Sunday, June 07, 2009
Tattoos
These are the symbols that are tattooed in the PCs' necks. They have a strong magical aura of the divination school.
Session 2 - Escape
Date: Mo 1-6-2009 Players: Thijs (Dyggvi), Mark (Haldrin), Roy (Danion), Djarvi (Fasmund), Ties (Jan-Laucian; came in late). Cor watched and provided comic relief ;)
The group decide to ignore the scratching sound behind the door, but as they turn left they hear a man shouting: "No, I'm trying to help you! DON'T...!"
Suddenly the door bursts open and a man in a poorly fitting chain shirt comes crashing through it, landing heavily against the wall. A grey-skinned creature like the dead ones they saw earlier leaps after him and jumps on top of him. It starts to claw at the man's chest in rage. The man screams in terror.
The PCs try to help the man and attack the monster. Then Haldrin and Dyggvi recognise it. It's Seárne léi Moige from Cen Heddan, one of the members of Dyggvi's search party. She seems to have mutated into the hideous thing in front of them.
Dyggvi tries to talk to her and get her to recognise them. He even goes as far as trying to grab her and pull her off Fasmund. Eventually she does let go and seems to recognise Haldrin and Dyggvi. For a while, she just stands still and stares at them. Fasmund however, is too enraged to notice any of this and delivers a killing blow, severing one of her arms at the shoulder. Seárne let's out a dreadful moan and collapses.
Next, the PCs question the man, whom they recognise, also. He readily admits that they indeed know him, because he's one of the people working in the laboratory. He claims that he is a healer and his tasks were to treat the test subjects' wounds after the two researchers were done. He says he doesn't have anything to do with the experiments and doesn't even know what they're for.
When asked where they are, he tells the PCs that they're in Sargaen's lab. Danion recognizes that name: a little-known hero from the last war was called Sargaen. The other man's name, he does not know (most people referred to him as "the Tall Man") but he suggests that Sargaen might know his real name.
He also informs the PCs that the entrance is on a lower level of the lab, but he has heard rumours that it collapsed in an explosion a few hours back. He hasn't been down there on his own to verify that, though. The group ask him if there is another way out of the complex. He thinks there is. Both Sargaen and the Tall Man seemed to him to come and go as they pleased, which means there may be a 'secret' doorway, somewhere. A good guess might be their private chambers. The PCs ask him which is nearer: the normal exit or Sargaen's private quarters. He says the latter are quite nearby . The PCs tell him to lead them there. He gladly obeys, finally having found a means of escape.
The group follow the corridor in the direction they started in. The healer leads them to the last door on the right. When he sees that it's open, he says to the others: "This door is usually kept closed. It's considered off-limits. I've only been through here once, myself."
Haldrin warns everyone to be careful.
A short passage leads towards a large brick-walled tunnel that looks like an unused sewer. It's dry, but a faint smell of faeces and decay reaches them nonetheless. A walkway on the right side leads off into the darkness. The party follow it once one of the spellcasters ( who, exactly? -B ) has made some light.
Since they are probably underneath a city (you don't get a lot of sewers in no man's land) someone asks the healer where they are.
"We're somewhere underneath the city of Ivorell," he replies.
"You couldn't have mentioned that when we asked you that same question earlier, could you!?" says Danion.
At length, they reach the remains of a wooden bridge across the tunnel to a door on the other side. The healer says that Sargaen's and the Tall Man's quarters lie beyond that door. He has never been inside.
The PCs scramble to the other side and enter.
Inside, there's a narrow passage. A sharp left turn 20 feet further blocks the view. There's a wooden door on the right halfway down, which reveals a latrine when the PCs open it. After the corner, the hallway suddenly widens and ends in a large pair of sturdy, wooden doors. They are open though, and the group enter the room behind them. It looks like some sort of waiting room. There are comfortable wooden chairs on the far side, beautiful carpets cover the ground and tapestries adorn the walls. On the right and left are two exquisitely carved wooden doors.
