Women trouble - Rise of the Runelords campaign session 8

In attendance were

Kumak Morudall: Half-Orc Bloodrager
Tiberius: Human Paladin of Sarenrae
Susan: Human Universalist Wizard

Missing again was
Villster: Human Cleric
and
Thaddeus Whisperheart: Gnome Trickster

I think I will stop reporting on our Clerics attendance unless he shows,

Kumak and Thaddeus prepare to enter the hallway and face the Outsider dogs Nualia has in her service when Black Jack suddenly announces he wants to take his wares and leave. The group escorts him to the bridge where Villister and Shalelu are guarding against any goblin reinforcements. Black Jack wishes to depart immediately but Shalelu warns him that he wont get far with the woods teeming with goblins, reluctantly Black Jack agrees to remain and guard the bridge, Thaddeus decides to stay with him, hoping to pilfer some items while the Half Orc is distracted. Kumak brings Orik to the far stairs to collect Susan and Tiberius and they prepare to assault what appears to be a chapel. Entering through a side door the team finds no trace of Nualia but there are 2 otherworldly dogs move to attack. Kumak lands one solid blow before the dogs howl and while he shrugs off the initial one with the following howl fear finds purchase and the Bloodrager flees out of the room. Orik takes a grievous bite to the leg and Tiberius several gashes but they emerge victorious. 

Some lightly enchanted weapons adorn the chapel which are taken then Orik leads them to a door where his ally Lyrie  should be, Orik requests a moment to speak with her and while Kumak does not sense any deception on his part he lets Orik know that he has 30 seconds to cut a deal with Lyrie, and provides a safe word should Orik find Lyrie resistant to his offer that will signal Kumak and Tiberius to enter. Orik moves in and tries to talk her into fleeing with him, the conversation is going poorly then with a slip of the tongue Orik lets her know that he isn't alone and with that Kumak and Tiberius move into the room. Orik moves faster and holds Lyrie down. Kumak pins her and using some of Tiberius's rope ties her then begins removing all her gear, there is a brief argument about taking away her cloak since she is dressed so sparsely but Kumak fires back that she chose her outfit and to work with Nualia and Goblins, her discomfort at being near naked is not his concern. Tiberius objects strongly as does Susan, at least until she identifies the cloak as magical. A spell book, handful of scrolls and wands, and a decent chunk of change later she objects fiercely to having her things taken from her and wants to know where Tsuto is. Kumak tells her he left him in his bed sleeping to which she gives him a sour look but says nothing. She is given the same deal that Orik has, earn her life by aiding the team dispose of Nualia. She demands her things back, but Kumak instead hands her a short bow and some arrows and offers to escort her to the bridge but Tiberius elects to take her. On the way Tiberius acquiesces to some of her demands including letting her look into Susans Spellbook, and returning all her items to her in as taken condition. Tiberius however neglects to run these deals past Susan to see if she is willing to agree to them. Descending down a hidden door in Lyries book room opens up into a sizable room with a corridor leading down. Tiberius takes the lead and steps onto a pressure plate causing gates to fall on either side of him and statues armed with blades to turn towards him. Kumak enters a rage to try and lift the gate on his side but can't quite do it.Surviving 2 attacks each from the statues Tiberius suddenly falls from sight as the floor drops and he has enough time to look up from his 10ft fall to see the floor re closing above him.

Kumak grabs a nearby statue and shoves it under where he saw the gates descend from then using his Ranseur gabs the floor plate re triggering the trap, the gate on the western side is held a few feet off the ground by the damaged statue and after 2 rounds the floor reopens, jamming the butt end of his Ranseur against the far floor panel while Orik shoves his shield into the gears on their side Tiberius throws his rope up and is pulled out by Kumak and Orik. At this point Susan recognizes incantations coming from ahead and warns the group that someone is preparing for a fight. Susan, Kumak and Orik find themselves on the other side of the trap engaging Nualia and another Demon Hound while Tiberius can't seem to make it past the trap. Orik takes several deep cuts but gives just as good as he gets. Kumak lands a solid blow but Nualia destroys his weapon just as his adrenaline gives out and he finds himself panting. Retrieving his fallen Erathbreaker Kumak moves in to help the bleeding Orik but Susan fires a blast of magical energy from one of Lyries wands and pierces Nualias abdomen spilling out her intestines. Several potions of healing are used and Tiberius despite his grave injuries rushes ahead to make up for his absence from the fight. Finding a room with a wall made entirely out of cold goins and another room that appears to be a crypt Tiberius detects evil within the crypt and begins searching it. Kumak wielding the magical bastard sword that was formerly Nualias tries in vain to break some gold off the wall until Susan tells him its probably just an illusion. Moving into the crypt the group is attacked by 3 spirits who begin to drain the strength from Tiberius, Orik and Kumak. Kumak suffers a significant hit to his impressive strength but Tiberius can barely hold himself up by the time Susan finishes off the last one with Lyries wand. Searching the room Kumak catches the faint sound of air escaping in the crypt and pushes open a secret door. Finding a hallway which branches out into 2 before rejoining into a partially submerged room Kumak is ready to leap into the water and see what is below but Tiberius asks to wait, when he returns he is dragging Nualia's bare corpse and tosses her into the water. Kumak waits for several seconds then just as he is about to jump into the water a large helmet beneath the water moves and giant claws spring forth tearing Nualias corpse asunder. Despite protesting that he could still take whatever lays beneath the water Kumak relents to sleep for the remainder of the night and revisit this creature in the morning. While Susan wonders where the beast indicated in all the murals and pictures is.

The party level up to 4.

Kumak picks up Enlarge Person, and Featherfall

Desperate allies - Rise of the Runelords campaign session 7

In attendance were;

Thaddeus Whisperheart: Gnome Trickster
Kumak Morudall: Half-Orc Bloodrager

Along for a test run was a new player
Black Jack: Half Orc Fighter specializing in tripping with reach weapons



Tiberius: Human Paladin of Sarenrae
Susan: Human Universalist Wizard
Villster: Human Cleric

Were all away. I was a bit late arriving and found out I was the first one there. So late start followed by character creation for Black Jack led to a rather unimpressive time that was further squandered with yet another loot based issue but I digress.

Having killed chief Ripnugget and collected all the gear from the fallen goblins, Kumak begins searching the 3 adjoining rooms to the throne room while Tiberius, Thaddeus and Susan are discussing the way forward. The first room seems to be some sort of meeting room with papers that do not interest Kumak at all, the second is an armory filled with all manner of dogslicers, horsechoppers, and shortbows as well as a large pouch that appears to be magical. Taking the pouch out to have Susan identify it the door to the throne room opens admitting another half orc, leading a goblin by the scruff of the neck. The newcomer begins a long conversation with the 3 while Kumak finishes his inventory calling from the armory if anyone has asked the new comers name and if Kumak needs to hit him. The half orc identifies himself as Black Jack and Thaddeus calls that violence will not be needed for the moment. Black Jack enters the armory and claims that the magical pouch is his and Kumak hands it over. The final adjoining room appears to be the Chiefs bedchamber and Thaddeus finds both a holy symbol and a key ring there which he pockets.

Moving into the courtyard there are loud noises coming from a boarded up shed which Kumak ignores once it becomes clear that there is a beast of burden inside. Black Jack attempts to calm the beast while Thaddeus throws rocks at the shed to agitate it. Kumak searches the northern rooms and finds another set of stairs down, another meeting room and a privy. Hidden behind the privy he finds a large chest which is locked. Leaving the hidden door open for Thaddeus to work with Kumak heads south to clear out the final rooms before they move down. Thaddeus moves up to the chest and using the keys from Ripnuggets room opens the lid revealing a large quantity of money, a dress and some weapons and holy symbol. Having put most of the money and gems into his pack first, Black Jack follows into the room and declares that everything in here is actually his stolen by the goblins. When pressed by Thaddeus for a manifest of anything else that he might have lost Black Jack claims that he can't quite remember but he will continue with them and point out anything they find that might be his. Kumak meanwhile discovered 2 sleeping goblins in the last watchpost, killing one and taking the other prisoner. Bringing Thaddeus who speaks Goblin they conduct a quick interrogation and learning nothing of value Kumak tosses the goblin off the cliff. Shalelu, and Villister with Tiberius and Susans help meanwhile have managed to shoot a line attached to the bridge remnants across, and with Tiberius, Kumak and Thaddeus pulling they manage to reset the bridge for the moment, bringing Shalelu and Villister across. Black Jack is pleased that the bridge is repaired and suggests they leave, Kumak shrugs wishes him luck and points across the bridge telling the other half-orc to go then but they still have business here. Shalelu mentions that there are goblins mobilizing to reinforce Thistletop and as the best archer she can hold the bridge against them but the group had better hurry. Black Jack decides to come clean about the loot from the chest not being his and asks to stay with the group for an actual share of the spoils. There is grumbling at this but eventually an accord is reached.

