We begin this week’s session at the Boxer’s safe house after
our looting of the Church
of Otherwhere, at around 2 in the afternoon ready to make steps toward our
next objective: looking to ensure the safely or discover the status of Nogamon.
Before we depart Paola our characters visit the Bonded Mind to have Ahumm
channel sweet divine energy to heal the injured from the battle earlier in the
day.
Jabari tables the idea that our characters travel by
horseback. Towards this end the first ranch our characters visit finds the
ranch with a surplus of horses and the ranch manager offers to sell us each an
equipped horse for 25 g. each. With that task completed we exit Paola bound for
the Black Druid’s grove.
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| Dragon Stylized Armor |
A short time later our characters are hailed by individual
with a few words of warning. He tells of some individuals he and his spotted
earlier. At the time they didn’t think was odd at first, until he was off the
path where, in a copse of trees, encounters a posed (laid out) suit of dragon
stylized armor affixed with an obvious officer marking on it. He goes on to
explain this were spooked their group and decided to just leave the area-
indicating back where the copse of trees and the armor was found. It was a
passing conversation on the road; though we tell them briefly what has happened
in Paola and to go to the Bard’s College for more information.
Intrigued about the discarded armor we follow the traveling
man’s directions. Not long after Lermang, who is ranging about, finds a largish
black feather confirming we are on the trail. Eventually we find the suit of
armor in the shadows of the trees as well as numerous discarded feathers and
varied tracks near what looks like a tunnel in the ground at the center of the
copse of trees. Some of our group intuits that it must lead to the doors at the
Church of Otherwhere.
Lex and Lermang slide down the opening to investigate
further while the rest of us watch for a possible ambush. About 50 feet in Lex
and Lermang find a spiral descent as well as some stored supplies (a barrel of gunpowder
and a barrel of rum), a (fire-trapped) locked chest as well as map of the
surface features of Malta (the map indicated a city circled in red with a
tunnel line connecting: Rebet). The two heroes take steps to move the barrels
and chest carefully out of the tunnel.
With everyone at a safe distance Lex bypasses the fire trap
and discovers a brace of 8 potions of fly (markings indicated they are from
IL-Kataniz) and several folded women’s dresses. Four coils of silk rope, a rope
of Knots; 2 trade flags/banners from Birzebbuga and Xaghra; a ship
captain’s diary written in a personal short hand of his attempts at looking for
Ghallis rock (though not successful, it eliminated other rocks however in
coordinates G1 & 2)); as well as a variety of six ID badges.
It was late afternoon when we continue on, Lermang hiding
our tracks behind us as we take a direct route towards our destination. Along
the way the terrain changes, taking on a blighted quality with breaks in the
ground with wilted, chocked foliage. Eventually we come to a break between two
hills and notice several breaks in the hills akin to cave openings. Here snake
and scorpion hazards become more numerous. Our characters decide to dismount at
this time and lead the horses in the event the horses get spooked.
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| The Black Druid |
We are not surprised as a carpet of scorpions file out of
caves in the hills while coming from over the top of one of the hills is an
armed gnoll who howls out to others from the opposite hills. A 12 long creature
moves out, like a dual action scorpion, an Ommoth. Then from the opposite hill-
a bronze skinned scorpion-folk. But as the combat progressed swarms of
scorpions come upon us; we eventually fight off the gnoll and kill the
creatures.
Our characters continue on to find a gnoll encampment around
the low mountain that contains ash trees- reminiscent of the Black Druid’s
symbol. We learn later the tree is the Black Druid; it had help from several
gnoll savages, giant wasps and bees, dire bats and a gnome and troll druid. At the end of the session our characters were
victorious.
We begin next session moments after the battle with the Black
Druid and its minions.
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