When they listen at the door to their left, they can hear a lot of noise and people talking. It's muted however and they can't really tell what's being said. It doesn't sound as if the noise is coming from somewhere nearby, so they open the door slightly. They can now hear more clearly. There are a number of people. One of them is giving orders. He speaks common, but has a distinct goblin accent. It becomes clear that they are looking for something and turning the place inside out but haven't found anything yet.
The group want to go in, but when Haldrin, either scouting or rushing ahead, reports that there are stairs going down, they decide to check the other room first. They way out is up, not down.
They listen at the other door and hear nothing, so they open it. Behind the door is a round chamber, a sitting room with some nice furniture in it. Beyond the furniture, the room is quite empty, however. It appears to have been cleaned out not too long ago. An opening on the far side of the room leads to a second round chamber. Before they go in to investigate, Danion and Fasmund barricade the door to the waiting room with some furniture.
In the middle of the second room is a round basin filled with water, almost as large as the room itself. Behind it is some rubble.
Jan-Laucian casts detect magic and sees that the water has a faint magical aura. He can't determine any specific spell or effect, but it looks like a combination of abjuration and transmutation. He wants to take some of the water with him so he can examine it better once they are outside, but hasn't got anything to keep it in.
They search the rubble behind the basin. Most of it is old wood and some rags, but they also find two wooden chests underneath it. They are locked, but Jan-Laucian's acidic spittle dissolves the wood well enough to open them. One chest contains some jewelry (golden rings belonging to Danion and Dyggvi's signet ring). Dyggvi's spellbook is also among the contents, as is a purse full of gold pieces. In the other chest they find a second pouch, which contains a number of gems.
A search of the rooms doesn't reveal any hidden exits, so the group decide to try the first room again.
They descend the stairs and see an open door. It leads to a living room. It´s completely messed up: tables are overturned, books are ripped to pieces and scattered about, paintings and tapestries are torn from the walls. They can still hear people making a mess, but they are not in another room.
Haldrin sneaks into the room and looks around the corner. There's a second room, a bedroom. It's equally messy. Haldrin goes on and finds a study. That's where all the noise is coming from. There are five people there. The one giving the orders is a hobgoblin spellcaster. He's standing behind a desk, riffling through a stack of papers. There's also a halfling, and three humans. One of the humans is clearly another spellcaster, the others are clearly not, given their armour and weapons. They are so engrossed in their task that they fail to notice Haldrin.
Haldrin returns to the others and starts signalling what he's found to the others and suggest they rush in and take them by surprise. Only Fasmund seems to understand what he means and agrees that striking fast is probably a good idea.
The PCs find many of weapons and armour, most of them of excellent quality. In the hobgoblin's spellbook, they find a note with instructions:
--end of session 2--
The group decide to ignore the scratching sound behind the door, but as they turn left they hear a man shouting: "No, I'm trying to help you! DON'T...!"
Suddenly the door bursts open and a man in a poorly fitting chain shirt comes crashing through it, landing heavily against the wall. A grey-skinned creature like the dead ones they saw earlier leaps after him and jumps on top of him. It starts to claw at the man's chest in rage. The man screams in terror.
The PCs try to help the man and attack the monster. Then Haldrin and Dyggvi recognise it. It's Seárne léi Moige from Cen Heddan, one of the members of Dyggvi's search party. She seems to have mutated into the hideous thing in front of them.
Dyggvi tries to talk to her and get her to recognise them. He even goes as far as trying to grab her and pull her off Fasmund. Eventually she does let go and seems to recognise Haldrin and Dyggvi. For a while, she just stands still and stares at them. Fasmund however, is too enraged to notice any of this and delivers a killing blow, severing one of her arms at the shoulder. Seárne let's out a dreadful moan and collapses.
