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#Post#: 507--------------------------------------------------
Re: Recaps for the Absent
DIR By: Dathous
Date: January 7, 2020, 11:40 pm
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The party knocked over a tree to cross the river and head into
the ruins, pausing only a moment for Sera to try and drown
herself. They then followed a stream eastward to a stone wall
where a large carving of a crocodiles mouth poured out water
from 30ft above. Basalt challenged Nar to a climbing race into
the crocodiles mouth. Nar was victorious and tied a rope to the
lower jaw for everyone else to climb up. The party ascended and
entered the small tunnel inside the crocodile. Nar was met with
a metal grate and promptly knocked it loose, emerging into a
large pool at the bottom of a 15ft pit. The northern wall had a
tunnel leading to another pool outside and the party could here
voices, so Thia sent Steve on a scouting mission. Steve flew out
the tunnel and found a group of four Mwangi women sunning
alongside the waters. The women didn't seem threatening so Sera
and Thia decided to approach alone and make contact. One of the
women, Zakiyya, greeted them and told the party that she and her
sisters, Alela, Mozazi, and Osumare, were Zenj Spirit Dancers.
The party told them of Thia's dream and Zakiyya said that they
too had been called to this area in dream. After some
deliberation the sisters decided that they were meant to aid the
party in their journey. Zakiyya said that as spirit dancers they
could strengthen the bond between a person and their spirit
animal with a short ritual. The party agreed to undergo this
ritual and stayed for dinner while preparations were made.
During dinner Mort noticed that Zakiyya's sisters always
deferred to her and often seemed glassy-eyed and listless when
not in conversation or engaged in some other activity, but they
assured him that everything was fine and so he let it go. The
party sat around a fire in preparation for the ritual in which
they would drink hallucinogens and be tattooed, but as soon as
they drank the mixture given to them the entire party blacked
out.
Thia awoke, tied to a table, in a damp stone room within the
city's underground aqueduct. The rest of the party was chained
to the walls in various places with Sera hanging over a stream
of water. Zakiyya stood over Thia, stroking her face with a
clawed hand. A stone altar sat against the back wall of the room
with a large golden tome resting on it. Zakiyya chastised Thia
for being naive and ignorant, and unworthy of Deumus'
attentions. She took Thia's Tome of Arcane Fury and placed it on
the altar beside the golden book. She returned to Thia's side to
speak more, but there conversation was cut short when Mar awoke
chained to the wall and immediately teleported next to Zakiyya
to attack her. The rest of the party slowly awakened and
attempted to free themselves as they fought Zakiyya. During the
fight Thia freed herself and stole the books from the altar
which seemed to enrage Zakiyya, causing her to recklessly chase
Thia down the aqueduct tunnels. As Zakiyya wrestled with Thia,
mar stabbed her in the back, mortally wounding her. Zakiyya fell
to her knees and cursed the party for taking 'His' favor from
her, but assured them that they would all die within these
tunnels and be forgotten to time. She then spontaneously
combusted into a pile of ash.
The party finished freeing themselves and took a few minutes to
recover from the fight. They examined the room and Thia took a
few minutes to read the golden book. It was adorned with angelic
figures and written entirely in celestial, but as she held it
the words became legible to her. It appeared to be a collection
of knowledge on all things celestial and good. Creatures,
planes, and religions. Everything except for one cryptic verse
contained on the inside of the cover, which read -
By tree, by flesh, by feather
The fallen are undone.
The Broken Hold contained within
The three that once were one.
This same verse was on the inside of her Tome of Arcane Fury. As
she read and the rest of the party continued to heal themselves
a large eruption of water was heard further down the tunnels,
quickly followed by a loud mournful roar. Basalt took a peek
around the corner and saw an enormous fish/fiend/eel/octopus
creature rising from the water at a cross-section of the
tunnels. Everyone remained hidden, but Basalt was too slow and
the creature used one of it's large tentacles to uproot a statue
and toss it into Basalt's chest. The party tried to plan a way
around the creature which was reaching for them with
outstretched tentacles and slowly breaking apart the ground
beneath them, but Basalt thought they were taking to long and
ran out to face the creature as a distraction. The rest of the
party tried to run past, but were quickly overrun by the
creatures numerous tentacles, acidic bile, and giant mass which
caused tidal waves throughout the tunnels. Basalt managed to
climb atop the beasts back and begin smashing its numerous eyes
with his warhammer and Cridec was able to sever one of the
creatures tentalces with an explosion of hellfire, but the party
continued to find themselves unable to escape as the ground was
torn from beneath them and numerous party members were lifted
from the water and dropped into the creatures open maw to be
swallowed whole. However, during the fight Thia had managed to
stay invisible and make her way around the fighting to a
staircase going upwards and out of the aqueduct. From a safe
distance away Thia turned to see the creature swallowing the
last of her unconscious party members, and unleashed a rapid
fire volley of eldritch blasts into its backside. The creature
fell forward and died as a large portion of its side was blown
away and the swallowed party began tumbling out into the water.
Mort and Basalt, being the only ones still conscious from inside
the creature, quickly pulled everyone from the water and
stabilized them. The party was badly beaten, but still alive.
