Joel's Scattered Thoughts

Notes on things that interest me

Archive for category WLD on OpenRPG

WLD July 19, 2006

Jul 25

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Present this week:
* Rampenape – human sorcerer
* Kysta half-elf cleric
* Riamara spryte greenbond
* Miru human fighter
* Ruke human palaldin
* Cinner the dwarven rogue/wizard/fighter/cleric

With their prisoners leading the way, the party decided to seek out the Spider King. As they came to a solid door, it suddenly opened and on the other side were six heavily armed drow. Ruke decided to try for diplomacy, presenting the token the naga had given them. The drow sent for Lorath.

While Ruke was chatting with the spokes-drow, Rampenape launched an ice storm on the drow. The drow ran forward, but were slowed by the storm of ice. Kysta implored Pelor to eliminate the lead Drow while reaching out to touch it, but the magic in the drow’s very being rejected the spell’s effects. The lead drow was cut in half by the force of Ruke’s blow. The drow were pounded into the ground by the force of Rampenape’s renewed ice storm. One by one the deadly hailstones claim their lives.

As they enter the next room, a drider and the messenger drow enter from the north. The drow looked a little confused “Where did the rest of them go?” Kysta tried to convince him that something huge attacked and they ran after it. The drider didn’t buy it and screamed “Treachery! Guards!” Ruke rolled his eyes, seeing that it’s not going well he wasted no time charging the drider. The drider is stunned by the force of Ruke’s attack. Bleeding heavily he pulled out a dagger and flail and prepared to defend himself. Rampenape fired scorching rays, one at the drider, the other at the drow. He missed the drow completely and the drider glowed slightly as the magic is absorbed harmlessly into his skin. With a crackling sound, Lorath swung his flail at Ruke. At the same time he stabed underhanded with a dripping green dagger, scoring three solid hits.

Upon seeing Ruke attack Lorath, the drow’s eyes widened and he yelled for help. He pulled out his sword and moved forward. Kysta’s mace whistled harmlessly past the drider. Ruke slashes out twice rapidly at the drider, pivoting his foot forward to give it that extra ‘oomph’ but the attacks bounce off the shield held in the drider’s lower arm. Rampenape got frustrated and used his last scorching ray on those two again, and again fails to affect either. Riamara sings lesser transfer wounds on Ruke. Lorath continued his attacks on Ruke, but missed him completely.

The drow swung at Ruke again and flailed the air ineffectually. Kysta hit the drow with her mace. The drider scuttled out of the way of Ruke’s attacks. Rampenape blasts a fireball into the hallway behind them. The drow screamed as it was consumed by flames while the drider is burned but fought on. Riamara cast lesser transfer wounds on Ruke. Miru took a run all the way to the fight, after hearing Ruke’s scream.

Then they saw more drow running down the hallway towards the sounds of battle. The drider collapsed as Kysta hit it. The approaching drow howled as they saw the drider fall. Ruke charged forward at the first drow in anger, driving it back by the force of his blow. Rampenape cast ice storm a bit north of the first drow, avoiding Ruke. Riamara used her wand on Ruke again, transferring some of his wounds to herself. Miru charged right up into the battle.

The drow began to fall back, unprepared for this kind of assault. Kysta threw out a burst of sound, stunning all the drow but one. Ruke slips on a leftover hailstone and misses the drow completely, and was in turn battered by the remnants of Rampenape’s ice storm. Rampenape tried for another ice storm, but this time the drow shrugged off its effects. Riamara uses her wand one last time on Ruke, transfering his wounds to herself and passing out. Miru charges the nearest drow, killing it with one solid blow.

Two of the drow were still stunned. The third ran for her life! Kysta’s mace thumped one of the stunned drow. Ruke killed the two stunned drow with two blows. The party quickly determined they would be unable to catch the runner and so fell back to a room with solid doors so that they could rest through the night. Oddly enough, their wounds seemed to heal very quickly.

****************

Miru joined the game late. Cinner was there at the beginning but got disconnected due to a storm.

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WLD July 5, 2006

Jul 19

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Present this week:
* Rampenape – human sorcerer
* Kysta half-elf cleric
* Riamara spryte greenbond
* Miru human fighter
* Ruke human palaldin
* Cinner the dwarven rogue/wizard/fighter/cleric

When we left off, the party was fighting drow and driders. Rampenape was bleeding heavily, so Kysta ran over to Rampenape and calling on Pelor’s grace, healed him. Cinner’s bite proved worse than his blade as he filled his mouth with tender spider limbs. Splinters fly as Miru blasted another tower door down. Ruke took a swing at Cinner’s target to help himout before he launches his second attack at one of the drow. The drider scuttled back from the blow, leaving a good chunk of leg twixt Cinner’s teeth. The drow isn’t so lucky and is flung from the short tower, dead. His return blow killed the drow and narrowly missed cutting into another. The drow began to cast further spells.

