Session Logs

Session 47 Blood and Magic -  "The Path is Clear"

  After the Codex Archon channeled a Mass Heal and a night's rest, the group was ready to get moving. While wandering the halls on the first floor they came upon a strange sight. A group of skeletons with flamethrowers was herding degenerates into a pit. The group wasted no time charging in. When the skeletons saw the party, one ran to the pit and started folding it up. Char was able to shove it into the pit. As the skeleton fell and then exploded (the flamer tank was struck by spinning blades). The other side was opened to a disassembly line that was removing the bones of the degenerates just before it exploded and severed the portal's connection. After dispatching the other skeleton, they found a radio on the body. It chirped to life "This is Dion, what the hell happened up there?" After a short conversation the creature on the other end said to meet at a nearby elevator junction to talk face to face. Assuming it was a trap (it was) the group hustled there and arrived first. Not knowing how much time they have they spread out and hid as best the could. Castelion set up the machine gun facing teh elevator door. Sam was on the ceiling ready to pounce. Ca'Elbreth was just offside in a hallway while Draknon and Char were each in a side chamber.

 The trap went off. A greater shadow floated through the floor grabbing Draknon and draining strength. another tried to enter Char's room but was blocked as he was in huge fire elemental form. A hideous creation of ribs and claws emerged from the elevator and the fight began. 

Session 46 Blood and Magic -  "Obligatory Box Text"

  Rather than risk the passage damaged by the acid flush of the clone tanks above, the party made their way along the passage the kobold entered through. Their goal was to destroy another loot-filled golem. They found one guarding a junction with an elevator. I traditional fashion Val and Draknon destroyed it while the casters kept their distance. The side chambers contained repair parts and alchemical supplies. A fair amount of loot was being retrieved when a skeleton was spotted walking toward the group. It had a large backpack and assorted tools. Because the group was also looking for directions, the party started with a trip on what appeared to be a maintenance worker. It fell back and promptly surrendered as it couldn't get up with the pack on.  As the group was asking questions it became clear that this was no simple skeleton. It explained that it worked for someone called Dion, who in turn worked for the Sledge family. They ran repairs and maintenance throughout levels 1 and 2. No one has gone down to 3 since the majority of the excavations were finished. Then a figure made of empty robes manifested in the bony frame. 

  Once again the party was in the presence of a deity. This time Provelius appeared directly rather than though a herald or avatar. "I remember a time when I struck a god. Don't worry, I won't take it personally." Unsaid but clearly heard was "this time." Once he fully manifested he offered the party a choice. "I know i shouldn't be here, but your enemy has a gods of their side so it's only fair we Balance the scales. I can remove the Mythic power from one of your foes. The Lich or the Dragon, whose power shall I take?" The group had a brief huddle but decided the Dragon. With a flash of divine energy, Greg's mythic power was removed and the empty robes of Provelius vanished. 

The next room they find was an altar with 4 orbs, but only 3 hovering and glowing. In each orbs floated symbols and lights representing one of the Fallen. The ones still floating were Iovis, Faylani/Nachi, and Luna. The broken orb (upon close inspection after the fight) was Veneris. Behind the orbs was a doorway. As Val charged the orbs, the door opened. The master of the deep city, the Lich, stepped into the fray itself. Rather than immediately focus on the lich the group destroyed the orbs. When Zurzuchit broke one, he had a mental rush as part of the Fallen made contact with his mind. He shrugged it off (for now) and the fight continued. 

  The Lich unleashed a mind blast and followed it up with a blistering assault with spells. And he was carrying a machine gun. It was able to sweep the room once before Val got in melee range. Then the gun became a hinderance. Sam cast haste before the stunning blast happened. He couldn't get a spell through and was reluctant to go "tentacle to tentacle" with it (Paul wasn't at the game). He was able to dispel one of the buffs on the monster. This reduced it's charisma, HP, and removed a special power. Draknon, Val, and Castelion traded blows for spells. With more than a little luck and some solid crits, the creature collapsed before it could unleash a second chain lightning. 

  As the smoke cleared and Ca'Elbreth's stun wore off a new creature appeared in the room. A codex archon (different than the one from the moon). It explained that the orbs were sort of a back door to some of the Fallen and not all of them are involved in this willingly. However Luna IS a part of the grand plan of it's own volition. As the party healed and the archon explained, it shuddered for a moment. "The Ascended have a gift for you. In four days, the Lich will reform. It is in a room guarded by an adamantine construct." Technically, sunrise after the forth midnight. The party then gathered the lich's combat gear and moved on to the next wing.

Session 45 Blood and Magic -  "Lost my Heart in the Depths of Hell."  

  The three rooms in this area were a Security Checkpoint, Barracks, and Armory. The checkpoint had a 5 screens that interacted with hidden cameras. The controls were in Aklo so Draknon and Zurzuckit had to tag team to operate the system. It revealed several upcoming paths: A golem room, a hall filled with degenerates, and a hallway with a few side chambers (but at the outer range of the system).  The system was mis-wired to keep it shut down as long as possible. The armory contained suits of techno-organic light armor, energy weapons, and grenades. The party took all of it obviously.  The barracks had assorted personal effects but no significant gear. The next stop was the golem room.

  The door opened once Val stepped within a few inches of it. A few buffs were cast, but Val just kept moving. And she was surprised that it was 1: able to hit her and 2: reacted while flatfooted. With the spellcasters unable to hurt it (except for the Painful Stare), Cal'breth and Char went down the hall to the nest of degenerates. An altar in the room started to summon lesser devils, but was swiftly stopped by being telekinetically thrown into the golem. After several hits, Castelion was able to kill steal the golem with a volley of adamantine bullets. Among the pile of onyx and ruby bits was the heart of the golem, a 20,000gp diamond.

  As a fire elemental, Char destroyed the nest and confirmed another surface exit from the level. The group decided to not go down just yet. Taking the north path for 60 feet, the first side chamber appeared with two more visible on the west wall. A door was set into the walls with a control panel at the bottom of the stairs. a pressure plate was wired to the panel. Draknon figured that the plate armed immediately but gave a person a few seconds to input a code before the floor raised up to crush someone. Once that was altered (new pin number), the doors were opened. Six clear tanks, four with bodied inside dominate the room. And a kobold who was very startled. Val recognized one of bodies as a copy of Legate Watanna. She charged the tank instead of the kobold. The rest of the group let the kobold speak. "Kibbers" told the group that he drank an Invisibility potion and started looking for away to sabotage Greg for replacing them (the kobold tribes). But once he finally got to the room he couldn't read anything (Aklo again) and the tubes were too tough for his weapons (Magic Reinforced polycarbonate aka bullet-proof glass - hardness 20, 50hp). Val's strike barely cracked the tube. The team poked around the controls for tube with the "Legate" and found the machine could make a rough copy of anyone or an exact copy of someone if they had a blood sample. It was also revealed that the machine needed fresh biological stock or the process breaks down. That explains why they have been collecting people. And it need to be people, simply harvesting local animals won't work. One of the tubes had a perfect copy of the Post 2 commander and another showed that it was used to make the time bomb that was left behind in the rescue mission.  The tube in the back corner had been used to make one thing successfully. All other attempts failed in a spectacular manner. While all the other tube record state the name and species of the donor. This tube was used to make a fellwin, and the only name in the system was a nickname. "Shorty"

 After a purge feature was found and overridden, the room was left as the acid wash started to overfill the tanks and short out the controls. A matching clone chamber was found farther down the hall and was disabled the same way. That left the middle chamber or continuing down the hallway. Kibbers told the group that he saw a squid headed creature in that middle room and that another golem guards another way down. Zurzuchit was already headed toward the door with Sorrow in hand as the rest of the group thought about another massive diamond. 

 The center path was blocked by a portcullis. A winch on each side allow the gates to be opened, and a steel pin dangled on a chain on each side to lock the gate. Inside was a large octagonal room with an observation booth directly across. The ceiling was 50 feet up, a sloped floor led down to an unknown fluid. An obelisk rose from the pool 30 feet above the floor. An Unseen Servant started to turn the winch while the group stared casting buffs and detection spells. The divinations revealed two things. First, an invisible object was on top of the obelisk. Second was a horrifying creature made of chitin, tentacles, and brain sacs. It was fast, unbelievably fast, Mythic fast. It opened the fight with Slow, mostly to knock down the party's Haste. Char responded with a Fire Snake that burned off some of the fluid. This made a heavy, poisonous cloud. As the team moved in to engage, Plan A kicked in. The creature shifted up to try and stay out of Val's reach.  It then tried to Disintegrate Char, after that Suffocate Zurzuckit. With Draknon (with the gravity boots) flying behind the monster and Val still swinging, the creature was killed and its body landed in the toxic sludge. 

  With the fight over, the group was able to identify the invisible item on the pillar. It was a mummified Fellwin heart. Draknon was able to disarm the various traps on the object. Once it was removed form the pillar a creature appeared. A Pit Fiend with a goblinoid head and oozing fire and poison. It screamed in rage, "Give me that heart! I've been looking for this for centuries." After being pesented with the heart his demeanor sours. "What have you done, this is drained. There's nothing left!" As the flames began to rise from the creature, the party said the people responsible where beyond the glass wall. The fiend then shatter the polycarbonate and began to murder its way to the heart of the dungeon.

Session 44 Blood and Magic -  "Out of the Frying Pan ..."

  The group, upon returing to Garren's Well, had a chance to talk with some of the people they rescued.
Catfolk - Soruan aerotech named Proceus. Captured 1 month ago

He says that his team picked up a signal from the old crash site, the timing lines up with when the party was poking around the wreck. The crew that went out took a new model with a crew of 8. On the first night after arriving, the crew was set upon by the degenerates and at least one orc. As far as Proceus knows, four of his crew are definately dead. 

Post 2 Command Staff  - Legate Watana did the debrief for these three.

Legate Orsin Machen, human male solider.

Optio Tribune Harik, half-elf male sorcerer.

Tribune Wolfram Stone, dwarf male solider.

Civilians 

Len Cralit - Traveler from Copper District. The factories and mines of Copper often hire Hacherian tribesfolk for extra labor. Len is unusual among his people. He saved his earnings to travel the rest of Ashenvan. He was captured two months ago while making his way across a mountain pass.

Wilis Caldur - Farmhand. Was sent north of the river to evaluate a new site to move the family farm. He left two months ago and has been checking in with a family message tablet. The family sent a supply wagon out two weeks ago and now they fear for what may have happened to them.

  Command sent Tethis and a few others to check on the airship site while the main group Teleported to Post 2. Once there they looked for a dragon-sized entrance and found one after an hour. The entrance was concealed by the illusion of a sheer cliff. After their experience with the door in the medical bay, they were ready for such trickery. Inside there was no light except what the party brought. The main tunnel entered in a chamber with an open floor. Down in the pit were a handful of degenerates. Deciding to refrain from burning bigger spells the melee team went down the hole and surprised the creatures. They went down easily enough until Val was suddenly hit from the darkness with an arrow. The shot had somehow bypassed her armor AND shield. Val charged the new combatant while the rest of the group advanced. This archer was even able to get off snap shots as reactions but it wasn't enough to stop Val. Draknon left the last degenerate to the rest of the party to help Val. More creatures began to climb over a ledge and fill the hallway. Sam dropped an Acid Pit and Ca'Elbreth added Grease to the hall. Many degenerates fell into the pit and more were pushed in by Sam. The archer then succumbed to Phantasmal Web and died while hallucinating about spiders. 

  No rest for the group as they look into the next chamber. The floor is another 25 feet down and about 80 foot square. And the floor is covered in bedding and many more degenerates. As people fly into the room, they spotted captives among the seething mass. Unlike the males recovered from the medical bay, these were nude and being assaulted by the creatures. The priority quickly became getting them out as fast as possible. As an air elemental, Char was able to pick up two even with the creatures trying to hold on. Sam did similar after dropping a wall of stone over a large passage on the far side (hoping to cut off reinforcements). Soon everyone was in the muck beating down the degenerates and providing cover to Char as he flew others out. A casting of Forbid Action over a large number of the creatures ended most of the resistance and an air elemental whirlwind killed the last of them. The party contacted Keon and let they know they freed people from the creatures. She told the party to get them to the entrance and she'd met them there. Keon,  Tribune Sushart, and 2 guards teleported to the group and took custody of the hostages. Unable to teleport again, they'll be walking home (a wagon will meet them on the road). It was briefly discussed trying to link up with Tethis and his scouts, but the terrain there would be too rough for the hostages.

  With the wall cutting off part of the complex, the group checked the side room off the first large room. It held many smaller items that were old and ruined. The focus of the space was altar to the dead god of Magic. His image was split down the middle with pits that resemble gunshots. Zurzuchit borrowed Val's adamantine mace and pulverized the idol. Once that was down, the group went to the small hatch in the floor of the room where the previous fight started. After descending another 30 feet and wandering down a 100 foot hallway the group found a room with some light. The odd blue-ish light of computer screens spilled out revealing at least on orc (she cast a shadow in the hall). Another stepped out of a side chamber and another fight began. The orc in the computer room was some kind of witch but was swiftly removed from the field by Castelion's Destruction. Val and Draknon proceeded with Plan A while Sam assisted on the spear wielding orc. Alike the other orcs above the spear wielder went down in a pool of his own blood. 

  The group started to spread out before trying to open the large door at the end of the hall. While looking around the bunkroom, the group spotted a tentacle peak out of the latrine pit. There was a philosophical debate on what happens when you cast Create Pit over a space with a pit (ruling - don't make the GM's brain hurt). The tentacle was attached to a massive ooze partially made of negative energy. Realizing that certain party members can't affect an ooze, Char wandered off to one of the side rooms. He learned that you should always wait for the rogue. A wave of laser fire was unleashed as soon as Char stepped into the chamber. His fire protection spells held, but he backed off to let Draknon deal with it. The rest of the party was able to destroy the ooze and at the point we wrapped for the night.

Session 43 Blood and Magic -  "Now we know what he wants. What are we going to do about it?"

   The aftermath of the town square fight revealed several things. The woman was some kind of undead that is part ghoul and part ghost. Its clear she will rejuvenate but not sure when. While some people were helping to triage the many wounded, Draknon did a careful search of the area. He found tracks leading away from the square. Getting Char to help follow, they found a book laying in the street about 2 blocks west. It was the ledger that Elder Shirman always carried. A quick glance found a page had been torn out. Without knowing what it meant (the book was in code) they took it with them as they continued following the trail all the was to the river. Char gained some altitude and saw a recently disturbed patch or reeds 50 yards down stream. They cross the river and head along the banks to reaquire the trail. It ended with dragon footprints. It appeared that the thief mounted the dragon and flew away. Returning to the square, Shirman told the group that the missing page involved items sent up to Hogstown. There was a load of lumber that hadn't gone up yet so the party decided to inspect the load. A few spells were cast to both monitor and trap good hiding spots. Since whoever took the page likely hadn't had time to act on the page, the Post will be keeping a closer watch than normal.

  Next was the debrief. Before the turtle was restored, the Council asked to be present for the interogation. They had all been affected and they wanted to know why. Legate Watanna briefed the Town Council on about things they should not say near the prisoner, but allowed them to be present. Between a net, evil eye, and Forbid Action (spells) everything was in place. The polymorph was broken and a very confused kobold was now sitting in front of everyone. There was a bunch of back and forth but the kobold sorcerer did explain much of what Greg wanted. 

1: Unless they can do something to stop it, the three of them will either be Raised or Animated shortly after their deaths. Watanna sent two guards to check on the dead cleric and sure enough the body was gone. The party reached a deal where they will use Flesh to Stone and hide him until his handler is dealt with. "Just make sure your heirs keep the birds off me." He doesn't believe the party can stop her or Greg, but its better than being undead. 

2: He believes there is a Force Dragon egg in an Ancient Ruin somewhere near Ashenvan. Greg has spent decades combing the Hacheri for ruins and other hiding places. Carefully worded divinations have only revealed that the site is Ancient. When he clears a site, Greg usually leaves troops there to repurpose it. Greg also knows about the ruins under Garren's Well and believes the people there know about the egg. Since that detail was deliberately omitted from the report, only four of the current party know where it is.

3: The three kobolds were from the first tribe Greg took over. He has some means of preserving them and only releases them for special jobs. He doesn't know how that part works, but obeys because he knows if they make them undead they will have even less control of their lives then they do now.

4: The ghoul woman is their chaperone. She is some kind of unique undead created by an accident in one of the ruins.  Or rather, she was already a ghoul when an accident turned her into something else. The kobold didn't say exactly, but it was clear she did something horrible to become undead. 

5: Greg likely had another agent in town. Once it was clear that what they wanted wasn't in the town records, a back up plan would have been launched, Greg doesn't let cells communicate with each other for exactly this reason. 

6: Greg has another way into the Deep City. Though he never went down, the trio did accompany Greg on a trip there once. The entrance they used has since been collapsed. Either the group missed one or someone dug out.

 As the meeting was wrapping up the Councilors had a few questions. Sam made a comment about using Flesh to Stone to solve the "cursed gun" problem. Sorrow didn't appreciate that and appeared. Out in the open, fully charged with Rage. The kobold whispered something, "the gnome has Sorrow." While most didn't hear it, that he was whispering made everyone look around. A scrying sensor was spotted. Someone (likely Greg) had heard most / all of the questioning. Once the kobold was petrified, the sensor vanished. Watanna called the group in for a secure briefing.

  A few months ago, Watanna had Keon and Havek build a scry resistant room. The ventilation is almost nil so a bottle of air was added. He asked about the egg, about the Deep City, and if the group felt up to taking it out. "Its been on my to do list for a while but I haven't received clearance. There have been no further abductions, no raids. I hate knowing that its there." Since it appears that Greg is getting help from them, taking it out will help reduce Greg's power base. Watanna admits he sent a few scouts over the last few months. They count 750+ of the degenerates, a few dozen full orcs, and three golems guarding paths to the lower levels. Stone figures, basically humanoid and covered with runes and gems. He is willing to get the group whatever they need to clear it out. Castelion offered a preliminary mission. Since they know about the room with the prisoners, they could mount an extraction. A few teleports and the party could be in and out in a minute or two. And maybe leave behind a bomb to destroy whatever was making graveknight armor. Watanna cleared it and preparation began. 

  Expecting minimal resistance but going into dangerous territory, all the buffs and protections that could be cast were cast. The group teleported in as two groups (Sam and Ca'Elbreth the caster for each. Once inside they found one orc and a dozen beds. The bed with the halfling remains was empty but the equipment was still there. Draknon started setting up the bomb while Val charged the lone orc. The room had one door on the north wall, a well made steel door, with what appeared to be an alarm panel next to it. The orc died before he reached the alarm and the group started freeing hostages. As the group healed and untied those they could, Sam went to watch the door. After the orc dropped, Castelion cast True Seeing on himself. This revealed that the door was not merely open, but not there at all. Most of the team had a hard time disbelieving. Sam sent an air elemental under the "door" to scout. It came back being chased by orcs with guns. A Blade Barrier down the hall delayed the guards and other spells were placed to buy the rescuers time to work. One hostage was unresponsive to magical healing. Char did a quick look and found surgical marks on the back of his head. Fearing some kind of trap that one was left behind. Everyone else was able to get to their feet, Castelion got the first batch out with Word of Recall. At that point, something dispelled the Blade Barrier. Sam sent the air elemental back down the hall. The last thing Sam saw before he teleported with the next group was the elemental be disintegrated.  Ca'Elbreth took Val, Draknon, and Zurzuchit out with the last hostage just as the illith stepped into the light.

Session 42 Blood and Magic -  "I am the Voice of Uncle Greg, Hand of Iovis."

   A week after the escape from the silo, a kobold walks into Garren's Well. He goes straight to the old farm house at the center of town and hops up on a barrel. "I am the Voice of Uncle Greg, Hand of Iovis. My Master has demands of the people here. Bring out your leaders so we may negotiate."