Zakiyya
[attachimg=1]
The Lurker
[attachimg=2]
#Post#: 526--------------------------------------------------
Re: Recaps for the Absent
DIR By: Dathous
Date: February 10, 2020, 10:14 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
The party spent a few hours underground carving up and
dissecting the massive corpse of the Lurker. They gained many
teeth, tentacles, bone plates, fins, ink and acid vials, and 2
months worth of fresh meat. Mort cast gentle repose on
everything so it wouldn't rot in their packs. Basalt sneezed and
began glowing different colors. He claimed to see things
glowing, but no one else could see them. During this time Sil
had gone looking for everyone and found the three remaining
sisters, Alela, Osumare, and Mosazi. She couldn't understand
what they were saying, but they pointed to a stone building with
a barred door. Sil climbed onto the domes ceiling and found a
crack to jump down through. Once inside she found a rather bare
room with nothing but a large statue of an angelic looking woman
with large wings made of snake tails. After investigating she
found a switch beneath the statue that allowed it to move and
reveal a staircase going down into the aqueducts. There she met
the rest of the party packing up the Lurker bits. Once they
ascended Thia recognized the statue as Ardad-Lili, one of the
four Queens of the Night in Hell. Once a powerful angel, she
followed Asmodeus in exile and now rules a section of Avernus,
the first layer of hell. Once outside they confronted the three
sisters and asked why they shouldn't kill them. The sisters said
they were prisoners of Zakiyya's and couldn't oppose her without
being torn away from their spirit animals, but now that Zakiyya
was no more they could deliver on her promise of uniting the
party with their own spirit animals. The party apprehensively
agreed, but refused to take any drugs as part of the ritual.
Sera went first, getting a horse tattooed on her arm, but passed
out from the intense pain. After that most people just took the
drugs. The next morning the sisters cooked everyone breakfast
and then said their farewells.
The party continued on the path to Tazion, emerging from the
Screaming Jungle and turning to follow the Bandu Hills inland.
After eight days of travel they reached the edge of The Mwangi
Jungle and the theorized location of Tazion. The party spread
out and searched the area looking for signs of the ancient
outpost. Luck was with them and by mid-day they ran across a
large vine-choked wall. Thia and Cridec sent their familiar's,
Kigbeck and Steve, to scout from above. They saw the wall was a
3000ft circle surrounding a bunch of ruins. A large hole in the
ground to the south, a partially collapsed tower to the east, a
completely collapsed building to the west, a large mound of
vegetation to the north, and a circular ruin with three small
towers in the center. Most of the area inside the perimeter wall
was overtaken by jungle, but there were section filled with
large ponds of black colored water. Amidst everything were
occasional patrols of small monkey-like creatures wielding
primitive tools and weaponry. The party found a collapsed bit of
wall and tried to sneak through but Sil got caught in a barbed
net trap and pulled up into the trees. Nar cut her out, but they
spotted a patrol heading their way. Sil hid in the trees and
everyone else snuck behind the wall to ambush the creatures. The
monkey creatures arrived to investigate the trap, but Sera knock
a large chunk of stone off the wall and gave their position
away. The party quickly dispatched the patrol, but the monkeys
howls had alerted the entire outpost and the sounds of howling
creatures began to close in on them from all around. They
decided to stay and fight, using the broken wall as a choke
point, but the monkeys easily swung over the wall and surrounded
them. A fierce battle ensued with everyone having to face
multiple foes at once. Basalt spontaneously burst into flames,
but didn't seem particularly bothered by it. A few people fell,
and it wasn't looking good for the squishy people in the back,
but after a minute the monkeys began wheezing and looking very
tired. Soon they could barely even lift their weapons and the
party had no problem finishing them off. They kept one alive to
question.
Sera and Mort were able to question the ape captive, who
normally spoke a language no one could understand, but also
crudely spoke polygot. They asked where the leader was and he
pointed north and said "pyramid". The party decided to have him
guide them through the ruins to the Pyramid. The small ape led
them into the ruins and pointed at things as they passed. He
pointed at the hole in the ground and said "Well of Unending
Screams". He pointed at the circular ruins with towers and said
"Temple of the Snake". He pointed at the black water and said
"Sticky Death". When asked about the water he stuck a stick in
it and revealed that underneath the top layer of water was thick
black tar. He led them through the tar ponds to the large hill
of vegetation which turned out to be a partially sunken ziggurat
covered in jungle growth. Sil and Thia scouted and found large
stone doors at the base and holes in the walls midway up the
structure. The party wanted to go up into the broken walls, but
the ape suggested they use the bottom doors, as the upper walls
were watched by the scaly leader and his large multi-armed pet.
Basalt and Nar pushed open the doors revealing a dark, dirt
filled chamber. Inside a large wasp dropped from the ceiling and
buzzed menacingly, but Sil pinned it to the wall with an arrow.
Inside they found two doors and a massive wasps nest emerging
from the ground. The wasps nest had a tunnel going down into it,
but they heard angry buzzing when they approached it, so they
checked the doors first. One door led to an open air courtyard
that was completely overrun with vegetation and pools of water,
but had another door in it and a spiral staircase going up to
the next floor. They shut that door without entering and checked
the other door, which had walkways leading down into a room with
four statues of tribal humans sitting cross-legged, but their
faces were flat blank stone. Nar took a step down the stairs and
the faces of the statues all lit up with swirling vortexes of
color and a booming voice called out something in a language
nobody understood. Nar backed out of the room before going
further. Sera brought the ape man in to ask about the rooms, but
he had a panic attack as soon as he was brought into the chamber
yelling about big angry bugs. About that time Basalt heard
something behind him and turned to see a monstrous wasp emerging
from the top of the hive. Covered in bony chitin plates and
pockmarked with tumorous growths that undulated with larva, the
large wasp dripped venom from it's mandibles as it buzzed
angrily and leaped toward the party. That is were we ended.