Tiberius and Susan move to guard the northern stairway while Kumak, Thaddeus and Black Jack descend the southern stairs. Finding 3 doors in succession ahead, another to their left and 2 more to the right Kumak moves to the 3 doors and opens the left most entering into what could only be described by goblins as a nursery. With 3 feral goblin children in cages Kumak declines to murder them but seeing as the prevailing opinion is to let them starve to death he relents and swiftly executes them. The center door leads into a hallway that branches off to the right and following that leads to 5 doors, 2 on each side and one at the end of the hallway. The first room on the left is unoccupied and littered with birds feet but noise issues from its neighboring room. Trying the door finds it pushed back and a voice calls out for Bruthasmus to leave it alone, he is not in the mood for games. Recalling that Bruthasmus was the name of the local Bugbear giving Shalelu problems Kumak tries his best to approximate the timber of a Bugbears voice and loudly chuckles. Hearing something slide across the door Kumak fears the way barred but a solid shove proves it was only the occupant, a human male, pushing a dresser against the door. Entering the room the man taken aback glances to his armor and weapon on the nearby dresser and puts his hands up offering surrender. The trio agree for the moment taking all his belongings and interrogate Orik. Claiming to be done with this contract Orik agrees to aid them in exchange for his life, arms and armor, and the chance to convince another to join them as well. Quickly sketching out the rest of the level and revealing that there is another level below Orik mentions that the remaining 3 rooms belong to Tsuto, Lyrie, and Nualia respectively. Hearing that the half elf who fled from him earlier is near Kumak moves to his indicated room and quietly slips in, finding Tsuto sleeping. With one swing of the Earthbreaker Tsuto is rendered no more and Kumak claims a magical ring off the now corpses finger. Checking the remaining 2 rooms reveals the others are not around and after giving Orik his bastard sword and banded mail the group moves back to the main room.

The 3rd door opens into a disturbing scene. Evidently Bruthasmus has been passing the time in the company of several goblin whores, and given the relative size differences not to mention bursting in on the occupants the fight in flagrante delicto the combat leaves Kumak with both physical and emotional scars. According to Orik the rooms to the east are where a creature known as a Tentamort has claimed as its lair and up ahead is a chapel where the group might find Nualia, but he warns that she has some sort of devil dogs with her. With that the group steels themselves for the coming fight.


Thoughts:

Again with loot issues. I was actually rather annoyed when Black Jacks character claimed that all the loot found was his and pointed to his +7 bluff that it was believable. I had rolled a 16 vs his 17 and was hoping for the DM to impose even a -1 that literally all the things we had found were his and there might be more but he couldn't remember and would tell us as we went. DM later said he didn't want to get in the argument so I stepped out of character and offered the player one chance if he wanted to retcon anything, after that it, and any consequences from the lie being found out was going to stand and warning that with my loyalty drawback it was unlikely I would continue with him as a companion. The player at first stood by his initial call, but once Black Jack made his case that he wanted to leave and Kumak told him to take his wares and depart the player relented and I chose to interpret it as he never actually tried to take the things. Having not bothered to fight him on the magical bag of his equipment as conducting that in the midst of clearing the outpost didn't interest me as a player it was disappointing that I felt I had painted myself into a corner about not calling him out on items that may or may not be his in the interest of time. Had he just tried to claim one item from the pile I would have been quite happy allowing him his minor thievery but as he entered play with level 3 wealth, while I was still only 450 gold up from my starting wealth (400 of which encompasses the entirety of the Ranseur of which I would only get a share of 40 gold on selling)

Small creatures, big danger - Rise of the Runelords campaign session 6

Our Cleric was supposed to join us but something came up last minute and he was unable to make it.

In attendance were;

Thaddeus Whisperheart: Gnome Trickster
Tiberius: Human Paladin of Sarenrae
Susan: Human Universalist Wizard
Kumak Morudall: Half-Orc Bloodrager

Entering the bramble maze Tiberius finds it branches into 3 paths the hot cramped quarters make for an uncomfortable trip for all but Thddeus, taking the left most path leads to a sort of unmanned guard tower, which he and Thaddeus scale and Thaddeus is able to see Thistletop proper in a north eastern direction. Navigating more of the maze leads the group to a larger clearing where the others are able to stand up, there is a decently sized hole in the ground that Kumak peers over and after spitting into determines there is water down below. No sooner having learned that then the group is ambushed from both sides by a mob of 10 goblins. The battle is short and viscous, Tiberius starts cleaving through a mob on one side while Kumak fails spectacularly on the other. Susan wipes out one flank with a Burning Hands spell, 1 surviving goblin finding himself burning to death leaps into the pit so put out the flames and shortly afterwards there is a loud growl heard from below followed by a goblins scream that is cut short by whatever sarlacc beast is down there.

Advancing further to the north Tiberius stumbles into a goblin dog pen and faces 4 of the beasts, since the cramped quarters make it so none of the party is able to pass through each other and Tiberius refuses to maneuver himself to a better position no one is able to lend assistance and the paladin faces the dogs alone for several rounds suffering a few bites, one of which begins to cause his skin to itch uncomfortably. Finally felling the beasts the group performs an awkward turn around and Tiberius heads south encountering a medium sized chamber with a bunch of reddish fur in places. Entering the room Thaddeus is suddenly pounced upon by a fire pelt cougar. Tiberius attempts to pet the cat and gets swatted at for his efforts, while Thaddeus moves further away from the cougar towards the next chamber in the tangle of bushes. Kumak is finally able to move into the chamber and kills the animal, just as Thaddeus makes his way through the nettles into the next room and comes face to face with a goblin, who takes one look at him, casts a spell that causes a small bird to appear, fly up and out of the brambles towards Thistletop, then the goblin backs up to the tangle of thorns and seemingly passes into them with no effort. Thaddeus calls out to Susan to have her owl which has been circling above, to kill the thrush then attempts to throw his dagger at the goblin to no avail. The Goblin spends the next few rounds stepping in and out of the brush stabbing at the adventurers with some sort of flame blade until Susan sets him on fire and Kumak lands a hefty blow gravely wounding the goblin who fails to put out the fire which finishes him off. Fishing the body out from the vines the group finds some healing potions, 2 wands, a magical cloak and some magical leather armor. Thaddeus takes the armor for himself and proclaims the cloak is his as well but Susan ignore the already cloaked gnome and takes it for herself.

Moving north the team finally come out into the open air again and see before them a rope bridge that leads to Thistletop. Kumak spends a few minutes airing himself out and reveling in the feeling of being able to move freely again. Hearing some soft movement behind them the group find Shalelu emerging from the briars, relieved that the elf maid had not been killed or captured in her reconnaissance the group discuss the safety of the bridge. Tiberius, knowing there was a path through the briars he has not fully investigated decides he is going back in, Kumak not wanting to relive that experience any time soon announces he will not be following followed by the others reiterating their desire to remain where they are. 3 minutes of waiting goes by before Kumak the heaviest of the group decides to test if the bridge will hold him, tying a rope around his waist he hands the other end to Thaddeus and begins walking across, Tiberius returning just as Kumak is halfway across runs across the bridge to join him. The half orc seeing the next heaviest person on the bridge with him hisses at the paladin to go back before he gets them both killed and cross one at a time but the paladin refuses. Since Kumak was closer to the Thistletop end he moves to finish his walk rather than wait for the heavily armored paladin to catch up and pass him. As the 50ft rope runs out Thaddeus continues to hold his end and begins to be pulled onto the bridge, Susan shrugging steps onto the bridge too and there is an audible "crack" as the bridge gives way and everyone but Thaddeus plunges below. Thaddeus manages to grab one of the moorings on the shore side and holds the rope in an attempt to save Kumak from the fall but his heart is stronger than his grip and he instead loses his grip of the mooring and is pulled off the cliff himself.

