• Darvan the Nimble
• Voltendo
• Xrith'atiril
• Risten
• Lyo
• Elithra
• Mirella
• Lucien
• Yohan

Last time we set out from Starling, toward a pull felt by Voltendo. After some days, we found a rift about 80' down in the earth with a stone temple within. We descended into the fissure and found some holes in the structure that took damage from the collapsed earth. We obliterated a few Orcs and Ogres inside.

Thalen has left the party for now.

After the fight we found some coins and the following:

• Magic Short Sword.
• Potion Vial.

In the armory we found a chest with several items.

We have 5 Orc Prisoners and Xrith has questioned them further.

Twice now since they have broken in, they have seen as they capture these halls, twice now Orcs have seen this steed. They say it is made of steel, its hooves, head, made of black steel. On it rides a shadowy figure wreathed in flames. The Orcs says they have fled from him and it has slain one of them each time.

In the night, they hear the sounds of hoof steps coming from above. There are stairs going up to the north of this area.

We learn from the prisoners that this group of Orcs was lead here by a Shaman, who disappeared in the night two days ago. They came here for some great bounty in the temple but they are not so confident. The Orcs want to believe that their Leader the Shaman, shall return.

Down the corridor they have sent scouts that have not returned. The western door is empty and we have already gathered their profits from the coins in the chest. They have not traversed the other door.

Suddenly there is a great rumbling as things begin to shake. The ground feels as though it rises up and then stops suddenly. The Orcs have some fear and they break out into an argument about 3 or 4 times a day, even 8 times a day.

We kill 4 Orcs and leave one alive. Begrudingly he lets us prod him forward, he now has an AC 10 and move through the fallen compatriots and return to the intersection where we left.

We continue to the north west and go down a long hall. Eventually we find a 4 way intersection.

To the right are black stone steps rising up. We ask the Orc if he has been this way. He says that they have sent scouts this. The left corridor is a place of refuge.

This Orc is under duress yet speaks confidently.

We head up the stairs and the Orc begins climbing. We come to a wooden door. The Orc says something low, it is a Chaotic Evil version of crossing himself.

The door looks free of traps and we do not find any markings. The Orc opens the door and there is a change in the air as though we enter a cathedral. The Orc enters and is just standing there.

We enter through the door. The Orc leans his body against the door and we come into a large passageway, split by a channel like a 5' deep channel about 5' wide and completely dry. It bisects a 35' hallway with a wide open area. The ceiling is 25' tall. Lining the ceiling in intervals of 50' are little bulbs or orbs, like 6“ in diameter, like big pearls or smoky glass. They are stuck near the ceiling. There are two of them that are very far out of reach.

We can see the channel curves to the north and east. There is an imposing hallway or passageway, like Vivek in Morrowind. It also bends to the south and east. The air in here is pretty dry, no moisture in here and there is a smoky smell though it has been pierced by fresh air.

We are not surprised (5). On the other side of the channel and hanging from the ceiling is a gold candelabra. There are gems of sea blue and forest green.

Just as we noticed it, we feel a sudden disturbance. There is a whooshing sound in the air that seems to come from the south.

• Elithra waits for what comes.
• Yohan forms a front line.
• Xrith hides in the shadows with a sling.
• Darvan prepares his sling.
• Lucien goes into the stairway to protect the rear, 5' inside.
• Risten stays back.
• Lyo joins the front line.
• Mirella turns undead.
• Voltendo says “I Got This” and goes to the front, 1”

Our characters are alerted to the change in the air and we hasten to get into positions. Nothing has come around the corner by the time we get into position.

As Voltendo steps forward comes a flying creature of sickening orange color, with claws of a wyvern but made of disgusting orange slime stuff. Little clouds of matter move inside it and our Continual Light pierces through it causing orange light to show everywhere.

Darvan can shoot this round. Xrith is hiding in shadows but can shoot next round.

The creature has AC 4. Darvan misses. The sling bullet flies past it. Turn Undead fails on the creature. It is at a distance of 5“ from us. It can move 2.4” before we can shoot a spell. It flies laborously as it is overcome by its weight. The Gargoyle likes beast flies in and unleashes a torrent of slime liquid that sprays down on Voltendo. Lyo and Yohan.