 Legate Watana asked the team to look for trouble around town. He believed there was a high chance that the "emissary" was a distraction. Zippy warned the group that a team of three often work to upend society and trash communities from within. They did it over 30 years ago and at least once before that to groups that tried to settle the Sevi River valley and beyond (how long to kobolds live?). The party paired off and scattered across Garren's Well. Team Cleric started at their church/bar/gun range. Char (formerly known as Dude) went with Sam to the grainary at the north end of town. Draknon and Ca'Elbreth hit the dairy on the south east. Val and Zurzuckit made their was to the town hall.

  At the church, everything seemed ordinary except for a new woman reading through some of the assembled holy texts. Rose recognized her as someone from the same part of Haventon as her. People of Ayadic heritage are rare in Ashenvan and Rose has reason to worry about troubles from home following her. But new people wandering into a temple isn't weird on its own and nothing else was out of place. The newcomer identified herself as _______ and was looking to settle down somewhere more rural. <slight retcon> Rose did not detect any evil intent. While that's not unusual, Castelion detected no magic on her. None. Could be nothing, could be Nondetection. </ end retcon>. Events at the town hall cut things short. Wanting to keep her close, Castelion asked if she could fight. The woman brandishes a collapsible baton. "I prefer spells but I can swing this with good effect if needed." The three of them grab some horses and ride across town.

  Meanwhile, the grain mill and silos had been visited by someone recently. Sam and Char both find a loose board near the top of one of the silos. Sam sent an air elemental up to check it first. The sudden strong wind knocked the board off the silo. Both caster (sorry Billy) made their way up to the hole. The air had a foul scent that left a metallic taste in Sam's mouth. The same feeling he had just last week digging out of the wreckage in the tortoise lab. Sam and Char warn the workers and the rest of the party about the possibly irradiated, definitely poisoned, food. Before they can look around for footprints or deal with the food itself, they have to drop everything and get to the town hall. Sam grabs Billy's tail and reaches into the cloud of Char's wild shape form and teleports just outside the building.

  Over at the dairy a few more things are amiss. First is a strange symbol branded into the wood (done by magic). One of the branding irons was bent up like someone tried to reshape it but couldn't. As Ca'Elbreth  and Draknon looked around they were followed by a barn cat. Eventually they noticed the cat trying to write words in the dirt and straw dust. They also found overalls and a tool belt that had been stuffed under a bench. The cat appeared to be the victim of a Baleful Polymorph spell, but only failed the fortitude save. The worker must have stumbled upon the intruder and was cursed instead of killed outright. Activity at the town hall caused the pair to grab the cat, cast haste, and fly back to the rest of the party.

  At the town square, the Voice had managed to start a riot. Dozens of people throwing punches and grappling. Even the Legate and village elders were involved. At least 20 people were already unconscious. At first glance the only target was the kobold. Then the woman from the church who rode in with the group walked over to a civilian and took a bite. The bite was part of a spell that started draining life from all the humans around. The skald was quickly petrified which ended the raging song (Greg's Voice didn't take lingering song). Castelion cast a spell on Val that revealed a number of devils watching the square. One of them rushed  Ca'Elbreth and hit with a poisoned stinger. The caster's response was to step back and petrify the devil. This one was flying about 20 feet up at the time. The rest where destroyed fairly easily. The caster was another problem. She was gaining bonus health from the humans and was casting various debuffs and negative energy based attacks. 

  Billy as able to charge some of the devils while spells dealt with others. When you can't fly and can't climb, Acid Pit is super effective. As with all things, once Draknon and Val flank something it dies fairly quickly. In this case "die" is relative. The body dissolved into a mass of powerfully charged negative energy ectoplasm. All that could be recovered was her baton and a ring of sustenance. 

Session 41 Blood and Magic -  "Does anyone have anything left!?!."

  The "reagent" they added to the sprayed must have loaded with onyx. The beast was starting to animate as a zombie. This gave Val and Sam extra incentive to not by in the rubble pile. A combination of net and debuffs slowed Rose down but the party had to decide fast if they wanted to stick around. The graveknights methodically went through the kobold warrens using their acid blasts to wipe out anyone hiding in the sleeping chambers. Cal'breth used a wall of force to buy them some time.  Not much as they hacked through a wall with adamantine weapons.

  The graveknights appeared to have another goal. Once in the silo they may a charge toward the grace container and radioactive sources. A Pit spell dropped one source (with a grave knight reaching into it). Draknon dropped onto the grace container and popped it open while Val distracted the knight by hitting it. The zombie kaiju's shaking destabilized the central floor of the silo causing it to start collapsing. As the team started teleporting or flying out, the graveknights  dove down into the silo to collect the radioactive cores. One went straight across to collect the blood source. They were disappointed as Billy and Ca'Elbreth talked a kobold into handing it over to them in exchange for a ride out. There was a brief round of teleport tag as Sam bounced back to base to get Keon and some teleport scrolls (she always keeps a few on hand for rapid evacs). A few minutes later the group is back at base, mostly out of spells. Some start feeling the effects of radiation sickness. Val and Sam get seriously ill in the next few hours. Another set of reserve scrolls (Remove Radiation) followed by Restorations patch up the pair. Being a creature of abyssal magic, Beatrix avoided the worst of the radiation (or dumped it into Sam). Dude wanders back to base the next morning by way of plant stride. With the party back together and seemingly out of danger they get a chance to debrief the kobold survivor and report in on what they found. Castelion also tried scrying on a few targets. The rest of the session was a level up, rearm, and downtime actions. The basics of the intel gathered follows. The respite is broken after a week when an emissary of Uncle Greg walks into Garren's Well.

 Intel Report 1: The Survivor. A male kobold, one of the lab techs, was evacuated with the party. He identified himself as Zippy. "Hi everyone, it's been 36 hours since I last prayed to my former god. About 24 hours since He tried to kill me." Zippy then explained that the kaiju experiments were funded by Greg but there was something else. All the labs were built in Ancient ruins, and Greg or his trusted lieutenants surveyed each site prior to kobolds moving in. Zippy told the group about a ghoul that was "living" in the place. She called herself Randara and was obsessed with keeping the place running. She often complained about her coworkers not caring enough to stay on the job.

 Intel Report 2: Looking back at the silo. Using the name and knowledge of the facility, Castelion tried to scry on the ghoul Randara. The image of a damaged lab space, still lit by screens with flashing warnings. She didn't notice the sensor as se was yelling at a graveknight. "Stop digging you idiots! I need to stabilize the reactor." The creature outside, busily hacking at the door and debris from Greg's earthquake, responded that his orders are to extract her for use in another facility. "If this thing gets worse NONE of us are getting out. You need to stop ..." and the sensor was destroyed by a blazing white light. A blast shadow of the cleric's head as he looked into the gazing pool was burned into the ceiling. Outside, a column of fire and smoke rose to the horizon from the silo. Dude was ordered to use his druidic powers to adjust the winds to not blow over the base and nearby farms for several days.

 Intel Report 3: The Felwin parts. Having magically preserved body parts makes for a great scrying focus. Fearing what may be lurking near the body, extra measures were taken to limit the risks of someone looking back at the base. The pool showed a room filled with Ancient / Alien medical equipment. There were 8 beds, the view focused on a partially dismembered Felwin with wires and hoses going into each arm, his head, and torso. Other victims visible in the room include 2 members of command staff from Post 2 and four other unknown people. There was also a suit of armor with no one in it. Using the scrying sensor to cast detect magic revealed that the armor was cursed to make the wearer obsessed with it. This curse is hidden under powerful enhancements and fortification. But it will drive the wearer mad and then actively try to get it's wearer killed. Likely creating a graveknight in the process that can then be controlled. As the scan of the room proceeded, the orcs that were monitoring the equipment were interrupted by a withered creature. An illithid lich is the current assumption. "Greg wants more new graveknights. Start the process with these." "But all the beds are full, the machines are running as fast as they can." With a wave of its bony hand, three of the unknown captives disintegrate. "Start the process, use these dragon hide breastplates and " he trails off. "What do we have here?" As he looks straight into the scrying sensor, Castelion splashed the pool and ends the spell.

Session 40 Blood and Magic -  'Now we know what Greg thinks of his minions."

   In order to limit the time they have to reinforce the base the group decided to move in without Dude. Billy (the awakened giant war goat) was able to enter the base. Before that, Zurzuchit snuck in still disguised as a kobold. He had to feign being blind but the defenders bought it and led him to a supply room to wait for a healer. Meanwhile a strange armored kobold arrived. First he conjured some undead (from the bodies outside) then gave the chief lab tech a special reagent vial to "accelerate the growth, soldiers are coming soon." The armored kobold sent the others off into the silo while he and his new minions waited by the entrance. Draknon was careful to stay near the curve in the entrance tunnel to stay hidden from this new guard. When the healer arrived for their blinded "ally" he was able to fix the blindness and fully heal him. In keeping with the new guy's orders the healer, another tech, and Zurzuckit entered the silo.

  Inside is a monstrous tortoise being bathed with blood, radiation, and divine grace. The shell was 25 feet across and covered with spines made of crystalized blood and bone. All around the interior were more kobolds on platforms chanting a prayer while the new reagent was placed into the blood spray. Still having the mind link and knowing that things were going to get messy inside, Val and company started to move in. Zurzuckit disabled the lab tech and puched the cleric off the platform (the guy took the tech's gun so he had it coming). Then as the party battled their way to the silo, the gnome began disrupting as many chanters as possible. Once Billy (with a fly spell) entered the silo the chanting was replaced with screams of terror as the giant war goat trampled his way around the room.

  The armored kobold turned out to be a graveknight wielding an admantine falcata and heavily enchanted shield. In order to keep the thing down Val and Sam beat the armor to scraps. Soon it was Draknon, Val, and Sam against the super tortoise and the silo door in the roof began to open. Rose ran for the outside to see if there was a way to stop the doors from that side while everyone else focused on the monster. The debilitating stare of the gnome combined with a solid Siphon Might hit made the massive beast all but impotent as it tried to bite Val. Eventually it took enough hits (and bleeding sneak attacks) to drop. With the kobolds routed and their beast slain the party was about to start mopping up. Until a massive thump from outside heralded the arrival of Uncle Greg himself. 

  Rose saw the dragon and was about to turn and run (enhanced dragon fear save failed) but was instead Dominated. She reentered the complex firing at Castelion. The surviving kobolds turned to the roof and begged for Greg to save them. With a stomp (possibly an Earthquake spell) he told them "No." The silo doors and mounds of earth fell into the chamber burying several party members. The group tried to keep Greg talking but he had already decided the fate of every living thing in the silo. He ordered a squad of graveknights to enter the silo and wipe out any survivors. "Yes, I have a message for Ashenvan and Post 3. But you lot won't be the ones to deliver it."

Session 39 Blood and Magic - I say again, how did we not see that?!?  

  The group camped and traveled west to the next base. The first problem was a river crossing. Though the water was shallow it was at the bottom of a 20 foot ravine that made its way down the slope.  A group of kobolds was spotted across the gap in what appeared to be a crude ambush. The group advanced on the group and immediately killed two with spells. One of the kobolds taunted the group and before he was trampled by goat he yelled a command to the last member of the ambush party. A giant, half dragon crocodile lunged at Draknon. Now visible the "dracodile" became the primary target.  As the party was fully rested and had a few moments to buff even the giant beast was swiftly killed. 

  It was another day and a half to reach the second lab. In order to approach, Zurzuchit used an ioun stone to look like a kobold and went in with the captured lab tech and the wagon of supplies. Val had a fly spell cast on her, then drank an invisibility potion. Ca'Elbreth found a good target for an acid pit (a watch post looking over the southern approach). Everyone else waited for the signal, which would be Val becoming visible after hitting the base's guardian. The base on the surface was a simple hatch in the ground concealed with brush. The guardian was a giant kangaroo with a metal weapons platform built into the pouch. A pair of machine guns anchor the platform while a single kobold sat on its shoulder. This appeared to be the Roo's master but wether the controls were training, magic bond, or technological was unclear. Seeing the platform and remembering what those weapons did to the party near the Illith's ship, Val began the fight by using her Rusting Gauntlet on the port side gun.

 The next minute can only be described as nuts. The kobold Roo handler was thrown up into the air. A massive beast began trampling over the battlefield. First over Val, Darknon, and Ca'Elbreth. The second path of devastation reached out to Zurzuchit, the tech, Billy, and Dude. Rose and Castelion did their best to keep everyone moving. A group was farming something near the entrance started to run. Sam made sure none escaped. Other kobold troops were either exploded or stabbed depending on if the arcanist or rogue got to them first. Dude tried to get a spell off on the Roo but was kicked nearly knocking him out. Rose had a flash of inspiration and asked for a way to get onto the platform. Cal'breath gave her a fly spell and moved back. She then flew up to the remaining gun and swiveled it to aim down into the pouch. Less than a second after hitting the full auto trigger the whole thing exploded. Magical flame, ammo storage, and some kind of alchemical reactor all contributed to massive detonation. Rose woke up fifty feet back, "did I get it?" she asked in a concussed haze. Everyone else dusted themselves off and surveyed the damage. They found the crumpled remains of the Dude 30 feet from the crater. The lab tech that was helping the group also died somewhere between the trample and the blast. Whatever they were growing or digging near the entrance was also blown away. The entry door was also damaged which may buy the group time to rest a bit before making entry.

  Somewhere nearby in a secluded grove, a kobold awakens. He first assembles a basic skirt of of leaves and brush. He then finds a patch of local herbs and rolls a joint the length of his forearm. He's still puffing on it as he staggers back to the group.

Session 38 Blood and Magic - Now we know what happened to that one. 

  There was a bit of confusion (on my part) about the party starting. But it turned out to not matter as the group breached the kobold lair. The critters had remodeled the place, weird technology and magic equipment were all over. In the rear chamber (that connected the secret passage) contained a massive crystal growth. A kaiju egg was being force grown by flooding with electricity, radioisotopes, and blood. The front entry had a electrified fence blocking the way for the bulk of the party. Draknon spotted the switch and the new caster dimension stepped past the fence to switch it off. A kobold and dwarf were speaking in the next chamber. They knew adventurers were on the way and one of them should retreat to warn Uncle Greg. Another nearby chamber was alerted to the front gate being opened. Two kobolds had been mutated by some sort of experiment had tortoise shells. Once the fighting started, Castelion realized who the dwarf was planning to leave (Word of Recall) and forbid him from casting. Val and Zurzuckit entered from the hidden passage as the fight started. A group of kobold technicians were monitoring the creature in the crystal and didn't notice anyone enter at first. The alarm was raised at some point during the combat and one of the techs was made to be friendly (supercharged charm that made him like everyone). Val killed the rest for the techs, but not before one hit a button on the control panel that accelerated the growth. The now friendly kobold was able to talk the group through the process of reversing the force feeding. The group disabled two of the three sources such that they could reverse them. The last was shot which caused an explosion and radiation leak. The reversal of the energy flow left behind a pile of inanimate, radioactive goo instead of a super turtle. 

  Looting the site found several terrible secrets about Uncle Greg's operation. The first was an unholy symbol of a dragon claw grasping the world. Uncle Greg can grant divine spells. The next was a preserved halfling hand and a storage case for it. The hand was enchanted to refill with blood once per day. A terrible power lay in that blood and the kobolds were using it as an accelerant to the mutagenic properties of the radioactive material they used to grow the beasts. Some careful divinations revealed that there are three other pieces of the halfling. The other hand is in a lab like this one. The head is in the Deep City under the old Post 2. The rest of the body is farther west. The halfling is John's Way of the Wicked character who became mythic during the events of the campaign.

 The last ingredient came out of a glowing canister covered in runes and circuits. One symbol jumped out at everyone, Iovis. The kobolds referred to this canister as "godsblood" that they use to stabilize the mutations. It is unlikely that the kobolds could have gathered actual blood from a god, even one of the fallen Ten, without help. There is more to the divine level than the party can know just yet. So they  looted everything they could and collapsed the cavern. 

The last matter of business was the lab tech. As the spell was about to were off Zurzuchti asked the kobold for his gun and handed him a bowl of stew. Then the spell ended and he was left to very quickly evaluate his options. He decided that since he already spilled lots of tea about Greg and company he may as well keep doing it. Now the party has a guide that may help them get inside the next base.

Session 37 Blood and Magic - How did something so cute and fluffy turn into THAT?!?

  The spider was easy to track. While the party met with the command staff, other groups were sent out across the river. Tethis went off with the recon force, in case they found something too big to deal with, there would be a chance that someone would make it back. The scouts found the trail diverged. One route went northwest, toward the ruin where the radar station was found. The other was almost due west, off the Grand Highway and through the wilderness. The team elected to hit the area they knew and went to the ruins. The sheer number of magical threats has finally forced the team to get a true arcane caster (Mike's new character).

  One the trail the group found a group of lizards just over the river. Not mutated like the spiders, they were still aggressive and dangerous. The new caster petrified one as the rest of the party killed another. The last was also magically killed. The next oddity they found was an azata. The normally beautiful, angelic creature was bloody and scared on a spiritual level. She was willing to talk. Enthusiast really to spread the good word of the power rising in the west. They gave her a goblet and she drank of it and learned of true freedom. Free of the restraints of her form, the plane of her birth, even freedom from mortal morality. She offered the goblet to Zurzuchit so he may learn. He was about to cast a spell to take the goblet anyway so he grabbed it an ran. The rest of the group took that as the signal they were waiting for and attacked. Once again, the wounded azata was slain by magic almost instantly. The goblet refills with whatever was last in it, but only a few times a day. The fluid it is currently making doesn't affect mortals but can corrupt celestial beings. It bears marks of Nachi (whose name the azata spoke aloud in a seeming violation of Balance).

  The surface was clearly dug up. Workers from the Post buried the Ancient power source after the radar was removed. Now the area was partially cleared with a large mound of dirt on top. Except the dirt pile started moving as a massive creature shook. A bunny bigger than a house, front teeth the size of Val's shield, squeaked with what must have approximated fury and advanced. Once the battle was joined, the closer party members spotted someone watching the fight. When it was clear the megabun was on the ropes a door opened in the bunker. Out of the hatch poured hundreds of horned, winged rabbits. The bunny swarms were swiftly dispatched by fireballs and the megabun was felled shortly thereafter.

  The chase was on to catch whoever was watching the fight. The party entered to find hutches with strange pipes and smells emerging from them. The fine details will have to wait. Track were found in the dirt inside. The clawed feet of Kobolds had spent lots of time inside, the newest tracks heading downstairs. The basement where the group once fought an anise hag had been remodeled slightly to accommodate small creatures. Alchemical hardware, feed buckets, scattered notes (some burned) all had to wait as the group closed in. When the party found the tunnel that lead to the hill giant caves they found a trap. Enough explosives to collapse the tunnel and bury the pursuers alive. The party knows the other end of this tunnel, but the assault will lead off the next session.

Session 36 Blood and Magic - How did nobody see that coming!?

  The team got a much needed break after the repeated delves.  The Post also got some upgrades, noted below. At the end of a week the officer in charge of Garren's Well asked a few people to head out and find a guard team that failed to check in. Dude, Tethis, and Draknon looked around the perimeter between the town and the river looking for signs of trouble. Dude found a soldier's boot and later the remainder of the body. The guard was webbed and partially drained of fluids. Drag marks lead southwest away from town. As the group went back to check in, other teams report trouble. Command issues a force protection order, everyone is to buddy up. Spiders are spotted around town, many the size of large dogs or horses. The group rallied at Zurzuchit's alchemy shop. And that's when the spiders made contact.

  The group had to split focus as there were multiple targets and one was attempting to abduct someone. <Forgot to finish this before the holiday. The short version, PC's win with no significant injuries.> After the battle, Tribune Keon tracked the party down. She found a massive spider that just emerged from the river west of town. She hit it with some spells but decided to withdraw and get help. After finding the party, the group moved in to battle the beast. After the battle, were the cleric died again but no other significant injuries, a note was found on the spider's back.  "we're still out here." and a glyph representing the dead god Nachi.

Session 35a Old Friends, Older Fiends-  Such a glorious pile of, what is this stuff?