Ruins of Tazion
[attachimg=1]
Ape Men
[attachimg=2]
#Post#: 533--------------------------------------------------
Re: Recaps for the Absent
DIR By: Dathous
Date: March 15, 2020, 11:01 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
The wasp stayed annoyingly out of reach as it flew around the
room stinging targets at random. The party swung wildly trying
to reach it until Basalt was able to leap up, get it in a
headlock and bring it crashing to the ground. A most thorough
beat down ensued until the wasp was no more and the melee
members of the party were covered in a thick black ichor that
wriggled with larval movement. With the bugs dead the party
crowded into the room with the statues. Basalt took a step down
the stairs and once again the statues faces lit up and a booming
voice called out in a language that no one understood. He took
another step down to the lower floor and the room flashed bright
with colors for a moment. Another booming voice called out and
Mort and Nar promptly dropped their weapons and prostrated
themselves on the floor. As they lowered themselves all four
statues began to grow in size and stepped forward, advancing on
Basalt menacingly. Basalt jumped forward and grappled the
nearest one, but its face flashed a series of colors in his face
leaving him paralyzed. The statues fell in on Basalt and beat
him horribly. The party pulled their incapacitated friends out
of the room, but not before Nar got a serious beat down, similar
to Basalts. Once they had left the room the statues shrunk down
and went back to their original posts. Thia shut both the doors
to the room and in ink, that she got from the giant Lurker,
wrote "NOPE" on the doors. The ink began smoking with clouds of
darkness that really added to the warnings foreboding nature.
Needing a rest the group decided to sleep in the overgrown room
they had looked into before. Sera walked in to find a soft spot
to lay down, but was enveloped by a cloud of spores that shot
out of the brush. The room was filled with the spores and Sera
saw a cloud of angry bees rise up and swarm her. She began
screaming "BEES! BANANAS! BEES! BANANAS!". (They had decided
bananas was their danger word) Hearing bananas, Basalt ran in to
assist, but he found himself rapidly sinking into a large pile
of quicksand. He began screaming "QUICKSAND! BEES! BANANAS!".
The rest of the party looked into the room and saw Sera dancing
wildly and Basalt flopping around on the floor. No bees. No
quicksand. No bananas. Nar stepped in to help the hallucinating
fools, but a large cup shaped plant rose up on three stalk legs
and began beating Sera with its long tendrils. More clouds of
spores enveloped Sera and she began choking. Nar and Basalt
engaged the creature as everyone else gathered around the door
and shot the plant to death. Sera ran out trying to breath. Her
lips were purple and her veins were starting to blacken as she
continued to choke. Finally she called upon Abadars aid to
remove the poison and slowly regained her composure. They swept
the room for further threats and not finding any decided to take
a much needed rest.
During their rest Nar began to hear a voice in his head. The
voice demanded to know who he was and why he was here, but Nar
just kept talking to the party, thinking it was them. He
eventually saw a tiny snake hiding in the vegetation, staring at
him, and decided it was the snake talking. The conversation
didn't go well as the voice quickly gave up on Nar's dimwitted
answers with a heavy sigh and moved on to Thia. After a brief
conversation they learned that this was the voice of the master
of Tazion. He was upset that they were there and wanted them to
leave. He was unhappy to hear that more people were coming and
assured them all that there stay was temporary. Then the voice
went silent. Sera learned from their ape captive that the ape
men are called Charau-ka, and taught the ways of Ydersius by a
charau-ka named Raogru. After they finished resting they snuck
out of the ziggurat and into the treeline to sleep for the
night. During Thia's watch she saw plumes of smoke rising from
the ruins in the center of Tazion and heard a lot of shouting
and screaming from there as well. Mostly charau-ka, but possibly
others as well. The rest of the night was uneventful and they
made there way back into the ziggurat.
Mort had prepared the Tongues spell and cast it on Sera so she
could understand the statues. When she approached they shouted
"Kneel and proclaim your allegiance!". Sera knelt down and
proclaimed her allegiance to Abadar, but there was no visible
change in the statues. She tried to take a step forward, but was
immediately stunned and beaten before the party could pull her
out. After taking a moment to regroup, Cridec told Sera all the
Gods he could think of that were worshiped in Azlanti culture
and she went back in to proclaim allegiance to all of them. Most
of the names got no response, but when she proclaimed allegiance
to Desna one of the statues faces changed to a much more serene
display of blue color. The party discussed what this meant and
what to do next for quite a while. During this time Nar got
bored and leaned against the wall, which turned out to not be a
wall, but rather a dense curtain of vegetation hiding a
descending staircase. The staircase led down into a flooded room
made of darker colored stone with many murals obscured by
vegetation on the walls. The party waded into the waist deep
water to uncover the murals and found the carvings to be of many
intertwined creatures of tentacles, eyes, mouths, and other
horrific things. After studying the walls for a while they were
able to decipher that the room was dedicated to The Great Old
Ones. Beings of immense power, comparable to the gods, who live
in the darkness of space. The party then left through a door in
the back of the room, emerging from the water into a room with a
ten foot circular mound in the floor made of white stone. The
walls had carvings of warriors in archaic armor battling
serpentfolk under dark skies. While investigating they
discovered they were covered in leeches from the other room and
quickly formed a buddy system to de-leech each other. They found
a hidden cache beneath the mound on the ground with ancient holy
symbols and religious supplies. With that they were able to
discern that the room was dedicated to the now dead god Acavna.
Goddess of battle, wisdom, and the moon. The mound on the floor
turned out to be an actual map of the moon.
The party then went back to the vegetation filled room they had
rested in and investigated the other door in that room. The door
led to a staircase that went down into a small foyer with doors
to the north and south. They opened the the southern door which
scraped the floor and disturbed a large patch of yellow mold.