Splashing into the water 80ft below the group find themselves heavily injured. Kumak weathers it well enough but Thaddeus and Tiberius are barely holding themselves together. Looking around Thaddeus sees Susan floating face down as she beings to sink. Kumak a strong swimmer sees them with his dark vision and calls for Thaddeus to grab her and hold onto the rope, readying himself to pull the 2 towards him so he can administer aid. The waters below are calmer during the night time but still quite violent and Thaddeus finds himself unable to reach Susan as he sees her body being to react to drowning. Suddenly there is a very quiet splash nearby and the gnome sees Shalelu emerge from the water, wand clenched in her teeth, she unleashes a wave of magic into Susan which brings the woman back to consciousness and she being to cough out water. Tiberius weighted down by his banded mail and shield is unable to do much more than bring his head out of the water for a brief gulp of air before he is swallowed by the water again and decides to drop his shield in a bid to save himself. Thaddeus finally grabbing Susan is pulled across the water by Kumak to the bottom of rocky rise that houses Thistletop, hoisting Thaddeus and Susan up onto a perch Kumak climbs on himself then turns to see Tiberius, dropping his shield 10ft below and sinking fast. Taking the blunt end of his ranseur Kumak jabs it into the paladin, who gratefully grabs this life line and is brought back from certain death. Looking across the way the group sees Shalelu begin to scale the mainland cliffs to rejoin Villster. Kumak sighs heavily, Tiberius blames Susan for their predicament which no one else agrees with as the group moves counter clockwise around the island. While the paladin makes his case Kumak steals his rope and ties it to the one that Thaddesu is still holding and begins to climb the cliff. The 3 remaining below spy a dark shape moving in the water nearby and each move up the rope to stay out of reach of whatever is hunting below. Looping the rope around some rocks every 20 ft Kumak reaches the top and silently pulls himself over the lip and back onto proper land. Looking around, the half orc sees no sign of discovery and hearing the voices of several goblins across the way. Creeping across he sees 4 goblins playing some sort of game where one hold a rope tied to a seagull while the others throw rocks at it. Holding his ranseur parallel to the ground Kumak rushes at the goblins and shoves 3 of them over the side of the cliff. The one holding the rope shocked by this has a moment to look at the huge half orc standing in front of him before he is cut down. Kumak strips the body and takes it over to rope, tossing the corpse well past the cliff to signal to the others to ascend.

Getting the last of the group up Tiberius declares that he has used up all his healing and is still quite hurt, they should find some cover and rest until morning. Susan and Thaddeus join Tiberius in the nearest bush to set in for the night but Kumak hearing revelries through the nearest wall realizes that their incursion has not been reported yet and if they act before the bridge is discovered they may yet be able to reconnect with Villister and Shalelu. Kumak moves along the outside walls to what he believes is a guard post and scales the first portion of the outside wall. Hearing goblins chattering inside he moves further up but a rotted piece of wood breaks in his hand. The goblins go silent as does Kumak who readies his ranseur. After one minute a goblin head pokes out and Kumak makes a swing but is off center and it goes wide. Cursing Kumak leaps over the lip and into the guard tower killing one goblin, the remaining goblin moves to leap over the the edge towards a door but Kumak pins that one to the floor. Returning to the bush Kumak nudges the group and asks if they would prefer to sleep with a roof over their heads, leading them to the now uninhabited guard house. Kumak asks Susan if her owl would be capable of delivering a message to Villister and Shalelu to which she agrees it could. Writing out a short message Susan sends her owl off while Tiberius tries to sleep. The owl returns shortly later with a note and a wand clutched in its talons. Shalelu says she is fine and will find a way to join them soon, here is a healing wand to tide them over until their cleric can rejoin them. Looking it over they find it has 24 charges remaining so the group kicks Tiberius awake again and indicate they wish to clear Thistletop of goblins while it is still night and they have the element of surprise. Tiberius objects as he has no more uses of his healing left and Susan has expended 2 spells but is overruled and handed the wand which he uses to bring the most injured back to fighting form.

While Tiberius is still objecting to this course Kumak moves to one of the doors leading from the guard tower and opens it, greeted to a long hallway and foyer with many doors he tries the first one and opens the door to a bunk room with 6 goblins, 3 still sleeping and 3 just sitting up at half orcs entrance. Kumak, Tiberius and Thaddeus make short work of 5 of the goblins and Thaddeus takes the final prisoner. Interrogating him in goblin Thaddeus agrees that they will release him after he shows them where to find the people in charge. The goblin, "Pisstoes", takes the group to the next door down the hall which leads below and gestures that the "Metal man", "Dark Lady". "Silver Hair", and Bruthazmus are all down there. Thaddeus gets some final odd bits of information out of the goblin before he gestures to Kumak who grabs the gobin and smashed its head into the stone wall. Moving to the next door Kumak hears the party that he could hear from outside, gets ready to open it when Tiberius calls out that he wants to investigate some other doors first. Kumak looks puzzled as the paladin rushes off and opens the next door alone, peering in to see a sort of exercise yard with a shed boarded up, heavy breathing and movement comes from within. Tiberius makes to move to another door when Kumak looks to the rest of the group and calls out "ready?" Tiberius rushes back and rejoins the party as they burst into a small throne room where some goblins seem to be putting on a reenactment of the raid on Sandpoint, complete with unflattering portrayals of the party. Kumak spears his goblin counterpart while Tiberius rushes up to the goblin wearing mismatched armor, slamming its head against a post in a mockery of the paladin. Susan fires a ray of frost at a goblin but it strikes the pillow it had under its clothes to give it the illusion of Villisters paunch. The goblin on the throne mounts onto a nearby lizard and ties himself onto the saddle. The fight is bloody and long. Susan and Thaddeus are stymied by Villster-Goblin for much of the fight while Tiberius-Goblin keeps Tiberius occupied. Kumak kills Susan-Goblin then moves in to assist Tiberius with Chief Ripnugget on his lizard but the chief seems to be a skilled mounted warrior and Thaddeus is dropped by a passing charge from the goblin. Tiberius uses the wand to bring the gnome back and then Kumak spears the lizard through the heart, Ripnugget moves into a corner where he can't be flanked and Tiberius spends the next few seconds healing himself with the wand as the chief lands blow after blow on the paladin. Finally Kumak finds the opening he needs and runs the goblin chief through ending his life. Searching the carnage the group finds a few more healing potions of an even stronger variety, a potion of barkskin, a magical short sword, a ring of 3 keys and a masterwork breastplate, but unfortunately sized for a small creature.


Thoughts:

I don't for the life of me know why the paladin wanted to get in front of me on the bridge. I was shocked both in and out of character that he put the 2 heaviest people on the bridge at the same time. The GM was laughing and said he thought out of all the paranoid players he would never have gotten me with this bridge, which I still maintain he didn't. Susan almost died, she was at 2 rounds of drowning and on the 3rd its death, GM maintains that he didn't pull any punches on the damage or Shalelu jumping in to assist with the wand. I don't really understand the paladins desire to rest when he got the wand, the health issue was taken care of so the only thing missing was his lay on hands to which I told him, better resource management. He tried to point to the wizard being out of spells but I pointed out that she had only expended a level 1 and a level 2 so she was still pretty decked out. I don't know if we can clear out level 2 without resting but I feel confidant we can finish the top level and then post a guard at the stairs going down. Either way both the Paladin and Wizard are gone next week, so if we have our Cleric back we could probably still run this. The Paladin was very upset about his AC dropping from 20 to 18 without his shield. Especially in the throne room fight despite the fact that Ripnugget was rolling some stupid high numbers, I think there was only 1 hit that would have missed a 20 AC, granted Ripnugget was hitting for something like 15 damage when he was on his lizard. GM and I talked about it later, he was worried that the player might have been trying to get his character killed on the bridge at first but doesn't think so anymore.

Making Friends in low places - Rise of the Runelords campaign session 5

We again found ourselves minus our Cleric who I am told will be rejoining us in June.

In attendance were;

Thaddeus Whisperheart: Gnome Trickster
Tiberius: Human Paladin of Sarenrae
Susan: Human Universalist Wizard
Kumak Morudall: Half-Orc Bloodrager

After interrogating the creature that Thaddeus identified as a Quasit. The group conducted a relativly unsuccessful interrogation then dispatched it. Returning to the statue Kumak and Thaddeus had discovered, Susan inspected the writings and determined it was a statue of the Runelord of Wrath Alaznist. While studying the statue the group heard foot steps and found one of the Townsguard, Pte Tiernay joining them. He explained that some of the townsfolk had witnessed the party enter the glassworks and when he had investigated and found goblin corpses he had fled to get help. Running into Gavren Devres, the Paladin operator of the local brewery he felt brave enough to return and see if the newest deputies were well.