They must save versus dragon breath, with +2 from Protection From Evil. If you fail, your gear might be melted and you take 8 damage. Yohan must save for Whirlrender, he saves! His backpack also saves as does his armor. All 3 warriors in front take an attack and Voltendo can attack, AC 4. Voltendo does 13 damage as his weapon tears through the creature. His weapon is undamaged by the acid. The acid does not actually melt gear! This does a significant wound to the creature and it rolls twice, as though made of some gel.

Yohan did 11 damage, nice hit but it still lives! The creature still fights on.

• Xrith charges
• Darvan moves silently
• Lucien charges
• Risten stays back
• Lyo attacks
• Mirella moves to engage
• Elithra keeps an eye on the Orc
• Yohan attacks.

Xrith and Yohan attack the creature and kill it! The creature gets two claw attacks against Voltendo, who has AC 1. He takes two hits! The claws do 2 and 2 damage before it dies. The creature loses its composition as does a Jelly or Ooze.

Xrith and Lucien check the channel for signs of what may have passed through the channel. There is a sign of a water line in the channel. Voltendo heals himself for 8 hp.

Voltendo and Elithra look around the corners and they can see the channel continues on both ways, past the light. The gray orbs are present in these hallways. The Candelabra looks more ornate than heavy, kind of dainty and small. Maybe weighs 400 coins.

The walls are dungeon walls so they are fairly rough. Xrith climbs up the wall to get to the candelabra. It is 7' lower and he can lower it down with a rope. It weighs 300 coins and Yohan puts it into the Bag of Holding.

• Gold Candelabra with gems (300 coins)

Xrith becomes aware of a cacophony of chittering, many small creatures like the sound of waves coming from the north…insectoid.

• Xrith descends down on the rope to Risten.
• Risten helps catch him.
• Darvan draws a dagger.
• Lucien draws a dagger.
• Lyo braces for attack.
• Mirella steps back 1“.
• Voltendo takes the Orc and throw him to the north.
• Yohan moves up with with Voltendo and Elithra and prepare to receive a charge.
• Elithra, up front.

We got a 6 on initiative. We are not surprised.

The source of the chittering reveals itself, but 18' below him are 31 Giant Centipedes. They appear on segment 3 moving at 3” per segment.

They cannot fly, Xrith on the wall is the most appealing meal. He is overtaken by a cloud of Centipedes.

He can only be attacked by 6 of them. He cannot counter attack. Xrith can try to Save Versus Paralysis at +2, he saves! He is able to leap down using the rope. The Centipedes are on the ground and can move 30“ in a whole round. That gets him off the wall, but they can still attack Xrith. 50% are on the other side of the channel. 12 of them are coming across the channel. He can get one attack.

12 of the Giant Centipedes are coming across the way. Darvan can shoot against AC 10. Xrith does 4 damage to one which kills it.

Xrith is on his feet defending himself. He has 8 attacks coming from him. He has an AC 2/3.

They need a 17 to hit him. 1 hit in front and 1 hit in rear. Xrith is overcome by Poison…Actually no, he is not due to experience as a Fighter. Those on the other side are attacked by 12 Giant Centipedes.

Darvan hit and killed one. Voltendo auto hits 6 of them. Voltendo kills 4 of them. We hack to the rest to pieces except for 18 on Xrith. They kill another Centipede.

The door on the stairs is closing. You can jump the channel on a light load. Darvan has a light load but is only 3' tall.

• Mirella moves to engage.
• Voltendo charges.
• Elithra moves to engage.
• Yohan jumps and charges.
• Xrith is a Fighter so does sweep attacks.
• Darvan jumps to the other side.
• Lucien leaps and moves to engage.

The Giant Centepedes are relentless. He will be hit on a 14. 2 hits and 1 hit on the back causes 3 damage and he fails his Saving Throw versus Poison.

Voltendo kills 4, Yohan kills 6.

XRITH IS DEAD FROM POISON!

Darvan climbs out of the channel. The Centipedes will attack. 4 Centipede Attacks. Darvan, Lucien, Lyo, Mirella.

Yohan is hit for 1 damage and saves versus poison.

