Session 25

Members

 * Naryrr the Druid (Natalie)
 * Oleander Thorne the Fighter (Matt)
 * Rolar the Ranger (Josh)

The Adventure
We begin our session with Oleander and Rolar out in the city searching for information as the the whereabouts of the final temple. Rolar spread out some silver and quickly learned that the temple was not in the city. Oleander headed to Luck's Rise to consult with the Thieve's guild. They had thrown up some very powerful protective magic around the entire guild.

Oleander failed his persuasion checks and a group of black clad warriors approached. He knew from experience that these were the Dagasghi, a powerful secret group. Each carried two long swords and a strange 5 bladed glaive. They offered to teach him to fly, but Oleander didn't think he would learn between the time they tossed him off the cliff and the time he landed. He chose to withdraw. The Thieve's guild had clearly spared no expense in their protections. Both magical wards against intrusion and fire and physical protection in the form of the Dagashi. Seeing one of the secretive assassins is nearly unheard of. Three of them in one place was unprecedented.

Choosing another route, Oleander dashed into a burning library. He quickly found an ancient map and a powerful book. The map showed the location of an ancient island. One that was clearly just off the coast of Dus Hara, yet no island was presently there. With the knowledge that the final temple was not in the city and the map, Oleander and Rolar decided their course of action. Naryrr headed off into the city and decided to profit off the plague. She sold some potions of healing and then failed her check to persuade her allies that she failed in her research.

The party headed to the bay and Naryrr split the water. There was a cave about 40 meters below the surface. naryrr climbed down, Rolar flew down, and oleander walked down with his new boots of spider climbing. In the cave, there was still standing water. Naryrr wild shaped into an octopus and swam through. Oleander and Rolar swam through. Inside they found a rough-hewn cavern that turned into a temple. They party found the alter and it had a huge horned skull on it. Things quickly got interesting, as the party heard something rumbling up from the depths.

They surprised a purple worm. Naryrr was gobbled up in the first round and spent most of the fight in the bowels of the worm. From the distance, Rolar blasted away. Oleander cast mirror image and that literally saved his life. The worm had some massive hits, and the poison was equally as bad. Naryrr slowly melted away in the belly of the beast. Near the end, she was literally thrown up and Oleander got swallowed yet again by another creature. By then the fight was over though. The worm was dead. The party harvested what they could from the carcass and got out while they still could.

Swimming up to the surface, they encountered an old man in black robes that revealed himself to be the keeper of the forgotten Temple of Death. Through speaking with this robed man, the party came to learn the history of the mysterious yellow robed man that set them on this quest in the first place. Known to the old man as the God of Death or the Forgotten King, he was once a powerful man seeking immortality. While many have sought for this power for more selfish intentions, the Forgotten King wished to do good with the power of immortality. After many hardships and questing, the King was eventually able to strike a deal with the Gods. In exchange for receiving immortality, the King took on the role of God of Death for the inevitable coming of the 15th Age. The Age of Death.

While initially happy to have accomplished his life's long goal, the new God of Death came to realize that achieving one's dreams does not always result in happiness. (Not certain on this next detail Chris...)  As the ages came and went, the Forgotten King soon abandoned his role and chose to instead seek to prevent the coming of the Age of Death. However, as the God of Death, he is the bringer and unable to directly prevent its coming. Instead he works through manipulating others actions to meet his goals and needs.

In learning this new information, the party began to have suspicions that they themselves might have been manipulated and used by the Forgotten King. Before they could even decide whether it is a good thing or not being used by the God of Death, the old man fell forward with a dagger sticking out of his back. Apparently a team of assassins was also prepared to meet the party on the beach.

Having just fought a Purple Worm, the party had no time to rest before the assassins attacked and dealing some huge blows. Their poison also bit deeply. It was a brave fight and the party prevailed just by the skin of their teeth. Oleander immediately wanted to get out of Dus Hara and headed for a boat. Upon heading out to sea, the party could see wizards from the three houses had allied and were casting magic missiles at the fleeing party. (Again, fuzzy on this detail) Not only were their wizards firing on the group, but a cleric and ? were shooting angered looks as well. Clearly, the party had not made many friends in their short time in the city of Dus Hara. Rolar's belt finally came in handy and Oleander cast shield to protect from the volley of missles and they were able to be on their way.

As a final "goodbye" to the city that caused the group so much struggle and stress, Rolar loosed an arrow with a note with the delicate message of "fuck you!" towards the wizards on the coast. Unfortunately, this act angered the red robed wizard and he cast Time Stop on the boat and allowed for the wizards to attack the now motionless boat instead. While the boat took damage, they were still able to maintain course and head out of range of the wizard. However, with the casting of Time Stop, the party realized they had not only pissed of a wizard, but the Archmage himself. It is one thing to have a magical enemy, but a completely different thing to have a powerful magical enemy.

The party finally arrived at Pradaqa Tower. They found the ogre mage Qesnef in his tent at the entrance. Having been in the 'service' of Keraptis for eons, he found the world changed when he left. He decided he had no place there and obtained a scroll of plane shift. He is now the bar tender and will provide some any magical assistance and protection for lodging in the now abandoned torture floor of the tower. Jurgen also found his way to the tower and joined Zap as a care taker of the tower. Unbeknownst to the party, improvements have already been made. The care takers built an archery range and a small shrine to Bob. The group also gained one more surprise tenant by the name of Jake (spelled M-O-O-N). While a large and portly fellow, he is severely lacking in intelligence. Qesnef explained that through his magic, he is able to channel any attempted scrying on the party while within Pradaga Tower, it will all be funneled into his mind. Scryers will instead be met with images of the moon and the sound of humming.

XP
9,000 Each

Current XP: 85,000

Current level: 11

Rolar: 97,000 XP - Current level 11

Palkobo: 87,000 - Current level 11

Paldrag: 119,500 - Current level 12

Assassin

 * 4 Sets of Thieves' Tools
 * 6 Vials of Standard Poison
 * 1 Briefing. a short description of the mission of the assassin ... Purposefully vague.
 * 1 Hit List. a list of past or future targets of the assassin
 * 1 Contact list. a list of places to hide out or find work in the closest civilization
 * 1 Keepsake. a trinket or letter revealing the reason the assassin chooses to kill

Purple worm

 * 39 Purple Worm Scales. Acts as a shield. 7 of these can be mastercrafted (smith’s tools) into a set of Plate Armor that grants resistance to acid damage.
 * 2 Vials of Purple Worm Poison. Can be applied to a weapon or a piece of ammunition as an action. A creature hit by the poisoned weapon or ammunition must make a DC 19 CON save throw, taking 6d6 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
 * 1 Purple Worm Stomach Lining. No immediate use. Can be carefully crafted (leatherworker’s tools) into 4 sets of leather armor or 2 capes that grant acid resistance when worn.
 * 15 Purple Worm Teeth. Can be carefully crafted (smith’s tools) into a glaive that grants advantage on intimidation checks.

Arcane skill Book
Title: Mordenkainen's obscure magic. Using the book for 5 minutes is equivalent on rolling a 15 on the related skill. This item is not magic, but is a one use item. Each PC can use it once.