Getting bored with all the talking and fawning over old scribbles on the statue Kumak picks the north door and opens it. Tiberius calls for him to hold for a moment, and in a moment that gave the Half-orc pause, Tiberius offered to take the lead. Entering onto a rickety wooden walkway Tiberius and Susan remained above on the planks while Kumak and Thaddeus descended to check the bottom floor. Just as Kumak had begun to search the empty cells he found Tiberius was attacked from below by some more of the Sin Spawn. The first cant seem to break the knights armor, but its friend lands a telling blow against Susan who flees towards Kumak and Thaddeus. Kumak moves up to the first Sin Spawn, and using the Ranseur pins the creature to the wall and watches the life drain from its eyes. The other Spawn vaults up onto the walkway above and thrashes at Tiberius to no avail. Thaddeus rushes upstairs and attempts to shove the creature off the walkway but the gnome cant seem to budge the monstrosity. Tiberius stabs it in the gut but it refuses to go down until Kumak moves underneath the floor boards and his Ranseur pierces up through the walkway to impale the Sin Spawn right in his grundle.

Susan being rather injured elects to stay further back for the moment. Finding nothing of interest in the cells the group advances through a door at the end of the walkway. Past a hallway they come to a room with 2 doors. Opening the right one they are met with a small cluttered room with 3 doors against one wall. As Thaddeus and Susan begin searching Tiberius opens one of the doors and finds a skeleton with an abnormally large head. Kumak knocks on the other 2 doors in the room but hearing no answer moves outside. Tiberius opens the rooms other doors and finds a skeleton in each, one with a vestigial 3rd arm and the other whose rib cage continues down far beyond where it should have terminated. Moving to leave the room Tiberius kicks over a piece of wood under which Thaddeus spies a scroll case. Swiftly the gnome claims it and determines it is a scroll of Flaming Sphere.

Thaddeus's curiosity gets the better of him as he had not been able to open many of the doors himself, he opens the door to the next room, and gets a javelin through his stomach for his trouble. Kumak flies into a rage and advances into the room, seeing some piles of timber over the floor and at the far end of the room is a heavily mutated goblin. The half-orc avoids stepping on the wood piles and just manages to get into range for his new Ranseur to do its work. In one mighty swing Kumak takes the head off the goblin and seeing no more dangers catches his breath. Susan, entering the room determines that this goblin is afflicted with all 3 of the mutations seen on the skeletons in the previous room. Based off prior descriptions she feels confidant that this was once the goblin hero Korvus, who was famed for fighting with a magical long sword that was much too big for him. Hearing "Magical Long sword" Tiberius charges up to claim the blood red blade which Susan confirms is magic. Kumak stores a Masterwork handaxe, and silver dagger in his backpack for later. Hearing noises from beneath the wood piles the group remove the coverings of one and spy a couple shambling figures at the bottom of what appears to be a 20 foot pit. Confirming that there are more in each of the covered pits Tiberius begins tying some rope to rappel himself down and take the fight to them, while Kumak takes his bow and arrows purchased by Foxglove and makes short work of the zombies.

Advancing to the south Tiberius finds some stairs that continue down but they way has been blocked by a cave in that seems beyond their current capabilities to circumnavigate, further down the hall the group comes upon a spherical shaped room, the door they stand in opening into the center. Catching a glimpse of some objects seemingly floating within the room Kumak picks up a stray bit of stone and tosses it in. Seeing the stone lose much of its momentum but continue to float he steps in after it and finds that he too floats, it is an all together uncomfortable feeling which the party soon joins in on. Taking a mysterious red book which no one can read, a scroll of burning hands and a bottle of wine the group returns to the statue of the Runelord and advances down the last unexplored hallway. Rising up several flights of stairs they come out into a room with a small font and are surprised by a small creature that darts out of the shadows to attack. What can only be described as a severed head with wings on either side lets out an ear-piercing scream that locks all the heroes in place save Tiberius, protected by the light of Sarenrae. Tiberius and the creature exchange blows for several seconds and the battle is taxing but the Paladin finds himself soon standing over the deceased remains of his foe. However the creature had given Tiberius a suspicious kiss before the fight ended and Tiberius finds himself feeling unwell. The group manage to shake off the effect that held them and confirming that the hallway leads to a caved in set of stairs that would have led up they elect to return to the surface. During the trip back Tiberius finds his hair begins to fall out in large clumps and the paladin resolves he must see father Zantus as soon as possible.

Reaching the stairs that lead back into the glassworks the group hears the sound of commotion, a standoff, one man vs many, a brief fight then as they are acending the stairs the body of Gavren Devres tumbles down the stairs, unmoving. Flying into a rage Kumak reaches the landing to see a few of Jubrayl's men he knows along with 3 others he has not met. There is one large individual with his back to the stairs in the process of explaining himself to the others when Kumak's Earthbreaker smashes him across the back. The man is pushed forward into the foyer proper but remains on his feet as Kumak's form fills the doorway. One of the men holds out his hands and tries to sue for peace, that there can be an understanding and no one needs to die. As Tiberius and Thaddeus join Kumak upstairs Tiberius calls down to Villister who confirms that Gavren is dead. Kumak responds with

"Any of you lot still holding a weapon in 2 seconds gets turnt to jelly"

The one talker among them who identifies himself as Drewil agrees and drops his weapon as do all the others save the big guy that Kumak had struck from behind who holds onto his spear staring the half-orc dead in the eyes. As Kumak takes a step towards him the leader of the group calls out

"Hardue, drop it"

Hardue sniffs and throws down his weapon. Kumak and Thaddeus gather the gear and march the prisoners to the jail while Tiberius and Susan take Gavrens body to see father Zantus. Arriving at the chapel they set Gavrens body aside to be cleaned and prepared while father Zantus delves into the affliction that has now caused all of Tiberius's hair to fall out and his ears have begun to come to elongated points. The old man finally determines that some sort of disease is affecting him but he does not have the power to remove it himself. Searching through a reserve stash Zantus casts a remove disease which takes hold and immediately Tiberius's ears revert to their normal shape. He however remains completely hairless. Susan, Tiberius and father Zantus discuss the events that transpired and the 2 eventually take their leave of him to return to the Rusty Dragon.

Thaddeus and Kumak march the prisoners into separate cells and pull Drewil into the interrogation room first. Drewil is reluctant at first to cooperate, claiming that they had heard that the group had broken into the glassworks and when they saw Gavren and Pte Tiernay follow they entered and after a misunderstanding Hardue kncoked into Gavren and he must have died from the fall. Thaddeus leaps up onto the table and demands answers, throwing his new returning dagger into the chair between Drewils legs then letting it blink back to his hand. Drewil is nervous but holds out on his story so Thaddeus looks to Kumak and back to Drewil, sighs and says

"Well I tried, now I guess we do it his way"

Kumak grabs the table that Thaddeus is still standing on and hurls it at the nearby wall, causing it to explode into so much firewood. Thaddeus falls prone but with only his pride hurt he cleans himself off and takes a seat on the remaining chair.

"I saw 'is body. Was too many wounds on 'im for one idiot to have done that 'fore you coulda stopped 'im. You all did it, mebbe not at the end, mebbe yous was looking for 'im to give up. But all of yous stuck 'im didn't you?"

Gavren looks terrified of the hulking brute leaning into him, looks to Thaddeus for help, finding none the words begin to spill out

"Alright yes, I didn't want to kill him, we were just supposed to follow you and see what you were doing?"

"On who's orders?"

"......Jubrayl. But that's all, this whole situation was just a misunderstanding gone out of control"

"You know, that when we bring your friends in 'ere, your story and theirs better match up, else yous gonna see what kind of mess I can make when it aint a table I'm throwing into a wall."

Interviewing 2 of the others the story matches up. No one else claims to know about Jubrayl giving the orders, just that they take their orders from Drewil. Hardue is brought into the interrogation room and sits silently as Thaddeus runs off what they already know and if he would like a chance to offer something up to help save him life. Kumak seeing seeing Hardue just silently glare at him walks outside the room and rests his weapons against the wall in the hallway and returns to the interrogation room.

"You see if you don't want to cooperate then I have to let my friend here ask and he's not as nice as I am."

Hardue continues to glare.

"Well I did try, I think I am going to go look over all the evidence we have and try and figure out if they will kill you by hanging, headsman, or just pull you apart with horses then yes?" Thaddeus walks out leaving Kumak with Hardue.

The 2 large men glare at each other for several seconds before Kumak flexes his hands and asks

"You want a shot at the belt huh? Well lets have it"

Hardue tenses but makes no move. After a minute Kumak shrugs

"Yeah thought so." Opening the door he calls for the guards on duty, "He's done here, put 'im back in 'is cell."

Kumak and Thaddeus agree that the next step as the official law in this town should be to confront Jubrayl at the Fat Man's Feedbag and bring him in for questioning. They briefly wonder if they should wait until they have healed or bring some backup but decide that they are badasses and can do this on their own.

Walking straight into the bar the 2 are met with an abrupt silence as about 25 or so patrons immediately stop what they are doing and stare at them, fingering weapons. Kumak walks up to the bartender, who has pulled his heavy cudgel out and set it on the bar. The half-orc slides a gold over

"Good fight, no hard feelings" The bartender flicks the coin back and Kumak catches it shrugging.