Darvan climbs out of the pit, Voltendo kills 4 and Yohan kills 6. Xrith is succumbed to the poison.

Xrith is dead and they discuss putting him into the Bag of Holding to get him back to town.

They know that Great Hill's Witch Doctors have healing abilities. They need Neutralize Poison and Raise Dead. They know that Tribal Spellcasters cannot cast Raise Dead.

Before leaving they go to the Armory to pick up treasure, which is 800 coins. They will spread this out among the horses.

Voltendo sold his Hippogriff but can drive himself back to the Forgotten Master on Xrith's Hippogriff.

A Hippogriff can fly up to 14 Hexes per day. Raise Dead is minimum of 9 Days from the time of the character's death.

It is 2/3rds of the day remaining with daylight. They talk about camping as a group on the first day. They move south west into the hills hex.

They travel back into the hills from whence we came. The weather was cloudy. In the morning it is still cloudy. It is now the 15th and they are continuing their way back to Great Hill.

Since Xrith used his FIGHTER saves, he is not eligible for any XP for these past two sessions.

They take some of the Standard Rations from Voltendo and he flies off to the Forgotten Master's Tower.

Hexes will be revealed during down time, for what he flew over.

The ground party is one southwest of the dungeon. Mirella has one Cure Light Wounds and heals for 2 damage.

The Weather is Cloudy and travel is uneventful. They make it to one hex south east of Ape Fang Maw.

A light rain comes down in the evening and the next morning it clears up. They continue on their way and travel is uneventful.

Voltendo arrived at the Forgotten Master's Tower and there is a Cleric here. We have good standing with Lord Thompson, the Cleric will Raise Dead on Xrith for 6,500 including Neutralize Poison.

Xrith is RAISED, he is on one day of bed rest.

Voltendo travels south to go to Starling to get rations and then they will head back up north.

We travel north.

We come across a herd of Horses.

As we come into a pond. Xrith flies his Hippogriff into the herd and takes down a Horse. He does not need to eat for 1 day.

Elir only has 40 souls. The leader is determined by who can touch the Castle Elir beast and survive. They have a common house where we can camp inside.

They say the forces of Castle Wayd have lightened their patrols and the direction has been more to the south. There is some militaristic action going on. The people in the Thorpe dont seem to know that there is a big scale fight in the Valley right now. He is active and not in this area.

The night goes by without incident inside of Elir.

We make it to Relomo in one day. The weather is clear in the morning. We set out for Great Hill and arrive without incident. This takes us 5/8ths of our day.

We are rejoined with the party.

It is the morning and the weather is clear. We head out the same way we went back. Voltendo has a horse so we now have 8 hex movement points.

Fothas will teach the Giant Killing songs of his people and Xrith studies these attentively.

In the night, during watch 2, we are in the hills.

Xrith and Lyo are on watch 2, a mile away to the south west are a few fires burning, they are bigger than our campfire. There are several of them and they are spread out. Looks like a camp of over 100 people. No movement comes from that direction.

We ignore it for now after putting out our campfire.

There is a camp of about 150 people over a mile away from us. We will avoid them and continue on our way. Several of us can see colors on banners. They are the colors of the Silk Caravan.

They do not approach on our position and we avoid them.

We are one hex south west of the dungeon. We set up camp.

During watch 2, we are 5 miles south west of our target. It is the middle of the night in the hill lands…

We see nothing and know nothing, even with infravision.

The weather is clear and there is no encounter on the way there. We have arrived at the south of the fissure. No foes on the surface and no difference, the fire still rages as ever before. There are some streaks of blue as though from a continuous fire pit. There are some faint trails of mist from the west as before.

We feel as though the Stone Ruins have raised up about 10'. Some of the rocks and stones have shifted as though it has moved a little bit. The one big column of earth has not shifted. We can tell its just up around 10' so now 30' down to the firey entrance and now 70' down to the bottom where the mist is coming out.

We descend down the landslide and into the hallway.

Fothas has joined us and Mirella is now in Great Hill. He has -3 AC.

Lyo is replaced from being on Doors.

We head back to the way we came, down the hallway and up the stairs. We are now at the foot of the Giant Centipede and Slime battle. There is staining where the draconic beast fell and the vast majority of Giant Centipedes are gone. It looks different than when we were here last. We stay on the outside of the trench as we move along.