  There are many objects recovered that are still useful. The gear is listed by what carried it.

The Illith - +3 light fortification, tactical, resizing, neraplast armor (Light. Armor +5, ACP 0, Spell Fail 5%, 10 pounds, applies full AC to firearms). Winged Boots (modified, tech based, 20 charges, see unique items).  Ring of protection +3 (silver / adamantine alloy etched with a strange tentacle pattern).  Sidearm - Sonic Blaster. 3d8 So, Range 100ft, Shots 10, Deafens target on critical hit for 5 rounds (no save). Recharges with a charging cradle.

The robots - 3 machine guns (Coilgun, 2d6+2 B/P, Range 150ft, Shots 40, can semi or full automatic fire. Autofire = empty the magazine to attack all targets in a 100ft cone.) each of the 4 robots had 3 magazines of normal ammo.  Sonic Ammo - 80 rounds recovered, adds 1d6 Sonic damage to the normal weapon damage. Adds 3d6 sonic damage to everyone in the autofire cone if they are struck or not (Reflex save = 10+BAB+Dex mod). Each robot had a toolset for metalwork and electronics.

The Chief - Amulet of Bullet Protection +2, Cloak of Resistance +3, Cyclops Helm, Ring or Protection +2, Potion of Barkskin +4, +2 mind buttressing adamantine breastplate. A big, black diamond (5000gp).

Armin - +2 Adamantine warhammer, 3 rubies (2000gp each)

The Ship still works (the robots had it fully repaired but never got the order to wake the pilot. Getting it out of the bunker will take weeks of digging. While trapped it can still recharge any technological item brought inside in 10 minutes. It has a detailed set of star charts, recordings of Ancient media broadcasts collected just before their visit, language translation software (human and other). There is a high res topographical map of Domus circa 2214 AD (at least 1200 years old). A full accounting of everything in the ships computer will take months.

The Ancient Labs - Detailed records of the Illith's meetings with local leaders, recordings of the autopsy of the killed creatures. All the gear of the aliens is here in varying states of disassembly. The humans broke much of it trying to figure it out.

The control room (sealed door) - The room is full of computers and scanning gear, but everything it once controlled is lost. Several tools are still here as well as a set of red e-picks. The room can be used as an electronics lab for the purpose of building items.

Session 35 Old Friends, Older Fiends-  Not these jerks again.

  After comparing notes and reporting in to Post 3, the team made one last push into the ruin. The two paths to the final accessible section were 10 foot wide stairs leading down to doors of Ancient steel. Long unpowered control panels, broke light fixtures, and obvious murderholes lines the stairways. Two traps were spotted in the northern hall (no one did a through search of the south). The first was a pressure plate mechanically connected to a slab that would block the stairs. The other a IR frequency trip wire at the level of a human's head. It seems some parts of this place still have power or the duergar added it. THe plate was carefully wedged while the trip line was marked so people could duck under it. Finally the door was locked, both mechanical and magnetically. Draknon's e-picks and other tools were able to open the door quietly. 

  Once inside the group was met by 2 duergar with crossbows behind an Ancient security desk. A clear wall of bullet-resistant polycarbonate with gunports prevent the party from easily reaching the pair. A bit of pre-planning paid off as a reset westen star ioun stone was activated. Speaking dwarven hoping it worked, Zurzuchit (appearing as a random duergar) with Dug at his side, he told the guards he was with another clan. He hired these mercenaries to clear out the hags. They found a survivor and were bringing him home. As no one attacked but several people were taking position if the bluff failed, what appeared to be an officer of this clan appeared. A duergar woman who asked to be called "Earthquake" accepted the ruse and told the party about the feud with the hags. Once the party descibed the creatures the've killed down here, Earthquake decided to introduce them to the tribe's leader. On the way they met a few more guards and another officer, Armin. Clad in armor made of crystal and ectoplasm, Armin told the group the chief asked to be alone with the ship and sent the guards back up. He also explained the elevator wasn't working so they rigged up a pulley system with several hundred feet of chains. Before they could learn much more a scream rose up from the depths. A scream the shook the stone and the souls of all who heard it. Whatever was on that alien ship, it was awake and the tribe's chief was likely dead.

  The group did something unexpected next. They split up. The elevator had hatches in the floor and ceiling as well as a control panel in the north wall. Those with rings of feather fall jumped down the hatch while the rest stayed in the elevator with the duergar. Draknon was able to restart the elevator but by the time that was finished, Dude had already flown to the bottom as an air elemental and peeked into the chamber. A disk of an unknown grey metal with bulbous protrusions and wires coming out of it was the focus of the room. While there may have been lights at one point, the room was dark save for a few lights on the ship itself. On the gangplank leading to the hanger floor stood an 8 foot tall humanoid with a squid-like head. Two tentacles wrapped around the body of the chief while others probed his brain and absorbed his blood. While the creature didn't recognize the small cloud as an enemy it clearly felt the minds of others approaching. It ordered the ship's maintenance robots to kill anything that emerged from the elevator. While Dude couldn't understand the language the intent was clear as 4 large bots with automatic weapons aimed at the door. Dude quickly flew up to warn the others. The gnome cast invisibility on everyone but himself, but also took cover behind Val's shield. When the group landed the bots opened fire. First the pair on the outside sprayed the entire entry with bullets that burst sonic pulses as they struck the walls, floor, and Val's shield. The cacophony was heard all the way up the shaft to the now moving elevator car. The battle was joined as Tethis, Rose, Zurzuchit, Val, and Dude charged into the room. The bots, while not great fighters were smart enough to stagger their attacks as to not all be out of ammo at the same time. While the outside pair reloaded the inner pair began their attack. Val became visible at the end of a charge heavily damaging the first bot while Rose channeled to heal some of the sonic barrage they party was taking. For reasons known only to a gnome, one of the bots handed Zurzuckit its machine gun. Since the gun weighed as much as he did, he tried to get Rose to take it. Yes, lets give the gunfighter an alien automatic rifle with exploding bullets. That part of the plan didn't work out as Rose was too busy healing or trying to stay clear of more gunshots. A seemingly harmless cloud began hurling spells across the room. Tethis dove to the other side of the room from Val and lined up a solid volley of hits as he was now visible. The bots on that side of the room decided to deal with the now visible ranger and unleash more burst fire and several aimed shots.

  Before the elevator car could arrive, the creature emerged from the ship. Quickly surveying the situation it started off by telling all of Tethis's blood to flow toward his feet. Tethis resisted the creature's power, but then it conjured a line of blood from its hand that blasted Tethis into the wall knocking him out. Seeing that attack, Val moved to engage. It then unleashed its trademarked ability, Mind Blast. Most of the group was caught and were stunned for several moments. Luckily for the party it didn't catch everyone. Another blood blast followed with other mythic infuse hydrokinesis did heavy damage to the group. When the eleveator arrived, the creature called up his last robot, a true combat model with integrated weapons. More spells, including a blade barrier manifesting through the gangplank, were thrown at the creature and its guardian. Several spells failed to affect the creature but between Val's hits and its own powers burning off its life, the beast fell unconscious just outside the ship. The robot kept fighting keeping most of the party busy. As a mesmerist there was little Zurzuchit could do to the bot. But he did do something no one saw coming. With Sorrow firmly in hand he lined up a shot on the creature's squid head. Before anyone else had a chance to react, he pulled the trigger and a burst of eldritch energy destroyed the creature. The robot fell shortly thereafter.  

  As the battle ended, the party found the body of the tribe's chief and that of Armin who had been killed outright by the combat robot. Earthquake was hurt but not severely. She told the group that they had won everything in this lower chamber by right of combat and her people would not interfere. She also said she would move what's left of the clan to a tunnel network west of the Sevi River. The party agreed and she went to the upper levels. The party, after healing up and spending a few minutes staring at the gnome, decided to search the area. They discovered an Ancient plot. The illith offered advanced tech in exchange for the "Surplus Population" of China and India. Not knowing the fate of the Chinese mission, they did learn what happened here. The Ancients played along just far enough to get the bodyguard (the creature they just killed) back into his sleep pod. They then attacked and destroyed the other Illith in that party. They moved the ship, bodies, and what tech they could salvage to a listening post with an underground storage bay. They converted it to a makeshift hanger and started in on the bodies and gear. After a few years of study, the first of the Ten awoke and began its crusade against humanity. Its unclear if the alien tech caused the First to wake up, but the timing is suspicious. The usable gear, trinkets, and notable discoveries will be detailed in a further entry.  

Session 34: Old Friends, Older Fiends-  We might need some reinforcements.

  Once again, rest and biscuits have the group ready to put down the hags. The large room is now bitterly cold and the Queen is still here. She's invisible and playing with icicle daggers. The tunnel where the Dream Hag died is now plugged with a bloated mass of flesh. A few arrow and gun shots deflated the hideous mass from a "safe" distance. The remaining goo was still charged with a powerful blood magic spell. Luckily everyone made it over or through without succumbing to the rage inducing mist. This wing is one large rectangle with simple wooden dividers. All the divider have doors, most have a roof. There were skeletons chained to the walls near torch sconces. There was also an apparent prisoner. A beautiful elven woman was chained near the skeletons and unconscious. Once everyone made it into the wing, someone cast Cloudkill. That was also the cue for the skeletons to attack. 

  The caster (an Annis Hag), was spotted behind a doorway so Val charged. Zurzuckit and Draknon followed as usual. Everyone who could used an air crystal or cast air bubble. Dude decided to deal with the cloud by becoming an air elemental and drawing into a whirlwind. There was a distinct lack of bludgeoning weapons making the skeletons more challenging than expected. Fortunately the bone heads weren't great at tactics or hitting in general. The hag was quickly dispatched so Val went out to help with the cleanup. The prisoner survived the gas but was left in the hall for now. There was at least one more hag somewhere. A full looting of the Annis Hag's room would have to wait, but a large book was found (trapped of course). The book was part journal and part spellbook and detailed what they had learned about this place. It also had notes on the party. Not much but it was clear the coven was watching them. 

  The last hag did try to bargain. She offered to tell the group about the duergar in exchange for safe passage. Most of the group didn't believe her but kept her talking long enough to learn a few details. The kitsune spirit was found down here. The duergar were digging toward a ship that supposedly belonged to the Illith. The parlay lasted long enough for a few buffs to be recast and the hag, this one an old Blood Hag, started the fight. She was quickly cornered however. With the coven's magic fading and the group able to weather her attacks the creature did drop. She begged for her life but something strange and disgusting happened. Sam's eidolon was about to strike the killing blow when a voice asked if she could have this one. Sam was confused at first but quickly realized it was the Beatrix, his eidolon, asking for the hag's blood / body / other. For the first time, Sam stood apart from his eidolon as it devoured the hag and became a formless mass. [basically retraining out of synthesist). Certain party members were nervous about the summoner before, what happens now we'll see.

  This corner is now clear. The prisoner was a swan maiden, a type of good fey, who stumbled through the gate and was captured by the hags. She hasn't said what they were doing to her yet. Another prisoner was found in a torture room. A naked and clearly injured duergar was strapped to a table and had most of his left arm removed. The group also found two more dead in the next room. Those two suffered greatly at the claws and knives of the coven and died from their wounds. The survivor, who has taken the name Dug, loudly denounces his tribe and begs to be freed. "My dwarven name can stay buried with my old clan. I no longer will dig for them." Having a living duergar to talk to proved illuminating and terrifying. They know about the Dark City under Post 2. The leader of his old clan refused to follow the creature there. "Shriveled and dead, weak. Undeserving of our blades and our toil" they said. So the clan sought out another. The leader started getting dreams about a living Illith somehow preserved but trapped underground. "It came when the Ancients still ruled but they caged it." His old clan seeks to release this creature and they have found the way to it. As Dug tells his story everyone gets nervous and quite. No one on Domus has seen a live Illithid in nearly 1000 years. And that's when the group noticed Zurzuchit has Sorrow in he hand. And Sorrow is glowing with a charge they've never seen.

Session 33: Old Friends, Older Fiends-  Is it cold in here, or is it just her?

  The few remaining fey (a lurker in light and strange bat faced pixie) were finished off but the portal was still open. As the group started to grab the iron rails a Cold Rider charged through.  A second one rode into the room yelling "make way for the Queen!" The group's attention now split. Some of the party kept up the fight with the Riders while other started trying to pile rails through the portal. The hope was that the iron would help break the connection to the fey realm. It did work, but not before one more creature floated through. A small gremlin with blue skin, an oversized head, and orbiting snowballs and icicles hovered into the chamber. Rose fired a shot that not only missed the Queen but somehow also struck Castelion in the back. Her touch froze Dude in a block of ice. 

  As "luck" would have it, the Queen wasn't here to fight the party. She was here to destroy the coven for stealing from her. In a side room, the man currently being posessed by the fox spirit started begging. "Please help me. She's going to put me back in the ice. I'll go to Norana. I can get a new kitsune body there." The party was having none of it and given the choice between making a new enemy or finishing off an old one, there was really no doubt.  The fox was inhabiting an older human male from Garren's Well. The body blocked her from using all her normal tricks but she did put up quite a fight. The Queen just needed her knocked out so she could trap the spirit in ice again. Draknon obliged by dusting off a sap and Val swung with the flat of her blade. Moments after the Queen captured the fleeing spirit one of the hags entered the fray. A Dream Hag riding a Nightmare unleashed a Firestorm into the room. Dude passed out, the former vessel burrned to ash, and the Queen was annoyed. Everyone else was on fire. The battle with the first hag was a mad scramble to keep people healed while the fires raged on. Castelion nearly dropped, Sam was using his own life to keep the eidolon going, and Val does what Val does.  Soaks damage and sends it right back out. When the hag was finally unhorsed and bleeding out on the ground, the Nightmare decided that he had had enough and offered to leave the material plane as soon as he stepped into the entrance tunnel. And he'd ignore the next summoning spell.

   The Queen then extinguished all the remaining fires and closed off the tunnel where the hag emerged from. She then gave the group an ultimatum. You will destroy these hags for me in within the next day. If they still live, they'll try to release my pet and i can't have that. If they still live in a day I will freeze this place and everything within 1 mile. As the party dusted themselves off and retreated to the surface to report in and regain spells, the primal casters of the group got a message. If the Queen does what she's threatening it will solve the hag problem. However it will allow a greater threat to continue. There are Duergar digging for something ancient, powerful, and psionic. The way to them must not be sealed. 

Session 32: Old Friends, Older Fiends-  What the heck was this place?

  After a night's rest and biscuit making the group was ready to go back down. This time were were greeted by shouts in Draconic. Something about killing on of the 'gods". Recognizing the shouts as a kobold and seeing several down the hole, The Dude dropped a flame strike. The blast cleared the entry hall. After the smoke cleared the group went down. The group went east, the direction of the kobold tracks.  The hall ends aburptly in a 30 foot drop into a rectangular room. There were 5 visible kobolds and another talking to something out of sight. One of the kobolds had psionic abilities along with draconic heritage. The warriors went down easily but Skalemark the Great would not be vanquished so easily. He also had the help of another Void dragon. He did make a big mistake. In trying to get to the "squishy" back line he teleporting into the waiting gunsights of a cleric and paladin who hadn't tried to make the descent into the lower chamber yet. 

  In the usual way, Val and Draknon ended up flanking the dragon and making quick work of it. Knowing what Void Dragons can do the party made sure to have Air Bubble spells ready which save them from its breath weapon. Not having other magical tricks or means of escape the dragon fought to the death. What passed for its hoard, both void dragons actually, was down the west tunnel. This tunnel was also sharp drops before reaching a pool of strange churning fluid. The hallway was filled with arcane and divine runes that blocked something from leaving the pool. The Technologists in the party figured it out. The pool was radioactive waste and the runes were both shielding and cleaning everything that passed through. A summoned earth elemental was able to retrieve a few magic items, anything else would have been destroyed. Void dragons are immune to even the severe radiation thanks to their spaceflight ability. The kobolds would ignite if they had tried to enter, probably a few did.  There was another door in the chamber. A heavy, Ancient steel, superbly locked door. It appears to need power from somewhere else to open and there are no obvious controls to bypass with Draknon's e-picks. The group decides to leave that for later as there was no sign the kobolds or dragon had used the door either.

  Down the central hall was an ominous light. A rippling doorway to a frozen field appeared where a blank wall had been before. And strange creatures were cavorting in the room. All of them some variety of Fey. Two odd insectile humanoids that vanished in bright light, some bat faced pixies that wore the skulls of smaller fey on their belts, and another of those entropy moths. The group focused their attention on the thing they knew was dangerous, the moth. One of the pixie-things tried to Dominate Draknon. Once it became clear what they could do, it was a race to wipe them out too. The Lurkers tried to hang back and get a few sneak attacks in but had little luck hitting anything. The combat had to pause due to the store closing, but pictures were taken so the field could be reset next time.

Session 31: Intermission  -  Back to Domus, back to patrols.

  The group spends 4 more days going back and forth getting the volunteers and officers set up in the Lumber Company office. Two Fellwin brothers were called into the plan to manage the Domus side of the operations. On the Hogstown side, two officers from the Ashen Guard are relocating to the new post. 

  The first officer is Miles Riggle, a Gnome Ranger also known as "Tunnel Rat" from his exploits in the sewers under Mithril. The rumor mill suggests that Miles is out here as punishment. No two stories line up completely but the majority involve sexual impropriety of some sort. He worked for years tracking down smugglers and gang members and thrives in underground environments.  Miles is 3 foot 1 inch and thinly built with greasy black hair. He has a patchwork of scars on his right arm leftover from an undercover operation. He doesn't say much about old undercover work but will gladly talk about everything else. 

  The other officer is Bryle Leaftreader. Bryle worked logistics for the Ashen Guard in the Brass shipyards. He was never much for sailing or fighting pirates so he requested a transfer to either Iron or Mithril. Legate Kanata heard about the transfer request and asked he come out to Post 3 for a "classified" operation. Bryle is a bit short for an elf, just a hair over 5' 3" but is a full blooded elf. He's changed his hair style and color a number of times, mostly out of boredom. He tends toward reds most of the time. He has a knack for language and spent a good chunk of the transition period working on which languages are spoken by which groups. He already knew Infernal and Aklo from prior work. 

  After the party officially relocates to Domus they are tasked with clearing out the tunnels under Calder Farm. A previous team that did the initial exploration all died of seemingly random accidents within a week of the operation. See attached note about that team. The entry was fenced off and guarded but no one has been back down the hole. Nothing has been seen exiting either. The hole goes down 20 feet from the surface. There is a stone ceiling and walls. The party (or rather a summoned elemental) noticed rusty steel rails in the floor resembling mine cart tracks. The east wall is flat, south and west go off at least 60 feet into darkness. The north passage went 20 feet with a downward slope (north is toward the Sevi River) and had a guard. A vaguely humanoid red crystal golem glowing with an odd light. It's magic is that of the ancient enemy, psionics. As soon as Zurzuchit identified it and told the party, Val charged it. About half the party wasn't even down the hole yet. With the tight quarters, Dude moved off to the west corridor while Sam and Tethis moved south. Draknon and Val destroyed the golem in melee but the golem did try to psionically destroy Draknon's head. While the party was collecting the diamonds and other crystals, Dude heard a voice calling to him from the dark. The voice was telepathic, playful, and unnerving. It cast glitterdust on the Dude, providing just enough light so he could see the skull faced moth with tentacles for legs. As the party's light sources moved down the west hall, another moth was revealed. All the creature's abilities are based on entropy and decay, including its tentacles that cause constitution damage. A third, more powerful moth was in the large open space at the end of the tunnel.

  While the melee team and casters moved west something else was approaching from the south. Cautiously moving up on Tethis and Sam. It then unleashed a breath weapon that somehow pushed the air out of the chamber. Lucky for Tethis, he still had Air Bubble prepared from his time in Hogstown. Sam had to get out of the entry chamber. He did send his summoned elemental to cover his retreat. The elemental lasted for less than one dragon alpha strike. Tethis and Draknon were able to beat it down before it killed anyone. Once all the enemies were down, the party decided to get out of the tunnels before the sounds of fighting and gunfire brought any other trouble. The one of the tunnel guards was sent back to Post 3 to deliver a report about what was found. Studying the crystals and dragon will happen next time.