The drow in the north tower moved forward to confront Miru. Miru blocked one attack but the other two slip past her guard. The two drow on the central tower were divided, one aiming for the hungry dwarf while the other went for the paladin. The one aiming for Cinner hit one of his images instead. Kystacalled “Pelor let your holy shine on these that live in darkness” and the drow screamed as the bright light blinded them. Still reeling from the onlaught of Kysta’s Daylight spell, two drow are hit from Rampenape’s scorching ray. Again, Cinner’s bite proved his most effective weapon. The blinded drow whimpers as he feels teeth teaaring his flesh. Miru’s blow caught one drow warrior off guard and slashes through his armor while the second warrior moves in to take advantage of Miru’s distraction but was hit with a lightning response. The last of the drow on the southern tower fell to Ruke’s holy blade. Riamara casts infuse with life on Cinner. Lightning crackles from the fingers of the driders on the central tower as they aim to destroy Ruke! The last drider aims his lightning bolt and Miru took the hit pretty rough, with a bit of smoke billowing from her clothing.

The northernmost drow snarled as she realized she’d be unable to reach Miru and hastily picks up her discarded crossbow. The middle drow managed to overcome his handicaps and land a hit on the fighter. The blinded drow reeled as yet Kysta’s spiritual weapon hits her from an unexpected angle. The blinded drow screamed as Rampenape’s scorchin ray hits her – fire, light, force, and now more fire? Miru launcheed two attacks again, trying to break the drow around her, and hopefully get to the drider. The paladin ran down the stairs and crashed into the last tower door – it creaked alarmingly but did not break. Riamara casts greater battle healing on Ruke. Miru let out a cry as the drider slings another bolt of lightning through her opponent and then into her.

The three forward drow are dismayed by the drider’s carelessness and slash at Miru trying to flee any further magics. One of the drow on the central tower took a shot at Kysta. Kysta healed Ruke and bashed a drow with her spiritual weapon. Fire flew from Rampenape’s fingers and blasted a drow off the edge of the tower. With a deft twist of the wrist, Cinner popped the bar off its supports and opened the central tower door. Miru landed two solid blows. The drow in front of her is on his last legs but still stands and fights. Ruke kicked the door down that Cinner opened and started swinging at the drider. The driders was blown back by the force of Ruke’s attack, the drider curled up into a ball and died. Riamara cast infuse with life on Miru. The northern drider made the reasonable suggestion that Miru should go help Ruke with his attack, then come back later. The final drider shot lighting at the surprisingly agile paladin.

The drow and drider by Miru sauntered towards the east door, whistling a little tune. The last drow desperately throws himself at Ruke and missed completely. Kysta swung her morningstar at the retreating drow and hit one while calling them cowards in undercommon. Rampenape was frustrated by the cleric throwing herself into harms way, blasted the last one with magic missiles. Cinner lunged for the face of the drow “Come ‘er boy im gonna make you into a sandwich” while flailing the dagger at his groin The drow screams as Cinner takes a big chunk out of some delicate bits. Miru had a little odd look on her face. “Ruke! I’ve got to help you, then I can go back!” Riamara cast transfer wounds on Rampenape. Kysta landed a solid blow on the fleeing drow, but he continued to run.

The drow closed the heavy door behind them. The last drider died as the mace of Pelor struck it down. The remaining drow snarled and described Kysta’s lineage in increasingly obscene detail. Rampenape threw a fireball at the door that the drow just shut. The door smokes but remains standing. The last drow in the room was torn to shreds by Cinner’s attack, leaving a bloody mess. The party moved up to the closed door as Riamara healed Miru.

The pieces of the door that remain – still enough to block passage, are easily moved aside by the skilled rogue. As Cinner pop open the door, Miru saw a drow ducking into the room on the right. As the drow ducked into the doorway and tried to close the door behind him, Ruke quickly interposed himself and kept it open. The other drow moved in to support while the drider continued to scuttle away. Kysta’s spiritual mace battered him, then the battered drow died instantly as Rampenape’s missiles pound into him. Another drow bit the dust as Cinner bit it. Miru rushed into the room, moved right up and attacked the drider, dropping it bonelessly to the floor. Ruke steped into the room, grinning as Miru droped the drider. “Nice one.” He then glanced at the drow remaining and attacked them, missing them both. Riamara pulled out her wand and cast lesser transfer wounds on Cinner.

Upon seeing the drider die, the remaining drow threw down their weapons and shouted “We surrender” in Common, Undercommon, and Elven. The drow seem more or less resigned to their fates and offer no resistance to Kysta as she tied them up. Cinner complained “AWWW, unfair, I wanted to eat your eyes.” Ruke looked at Cinner and frowned, “…PLEASE refrain from eating eyes.” Ruke stared at Cinner and sighed. “Gods help me!” He says a little frustrated before walking into the room some. The drow cringe a little at hearing the hungry looking dwarf offer to eat them.

