Thanks again to our fabulous scribe!!
Just when you thought this band of adventurers had given up and gone home…
For this exciting session of Dungeons and Dragons, the lineup goes as follows:
Bavmorda: half-elf rogue - Kimba
Pyre Fierceshot: half-elf ranger - Andrew
Ellora: human sorceress - Heather
Brunhilda: half-orc barbarian - Kerri
Dungeon Master: human – Brent
This adventure last left off in the tower of Mount Dew. The party’s quest was to rescue Fern, taken captive by the hostile citizens of Teaville. Now remember, the entire town of Teaville is totally ripped at the party, due to allegations of theft of a beloved town relic (‘Frosty’), and has declared war on the company. It is also known that the mayor of Teaville double-crossed the party during this whole Frosty escapade, and thus, has marked himself as a dead man as the group looks to clear their name. And while we're the topic of double-crossing, there is also a backstabbing dwarf named Pilch who now walks with an altogether different gait; he learned the hard way the dangers of playing Judas on this party.
During the last installation of this adventure (not played since October), a fortuitous stroke of luck led to the finding of a very important map – Teaville plans to take over Kokoa and the other neighboring towns. This information will prove to be useful later, no doubt.
However, back to the enterprise at hand. The party has been resting comfortably in the tower since dispatching several guards and bad guys. Brunhilda was charged with the task of cleanup, which she did superbly by chucking corpses out the tower window. Now…
Pyre opts to take first watch. All is quiet. Bav takes over the next six hours, and as Pyre snores soundly, the DM requests Listen checks of the other three. Only Bav hears the footsteps outside the barricaded door, and as she equips herself with her crossbow, she hears shouts of “Open up!” and “Let me in!” Brunhilda is ready to kill some people, which she does once Bav opens the door. A random soldier avec sword is felled quickly by Brunhilda’s mighty weapon. Another guy hiding behind runs off when this happens, but Brunhilda reacts quickly, and that dude dies before he can say “Scotch-hobble”. His corpse is chucked out the window by you-know-who.
It is unclear at this time who is responsible for the prank played on the still-sleeping Pyre. But, indeed, he is rather startled to wake up next to a dead soldier’s body, whom the rest of the party has dubbed “Roy”.
Moving onwards, the party clambers up the ladder to a room which contains a balcony on the left and right (not to mention ladders to each balcony). Looking left, Ellora sees a flattened, well-used path. As Pyre heads right, two ninjas leap out, brandishing a staff and a dagger. Ellora Lightning Bolts one to death. Bav sinks an arrow into the other, while Brunhilda cleaves him. In a last-ditch, kamikaze-type effort worthy of the Bard himself, the staggering ninja Shocking Grasps Brunhilda while uttering the words “Thus, with a kiss…I die...”. Bav ends his misery shortly thereafter. A search of the body turns up a +1 cloak of resistance and wand of magic missile for Ellora, gold for Pyre, potions for Bav. No record is available of treasure given to Brunhilda….but it’s okay because she’s headed up the ladder, looking for fresh blood.
The ladder comes into an enclosed room, where a random guy pulls a crossbow out on Brunhilda. Big mistake. However, as she advances, the guy pushes a button on the wall. A hole opens up in the floor, and the half-orc falls into a crevasse filled with water. Pyre and Bav fire on the button-pusher, and Ellora finishes him with a fireball. Pyre then has a bit of a difficult struggle as he attempts to heave a chain mail-wearing enormous half-orc barbarian out of a pit of water. However, the fun doesn’t end there. As it turns out, the pit is filled with sharks - it’s a big shark steak barbeque as Ellora scorches one. Once Brunhilda is up, the shark feast is abandoned…but not before Brunhilda and Bav notice and, deftly, manage to retrieve a shiny key from the bottom of the pit of water.
The other ladder leads to a room containing various potions and treasure chests. The group plays a round of Sexual Innuendo as they discuss plundering “the depths of the chests”. A spiral staircase is the only other thing of interest, which leads to a bit of swordplay with two guards. With Brunhilda leading the way, they engage her first, but one by one, the party enters to attack. Ellora fries one and Brunhilda cleaves the other. An exit leads to another room where a fat (later “muscular”) guy wielding a morningstar squares off with Brunhilda. Things are going swimmingly until Pyre rushes in and takes Brunhilda’s kill…this results in an angry chase of the ranger by the barbarian. It is unclear at this time the outcome of this pursuit. Ellora finds a blue key, gives it to Pyre (obviously not being chased anymore), and Bav finds 120 gold pieces.
This room also contains a mirror, which, when lifted by Ellora, reveals a button, which Bav promptly pushes. A trap door flaps open, leading to another room above the party. The company climbs into what appears to be a torture chamber. A small, lifeless figure is sprawled upon a tabletop, and is guarded by a menacing-looking female and hulking human man. Ellora casts Hold Person on the female and begins to disarm her (the DM comments that Ellora may also want to disrobe her and the entire group laughs, OOG, as they realize they’ve entered Brent’s fantasy realm). Pyre focuses on taking out the man figure, but instead, fumbles and shoots Brunhilda in the side. To add insult to injury, he does the exact same thing on his next turn.
Meanwhile, the female guard has snapped out of the Hold Person and is now on the receiving end of a Shocking Grasp by the sorceress. Eventually, though, the woman breaks the grapple and runs for the balcony window, where she leaps and begins her descent to the ground (obviously a Slow Fall of some kind). Ellora casts Spider Climb on herself and begins the chase; she manages to take out the escaping female with a couple of well-placed fireballs, but not before she spots a large number of troops in the distance to the west (later to be estimated around 100 by Pyre).
While this excitement is ensuing, Pyre has put away the crossbow and taken out his short sword (much sniggering here), as Brunhilda annihilates the hulking male guard. Then, Pyre is forcefully questioned by Brunhilda about why he shot her in the side…twice. It is unclear at this time what Pyre’s response was, but one certainly wonders if Brunhilda has lost any of her ardor for the ranger after the day’s misfires.
The trio (minus Ellora right now) examine the torture table and find a Mostly Dead Dwarven Female (now known as MDDF). A Heal check and cure potions bring her back from the brink of death. Ellora returns at this time from the outside, and is brought up to speed.
Meanwhile, Bav noticed a strange t-shaped mechanism on the wall, with various keyholes. How lucky it is the company has been collecting keys this entire time. Bav shocks herself several times before finally coming up with the right combination of key insertions. A trap door opens, leading to the highest room in the tower – where a man in a cage awaits. It’s Fern!
Bav picks the lock and Fern is free!
The group, in general, decide the best plan on action is evacuate the tower, recalling the coming troops as well as protecting the two rescuees. Bav then spots AirEagle (and friends) in the distance, and so the entire party is then transported back to Kokoa to consider further actions.