Spores filled the entire foyer and burned every ones lungs. Sera
and Mort had particularly bad reactions, but were able to
eventually recover. The party used fire to burn away the
remaining mold out of the southern room and found it to be empty
except for faded yellow solar designs painted all over the walls
and ceiling. Once again there were carvings of ancient warriors
battling serpentfolk, but these were depicted under a bright
sky. Study of the room revealed that it was dedicated to the now
dead (sort of) god Nurgal. God of Sun, deserts, and warfare.
They traveled to the northern room and found a similar room but
the carvings were of nobles traveling across many different
landscapes and the ceiling was covered in crystals, resembling a
night sky. The believed this room to be dedicated to Desna, the
goddess of dreams, luck, stars, and travel. With this they
believed they had all the gods they needed to appease the
statues. They returned to the statue room and proclaimed their
allegiance to Desna, Acavna, Nurgal, and The Great Old Ones.
With each name the colored faces calmed and began to drift
inwards on themselves. Cridec decided to try and put his hand in
the face of the statue that responded to Acavna's name. As he
did his arm disappeared up to the elbow and he received a
vision. The others followed suit and found that each statue gave
a unique vision.
Acavna Vision - You are a young artist standing in an
amphitheater before a blank canvas. It is night and before you
are three creatures of pure beauty. Angel winged women with
serpentine bodies from the waist down. They sing, dance, and
perform as a bright full moon rises behind them. The scene is
exquisite, and though there are many others around you thinking
the same things, you feel the need to show them your skill. To
show them that you can truly capture their beauty. You
feverishly begin painting the canvas before you.
Great Old Ones Vision - You are alone. Surrounded by darkness
and unable to see. Cold clings to your bones and you feel a
stinging pain from your side. A wound received from the fight.
Your heart is pounding as you listen closely trying to pinpoint
any movement. Your brethren are dead. Broken by the thing that
now hunts you. You hear movement behind you and swing wildly
with your sword, but connect with only darkness. Suddenly there
is a crushing grip around your waist, lifting you into the air.
You know the end is near, but feel no fear. No sadness. Rage is
all the burns within you. For your fallen friends. Your family.
Your home. You cry out as you begin swinging your sword
furiously. You may die, but you are going to take whatever this
thing is with you!
Desna Vision - You are a young woman lying in the grass atop a
hill. Lying next to you is your lover, holding you in a warm
embrace. You both lean into one another while looking up into
the night sky. You feel a sense of peace and happiness as you
both slowly drift to sleep in each others arms.
Nurgal Vision - You are a tall man standing behind a merchants
stall. The warmth of the sun beats down as crowds of people come
and go throughout the market. You see your daughter to your
side, haggling with a customer wishing to buy some jewelry. You
smile to yourself and begin counting the days earnings.
Not knowing what to make of these visions and not finding
anything else in the room everyone decided to take the stairs up
to the next level. At the top of the stairs they emerged into a
hallway going north and south. In front of them was another
staircase going up and a door to the left of the stairs. They
tried the door, but it was locked. Basalt pulled out a portable
ram, and with Nar's help, broke the door off its hinges. They
entered a domed room covered in pastel swirls and geometric
designs. Lines intersecting in random ways and crossing through
concentric circles. There was another staircase going up and a
chest covered in writing implements in a corner. There was an
arch in the back of the room leading into another domed chamber.
This one had crystals in the ceiling representing constellations
as they appeared thousands of years ago. On the floor was a ten
foot circular map of the mwangi region, covered in a grid of one
inch squares. Four pillars surrounded the map, and each one had
a specific rune at its base labeling it as either Stars, Sun,
Moon, or Space. The middle of each pillar was cut into seven
sections that each rotated independently. Each section contained
a golf ball sized hole flanked by matching runes on either side.
Each section had a different rune, but each pillar had the same
set of seven runes. Cridec was able to recognize the runes as
the Azlanti seven virtues of rulership: wealth, fertility,
honest pride, abundance, eager striving, righteous anger, and
rest. Before the party could spend any time thinking on this a
voice called out into all there minds. "You should have left
when you had the chance!". A tear was heard back at the door as
a rift appeared, birthing a monstrous chitin plated creature
with four arms and a wicked trident. At the same time a robed
figure began to descend from the stairs, but his form was
obscured by shifting magics and great blue flames that seemed to
encompass them. Before anyone could react a loud roar was hear
and numerous footfalls could be heard scrambling above the
party. That is were we ended.
[attachimg=1] [attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
#Post#: 535--------------------------------------------------
Re: Recaps for the Absent
DIR By: Dathous
Date: April 26, 2020, 12:17 am
---------------------------------------------------------
After solving the mysteries of the ziggurat and revealing the
way to Saventh-Yhi, the party decided to head back to the Temple
of the Snake and rescue the captive that was going to be
sacrificed. They tried to have Issilar force Roagru to release
the captive, but he was unwilling without being offered an equal
sacrifice. Basalt offered himself as sacrifice if Roagru could
defeat him in combat, and with some negotiating Roagru accepted
the challenge. Basalt and Thia faced off against Roagru and his
snake companion Chu-tok, with all the charau-ka gathered around
to watch. During the fight Mar snuck over to the captive and
freed him from his bonds. The fight was not going well for
Basalt and Thia so Basalt yelled 'Bananas!' and the rest of the
party jumped in. The remaining charau-ka attacked, but were
quickly overcome and Roagru was soon thrown into a pit of tar
that Mort had lit on fire.
The Captive was a human man named Uri Zandivar. He claimed to be
a forward scout for Kassata Lewynn and her crew of pirates.