Kysta: “What are you Drow doing down here?”
Drow: “We came with the driders from the north. Some kind of experiment went wrong in this area and they’ve been sending teams to try to reclaim it ever since.”
Kysta: “What kind of experiment, and by whom?”
Drow: “Some guy named Mahir – he was trying to create super driders or something”
Miru yawns. “Ask them about Anguish and Madness..”
Kysta: “What do you know about Anguish and Madness? Are they the results of this Mahir’s experiments too?”
Drow: “There weren’t enough driders sent to this place so Byalahir was going to get Mahir ro make more. Mahir went nuts and wanted to improve driders instead of just making more. Some of his experiments got screwed up royally and ended up creating Anguish and Madness.”
Kysta: “Who is Byalahir?”
Drow: “Bylahir is the chief Spider King. He’s the guy who originally sent drow to tunneling into this region from up north.”
Ruke: “Remind me to thank Mahir personally then for creating those ‘twins.’ And by thanking I mean a good smack upside the head and making him atone for his horrible sins.”
The drow laughs at the paladin’s words “You’re not the first to want to do that, and you won’t be the last.”
Kysta: “Where do we find this Mahir?”
Drow: “Byalahir executed Mahir for this colossal screwup. You’re more than welcome to go after him in the grave”
Kysta: “Maybe I’ll just send you with a message. Where do we find Byalahir?”
Drow: “You can find Bylahir to the north of here – in the next region. You’re better off praying he doesn’t notice you than attracting his attention.”
Rampenape: “Any idea on how we actually get rid of Anguish or Madness?”
Drow: If I knew how to get rid of them, I’d hardly be standing guard duty, would I? Heck, I could probably get setup as a bigwig if I could get rid of those two.”
Cinner pouts: “Aw, I bet their soft bit are delicious. I had a rocky mountain oyster recipe I wanted to try.”
Kysta: *Tries to ignore Cinner, hoping the Drow aren’t.* “What lies between here and this Byalahiir?”
Drow: “North of here are the areas controlled by the driders. You’d have to get through them (and the drow guards) alive. Then you’d have to get into the next region and get past a lot of driders and the Spider Kings, and then you might meet Byalahiir if you’re unlucky”
Ruke wonders how the Gods allow Cinner to live then realizes it’s probably they can’t actually intervene here.

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WLD June 28, 2006

Jun 29

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I forgot to save the log file before exiting, so this is based solely on my recollections.

* Rampenape – human sorcerer
* Kysta half-elf cleric
* Riamara spryte greenbond
* Miru human fighter
* Ruke human palaldin
* Cinner the dwarven rogue/wizard/fighter/cleric

The first order of business was the recreation of a magic spear for Miru to replace the one she lost to an acidic slime creature. Rampenape provided the skill and the other characters provided the raw materials. The enchantments took a while to complete, so the party took advantage of that to rest.

Since they were at full strength, the party decided to buff up and take out Anguish. With all their buffs in place, this proved surprisingly easy. Cinner got Ruke to toss him at the high-flying chimera. Unfortunately, the throw wasn’t quite strong enough and Cinner missed catching the rafters. Riamara, Kysta, and Rampenape used magic to blast the creature. Miru got in a couple of solid hits with her new spear. Cinner finished it off with well placed bites and crowbars.

From there they moved down the corridors to the east and took on a drow outpost. Cinner managed to sneak around quite a while without being detected. The driders and drow started shooting at the party and the party returned the favor. Rampenape tossed in a fireball, Riamara threw in a sorcerous blast, Kysta cast searing light, Ruke and Miru ran in to get into the fight.

*************
We had all kinds of problems finding a server that didn’t kick someone off. Sigh. Technical issue are a pain.

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WLD June 21, 2006

Jun 28

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Those present this week were:
* Rampenape – human sorcerer
* Kysta half-elf cleric
* Riamara spryte greenbond
* Miru human fighter
* Cinner the dwarven rogue

After resting up in the mirror room, the party returned to the room where Riamara, Miru, and Cinner first entered this region. They found a small storeroom with a cask of poisoned wine and some poison coated weapons. After tiptoeing past Anguish’s lair, Cinner found a concealed door to a circular room. The room looked like a meeting room. They found an adjoining barracks and a much more solid door.

Cinner picked the lock on the door and moved into what appeared to be an armory. He quickly found the magical weapons and then searched the room more thoroughly. The rest of the party found themselves unable to move into the armory. With a thorough search, Cinner found a small locked panel. Unfortunately, he was unable to open it and instead sprang an acid cloud trap. After several attempts, he rejoined the rest of the group.

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WLD June 14, 2006

Jun 28

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Those present this week were:
* Rampenape – human sorcerer
* Kysta half-elf cleric
* Riamara spryte greenbond
* Miru human fighter
* Ruke human palaldin

The party decided to pursue Yuulek and found him in the process of reanimating some of the chokers they had fought earlier. One undead choker latched onto Ruke, who was unable to break free of its grasp. Riamara moved into position while Kysta prayed blessings upon the group. Miru landed solid blows on the choker that had moved to attack her. Rampenape threw a fireball at Yuulek and the remaining choker. Yuulek once again proved impossibly nimble – the fire didn’t even touch him. The other choker gave a choked gurgle as the fireball hit him dead on.

The choker on Ruke began to choke the life out of him. Miru was hit but managed to avoid begin grappled by another choker’s tentacles. Ruke used his dagger to smite the evil thing trying to choke him. Riamara used her hand of battle to destroy one of the chokers. Kysta blasted the one holding Ruke with a burst of searing light, causing it to shrivel and die. Ruke had barely begun to rise when Yuulek’s weight drove him back to his knees. Miru struck down another choker with two mighty blows. Rampenape fired magic missiles into Yuulek’s back.