This was the first of waaaaay too many critical hits.Haldrin examines her to see if she can still be saved, but it's too late. While he's busy, he notices that she also has a tattoo in her neck, but doesn't take the time to look more closely.
-B
Next, the PCs question the man, whom they recognise, also. He readily admits that they indeed know him, because he's one of the people working in the laboratory. He claims that he is a healer and his tasks were to treat the test subjects' wounds after the two researchers were done. He says he doesn't have anything to do with the experiments and doesn't even know what they're for.
When asked where they are, he tells the PCs that they're in Sargaen's lab. Danion recognizes that name: a little-known hero from the last war was called Sargaen. The other man's name, he does not know (most people referred to him as "the Tall Man") but he suggests that Sargaen might know his real name.
He also informs the PCs that the entrance is on a lower level of the lab, but he has heard rumours that it collapsed in an explosion a few hours back. He hasn't been down there on his own to verify that, though. The group ask him if there is another way out of the complex. He thinks there is. Both Sargaen and the Tall Man seemed to him to come and go as they pleased, which means there may be a 'secret' doorway, somewhere. A good guess might be their private chambers. The PCs ask him which is nearer: the normal exit or Sargaen's private quarters. He says the latter are quite nearby . The PCs tell him to lead them there. He gladly obeys, finally having found a means of escape.
The group follow the corridor in the direction they started in. The healer leads them to the last door on the right. When he sees that it's open, he says to the others: "This door is usually kept closed. It's considered off-limits. I've only been through here once, myself."
Haldrin warns everyone to be careful.
A short passage leads towards a large brick-walled tunnel that looks like an unused sewer. It's dry, but a faint smell of faeces and decay reaches them nonetheless. A walkway on the right side leads off into the darkness. The party follow it once one of the spellcasters ( who, exactly? -B ) has made some light.
Since they are probably underneath a city (you don't get a lot of sewers in no man's land) someone asks the healer where they are.
"We're somewhere underneath the city of Ivorell," he replies.
"You couldn't have mentioned that when we asked you that same question earlier, could you!?" says Danion.
At length, they reach the remains of a wooden bridge across the tunnel to a door on the other side. The healer says that Sargaen's and the Tall Man's quarters lie beyond that door. He has never been inside.
The PCs scramble to the other side and enter.
Inside, there's a narrow passage. A sharp left turn 20 feet further blocks the view. There's a wooden door on the right halfway down, which reveals a latrine when the PCs open it. After the corner, the hallway suddenly widens and ends in a large pair of sturdy, wooden doors. They are open though, and the group enter the room behind them. It looks like some sort of waiting room. There are comfortable wooden chairs on the far side, beautiful carpets cover the ground and tapestries adorn the walls. On the right and left are two exquisitely carved wooden doors.
When they listen at the door to their left, they can hear a lot of noise and people talking. It's muted however and they can't really tell what's being said. It doesn't sound as if the noise is coming from somewhere nearby, so they open the door slightly. They can now hear more clearly. There are a number of people. One of them is giving orders. He speaks common, but has a distinct goblin accent. It becomes clear that they are looking for something and turning the place inside out but haven't found anything yet.
The group want to go in, but when Haldrin, either scouting or rushing ahead, reports that there are stairs going down, they decide to check the other room first. They way out is up, not down.
They listen at the other door and hear nothing, so they open it. Behind the door is a round chamber, a sitting room with some nice furniture in it. Beyond the furniture, the room is quite empty, however. It appears to have been cleaned out not too long ago. An opening on the far side of the room leads to a second round chamber. Before they go in to investigate, Danion and Fasmund barricade the door to the waiting room with some furniture.
In the middle of the second room is a round basin filled with water, almost as large as the room itself. Behind it is some rubble.
Jan-Laucian casts detect magic and sees that the water has a faint magical aura. He can't determine any specific spell or effect, but it looks like a combination of abjuration and transmutation. He wants to take some of the water with him so he can examine it better once they are outside, but hasn't got anything to keep it in.