The yawning corridor continues east. The channel continues as well at about 5' wide. The southern wall has collapsed, there is a big pile of chunks on the wall.

Fothas checks the collapsed wall to see if it is stable and he estimates that we are 50-60' deep. To him the collapse looks stable. The rock in the earth came around this building so the surrounding earth is keeping it from collapsing.

As we continue more, the ground shifts and lurches up again until it stops. The corridor continues beyond the door entrance in the center. The collapse continues until it goes into the area of the channel. There is a bridge crossing the channel here.

We also see a matching chandelier on the wall. The ceiling is 25' up and the chandelier is 5' from the wall.

We are not surprised (5).

Fothas pokes the bridge first and it seems stable. We get about 20' after crossing the bridge and see that the channel is totally full from the collapsed wall. We hear the same insectoid chittering.

• Voltendo goes up front
• Yohan goes up and braces
• Elithra looks behind us.
• Xrith goes in the back up against the wall and hides in shadows.
• Fothas braces for a charge.
• Lucien steps back.
• Darvan produces a flask of oil.

The noise continues forward slowly and we can see 3 Giant Centipede heads from the collapse up ahead. They do not come out from the collapse. Darvan is out of range, he could throw it on the ground but waits for them to come out…He blows out the wick.

The Centipedes are not interested in emerging.

• Fothas and Yohan move to engage.
• Voltendo moves up.
• Elithra guards the rear.
• Darvan moves up a few feet.
• Risten stays back.
• Lyo moves to engage.

As we approach, we see the antennas of the Centipedes become agitated. When they get 20' away, many of them pour out of the rocks. They are not charging.

The collapse stops near the turn up ahead. Out from the rocks come 37 Giant Centipedes that engage them in melee.

• Darvan will light his oil as they may come out of the rubble. He does so.
• Lucien backpeddles.
• Risten stays back but casts Sleep.
• Lyo moves to engage.
• Fothas attacks.
• Voltendo attacks.
• Elithra guards the rear
• Xrith fires his sling.

We have lost initiative by 2 segments. Half have come out and engaged. That is 19 Centipedes against those who are engaged. Voltendo, Yohan, Fothas and Lucien (who is invisible and safe). Lyo is also in melee.

Voltendo is attacked by 6, they hit on an 18, no hits. Three attacks on Yohan, no hits. Lyo is attacked by 4 of them and takes 2 hits, 2 damage and 2 saves versus poison. Fothas is attacked by 6. Lyo has succumbed to poison and is DOWN! It is a hit on Yohan, he takes 1 damage and DIES!

Two more characters are killed! On segment 6, we can fire. Xrith misses with his sling and they take splash damage of 1-3. 3 of the Giant Centipedes are killed. All the rest take 1 damage.

Fothas autokills 7 Centipedes. Voltendo kills 4 of them, 11 dead.

Yohan tries to use his divine intervention but failed his save versus death. Lyo also tries to save versus death but also fails.

14 total are dead. 23 Giant Centipedes are left alive.

Darvan was able to block the way with his fire flask. Actually, due to Josh's arguments, they are in melee so the fire would not block it. NVM, he has blocked off the Centipedes. They are warded away by the flames. There are 8 Centipedes to deal with. 9 of the Centipedes are asleep.

Fothas pursues and tells everyone to stay back. Fothas makes sweep attacks and kills all but 7 of them.

6 Centipedes all attack him and miss! The remaining Centipedes try to retreat into their holes…NVM, they cannot.

The Centipedes attack and is hit by 1, 1 damage and save versus poison. He SAVES BARELY!

Fothas sweeps 7 of them and they are all dead.

We search for traps on the door, Darvan and Xrith do not find any traps. Voltendo opens the door.