Thaddeus clears his throat,

"I do hate to disturb you gentlemen but we are here on official business, we are here for a Mr. Jubrayl you see. We need to take him down to the jail for questioning."

"And what if I decide I don't want to go with you" comes a voice from the back as Jubrayl steps into the taverns main room."

Kumak moves between Thaddeus and Jubrayl "Come quietly or there will be.... trouble"

Thaddeus raises his hands "Now, now Kumak no need for that. Mr. Jubrayl you see we have information that leads us to believe that you may be able to shed some light on a murder."

"So, ask me here then. I don't have to go with you" to which Kumak holds up his badge

Thaddeus continues "I'm afraid that's not how this works. Now you could come quietly with us, answer our questions and everyone would be happy, or we could tell Sheriff Hemlock and the 20 men outside that they need to come in here and pacify the lot of you. I was hoping we could avoid that." As he talks Thaddeus discreetly casts a spell that imitates the Sheriffs voice outside calling for Jubrayl to step out or he will be coming in. Jubrayl purses his lips for a moment,

"Alirght, give me a moment then. You caught me in the middle of something" disappearing into the back room he returns a moment later. "Well lets get this over with I suppose"

Stepping outside and seeing no sheriff, Jubrayl begins to make a fuss but with a strong arm from Kumak he continues to the jail. Jubrayl's interrogation is easier that Hardues but just as fruitful. He claims to know nothing of Drewil and paints him as a local malcontent seeking him harm. As they have no evidence against him he demands they release him. To which Kumak and Thaddeus agree that it will have to wait until the sheriff returns and see him to a cell. Thaddeus inspects the belongings they had confiscated when they brought him in, finding a coded notebook he swipes it and unable to immediately decipher it elects to make a copy to work on later. Kumak elects to sleep at the jail tonight as Thaddeus returns to the Rusty Dragon.

In the morning looking over the papers collected from beneath the glassworks Tiberius and Susan realize that there seems to be a full scale goblin raid planned and the staging area seems to be at the Thistletop tribe. Sheriff Hemlock enters and sending word for Kumak to join them they fill them in on the events since his departure. The sheriff regrets that he will have to release Jubrayl as it seems they have nothing on him but Kumak and Thaddeus convince him to wait a day or 2. The group discuss options and decide to reconnoiter the goblin stronghold at Thistletop. The journey is a short 2 hours by foot and the group comes to a heavily dense forest filled with brambles. Hours of searching sees them getting no closer to Thistletop, finally Susan leads them along a small game trail to a relatively spacious opening surrounded by heavy spiky brush, but nothing else. As the day is getting darker talk turns to either camping out here and trying again come first light or returning to town. As the group debates Kumak does one final search of the area before they start breaking up the watch and spies a rope cleverly disguised to look like a natural vine. Giving it a pull a small trap door opens into the thick bramble wall before them. Glancing in no goblins are seen but signs of plenty of activity. Tiberius takes the lead but finds he must crawl forward, Thaddeus follows and finds the paths through the brambles are sized appropriately for him, Kumak elects to take the rear to keep Villister and Susan safe from any ambushes.



Thoughts: I was overjoyed to see the Paladin actually step up and start acting like a Paladin. He was never shy about taking point but it didn't feel like a point of pride. It felt like he was doing it to protect his allies which is how I feel a Paladin would act. There was a minor issue with Thaddeus rolling the perception check to find a scroll but the way it was narrated Tiberius announced he picked it up. The gnome player tried to interject that he was the one who noticed it but the game just rolled on. I don't know how the player felt about that, hopefully it wasn't much of an issue. As I suspected the paladins player started asking about making a fighter instead. I had already spoken about this to the GM so we were all fine doing some mental retconning to make Tiberius a fighter instead of a paladin but the player was interested in a full reroll if he makes the switch. Unfortunately he wants to be 2 handed power attacking beast. Which means he and I would be directly competing for items. If he chooses to switch over his rolled stats were unreal.
18/17/15/10/10/6
He was quite upset at the 6 despite my pointing out his 18,17,15. I tried to impress on him that his character is more than just the stats and the peaks and valleys are what can bring a character out. We will see what comes of it. Personally if he thinks he doesn't want to be restricted to a Paladin I would prefer we retcon his existing character to something like a Cavalier from the Order of the Cockatrice.

Haunting Images - Rise of the Runelords campaign session 4

This session sees us again without our cleric, who is piloted by the GM.

In attendance are;

Thaddeus Whisperheart: Gnome Trickster
Tiberius: Human Paladin of Sarenrae
Susan: Human Universalist Wizard
Kumak Morudall: Half-Orc Bloodrager


The group awake later than normal to a much more subtle smell of breakfast. The morning spread comparatively meager to the usual fare. The halfling cook apologizes profusely that Ameiko has not risen yet to help so she is running later than normal. Tiberius, immediately concerned for his proclaimed love shoots up to check on her when Sheriff Hemlock steps inside. He tells the party that all this goblin activity has him concerned and he wants to deputize the lot of them for the moment while he makes for Magnimar to plead for additional men.

The group is agreeable the terms of coin paid per day and access to garrison equipment. Newly minted as a deputy, Tiberius checks Ameiko's room and finds it empty. Alerting the group that their host may be missing invites jeers that she may have fled to be rid of Tiberius's advances, but they agree to look into it regardless. Kumak searches her room and finds a diary with scribbles beyond the usual scribbles people write and hands it to Susan. Susan decodes it and finds that it mentions Amieko was to meet her brother last night. Shalelu had left a note informing that she was going to scout out the local goblin tribes to see if they posed an immediate threat. With none of the party having much in the way of tracking skills they split up to ask about, Kumak proudly displaying his badge to everyone, Thaddeus ordering a guard to spend his time making a fabulous cloak for his gnome officer, Tiberius fretting, Susan rolling her eyes, and Villister forgotten at the Rusty Dragon.

Multiple avenues of searching leads them either to the Kaijitsu manor or the glassworks to speak with Amieko's father. Since they are already in town and the glassworks is operating the party elects to start there. The doors to the glassworks are all locked and all the windows have heavy blinds pulled. Thaddeus starts fiddling with the lock to the main door while Kumak moves around one side of the building to search for another entrance, Susan moves to the other side to meet in the middle, Tiberius runs forward along with Kumak and finding another locked door the Paladin pushes his shoulder into it and rips one of the stout doors off its hinges. Kumak shrugs and steps over the debris joining the human inside. Tiberius hears noise to the right and investigates there while Kumak splits to the left and opens a door revealing some sort of storage room. Thaddeus manages to pick the lock to the main door and entering a deserted front foyer filled with fancy glass works proceeds to "accidentally" knock several over. Tiberius opening the right door is greeted with the sight of 8 or so goblins smashing bits of glass, chewing on body parts and the grisly sight of the corpse of Ameiko's father covered in now cured glass. Calling out for aid Tiberius stands in the doorway and spends the next 30 seconds trading blows with goblins, the goblins unable to penetrate his steel armor and Tiberius unable to make significant headway in their numbers. Kumak is unable to join the fray as Tiberius refuses to make an advance into the room

"Git your pansy steel covered arse up in there so I can 'it em"

Thaddeus hears a commotion through some doors and investigating finds himself on the opposite end of the room from Tiberius and Kumak. Seeing 3 goblins in easy striking distance the gnome chooses to close the door and brace up against it. The fight is disjointed and drawn out. Tiberius finally moves enough to allow Kumak into the room and the Bloodrager squashes 2 goblins in quick succession.

"Please I've killed 3 to your 2"

The Paladin quips but the final goblin darts through Thaddeus's door and down the hall, Kumak gives chase, with his longer gait expecting to easily close the distance but the goblin manages to stay ahead and doubles back to where Kumak entered the glassworks and down some stairs. Kumak chases after and Susan spying this follows with Thaddeus. Tiberius decides to stay above and begins searching through the remainder of the building while Villister follows him admonishing him for looting the place while his allies are still taking the fight to the enemy. Chasing the goblin through worked tunnels, Kumak finds himself about to enter a T junction, sensing a trap the Bloodrager realizes he is alone, far from his allies, and in danger of being surrounded so he backs up and hides in a nearby closet hoping to catch his enemy unawares. Kumak hears movement but nothing crosses his eye-line. That is until Thaddeus runs past and enters the T junction, finding himself flanked by a goblin and elf man. The goblin and Elf land a few blows on Thaddeus who moves puts a hit into the goblin. Kumak moves to join the fray and drops the goblin leaving only the Elf man, who takes one look at his situation and in a series of leaps, slides and twists manages to zip over Thaddeus and past Kumak running down the hallway. Kumak roars and sprints after him but the elf is far faster than seemed possible and even at his top speed Kumak fails to so much as catch sight of him again. Susan inspects the other side of the T junction and finds the beaten but very much alive form of Ameiko. Tiberius is pleased to see the object of his affection will recover and Villister volunteers to remain and tend to her injuries while the party explores ahead. With Tiberius in the lead he hopes.