The last standing choker started looking for a softer target. He moved around Yuulek and Ruke and went for Rampenape with both tentacles. Ruke drove his dagger into Yuulek as it bursts with holy energy again. Riamara moves into the room and casts hand of battle on the choker choking Rampenape, leaving it staggered but still choking the sorcerer. Once again calling upon her deity, Kysta summons a dancing mace to aid her and used it to pummel Yuulek. Yuulek saw that this battle has also turned against him. He released Ruke and tried to sprint for the door, but was brought down by Miru’s attack. She then whirled an proceded to drive her spear into the one choking Rampenape.

The last of the chokers was unbothered by Rampenape’s escape efforts and continued to squeeze the life out of him. Riamara casts icebolt on the last choker, causing him to fall to the ground and shatter.

Next they found remnants of a large door. It’s mostly buried in rubble – making it a bit of a squeeze to get through. They found the remnants of a great hall, reeking of death and corruption. As they looked around the hall, a huge shape drifted out of the rafters and moved to attack. Anguish started off with lighting aimed at Ruke. Rampenape moved back and cast bull strength on Ruke, just in time to have Anguish swoop by and take another bite out of the paladin. Riamara cast icebolt on Anguish, causing the twisted chimera to roar in pain. Ruke slashes at it twice, trying to hold its attention as he gestures for the others to head out, but failed to land a blow. Miru’s blows proved ineffectual. Kysta called upon Pelor to aid their retreat (Obscuring mist). Then squeezed through the opening behind her.

Rampenape moves up a litle bit, and casts shout, but Anguish manages to avoid most of its effects. The backdraft from Anguish’s wings pushed the obscuring mist in eddies as it decided to focus on Rampenape. Two sets of huge jaws clashed, his goat head’s horns gored, and then he reached out with two claws, nearly killing the poor sorcerer in one round. The dragon head reached out and took a big bite of spryte as Riamarar tried to flee. Ruke backed up to the door, still lashing out at the creature, refusing to leave yet until the others are out. He is a paladin after all. Miru droped down to one knee, looking back to the hole once, and then back at the monster. “Fuck this!” She yelled, vaulting through the hole into a somersault. Kysta called upon the power of Pelor and sent a sonic blast to surround the baddie, but it din’t have much effect.

Rampenape ran like a little girl. Anguish decided to take a piece out of the paladin, biting and tearing at the brave warrior. Riamara healed Rampenape. Ruke wiggled adroitly through the narrow opening with Anguish nipping at his heels. Robbed of his prey, Anguish hurled himself at the walls in fury.

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WLD June 7, 2006

Jun 19

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Those present this week were:

* Rampenape – human sorcerer
* Kysta half-elf cleric
* Riamara spryte greenbond
* Ruke human palaldin
* Cinner the dwarven rogue/wizard/fighter

The party found a room that had mirrors on the walls and a plaque under each mirror. The first rune pressed showed some kind of storage room, the other showed a dark elf moving through a ritual, and a great hall. After playing with the mirrors for a bit, the party moved on.

They found a small pack of chokers in the next room, but between Riamara and Cinner, the chokers didn’t even get a chance to react before being annihilated. At the end of another corridor they found a statue that plunged the area into darkness when touched. Then they found what looked to be some kind of den.

As they moved to the next room, Cinner spotted a larger choker with a number of smaller ones around him. Riamara led the way in with a sorcerous blast. The larger choker managed to dodge both Riamara’s blast and Cinner and Ruke’s attacks. Rampenape had more luck with his scorching ray, landing two solid hits. Kysta prayed to assist all in the battle.

The chokers recovered from their surprise and pressed forward, hoping to wrap their tentacles around a neck or two. One managed to grab Cinner, another managed to stab at Ruke with a poisoned dagger, and Kysta’s faith helped shield Rampenape from the last one. Cinner stabbed the one who grappled him, which was followed by another blow from Ruke. Kysta’s spiritual weapon also managed a solid hit. (At this point cinner, speaking through his Capt Crispy Critter alter-ego asked “What do you get when you cross a choker and a chicken? A good time and a empty kleenex box.” Yuulek reached out for Ruke with both tentacles and began to squeeze the life from his body. Rampenape hit again with his scorching rays. One regular choker was burned to a crisp. A nasty odor wafted up from the corpse. Yuulek sreeched as the ray hits his back but didn’t loose his hold on Ruke. Riamara cast lesser transfer wounds on Ruke.

The choker holding Cinner decided it didn’t like the odds, dropped him and tried to run for it. Cinner caught it and killed it before it could escape. He then tumbled around and cut another choker. Kysta’s spiritual weapon moved in to pound Yuulek. Yuulek managed to make a run for the door. Yuulek managed to paralyze Cinner when Cinner caught up to him, then touch of fatigue delivered by Rampenape’s pseudodragon familiar failed to affect him, so Yuulek made his escape.

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WLD May 31, 2006

Jun 7

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Two new players this week along with the regulars
* Rampenape – human sorcerer
* Kysta half-elf cleric
* Riamara spryte greenbond
* Miru human fighter
* Ruke human palaldin
* Cinner the dwarven rogue

As they rounded the corner to the site of their earlier battle with the gricks, you see two doors like the ones that brought them here begin to take shape. Out of one emerges a half-elf and out of the other a human.  After introductions were made, they all continued to head west.