The door opens. After 20' the hallway comes to an open area with a 12' tall statue of a warrior with the silhouette of a hunchback. He has on his back on his huge bulk, a vast cloak with the appearance of a bunker on the beach of Normandy. It is an imposing cloak that is a mix of armor and cloth, shielding his form. His armor reminds us of the shock troopers of High Dell. Huge red armor that they wear. The rest of his clothing and rings and general dress is from a different age. He has 4 blades that are full sized but due to his bulk, they easily fit on his side. The craftsmanship of the statue is extremely detailed in the fabric, like a depiction that almost makes the contstruction form a shadow on the form beneath, like a dark aura behind the figure. There is a plaque:

“High Lord Commander Nissus the Bloodfather, Chaos's General, Death's Red Hand”

I believe that name is associated with the Green Lance…

There are two doors flanking the statue and a door further down at the end of a passage.

We take a moment to rest. There is a Stone Door on the south west, but the other three are wood. Two passageways also go left and right. The statue is facing to the west.

Xrith begins searching for traps on the statue. We find no traps.

Voltendo feels a thrilling aether as though he is atop his steed.

We try to open the stone door but it is locked and we both fail to pick the lock.

Voltendo searches for a key and secret things. We find nothing after 10 minutes. Elithra searches the statue but beyond the south east door is a room with a silver stool and a table with a cutout for the stool. The table has many objects but the walls are solid black, painted with a dark color. Many objects sparkle on the circular table.

• Spyglass made of brass.
• Gemstone studded sticks

We are surprised on a 2.

There are 3 Ochre Jellies that fall on us. Voltendo and Fothas are targeted and all 3 fall on Voltendo who has AC 3/3. Two of them hit Voltendo and begins dissolving his flesh.

First deals 8 damage and 7 for a total of 15 damage.

• Xrith moves to engage.
• Darvan charges in.
• Lucien attacks.
• Risten casts Magic Missile.
• Fothas attacks.
• Voltendo lays hands on himself to heal.
• Elithra charges in.

We win initiative. Fothas hits for 9, Darvan does 2 damage with his dagger. Magic Missile goes off and does 15 damage, blasting into one, damaging it severely. All 3 are still alive and attacking. Lucien is attacked twice and Fothas. Lucien has a -1 AC, he is hit for 5 damage and it dissipates his Phantom Armor and takes 2 damage. Fothas takes 10 damage from the Jelly.

Fothas autohits for 10 damage. Still, all 3 are alive.

• Lucien attacks
• Risten casts Magic Missile
• Fothas attacks
• Voltendo attacks
• Elithra attacks
• Xrith attacks
• Darvan attacks

They target Fothas, Xrith and Darvan. Fothas is missed, Xrith is missed but Darvan is hit for 10 damage! The Phantom Armor absorbs 3 and he is at 7/8.

Darvan's Magic Missile blasts one for 16 damage, Lucien does 1 damage, Fothas does 10 damage.

• No spells and we all melee attack.

Fothas kills one for 11 damage, Darvan hits for 2 damage. Voltendo hits for 12 damage, killing the last one!

We take the spyglass and the gem studded sticks, there are some loose pieces of parchments and old ink. There are also 12 boxes about 4” tall.

Xrith searches for traps on the boxes and table. Risten searches around too. No traps found on the boxes. They have 3 different colors.

• 23 boxes of matte gray, forest green and pale violet boxes with decorative swirls.

Not surprised (4). Elithra notices a long pointed skinny leg being opened by an arachnid leg.

• Elithra pushes the door closed.
• Xrith cuts off the leg.
• Darvan cuts the leg.
• Lucien casts Spook.
• Risten stands back.
• Fothas braces for a charge.
• Voltendo pushes the door.

Voltendo slams the door closed as a big Spider leg falls down in the room. We are left the room with two Paladins holding the door.

Spook is canceled. Xrith flanks the door and hides in the shadows.

We get into position and nothing comes.

The stool is not attached to anything.

• Silver stool

Voltendo calls out to his horse and feels a psychic feeling of disturbance. He sees a great white horse within unimaginable anguish and sees a red armored warrior. He feels a pang as though the Eye of Sauron is upon him. Something knows where he is too. This is a vision…

We leave the room and try to sense a direction. We leave the chamber and…

We are not surprised (4). They immediately see movement down the corridor to the right.

At the end of the hallway is the rider wreathed in flame.

• Voltendo receives a charge.
• Fothas receives a charge.
• Xrith tries to move silently to flank it.
• Darvan tries to hide in shadows.
• Lucien gets in second range.
• Risten casts Lightning Bolt.
• Elithra fires an arrow id 240 at the HORSE.