Session 30: Stepping into the Void  -  Buying real estate on another planet.

  The Hierophant took control of the situation and took statements from the group. The party knew about the daemons, how they followed daemon activity from Ashenvan's wilderness to the Door in Garren's Well. The group also thought the mimic creatures where somehow involved.  Because of the nature of Hogstown, no one questioned that the lumber importers were heavily armed. 

   The party did get a chance to ask about certain things. The Hierophant was able to explain what the mimics are. It seems they are native species to the planet. In addition, they often assume a form unique to their personality rather than copy people. They can do it, but not often as they can't read minds to make the disguise work. The creature can also flow through the ground and if they are "killed" they soak into the ground and regenerate in a few hours. To truly kill one you need to use acid before it can melt into the ground.  

  Soblia decided to hang back in most of the debrief, but did thank the group for their efforts. He and the Hierophant plan to spend time on appointing the 3rd Baron. They also decide to push the outsiders out of the various arrangements that have been made over the years. Of particular note is that the Miser's absence in the fight. The abduction attempt didn't appear well thought out, but as the perpetrators were paralyzed the group was not involved in the interrogation.

  As a reward for their help and the numerous daemons and Urdefhan, Baron Soblia granted the importers their choice of two properties. The first is a mid size building, 2000 sqft of finished space closer to the markets but farther away from the Doors. The second is much closer to the Doors and is completely unfinished. The space is about 3000 sqft of barely worked stone hidden under an illusory wall. Upon entering the space, a creature rose up from the ground and wailed. The wail paralyzed the tour guide and Tethis. Another rose and joined in the attack. The first one dragged a massive mithril battleax covered in elven runes.  The second paralyzed Castelion and advanced. As the fight dragged on, two more erupted from the ground and threatened Tethis. In an attempt to protect him the Dude knocked Tethis down and stepped over him. It did keep them from trying a coup de gras. Castelion was still able to channel positive energy to keep everyone else fighting. when the creatures, known as dust ghouls, finally dropped the party went back to Soblia for remove paralysis treatments and to accept ownership of the building in town.

Session 28/29: Stepping into the Void  - Here comes the bride ... and where's everyone going? 

  First, patching up the Cleric. The local High Priest of Stars, Mervan, was able do perform the Resurrection and first restoration. Next up was some pre wedding planning. Over the course of the day most everyone made it into the chapel to snoop around. 

Castelion and Rose spent time with Mervan to learn the local rituals (and check for magic).  The chapel had lots of it. There is a fountain that spawns a bridge that the Bride and Groom walk out to each other at the finale. There is warding to prevent teleporting in or out. There was also some other enchantment that seemed to be avoiding the detection spells. <a sign of Illusion magic, the whole room is glammered>. The altar itself had a few extra spells on it, controlling the fountain and other special effects.

Having a few of the ioun stones that allow a change of appearance, Zurzuchit impersonated Hartley. He made it into the chapel and spoke to another "felwin." This one, actually a mite named Heevel, was coordinating final prep for both the wedding and some side plan. He sent "Hartley" off to send a message to a specific dwarven crafter. <what that woman actually did was loan a piece of Hogstown maintenance equipment to Heevel.> Zurzuchit also had the misfortune of seeing the Bride eat. The victim was a Hyacinth follower whose mask looked molded into their skull. There was no time to ask about that, it would have been out of character anyway.

One of the groups Heevel sent out to collect parts was a trio that had to collect something from offworld. Castelion, Rose, and Tethis followed the group to the Door Room. The trio, realizing where they were about to go, go very nervous. The security detail scammed them out of some gold to rent them a spacesuit so one could go through a Door <a trade colony of the Bolida people>. One of the trio made the trip, collected some silver wire and posts. On their way back to Heevel, the PCs intercepted them. Castelion cast Hold person and all three of them stopped. Only one was faking as it wasns't a "person". The group killed it before a guard showed up. The guard, a warbringer devil, found two quite people, one puddle of goo, and the party. 

After a few regroups and a little shopping it was time for the wedding. Everything went fine, but Heevel was doing something with the seats in the back on the Bride's side. The Dude and some monkeys disrupted him.  When the finale was approaching, the Bride went to say a few words to the crowd. One of them completed a spell that caused the benches on that side to fold up, pinning a number of guests. It was also the cue for the creatures called into the storage room to appear. Things from the dark between worlds began to attack the pinned guests and the party. The Baron retreated to his dressing room to get his armor and combat gear. The creatures, though very alien, were still susceptible to the favorite debuffs of the party. This allowed most of the guests to escape the chapel. One of the attendees that fled was a mimic hiding as the keg stand. Another was Heevel, with the monkeys madly chasing him.  Sounds of trouble in the dressing room as someone tried to abduct the Baron in the confusion. The plot was short lived as one kidnapped was Held and the other ran into a major problem.

  <There would be more play by play, but it was a month ago and convention prep go in the way.> The fight was over, it had been just under a minute. A large force of undead soldiers swarmed into the halls around the chapel. Heevel stopped running from the monkees and started running from the troops and back into the party. As the PC's checked on the Baron and got him untied and great voice called out for everyone to lower their weapons. The sound was one voice that emerged from all the troops at once. The Hierophant appeared to restore order. Finding the fight mostly over he demands an explanation from the party, the Baron, and Father Mervan.  Heevel just sits quietly waiting for either interrogation and / or execution. Baron Soblia is not happy about the intrusion, but the multiple attacks and plots blowing up around him have left him sullen. The party is the only group left standing in the chapel, and the focus of everyone's attention.

Session 27: Stepping into the Void  - And the man in the back said "Everyone Attack". 

    They all knew it was coming. The Dude wandered off to a shop called "Spores-N-More." The market square had a central grill / dining area. Around it were a number of stone tables with weathered wood benches. Along the perimeter of the cavern were several larger shops. A goldsmith (where Hatley was shopping when approached), a silk worm hive, a coffee shop, a local shrine, and a guard post. And the fungus shop featuring gardening supplies and finished provisions. As the conversation was moving closer to a throw down, people started moving into position or casting buffs. A horrid scream followed by bloody squelching noises came from the guard post while another creature teleported onto the silk shop. Most of the party heard one or the other, some neither. 

That's when one of the Felwin jumped the table and tried to knockout the gnome. Zurzuckit took the hit, stayed standing, and burst in a cloud of (illusory) fog. What follows was a complicated mess as a strange creature started directing other combatants, a pair of skeletal monsters and a necromancer emerged from the guard post, and the two who were guarding the "halflings" raised weapons and moved in.  With the group spread out and not everyone realizing they could disbelieve the fog this fight ended up with multiple smaller combats the occasionally overlap. 

The skeletons went for the nearest target, Sam. The caster left them to consume the souls of the staff. Sam quickly had to back off as he found himself mangled and bleeding by the pair. Next in line for the undead advance were Castelion and Rose. Sam tried to summon allied creatures to hold back the undead but a round of full attacks with a critical hit knocked Rose out and killed Castelion outright. Sam nearly joined them, saved from his bleed damage moments before the cleric fell.

Across the field found Draknon and Tethis facing off with an android warpriest with a big gun and a human rogue. The woman with the gun turned out to be Kursuv, Hogstown's Most Wanted. She opened the combat with a heavy rifle crit on Draknon. Her partner stepped in for a sneak attack dropping the hobgoblin before he even got up from the table. Dude ran in to deliver some healing and Tethis started firing into the pair. Tehtis tried shooting at the many armed worm thing but for some reason he couldn't loose an arrow at it. Rather than fight the compulsion he chose other targets. The human rogue went down quickly as Tethis realized it was some kind of aberration.  When it died it melted into a pile of grey-brown goo. Kursuv got a few more shots off and noted to the Dude that he was the one person here she was not allowed to kill. Dude was hit by a spell from the necromancer that  would have fatigued him and aged him about 30 years. Luckily he shrugged that one off. The Hellfire Rays from the necromancer did a number on everyone, dropping The Dude and wounding others. Kursuv went down from concentrated arrow shots.

The center of this mess found Zurzuckit and Val dancing in the fog with three mites. Lucky for them the cleric tagged them with Greater Forbid Action (No Attacks). They tried to keep the pair busy while the necromancer and Kursuv picked off their allies. Because they couldn't attack, the mite druid was reduced to healing the others, Hately worked on staying in the way and intimidating the party. That tactic worked better than he knew, it kept the mesmerist from casting. It did not stop Val from bisecting two of the mites. Hatley tried running out of the fog only to become a pincushion. 

Eventually the fight was down to half the party either down or severely wounded Vs the necromancer Golceg Derm and the skeletons. It had only been about a minute. But the fight was ended by the arrival of three Warbringers and a familiar erinyes. They ordered everyone to drop their weapons and moved on the skeletons. Golceg decided to leave the battle rather than be trapped or killed. The undead were swiftly destroyed and the party finally had a chance to regroup and assess their losses. Kursuv's nanites stabilized her and the devils claimed her to be questioned. Her combat gear was given to the party as they did the hard work. They were also given her holy symbol and a token allowing the group to cash in her bounty. The task of resurrecting the cleric (NOT reincarnate) falls to the next session.

Session 26: Stepping into the Void  - Party Planning Shouldn't Be This Hard. 

    Wanting the guard the "not-chicken", some of the group stayed behind at the "Robin Sleep" inn. After all, someone needs to prepare Break Enchantment to cash in a bounty. While various scouting trips and plans were being made, a group of devils (an erinyes and 2 warmongers) asked the party for assistance. They work for Hogstown's guard and say that two "Chain Worms" were approaching the city. "One we can handle, two is harder. You lot are known to be skilled fighters and the job pays well". Realizing having the city guard own them a favor lines up with the mission the group decides to head out. The plan is for the party to deal with one while the devils take the other. Surely no one will be keeping score on who kills theirs first.  On the way to the area they believe the worms will attack from, someone notices the lead devil is wearing strange metal boots. "Worm-hunters get these. You can feel them moving underground. The longer you hold still, the farther you can feel." 

The hunting party wandered into a series of tunnels just outside the developed portion of Ring 4. The forces that make Hogstown inhabitable were starting to weaken, but before anyone started feeling ill the erinyes called for a stop so she could focus on the boots. Once the worms got within 100 feet, everyone started casting short term buffs. When she called out 70 feet, the warmongers advanced hoping to draw one to the surface. Val followed suit and was rewarded with a massive, charging, metal shod worm trying to eat her. One, really the only, trick these things have is the grinding sounds the armor plates make can stun and deafen those who hear it. Everyone took basic precautions but it didn't work for everyone. Even one of the construct like warmongers was affected (even though it shouldn't have been).  In the end, the party killed theirs first and moved to assist the devils. Though not said after the fight, these were larger than the normally encountered worms. Anyone hit by the singer was examined closely. Apparently the worms make more worms by injecting eggs into their prey. The egg sacs can be distilled down to a poison that won't make more worms, but since it does CON damage it would be contraband in the city limits. In a slight amount of deference to the party's skill, the erinyes did remind the group they were outside her normal jurisdiction. 

After returning to town the group decided to do a few more light activities before "sunset". A quick shopping trip highlighted a bit of xenophobia in an otherwise diverse part of town. One of the insect people tried to go to the tailor only to be verbally abused and ordered to leave. Rather than cause a further scene the creature, a medium sized and vaguely humanoid shaped millipede with cybernetic legs, simply left the shop.  An arrangement was made to get in close with the local crafters, whoever can make the best wedding gift gets the first lumber contract (or something similar, waited too long to finish this up). 

The next morning, Break Enchantment is cast and the non-chicken returns to her horrible daemon form. She had a backpack with a wide array of items. Of immediate concern was a bridesmaid's dress with appropriate jewelry and heels. Unsure if the daemon was planning to be a party crasher or invited guest the group decided to track down the halfling valet that gave them the invitation.  Hatley, two other halflings, and a pair of guards were going around to various craftsmen and entertainers finishing up contracts and other details. Zurzuckit and Hatley had a little sit down over lunch while the rest of their entourages waited nervously. Knowing that the erodaemon could change her appearance, our gnome decided to try and disbelieve any glamors on the halfling. There was one, the person wandering around town was a weird blue skinned creature with blotchy skin, oversized ears and teeth, and a generally off-putting appearance. Understanding why someone in that "condition" would rather look like a halfling the conversation continued. Right up to the point where Hatley said "You lot killed the bride's sister" and "we invited as many as we could so there will be more victims." 

Session 25: Stepping into the Void  - Trouble Follows everywhere. 

  Setting throung the Door after several preparations went smoothly. The guards there didn't search anyone. There was a Bounty Office nearby managed by a Witchwyrd who explained a few things about the city. The daemons killed one of the three Lords prompting a harsh response. The ringleaders are all listed on a "Most Wanted" board with increasing bounties as you move up the list. The party was also warned to stay out of the Dark Lane unless you can see without using light. They also learned about a safe place nearby to spend the night. The overhead lights were starting to dim on the way to the inn so the party decided to bed down for the "night".

  The local "Robin Sleep" inn is built into the stone wall on the East edge of Ring 3.  The rooms are spacious, easily holding 4 people, and set up with rolling metal doors which can be locked. To everyone's surprise nothing happened overnight.  A simple meal of barley and mushroom stew along with various teas.  The primal casters noticed that Domus is too far away for Gaia to hear their prayers. However the local spirit of Mars responded. It is weaker than Gaia (not as much life here) but still powerful enough to grant spells. Once the party was ready to move into research mode a group of locals arrived at the inn for a meal. They were dressed in robes and masks that concealed their species and gender. They were talkative (telepathically anyway). One in particular was willing to describe the group that Hyacinth had formed to become his power base for a run at being the new lord. The term "cult" certainly matches what they describe. A regiment of chores, dress code, and dietary restrictions all in the name of "focusing their minds". Hyacinth in exchange provides training and a safe place to stay. The exact nature of what they need this mental focus for wasn't discussed as the meal was crashed by a daemon.

A pair of urdhefan riding ghoul bats descended on the dining area. Except one changed shape into a daemon. This kind was blue with 3 eyes and mostly female. She was also adept at casting spells but seemed to prefer ripping into her victims. The daemon succumbed to and array of debuffs capped off with Baleful Polymorph. The other creatures were killed by more conventional means (Val and Tethis + haste + full attacks). The non-chicken was quickly killed but was carrying [plot advancing item] that had been absorbed by the polymorph spell.  Whatever she was, going through her gear, and getting the bounty would all have to wait until the cleric could undo the polymorph.

Session 24a+b: Stepping into the Void  - What happened to our downtime?

  On the way back from the old Asmodean temple and perimeter sweep the group encountered something strange. A woman chanting at a massive hunk of lead, vaguely shaped like a person. Across the field the party hears her speak a single word, fight. With that the golem stomped toward the group. The usual thing happens, Draknon and Val advance while everyone else fires bows, rifles, and spells. Except this time its DR is so high it soaks anything not made of adamantine. And it is completely immune to magic, with a handful of exceptions which the party quickly figured out. The woman controlling the golem can a wall of stone to keep the party away from from her but she could still cast safely. She failed to confuse the party and decided to flee before they could corner her. Eventually the golem was destroyed leaving a massive pile of lead chunks (more on that later).  She did leave an explosive gift for the party.

  Once back in town, the group was told they have a week off.  Val and Zurzuckit were warned that strange things have been happening in town since  a recon mission under the Caldur Farm. A group explored part of the ruins where the Stun Rod was found, it is an Ancient series of subway tunnels. The group scattered and at least for a few hours everything was fine. Then Sam was minding his own business in the Garren's Well library when a magical Symbol went off. The spell was a powerful sleep spell which knock out everyone in the library except Sam and the librarian. "Why aren't you asleep? I needed you asleep." Before he could question or attack the librarian twitched and collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. A lingering aura of necromancy magic remained on her indicating some kind of possession.  A psychic exam revealed the woman was attacked by a fox.

  Another strange attack, this time on the garrison, was spotted by Draknon. An old woman dropped a stone block nead the front gate. Seeing small bits of paint that dripped off the sides he assumed it was another magic symbol and scuffed it out with a file. The casters identified it as another Symbol of Sleep. A little more investigation found the party tracking from the librarian's home to a local jeweler. There were two  people working in back and another minding the store. There were some noises upstairs, the owner was upstairs trying to rest. Sam summoned a bird to fly up and peek inside while others cased the place. Nothing strange, just an old woman trying to nap. 

  On the way back to the garrison to regroup, they spot a man dressed in an Ashen Guard uniform readying to fire a rifle at the Garrison's Stanard. The group rushed him and knocked him out. While he was out they detected an unusual and powerful enchantment. While the spell was active he had to do everything he could to complete an specific 20 word request in 1 hour. Realizing the only way to find out what that order is may be to let it play out. So with some staging and illusion magic, Castileon wakes up the soldier and steps back. The enchanted soldier sees his target standing near the other PC's and takes a shot. When the "officer" drops he runs into the garrison and straight to the main office. Other troops were ordered to offer only token resistance. The plan would fail if the timer ran out before he finished OR if he evaded everyone. Taking a small box out of the desk, the guard ran for the local greenhouse. As the group approached a shutter in the ceiling opened. The stanard said the little box had the spare Key. Not knowing where another door was they decided to stop him just outside the greenhouse. Between a grapple and more nonlethal damage he was stopped again. Then a fireball went off, killing the guard and damaging the group. With a caster inside that could pick them off at range the group charged. This time, the caster was invisible and had other defenses cast. In a remarkable turn of events, everyone caught in the area of Confusion made their saves preventing the caster's planned means of escape. Other spells were thrown but eventually the Mirror Images were dispelled and the caster dropped. Knowing she could possess others there is a concern that this wasn't really her, more investigation will be needed on that point.

  The Greenhouse does have a Door. In the middle store room is a wardrobe that responded to the Blood Ring. It did NOT respond to earlier Keys. [off camera a quick check showed all the Keys still react to the Door in the old farmhouse.] Knowing that the magic of the Door shows the traveler where they will land, Zurzuckit tied a rope to a shelf bracket and leaned into the door. Inside was a long, dark, sinking feeling ending with a vision of a landing area. Unlike the Ring 4 landing pad, this one is guarded only by devils. The architecture is more intimidating. Black slate, obsidian, and gold resembling a layer of Hell. Also visible was a bounty station where Urdefhan and daemons could be cashed in. The last thing in the greenhouse was a hidden space under the floor. A trapdoor, wired to another trapdoor in the compartment, was found. Carefully disarming the trap, Draknon was able to open the compartment and discovered a naked human male. He was recognized as a traveling noble named Peyton Bachan. He is a resident of Brass here on business and has been seen around town in the last few days. However the person in the trap has clearly been here for nearly a week. There are signs of being beaten, starved, and kept asleep most of the time by magic. There was also a Symbol of Despair hidden in a pile of papers on a desk. The items in the pile are seemingly random papers from the library and around town. With the party back into the thick of it when they should be on leave, Legate Wattana decided to put others on the various trails and make sure his star team was ready for a journey to Hogstown.

After the party gets back to base, they are kept close to Post 3. Not told why and a few familiar faces are missing for most of a day. Later the Command Staff call all the squad leaders and a few whole teams into the mess hall for a briefing. A team has made the first trip to Hogstown. 

Ashen Guard Field Report “Hogstown” Initial Survey       Restricted to Tribune and designated Travelers

Trip 1 Travelers:         Tribune Optio Keon – Expedition Lead

Stanard Kerra Siven – Designated Note Keeper

Avocati Malin Shirman, Avocati Resha Stone – Security

Tola Tarrent – “Noble Tourist”

INTEL HIGHLIGHTS: Gravity and air are normal for Domus.

Most areas are kept on a day/night cycle similar to Domus with magical light.

Dark Lanes are areas with NO artificial light.

Merchants speak Ashen, Havend, and/or Catfolk.

Citizens and Guards speak their own pidgin called undercommon or Infernal.

