Posts: 61
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Post by Perrin on Aug 24, 2007 9:56:05 GMT -5
Don't forget that Winthrop, Clift and Perrin are poisoned, so someone will need to attend to them after resting. Was anyone else poisoned? Also, Perrin is at Death's Door, which I assume means he won't be able to memorize spells to slow said poison.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 24, 2007 10:08:47 GMT -5
I think that we should rest for 12 hours. That leaves Cedrus 2 hours to sleep and 10 hours to memorize. The other casters can take whatever combination of resting/memorizing they think is wise. Cedrus will need to memorize Raise Dead, Death's Door x2 and Neutralize Poison x3.
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Post by venger on Aug 24, 2007 17:41:18 GMT -5
13 people can't sleep and memorize in a cell. I think a corridor is the way to go. We can find one that has stuff on the surrounding sides to minimize the odds of a secret door. It'll also allow us to hear people moving through the complex. The octagonal "cell" is down a corridor off another octagonal room. I was imagining we'd occupy the corridor and the cell, fortifying the one entrance against attack. Whatever the plan, it's the fighters who'll be standing guard and defending the sleeping party - so, really, your call.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 26, 2007 21:10:00 GMT -5
I'll stay in this thread, since Otto hasn't been raised yet.
We spent some time binding wounds, looting bodies, and examining Eve and the statues. Raven, armed with Otto's armor, shield, boots and ring, fired off an arrow at a statue to see if it would damage it. It didn't do much, and the statue broke ranks and attacked. Raven dropped the bow and smashed the statue with his sword. He switched to Perrin's mace and started smashing the other statues. While this was going on, Dell polymorphed into a drow to confuse the statues and untied Eve.
The whole party engaged the statues. Eve was too afraid to break free of the circle of statues, so she charmed Antonus to help her. While engaging the statues, they were getting smashed, but the tough stone caused Adrienne's pick and Grizella's flail to break. (25% chance to break a weapon on a successful hit, with a -5% chance per +1 enchantment on the weapon.)
Once the statues were broken, we looked at the gate, which was weird and webby and apparently immune to holy water. We decided to leave. Raven scouted ahead 50' and was surprised by the remaining red spider. It missed on its surprise round, but I lost initiative and was poisoned. Dell and others heard me and Dell backstabbed and killed it before Raven was eaten. Hugh used his last spell to slow the poison. We made it back without incident, and there was no evidence that anything else was still alive down here.
We rested in the cavern with only Raven, Eve, and Grizella on watch. Eve had earlier taken Perrin's armor, shield and unused falchion. After almost two hours, she said "Thanks for saving me," turned into a werefox, and fled. Raven chased her with his speedy boots and bargained with her to leave the armor in exchange for us not pursuing. She left the armor and shield and fled. Cedrus woke up and prayed for Neutralize Poison, but discovered that he couldn't pray for anything but minor spells while in an evil temple.
We went back up to the giant cave for all of the next day. The corpse of the drow said that the druid was through the gate. Winthrop Sent for the henchmen, everyone was healed up, and we cast Commune to get input from Ehlonna about the Gate. She had very interesting things to say. We asked if we should go through the gate, and also if we were powerful enough to rescue the druid and defeat what was on the other side. She said yes. We asked if we should destroy Dell's circlet and also if we should give it to the undead warrior seeking it. She said no and yes. We asked if we should fight King Snurre before King Groorg and she said yes.
We searched the whole area and found a great druid sized depression in the webbing in one of the tunnels. He was apparently Sepia Snake Sigiled (or something like that) and stored there. We also loaded all of the dark elf books into the Leomund's chest.
We decided to split up next week, with Cedrus to go to write Plane Shift scrolls at his temple in Longspear. The rest of the party will go to Loftwick so Perrin, Adler and Samantha can get training.
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Post by Ginger on Aug 26, 2007 21:12:08 GMT -5
Cedrus should also make a couple of Raise Dead scrolls and a Commune scroll. If Adrienne were to use on of Cedrus's commune scrolls, would she get to talk with Ehlonna or with Lydia? Since Lydia has a more powerful version of commune, that would be worth exploring.
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Post by Wolfgar on Aug 26, 2007 21:57:07 GMT -5
Why are we splitting up instead of going after the Great Druid through the gate? Do we not believe the answers we got from Ehlonna?
Did the drow magic user have any magic items - the type that don't get destroyed by sunlight?
Are we going to try to bargain with the undead warrior? Get him to do something for us before we give back the circlet?
Do we think the drow kept Eve around as a blood source for activating the gates? Cut her with non-silver weapons to make her bleed but she isn't actually hurt since she is a lycanthrope?
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Post by venger on Aug 26, 2007 23:24:06 GMT -5
Why are we splitting up instead of going after the Great Druid through the gate? Do we not believe the answers we got from Ehlonna? Cedrus felt it would be prudent to make some scrolls of Plane Shift before venturing off into the Outer Planes. This seemed like a good idea. Besides, we knew you wouldn't want to miss a trip to the Abyss. Did the drow magic user have any magic items - the type that don't get destroyed by sunlight? A half-full vial that I don't think we identified, a ring of warmth and a pearl on an iron chain which is sort of spell storing-ish. You can get back one second level spell you've already cast, once per day. I'm not sure if that's magic-user specific. But Antonus has it. Are we going to try to bargain with the undead warrior? Get him to do something for us before we give back the circlet? Destroying the circlet will destroy the undead warrior. But we were told that we shouldn't destroy the circlet. And that we should give it to him. -does not compute- He seems pretty intent on OUR destruction though, having killed Winthrop once already without any indication of wanting to "bargain." Do we think the drow kept Eve around as a blood source for activating the gates? Cut her with non-silver weapons to make her bleed but she isn't actually hurt since she is a lycanthrope? Yes. And she was hot.
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