Cinner spotted some gricks hiding in a room of smashed skeletal bodies. Rampenape shielded himself, Kysta prayed, and Miru fell back into a better tactical position.  One of the larger gricks managed to lash Cinner with a tentacle. Riamara sang her incantation for heightened sorcerous blast sonic, causing two of the smaller gricks to shake apart from the vibrations.  Cinner managed to stab the large grick in a tender spot, causing it to coil and thrash about a bit before expiring. Ruke gestured for one of the gricks to come after him, but held his ground, just trying to taunt them all for now.

Rampenape buffed Ruke using his pseudogragon familiar to deliver the spell. Kysta prayed “Pelor, send your sword to cut these monsters down to size” and used the spiritual weapon to deliver a strong blow to one of the remaining gricks. The nicked grick slithered up to Ruke and tried to wrap its tentacles around him. Ruke who was prepared, lashed out with his greatsword and cut the grick into thin slices that hold together for a moment before sliding to the floor in a neat pile. Riamara moved forward and sang heightened sorcerous blast fire at the remaining gricks. The small gricks crisp and burn. The larger one proves surprising agile and doges the worst of the flames.  Cinner made a bold charge and bounced off the large grick without doing any damage. Ruke moved up to the big one and lashed out once, putting force behind the blow. The grick staggers, then falls dead as the holy power courses through it.

After the fight, Cinner found a ring that none of the magic users were able to identify.  When he put it on, it made him even harder to see.  As he slipped through the corridors, he found a vinegary smelling room with a large slime creature in it.  He tried shooting at it, but due to his lack of skills with a repeating crossbow, hit the wall instead.  Miru charged in and hit the slime with her spear.  The blow was solid, but hitting the creature dissolved her magical spear.  Rampenape threw a fireball at the slimes, burning one severely and not affecting the other at all.  Riamara followed up with a fiery sorcerous blast and burned both. Ruke saw what happened to Miru’s spear, grabbed his spare nonmagical greatsword. “Bastard thing, you’ll pay for that!”  His blow split the slime into two more. Kysta stepped forward into the room and called upon the power of Pelor. “Pelor, shed your divine light upon these creatures. (Searing Light)” but it didn’t affect the slime.

Cinner had more luck with his crossbow.  The quarrel sank into the first slime, dissolving as it did so. With a pop, the slime exploded and scattered goo everywhere. Miru backed off towards the door, pulling Rosco’s dagger free from her belt. Rampenape tries a ray of frost on the northernmost slime, but failed to affect the slime in any way. Riamara casts her last socerous blast using earth and both slimes are slurped into the ground. There is now a slight bump in the floor.

****************
Adding the new party members went well.  After the lack of fighting the last while, they came in with a bang.  I need to remember to keep things moving when they slow down.

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WLD May 17, 2006

May 29

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Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Miru – human fighter

The party rested up after their unsuccessful encounter with Madness. Faces formed on the walls twice during the rest period and spouted random sentences at the person on watch, but otherwise left them alone. Once they were rested up, they did a bit more exploring and found a temple with corpses scattered around it. From their they found another set of rings like the ones that had affected Ruke earlier. As they pursued their exploration, they encountered Madness once again, but this time they ran before it could attack. Stymied in their exploration to the north, they decided to head back west.

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WLD May 10, 2006

May 17

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Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin

The group decided to try and find Madness first. They took a wrong turn and ended up in fluid filled chambers that pulsed like living hearts. The first chamber had black fluid that left Ruke and Riamara paralyzed with despair. Cinner burned out the fluid with a well placed torch. The smell from the black liquid as it chars is one of the most horrible things you’ve ever smelt. It reeks of burning vomit. They found another chamber of red fluid, which Ruke determined was blood. The next chamber dripped yellow, which disturbed Cinner – the color not the ichor. The final chamber pumped a viscous green fluid.

The party went a little further north and went east through a series of shattered doors. Random screams became louder as they went further east. Finally they came to a room that churned nauseatingly, the walls, ceiling, and floor alive with pale, writhing flesh. Here a cluster of fingers, there a bubble of pallid eyes. Occasionally mouths set into the stone…or set in flesh…screech deafeningly. As Cinner tried to sneak into the room, it erupted in a chorus of screams!

Ruke’s holy sword failed to have any additional effects on Madness. Cinner managed to hit it with his crowbars, but didn’t do much damage. Ruke was repeated blinded by Madness’ acid spit. Neither side did much damage, but Madness was slowly gaining the upper hand, when our heroes decided to cut and run. Fortunately, Madness moves rather slowly so they were able to make their escape.

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WLD May 3, 2006

May 17

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Present this week were:
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Miru – human fighter

Ruke broke through the other ice wall, and managed to dodge most of the ice shards.  They found a small holding-cell like room and some scratches on the walls.  Upon examination, the scratches turned out to say “Damn all celestials and their traps.”

Upon encountering a jammed door, Miru and Ruke bashed it open.  On the other side they found some of the spikes Cinner had used to seal the door during one of their earlier rest stops.

Proceeding down the corridor, they found three dark-skinned humanoids, lying in a heap to form some bloodstained indalo. Ruke determined that they had been choked to death and found two rings – one with a spider pattern on it and another with a drider image.

Another corridor might have gone unnoticed save for a single feature at its southern end, a series of concentric iron and gold rings, fully three feet across at their largest are set into the wall. Ruke discovered that the middle ring could be moved.  However, as he moved it, he began to feel dumber.