Despite being employed by rivals he was quite cordial and
willing to let the party keep the secrets they had discovered.
The party camped in the Temple with him for the night. In the
morning he left to rejoin his group and lead them to Tazion. The
party decided to leave quickly as well, as the other groups were
likely closing in by now. They consulted the map and found the
entrance to Saventh-yhi was only a days travel north of Tazion.
Issilar agreed to lead the party there and help them survive, in
exchange for help overthrowing the usurper that forced him to
leave his home.
By the end of the day the party looked out over what could only
be Saventh-Yhi. A large city hidden within a deep jungle valley,
around a lake, with seven spires rising high into the sky. They
followed a river down into the valley and scouted a good spot to
set up a base of operations. The next morning they chose a
location near the north entrance to the city and began preparing
the Base for the soon to arrive expedition. The party went all
out on making sure it was HIGHLY defensible!
The next morning the party left Gelik, Nkechi, and Athyra to man
the camp and await the arrival of the expedition, while they
followed Issilar into the city to help him kill 'The Usurper'.
Upon arriving in the city they found that it was incredibly well
preserved. The jungle had only overtaken a few parts of the
city, but left the rest completely untouched. The buildings
showed signs of wear and neglect, but were otherwise remarkably
intact. Issilar led them south through a part of the city that
was mostly overgrown and partially sunken into the lake. He
claimed it was less organized than other areas, but still very
dangerous. Here the party found a large ziggurat with one of the
seven spires rising out of the top of it. Basalt lost a race to
the top against Nar, but from the top noticed a large building
with symbols of Abadar sinking into the lake. They also noticed
that the spire rising from the ziggurat had the same symbol of
Wealth on it that the pillars in Tazion had. The ziggurat was
covered in carvings of merchants and commerce of all types. The
base of the spire depicted people dropping dust-like wealth at
it, priests channeling power into it, and people counting money
in an almost meditative stance. From this vantage point they
could see the island in the center of the lake that was Issilars
former home. Issilar said the island is inhabited by many
serpentfolk, and despite the fact that the bridges have all been
collapsed, they post guards at the northern bridges. The party
decided to approach from the south to avoid detection, though
they would still need to find a way across the collapsed
bridges. Basalt then beat Nar in the race down the ziggurat, but
only because he tripped and rolled down the entire flight of
stairs. That is were we ended.
Issilar
[attachimg=1]
Uri Zandivar
[attachimg=2]
#Post#: 536--------------------------------------------------
Re: Recaps for the Absent
DIR By: Dathous
Date: May 11, 2020, 8:17 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
The party continued south through the overgrown city, making
their way to the southernmost bridge to the center island. On
the way they were attacked by a band of human sized hairless
apes that moved with disturbing silence and had skin that
shifted color to match their surroundings. The apes were
shockingly agile and avoided the heavily armored party members
entirely in order to swarm the weaker looking members. Thia and
Cridec were knocked unconscious and dragged into the jungle
while the party was busy fighting the others. Fortunately Nar
was able to catch up to Thia and kill the ape holding her, while
Mort banished the ape holding Cridec. The remaining apes
disappeared into the jungle once they were wounded. The party
was heavily injured though and stopped to take a rest.
After arriving at the crumbled southern bridge they concocted a
plan to get across the 30ft. collapsed gaps by having Thia
teleport across and anchor ropes using pitons. It was touch and
go but everyone eventually made it across to one of the smaller
islands. From there they could see the main island and numerous
groups of creatures patrolling it's streets. Thia needed to rest
in order to teleport again, so they took shelter in a small
building and waited an hour. During this time Mort and Basalt
heard chanting from the main island and shuffling coming from a
larger building on their island. The chanting soon stopped so
Cridec sent his Imp, Kigbeq, to investigate the noises from the
building near them, and discovered a rotunda filled with
numerous decaying bodies of different species. Each one shambled
indirectly and they all seemed to be covered in vast amounts of
mold and fungus. Sitting amongst them was a frog-like humanoid
dressed in colorful robes and feathers, tending to the writings
on the wall of the building. Before Kigbeq could learn more, the
frog creature noticed him and shot him with a feathered blow
dart it was carrying. Kigbeq died. The party decided to ignore
this creature and deal with it later.
The party employed the same tactics to get the rest of the way
to the main island, but had Nar pull up the ropes and swim the
final distance, that way no one could follow them. The islands
were very different than the city they had experienced on the
way there. Though weathered and showing signs of decay and age,
the jungle had not reclaimed them and certain areas even seemed
to have been maintained. They hid in an alleyway once the got to
the main island, but Sera drew the attention of a patrol of
serpentfolk as she peered out into the streets. A fight ensued
over a small bridge and though Nar was injured badly and a few
serpentfolk tried to run away, all were killed and disposed of
before more patrols could come. Issilar said that the usurper
was most likely in his old home on the south east corner of the
island, so the party took to the shadows and made their way
there. They had to duck from building to building to remain
unnoticed as there were plenty more patrols and a good amount
non-patrol serpentfolk wandering the streets and living areas,
but with some luck they made it to the other end of the island.
From the shadows of an alleyway they could see the former lair
of Issilar. A glittering dome made of red stone, looking almost
like the half-buried egg of some immense reptile, with a scaly
pattern of shingles. A large, dark archway loomed on its
northern side, covered by a curtain of fine silk and guarded by
a pair of serpentfolk. The area was obviously well maintained
and numerous fountains and small gardens of exotic flowers
surrounded the building. The party thought on how to best
approach the situations, and that is were we ended.