They search the rubble behind the basin. Most of it is old wood and some rags, but they also find two wooden chests underneath it. They are locked, but Jan-Laucian's acidic spittle dissolves the wood well enough to open them. One chest contains some jewelry (golden rings belonging to Danion and Dyggvi's signet ring). Dyggvi's spellbook is also among the contents, as is a purse full of gold pieces. In the other chest they find a second pouch, which contains a number of gems.
A search of the rooms doesn't reveal any hidden exits, so the group decide to try the first room again.
They descend the stairs and see an open door. It leads to a living room. It´s completely messed up: tables are overturned, books are ripped to pieces and scattered about, paintings and tapestries are torn from the walls. They can still hear people making a mess, but they are not in another room.
Haldrin sneaks into the room and looks around the corner. There's a second room, a bedroom. It's equally messy. Haldrin goes on and finds a study. That's where all the noise is coming from. There are five people there. The one giving the orders is a hobgoblin spellcaster. He's standing behind a desk, riffling through a stack of papers. There's also a halfling, and three humans. One of the humans is clearly another spellcaster, the others are clearly not, given their armour and weapons. They are so engrossed in their task that they fail to notice Haldrin.
Haldrin returns to the others and starts signalling what he's found to the others and suggest they rush in and take them by surprise. Only Fasmund seems to understand what he means and agrees that striking fast is probably a good idea.
The others didn't seem to notice what was happening at the table. Roy (Danion) is kind of surprised when our head-first friends Fasmund and Haldrin charge headlong into the room. "Shouldn't we discuss this first!?"The group quickly discuss tactics and attack. The enemies are caught completely off-guard. Jan-Laucian casts enlarge person on Fasmund, who wades right into the middle of the room and decapitates the hobgoblin in one blow. Then the others follow.
Anyways, I ask for initiative rolls and everyone still gets a chance to prepare a bit. The PCs at any rate, were more aware of the situation than the NPCs in the next room, so it seemed fair to give everyone a surprise attack, not just Haldrin and Fasmund.
-B.
It's too much work to write every part of this battle down, even if I could remember all of it. Suffice to say that the players unleashed carnage on an massive scale rolling a unsettlingly huge number of crits, and won the day.When the slaughterfest is over, the PCs start looking for the exit. There doesn't appear to be any obvious way out, so Haldrin decides to search the place more thoroughly. It isn't long before he finds some odd stonework in the study. He notices a strange discolouration in the wall behind a beautiful painting of a dark-haired elven woman. Tapping the spot reveals that there is a hollow space behind it. Haldrin can't find any way of opening it, so he starts to break his way through it with his axe. After a while a small niche becomes visible. Inside it is a metal lever. Haldrin reaches inside, but Danion stops him and suggests they loot the bodies first and get ready to leave in a hurry, just in case the lever doesn't do what they're hoping for.
Dyggvi proved to be quite the slayer, even if he managed to fascinate himself along with two oppontents with one of his spells.
-B.
The PCs find many of weapons and armour, most of them of excellent quality. In the hobgoblin's spellbook, they find a note with instructions:
Hakon,They also take with them the painting that covered the niche in the wall. It's very beautiful and worth quite a bit of money. A caption beneath the portrait tells the woman's name: Mirenn.
your orders are as follows:
1) to recover Sargaen's research data and bring them to me, 2) to destroy the equipment in the operating room, 3) to eliminate all test subjects.
--end of session 2--
The Tall Man
The Tall Man, for lack of a better name, looks like an abnormally tall and gaunt human. His most striking characteristic is his speech: he has a coarse and high-pitched voice and his decidedly awkward intonation.
He was Sargaen's aide in the laboratory. He's also responsible for kidnapping the PCs and imprisoning them.
He was Sargaen's aide in the laboratory. He's also responsible for kidnapping the PCs and imprisoning them.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Sargaen
Race: Elf
Class: unknown
Appearance
Handsome, blond, blue eyes.
