FOE Log 28 Alley Thugs

Federation of Explorers (FOE)
Homebrew Campaign back in the Forgotten Realms

Session 28
Regnar the human ranger, Zen the half-elf monk, and Raylin the human cleric continued in the dwarf underground city by trading out their unneeded magic loot for new gear and gems/coins. Zen and Raylin put most of their profit in the bank, but Regnar kept his extra money in his bag of holding.

The team met with the dwarf king and his generals; the king asked them to go find and destroy the phylactery of Sapphiraktar (at a large sea coast desert base) while another team would be going after the phylactery of the merchant lich, and the main armies would be preparing for some final battles. Apparently the war had been going well with the two liches using their resources against each other to try to control the region.

The group went to a tavern in the bad part of town because Regnar thought their new recruit should be that type of person; Raylin approached a half-orc wizard named Shump Colorseeker to try to recruit him. Meanwhile Regnar was trying to buy the group drinks and realized his bag of holding had been stolen so he told Zen and they used the new robe of useful items to summon two mastiffs to try to sniff and track the missing bag. They didn’t bother getting Raylin; Regnar and Zen ran out the door following the dogs…

Regnar, Zen, and the mastiffs died after attacking three guys in an alley (that they assumed had stolen the bag – though they technically never even confirmed that); the barbarian, rogue, and trickster cleric left their dead bodies in a dumpster (with the ooze Zen had released during the battle, thus their bodies were destroyed).

When Raylin and Shump went searching, they encountered the damaged group from the alley and Raylin used mass cure wounds to heal them some. Raylin and Shump eventually found the ooze in the dumpster and killed the monster; a few of the magic items had been left behind.

Saddened by the events, Raylin returned to stay the night at the inn. The barbarian and rogue came back that night and said they felt compelled to help Raylin in his quest; he realized they must have inherited the connection to the Dark Powers and said he would discuss it with them in the morning. Raylin needed the night to mourn and pray.

SAGA Log 1440 Cthulhu v. Snakegod

The RPG SAGA continues...

Session 1440
Module: Modified Serpent's Skull Adventure Path (and Carrion Crown)

Pylia the half-elf bladesinger, Drizmar the drow ranger with a ring of humanity, Blood the gnome cleric with a ring of humanity, Blue the satyr paladin with a ring of humanity, Snek the half-dragon/serpent with a ring of humanity, Pezok the kenku rogue with a ring of humanity, and "Chuck" the mindflayer wizard had rested near the room with the skull of the snakegod. Drizmar declared his desire to kill Strahd, saying he feared the visions Strahd had been sending Pylia were a means of manipulating her.

The group killed Chuck since they knew he was likely going to betray them later; Blue went insane after looking at Chuck’s book. Blood cured Blue’s insanity. They went to the skull of the snakegod, found out Snek was the son of the snakegod, and found out that the skull anchored them so that they could not teleport it; they had to drag it through the jungle for 2 days, back to the City of the 7 Statues. In the jungle, they found Selaxasp again; they freed the 2 human slaves Selaxasp had.

An old man told the group he feared that doing the ritual would destroy the island; he asked them to save the 200ish people there before doing the ritual. They engaged in a lot of group discussion and planning. Blood worked on the snakegod ritual while Pylia did the Cthulhu ritual – with the snakegod beginning to regenerate while the Cthulhu-esque being took over Snek’s body and transformed into a large aberration. Cthulhu-Snek ate the snakegod skull before the group killed him; he hadn’t regained his full power and thus was slow to move around. Before being killed off, his tentacles had temporarily feeble-minded Blue and almost petrified both Drizmar and Pylia. Blue used the godslayer sword to destroy the purple essence of the island, but it destroyed the weapon.

After the battle, a gate opened up in the park - to Waterdeep, with a gold dragonborn saying he had received a vision to open the gate for them; the 200ish people in the city went through the gate while Pylia and Blue debated how to rescue the other islanders and the dryad. They quickly bought teleport scrolls and saved the people from the whaling village, the water genasi mayor, the elf assassin lady, and the dryad. The island was sinking into the ocean.

In Waterdeep, the group found out that the city had joined the Empire of Veertopia, ruled by Empress Veersalla; that happened after the giant queen told everyone about the deaths and defeat of Force Green and called the leaders of the Sword Coast together to sign an official alliance with the giants. The group also found out that the bard Relgar, the gnome chef Cookie, and Billy had taken Pylia’s 200,000 gp from her bank account after claiming she had adopted Billy (and thus he was her son and heir). There was also a note from Relgar saying Pylia and Blue’s family might be evil, replaced by dopplegangers, possessed, or something; he wasn’t sure, but felt they had been acting evil.

In investigating, the group went to Daggerford (where they found out Billy’s father who abandoned him had been a necromancer and was just recently killed), the Feywild (where they spoke with Blue and Blood’s father Fluter), and Reyal Keep. Pezok stayed at Reyal Keep, where the team found out Pylia’s brother was staying at a hunting lodge. They went to the lodge, met the nobles, stayed the night, found out Pylia’s brother was a werewolf with a strange tattoo that prevented the lycanthropy from being removed. The brother explained that the rest of the family had gone to the elf world where Shendelavri, Borngray II, and Kya had been spreading the word of Corellon.

The team hunted down Relgar, Cookie, and Billy to get the Tortuga ship back; the elves from Evermeet took the ship back. Pylia insisted that they return to Waterdeep and fill out paperwork to establish that she never actually adopted Billy; the trio explained that they had taken the money and ship to protect them for the group because the air genasi cousin had been acting evil and they also worried that Mercy’s elf wife might try to steal the ship.

[The session ended with the group still in Waterdeep, having finished the paperwork and cleared up the issue with Billy. Relgar and Cookie decided to officially adopt Billy.]

