Active members of the "Skills dat Killz" adventuring party:
Beena - Elf Ranger (*retiring from adventuring*)
Gigantor - Goliath Rogue (*missing*)
Lucas - Goliath Barbarian (*bedridden at Bordrin's Watch*)
Untiln Ow - Kalashtar Cleric
Zah'rie - Human Warlock
Zephel - Shadar-kai Swordmage
Guest members of the "Skills dat Killz" adventuring party:
Harann - Dragonborn Fighter
----------------------------
Active Quests:
Main Quest: Siege! Do your part to prepare for the impending siege by completing assignments. Upon assignment completion or changed situations, report back for new assignments.
(*Failed*) Minor Quest: Evacuation! Travel to the Monestary of the Sundered Chain; warn of the impending siege and evacuate the monks and paladins.
(*Success*) Minor Quest: Invasion! Follow the trail of the Farstriders and determine their fate. Locate The Nexus and secure it by any means.
----------------------------
The party made it to Bordrin's Watch mid afternoon. The dwarf and Zah'rie were immediately taken on stretchers to the infirmary. After relinquishing the dwarf's body, Gigantor was not seen again. The leader of the militias at Bordrin's Watch, Durkik Forgeheart, sought out the adventurers almost immediately eager to know the status of the monastery. The party communicated all they had been witness to: orcs had likely invaded through the tunnel under the monastery, all the dwarfs save one had been brutally cut down by the invaders, the explosions under the monastery had shaken the earth and the tunnel leading further into the mountain had been collapsed.Durkik thought about this a moment, thanked the party for their service, and told them to rest and restock awaiting further word from him. Beena expressed her fondness for the other members of the party and the memory of their triumph at Rivenroar, but that the gruesome scene at the monastery was too much for her to bear. She expressed her need for time back among her kind and away from such violence. Lucas said he was feeling a little light headed and wandered off towards the infirmary; he was later admitted and treated for bronchitis.
Later that night, Durkik returned to the party. He explained that the dwarf rescued from the lower chamber under the monastery was named Kalad and that it was he who had lit off the powder keg chain which collapsed the tunnel and set the ground shaking. He had been meditating in a side chamber when the orcs rushed in; they didn't notice him and that allowed him an opportunity to seal off the tunnel. Durkik added that had they arrived a moment later that Kalad would not have been able to be successfully healed.Zah'rie rejoined the party, having been given substantial healing and time to rest. Durkik explained how the Farstriders had encounted orcs in the tunnels beneath Bordrin's Watch, and that an orc grenadier had collapsed a portion of the tunnel, preventing them from being able to secure the tunnels. Durkik divulged that the tunnels are actually connected in a central point called the Nexus, the securing of which was the actual objective of the Farstriders.
The Nexus, and the tunnels were all of dwarfish construction and had at some point been regularly patrolled. These patrols ceased long ago and the population at large had long ago forgotten about the Nexus. Durkik explained that it was decided that the existance of the Nexus was to be kept secret during the impending siege so as to not spook the populace of Overlook and the surrounding areas. Having been denied direct access to the Nexus, the Farstriders set off to The Vents, a group of geothermal fissures south of Overlook which allegedly contained another way into the Nexus. Based on how long ago the Farstriders left for The Vents, word should have arrived back by now. Durkik requested that the party follow up on the Farstriders and ensure that the Nexus had in fact been secured.Realizing that their size had shrunk some, the party asked if they could be granted a few able-bodied adventurers to assist them in their mission. Durkik motioned for an assistant to whom he spoke to for but a moment. The assistant left and returned shortly with a kalashtar cleric who was introduced as Untiln Ow. Durkik said that this cleric would help the party have success, and that the party would help Untiln find what he was looking for as "surely it cannot be found within the walls of this fortress".