Sargaen is the leader and head researcher of the laboratory the PCs were imprisoned in. His right-hand man is called the Tall Man.
Danion recalls that Sargaen is also the name of a little-known elven hero from the last war.
Class: unknown
Appearance
Handsome, blond, blue eyes.
Sargaen is the leader and head researcher of the laboratory the PCs were imprisoned in. His right-hand man is called the Tall Man.
Danion recalls that Sargaen is also the name of a little-known elven hero from the last war.
The healer
Name: unknown
Race: Human
Class: cleric of Nóm, god of knowledge
He's a short, somewhat chubby man, with short dark hair and a short black beard. He seems a bit nervous and is clearly not used to combat.
He used to be in the service of Sargaen before his laboratory was attacked by hobgoblin mercenaries and the PCs escaped their cells. His job was to heal any wounded test subjects. He claims he's had nothing to do with the actual experiment, and that he doesn't even know what they were for in the first place. A detect evil spell by Haldrin at least showed he isn't truly evil. Being unable to leave by his own means, he agreed to help the PCs find a way out of Sargaen's lab, hoping they won't kill him for being involved with their captor.
Race: Human
Class: cleric of Nóm, god of knowledge
He's a short, somewhat chubby man, with short dark hair and a short black beard. He seems a bit nervous and is clearly not used to combat.
He used to be in the service of Sargaen before his laboratory was attacked by hobgoblin mercenaries and the PCs escaped their cells. His job was to heal any wounded test subjects. He claims he's had nothing to do with the actual experiment, and that he doesn't even know what they were for in the first place. A detect evil spell by Haldrin at least showed he isn't truly evil. Being unable to leave by his own means, he agreed to help the PCs find a way out of Sargaen's lab, hoping they won't kill him for being involved with their captor.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Session 1 - Escape
Date: Mo 11-5-2009
Players: Thijs (Dyggvi), Ties (Jan-Laucian), Mark (Haldrin), Roy (Danion), Djarvi (Fasmund)
Preceding the events of the first session, our 'heroes' (this remains to be seen, of course) have all been tricked or ambushed and taken captive by an strange, tall man. This man first lured Dyggvi to a stone circle on top of a hill in Duarloch forest, then ambushed at that same hill a search party from Cen Heddan, consisting of Jan-Laucian Magros, Haldrin Halhirsson, Seárne léi Moige, Hama Storwegen and Llud Wynn, that came looking for Dyggvi. Fasmund was drugged and sold to "the Tall Man" by his brother when the former visited the city of Feórlund in search of his parents. Danion met the Tall Man in Maryeddon, and was also taken.
When the PCs come to, they each find themselves in a small cell. Every day or so (this is hard to know for certain, due to the complete lack of sunlight) the guards take them out of their cells and strap them to an operating table. They are then brought to a room where two men, the Tall Man and a handsome blond-haired Elf, perform experiments on them.
At first, these experiments are relatively harmless, but they gradually become ever more sadistic and gruesome. They are cut open, sewed shut again, injected with all kinds of fluids, burnt with fire or acid. During these sessions, they are always quite awake and are never given any kind of anaesthetic.
After some time, they notice the prison guards are actually becoming afraid of them. They have absolutely no idea why, but it is obviously true. At that point, the guards always keep them drugged when they're not being experimented on. Only when they are safely tied to the operating table, do they allowed them to wake up again. This seems to go on forever and the PCs lose every sense of time.
Session 1
The PCs slowly regain consciousness. They expect the guards to give them a new dose of tranquillizer any minute, but no-one comes. Instead of the sound of guards they hear the far-off clamour of battle: shouts and screams, metal clashing, explosions. After some time these sounds also die down. The prisoners are then fully awake.