We win initiative.

Voltendo and Fothas break through the door and everyone gets prepared. Lucien and Elithra take their shots from 5“ away. They need to hit AC -2/1. Elithra gets a +3 to hit and damage. The arrow misses and goes wide.

We can see that he has a great morningstar and a gold ring on a finger, earrings of jade dangle from his ears. He charges forward now. Upon his mechanical steed he moves 3” a segment. He is in melee before anyone can shoot.

He is wielding a morning star that is 5' in length.

AC -1/1 for the Rider, the Horse is 2/1. A spear gets -2 against type 1 and Voltendo's spear hits, id 245 for 18 damage since he was braced. This was against the rider.

The rider attacks Voltendo. Voltendo has Protection From Evil and he has AC 1/3, which is effectively a 4 versus a morning star. Voltendo is struck and slammed for 11 damage. The enemy rider swings clawed mail fists at Voltendo, twice. The two fists deal 2 damage and Voltendo goes down. He is struck down!

Voltendo goes DOWN!

Fothas attacks the horse for 12 damage, a spear id 244. He runs through a weak spot, into a plate. There is a huge burst of electricity. The horse crumples from the leg and collapses under the rider. He must save versus death to avoid being knocked prone. He succeeds and lands while the steed crashes!

Risten lets the spell cancel.

• Xrith tries to backstab.
• Darvan tries to backstab.
• Lucien charges.
• Risten does nothing.
• Fothas stabs the rider.
• Voltendo is down.
• Elithra charges.

The fight continues, even as we are doing so, the door is slowly opening. The rider swings his morningstar as everything goes black. We are shrouded in darkness which was called by the Warrior. There is an orb of blackness as some tiny white wide eyed things that emerged. They attack Fothas, AC 0, and will be hit on a 10. Fothas dodges the morningstar, but not the claws. He takes 6 damage.

There is a distinctive cackling sound from those creatures. Xrith misses completely.

Darvan misses but Fothas does 8 damage. Everyone else misses.

We can all hear the chittering from the creatures and others missed.

• Lucien tries to disengage.
• Risten stays back.
• Fothas falls back.
• Voltendo has not taken a divine intervention but he is on a holy quest. He makes the Death Save. The Divine Intervention fails!
• Elithra tries to make a divine intervention and has a 35% chance to make it, SHE DOES!

There are powerful cosmic forces at play during this divine intervention. Elithra rolls a d10, on a 1-2, Chaos and Evil triumphs but the Forces of Law and Good are supreme! A blinding flash of light fills the area except for the statue. A great white cross appears in the center of the air where there are beams of white light down the hallway. It blasts through the dark orb as a terrible howling sound as a rending of flesh and screams. Then everything is silent. There is lingering motes of dust. The entire party is laying around the foot of the statue. On the ground is the mechanical steed. In the rear of the hollow is the headless form of the red armored warrior, his helmet laying on his side, only scraps of metal remain. Any injuries during this fight is totally healed. Yohan is still dead.

At the end of the hall, we find that the warriors head is completely missing sticking out of his neckpiece is a pseudo human neck with black blood. The organs twitch and quiver. The blast did not destroy the jade earrings.

• Jade earrings
• Heavy Crossbow with bolts
• Gold Ring
• Golden armguard with gems
• Key chain with two keys (id 21 and id 75).
• Gauntlets
• Morningstar
• Shortsword
• Red Field Plate (without helmet)

The gauntlets are part of his red armor, they have spikes on them but the amount of force was clearly inhuman. The gauntlets are dangerous looking. We check if the key matches the door. The armor is Field Plate. Neither key fits the door at the end of the door.

We open the door at the end of the hall but the keys did not match. Beyond the door is a chamber dominated by an altar of Grack, black marble and crimson. There is a demonic woman with 6 arms and stretched between each arm is the muscle and tendon of an Orc, like a human fleshy canvas. There is an eyeball dangling from a piece of meat and maybe part of a feathered hat. On the altar, is a raised section like a pillow on the bed. There are 16 silver sconces that burn. There is a door to the south west.

Fothas will defecate on the altar.

Yohan and Lyo are both inside the bag.