On the other side of the room, a dragonborn fighter who had been eavesdropping on the conversation addressed the group; his name was Harann. He explained that he grew tired of waiting for the enemy to come to Bordrin's Watch and that he could ascertain that wherever it was that the party was going was going to be seeing its share of action. Harann wanted a piece of that action and requested that he be allowed to join. The party and Durkik agreed. Before the sun rose the next day, the party departed heading southeast.The hot geothermal gases escaping into the open air made The Vents easy to locate; travel was not difficult and the party made excellent time. Near one of the larger openings the party found five horses with empty feedbags. It was presumed that these were the horses of the Farstriders but no other signs of them were found nearby. The party ventured forth into the large fissure; the air stank of sulfur. After about an hour of travel westward in the underground tunnels, fresh tracks were located, again presumed to be that of the Farstriders. Another 20 minutes of travel and the tunnel opened up into a larger chamber. The chamber was obviously of dwarf make and from the far west side, a smaller hallway continued.
At the far side of this hallway lay a destroyed arbalester and two iron defenders. Had the Farstriders been here? Entering cautiously, but not cautiously enough (lolperceptionfail), the party tripped a pressure plate causing a single magic crossbow to descend from the ceiling further down the hallway. The crossbow immediately acquired targets and opened fire. Confident that it would more prudent to search for a possible "off switch" for the trap instead of engaging it directly, the party rushed through the hallway. A little bit of searching did in fact turn up a control panel on the far wall.Contemplating the operation of the control panel, the party hesitated for a moment. The crossbow continued to track the party but did not fire; perhaps they had left its range. With even less subtlety the party a lone dwarf came running into the hall from the entrance. Curiously the crossbow tracked the dwarf but did not fire.
It was Kalad, the paladin from the monastery. He explained how despite recommendations of the clerics and medics at Bordrin's Watch, he decided that too much was at stake and that he should assist the party at The Vents. Having made no attempt to hide their tracks, Kalad had no trouble navigating their path into the Nexus complex. After a moment of study of the control panel, and Kalad managed to operate it and successfully reset the magic crossbow. He explained that even having never traveled here, his ancestors built the defenses to not attack dwarfs and the operation of the facilities machinery to be very natural and intuitive for dwarfs.Peering into the next room the party saw a large room, with a few orcs milling about. Deciding to move forward quickly, the party moved in. The doorway opened onto a large platform with two staircases leading to a lower area of the room. On the other side of the large platform was another doorway. On the north and south sides of the lower room, ran identical pipes each about 10 feet in diameter. On the north side of the lower room were the carcasses of a few fire beetles. Just a few paces from the east doors was the decapitated body of a humanoid.
The orcs quickly moved to engage the party, while a few orcs armed with bows hung back and fired from afar. Both groups were clashing in the middle when a third party entered from one of the two staircases: fire beetles! From the other side, a lone dark creeper emerged from the darkness and engaged the party. The first to fall were the fire beetles, followed by the dark creeper. The orcs scouts retreated to the far west side of the chamber before being cut down.Further investigation of the room showed that the decapitated humanoid was female and dressed in the garb of a warlock. It was clearly the warlock Jen, a member of the Farstriders. Clenched tightly in her fist was what appeared to be a sending stone; while it was whole, it appeared to be nonoperational. The body of the dark creeper had dissolved into shadow, but a curious key was discovered in the left over garments. The key, while appearing to be a mundane brass key, was obviously magical. Its purpose or reason for being disguised could not be determined.
The eastern section of each pipe was obviously hot to the touch, presumably due to either some sort of hot gas or liquid inside it. About midway down each pipe was a single large valve which the party decided should be turned; immediately after doing so, the sound of flowing liquid was heard and the western section of the pipes also began to noticeably increase in temperature.Heading through the next set of doors and further west into the complex, the party came to a crossroads. The main hallway continued west while two smaller halls led north and south. The party decided to head north first. After a short way, the hall opened into a room dedicated to Moradin. At one end was an altar, at the other a large tapestry, and on the sides were stone pews to hold those gathered to worship. A troll lay asleep near the altar, snooring(unusual for a troll to snore that quietly). The party knew immediately what they needed to do.