Multiple centers of power, maybe 1-3 for each Ring.

Brandishing a daemonic symbol is grounds for immediate expulsion. the penalty for summoning a daemon is execution.

There are at least 4 Rings.

Not knowing what to expect the above Travelers decided to go in as a trade group with their noble woman employer and her advisors / bodyguards along for the ride. To maintain this story, Tola was assigned the Key. Keon and Siven know enough about the local economy in Garren’s Well and Ashenvan in general to make it believable. The guards were kitted out with new gear, none of which has Ashen Guard insignia. Everyone else had dressed for their parts.

Using the Key obtained from Garren’s Well they departed from the Door in the abandoned farmhouse. The excursion was planned for 5 hours. Tola and Legate Wattana have matched pocket watches to keep track. A second team with a Key is on standby as rescue if needed.

From Siven’s notes: “Our landing area was a large open cavern. It was well lit by magic and the Door is guarded by a Warmonger Devil, two lesser devils, and 5 humanoid troops.  There were exits to the North, South, and West. No one asked for “papers” until we tried to go north. Keon said our contact told us North and she pointed to her compass. It was explained that she grabbed the wrong compass, and told to use the South exit and follow the rest of her ‘directions’ in reverse. Tola asked what’s to the East and was told that was a Dark Lane on Ring 4.

“We proceeded to go through the South exit. The way was still lit up. There was series of wide streets with separate structures of stone, bone, and crystal on one side. Along the perimeter of the ring were chambers dug into the walls. Many bore fancy decorations, banners, bound outsiders, or simply storefronts. Near the landing there are many shops. We were asked on several occasions if we could provide finished lumber as their existing contractor vanished. We stopped and spoke to the proprietor of the fancier looking shops about lumber. Keon told them we would review our inventories and see how much we could divert. That answer satisfied him, and we continued our survey.

“There were species there that I did not recognize from Domus. One had a wedge shaped head and 4 arms. This one matched something in the books called a 'witchwyrd' and are apparently spacefaring traders. Another looked more insectile but otherwise humanoid. There was only one group of these that we found and they seemed to be a bit off putting to everyone else. Only the orcs and devils treated them like people. The third was some kind of walking plant. It was clearly wearing armor and had strange gear, some of which it grew from its body on command. It was in a mixed group generally of other locals and was respected by the city guard (several nodded or saluted it when it went by).  All of the 'off-worlders' spoke Infernal to the locals and their own languages amongst their parties. 

"We observed no one traveling alone. There were single outsiders and a dragon, but the humanoids always moved in groups of at least 3. The various types of travelers followed a few patterns. Traders from Domus or elsewhere often had 1-2 talking about margins and routes with 2-3 guards.  Local workers, always teams of 4 who keep up the streets and stone buildings. They carried something that acted like a wand of stone shape, but Keon says that’s impossible. We spotted two other types before we made it back to the landing area. There was a fight between some of the guards and a daemon worshipper. We stayed out of it but it’s clear they have their hands full. Keon reminded me that daemons want to be summoned. Daemon worship was recently outlawed but many adherents still prowl the streets. They travel either in pairs or large, heavily armed groups (according to the guards).

“We saw two of this last type. A group of six masked figures in robes that concealed their entire body. We could not identify species, apparent gender, or any other physical feature. They refused to speak to anyone but when they approached a shop or interacted with a guard they seemed to be understood. Tola asked one of the guards (a half orc male named Jova) about them. She was informed they are some new cult, Servants of Hyacynth. Didn’t know anything more except they are weird.”

Session 23: Stepping into the Void  - Something terrible happened down here.

   Having taken time to rest and charge the recovered gear. Something was keeping the lights on and the electronic door locks armed. Last time the party encountered an Ancient power source it was dangerously radioactive so the group was wary. In order to better face another carniverous crystal, Castileon prepared a Silence spell. The plan was to cast that on Val's sword in hopes it will shut down the stunning sound the crystal emits. The group decided to leave the security armor behind as no one was entirely sure how it works. Draknon was able to open the security door and zurzuckit immediately spotted the crystal. In that moment of panic, Sorrow appeared in his hand.

Following the plan, Castileon cast silence, Val charged, and Draknon ran in after them. Surprising everyone, Zurzuckit fired Sorrow and hit the creature. While it did damage it didn't work at full effect on the mindless ooze. This time the crystal was destroyed quickly before anyone could be affected by its petrification attacks. Once the fight ended, the group spread out to search the control room. There were two closed doors and another large door that opened into a room with a metal hatch on the floor. There was also a control panel with a graphical interface. The facility controls 6 “wells” and some number of “fans.” The fans were greyed out which the group figured it means they are broken or not connected anymore. Of the 6 Wells, only 2 were lit up and running under 15% of maximum. Not knowing how to restart a Well and not sure why some are off, the group left it alone for now.

The Hatch. Nearly 10 feet across made of steel resting on a reinforced concrete slab. The hinges have been welded as well as the lock mechanism. There was no obvious writing in the room. During the fight with the crystal Sam summoned a Lantern Archon. As an attempt to do a little scouting while, Sam asked the archon to teleport a few feet beyond the door, look around, and then teleport back. The archon flicked for a moment and found it could not use its teleport ability. The casters all used detect magic to find the problem. Somehow, even though the Ancients didn't have magic, the hatch was dimensionally locked and the steel door was enhanced to be stronger than adamantine. As the group started to move on, the Dude got a strange feeling and went in to look at the hatch. Unseen by the rest of the party was writing in the secret language of the Druids. <Note: I misspoke part of this at the table>

“An otherworld's beast, claws wings teeth and scales. Four claws rend the earth while its breath is Ancient Fire. The greatest of its kind slain, we can not bring ourselves to destroy the egg. We leave it here, sustained by magic and the shielded from prying eyes. When the time comes for it to hatch, we will decide its fate.”

  The other doors led deeper into the power plant. Several narrow halls with side rooms and a few closed vents gave hints at what happened down here. As the party advanced, Draknon heard an unfamiliar beep. It came from his e-picks, a low battery warning. Something nearby was draining the battery. He called for the group to stop and put the e-picks in the haversack. Sam sent the archon to look around the corner. It found a vehicle parked in the room but no other signs of life. Until it got close to the vehicle and an orange pseudopod reached out and grabbed the archon. A brief squeeze was enough to destroy the lantern and Sam decided to try lightning elementals. They might draw it out or they may feed the creature. Draknon moved the long way around, the narrow halls were starting to block movement and he needed a way to get to the creature without blocking Val. He found a blood trail but didn't investigate yet. Someone used Mage Hand to pop the hood latch revealing another ooze. This one is was capacitor ooze and had fewer defenses than the crystal. But it had a nasty special attack. Draknon moved in to hit it, then Val stepped in to help. The creature moved back as Tethis and Dude came through another corridor. With Draknon engaged and the ooze using the vehicle for cover, Val tried to get passed it by jumping. Sadly the weight of her armor and shield were too great and she fell into the ooze. The creature's own electric current stunned Val, but Zurzuchit was able to get her out by using a charge of dimension door. The ooze pursued in order to hit Val again. This time the shock set off a feedback in her brain. Sam (channeling a previous incarnation) decided to try and capture the ooze, ordering an elemental into a glass jar and carefully approaching the ooze to coax it in. The ooze was being hit repeatedly but it kept swinging. Sam decided that waiting wasn't working so he tried to put the jar over the ooze. Almost getting stunned for trying, he did catch part of it. Once the ooze taste the lightning elemental it curled up in the jar and started eating. Draknon got the lid on and everyone waited to see if this would actually work. After finishing its meal the ooze appeared to notice it was surrounded by a resistor and started shaking. It started to crack the jar so Sam got off it just in time to not face plant in the ooze. Tethis was waiting for something like this to happen and unloaded a volley into it. Those last arrows finally dropped the ooze. Whatever it did to Val was still going on so the next few rounds were spent trying to heal the damage and keep the commander alive until the electrical overload passed. The vehicle looks functional, but the battery is completely drained and damaged as to no longer hold a charge.

Now investigating the blood trail. It looked like something with 4 legs, maybe hooves, dragged a humanoid down the hall toward a pile of broken machinery. Still having lightning elementals, Sam send them to fly over. Something started waving at them from a small pit in the floor. A skeleton, wet with fresh blood was pinned between the walls of the pit. It spoke Ancient so translating started. It explained some angry robot tossed it in the trash compactor and broke the controls. The voice identified itself as “Trellig” and he really wanted to get out and smash that robot. A casting of Detect Evil revealed that its aura was that of a cleric of an evil god. The party also realized that holy water was required to keep it dead. So while some people kept it talking in order to learn more about this place, Draknon repaired the compactor controls and started the cycle. This destroyed the body allowing the application of holy water. This turned the broken bones to powder putting it to rest. In the compactor was a mostly melted pile of silver. Though unidentifiable it was likely an unholy symbol. There was no magic left on it, but the psychic imprint revealed a lawful evil deity. The other end of the trail led to a door marked “Medical.”

This door was locked, but Draknon's had practice now. Inside was another bloody skeleton mopping the floor. He (?) turned to face the door, saw the party and started to reach for a pistol. It was speaking Ancient prompting Zurzuckit to try and talk the creature down. After a moment a robot stepped into view. It was clearly in charge here. It knew about the druids who placed the egg. “They knew the Names and only asked to use a tool. They returned the tool and left in peace.” It knew the old names of the Ten, even identifying its master as “Sedki.” That name struck several of the players and a few characters as they know that was the dead god of Dragons. It asked if they serve one of the Ten, and threatening them if they didn't. The robot revealed that while it used to serve the people, it was loyal to the Ten and helped get the oozes into the base. Several members of the party were casting buff spells during the conversation and it took a while for the robot to realize what they were doing (having no knowledge of magic). When it asked, Sam cast Haste which was the party's cue to start shooting. The conversation was leading toward “kill all organics” at that point anyway. This thing was armored, more so that a usual robot of its type. Everything short of adamantine bounced off, even the clustered shots of Tethis were having trouble betting through. The robot itself couldn't hit Val, but did fire a laser and dart at Zurzyckit and swung with numerous blades and claws each round. Once Val switched to the “artifact breaker” the robot went down. Not before it injected something into Draknon. After the fight ended, the robot was still under a Heat Metal spell as well as on fire and covered in acid. A very quick round of salvaging happened before the bot was a melted pile of slag. The injector was recovered and the sedative that hit Draknon took effect. It was already past store close so the looting, XP, and searching the room will be detailed here.

Loot Drop!!
In the bot's injector:  1x Hemochem Grade 3, 3x Cureall, 3x Baseline, 1x Zortaphen

On the skeletons

2x broken pistol 2d6-2 P, 20ft range inc, capacity 9, semi-automatic

If repaired, remove the -2 damage, increase range to 40ft. 

5x pistol magazines, 40x pistol ammo

2x broken Inssuits

In the Medical Lab

2x Trauma Pack, 3x Black hypopen, 1x White hypopen, 1x Green hypopen

In the vehicle

2x heatsink cravat (special)

Capacity 20; Usage 1/round

Hands —

Description

This garment is worn over the exterior of armor, often around the neck or head. Woven from golden nanotubes, a heatsink cravat converts heat energy into cold. It functions like a set of heat climate environmental clothing without consuming any charges. If you gain the burning condition while wearing the cravat, it activates automatically, reducing the amount of damage you take from the burning condition each round by 1 (minimum 0) for as long as it is active. In addition, while a heatsink cravat is active, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Reflex 

saving throws to end the burning condition, which stacks with any bonus from previously failed attempts to end the burning condition.

A heatsink cravat uses a battery, and each round of use consumes 1 charge.

2x 100ft titanium cable

Toolbox with basic mechanic's tools, wire cutters, screwdrivers, etc.

2x Industrial Backpack, +4 Str for carrying capacity. The advanced materials make them Hardness 10 with 20 HP. It can store 1.75 cubic feet, in addition to items strapped or clipped to the pack.

The Vehicles

The vehicle in the hall is built for the building's maintenance workers. It requires 1 driver and can hold another 2 medium creatures and 500 pounds of gear. It runs on either battery power or high proof ethanol (70% or higher). While the alcohol engine was meant for emergencies there is no reason it can't run on it full time. The internal tank will hold 10 gallons of fuel. The estimated range is 30 miles per gallon. It can carry more but the fuel range drops to 20 miles per gallon. The max load is 1500 pounds. Past that the suspension fails and it can't move. It has a top speed of 50 miles per hour on more flat surfaces.

There are two of these. One was in the hall will the capacitor ooze. The other is found in a side room with a garage door. The bay is currently filled in with dirt and mud but it can be excavated with enough man-hours or magic. The bay door leads out to where the wind farm was before the world changed. 

Session 22: Stepping into the Void  - <Title lost to a weird subsonic hum.>

  The group spends a the rest of the day and the next sweeping the rest of the hex with the Urdefhan camp. No other undead or other dangerous creatures were found. The last hex of the survey had a handful of farmsteads but no trouble until the third night camping. A large gout of flame erupted from the ground after midnight. It was accompanied by a rumble in the ground that woke everyone up. The sneaky team members went to investigate, the flare appeared to be about 200 yards north. The spot was easy to find as all the vegetation was burned away from a concrete plug in the ground. There was a charred skeleton laying on the ground with the plug closed over its legs. No sign of movement, it didn't attack when poked. There was writing on the plug, maybe some kind of warning. As the language was unknown, the scouts went back to camp and decided to check it out with the whole team in the morning.

  The scorched ground and concrete plug remained, the body was gone. It left a trail of clawed hand prints and a drag mark that must be its hip bones. The writing was a warning about fire and containment. It looks like someone climbed out a vent, hit a trap, and was incinerated. The trail lead to a bunker built into a hillside. The area was maintained like someone was using it as a base. The door was closed and had been locked from the outside. The skeleton was trying to pick the lock with its bony fingers. Before a pool could be started on if the creature could really pick the lock, someone called out to it. It stopped messing with the lock and waved to the group. "I have to save them, the giants took us as slaves." Yes he knew he was dead, but there were some still alive when he climbed into the vents. The giants stopped providing food and water and they had to escape or they would all die. The creature sounded sincere and was in a hurry to get the others out. The lock was good, but didn't stop Draknon from opening the door. Inside were 3 hill giants, all quite sick. One was still able to talk and said the prisoners tried to eat them so they collapsed the elevator and hoped for their boss to come back. Meanwhile, the bites grew infected and it was clear the giants all had varying stages of ghoul fever. The one that could talk crawled into a narrow hall while the party knocked out the two now feral hill giants. After the skeleton entered the room, he accused the giants of eating his children. "They couldn't work and we were hungry" doomed all three giants as the party understood he admitted to the enslaving and killing. Next stop was the elevator shaft.

  As the giant said, they smashed the car and left it a pile of wreckage. They also bent a piece of metal around some of the internal parts of the sliding door to keep it shut. The party could hear multiple footsteps and what sounded like digging. Carefully removing the metal from the door and slowly opening it revealed a large open room with shelves, a work table, and two Ancient devices that cast faint light. The creatures in the room were like mummies, dried out husks of former humanoids. The creatures attacked as soon as the party's light was visible. Four of them in total, each having an aura of fear and were drawing the moisture out of any living thing nearby. They also burst in a cloud of something like quicklime when destroyed. It turns out that a separate undead was active under the dry husk. While some were destroyed in the fight by overkill, one was still coherent and asked the party what happened. 

  What appears to have happened was the slaves were left to die of thirst and then reanimated as undead. Something else grew over the bodies which made them attack (and infect) the giants. That something else was in the lower chamber and in theory more "survivors" are down there too. When the elevator doors opened the group saw three skeletons in a cell with 4 petrified bodies in a central large room.  Before the group could evacuate the skeletons one of the petrified victims burst and unleashed a horrible ooze. Something known as a carnivorous crystal started to vibrate, stunning everyone nearby. Once the creature moved past the cells, a skeleton ran to a switch on the wall. A series of sirens and flashing lights disrupted the ooze long enough to let the party (mostly) get their composure and actually fight the thing.  Learning that sound hurts it, Val switched to the screaming war razor formerly held by an Urdefhan. With the right tool for the job and everyone eventually resisting the stun the creature was killed. The skeleton who made the initial escape attempt said he crawled out a vent from this room, and had to open a few hatches and switches to get through. That's what released the creature into the cell block. While there was not enough flesh left on the corpses to make another ooze, it could use the statues to hide. Now that the area looks secure it was time to check out a loose end.

  On the second floor, some of the "dry rot" creatures were trying to open a section of wall. It looked like a trap had gone off, a large area of floor rose up to meet the ceiling and flatten anything caught. A careful search found a control panel which was promptly rewired. When the trap reset, remains of another carnivorous crystal were observed. In the now open hallway, rooms marked in Ancient Human are found. A barracks, kitchen, and control room. <something missed in my description was another sealed hallway is there too.> The kitchen had a vent hatch popped off and petrified remains, broken feet and other scraps. This is where the first creature entered and killed a maintenance tech. The barracks had two humans in suits of high tech armor and sonic weapons. The suit batteries were drained, likely due to the years. The bodies had long since decomposed (NOT petrified). The last door was still locked. There is a window near head height showing the room bathed in yellow light. Broken stone body parts are visible scattered around, indicating there may be once of those creatures in the room. The group moved the armor to its charging stations and decided to rest before opening the control room door.

Session 21: Stepping into the Void  - Nice plan, too bad you don't have a Key.

  While sorting through the gear and getting a pyre ready to burn the bodies of the Urdefhans, a large creature teleported nearby in a column of Hellfire. A Warbringer Devil appeared before the party having an announcement for the Key Bearers. "By order of the Deep Council, a bounty of 2000 gold pieces is hereby offered for the head of any Urdefhan. The bounty is payable at any Checkpoint in Hogstown." The devil gave a physical copy of the writ to Zurzuchit and then teleported to the next Key bearer. A careful review of its terms show it has no hidden clauses or difficult requirements on collection, aside from actually going to Hogtown. Two important things were learned from this visit. First, these creatures really did something awful to not only be exiled but a order to exterminate them was issued. Second, the higher ups in Hogstown and likely anyone else with a Key can use it to scry on other Keys.

  A few days later while exploring near a washed out valley the group found the body of a hill giant and two humans. All had bite marks matching those of the Urdefhan party they killed on the barge. The area is gradually sloping down to the south south east so the corpses were not killed here but farther up stream. While searching the bodies and watchful in case they animate, a different kind of undead tried to sneak up on the party. A trio of something called a "flotsam horror" was lazily flowing down stream. While there was a moment of panic when the creatures revealed they could become a swarm or debris rather than a solid creature, the undead were put down. 

  Next hex over was a small farmhouse that belonged to a family of Fellwin. Sadly the place had been ransacked and everyone inside killed. Even the farm animals (5 chickens and 2 small goats). More bite marks but none rose as undead. While burying the dead and searching for clues, a bright light was spotted about a mile away. It appeared over a lake that wasn't on the map and was vaguely in the shape of the holy symbol of Derune Argus. Yes, Castileon's god. Probably the creatures that murdered the Fellwin, almost certainly some kind of trap. While briefly considering sending the cleric alone, the group decided to attack in full force. At the lake they see an earthen dam with a wooden gate, some crude shelters, and a strange door laying just south of the floodgate. While too far to detect magic the party could seen arcane symbols etched into the frame. The leader here actually speaks Ashen Common and asks if they found the Captain's Key. He reported that he found one but was overdue to deliver it. The party shrugged, but tried to keep them talking as this was the first time they didn't need a translator. The high points of the conversation:

Someone asked about the door. "That leads to Hogstown, we are going to sacrifice them all." 

How? "Once the door is open, we will destroy the floodgate and send the water." Even without knowing how big the place is, several thousand gallons of water will cause lots of damage.

Where are you from, we've never seen your kind before. "We were from Auma, home of the great Veneris. The land no longer sustains us so we bargained for entry into Hogstown. They gave us shelter but refuse us food."

