Campaign Journal: Ha'Tak Attack!

We find our 'heroes' standing on the top platform of the step pyramid of Ha'Tak, surveying the scene, a dead wyvern sprawled on a lower step.

• Fulvus - halfling
• Rondel - elf
• Frederick - thief
• Slick - thief
• Jax - barbarian
• Orzu - gnome

As they contemplated recent events, a falcon gyred down, landing in front of Frederick. A messenger from Thefri, down south.  Thefri reported that he and his colleagues, Divos and Albus, had occupied Kabrel's Tower, previously cleared by the party. Thefri had also secured new companions to replace the doomed Brutus the Bear (Shade and Onyxia). And in the face of the Chaos mutant incursions, he, too had called in more "kin." The party responded that they had secured a couple more nodes, including the northernmost location, and expected to head south, eventually seeking out the dwarves of the Smoking Isles. They fed the falcon some jerky and sent it on its way.

With that, it was time to continue the search for that damned grenade-throwing dude.

Fulvus and his two henches volunteered to pull sniper duty, watching the various stair accesses from the ground level. The remainder of the party descended to clear the southeast quadrant of the pyramid, where they had spiked the doors closed, hoping to constrain CORMAC! from his mischief. Jax removed the spikes, and Orzu opened the door (BOOM!) - of course it had been trapped. He dodged the bulk of the shrapnel. 

Nothing of note was seen in the next chamber, and the party debated which of the four doors to access. North. Ok. Jax kicked it in, sword in hand. And came face to face with another undead knight:

Hi, again

Battle was joined between the knight, Goober, and Jax. Orzu's hench Torvald stepped up to block the door, preventing the knight from escaping. Jax and Goober laid to against the knight, causing some harm. The knight struck with his sword, then vomited "pure death" on Jax. She shook it off, horrified. Other party members attempted bow shots. The next round, the knight struck again, this time vomiting and casting a blinding flash. With the closest party members blinded, he pushed out into the main corridor, at the same time calling in a trio of skeletons to assist. 

Flick took near-fatal blows before the skeletons were vanquished, and Slick impaled the knight with arrows in support of his hench. 

Deep breath.

Ok, east door. Again, Jax took point. She pushed open the door, only to be confronted by a ghost... Rising up, "Are you a book thief?!?" "No! I can't even read!" (Jax has encountered a similar ghost before). The ghost settled back, a bit distrustful. Especially when everyone else bundled in. Again, reassuring the ghost that they weren't book thieves, they got the apparition to settle down. 

Introducing himself as Valentin Galodin, the ghost asked if the party were among the 'Keepers of the Light.' The party admitted that they weren't, and that the Keepers, and the associated Barrier, were long fallen. The ghost was confused at this. As the party spoke with him, realization dawned, and the ghost slowly realized that he was, indeed, a ghost. 

He asked if the pyramid was still guarded, and the party admitted to having vanquished several of the other undead guardians of the place. Valentin sighed at the loss of his old compatriots, but yielded that they would have guarded the stronghold, even unto death. 

<Lore dump happens>

Valentin's current frustration was that several volumes had disappeared. Rondel produced the defaced volumes that the party had recovered from CORMAC!'s quarters. The ghost was scandalized. Rondel pledged to restore the volumes, and Valentin recognized him as a "learned person." The ghost declined removal of the remaining books, as they were his protected volumes, and he felt the need to read them more in light of the party's revelations to him. Somewhere around now, a book appeared to float in space, and Orzu tackled it. DAMNIT! And fleeing footsteps.

Great, CORMAC! is now invisible ;)

Footsteps and swearing ran away. Up on their sniper perch, Fulvus and his crew heard footsteps, but between thrown caltrops and marbles, were unable to impede the invisible menace.

Valentin provided them with a holy symbol of Khador ("The Early Years") to dissuade any other local undead guardians (from his own corpse, that he suddenly noticed for the first time). The party bid Valentin adieu, and did their best to barricade and trap the library doors to secure the ghost and his remaining volumes. 

Time to head back to town. 

Did anyone watch the horses? Umm.... no? (roll die) - There are three horses left. The remainder were wyvern-chow.

(Armwave cross country travel)

The party returned to the town of Bizigath, and threw down. Wene gambled away all her money, and Rondel insulted one of the local priests, paying a healthy tithe to gain forgiveness.

Back to Opharel.

(Armwave travel)

Back in town, the party settled in, and were surprised to receive an invitation to the Autumnal Equinox ball from the trio of Theocracy soldiers who they had saved from Chaos mutants. 

<Fancy clothing shopping intensifies> 

Orzu paid for a dance lesson for everyone. Except the halflings, since they are already stylin' dancers:

The party was actually on their best behavior (probably because Slick's player had to bow out early). They spoke at some length with the expedition survivors, who recognized that the powers that be appeared to be pulling back, rather than continuing their own probes into the Chaos lands. Knowing that the party was looking into the bigger picture, Petre Gagua promised to provide some intelligence through more discreet means.

Jax was accosted by several children who were enamored by her dog and 6'2" presence. Goober appreciated the attention.

Frederick ended up talking with a ship's captain, Hailama Boku, who had been bringing a substantial amount of personnel and materiel across from Denuenth (Theocracy capital city and port). When asked about the Sea Dwarves, he said he avoided them at all costs, having been fortunate to have only encountered them once.

Rondel chatted with the local elf leader, Modwinn, who confirmed that she and the local community would do their best to investigate what they could of the old magics, and other rumors. And of course, they could help him accrue some new spells. For a modest sum...

Fulvus chatted up some 'Beguines' - learned women, mystics and hospitallers new in town seeking to establish hostels and other waypoints to help support travelers and the downtrodden. Fulvus described several towns along the trade roads, which they noted. Their spokesperson, Sister Izalina, gave him a pamphlet, containing some inspiring and lovely liturgies.

Marguerite Porete, 1250-1310

Thasunit Redheart, local dwarven leader, hit on Jax ("Nice mohawk, big lady!"). Fortunately, her various wingmen interposed with their usual string of intelligence-gathering. Redheart confirmed that his kin were more concerned with exploiting potential mines and plays in the mountains. Aware that other clans were en route, there were some conflicting claims to resolve. One way or another... Redheart confirmed that he had gotten word of occasional incursions from odd, twisted folk, but that his kin could either defend themselves or go to ground, as necessary. Regarding the Sea Dwarves, he had no contact with the insular clans, and suggested that an introduction via an advocate or ambassador would be necessary. 

We closed for the night as the ball wound down. 

DM Notes:

Another close, desperate fight, almost checking off another henchman. After the fight, there was some significant debate on continued clearing of the pyramid/hunt for CORMAC!, especially with the near-fatality of the fight. Finally it was decided to return to town, assess resources, and see how to find more help. But letting go of the hunt for CORMAC! was a tough sell...

The party plans on hiring henches specifically dedicated to horse-guarding...

I chose to skip travel this time through in the face of advancing the story. Spending half the session rolling random encounters while the party slunk back to town with their reduced horsepower didn't seem productive or useful in moving the story forward. At this point, a number of the players are looking to transform from dungeon crawlers into researchers and start pressing their influence. So killing goblins who are trying to steal your stuff isn't really helpful to that narrative. Better to go rub shoulders with the local celebrities. 

Again, although I have generalities mapped out, plot-wise, one doesn't know what details will spark something new. A bit of a conversation from this session revealed a mechanism/justification for a possible future occurrence that has been residing in my notes for some time...