[attachimg=1][attachimg=2][attachimg=3]
#Post#: 538--------------------------------------------------
Re: Recaps for the Absent
DIR By: Dathous
Date: June 1, 2020, 10:58 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
The party thought to lure the serpentfolk guards into the
alleyway where they could ambush them, so they had Issilar call
out in Aklo, their native tongue. The guards did not move
however and instead a pair of serpentfolk attacked from the
roofs above the party. They fought against the serpentfolk for a
while before a noble looking elven man stepped out of the red
dome and commanded his guards to stop. He spoke to the party and
wished to discuss why they were there, but the party was having
none of it. They pressed the attack furiously, but all of the
parties attacks seem to be completely ineffective against the
elf, who announced himself as Akarundo. Basalt had a sudden urge
to swim and so he ran from the battle field towards a nearby
flooded amphitheater yelling "Spring Break!". Nar pulled
Akarundo's walking stick away from him and hit him on the nose
with it. This was the first thing that seemed to actually hurt
Akarundo and it threw him into a rage. Akarundo flew into the
sky and began launching spells at the party. Still no weapons
could hurt him, but Syl found some magic arrows in her pack and
began peppering him with very effective shots. Sera grew angelic
spectral wings and launched into Akarundo like a furious
celestial comet, lancing through him with a mighty smite and
leaving him barely alive. Before anyone could land a final blow
he spit bloody curses at the party, vowing his vengeance, and
disappeared into a magic portal. Before the party could rest
from combat, they heard the cries of Basalt running back toward
them. "It's not spring break!". He rounded the corner, bleeding
out of many new holes, and was quickly joined by a giant double
headed viper in hot pursuit. Nar stepped in to destroy the snake
with a mighty cleave, but succeeded only in cutting it in half,
leaving two independent snakes. The party lined up to fight the
new threats, but, in an amazing act of usefulness, Issilar
stepped up and burned them both down to charred skeletons.
The party searched the large dome, which had been the den of
akarundo, and found a carnival of horrors. What was otherwise a
lovely room filled with beds, pillows, furs, ornate furniture,
and incense, was tarnished by the wide swaths of blood sprayed
over everything. Random body parts as well as whole bodies,
broken and twisted, filled the chamber. Manacles, cages, and
torture implements adorned the walls, and a blood stained throne
sat to the north. The bodies were of multiple races; Human,
serpentfolk, boggard, and something lizard-like.
An army of serpentfolk fell upon the dome, having heard the
battle, but Issilar had disguised one of the dead guards as
Akarundo and made a show of himself having defeated the
'usurper'. The serpentfolk were quick to take him back, and
Issilar honored his word in giving the party access to his
island. He led them to the top of the islands ziggurat, which
was marked with the rune of Honest Pride. The ziggurat itself
was covered in murals of trials and governance. The base of the
spire showed images of crowds praying to an individual, priests
channeling power into the spire, and judges speaking from books
to a crowd. From the high vantage point all seven spires could
be seen, as well as a coliseum to the north and a large golden
tower to the east. Issilar explained that each spire encompassed
a district, and each district is ruled by a different tribe. To
the north the violent charau-ka rule. To the east a large tribe
of small fungal plant creatures rule the forest ruins. Below
them a reptilian tribe of religious zealots stalk their
district, but can be smelt coming from far away. To the south a
tribe of boggards control the flooded swamps, worshiping their
green god. And to the south east a tribe of humans are ruled
over by a mad snake woman, who is just as likely to turn you
into a statue for the sake of her art, as she is to welcome you
with open arms. Issilar said that his people had looted most of
the island already, but there was a cave to the north-west that
his people dared not go into. They call it the Mouth of Madness
and of the last group of his people to enter only one returned,
but soon took his own life before sense could be made of his
words.
Having learned all this the party took a few of the serpentfolk
boats and headed back to camp. On the way there they heard a
large group coming their way and hid in the ruins. As they
peered into the streets a group of 50+ men and women of various
races came into view, carrying many bundles and chests, and
surrounding by armed escorts. A commanding human woman with long
curly red hair called out for them to hurry and make camp before
nightfall. Walking amongst them was Uri Zandivar, Ishirou, and
Aerys Movato, leading the party to believe this was the pirate
expedition. Everyone hid in the ruins until the pirates had left
and then hurried back to camp. Upon arriving at camp they found
it to be a bustling hive of action, with tents being erected,
wagons unloaded, and perimeter walls built up. Amivor
congratulated the party on a job well done and gave the group
5000gp. He offered to pay more for any interesting artifacts or
bits of lore found withing the city, and said he could use help
securing safe zones for his people to research within.
Unexpectedly also in the camp was Gelli Batchsplatter, the gnome
alchemist from Eleder, who along with her friend Miriel Faeris,
the enchanter, had joined up with the pathfinders in order to
experience the adventure of a lifetime. Having just had the
fight with Akarundo, the party quickly began making plans to
utilize Miriels enchanting abilities for their weapons, while
Gelli searched through all the interesting dead things you had
accumulated. Soon the party was settling into camp for the
night, but before rest could be found a commotion was heard. "IT
IS MINE!!!". A course gravely voice shouted from the distance.
Guards began retreating from the gate, slapping their skin and
rolling on the ground. Beyond the gate the jungle floor had come
alive with a blanket of large spectral ants, and standing
amongst them was the ghostly image of a man, shouting angrily
towards the camp. "IT IS MINE!!!"
That is where we ended.
Akarundo
[attachimg=1]
Real Akarundo
[attachimg=2]
#Post#: 539--------------------------------------------------
Re: Recaps for the Absent
DIR By: Dathous
Date: July 16, 2020, 10:03 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
The party attempted to communicate with the ghost, but all
attempts were met with wails of "IT IS MINE!" and soon the
creature attacked. The party was able to fend it off by blasting
it to ectoplasmic pieces, but Nar was left physically aged by
the encounter. Fortunately Mort was able to restore him with a
strong prayer.