As Ruke recovered, a creature with a snakelike body and a human face came out of the west door. She introduced herself as Siglinde. She told them of the Twins.  Madness, a creature of protoplasmic flesh, a hungry, angry version of the flesh you have seen on the walls and corridors.  Anguish is partially draconic but twisted in ways no dragon would dream of.  She gave them each a token with triumphant drider on one side and a spell-casting naga on the other. Siglinde wants at least one of the Twins destroyed by means of a ritual in a hidden area.  Mahir is the name of the master of this place. Mahir was a drider who mastered the art of reshaping creatures. There have been few could equal his ability with magic and none who surpassed him in that art.

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WLD April 26, 2006

May 3

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Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin

After resting up, the party moved into another room. This one had an inner room of crystal. Inside the room were runes covered with blood – reading the runes drove Cinner into a rage and compelled Riamara to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

Riamara tried healing one of the flesh-covered walls. The flesh on the wall appeared much healthier. It swelled up and filled part of the hallway.

In another room they found a dead body being slowly absorbed by the floor. Ruke was the only one with the intestinal fortitude to search it. As he cut into the body to try and separate it from the floor, it burst and covered him with ichor. Fortunately, Riamara had a hygiene spell ready that cleaned him up.

From there they found a room where stone had melted and flowed sometime in the pat. They found scattered bits of parchment that appeared to be remnants of spellbooks. Cinner chipped away at a door covered by the melted stone.

Beyond the door he found a secret panel with a statue of a drider. As they examined the statute, it spoke “To pass beyond these doors, you must answer questions two, the number of the cursed Twins. The first. Who is the Master of this place?” Cinner answered “Celestials” and the walls started screaming. Thanks to Ruke, everyone managed to keep their courage up and so were unaffected.

They then nearly fell into a pit trap, but due to amazing reflex saves dodged the trap. Cinner jammed it shut, and then they proceeded to two rooms with icy walls for doors. Cinner chopped through one of the walls and it exploded; leaving a room that looked like a small holding cell.

*****
I was quite pleased with this. I wanted to convey the disgusting nature of the region and that seemed to get communicated. It was a lot of queasy fun.

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WLD April 19, 2006

May 1

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I’ve fallen behind in these write-ups so this is going to be short.

Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Miru – human fighter

After their battle with the grick, they searched the cells. Cinner found a skeletal hand holding a key with the letters “tmpl dr” on it. Then they ran into a flame trap in an intersection. Cinner got a little singed but managed to disable the trap.

Cinner spotted a cloaker lurking in the shadows of a strangely tidy room and the party beat the crap out of it. Its fear effect managed to keep Miru and Cinner out of the battle but didn’t do it much good in the end. After resting up, the party continued into another room where they met a large number of cloakers. This time Ruke’s aura of courage everyone but Cinner managed to keep their courage up. Cinner fled whimpering about baths and soap and other horrors. After a surprisingly brief fight, they managed to destroy the cloakers and retrieve Cinner.

********************

Between Riamara’s sorcerous blasts and Ruke’s aura of courage, this Region hasn’t been too much of a challenge yet. Have to see what next week brings.

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WLD April 12, 2006

Apr 17

Posted by Joel in Games, General, WLD on OpenRPG | No Comments

Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Miru – human fighter

The party went into a room full of choker residences. The chokers proved to be no match for them and were wiped out rather quickly. Cinner pried a celestial skeleton off the wall and Ruke prayed for the creature that had died in this foul place. Riamara’s sorcerous blast largely cleared a room full of gricks. Cinner decided to make grick snacks for later consumption. They moved a pile of rocks in a rubble filled room, but all they got for their pains were sore backs and bruised fingers.

From there the party moved into what looked to be a former cellblock with a floor covered in purple slime. They found a grick in one of the cells. Miru stabbed at the grick but keeping her balance proved tricky and she missed. Cinner jammed the cell lock, sealing that grick in. More gricks moved out from the cells and came towards the party. Ruke swung at one of them, but slipped. Despite this setback, he still killed two gricks.

Miru easily skewered another of the worm-like creatures, while Cinner landed a solid blow on another. Riamara used her sorcerous blast to sear the two larger gricks at the opposite end of the room. The gricks failed to get any solid blows in, but Ruke exploded one in a splatter of worm guts, painting the walls, floor and ceiling with its entrails.

Miru killed the last of the small grick (except for the one still strapped in the cell). Cinner slid along the ground like a possessed hockey player, charged a large grick and it crumpled and died beneath his ferocious onslaught. Riamara cast lesser transfer wounds on Cinner. Ruke still couldn’t regain his footing and so slithered and slid over to the large grick.

Miru took out the last large grick, while Cinner shot at the small one trapped in the cell. The last grick died with an arrow through its …. head?

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WLD April 5, 2006

Apr 7

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Present this week were:
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Miru – human fighter

The party proceeded down the darkened hallways and found the last of the wardstaves. The door to the room it was in was trapped, so their lack of a rogue this week hurt. However they managed to return the wardstaff to the celestials and rest up. The loot from their last battle was identified, however two of the items were tainted with evil and thus of no use to the party. After some discussion, the party decided to head north through the Halls of Flesh.