Can we make your old home more hospitable? "Yes, let us cage Gaia again. Together we shall lock Her in the great mithril chains so we may suckle on Her magic." That caused a brief detour / history lesson for players less familiar with the backstory but the resounding answer from the party was NO.

By this time Val had heard enough and charged the leader. Again with the Holy Smite blinding several and an entangle trapping the rest this combat was mostly one sided. A Cloudkill (weakened by a certain stare) was the biggest offensive move they could make before being cut down or perforated by arrows.

The group searched the area and found the door was built by the creatures, not ripped from another building. The magic on it was complicated, using both teleportation and plane shifting to Shadow to extend the range. It was also trapped, as soon as a Key got close something in the floodgate beeped. The group cleared out and Draknon started looking for the trap. A pound of plastic explosive was wired to the door. The switch on the door can sense schools of magic, and was set to "Conjuration." In order to make the flood happen, the water had to go with someone. They rigged it so that whoever opened the passage to Hogstown would be pushed through the door and it should stay open until the water stopped flowing. Obviously that would be fatal for the one opening the door which might be why they had an undead creature on hand. The explosives were secured and the magic detecting detonator was stored in a completely separate pouch. Aside from a bunch of combat gear including spell storing armor the party found the leader's spell book. Just like casters of other races he had notes on other projects scatted throughout the book. Most of the notes refer back to the Keys and door equation. A string of symbols and numbers was found to be coordinates. If correctly identified it appears the Hogstown is farther away than anyone thought possible. The fabled subterranean city is on Mars.

Session 20: Stepping into the Void  - OK, that might be too random.

  Using the slate that's connected to Post 3, Val received new orders to sweep the area around the temple for more of those creatures (Urdefhans, but the type changed to Aberration). And to wipe any undead that they may have created on the way. Looking over the map, the goal is to clear the Temple hex and all adjacent one.  After spending another day in the temple hex, the party found their first problem. A something dragged off an elk and left a bunch of dried red goo around the area. A little searching found a group of giant toads, one still having a bit of hoof sticking out of its mouth. While trying to decide if they should just move on, a toad spit a wad of red sludge at Val. It splashed off her armor and started evaporating into a cloud. No significant effect but it may clear that they were hostile. Yes they are gross and spit hallucinogenic poison, but its just giant toads. The team killed the toads and searched the nearby lair. Nothing valuable was found. There was evidence of humanoids being caught and eaten probably over a month ago. The Post doesn't keep track of everyone living nearby and no distinguishing features remain. They were given funeral rites to help ensure they didn't later rise as undead.

  While moving along a partly flooded valley the party found a group of lizardfolk. They were towing / rowing a flat bottom barge full of trade goods and less alchemical remedies. They were friendly and called out to the party. The two groups traded recent news, bought a few things, and peacefully departed. One interesting bit of news was a Havend survey team was spotted west of the search area. There is already a road that moves through the region even though it isn't used much. Once the team gets back to base they might learn more about what's happening out west.

  Last thing was a large group of Urdefhans on another flat bottom barge. They were navigating some of the flooded lowlands with no ghoul bats or other undead nearby. Because he finally learned Aklo, the merchant could actually talk to them. The lead creature asked if they volunteered to be sacrifices and the two started chatting about who or what they would be sacrificed to. Meanwhile the rest of the party slowly were spreading out and preparing for a fight. The banter did reveal a name, Cixyron. It is the daemonic harbinger of toxic metals, lightning, and gunpowder. The ones they fought in the temple worshipped a different harbinger based on the symbols found on surviving gear. Once it was clear the creatures were bored of the gnome the group attacked. A Holy Smite blinded most of the creatures. Then the barge was nearly swamped by the sudden appearance of a buffalo which trampled from on end to the other. Draknon jumped aboard and Val drank her Enlarge Person potion. The enemy forces never had a chance to regroup or even self destruct this time. There was a bit of time spent collecting the gear and the session was ended there. XP to be awarded after a surprise visitor at the start of the next session.

Session 19: Stepping into the Void  - Why did you leave it where some kid could find it?

  After the fight the party examined the bodies and decided to camp for the night before moving on to the temple. There was a late night visitor from that direction. An Ancient combat robot, damaged and heading straight for Post 3. It paused a safe distance from the camp and announced itself before getting too close. It identified itself as Kurch Runehammer and that its home had been invaded by these strange creatures. Once it noticed the bodies of the clear skinned humanoids its demeanor changed. Rather than ask the military post for assistance, it asked the party to help. In exchange for weapons it had stored for the former owners of the temple, the party would clear out the creatures. He was able to further elaborate on what happened and how he was driven out of his bunker.

  "They came through a closet door. Not the closet, not a concealed room in the closet, the doorway. 8 of the clear skin creatures, 4 undead bats, and a dragon. One had an adamantine mace and destroyed my primary weapon (a grenade launcher). I am not designed for melee combat and was forced to withdraw. I had sufficient reserves to reach you military base. It was fortunate I encountered your team. You appear to have destroyed half of the forces that took my temple.

  "I served the Asmodeans who ran the temple for 100 years. After they abandoned their faith I remained in the temple. To pass the time I continued to make weapons and equipment in hopes they would return. It has been 200 years since and I have remained alone. People believe the old temple to be haunted and avoid it."

  With a glitchy robot marching along, the party heads to the old temple. A trio of undead lumberjacks stood watch near the entrance. They were quickly dispatched by Val and a Goat Stomp™. With the new summoner casting Haste to start the party, this turned into a running battle. Two of the clear skin creatures were just inside, a third hiding among the pillars. When Val and Draknon moved in, the sneaky one tried to get into flank. With the creatures dropping quickly and more party members moving in the flank plan didn't work. The one with the mace was in the large chamber with a young rift dragon. Kurch flew through one of the surviving windows and proceeded to get revenge. During the fight, everyone ended up in a line down the central axis of the temple. The dragon unleashed its acid breath and trampled its way down the hall. The stomping continued until the dragon reached a goat. The trample turned into a tactical error as the dragon was now flanked by Val and Draknon on one side and Sam and The Dude (with Goat) on the other. Somehow through all the moving, stomping, and stabbing the last enemy standing was the sneaky one. Before it could be killed or captured it began to mutter something. Even without the language it was clear what it said. "My soul for vengeance" as a prayer to a daemonic force. It then exploded in a cloud of acid. 

  Kurch allowed everyone to go into the basement after the fight to clean up and give them what it promised. But first he insisted on repairing his weapon. While waiting for that the party had a chance to look around. The temple itself was is rough shape. Kurch seems to have spent little or no time maintaining the upper floor. Outside, about 100 feet south, is a short stone fence surrounding a graveyard. Near the center was a glowing mote of red light, the markers and ground were pushed aside like something struck the earth with great force. A shallow crater contained a revolver. This might be why they wanted a "Gun Cleric." The area had a number of magic auras, abjuration being the strongest. Gnomish curiosity kicked in. First an Unseen Servant was sent in, it quickly ended as if the Servant wandered out of range. He then tied a rope to Val and stepped over the fence. From outside, it looked like he stepped into nothing. Inside everything was huge. The blades of grass were well overhead, the fence looked about 20 feet high. Val may have been a kaiju. Sensing an enchantment trying to confuse him, he focused his thoughts and pressed ahead. Reaching the center Zurzuckit was faced with a new problem. The pistol was still normal size and taller than his current form. Hoping the magic didn't care about the difference between apparent weight and mass, a casting of Mage Hand brought the weapon close enough to touch. A charge from Harj's wand of Dimension Door got him and the pistol outside the fence line. A wave of disgust washed over him when he realized he was holding a gun. The feeling immediately vanished as the gun told him it was ready. Not knowing what that meant it went into a lead box. 

  The party noticed the red light was gone and the weird space folding magic ended. Then the one who put the gun there sent an agent to explain. An avatar of Azim appeared to the party.  "The weapon is a relic of a dead world. After the Ten fell a bunch of us wandered the planes. We were looking for examples of how other worlds manage, what gods do, has anyone else fought the Illith. One of the worlds I visited was damaged on a fundamental level, the humans mixed magic and tech in a way the was shattering reality itself. Some refugees made it out before the end, this weapon is one of them. I've been trying to get rid of it. The other modern gods who could deal with it don't want to. I can't melt it down, I won't fire it. 

  "It feeds on strong, negative emotions. It loves torture and those who revel in it. Luckily mortals can do certain things that gods can't. Maybe the others will guide you where they ignored me. "

  So the pacifist has a cursed weapon from another world. But he's the best choice because of his magical training and discipline of thought. As long as everyone keeps it out of Castilion's hands.

Session 18: Stepping into the Void  - A new enemy at the gates.

  During the next two months, our heroes get a chance to rest and rearm. Solis takes some time out to refocus after the horror he found in the Dimension of Dreams.  Sam, a wandering adventurer in the region to hunt aberrations joined the party. Vic also rotated out of the roster as well. He was replaced by an officer from Mithral, partly as a punishment for an undisclosed issue. Partly because there are strange things going on out here.  

  The rainy season begins with a recon team stumbling back to Post 3 down over half the squad. The "survivors" where ghouls that were quickly put down by the gate guards. The two were searched and a carefully wrapped parcel was found in a coat. Words scrawled in blood read "Gun cleric" Inside was a map that detailed the nearby area between Post 3 and the old Asmodean Temple.  As our Castileon was specifically called out, our team was drafted to check it out.  

  With a quick trip to the Fellwin logging village (and an uncomfortable night for all but one) the party picked up the ghouls trail. It lead to a hilltop campsite with a corpse. Correctly suspecting another ghoul the party readys weapons. Unfortunately something else was tracking the party. A group of strange creatures with clear skin and blue blood swoop down on giant undead bats. With very little fanfare they attack. The riders had ranged spells and bows allowing them to fight at range while the leader (on a bigger bat) charged into the fray near ground level. The battle is a frantic mess but eventually the team prevails.  The session ends with the party sorting through the creatures gear looking for clues as to their origin. Also left as an open question is whether to go back to base or follow the map to the Temple.

Session 17: Interlude  - There's something screwy going on here.

  At dawn, the storm ended and the party started to look around. The Ancient Tracking Station stopped working and there was no sign of the drake, last night's rain, or Castileon. While trying to forage for breakfast they found there was no wild game. No birdsong, bugs, anything. It looked like the forested hills they were in but there should be wildlife. Draknon was the first to realize they were still asleep and dreaming. Since they were dreaming, he decided he could fly. Everyone eventually found enough things wrong to realize what happened (somehow except the psychic gnome). While exploring the dreamscape they found other people trapped inside. A "red" dragon, a pair or orcs, a snake creature, and a few people. 

  In a burning ruin, Vic and Tethis found the orcs. The two were arguing about something, one grew to hill giant size. They then saw there were other people watching them and attacked. Just a handful of blows were exchanged when the big orc shrunk back down and stepped back. The other orc could speak common and said they lost track of who long they were trapped. In talking to him, Tethis realized they were here since Post 2 was wiped out, almost three months ago. Once it was clear they were not on the battlefield they agreed to stop fighting until the dream ended.

  Meanwhile Solis and Draknon started following the snake tracks. A person was walking along side the creature. The trail led to an old hut with two people and a monkey out front. The monkey spotted the pair but Solis hid in the woods before the others turned to look. All they saw was a flying hobgoblin, so they reached for weapons. Once they notice the outfit, they identified themselves as another scout team from Post 3. An elven woman named Seung and a human male named Hriath.  Solis stepped out as did a very sick looking dream naga. They compared notes, the second scout team was here for two days and missing their 3rd. Eventually everyone went back to the radar tower. "That wasn't here yesterday" the elf noted as they approached. 

  The dream naga, who simply wanted to be called Sal, explained they were in some kind of nightmare. As such, to escape they need to reach some kind of goal. She was afraid the goal was the dragon endlessly flying above. In her weaken state she wouldn't be able to help. Vic decided to grow until he could reach the dragon and it somehow worked. It then climbed down Vic to reach the ground. It gave a toothy smile and explained it was trapped here too. It needed to collect enough souls for a hag before it could get out. And now there were enough trapped inside with him. At that moment the full power of the nightmare weighed down on the party. Vic, who had been gargantuan a moment before, shrunk down to kobold size. Draknon stopped being able to fly. A wave of fear panicked the elven wizard but the orcs, human fighter, and the party stood their ground and fought the dragon. After getting close, it took awhile to get outside, Zur cast a mental trap at the dragon which forced it to attack things only it could see. That effectively ended the fight and the rest of the group could kill it. Once the dragon passed out, the nightmare collapsed and the party woke up. Castileon was frantically casting cure spells and channeling to keep Vic alive. He tried to wake the party but couldn't. Even though they spent several hours wandering around, only about 20 minutes had passed. 

  The group, knowing another party was close by, set a signal fire. Falling back on their field training they sent the "rally here" sign. A few hours later a smoke signal went up in acknowledgement. By nightfall the other group arrived. Much like the party one of theirs woke up unable to rose his companions. He spent a frantic few days tending to them and sent a raven back asking for help.  They realized the party was close but needed more time to recover as they had been ensnared longer. Dude started making some mushroom based uppers for those that wanted to delay sleep for a bit. The fire did attract a true dragon. A large green dragon started to circle the tower and called down to the party. "You're a bit far from home for Ashen Guard, you must be bandits." Zur explained they were only there until they received new orders. Seeing the number of armed people on the roof and outside and hearing more were probably coming, the dragon decided to leave.

  Last thing. Keon, Tola, and 3 soldiers teleported in. Both groups gave initial reports to Keon and Tola started to look over the Tracking Station. Getting assistance from most of the party while others keep watch Tola was able to break down the system. When she went looking for the power supply she found a damaged radiothermal generator, an Ancient power supply that uses the heat from decaying radioactive isotopes to make electricity. Not knowing what was in the panel she moved a piece of shielding. She told everyone to get out while she closed up the panel. Keon had a "Remove Radioactivity" spell ready (Tola told her it might be needed). "We can't move it safely, even Solis will burn to ash if he carries it for too long." [mechanics note: on Domus, Oreads are immune to radiation and dwarves are highly resistant.] The decision is made by Keon to bury the site. A combination of Stone Shape and Move Earth spells should contain the reactor. At least until the Mage's College can send a team to fully extinguish the core. The site will be marked and warning signs in Ashen Trade, Draconic, and Gnomish are left on the ensuing mound.  In a profound stroke of luck the group makes it back to Post 3 a week later with no further obstacles.

Session 16: Interlude  - Hey, where did that last giant go?

 So in the tradition of his people, Vic went into the back room to kill the last giant.  But the chamber was empty. The giant hadn't fully closed a hidden door so the party decided to track it down. After about a quarter mile the passage opened into an Ancient ruin. A hill giant was keeping watch, a group of adventures was probably on their way and these guys aren't completely stupid. The party quickly dispatched the guard and met more giants as well as something else. The room with two giants, Solis, and Draknon was filled with fog and the rest of the part tried to move around. They spotted a large, grey-skinned woman with metal claws casting spells into the room. With the party split the fight was a chaotic mess that wandered around the facility but eventually the monsters were defeated. 

  There was a spiral staircase that went up into more of the ruins. They also found the hag's alchemy lab, a mix of Ancient and current equipment (combination of Masterwork Alchemy Lab and Pharmaceutical Lab). [off camera - the Lab has a formula book containing Soothe, Grade 1 Hemochem, and Vive, and Defoliant, Potion Sponge, and Specialty smoke pellets- Smog]. The party advanced up the stairs to find other buildings and a raging thunderstorm. Opening the one door that leads out found two large shapes huddled under an awning to stay out of the rain. There was a brief attempt at discussion and then they spit and acid cloud at the party. The creatures were forest drakes and the one that spit acid was killed almost instantly by arrows and raging heavy pick. The other drake apologized and begged for mercy. Not having possessions it told the party about other dragons in the area. The BBD of the area is a huge green known as "Uncle Greg" to the local drakes. He lairs about 10 miles west, one of the mountain streams is the border of his territory. The lesser drakes, other colors of dragon, and kobolds who don't worship him stay east of the stream and live. 

  Agreeing to let the drake spent the night and unable to send a raven or get their bearings in a thunderstorm, the party decided to check out the intact building and possibly spent the night there. Inside is a mix of functioning Ancient equipment and patchwork repairs to the roof and walls. The focus of the room is a touchscreen console covered in dots of light. The background seamed to be a rough topographical map. The lights on the screen move in response to people moving around. It wasn't detecting the gnome, but everyone else (and the drak outside). The storm was messing with its focus and range but the system works for tracking anything size medium and up. It can either see out about 20 miles all around (its hex and all adjacent) or focus to count everything in 1 hex up to 50 miles away. Not wanting to leave this just sitting here, they decide to camp here and send a raven (their last one) in the morning.

Session 15: Interlude  - Why didn't we see all these weird creatures on the way here?

  After grinding a cold iron warhammer down to filings, the party was able to close off the tear that lead to the Abyss. Having found multiple portals as they've explored the mountain they are worried about two things. How many are there? and Is someone opening them? Others have noticed this too. On the way down from the temple while the party was attacked by chuul larva an oni attacked. It blasted the party with a cone of cold then moved into melee. Sadly for the oni it's regeneration couldn't keep pace with Vic's pick. In going through it's stuff the group found a journal describing another outsider that may have been making the portals. 

  The group spent the night in the Goat Herder's village and enjoyed a celebratory feast for freeing them from Harj. [off camera, the party got a few doses of the mutagen they use to help make the farm animals bigger. Not safe for anything with an INT above 3. It should also be delivered a few drops at a time over a month or it won't work right.] The residents of the village offered the party any of the robot parts and scrap metal they wanted.  The group also plotted their route back to Post 3. The two best options being to stay in the mountains and head toward Post 2 or head south out of the mountains and stop by the Swamp Witch. The party opted for the one that is farther away from brain-eating monsters.

  Once in the foothills the party was challenged by a strange creature seemingly made of ice and riding a ghostly stag. It manifested a glaive made of ice and challenged the leading goat. Quickly realizing this thing wasn't about the stand down Tethis started shooting and Vic moved to intercept the charge. With a little mental magic Vic avoided a critical hit from a (spirited) charging glaive. The creature was identified as a Cold Rider, a type of fey. After the fight its armor and weapon melted but some of its gear survived. As the mount was a phantom steed that couldn't airwalk, it could be tracked. Fearing another portal they followed the tracks back to a giant's lair.

  Inside they found a small group of hill giants. One met them near the entrance and some of the group wanted to try to talk to him. Others hid in the shadows to be ready for when things went wrong. Or went usual because hill giants aren't that bright. The first giant asked Vic to fight to become part of tribe. Vic just wanted to fight and the arrival of a second giant started the battle in earnest. While there was a good deal of beating delivered to the party, Solis was able to pin one giant while the rest finished off the pair. Moving deeper into the cave they found the 3rd of 4 which must have been the leader. He went into a rage and charged. This time the mental trick didn't prevent Vic from being beaten down and nearly killed outright (rage, power attack, crit). The rest of the group was able to kill it eventually.  The last giant stepped out from the back of the cave. Seeing a large, heavily armed group standing over the body of the leader, it surrendered. It pointed out where the treasures are kept and went back into the cave to wait for the party to leave.  They giants had collected some cash, trade goods and a few magic trinkets. Sorting all that out took the last part of the session. 

Session 14: How to Stop an Idea  - Feels like a long walk home.

  After a brief recap and sorting out gear, the party was sent back to Domus. However, Keeper offered then a side job. About 70 years ago an airship from Soruan crashed during an exploration / trade mission.  While the crew is long dead there may be some interesting salvage that the group is welcome to keep. The crash site is higher up the mountain by 500 feet but Keeper can teleport the party close. Not knowing why the ship crashed or what's on the ground now is a risk but the group decides to go for it. 