FOE Log 27 Kalifa’s Keep Part 2

Federation of Explorers (FOE)
Homebrew Campaign in the Domains of Dread

Session 27
Regnar the human ranger, Zen the half-elf monk, and Raylin the human cleric continued their quest in the Domains of Dread, at the Keep of Kalifa, now separated from their dwarf fighter friends Tacklinn and Orsik Ungard. As the group searched the hall, weapons animated from the armor statues along the walls and fought them.

In a side room, the group found a mirror of life trapping that tried to take Raylin. Regnar destroyed the mirror; the human peasant Avon fell out, unconscious. In that room the group also destroyed 4 specters that came out of old mannequins. The next side room had a moose head and alcohol.

Another side room contained the illusion of the dwarf fighter brothers and Kalifa (with the Vecna gem on a chain around her neck). When the illusion went away, the cavern actually contained the dead priest from the village and a Deck of Many Things (with a note suggesting the group had to pull from the deck in order to rescue one of the dwarves).

Continuing on, the team killed a spine devil in a horrifying kitchen room and 5 skeletons in the tower connected to the end of the hall. The team rested at the top of the tower after Regnar put on some cursed armor and Raylin needed to swap out his spells to use remove curse. After the rest, Regnar flew Avon back down to the village.

From the Deck of Many Things: Regnar lost his non-magical gear but then got 50,000 gp in gems; Raylin received a deed to a keep on the Sword Coast; Zen gained 50,000 xp, a pair of matched magical sending stones, and a wish. Zen used the wish to destroy the 4 gems Vecna needed in order to escape, thus ending the team's quest in the Domains of Dread.

The Dark Powers offered the group some “dark power inside of them” that would help them defeat the lich responsible for trying to free Vecna, but also make the trio bound to the Domains of Dread if any of them committed a truly evil act; Regnar and Zen outvoted Raylin and the group accepted. Raylin demanded the return of Orsik and Tacklin, but Tacklin was already dead. The Dark Powers returned Orsik to the group and the 4 of them were allowed to leave the Domains of Dread.

Team FOE returned to the dwarven city leading the resistance against the undead; they rested.

SAGA Log 1439 Holy Snake Caves

The RPG SAGA continues…

Session 1439 
[Module: Modified Serpent Skull Adventure Path]
Pylia (half-elf bladesinger), Blue (satyr paladin), Drizmar (drow rogue), Blood (satyr cleric reincarnated as a gnome), Snek (half-dragon/serpent sorcerer), and “Chuck” (mindflayer wizard) discussed their options. Chuck decided to stay back and wait while the others went to retrieve the godslayer sword.

On the team’s way to the secret tunnel, they were ambushed by 4 of the yuan-ti sorcerers and an elf assassin dressed in bug armor; the team defeated the enemies and ended up with 4 of the Rings of Humanity; they allowed the assassin to leave after she turned against the sorcerers and helped the team win. Blue, Drizmar, Blood, and Snek decided to wear the rings and become human.

In the caves, the team killed a huge tentacle aberration, 14 demons, and some alien guards. They found the hibernation chamber of General Aveshai the green cyclops warrior with the godslayer sword (a sentient mithril greatsword that desired the blood of serpentfolk) and a death slaad that tried to trick them with illusions. They avoided a hydra and its guards. One of the caves had a teleport circle. After waking up, General Aveshai argued with Blue and left. The group rested.

In tracking General Aveshai, the team found 2 destroyed iron golems and a bunch of dead yuan-ti. The group met back up with Chuck and sent his army to attack the remaining yuan-ti and undead army they knew about; with Chuck, the team personally took out: a necromancer, the other 4 yuan-ti sorcerers, some guards, and the yuan-ti high priest Vyr-Azul (after General Aveshai had been killed by Vyr-Azul).

Along the way, the team found out Pezok (whom they reincarnated with a Ring of Humanity), the ape king, and most of the winged apes were killed; they also spoke with the water genasi druid and rescued the captured human slaves from the whaling village. The team ended up with the skull of the snake god, with the plan to bring it back to the City of the 7 Statues and possibly complete the ritual(s). But what will they do about Chuck and his plans?

FOE Log 26 Kalifa's Keep Part 1

Federation of Explorers (FOE)
Homebrew Campaign in the Domains of Dread!

Session 26: Kalifa's Keep Part 1
The team of Regnar the human ranger, Zen the half-elf monk, Raylin Sunsoaker the human sun cleric, Tacklinn Ungard the dwarf fighter, and Orsik Ungard the dwarf fighter continued in their quest in the Domains of Dread. Before leaving the cave town, they received a map with a nearby keep marked on it; the city leader had recommended they search there. On the way out, Zen freaked out the guards and they attacked him while he ran away with the group.

A human village was near the hill with the evil keep. The people rang the church bell. A woman and 2 specters flew down, trying to take innocent people as sacrifices. Team FOE destroyed the 2 specters and the woman (Kalifa) flew away as a bat, back up to the keep. When the team went into the church to talk to the village priest, he sent them to rest in the basement.

Down in the basement they found coffins with 6 zombies and a vampire on an island with flowing water around his coffin. After defeating all of the undead in the basement, the team went back up and spoke with the priest; Regnar threatened him, but Raylin gave him a holy sun symbol and encouraged him to have faith and protect the people.

The guys ended up resting up in the village tavern. In the morning, they received a letter with an invitation from Countess Kalifa, to go up into the keep. They complied, went inside, and killed 3 vampire spawn women in a side room before destroying the large Kalifa statue in the main hall; unfortunately, Tacklinn and Orsik had run off on their own down the hall because of Zen using his fear ability.

The team needed to go find and rescue the dwarf brothers; they still had a daylight spell on Regnar's cloak. [The session ended in the main hall.]