Kelara, the celestial leader, gave each party member a scroll to burn should they escape. Upon being burned, the scrolls will carry the garrison’s pleas to the gods and hopefully remind them to send more guardians. She then lead them through the door to the Halls of Flesh…

**************************
The server we usually use had switched to the development version of OpenRPG, so we couldn’t use it. This led to a bit of a last-minute scramble as I tried to notify to players of the change of server.

The party had wanted to go east, but I asked them to go north instead. I really didn’t want to run the labyrinth on OpenRPG – just too complicated. I may move Region C in place of Region F and give them the choice between C and I. We’ll see.

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WLD March 15, 2006

Apr 5

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Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Kevgretor – dwarven cleric
* Miru – human fighter

Cinner followed a rat to a room that held a giant spider.  He immediately shot at it and the party killed it without too much trouble.  Kevgretor’s comment was “I hope that was not a lawful good spider waiting to help us with our quest.”

A few rooms later, they spotted a goblin.  Cinner wanted to beat it senseless and intimate information out of it, but Ruke managed to hold a civilized conversation with it.  The goblin warned of Seraxes and shadows guarding a staff.

When they found the shadows, Cinner’s first blow passed through harmlessly.  One shadow managed to hit him and drain some strength.  Kevgretor’s faith blasted the weaker shadows, while Riamara’s attempt at channeling the green was not as successful.  Ruke managed to destroy one of the shadows.

Cinner nicked one of the shadows, then as it turned to flee, Ruke completely destroyed it. Seraxes snarled at Kevgretor’s holy symbol but refuses to back down.  Ruke managed to land a solid blow on Seraxes.

Cinner scratched Seraxes, then Seraxes backed down and held up his hands. “Stop. You are worthy. I propose a deal.” Kevgretor reponded, “Speak quickly foul creature, or I will let Cinner eat you.”  Seraxes said, “I wish to leave this area, but the doors block my path. If you open the doors to the south, I will leave peacefully.”  The party was reluctant to let him go, so once his reinforcements moved in Seraxes attacked again, landing a solid blow on Kevgretor.  Ruke’s smite evil struck a solid blow on Seraxes.  Just then the door burst open and Miru charged in.  She landed a solid blow on Seraxes and killed him.

The reinforcements didn’t prove to be much of a challenge.  The party split briefly at this point – Kevgretor and Ruke examined an intersection that held a throne with a corpse on it.  Meanwhile Cinner and Miru found a room with what appeared to be an invisible table.

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WLD March 8, 2006

Mar 14

Posted by Joel in Games, WLD on OpenRPG | No Comments

Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Kevgretor – dwarven cleric

This session was spent fighting shadow mastiffs. They didn’t prove to be much of a challenge for the party. A big party of that was lucky rolls on the party’s part – I don’t think they missed a single blow due to the mastiffs’ concealment ability. The party found a room that silenced all sound within it, a room with a shrine and a couple of fountains, a hot room, and a room of sound.

************************
I’m hoping they find the last staff this week so that we can move on to the next region. Mind you they may still run into trouble in this region….

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WLD March 1, 2006

Mar 9

Posted by Joel in Games, WLD on OpenRPG | No Comments

Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Miru – human fighter

The skittering of little feet turned out to be two massive swarms of scorpions. Cinner enlarged Ruke, then stepped back. The scorpions swarmed over Ruke, who crushed dozens of the creatures as hundreds of them crawled over his body. The scorpions crawling over Ruke nauseated him so that he couldn’t attack and had to fall back. Miru managed to wipe out another dozen scorpions as more pressed in to attack.

Cinner threw alchemists fire at the scorpions, but hardly any were burned. Meanwhile Riamara boosted Miru’s strength. The scorpions crawl over Cinner and Miru – the swarm seemed to be healing itself – some that were down and wounded rose up and rejoined the fight. Miru resisted their poison, but the dozens of tiny stings send poison through Cinner’s veins. Ruke continued to battle nausea. Miru fought her way through the stings, biting her lip. “Let’s find a place to recoup for a second!” She took a parting stab at the swarm she’s standing in, and moved back.

Cinner and Riamara fell back as the scorpions moved forward. Ruke’s mighty attack on the swarm moving towards him split the swarm in two. Cinner, Miru and Ruke were all hit by the vermins’ poison. Ruke hit a might blow causing the surviving scorpions to scuttle away into the dark corners. One solitary scorpion died at the point of Miru’s spear, leaving the hundreds more free to attack.

More scorpions crackled and burned as Cinner’s alchemist’s fire hit them. Riamara healed Miru and Ruke blasted another swarm into oblivion. The final swarm moved closer to Cinner, attracted by the smell of his dead rats. Cinner fell unconscious as the scorpions swept over him. Ruke spit out some blood from his mouth that had collected from the poison in him, rounded the corner swinging hard at the last swarm, but hit the wall instead. Miru moved over, trying to save Cinner from an unfortunate demise as she continued to skewer scorpions.

Riamara managed to heal Cinner as the scorpions poured off of his body to attack Miru. A wave of terror from watching Cinner fall swept over everyone. Ruke’s presence bolster’s Miru’s courage, but Riamara fled screaming. Ruke once again split the scorpion swarm in two as Miru succumbed to nausea from having the creatures crawl over her.