The next morning the party left camp to go explore the sunken
temple of Abadar. They docked their boat at the exposed entrance
and entered what looked to be an ancient bank. The walls were
picked clean of any valuables and the once very secure metal
doors had all been broken down. The back half of the floor was
flooded as the whole building was tilting back into the water.
In one of the looted stone desks, Basalt found a secret cache
with a small sphere made of pretty blue stone. The stone was
magical and would always roll back to the person who threw it.
There were staircases going down to a second floor but they were
completely flooded. Mar being the most proficient in water, due
to his armor, swam down into the darkness. He found what
appeared to be an ancient looted vault. Pits, spikes, arrows,
and other trap remnants littered the area. While exploring Mar
was repeated attacked by something he couldn't see and had most
of his strength drained. He returned to the group before dying
and the party retreated back to camp in order to stock up on
supplies for going underwater. The next day they returned, but
found the temple had been occupied by the strange Boggard they
previously encountered before assaulting the central island. It
seemed to be studying the murals in the temple, but turned into
a dimorphodon and tried to fly away when the party approached.
The party wasn't having it and shot the dimorphodon out of the
sky, causing the boggard to reform and spiral wildly as it
splashed into the lake, where it disappeared. The boggard left
behind a group of spore zombies they had to cleave through, but
soon they were back in the temple and everyone descended into
the flooded lower chamber. The party explored the lower levels
and found a large golden door that had not been breached. It was
in the shape of Abadars holy symbol and exuded strong abjuration
magic. They believed this to be a Prime Vault of Abadar. An
unbreachable vault withing the largest temple of Abadar in each
nation. Accessible only by it's Archbanker and said to hold the
most valuable treasures of the kingdom. Try as they might, the
party could not breach the vault and were forced to retreat
again as shadows rose from the darkness and constantly harassed
them. Sera resigned herself to do more research on these vaults
and how to access them.
Having an evening of water breathing left the party decided to
explore the sunken portion of the western district. They swam
down into the city and found many clusters of remarkably well
preserved murals, carvings, and statues. They made a note to
inform the pathfinders of these locations and carried on. During
this time they also noticed a large trail left on the floor by
some large creature. They followed the trail to an underwater
cave in the side of the lake and decided to investigate. They
emerged from the water in a large cavern lit by hundreds of
strands of glowing silk hanging from the ceiling. The floor was
dotted with dozens of Prismapods, giant potato bugs that chirp
and shed light when frightened. Up on a ledge they found a
chamber covered in the crushed bones of numerous animals, and
amongst the bones, an enormous grey creature curled in on
itself, seemingly sleeping. It was roughly the size of an
elephant with a long neck and tail, and a toothy saurian head.
The party wanted to sneak past it, but they spotted a large
wooden paddle lying in the bones. Mar and Thia turned everyone
invisible while Nar invoked the spirit of the lizard and climbed
the wall into the chamber. The climb was noisy and the beast
rose from it's slumber, walking out of the chamber to
investigate. It came within feet of the party as it sniffed
around the area, but their invisibility paid off and it went
back to sleep. Nar grabbed the paddle and left unnoticed. (The
paddle was a magic greatsword called Wavecutter)
The party continued further into the cavern, swimming through
another section and coming to a partially flooded passage. The
walls were covered in cave barnacles, from which large pink fans
extended, blocking the way forward. Mar poked one causing it to
shrink back into the barnacle, but it left him feeling extremely
nauseous. Nar stepped in and poked them all with his greataxe
clearing the way forward. The passage led into a small chamber
where an old crone knelt in the water before an altar made of
three sharp stones rising out of the grounds so their tips
almost touched, but left a little space. The party recognized
the altar as a symbol of Mestanma, the Demon Lord of hags,
witches, and vengeful widows. Thia immediately liked the old
woman for this. She said her name was Ceilia and she was hunting
someone who betrayed her and her sisters. She claimed they were
somewhere in the city, but she didn't know where. She asked if
the party could bring her the heart of this betrayer and Thia
said yes for everyone. The old woman then gave Thia a sack made
of flesh and a necklace made of hair holding a dangling eyeball.
She told the party that the eye would lead the way and to put
their heart in the sack and bring it back to her. She then told
the party of an exit from the cavern in the side of a cliff and
the party left.
Feeling jaunty from a successful spelunking mission, the party
decided to explore the ruined fort nearby on the way back to
camp. They docked the boat nearby and clambered up to a
partially collapsed tower surrounding by crumbling walls. The
party grouped together and all brazenly walked in, only to find
themselves in the middle of a chimera roost with multiple angry
chimeras looking down at them. A large nest of collected
oddities sat within the crumbled tower, but before the group
could react, the creatures swooped down and covered the entire
party in gouts of flesh searing acid. Over half the party was
unconscious and bleeding. What followed was an extremely bloody
and butt clenching retreat back to the boat as the two chimeras
chased and tore into the remaining party. They were able to
make it back to the boat and get far enough away that the
territorial creatures stopped pursuing, but the majority of the
group was either unconscious or barely clinging to
consciousness. They then decided to head back to camp.