Tiberius makes comments towards the lightly armored half-orc and questions why he hasn't gone ahead instead of waiting for the fully mailed paladin. To which Kumak responds,

"Your'e right, I'm done waiting on you"

Advancing down the other tunnel Kumak encounters 2 creatures he has never seen before that give an inhuman scream and charge,whatever they are, 40 pounds of steel swung by 300 pounds of half orc muscle stops one dead in its tracks. Tiberius, Susan and Thaddeus arrive moments later and the 3 of them bring the other down.

"Going that way, your'e welcome to come or not" Kumak says nodding straight ahead. Thaddeus looks to the other 2, shrugs and follows while Tiberius and Susan choose to explore an off shoot to the cavern that gives way to more worked stone, Susan sends her owl to follow Kumak and Thaddeus with directions that she will communicate with them via the owl as best she can. Kumak and Thaddeus find themselves entering into a worked stone room with exits to the 4 cardinal points. In the center of the room is a statue of a woman bearing both a beautiful and monstrous visage. Clutched in her hands is a spectacular Ranseur that is as much a work of art as it is functional weapon. Steadying himself for the statue to attack Kumak wrenches the weapon free from the statues grasp, waits, but no attack comes. Looking to Tiny Nuggets and asking which direction he feels they should take they notice Susan's owl, who has started making concerned hoots and flapping not towards the direction they entered but the tunnel to the right of it. Resigning themselves to the task, Kumak and Tiny Nuggets follow the path until it branches, seeing signs of recent footfalls they deduce Tiberius and Susan came this way and follow.

The group rejoins in a room with some sort of raised dais and altar, with a door leading further in. Pressing on together they find a second set of doors and past that a room of some kind of importance. There is a water well in the center constantly generating a slow trickle, a pair of stairs flanking the walls that lead to a raised portion that overlooks the well and something else atop the dais. Kumak advances up the steps, Earthbreaker ready while Tiberius moves along the lower section. Thaddeus and Susan begin inspecting the room when they hear a small voice chanting. Some sort of hell dog appears below and attacks Tiberius while a small creature moves towards the object on the dais and drips some of its own blood into it, spawning more of those unknown creatures which Susan identifies as Sin Spawn. Tiberius takes a blast of hell fire and a viscous bite from the dog. Thaddeus faces off against the Sin Spawn while Kumak is magically held in place.Susan adds her arcane might and archery where she can but the tide moves against them when the creature summons another devil to the fight. Kumak finally shakes the magic and in one swing sends the creature back to whence it came. Tiberius heals himself as best he can while Thaddeus is taking blow after blow from the Sin Spawn. With a final swing of his sword Tiberius slays the devil dog and with that the door opens admitting Villister and Amieko. Kumak screams to close the door as he does not want to allow another foe to escape and between the now 6 of them the make short work of the Sin Spawn and hold the door. However the creature which had demonstrated the ability to turn invisible through the fight dives for the pool of water and vanishes beneath. Thaddeus distraught that it got away is reminded by Kumak that there is a good chance it remains. Diving into the water was a misdirect and it merely turned invisible and is simply waiting for its moment to escape. The group try to figure out how to locate it, Kumak reaches into his pack and offers up his 5 pound bag of flour when Villister reminds Tiberius that as a Paladin he can detect evil around himself to locate it. Doing so eventually gives Tiberius a bead on it and combined with his Smite the group manages to capture shortly interrogate and kill the creature. Claiming its magical dagger and small treasures for themselves.


Thoughts;

I'm trying to step back and allow the paladin to play his way but I think he would prefer a Fighter. Making snide comments that the guy with a 15 AC, 13 if he rages needs to step up his front line game while you cower behind your 20 AC just don't land. I keep telling myself that he's joking but then I'm reminded that he keeps fighting against going upfront and putting that AC to use for the party. Having literally encountered this exact thing already ( a 20's AC character refusing to step into the fray) I am adamant that I will not make the same mistake twice. Then I had allowed the other PC to take all the AC boosting items under the pretense that they would use them for the party. This time I plan on making a case for myself for every Ring of Protection or Amulet of Natural Armor we find.

GM was upset that I stopped before entering the T junction. Thinks that my character wouldn't have stopped. I pointed out that I have average Wis low Int. No book smarts but street smarts. He disagrees. I'm taking it under advisement but I think he was just upset I spotted his trap when a 40ft move speed bloodrager cant close the gap with a 30ft speed goblin. On that note talking later GM mentioned that I didn't catch the Elf because he was a level 3 Monk who used Ki to increase his speed. I pointed out Monks don't get Ki until level 4, he asked if I wanted to retcon some things but I said no. Monks get 40ft move speed at level 3 so he would have been keeping pace with me at best and I was raging at the time so I was on a timer. We would arrive at the same end point with only cosmetic changes in the journey.

GM mentioned that we will probably level up to 3 mid next session. I'm going to recommend Craft Wondrous Item to our Wizard, this is her first campaign and she finds herself with very little to do most combats. If we sell that dagger we picked up its about 1,250 gp each and I don't mind lending her my share so she can bang out 5 level 1 Pearls of power to give her repeated Magic Missiles or something, if she doesn't use them in combat then they will help with our Clerics healing

Noble pursuits - Rise of the Runelords Campaign session 3

We found ourselves without our usual venue and Cleric as that player is looking for a new place to live as well as his own game preps so Villister will be running more in the background

In attendance were;
Susan the Human Universalist Wizard
Tiberius the Human Paladin of Sarenrae
Thaddeus Whisperheart the Gnome Prankster Bard
Kumak Morudall the Half Orc Bloodrager
and GMPC'd Villister Craig the Elderly Human Cleric


The party left the blacksmiths with Thaddeus requesting Kumak join him at the Mayors. Tiberius and Susan follow after a short side conversation. At the Mayors Thaddeus tests her by tossing one of the robes found in the crypt at her but is unable to glean any reaction. Requesting that she consult with the towns tailors to see if it can be traced the group leaves. Tiberius petitions the group attend a bar together and asking around finds 2 establishments that pique his interest, The Pixies Kitten, a local brothel, and Fat Man's Feedbag, a rougher style of bar. Tiberius chooses the Fat Man's Feedbag.

Upon arriving, the establishment is dirty and mostly vacant with only a large heavyset bartender and one early patron mostly passed out in his cup. Tiberius orders ales for all but only pays for his then moves towards the sleeping patron to inquire about him. Upon getting no response for a minute the barkeep waves him off bothering a customer. Thaddeus takes one sniff of the liquid and requests something palatable in a clean glass which elicits choice words from the barkeep and an insulting back and forth between Thaddeus and the barkeep until the barman reaches under the counter and prepares to take a swing at the gnome. Kumak reaches across the bar to grab the burly man and takes a restrained swat across the arms from his club but manages to lock him in a hold for a moment before he breaks free. Thaddeus continues to jeer at the man while Tiberius, and Susan watch, and Villister naps at a table. Kumak takes a restrained swing with his hammer connecting with a solid blow, but the burly man proves to be a tougher opponent than expected and after trading several solid hits Kumak collapses. The barkeep orders Thaddeus to leave and take his half-orc garbage with him, and after a lengthy and awkward time the gnome manages to drag his unconscious companion out the front door while Tiberius looks on.

Susan wakes Vilister, who administers some aid to Kumak bringing him back to consciousness but still heavily bruised. Rubbing his jaw Kumak mumbles out a swollen "Good Fight" as he picks himself up off the street. Tiberius wishing to visit the Pixie's Kitten offers for others to join him but Kumak feeling the fresh sting of failing a challenge elects to visit the Hagfish, a tavern known for its seldom accomplished feat of drinking the tank "water" of the owners aquarium. The remainder of the party follows Kumak and when entering they spot Gris the full-orc met earlier sitting at a table surrounded by several locals laughing, drinking, and arm wrestling. Kumak saddles up to the bar, asks for an ale and inquires about the challenge. Told that competitors must pay a silver to the purse, then manage to drink down a pint of the "water" and keep it down Kumak slides a sliver across and asks for a go. The bartender, an old salt with one wooden leg, rings a bell to signal a competitor at which Gris looks up and sees them. Kumak grabs the pint and rage chews it down easily managing to fight his body's natural instincts to throw up, chasing it down with the ale. The barkeep congratulates him and tosses Kumak a purse of 3 gold, to which Gris pipes up saying they arrived too late and he had already taken the better purse. Kumak tells him that he did it for the challenge, not the reward. Thaddeus hypes up Kumak and persuades Gris to wager purse against purse in an arm wrestling contest to which the orc agrees. Setting his 3 gold winnings against Gris's 70 gold purse Kumak sits down and on 3 the half-orc taps into his orcish heritage and surprises Gris with his strength, slamming the full orcs hand into the table. Giving Kumak an appreciative look Gris smiles and says the purse is his, the two orcs clasp hands and Kumak distributes some of the wagered gold to Thaddeus and Susan.