After a while Fasmund hears someone approaching his cell. He gets up and positions himself behind the door. When it opens, he sees a wounded but well-armed hobgoblin who is quite surprised to see a man standing behind the door. The hobgoblin attacks but his wounds are too severe to put up much of a fight against even an unarmed Fasmund. Fasmund then takes the now dead hobgoblin's keys, leaves his cell and enters the corridor outside it.
There are several other cells on the corridor. Fasmund opens them and discovers the other prisoners: Dyggvi (cowering in a corner and mumbling to himself), Danion (more composed), Haldrin (seriously pissed and demanding to be released) and Jan-Laucian (trying to dissolve the door with his own acidic bodily fluids and confusing Fasmund with a illusory second door behind the first one).
The gang exchange pleasantries, but are cut short when Danion hears more hobgoblins talking outside. Haldrin demands that Danion give the hobgoblin's weapons he just picked up to someone more capable of using them. Danion gives them to Fasmund. (the DM hides his face behind his screen so Mark (Haldrin) doesn't see him chuckle).
The hoblins do not sound like they're paying much attention, so the PCs quietly open the door to see what's behind it (area 2).
They see a large hall, with a bunker-like elevated area in the middle (area 15), which is where the hobgoblins' voices appear to come from. This area is protected by a metal fence, so no-one from area 2 can climb up. They remember that this also is where the experiments took place. In short: the guards took them through the door opposite the one they just opened. The operating table is in area 3, which would be drawn up to area 15 by means of chains and pulleys. There are also stairs between area 3 and 15. They can't see this, obviously, but they have at least some idea of what is there.
The PCs then quietly leave area 1 and turn left. The corridor around the bunker is lined with small cages and cells, many of which contain corpses of hideously disfigured creatures. The smaller cages contain rats, dogs and other small animals. The larger ones have human-like creatures. They are naked, grey-skinned, scarred, have greatly exaggerated jaws, teeth and claws. They are pierced by many arrows and are quite dead.
In the corridor itself lie the corpses of hobgoblins and prison guards. Most of them stripped of their equipment, but the pc's still find a bow and arrows.
They then open the first door to their left and enter another corridor with cells (area 4). These cells also contain dead creatures like the humanoids outside, except for the cell on the far side of the hallway. Through the peep-hole in the door, they can see an enormous monster lying on the floor. It is wounded and breathing heavily. Jan-Laucian casts a spell inside the cell (dancing lights?). The creature wakes up and tries to attack the lights, which obviously doesn't work. The others conclude there's nothing useful to be found here and go back to area 2. Jan-Laucian isn't quite done annoying the huge hulking monster and continues to provoke it. He gets what he wants.
There turn out to be 6 hobgoblins. Three are armed with bows and attack the PCs from above. The other three rush down the stairs and try to flank the PCs. The PCs make excellent use of what little weapons and spells they have available. A few well-placed grease spells knock down archers and one hobgoblin running out the door opposite the monsters' cells. Thus the flank attempt fails. Haldrin and Fasmund stop the other two hobgoblins at the south door. One turns back and enters area 2 through the west door. Fasmund dispatches the remaining hobgoblin and runs up the stairs to area 15 to confront the archers. Haldrin fights the remaining hobgoblin. Mark rolls poorly, but at least he keeps his opponent busy, allowing Jan-Laucian and Danion to harry the archers. Dyggvi makes his presence felt by being annoying and clinging to his friends' legs while they're trying to fight the baddies.
The PCs ask him where the exit is. The hobgoblin says they came in through the door in area 15.
--session ends--
Players: Thijs (Dyggvi), Ties (Jan-Laucian), Mark (Haldrin), Roy (Danion), Djarvi (Fasmund)
Preceding the events of the first session, our 'heroes' (this remains to be seen, of course) have all been tricked or ambushed and taken captive by an strange, tall man. This man first lured Dyggvi to a stone circle on top of a hill in Duarloch forest, then ambushed at that same hill a search party from Cen Heddan, consisting of Jan-Laucian Magros, Haldrin Halhirsson, Seárne léi Moige, Hama Storwegen and Llud Wynn, that came looking for Dyggvi. Fasmund was drugged and sold to "the Tall Man" by his brother when the former visited the city of Feórlund in search of his parents. Danion met the Tall Man in Maryeddon, and was also taken.