  The teleport lands the group about 100 yards from the crash. The first problem is the debris scattered around the area. The bigger problem are the zombie goats standing around. Once the party gets closer the zombies sense the warm, living beings and charge. Being mindless and unarmored these goats went down quickly. The bodies were dragged out of the debris field and the team started looking for anything useful. Two crates were magically protected to prevent spoilage and were filled with foodstuffs, medicine, and alcohol. Other crates contained building materials that suffered from moisture and too many freeze-thaw cycles ruining what were once exotic hardwoods. Several metal bits survived, fasteners and decorative elements clearly meant for trade. Once the salvage was sorted and it was clear no more goats were nearby the party advanced to the ship itself.

  The ship had smashed into the mountainside leaving the fore section crumpled into scrap. The rear cargo door was open and something could be seen moving around on the deck.  A cautious advance gave the part a look at some truly bizarre creature. The beast had a central body with spiked tentacles. The limbs surrounded a lamprey-like mouth. The thing had a goat in "hand" and held it close to its mouth. The goat was then implanted with something and dropped to the ground. As it picked up another dead goat the party tried to climb aboard and attack. It heard them of course but Draknon was already in position for a sneak attack. The creature, a lunarma, was eventually brought down before it could implant larva in any of the party. However, they did go back and burn the undead goats using the ruined lumber to make a large pyre.  There were other goat tracks and drag marks around and the lunarma could only fly. Something else had been to the crash site recently and took some things.  A cargo manifest was found (written in Catfolk, but that's not going to stop a dedicated gnome merchant) that listed all the cargo that was on board when the ship was loaded. Most items were located but one large item is gone. A gift from the Soruan dwarves to their Boros cousins, 200 pounds of adamantine ingots. There was also a crew roster and some personal effects. Most of the crew's bodies were found on board. If any were on the deck went the ship crashed they could literally be anywhere on the mountain side by now. There were no signs of survivors of the crash and no apparent sign of why it went down. Some parts of the ship, including some enchanted stones that were part of the flight system, were recovered. 

  After resting down the slope the party went out in search of whoever took the crate of adamantine. The tracks lead 4 miles east of the crash where a small rift was open. A large demonic goat was talking / chanting at two less demon goats. The crate was broken open, ingots scattered about. The group did well getting close and getting the jump on the demons. Solis finally found something to grapple (zombie? nope. Tentacle monster? Hell no.) and was able to toss one back through the rift. The other less goat was destroyed while the big one reminded the party that goats hurt. The session ended with the party gathering the ingots, looking around for other items missing from the airship, and needing to do something about this open rift.

Session 13: How to Stop an Idea  - Great, now we have to chase him.

   The New Plan™ worked, hide in the village and ambush the reinforcements. Except for the robot firing rockets. Vic took the full blast from one and the robot was flanked before it could fire another. The party quickly finished off the escorts (same type of bot as last time). They were expecting more bots and the Goatherder thinks he knows where they all went. Up the north side of the valley on a high cliff is a temple of Iovis. While no longer a major deity he is still a keeper of great knowledge. The fear is there is something in the shrine he can use to bring Asmodeus back. In order to skip a bunch of travel time, the party's goats are fed Fly potions. Even with the solid mass of rock which is the monk they had enough carrying capacity to make the flight at full speed.

  Landing just south of the shrine the party finds signs of a combat. An unconscious bear surrounded by shattered robots and wandering goats. Once revived, the bear identified himself as Markenta. He is a guardian of the shrine and caretaker. After briefing the party on what's there and warning the group that he could not see the robots so he had to target their goat mounts. Yes, the bots were riding the goats up to the shrine and released them after the fight. Markenta also told them Harj is a Suli. A rare type of genie-kin associated with all elements and you need all four elements to open the door to the library. The shrine guardians are bound genies. Again, as they are chasing Harj the party felt they needed to get inside before they lost any more time. 

  Inside is a large hallway leading to a grand doorway. The hall is littered with broken robot parts which appeared to be destroyed by traps (Harj used them to clear the hallway). There were 3 other passages and the grand door was locked and magically protected. While trying to unlock the warding, Draknon suffered two negative levels. Solis decided to try and just destroy the door through repeated applications of adamantine mace (thrown as to not get zapped). The process was working until one of the bound genies came out. An efreeti yelling about the noise and too many visitors menaced the group. There was an attempt to talk him down but he wasn't having it (nat 1 diplomacy). The fight started with a quickened scorching ray into the monk burning off about 75% of his HP. He then conjured a Wall of Fire (an illusion, but most of the party didn't figure it out until later).  After a few rounds of slashing with a large falchion and much more burning the monk lay dead at the genie's feet, Vic knocked out and everyone else preparing to run. The efreeti then stopped. "Sorry about that, got carried away." The other genies appeared and offered the party 2 trades. First, the air genie asked for the Stun Rod (yes, the cursed mythic item). She could smell its ozone and magic aura through the haversack. In exchange she agreed to let the party Wish Solis back to life. Being an outsider the curse didn't affect her like it does with mortals. All the genies agreed that this Harj person needed to be stopped so they would use the Stun Rod to recharge the Door (really a portal to the real library). The second offer was tricky, the party needed to rest quickly and the genies were tired of only having each other to talk to. In exchange for using a Wish to free them, the party could Wish themselves fully rested with new spells prepared. <A night's rest in 5 minutes seemed like a fair use for a Wish, or really 1 per PC and each Genie had 3 to offer.> The party used each genie's 3rd Wish to release them from the shrine. Earth, Fire, and Water left immediately. Air stuck around to open the door. By draining the Stun Rod into the door, she was able to force it open. There was a little magic left in the Rod that she dispersed to the party (and yes, kept a bit for herself. More on that later). Each character got a Mythic Tier for a short time granting them a bonus on attacks and saves, bonus HP, and 3 points of Mythic Power (surge 1d6). They would never be more ready to confront Harj then now, so they went through the portal.

  And found themselves in a large, tiered chamber filled with holy symbols. The room had a vast transparent dome which showed the night sky and Domus rising into view. Iovis's Library is on the Moon. Each tier's symbols are all of one type. The bottom layer is the Removed. Next are the dead Hands. Next are the Fallen with the current gods on the top tier. Harj is on the top tier arguing with a winged book. He sees the party enter the chamber and the fight begins. The low lunar gravity let Solis and Draknon charge up the tiers while the rest of the group spread out to use spells and ranged attacks. Being a divine caster Harj shrugged off most of the mind-affecting spells but still succumbed to physical beating and monkeys. He did get a chance to remind the party that he can hit very hard with feints. A failed concentrate check to heal himself and end the rogue's bleed effect ensured the fight would end quickly. The book asked the party not to kill him here. It didn't elaborate on why but the players obliged (grudgingly in Vic's case). It named itself "Keeper" and it was in charge of several of Iovis's storerooms. This one holds the records of the gods. One could approach a holy symbol and ask questions of it. Some portion (a partial backup, a relic, part of their soul) is in or behind the symbol. The questions are answered as if by the deity, limited by their portfolio and how much of them is present. Even the one's killed by the Skyfall Hands are here in some form. <As Al was not present for the session there will be a short recap so his character can ask a few questions.>  Keeper offered them a return trip directly back to Post 3, but the party refused as they left allies and goats behind on the way here and needed to collect them. The session ended with the group still on the Moon.

Session 12: How to Stop an Idea  - Hey, We've Been Looking for You.

  After finding a mountain trail, the party started making better time on the way to the Goatherder. Whoever carved the trail left markers and what looked like old signage along the way. The path diverges, one goes farther into the mountains while the other heads to "Magic Elf Valley" roughly translated from Dwarven.  A sheltered area, clearly a well used camp site offered a place to shelter an approaching rain storm. During the late overnight watch, a presence intruded on the camp. It didn't appear to do anything at the time. There were also small goats with wickedly barbed horns that wandered by. Possible animal companions, but too small for riding.

  Last waypoint, the party spots a tall granite spire. The outcrop is clearly out of place, as is a metal-sided building on a flat clearing just off the path. Atop the spire is an old man holding a large sword in one hand. "So you're here to visit my slave / prisoner / ally. I see you're the ones who've been killing my followers." Each person in the party heard a different description but his hostile intent is clear. They have met Harj, and learned he somehow commands magic, brutal sword techniques, AND an army of robots. Harj escapes by way of Dimension Door wand and leaves the battle to his minions. These robots are fully equipped with nonlethal weapons including some kind of sonic cannon. Many healing resources were used to keep people conscious but eventually the monk dropped. One of the robots, in what looked like a bid to lure the party away from the valley, grabbed the knocked out Oread and tried to toboggan down the slope on its shield. A parting shot with Call Lightning ended the escape attempt.  After patching everyone up, Draknon investigated the building. The e-pick responded to the door and after some tinkering he was able to disarm a trap and open the door. Inside were charging stations and sets of tools that the robots could use. The tools were looted and the charge ports disabled before heading into the valley. However, in making his escape Harj dropped his shield. Mithral, fortified, a really nice shield. A holy symbol was found, not on the front where you'd expect it but partly concealed by the straps. An inverted pentagram. The characters don't know that one, but the players sure do. One of the gods ejected from Domus in the previous campaign has found a way back in through an Inquisitor. Asmodeus is responsible for Dranli's reappearance in the world.

  The barren mountain pass gives way to a thick, coniferous forest with a few clearings. Signs of habitation in the form of chimney smoke gently waft over the tree line. Two more of those steel buildings are also visible from the trail, gleaming in the sunlight at each end of the village. The forest has many small animals and song birds. There are also several sizes and breeds of goat wandering about. Some of the party sneak up to the village while others set up a camp nearby and look for other hazards. A squad of the capture robots is working the farming village; collecting water, tending the goats, and other mundane tasks. One is clearly guarding a building. Inside is Harj talking to an old elf. Draknon couldn't understand the language but could tell Harj was threatening the children in the hut. Solis and Tethis found the other village residents held in the meeting hall. Everyone got back together to compare notes. 

  The Plan™ involved sneaking up to the village at dawn, arming the adults, and getting the Goatherder and the kids out. And it worked. Vic made quick work of two bots, Solis restrained one while the farmed beat down with cold iron war hammers. Draknon conducted the rescue while the rest of the party trashed the other robots. The other building is about 1/2 mile away, so they only have a short while to decide to hide in the woods or fight through the reinforcements. 

Session 11: How to Stop an Idea  - I think we can all agree, Blood Magic is bad.

  The fight ended with 2 survivors, a lizardfolk brawler who surrendered and the cleric who went down swing. Because of a failed Fairy Fire save, he was dubbed Glowstick. He told the party there is one more fanatic, two other mature adults, an elderly adult, and 8 juveniles. The acolyte is a recent convert and obsessed with rituals and magic. The other two adults were much like Glowstick, going along with it because they would rather be in a tribe than wandering the woods. He also agreed to the plan to rescue the kids and anyone else who wants out of the cult.

  The enemy cleric was found to have an unholy symbol etched into her scales with some sort of acid. She work up briefly while the party removed it and said something about blood that sounded like nonsense at the time.  When she was fully awake, her aggressive demeanor returned. Dranli would return to the world and lead her people to drive all the humans and elves out of the Iron District. The group really only had one important question, "Who told you about Dranli?" Her answer, the next lead in their search, was a being named Harj. She described him as an older male "elf" not quite but definitely not a human. He found her and a few others wandering the Hacheri spreading the word of their new god. She did mention the "blood of the avatar" before the party finished her off. 

 During the Cleric's interrogation, a few party members started to sneak their way to the camp with the rest of the lizardfolk. They found a glowing rune and desiccated body parts outside the entrance. Draknon was going to get closer to try and disarm what was thought to be a trap. Then a column of fire and glass rose up from the symbol and began to sprout limbs. About that time, the rest of the party arrived in force. The battle was fierce. Not only was the creature hard to damage, but every time someone did they were sprayed with molten glass! During the combat, some of the party saw the acolyte sacrifice one of the children, which seemed to empower or heal the creature. Those who couldn't hurt the elemental switched to the caster in hopes his death would dispel it. Sadly, it did not. The elemental was eventual dropped, but then it exploded. In the aftermath, one of the war goats was utterly destroyed, the other two seriously hurt, and most of the party some degree of beaten and / or burned. 

  After a quick round of healing, the cave was searched. Five of the eight juveniles were found alive and one of the adults was found unconscious. Also recovered was a lead canister with some sort of liquid inside (no one opened it . . . yet). Some supplies and other assorted loot recovered. There were signs of digging on the west wall of the cavern. A quick check of their position showed it isn't toward the undercity, but in the direction of the planar weak point about 10 miles away. The group flags that for a later search.

 Traveling back to Post 3 so they can evacuate the juveniles would add over a week to their field time. But taking them along to a possible hostile encounter was not an option. Slizik, Glowstick, and the other recovered adult decide to take the kids back themselves. The supplies from the camp were divided up and the lizardfolk group would either go to Blaze's monastery or Post 3. But not until dawn, everyone was still either hurt or scared from the elemental fight.

 That evening, a pair of local bugs tried to make the party a midnight snack. Giant. Flying. Scorpions. Bugs in the wilderness are weird and it turns out these guys were smart. Once awakened, the party quickly brought down one. The other grabbed Solis and tried to drag him off. Yes, several people were poisoned during the fight. The darn thing eventually decided that this meal was too much work, dropped the monk, and flew away. The interruption meant a few people had to sleep in before breaking camp. With the lizardfolk heading east, the party started to head west. The Goat Herder's valley is about 60 miles from here.

Session 10: How to Stop an Idea  - On the road again, with bonus goats.

After some sorting gear and planning the trip, the party has started the journey to the Goat Herder. (If you think that sounds silly, these goats trample for 2d6+9.) About 2/3 of the trip are on roads and the party will be on horse / goat back so it should only take a week at most. A short encounter with some earth-infused animals nearly cost them a horse but with multiple longbow crits the fight was over quickly.

There was a side trip to the Perovik Monastery to check on Blaze. She has been slowly cleaning it up and making it livable. The party dropped off some supplies and stayed the night. She did let the party know there are a few collapsed tunnels that go deeper or toward the nearby mountains. Once she was told about what lives under Post 2, she decided that no excavation will be done in that direction until the Ashen Guard is ready to assault the undercity. Blaze told the group she wants to go along when that day comes.

While heading up the mountain pass to Post 2 a pair of lizardfolk outriders on wargoats stumbled upon the party. One tried to run for help but an entangle spell cut off the escape. Once again, a horse was downed, this time by charging wargoat. One of the attacker’s goats tried and failed to challenge Solis’s goat. The one who tried to run for help was briefly questioned and revealed there was a cleric of Dranli that they followed. They were staying in a nearby cave as Post 2 is haunted. “People losing their heads” kind of haunted. The lizardfolk refused to tell them more, even taunting the party that his soul will soon join Dranli. With it being clear he would not submit or renounce the Fallen God, the party killed the captive.  Then they began a possibly insane plan.

Knowing that the cave had a cleric and up to 8 lizardfolk total they decided to try to lure some of them out instead of a frontal assault. Slizik agreed to go in and try to arrange a parley on behalf of another Dranlite cell. The party dresses up Draknon to as close to a lizardfolk as they could manage, with a hooded traveling cloak to hide the rough edges. The rest of the group set up in cover around the clearing.

The ruse worked, the cleric and two guards left the cave. Tethis had followed Sliziks to the cave and followed the group back. He spotted a 4th member of the enemy party, a rifleman setting up on the far hill. There was some banter, with a bit of gnomish mind tricks and translation, that culminated in the cleric presenting her unholy symbol and started to cast. Whether this was just a dominance display or she saw through the ruse was unclear as several goats charged in a once. The honor guard were not simple thugs, the rifleman was a skilled gun fighter, one was a psychic, and the other a brawler. But without the rest of their cell and no goat support they group was defeated. Casting heat metal on someone carrying brass shells for their rifle takes them out of combat quickly. The psychic was tripped by Tethis’s wolf while the cleric was quickly flanked and downed. The last lizard standing was in a wrestling match with Solis and holding his own. When the cleric dropped, the brawler tossed aside the unholy symbol and asked to join the party’s tribe.

Next stop is the cave to take care of the rest of the Dranlite cell. Then a quick check on the “haunted” Post 2.

Session 9: Of Traps and Keys - Getting the Lay of the Land

In the course of the investigation, the party split up. While that's normally dangerous they were just doing recon in town. Should be perfectly safe, right?

A lead from last time was tracked down. A shipment didn't make it to the mill on time. Not always weird but worth checking. An abandoned wagon was found between the farm and town. The farm road isn't used by more than farm staff going into town. The wagon had lizard tracks around it, but the horses and driver were gone. As was one grain barrel. Nothing poisoned except for some natural mold. No signs of a fight. It looked like the driver grabbed the horses and ditched the wagon. Continuing to the farm finds busy fields and occupied pastures. The field foreman intercepts the party and after a brief exchange says the horses came back without the driver. They sent a farmhand named Erik to check but he didn't come back either. <Missed a step, the foreman was planning on going out with a larger group but the Caldur hadn't approved it yet>. The farm's owner was then talked to about anything strange at the farm lately. His wife quietly stepped out of the room while he recalled a device found in a new section of field. The younger hands were shocking each other with it when the foreman stepped in. He wrapped it in thick leather and Caldur had locked it in a chest in the storeroom (think attached garage). "Pa, someone fiddled with the lock" followed by "Its GONE!" as the wife had decided to check on the one weird thing. Draknon examined the lock and found a crude attempt to pick it had failed so it had been forced open. The party split again, some searched the field while others took fresh draft horses and got the wagon back to town. Signs of an Ancient building were found in a part of the field that had been roped off in case other dangerous things were there. 

Eventually the group got back together and decided to look for Marie and the missing farmhand. Two decided to go subtle and listen around town, others watched the house Gibs mentioned. Someone matching the farmhand's description had been throwing a bunch of money around. They tracked a little more and found the inn he was staying at. Erik was spotted going back to the inn and was captured (Hold Person Vs Commoner only has one real outcome). They carried him inside and got to his room. The smell of ozone was still present and a piece burned leather was on the bed. Erik said he hid the "shocky stick" in one of the barrels. He knew someone was going to intercept the wagon and take the barrel. Erik didn't know the driver was going to be hurt, but also didn't care because the driver got to "play with horses all day" instead of bust his ass in the fields. He went out to where they left the barrel and he brought the stick into town. Erik met the buyer (Marie) who actually paid him and unwrapped the leather bundle. According to Erik, it responded to her touch and changed shape. "Its like it wanted her, told her how it worked or something."

At the house, a strange magic door was spotted. One minute it opened into a closet, the next it went into a black void. The building itself is old, one of the oldest in town in fact. It started out as a one story stone farmhouse that had a wood second floor and side room added later. A sturdy door and wood shutters were well maintained. Two guards were in the house. At one point two additional people went inside. A guard opened the closet door to retrieve a cloak and one of the two people left. Marie arrived some time later and used a Key to open the closet to elsewhere.

Solis decided to go into the house and hide by the door. After sneaking by the lower floor guard he took position to grab whoever stepped out of the closet. Not knowing how the magic door worked, he was surprised when she came out knowing exactly where he was standing and got zapped. Like a lot. After a few more shocks (nonlethal but still painful) he was able to grab her and throw himself out the window. The guards, stunned by the sudden eruption of violence, took a few rounds to get their weapons and started for the side yard. Draknon took a shot at Marie and Solis was able to pin and disarm her. She went limp after the weapon was dropped. Draknon bagged the stick and the party met up at the garrison. He did tell the party the weapon tried to talk to him, even though his hand was wrapped in his cloak when the stick was picked up. It wanted to give him power.  

Marie revealed that a buyer in Hogstown wanted the weapon, an Ancient stun baton, delivered. She heard it speak, even through the leather bundle, so she touched it (I know, terrible idea). She suddenly felt like an observer in her own body. She had enough power to deny the buyer, she knows she went to Hogstown but doesn't remember why of what happened there. She wanted to run the town and had someone go after the shrine of Belinda. That was one of the few establishments that didn't go long with the local guild. She did have some Dranlite contacts to attack the wagon, she paid them in weapons from Hogstown and the driver (who she said they could eat). She even told the party about both doors and gave them her Key. The Keys are not made by mortals, various outsiders in Hogstown have the power to forge a Key and conceal it as a more common magic item. Gibs cloak of resistance has a fine silver clasp with runes that match those on Marie's ring. The runes are not carved or etched, they simply exist in the material. Hogstown itself is run by some combination of mortals, devils, and daemons and this appears to be how they control access. 