At the Pixies Kitten Tiberius tries to charm the ladies but they are professionals at hospitality and rebuff his advances, at least until they see some coin. A runner comes bursting in to the brothel having heard Tiberius was inside and tells him that there is trouble at the Rusty Dragon, it seems the local Sczarni gang has filled the room and are awaiting the groups return. Tiberius tells the runner to find the rest of the party at the Hag Fish and tell them to make haste to the Inn then leaves to do the same. Walking into the Rusty Dragon Tiberius finds about 20 or so rough looking men filling the common room. All are wearing weapons but they seem content to leave them hooked to their belts for the moment. Tiberius takes Amieko to the kitchen to get the lay of the land. She tells him the Szcarni boys came in an hour ago, chased everyone else out and have just sat at the tables nursing drinks, clearly waiting for the group. At this point the leader of the the Szcarni gang a man named Jubral walks into the kitchen and admonishes Ameiko for leaving him and his men unattended. Walking back into the common room the front door opens and in walks the rest of the party accompanied by Gris whom they had asked if he would care for a bit of a tussle. Jubrayl seems ecstatic that he can begin to showboat, while his men are less sure with the addition of an even larger and meaner orc than Kumak. Jubrayl feigns despair that Amieko's lovely Inn might see some damages and motions for one of his men to move behind the bar and damage her drink wares. As one of the men does both Kumak and Gris move to opposite ends of the bar pinning the man inside. Just as blades are about o be drawn there is a female voice from the door and all turn to see a blonde elven woman standing in the doorway leaning casually on a longbow.

"Jubrayl, what exactly do you think your'e doing here?" The newcomer asks

"This is none of your concern Shalelu" he counters. "You'd best sod off"

Standing upright and notching an arrow the elf levels a stare at Jubrayl, "It's about to become my concern, last chance for you and your boys to walk out of here."

Realizing that with this latest addition the odds have shifted too far out of their favor, the Szcarni's file out while Kumak and Thaddeus send barbs at their retreating backs. Amieko takes her hand away from her sword and runs up to Shalelu thanking her old friend and surprised that she is back in town so soon. The two women begin to catch up, Gris seeing he will be having no sport here makes his leave. The party retires to their rooms, Tiberius makes another play to spend the night in Ameiko's room. He is once again shot down but Ameiko offers him a normal room. The following morning the group heads off to Broderick Quink a local scholar of all things Thassalonian. Susan goes upstairs to meet with him and show him the book that Kumak found in the Goblin Warren while the others wait outside. Susan and Broderick come to an arrangement that she will aid his research and in return he will allow her to use his facilities for her own studies. Waiting outside the team is met by Aveika and Erika Averton - Sisters that run a cart for Sandpoint Savories bakery. Recognizing the heroes from the Swallowtail Festival they offer the group a basket of pastries which Kumak immediately takes and dives into, passing one up to Thaddeus. Before Susan rejoins them the teacher from the festival walks up to them and reintroduces herself as Shayliss Vinder. She runs up to Kumak and stroking his arm remarks about his bravery and strength during the goblin attack, to which both Kumak and Thaddeus remind her of the gnomes contributions. Shayliss smiles in a conciliatory way and moves the conversation towards a problem she is having at her fathers store with a large dangerous rat in the basement. Kumak tells her that once they collect Susan they should be able to come assist to which she assures them that Kumak can handle the problem himself. Confused Kumak promises her they will see to her problem when able. With a kiss to the cheek and a wink, Shayliss skips away reminding Kumak to come by the shop later while Thaddeus teases a confused Kumak.

Susan translates some of the page from the book and makes her way down. The party spends some time around town and upon returning to the Red Dragon for lunch are met with the noble they met during the goblin attack, Alderan Foxglove. The "eccentric" noble takes an immediate shine to the four members he met during the raid, and is contemptuous of Thaddeus, believing him to be someones man servant. Offering to sponsor a boar hunt Alderan takes the party shopping and buys riding horses, longspears, and longbows for all. Riding out to the Tickwood Alderan makes conversation with Tiberius, Kumak and Susan, praising their skill at arms, bravery, knowledge and beauty. Alderan proposes they split into teams, with Kumak and Thaddeus on one and himself, Susan and Tiberius on the other. Kumak and Thaddeus find a fresh set of tracks first and manage to track a boar to a clearing but thanks to Kumak loudly biting into a raw turnip the boar bolts with Thaddeus loosing a quick arrow that misses. Tiberius, hearing the boar crashing through the woods runs up and fires an arrow which goes wide and into the brush. Alderan puts one arrow into the beasts flank as it comes charging towards their group but it is Susan who lines up a perfect shot and takes the boar down with 1 arrow to the neck. Alderan proclaims Susan one of the finest hunters he has ever laid eyes on and the boar is brought back to town for Amieko to cook a heroes feast for dinner.

The following morning, Kumak asks Thaddeus if he would care to join him in taking care of Shayliss's rat problem and the gnome agrees. Upon arriving at the general store however Shayliss is less than thrilled to see the gnome accompanying the half orc and asks him to watch the rear entrance while Kumak joins her below to flush out the rat. In the cellar below Shyaliss points towards one corner of the basement and proclaims the rat can be found there. Advancing forward Kumak spies a small cot set up behind some barrels when he hears fabric thrown to the ground behind him and turns just in time to see Shayliss without a bodice throw herself at him. Her hands flying about the half-orc a confused Kumak tells her she is making hunting the rat much more difficult like this when she explains there was never a rat. Kumak alas lacks the time to puzzle over this development as heavy footfalls can be heard heading their way. Shayliss exclaims her father is coming, gatherers up her clothing, and makes for the stairs. Thaddeus having long ago divined her intentions also hears her father and manages to distract him long enough for Shayliss to slip upstairs unseen and Kumak to depart with a confused look. Shayliss promises to find Kumak again to which he replies, "But why? You don't have any rat problem?" That night Susan hears a woman's scream and rouses the party who run out to see what the problem is while Tiberius begins the long arduous process of donning his armor. The woman clutching a babe in her arms, claims that one of her children had been complaining of a monster in the closet and tonight her husband finally went to check it out only to end up being attacked. The party minus Tiberius run towards her home and quickly enter. They find the one child still in his bed panicked at the sight of his father laying face down in his closet, body occasionally twitching. Kumak pulls the body back to see bits of flesh missing, having been torn off by something, when a single goblin leaps out of a hole in the floor and swings wildly at Kumak, before anyone else can react Kumak flattens the goblin with one mighty swing of his hammer. Thaddeus keeps the lads gaze averted as he takes him from the house and Kumak steps out to see the local constabulary and Tiberius running up to join in. The word is put out that everyone should check their homes for any more goblins hiding and send word to the Swalllowtail heroes should they find any.


Notes: That bartender ended up being a level 6 fighter so there was never going to be a chance that I could have taken him. I could out damage him but he just had way too many hit points.

Susan scoring a critical hit on the boar was the highlight of the night for me. All these big strong martial classes and its the little mage that crushes it.

The bard and paladin are headed for a row I think. I suspect the paladin would prefer a fighter or even a cavalier but we will see how things go.

GM has said to expect our first dungeon crawl next session and I am looking forward to making the 20 AC Paladin stand front and center for a while.

A chance to talk - Rise of the Runelords campaign session 2

Our first session with a full party, unfortunately the GM was called in to work earlier in the day and the session was delayed for an hour and a half.