Cinner blasted the scorpions with more alchemist’s fire as Riamara continued to run. Cinner wiped out one swarm just as it was about to overwhelm him and Ruke took out the last one. The aftereffects of the poison almost killed Cinner, but thanks to a potion of lesser restoration, he survived to fight another day.

After catching up with Riamara, the party returned to the celestials for healing. Sanjid was less than pleased to see more people in need of his services. From here the party fought some spiders in an old armory, found some monuments to those who had fallen in battle, and killed a couple of centipedes in a room with a healing fountain.

*************************************
I got a little bored with the easy vermin encounters so I threw in an apocalypse swarm of scorpions. It worked really well – lots of tense moments but nobody died.

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WLD Feb 22, 2006

Mar 1

Posted by Joel in Games, WLD on OpenRPG | No Comments

Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Valik – dwarven wizard

The party found two barghests hiding in a room. In return for their lives the barghests offered the location of one of the wardstaves. The party retrieved that one with ease and returned it to the celestials.

From there the party headed south to look for the last of the wardstaves. They found a dead celestial with a cloven trumpet and a bunch of monstrous scorpions. They defeated the scorpions with ease and headed into a fog room where they heard the chittering of hundreds of small creatures…

******************
Absences due to computer problems, assignments, and a case of the flu combined to make this a short game. Hopefully this week’s game goes longer!

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WLD Feb 15, 2006

Feb 17

Posted by Joel in Games, WLD on OpenRPG | No Comments

Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Kevgretor – dwarven cleric
* Miru – human fighter

After finding a note saying that Xyhcichyl, queen of the Holy Swarm, had been killed by treachery, Ruke chopped his way through the door to her chambers. The party found the formian queen’s corpse and another of the wardsatves. On their way to return it to Kelara, they ran into Sarraas and her pack of barghests. Sarraas thanked them for killing Morat. She then proposed that the PCs negotiate a truce between the celestials and the barghests and warned them not to return unless they brought word of a deal.

Kelara was delighted to have another wardstaff returned. The celestials healed the party and showed them to a room to rest. Cinner continued to make strange comments and play with the dead rats he picked up here and there. In the morning the party buffed up and returned to kill Sarraas and her pack. Doj accompanied them to assist.

The fight proved fairly simple. Riamara opened up with a sorcerous blast, wounding most of the barghests. Cinner got a good whack in at one of the barghests with his sneak attack and Ruke finished it off. Miru hit another barghest with her shiny new spear. Ruke moved in to attack Sarraas with a mighty Smite Evil. Miru and Cinner killed another barghest as Riamara healed Ruke. Ruke hit Sarraas with another Smite Evil, leaving the barghest leader nearly dead. Doj managed to trip a fleeing barghest with his chain and beat on it. Sarraas tried to run but was cut down by Ruke. The last surviving barghest made its escape into the darkness of the dungeon.

******************
Again, a session with a lot of talk and not too much fighting. I expect to get back to hack and slash fairly soon though. The party’s new collection of magical weapons proved devastating against the barghests. This was very close to the same difficulty as the fight that killed Rosco and the party was barely even scratched.

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WLD Feb 8, 2006

Feb 11

Posted by Joel in Games, WLD on OpenRPG | No Comments

Present this week were:
* Cinner – dwarven rogue
* Riamara – loresong faen greenbond
* Ruke – human paladin
* Valik – dwarven wizard
* Kevgretor – dwarven cleric
* Miru – human fighter

After resting up following their fight with Morat, the party awoke to something pounding on the door to the north. Upon opening the door they found what looked like a short stocky elf with silver hair and rainbow eyes and a human in full plate. After confirming that they were responsible for killing the barghests, Doj, the celestial, asked if they’d seen another celestial with a mighty sword. Miru showed him Rosco’s holy longsword. Doj took this as confirmation that his mate, Sensil was dead. This hit him hard and he asked Ruke, the paladin accompanying him, to take the sword while he went to seek his mate’s body. Miru requested that Doj bless Rosco’s body. Doj said a prayer and pointed a wand at Rosco’s corpse. The corpse began to shine with light and became as bright as the sun. When the party could look again, it was gone.

As he was about to leave, Doj notice that staff that Riamara was carrying. He examined it and proclaimed it one of the wardstaves. Ruke proceeded to lead the party to the celestial’s leader, Kelara. Kelara was thrilled to get one of the wardstaves back. Cinner found Besar to be agreeable enough and they started chatting and swapping recipes for the creatures they’d encountered. Kelara told the party that the inevitables have decided to use whatever creatures they can conscript to fight evils. She pointed the party in the direction of some of the other wardstaves and gave them a number of weapon-enhancing oils to assist them and to thank them for returning one of the wardstaves.

The Holy Swarm, a group of celestial formians, had one of the wardstaves. Cinner recalled seeing the symbol for the Holy Swarm on one of the doors he checked, so the party headed off in that direction. There was a brief fight with some shadows where Ruke bore the brunt of their attack. Then they found room after room full of dead formians.

*****************

Wow, this was a great session for roleplaying! Given that this is a massive dungeon crawl, we tend towards letting the dice do the talking. Until the fight with the shadows at the end, it was almost all talk. I’m hoping to set something like this up in every region to give those who like more drama a treat. We’ll see how that works out. This is one case where my typing/improvisational speed is a real bottleneck though as I can’t set up the responses ahead of time.

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