A raven was sent to Post 3 with a description of the stun baton. While waiting for a response, the baton was examined for psychic impressions. And does it have them. It was dreaming of the last mortals it had tricked. Those given a taste of power and pushed to exceed their grasp. Those who died while wielding it. The weapon, a +2 Shocking Stun Baton, is a Mythic Source, but a cursed one. It bestows 1 Mythic Tier, but you believe you have 8-10. Tribune Keon arrived soon after and was brought up to speed. Not wanting anyone else to know about the weapon and not knowing how to destroy it, Keon asked the party to keep it with them in an extradimensional space. She also offered them a choice: Go through one of the doors or go back into the field to track down the Dranlites and the "Goat Herder." They opted for fieldwork.

Session 8: Of Traps and Keys - Something Funny's Going On Around Here

Finally the party gets a bit of time in town. Garren's Well, once an occasional market on a border between 4 farms is now a town of just over 1000 people. Post 3 supplies the town guard. Those on break are still deputized to deal with crimes and hazards in addition to the 6 people permanently stationed here. Anytime you get rapid growth you get problems. One of those bumped into the wrong person.

Solis caught a pickpocket which wouldn't be a problem.  The thief then tried to dose the monk with something, which prompted a more aggressive response. A trip to the local alchemist revealed the thief tried to use a mind altering drug. There was more questioning that eventually led to Ragi's Steakhouse being used as a meeting place / dead drop by a woman known locally as "Marie". The party went there after dusk and started looking around. Everyone took their own approach, ordering meals, talking to guests, and just being on watch. As soon as the cleric pointed out one of the guests was lying, he was fired upon. The street and outdoor dining section because a chaotic fight. Merchants moved inside, one guest restrained, others moving down the street looking for the sniper. Three of the party made their way down the street, with Draknon moving to the next alley over in an attempt to cut off an escape route. The sniper dropped a poison gas bomb onto street level, which briefly incapacitated most of the party. After hopping down from the roof, the sniper then knocked out Draknon. By that point others had made it out of the steakhouse and joined the fight. The sniper was killed by a combination of ranged attacks and spells. 

The guest wasn't sure why the fight started, but admitted she knows Marie (the party thought the guest they caught was Marie). That particular lead went dry. The sniper was tracked back to the market square and the path went cold. At that point, the party spit <evil GM grin>. The group that went back to the local garrison found info on a number of other break in and crimes. The alchemist shop and grain mill were listed and some trade goods never made delivery. The other team went back to the alchemist shop. Gib was in the apartment above the shop, so they decided to knock. He let the party in and then moved behind the counter while they questioned him. They were nervous, but everything Gib told them seemed to check out. Marie is his daughter, she has her own home in town, and she has always been drawn to trouble. "Let me give you something so she'll know I sent you," he said as they were preparing to leave. When he emerged from under the counter, Gib was wearing a gas mask and pulled the alarm lever. The door shut, window shutters dropped, and poison gas filled the room. The party shrugged of the gas this time and quickly grappled and restrained the alchemist. He was nice enough to tell them how to clear the gas out of the shop and told them about Keys that somehow relate to . They delivered the alchemist to the garrison and traded notes with the rest of the party. 

After a night's rest and a good bath (the party members who had been exposed to the poison gas had a distinct, eye-watering, stench clinging to them) the group went to the grain mill. The staff there were open and helpful. There was a break in. A copy of the clerk's log was taken as well as 5 bags of AP flour. With all the chemical warfare of the previous day, concern was a flour fire could be planned. A probable target emerged when the party learned the local merchants were going to have a meeting in a few days. Tribune Keon sent a few more people to the town to help search, along with Tola. Tola is Post 3's blacksmith. She is familiar with many crafts and as an android is immune or resistant to poison and drugs. Tola, aided by Solis and Draknon, searched and cataloged Gib's shop. As he attacked Ashen Guard and was clearly in league with the thefts and local underworld, the shop and all its contents were claimed by the Guard (yes, civil asset forfeiture is bad but this guy tried to blow up PC's). Tola and Keon may use the threat of this seizure as leverage during questioning, but that will need to wait. Other leads include the possible location of Marie (maybe a trap), other sites that may be targets, and what the heck are these Keys. 

Session 8 Loot Pile

The following items were recovered from Gibs and his shop. Items which are illegal in Ashenvan were collected and destroyed. However your team was credited for recovering them so the bounties are included in the pile.

+1 dagger with poison reservoir 

Mithral Shirt, Cloak of Resistance +2, Potion of Mage Armor x2

Traveler's Any-tool, Trollbane blanch (fire) x2, 8 Acid

2 Air Crystals, Formula Book worth 635 gp, Alchemist's Kindness x6

Antiplague x3, Alchemy Lab, Assorted Alchemical Crafting = 750gp

Brewer's Kit, Masterwork, Assorted Drug Bounty = 1000gp

Assorted Contraband Bounty = 2500gp

Session 7: The Only Road That Matters - A Poisoned Shuriken from the Past

Keon asked the party to go after the group who set the traps, but be back around sunset.  After a quick restock at the supply wagon the chase was on. Over the next hour the party kept pace and stayed on their trail. A few traps were set, slowing the attackers in hopes of stopping the pursuit. All the traps were found and avoided. The tracks were three humanoids and 1 horse. All lead to a some ruins, unmarked and not on the map. The group began a sweep of the area when the "horse" walked out of one structure. The creature was a red scaled quadruped with horns, claws, and an unnatural gait. It charged one of the druids and the battle began. Draknon had snuck farthest into the ruins and was near enough the round building to spot another person peaking out. They were carefully watching the battle and hadn't noticed the scout. At one point, Draknon saw a wound from the creature appear on the man hiding. Taking advantage of the distracting combat outside, he made his was into the building and attacked. The creature was dispatched soon after and its master was captured.  The person they caught, an undead-looking 

A hatch was discovered in the round building that went down. As it was getting close to sunset, the party returned to the caravan to report their findings. The next morning they went back to the ruins and down the hole. Under the ruins was a damaged complex of tunnels and rooms. The first thing they found was a reinforced iron door. It was sealed, locked, and sounded like running water. Draknon disabled the alarm, but left the door sealed for now. As the party began to spread out they found a mural depicting people in combat training. They realized where they were, a Perovik Order Monastery. The next area had a large treasure chest, some ruined furniture, and a bound devil. It proclaimed them unworthy and that it looked forward to dismembering the party. Turns out that centuries of imprisonment doesn't help ones combat skills and the creature was destroyed. An old training manual was found near a wrecked table. The crest was a decoy, an illusion covering a pit trap. The next room had another trap, an animated pillory. The object tried to grapple the monk, and was swiftly shattered by the treant. A neat writing desk was found nearby as was the next member of the opposition. A powerfully built human-ish woman was hair that looked like fire. She held the entire party back with a combination of nimble dodges and crushing (but nonlethal) strikes. After a few rounds were things appeared to be a draw, she exploded. When everyone's eyes readjusted from the flare, she was still standing there unharmed from the blast. When it was clear the party mostly unharmed as well (the two closed had evasion) she surrendered, declaring them worthy of standing in this hallowed place.

The ifrit woman introduced herself as "Blaze" and that she and her companions found this place. The third member, a Felwin named Uraz, was rebuilding and resetting the traps. The one they met outside was named Lucid, a dhampir summoner. It was Uraz's idea to block the path and Lucid (with his creature's help) went along. While the former combatants were getting acquainted the final member of the opposition made a potentially fatal mistake. He snuck into the room and attacked Baby. He missed, altering Ivy to the threat. Baby moved to attack but set off a hydraulic trap that knocked it prone. Uraz tossed a bomb on Baby as insult. At that point Blaze, through magical means unfamiliar to the party, reached across the room and held him in place. Uraz was then more formally restrained by the monk and he was disarmed. It was also revealed that he was a ratfolk in disguise. Blaze had noticed the tail but thought he might be a tiefling and didn't ask about it.

Last thing, the sealed door. In the writing desk was a steel card covered in infernal writing and etched with silver lines. Upon close inspection, a slot was found on the door that is the right size. The card was inserted and the door unlocked. Inside was another desk, a pile of coins, two swords, and a statue. Blaze went into the room, took one look at the statue, and quickly left the room. "I know why this place fell, they were on the wrong side" and she then sat down to meditate. The party went inside and looked at the statue. The Ancient Enemy, an Illithid statue, glared back at them. Baby destroyed the statue and Blaze decided to try and build something new here. She asks for a part of the coin pile but lets the party take everything else. The group agrees and tells he she is welcome at the Post if she needs help or supplies. 

Session 6: The Only Road That Matters - A Brief Interlude

The team looted the bodies and statues then blew up the cavern. Before they had time to rest, flares went up from Post 2. It was a recall order for the scout teams. The decision came down to evacuate the post. The party was given a chance to rest before helping pack up anything of military value. A pair of mages from the College teleported in to set up some scrying and maybe a few traps. Once everything was prepped a caravan of wagons and troops began marching into the valley. 

Near the bottom of the mountain section of the trail, a log was moved to block the way. And it was trapped. A pair of assassin vines took root near the log and attacked when the group approached. The creatures were quickly destroyed and the trap dismantled. By the time the caravan caught up, the party found tracks leading first toward a blind and then off to the east. [due to a late start and early store close, the chase would have to wait.]

Session 5: The Only Road That Matters - Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss?.

 Tribune Keon took charge of Post 2 and gave the party a brief chance to rest. The next afternoon more troops arrived from Post 3 to help reinforce Post 2. After some discussion about the nature of the enemy and putting a plan together, the PC's are assigned to scout the opening where the adventuring party found a pass. Once they arrived it was apparent that something was using it. An unusual creature, an orc with 4 legs, 3 arms, and 1 1/2 heads was digging shelters while other creatures were concealed in a tent. There was no opportunity to speak for as soon as the cleric cast Bless, the creature heard it and grabbed a weapon.  A mob of light-grey skinned emaciated orcs charged out of the tent when the war goats got close (so hungry).  The lead orc was Held, then pushed into the cavern. Once the Hold Person wore off he tried to hide in the caverns. A failed sneak attack on Solis revealed the creature's position and quickly knocked out and restrained.  A search of the camp turned up two bodies from the attack on Post 2. [off camera, female elf ranger Lina Hailarrow and human female expert Marsa Stone].  

Getting the creature back to Post for questioning was easy. Finding a language that worked was complicated. What it spoke sounded vaguely of dwarven but distinct, an isolated or lost dialect? It did know a few words in Ancient Human. Enough to warn them that the Masters want them to leave the mountain. It was fairly forthcoming about itself, the other creatures that it called Failures, and what it was doing on the surface. It refused to speak of the Masters or the others called "The Strong". In the interest of time Keon approved a plan to try  getting it drunk and trying to be friendly toward it. After a few hours of carousing it passed out. Then something really strange happened. The partial face woke up and started speaking in Ashen Common. It identified the creature as Slarn and itself as The Hidden. It told the party of  deep city where the Masters live. A place where the Failures live closest to the surface and the Masters in the depths. It told them the Masters feared the sky and knew of the Fallen Ten. They wanted some of the men from the Post alive, but did not know why. The Hidden also warned that it would be consider overdue by dawn, if not sooner. There was more discussion about the Masters and the Strong when it was revealed that at least one of them is the ancient enemy of the Ten. An Illithid, somehow still alive and hiding from Gaia's gaze. Shortly after that it tensed up. "It knows I'm here" was the last thing it uttered before starting to twitch. The party tossed it out to the courtyard just before its heads exploded. After bringing Keon up to speed the group kept drinking, but with much more somber mood.

While waiting for orders about possibly abandoning Post 2, Keon sent teams out to collapse possible entrances to the deep city. Two goals, buy time to clear to Post if needed and give an increasingly nervous camp full of soldiers something to do. They found a cave opening with strange mantis statues around it. A Call Lightning and gunshot hit one statue and it seemed to melt into the ground. The other started walking and the battle was joined. As team War Goat advanced the one that melted shot out from the cliffside (burrowing magma monster charge!). The party destroyed the creatures but then spotted something in the cave mouth that watched the battle. Another Call Lightning was used on the observer revealing a pair of armored and heavily armed orcs. The fight with them was brutal, both goats being nearly killed as well as several party members. Castelion ended the fight be casting Hold Person on the more armored orc allowing a finishing blow.  [full accounting of the aftermath delayed due to store closing].

Session 4: The Only Road That Matters - And now for something completely different.

 At first it wasn't clear if this would be a fight or dialog. The party finally met the Swamp Witch. When he asked for the weapons to be dumped in the swamp to thwart the Dranlites it became clear he wasn't an enemy. After some back and forth a bizarre mutant fish crashed the party. While it was quickly dispatched it did badly damage "Baby" when the extreme water pressure inside the creature exploded. The witch's familiar offered the party a river travel boost, in exchange for a sample from one of their goats. Of course the party decided to go up the hillside to go to Post 2. The Swamp Witch did help the party by adding several locations to their map, including the source of the war goats and Hogstown.

While going into the hills and trying to find a good path that everyone could use the party was ambushed. A strange breed of chuul that was adapted to mountains attacked the party. This time no one succumbed to its paralytic (Drakon passed a Fort save!). In the aftermath the body of a long dead mountaineer was found. He had some nice gear including a Handy Haversack.

On the path ahead the party spots a strange bit of weather. A low "cloud" with lightning striking a section of ruined tower. Upon closer inspection, the cloud was an optical illusion caused by three gravity elementals. The nature of the creatures denied the party their primary mode of attack, a large volume of archery / gunfire. It was also clear that some kind of planar weak point was present and a dead mage was lying crushed nearby. The mage's spellbook described a ritual to try and harness the magical energies. Something went wrong and the elementals emerged from the rift. While nimble, the creatures were relatively soft compared to other elementals of their size. Sziks later told the party the creature tasted like a warm rock that was fizzing. From the ritual area a Grounding Rod was found. The mage was grasping a Wand of Call Lightning, the crushing effect of the elementals driving the thin steel wand through the skin and muscles of the fingers and even damaged the bones.

At last, Post 2 and a chance to rest. Except there was no one on site to greet them. The post was deserted. As they looked around they found signs of combat were at least partially cleaned up. A call for help was written but not sent. The bird keeper was found dead in a waste chute. Drag marks from a litter were found that appear to head toward that newly found mountain pass. Personal effects were left behind but most of the useful combat gear was removed. The forge was extinguished but most of the stock of scraps and raw material were left. Based on deployment logs, the attack was 5 days ago. The party sent a raven back to Post 3 and set watches in case any enemies returned. Tribune Keon, using a scroll of Teleport, appeared a few hours later with an armed strike team. She was filled in by the party and decided to hold the post until troops could be moved in by conventional means. Once that's done, she wanted to take a team into the pass and find out what's in there and if that truly is where the attack came from.  

Session 3: The Only Road That Matters - The group is attempting to "return" the wagon, minus the cargo.

 The wagon was offloaded and refilled with provisions and fresh horses. As the party traveled WNW, they found a few bumps on the road and a mystery solved. The first bump was a trio of lizardfolk leading a lizard-thing. They demanded to sacrifice the "Heretic" to their Great Beast. Deciding to not send their guide to a horrible fate, they stall the hostiles long enough for the lizard-thing to go mad with hunger. In the ensuing melee, one of the ambushers escaped and two were killed by the beast. Luckily for the party it is terribly slow on land and a few volleys of slings and arrows dispatched it.

<Off camera scene> The night after the lizard-thing was killed, Sziks told the party about other banished and wanderers who have been drawn to a strange new religion. He's never seen a creature like the lizard-thing before. </end scene>

Next was a river crossing with a dead boar.  As the party got closer they noticed it had bite marks that looked human sized. That's when the animated exoskeletons of local roaches attacked. While hard to damage they lacked the strength to reliably hit or wound anyone. As opposed to the ghouls and trailgaunt that crawled out of the water while the bugs distracted the party. Once again, Drakon picked up a debilitating condition from the creatures, Ghoul Fever. It took several days of medical care to finally clear the disease.

Before reaching the Swamp Witch one last foe tried to stop the group. A lone lizardfolk rider on a goat. But this one spoke perfect Ashen Trade Common and brandished an unholy revolver. "You fools worship risen mortals, the true god of war is Dranli!" he proclaimed before being forcibly dismounted and pinned. The symbol on his gun matched the silver amulet found by the river. Solis tried to destroy the revolver. Some external force intervened, both naming the weapon as "War's Gift" and Forbidding Solis from touching or even looking upon it.

Session 2: The Only Road That Matters - The party is tasked with investigating suspicious deaths linked to a possible fuel source.

There were a few problems on the way back to Post 3. First of course is the wagon was teleported away from roads. The travel time was looking to be 3 days longer than it would normally be. After the second travel day, a team of riders was spotted. The pair of lizardfolk riding giant, armored ... goats? No one in the Ashen Guard knew the lizardfolk HAD giant goats, let alone combat-trained giant goats. The pair were also running cover for a saboteur who tried to approach and damage the wagon.  The riders and saboteur were taken out, sparing the goats. The fight seriously wounded Solis who claimed the goat that rammed him into unconsciousness.

At the home stretch the group was planning to camp before crossing the river. A pair of snake swarms blocked the party's path, seemingly lead by a lizardfolk spellcaster. While the snake swarms were destroyed the caster escaped into the river. Draknon suffered greatly from the snake venom but no one else was seriously injured. After the combat a silver token was found with an unknown holy symbol. A shield with crossed swords, but one sword blade is a lightning bolt. 

Back at the Post the party was ordered to not discuss the contents of the wagon with anyone else on base. The report to the Legate was complete and a through magical sweep of the wagon was ordered. The Legate gave the group some detail about how the wagon was moved. There was some kind of gate or portable hole opened and the wagon pushed into it. The original group of caravan guards were killed, even the horses were found dead at the scene. A symbol matching the token the party found was drawn on the ground near the hole. Last item was the group was given some time to relax (after helping to unload the wagon and make fake crates). The next assignment will be going back out to find the Swamp Witch, using the lizardfolk they captured as a guide.

Session 1: The Only Road That Matters - The party is tasked with investigating suspicious deaths linked to a possible fuel source.

Post 3's junior scout team came back early with 3 bodies and a handful of weird pellets. Turns out the pellets are unprocessed plastite, a common fuel source for Ashenvan's other regions. The stuff is safe to carry but it emits toxic gases when burned if not properly treated. The party was sent out to try and find out how the victims found the pellets. 

Turns out foul play was the answer. Someone sent trained / magically controlled chipmunks to dump the plastite into the PC's campfire. While they couldn't track the animals that night, more tracks were found at the victims campsite. After a brief fight with local bugs the party set off in the direction of the animal tracks and a distant campfire. The group that was killed were an adventuring party that found and mapped a route through the mountain that was not on the military maps. Someone will need to check that out later. The strange happenings north of the river aren't done just yet.

A small group was spotted looking through a Havend Trade Company wagon. The wagon was far off course, over 100 miles from the main road and dozens from ANY road. Whoever was looking through the wagon at least brought their own horses. After a brief attempt at dialog it was revealed the group on the wagon are bandits not scavengers. The party dispatches most, saving two for questioning.

The two of the bandits had worked together before and hired on the extra people to help move the wagon. They claim it "fell in a hole" and somehow landed here. They were supposed to deliver the wagon and its contents to someone called "The Swamp Witch" or destroy the wagon if they couldn't move it. One of the hirelings was knowledgeable about the cargo, advanced firearms that were meant to go to the capital city of Mithral. Now the party needs to pause their investigation and go back to Post 3 with the wagon. 

A few questions remain. Was the adventuring party killed because they got close to the wagon, found a new pass, or is it unrelated? How in the heck did the wagon get here? Who is this "Swamp Witch" and how did they know the wagon was there?