When the PCs come to, they each find themselves in a small cell. Every day or so (this is hard to know for certain, due to the complete lack of sunlight) the guards take them out of their cells and strap them to an operating table. They are then brought to a room where two men, the Tall Man and a handsome blond-haired Elf, perform experiments on them.
At first, these experiments are relatively harmless, but they gradually become ever more sadistic and gruesome. They are cut open, sewed shut again, injected with all kinds of fluids, burnt with fire or acid. During these sessions, they are always quite awake and are never given any kind of anaesthetic.
After some time, they notice the prison guards are actually becoming afraid of them. They have absolutely no idea why, but it is obviously true. At that point, the guards always keep them drugged when they're not being experimented on. Only when they are safely tied to the operating table, do they allowed them to wake up again. This seems to go on forever and the PCs lose every sense of time.
Session 1
The PCs slowly regain consciousness. They expect the guards to give them a new dose of tranquillizer any minute, but no-one comes. Instead of the sound of guards they hear the far-off clamour of battle: shouts and screams, metal clashing, explosions. After some time these sounds also die down. The prisoners are then fully awake.
After a while Fasmund hears someone approaching his cell. He gets up and positions himself behind the door. When it opens, he sees a wounded but well-armed hobgoblin who is quite surprised to see a man standing behind the door. The hobgoblin attacks but his wounds are too severe to put up much of a fight against even an unarmed Fasmund. Fasmund then takes the now dead hobgoblin's keys, leaves his cell and enters the corridor outside it.
There are several other cells on the corridor. Fasmund opens them and discovers the other prisoners: Dyggvi (cowering in a corner and mumbling to himself), Danion (more composed), Haldrin (seriously pissed and demanding to be released) and Jan-Laucian (trying to dissolve the door with his own acidic bodily fluids and confusing Fasmund with a illusory second door behind the first one).
The gang exchange pleasantries, but are cut short when Danion hears more hobgoblins talking outside. Haldrin demands that Danion give the hobgoblin's weapons he just picked up to someone more capable of using them. Danion gives them to Fasmund. (the DM hides his face behind his screen so Mark (Haldrin) doesn't see him chuckle).
The hoblins do not sound like they're paying much attention, so the PCs quietly open the door to see what's behind it (area 2).
They see a large hall, with a bunker-like elevated area in the middle (area 15), which is where the hobgoblins' voices appear to come from. This area is protected by a metal fence, so no-one from area 2 can climb up. They remember that this also is where the experiments took place. In short: the guards took them through the door opposite the one they just opened. The operating table is in area 3, which would be drawn up to area 15 by means of chains and pulleys. There are also stairs between area 3 and 15. They can't see this, obviously, but they have at least some idea of what is there.
The PCs then quietly leave area 1 and turn left. The corridor around the bunker is lined with small cages and cells, many of which contain corpses of hideously disfigured creatures. The smaller cages contain rats, dogs and other small animals. The larger ones have human-like creatures. They are naked, grey-skinned, scarred, have greatly exaggerated jaws, teeth and claws. They are pierced by many arrows and are quite dead.
In the corridor itself lie the corpses of hobgoblins and prison guards. Most of them stripped of their equipment, but the pc's still find a bow and arrows.
They then open the first door to their left and enter another corridor with cells (area 4). These cells also contain dead creatures like the humanoids outside, except for the cell on the far side of the hallway. Through the peep-hole in the door, they can see an enormous monster lying on the floor. It is wounded and breathing heavily. Jan-Laucian casts a spell inside the cell (dancing lights?). The creature wakes up and tries to attack the lights, which obviously doesn't work. The others conclude there's nothing useful to be found here and go back to area 2. Jan-Laucian isn't quite done annoying the huge hulking monster and continues to provoke it. He gets what he wants.