When they arrived back at camp and set about resting and healing
their wounds, they learned that the ghost they fought had come
back. Every day it would come at different times and attack the
camp, and every time it would be destroyed only to come back the
next day. The next morning they decided to try and track the
origin of the ghost. They followed the direction the pathfinders
said it was always coming from and found themselves just outside
the city where a small set of ruins was accompanied by large
jungle ant mounds rising out of the ground. They searched the
ruins and found an old pack with a bunch of goods, a magic ring,
and a journal from a guide hired to help the pathfinders
Alithorpe Expedition 200 years ago. The journal told of how the
guide, Nareem Daress, led the expedition to the shores of lake
ocata, but they were attacked by an army of charau-ka. Nareem
convined a group to abandon the rest and use the distraction to
escape. During their hasty retreat they accidentally found
themselves in Savinth-yhi. Nareem didn't want to share the
discovery and led his fellow survivors into a nest of army ants
where they died. He planned to leave the next day, but
apparently was killed by something before he could. They took
this discovery back to camp and showed Amivor, who paid the
party a hefty reward for discovering the fate of the Alithorpe
Expedition. They then surmised that the only way to get rid of
the ghost was to give it what it wanted. Credit for discovering
Savinth-yhi. Or at least let him think he got credit. Using an
old copy of The Pathfinder Chronicle from Gelik, Basalt, Mar,
and Thia set to making a fake copy that would tell of the great
discovery made by Nareem Daress. After a few hours they had a
passable forgery and the whole camp awaited the arrival of the
ghost. By nightfall Nareem arrived and the party presented him
with the fake chronicle. Mar spun a tale to add to it's
credibility and to everyone's relief the ghost called out in
triumph and dissipated. The camp erupted into cheers and a large
party was had celebrating the victory. That is where we ended.
Cave Creature
[attachimg=1]
Ceilia
[attachimg=2]
Nareem Daress
[attachimg=3]
#Post#: 540--------------------------------------------------
Re: Recaps for the Absent
DIR By: Dathous
Date: August 31, 2020, 7:13 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Precap - followed eyeball to eastern district completely covered
in jungle. Attacked by hunting party of small fungus covered
creatures. Made way through jungle maze. Found fancy mansion.
Eyeball popped. Found target in mansion, fancy lady named
Egzimora. Agreed to kill Cielia and sisters for Egzimora. killed
Cielia and sisters. returned to Egzimora.
Recap - The party finished collecting loot from beneath the
strange tree stump creature, which consisted mostly of coins,
gems, a few unidentified potions, and a small obsidian statuette
of a frog-like demon that Mar identified as a Hezrou. Continuing
on through the maze they eventually made it to the mansion in
the middle of the night, exhausted and ready for a rest. Leif
escorted the party to Egzimora in the solarium so they could
tell her of their victory. Egzimora was elated with the good
news, but after receiving the heart stone she started acting
strange and suspicious, saying things like "I told him you were
more use to us alive.". Thia whispered to the party that she
thinks she might be evil and they may need to kill her and was
immediately answered by a familiar voice in her head saying "You
aren't wrong.". She then felt a slash across her neck and a
crocadilian figure appeared amongst the group. Akarundo, the
usurper, who you fought with Issilar on the center island.
Egzimora transformed into a horrible looking hag-creature, much
like Cielia and attacked the party alongside Akarundo. It was
touch an go for a while, but with a lucky hit from Mar that
broke Akarundo's concentration causing him to plummet 30ft. to
the ground, the party was able to beat him nearly to death.
Unfortunately before the killing blow could be landed he was
able to portal away again. Vowing that the party would never be
rid of him, and that the games were only just beginning.
Egzimora was blinking in and out of existance, but Mort was able
to steal the heart stone away from her and sapping some of her
strength. With Akarundo gone she wagered the odds were no longer
in her favor and portaled away as well.
The party searched the rest of the manor finding only Leif and
Juniper (two small plant servants) who were extremely happy to
be rid of Egzimora, but very scared by the fact that she was not
dead. Thia offered them safety with the group and agreed to take
them back to camp. They also found a library of old books, a
cellar of ancient wine, 6 bottles of unknown red wine-like
substance, a magic plant pot with a variety of seeds, and a
basement filled with alchemical supplies and the bodies of
numerous torture victims all partially transformed into plant
creatures. The party brought a bunch of food and wine into the
study and had a drunk slumber party in front of the fireplace.
Discussing many things such as past and present loves or the
lack there-of, and Mort's distaste for the parties dishonorable
breaking of words given. It was noted that Mort's ring was
glowing blue when it had not been before.
Everyone woke well rested the next morning, except for Cridec,
Thia, and Mar, who had horrible visions all night of being
tortured and taunted by Akarundo. They were exhausted and
dragging, but the party moved out anyways to get back to camp.
They arrived where they had tied the boat, but it was nowhere to
be found. They searched for a few minutes before Mar noticed,
through the crystal clear water, the boat was wrecked at the
bottom of the lake. Basalt shouted "Bezua!" and a giant bee
appeared, confusing everyone, which he promptly jumped on and
rode to Issilar's island. He then stole another boat and rowed
it back to the party while Thia, through the mouth of Steve,
smoothed things over with Issilar. Once everyone was back across
the lake they heard a large commotion in the northern district,
sounding very familiar to when the chaura-ka sounded the alarms
in Tazion. The party decided they were in no shape to
investigate and continued to camp. Once there, Basalt picked up
his custom shield and everyone did a ton of shopping. Cridec,
Thia, and Mar tried sleeping, but were once again plagued by
horrid visions and could get no rest. They had gone almost 3
days with no sleep. Eventually everyone put their heads together
and figured out that they were the only ones who got scratched
by Akarunda and that they were cursed. Fortunately Mort was able
to remove the curses so they could finally start sleeping. The
party spent 2 more days at camp sleeping off the exhaustion.
That is where we ended.
*****************************************************
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