Laying helpless in a happy dream about delicious adventurers, the troll did not know that he would soon be victim to a three-way coup de grace. Having been critically reduced below zero hit points, the fourth party member doused the troll in oil and lit him off. The troll slowly smoldered and melted away into nothing more than a pile of green bile. The smell was terrible.From the troll, off toward a corner lay four more bodies, each fitting the description of the other four members of the Farstriders. These bodies had been horribly gnawed and chewed on; it was most likely that the troll was overcome with sleepiness from the size of his meal.
Inspection of the tapestry, revealed an account of the construction of the Nexus complex and specifically the Nexus itself. The water in the pipe room had to be let through via the valves, as the party had done. It was clear that this powered a mechanism in the room farther west, but it wasn't clear what exactly that was beyond it being some sort of defensive measure. Upon inspecting the altar, Kalad noted how brilliantly it shimmered; he felt that he must cleanse the chamber and asked the party to help him by arranging the remains of the dead. This surprised the party but they assisted him in the task and left the Farstriders in dignified poses not unlike that which appear commonly on sarcophagi.Satisfied with the altar room, the party headed to the southern hallway; it led to a small common room, with doors to smaller satellite rooms. Two had beds and footlockers, while one had a dinning hall and the last had a sizable kitchen. These were likely the barracks for dwarfs who had at one time been stationed here. A search of the barracks turned up nothing; it was presumed that such items were removed when the dwarfs cleared out, or possibly looted by the orcs.
Having explored the smaller hallways, the party pushed westward along the main hallway. The hallway ended at a massive door. The door itself appeared to be one large machination with many gears and sliding bars. The door opened with a surprising degree of ease considering how heavy it must have weighed. Passing through the door, it softly closed and quietly stopped again as they had found it.This was the Nexus; the chamber ceiling was about 50 feet up; in the center of the room was a massive stone and metal pillar which was easily 15 feet across. Coming from the corners of the eastern wall were two large pipes, about the same size and make as the pipes in the room where Jen's body lay. Starting in the southeast corner of the room and wrapping nearly all the way up and along the wall ten foot wide catwalk. From this catwalk leading out were six dark tunnels that each led off in separate directions; leading to the center of the room were platforms which then encircled the large pillar at various levels.
Decided to ascend the catwalk to the top and investigate the room further, the party began their ascent. Almost immediately after they began to climb, shouts were heard from a few of the tunnels. Orcs and orogs werespilling into the chamber from the various tunnels! Two fierce orogs emerged from a tunnel behind the party; Kalad commanded that the party get to the top and find some sort of way to activate the mechanism while he held back the two orogs.While Kalad and the orogs exchanged blows, Untiln kept the paladin healed and on feet. It was just moments later that the largest orog they had ever seen (yes, larger than the one from the monastery) emerged from a tunnel higher up and on the opposite side of the room. At his side were two orcs armed with bellybows and a shadar-kai woman dressed in the garb of a warlock. The orcs moved for the higher level, the shadar-kai caster moved onto one of the rings around the large pillar, and the massive orog moved down to engage the party directly. It would later be determined that the orog was actually Tusk, the current leader of the horde that threatened Bordrin's Watch; the shadar-kai warlock was Myrissa, his mistress.
Meeting about midway up, the party met Tusk. Confident that he would suffer no difficulty in exterminating the meddling adventurers, Tusk positioned himself on the edge of the catwalk instead of in the safer position adjacent to the wall. This opening was exploited by Harann, who succeeded in bull-rushing Tusk off the catwalk and onto the floor 20 feet below. The orc crossbowmen opened fire on the party from the top floor while Myrissa cast her curses and spells from the ring directly underneath. Kalad succeeded in slaying the orogs and then moved to catch back up with the party.Tusk picked himself up after the fall, and rushed back towards the bottom of the stairs. The only way back to stairs was to climb and cross one of the two pipes filled with hot geothermal water. This Tusk successfully did, but not without having been burned by the intense heat. Kalad had hewn down and slain more than ten times his weight in orc and orog, but it was the bolt from one of the bellybows that finally dropped him. Tusk, conscious of the battle he was losing, took a moment on his ascent back up to decapitate Kalad and push his body and severed head off the catwalk. The adventurers were not amused.