In attendance were

Susan the Human Universalist Wizard
Tiberius the Human Paladin of Sarenrae
Villister Craig the Elderly Human Cleric
Thaddeus Whisperwood the Gnome Prankster Bard
Kumak Morudall the Half Orc Bloodrager

Both groups were returning to Sandpoint towards dusk when they spotted each other at the edge of town. A quick debriefing, and several snappish jabs from Thaddeus (whom Kumak continued to refer to as "Tiny Nuggets") and Amieko settled on playing her instrument loudly while walking through the town to raise their spirits. With the Orc Gris returning with one child earlier and the now joined party accounting for the other missing 2 many citizens took up the call to rejoice and a more subdued but still lively party was held at the Rusty Dragon. Passing a towns guard the 3 children are handed over so he may return them to their homes and Thaddeus convinces the guard to deliver the boys to the opposites homes. Amieko offered up her 3 suites free of charge to the adventurers, which Thaddeus quickly shut down for himself and demanded he pay for his own room. Susan quickly grabbed a key and Villister another. Kumak looked to Tiberius, prepared to sleep in the common room, but Tiberius seemed to have other ideas so the half orc took the last key.

Villister tired from the days activities napped at one of the long tables while Kumak sat with him and occasionally wiped drool from his face. Susan takes her drink and mingles with some locals while Tiberius tried to win Ameiko's affections by serving tables and washing dishes. Thaddeus having spied a well crafted shield sized just right for him that Tiberius claimed to have taken from goblins began loudly crafting a long and forlorn tale of the loss of his shield, damaged beyond repair while defending the innocent. While the sad story found no purchase with the paladin who was set on selling it for the coin, a man well into his cup declared that if the gnome found his way to his armor shop at the north end of town the next day, he would be sure to send him out the door with a brand new shield, free of charge. Susan is approaced by an elderly gentleman who inquires if she is one who did so well at the trivia games this morning and confirming she is if she would seek him out later and potentially assist him in his research into Thessalonian artifacts.

As Kumak takes stock of the bars current patrons looking for someone whom he feels could challenge his strength, seeing none he issues a general offer to any who would like to arm wrestle or dice for coin. Villister awakens briefly from his nap to look around and hearing Kumak talk about arm wrestling offers to join in which Susan scoffs at. Kumak seeing he will find no challengers tonight settles for judging an arm wrestle between the elderly cleric and svelte young woman. Inquiring if there was any who would like to bet on this display of strength he does find a dwarf man who wishes to join. Betting 5 silver Kumak declares he will champion Susan, seeing his choices up close the Dwarf declares he wishes to take the woman. After a quick arm wrestle of their own to see who has first choice Kumak takes Susan and the Dwarf Villister. Seating herself across from Villister, Susan clasps his hand and they begin. Susan betting on her youth to carry her finds that despite his age Villister still possesses a surprising amount of vigor as her hand is steadily lowered until it presses to the table. Pleased with the display of strength despite the loss of silver Kumak downs the last of his drink, helps Villister up to his room, then retires to his own suite. Susan makes a early night for herself and retired to her room with her owl while Thaddeus sees two men arguing and playing both sides of the argument causes enough strife that one man leaves in a huff while the other looks at the gnome for a moment for a moment before realizing what happened.

Tiberius makes a pass at Amieko while in the common room asking for a kiss for one of the heroes of Sandpoint and Thaddeus starts a chant a chant of "Kiss Kiss Kiss" which is taken up by the bar. Amieko grins wryly and nods her head in a invitational gesture. Tiberius attempts to swoop her off her feet but falls far short of the mark and while he doesn't drop Ameiko, the lack of chemistry is clear. Tiberius asks about how much room is in Amieko's bed, to which she looks around at everyone watching and mentions they can discuss it later. Thaddeus makes another play for Tiberius's shield by spinning his sad yarn but Tiberius remarks that he heard Thaddeus would be getting a new shield and this shield was for him to sell. Thaddeus makes a remark about how poor a kisser Tiberius must be to which Tiberius challenges him to do better. Thaddeus looks the human over, climbs up onto a nearby table, walks to the end, and runs towards the Paladin who only just realizes the implication and brings his arms out to catch the gnome but too late as their faces crash together in an approximation of a kiss, leaving Thaddeus's nose bleeding and a crimson smear across Tiberius's face. Thaddeus makes another hour of his revelry then retires while Tiberius looks around and sees Amieko slipped away while he was distracted and she is no where to be found. Tiberius sits at a table and passes out for the night.

In the morning over a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs the 5 are met by Sheriff Hemlock who says that the cemetery groundskeeper found evidence that one of the tombs had been tampered with during the raid and he would appreciate the heroes assistance in investigating the matter. Walking outside they are met by a hunchback man whom the sheriff identifies as the groundskeeper who brought this matter to him. Walking through the cemetery it is evident how well maintained it is causing Kumak to catch the mans eye and give him an approving nod. Small foot prints are still visible in the dirt around one of the tombs and the group readies their weapons and prepare to enter. Tiberius tries to impress those around by running up to the stone door and kicking it open but ends up only nudging it and launching himself away from the door. Looking a bit sheepish he puts his shoulder to the door and prepares to push. Thaddeus steps up to the door and yells inside if there are any undead while Kumak mentions they should discuss the element of surprise sometime. Pushing his way in, Thaddeus finds himself in deep darkness just in time for Susan to illuminate the interior and see 4 skeletons standing before him. Unable to penetrate the paladins banded mail and shield, the skeletons surround him and block any further ingress into the tomb. Unable to move in to get a clear shot past Tiberius the remainder wait while the paladin swings with his long sword but fails to find purchase. Tiberius steps to the side leaving a hole which the half orc more than fills and with one swing of his earthbreaker shatters a skeleton. Thaddeus moves up to take the next spot as Susan tries to hit one of the Undead with a ray of frost. 2 skeletons rake at Tiberius, but his armor holds while one swings wide at Kumak. Tiberius fails to hit again and repositions while Kumak shatters the skeleton he is fighting with then moves further into the tomb to open the path. Susan, the way clear now manages to hit one of the skeletons and almost shatters it. Thaddeus moves in and swings at the undamaged one but misses, while Sheriff Hemlock joins the fray and scatters it. Tiberius finally managing to land a blow cuts down the last skeleton.

Rubbing bone dust from his eyes Kumak declares he cant see anything in the crypt and invites someone else to survey the scene. Susan detecting residual magical energies off 2 robes tossed to the corner identifies them as the source of the skeletons. Thaddeus claims one for his own and Susan the other. Having nothing further to provide Kumak retrieves his backpack and satchel from father Zantus and makes his way to the towns northern blacksmith, accompanied by Thaddeus and Tiberius. The shops owner is a woman who seeing the gnome declares that he husband was the drunken idiot who made the offer last night but he doesn't own the store. Kumak dumps the goblin gear on the table and asks if she is willing to buy, sneering at the goblin weapons she remarks that they are poorly made which Kumak counters that the metal is still good and she could melt them down and make nails and the like. Conceding the point she offers to buy at a 5% increase from the heroes of Sandpoint to which Kumak gains just shy of 40 gold. Tiberius happily offers his masterwork shield for sale and agrees on a price of 88 gold for it while Thaddeus shakes his head and inquires about his promised shield. Tiberius begins inspecting Thaddeus's current shield and loudly inquires if it is even broken to which Thaddeus asks him to step off while he is busy negotiating. The shopkeep taps her finger on the table and proposes a trade. Tiberius forgoes the 88 gold and in exchange she will provide a small sized magical shield that she has been unable to sell for years. Tiberius stubbornly refuses to part with the gold he was promised so Kumak steps in and hands Thaddeus his 20 gold share of their sale but Thaddeus claims he still can not afford it, throwing in the rest of Kumak's money fails to meet 88 gold so Kumak feeling the gnomes bravery in the goblin burrow should be rewarded asks if the shopkeep will provide him with a line of credit of 50 gold which he will repay in 2 weeks time. The shopkeep counters with instead of 50 gold, Kumak will owe her 1 favor, ensuring that Kumak retains the right of refusal if he feels the favor violates his ethics Kumak shakes on the deal and Thaddeus gains a magical shield. Walking out of the smithy Thaddeus gives Kumak 40 gold from his purse to pay back the coin spent. While counting his spoils Tiberius is approached by Villister and Susan who inquire if he has divided their share from the sale. Countering that the shield was supposed to be his and therefore the money should be his Tiberius fights back against splitting the coin 3 ways but eventually relents and 29 gold and 3 silver is passed to both Villister and Susan.

With the day ahead of them Susan mentions she found some errands that could prove fruitful if anyone wished to join her.










The session ended a bit awkwardly for me, seeing a player (a paladin no less) fighting against sharing loot with the other players that helped get it but the GM paused everything in the moment and explained how loot usually gets divided and the potential pitfalls of what would essentially become ninja looting and how a lawful good paladin should view the matter. The player is younger (20's I think) and he said this was only his 3rd game playing so I am less concerned as I feel we can grow him in what I would consider the right direction. I talked with the GM a bit after and we both agreed that we should try and have the Wizard have a moment to shine, both for the character and the player.