Apparently, there's been a huge misunderstanding here. I thought Ties was just trying to piss off a creature for no other reason than it being behind bars and thus harmless (and justifying it with a chaotic alignment). Ties was actually trying to find out how smart it was, which didn't quite come across the way he'd liked. I guess we both botched our wisdom checks. Anyways, I apologise for my snarky comment (which I deleted, o'course ;) I didn't mean to be quite as rude as it seemed. I guess I'm getting too used to having good-humoured bitching contests with my brother ;)The monster gets violent and throws himself against the cell door, roaring with anger. This alerts the hobgoblins in area 15, who notice the other PCs in area 2 and attack.
Mea culpa.
-Brian
There turn out to be 6 hobgoblins. Three are armed with bows and attack the PCs from above. The other three rush down the stairs and try to flank the PCs. The PCs make excellent use of what little weapons and spells they have available. A few well-placed grease spells knock down archers and one hobgoblin running out the door opposite the monsters' cells. Thus the flank attempt fails. Haldrin and Fasmund stop the other two hobgoblins at the south door. One turns back and enters area 2 through the west door. Fasmund dispatches the remaining hobgoblin and runs up the stairs to area 15 to confront the archers. Haldrin fights the remaining hobgoblin. Mark rolls poorly, but at least he keeps his opponent busy, allowing Jan-Laucian and Danion to harry the archers. Dyggvi makes his presence felt by being annoying and clinging to his friends' legs while they're trying to fight the baddies.
Okay, this is really my fault and not Thijs'. I knew an unarmed wizard would be almost useless and should have left at least a second ranged weapon for him to use. I placed some scrolls in area 15 for him to use later on, but didn't realize he needs to take time deciphering them before he can use them. The party wanted to get out as quickly as possible and did not want to waste time reading magic scrolls on the spot with god knows what kind of enemies lurking about the place. Can't say I blame them. My only excuse is not having been in the DM's chair for years.The PCs ultimately win the fight. They capture one of the hobgoblins alive and question him. He tells them he's a member of a hobgoblin mercenary company from Dé Marak and that they were hired to attack the laboratory and kill all the guards and prisoners. He doesn't know why they were told to do so and that only his commander knows who their contractor is.
-Brian
The PCs ask him where the exit is. The hobgoblin says they came in through the door in area 15.
I forgot what the PCs did with the prisoner after they'd finished with him.The PCs do a quick search of area 15. They find a number of scrolls, healing potions and the broken remains of something that can best be anachronistically described as something resembling a "laser cannon" suspended above the operating table. It's broken. They also loot their opponents' corpses for equipment, then they leave by the door the surviving hobgoblin mentioned. When donning armour, they discover that they've each got a small tattoo in their necks. Dyggvi says they look like magic sigils, but their meaning is impossible to tell. The only exception is Haldrin, who doesn't have a sigil tattooed in his neck, but some kind of number or code: YK - 0128.
Note to self: write summaries sooner.
I will post drawings later - B.They enter a long rising corridor, which makes a right turn about halfway through. At the end there's wooden door. They listen at the door and hear nothing so they open it. Beyond lies another hallway that leads off to their left. To their right are three wooden doors. The one opposite the hallway is slightly ajar. They hear a soft scratching sound behind it, so they decide to not find out what dangers lie there and turn left.
--session ends--
Monday, May 25, 2009
Calendar
A year in Ihlaer is exactly the same as in the real world. It's 365,25 days long. The months differ, though, as every season strats on the first day of a month:
Spring on Dorenne 1 (March 21),
Summer on Madderan 1 (June 21),
Autumn on Túefríd 1 (September 23),
Winter on Vorrintide 1 (December 21).
The beginning of each year is on the first day of spring.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
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