Session report - 28 April 2013

We've been playing in 'cloud' format, so having logs to show to the people who missed the session is kind of nice.

This session, I ran Ignatius (Human MU5) and henchmen Dami (Human Clr4 of the Old Gods of magic) and Grumpycat (Chaotic human MU3; he has a real name, but it is long forgotten), while Kelly ran Lief (Human Fighter 5), Bjorn the Unbreakable (Human Fighter 2-ish?  So named for his Con of 18) and Hadrian (Human Assassin 4ish; fights with two weapons).  We had a guest for the session who picked up Sister Mary (more commonly known as "Nunzilla"), a lawful human cleric 5 who is normally the best of the henches.  Drew and Alex were absent, and so their characters Karl and ??? remained behind in the town of Sarderond.

The aim for the session was to return to the Isle of the Hallowed to retrieve the regalia of the last hierarch of the Eldest at the behest of the prince of Khallar.  We first secured additional supplies in the market of Sarderond, including a scroll of restore life and limb (whoo) and more healing herbs, holy water, and military oil.  Additionally, we sought a Divination at the temple and received directions through the cross-dimensional tower-maze on the Isle to the tomb of the hierarch.  We also took the opportunity to test some of the unidentified magic items for curses, and identified several magic items, most notably a ring of x-ray vision (given to Lief) and a +3 short sword (given to Hadrian as an off-hand weapon).  So armed the party set out by ship for the isle and made a better landing than we did the first time (which is to say that we did not sink the boat).

En route, we encountered a group of rival adventurers with a dragon carcass sailing back to Sarderond, but we avoided them.  Upon arriving, we found a clutch of dragon eggs via x-ray, and one of them hatched while we were investigating.  Ignatius' mystic aura convinced it that he was its mother, and so we acquired a wyrmling, which we named Smallithrax.  Fearing the wrath of the other draconic parent, we abandoned the remaining eggs and headed for the objective.

Notable encounters on the way:

• Sarcophagus engraving of pain; caused Bjorn to stab Hadrian.  Unfortunate, and cost some spell slots to sleep the berserker and heal Hadrian, but ultimately no permanent damage.
• The Other Dragon - apparently the father.  None too happy to hear that its mate had been slain and that we had one of its children, but parlayed information of the whereabouts of its slayers in exchange for safe passage.  Also copied a treasure map found in the hoard.
• Snake Cult - came across a gang of cultists; sleeped them, tied up, and awoke one to interrogate.  He started yelling, which brought the cult leader (an albino Eldest) and her bodyguards running.  Parlayed ineffectively, combat ensued.  She knew dismember and had a staff of withering; Grumpycat lost an arm and some ability score points and Lief lost some teeth, but her berserker minions were eliminated by a fireball and oil wall, and Hadrian slew her after she was trapped in a web.  Two cultist fighters trapped in the web with her surrendered, and were stripped of their weapons.  They served as porters for the rest of the expedition.  Her spellbook, art-object haircomb, and some coins were recovered.  (TODO - return with more porters, steal her fancy furniture)
• Much the worse for wear and low on slots; used last spell slot to make a web as a a hallway-block for its 8-hour duration.  Rested undisturbed, slots and HP regained.
• Room with odd pointing idol; pointed at Lief.  Purpose still unknown.
• Mirror room with Caryatid Columns.  Used Bjorn as a scout on a rope; enveloped the columns at the stairs and destroyed them after he woke them up.  Bjorn sustained significant HP loss, was healed.
• Finally the tomb; divination proved correct (this is why you shell out for an extra goat).  Odd runes, force-wall + water filling trap.  Used scroll of magic warding to punch a hole in the force wall, drained water, gained access to sarcophagus.  Determined via Sensing Evil and Sensing Power that contents were both magic and evil; carried via floating disk rather than risking touch.
• Returned to ship uneventfully; captain none too comfortable with cargo, returned to Khallar post-haste.
• Arrived at Khallar uneventfully, visited sage / loremaster / high mage to get items identified.  Sentient evil vorpal sword, +3 plate and shield, potions of invisibility and speed, rod of cancellation, and some high-quality art objects.  Fenced the goods, then considered the magic.
• Experimental tests were done on the sword; Ignatius picked up some Eldest-like features (penalty to reaction rolls with humans ): after losing battle of wills.  Party decided it was too dangerous to keep.  Coated it in lead, gave to his Lordship as birthday gift, since it contains the spirit of his (dead) nemesis.
• Lief donned the Eldest armor, gradual transformation into Eldest (not unexpected, and now has undisputed claim to the +3 plate).  Pretty much ideal, since this lets him use his 16 Int and be a spellsword, basically.
• XP was gained; Ignatius levelled to 6th, Grumpy to 4th.  Passed morale grudgingly; would like his arm back.  Staff of Withering given to Dami (only non-lawful cleric in party; hence only possible user).

So overall, a fairly productive session.  Risky courses of action were taken, but mostly worked out acceptably well, and large amount of treasure and XP were had.