Ultimately, Myrissa fell to superior magics of Zah'rie. Each level of the catwalk ascended meant more orcs spilling into the room; finally the party arrived at the top. The top platform had a small waist-high box atop which was a panel with various levers, buttons, and lights. Opposite it was a ladder leading upward into the ceiling. Taking just a moment to finish off the orc crossbowmen, Zephel then took a stab at figuring out the control console. Regreting not having taken some thieving classes, he attempted and amazingly succeeded at working the controls and activating the main mechanism.The large doors the party had passed through whirred into motion, the bars sliding and locking the door into place. The pillar began to rotate and then to life upward; this allowed the boiling hot water inside the pipes to burst outward and into the room. At the top of the ladder was heard a click. Within only a moment, the first tunnel was completely submerged; steam rose just faster than the water itself was rising.
Eager to kill their quarry but now doubly eager to not come in contact with the boiling hot water, the orcs and Tusk surged to the top. The party members scurried up the ladder one by one with the orcs and Tusk close behind them. Zephel discovered that the top of the ladder was covered with a hatch that gently hinged open with a push. He was momentarily blinding by the light of the sun; they were back at the surface! Immediately adjacent to the hatch was another small console, this one with a single button.As the last member of the party, Zah'rie made it out the surface hatch, the button on the adjoining console was pushed; the hatch shut securely and the steam rising out of the opening stopped entirely. Just a moment later, the hatch was hot to the touch. A faint tapping was heard for a minute or two, but by the third minute, it had gone silent. Tusk the orog chieftain and his orcs which were pursuing the party are presumed dead, having likely perished in the boiling hot geothermal water. Kalad's lifeless body was somewhere in the flooded chamber; his sacrifice would secure his place among his ancestors. The party surveyed the landscape to figure out their relative location, and took a short rest.
----------------------------
Dark Ones: Native to the Shadowfell, dark ones are sly, murderous creatures clad in black garments. They come to the world with sinister schemes, take and learn what they can, and slink back into the gloom. Dark ones live among shadar-kai, much the way as halflings find their place among populations of humans, dwarves, and elves. Dark ones prefer to dwell in homes that are at least partially underground.
Orogs: Hulking warriors with uncommon discipline and fighting expertise, orogs are the filthy offspring of orcs and ogres. Like half-elves, orogs breed true and are a separate race from orcs. Sometimes called greater orcs or ogrillons, orogs are a vastly superior breed, rising far above their lesser kin in terms of their mastery over weaponry and also their mastery of warfare. Where common orcs rely on superior numbers to overcome their enemies, orogs use clever tactics and teamwork, ranking up in orderly lines of heavily armored soldiers.
Rumors tell of orog cities in the far-flung places in the world, though no one is certain where they are or what they might look like. Instead, orogs crop up wherever ogres and orcs congregate in large numbers. Orogs swiftly rise to the top and take over tribes, crushing their rivals until the rest of the horde surrenders to the orog’s will.
Sending Stones: Most commonly a pair of identical fist-sized stones each bearing a Dwarven rune that translates as "Speak". Any stone in a set can be activated and spoken to and doing so causes the spoken words to be heard from the other stones in the set as if they were present. When speaking ceases the stones are momentarily exhausted but can be recharged by simply willing it. While a pair of fist-sized sending stones is the most common by far, sending stones can be crafted into larger sets and sizes.
----------------------------
What is the deal with that brass key?
Can the sending stone be repaired?
What is with all the exotic race choices?
There will be no mindflayer player characters.
