- Steel Order
Player: Wayne Edie
Gdarin (Paladin 16) and his squire Deloth (Fighter 1, Cleric 3) once
again proved they could not be outfought, out-thought or outdone in
this adventure. After learning of their contact's death he sped forward
with all possible haste toward the dragon's lair. Encountering a landslide
on the way there after splitting off from the main party, he pocketed
a crystal bottle containing a captured Efreeti who wanted to slaughter
the evil Black Dragon that had taken hold of the copper dragon's lair.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" didn't apply, since as always,
Gdarin did not help evil creatures. Once the dragon was dealt with,
the paladin freed it and let it leave with a warning. "You don't want
to stick around. Return to your own plane."
Reaching the caravan wagon which contained treasure belonging to the King, he
quickly let his squire do some scouting. After dispatching the goblins poised
to break the bridge's support on one end, they put the wagon in a safe place
for their return trip. After that they easily bypassed a quicksand bog thanks
to Yempo's mind-over-matter abilities.
When Team Nature's Vengeance unexpectedly arrived from the woods and
challenged them, Gdarin laughed off their spells and rode away without
wasting time to kill them. This of course, only made the sisters of
that team more angry that a "mere human" could beat them, and jealous
of Team Steel Order's abilities. Heads could roll in time... or several
heads, if Team Nature's Vengeance continues having the luck they're
having.
Upon reaching the Blackguard's party, they were in for a bit of trouble.
A sorcerer in a tree overlooking the pass caused slight problems, until
Yempo decided to give him a major hot foot before he could launch any
summons or Lightning Bolt spells while under a Haste spell. A Mirror
Image was little defense against Yempo's mental powers and soon he was
dispatched. The Blackguard and his Barbarian Cleric aide were a little
tougher. While the half-orc barbarian prepared to launch a major beating
upon the paladin, he was taken down during said preparation as Gdarin
charged. The Blackguard was a little trickier, as he rapidly plane shifted
around him. Still, with a little bit of patience and a disarm by Yempo,
they were able to wipe them out and win the day.
Upon reaching the dragon cave, they quickly took the off-to-the-side
path and passed by holy ground. Entering the stone maze which Team Ghost
Wind threw Cloudkill spells into to get rid of the Gorgon laying in
wait, they moved through without finding the artifact that was there
that they were sent to find. Upon reaching the final obstacle before
the dragon's lair (a trio of Heiracosphinxes playing four-way chess),
he simply said, "You're evil. You die. Now." as they invited him to
play and proceeded to slice them to bits.
The dragon was another story. After standing aside as Yempo melted through
the door, he was poised to deliver the final attack, but Team Twig got there
first. All he got in was the final death blow on the dragon once the druid
softened him up a bit with a single touch. He also did not find the artifact
and bring it back to the King, which resulted in no ring key this time,
though he did get some money, a reward for returning the King's caravan wagon
laden with gold, and a cool mithril dagger for his efforts.
Steel Order survives to adventure again.
- One Man Air Raid
Player: Rashad King
One Man Air Raid (Fighter 5, Order of the Bow Initiate 10), keeping
careful watch on an old blind cleric who seemed a bit nuts, took the cleric
down before any damage could be done to the party. When the group split off,
he followed the rest of the teams and carefully watched their backs while
Ghost Wind brought up the rear. When a bunch of trolls ambled down to
make lunch of the adventurers, his natural skill helped turn the regenerating
irritations into lunch themselves. Again he kept to the rear as several other
encounters passed him by, and he was behind them all the way (literally) when
dealing with the dragon. Still, he comes out ahead, stronger and wiser for
the experiences.
One Man Air Raid survives to adventure again.
- Death From Afar
Player: Jon Sternfeld
Time and time again, people have not learned their lesson. You anger
Tharivol Liadon (Fighter 6, Wizard 1, Arcane Archer 10) and his pal
Sargen of Hornwood (Rogue 1), you're going to get the point. Several
points, actually. Attached to several rather strong arrow shafts. Nearly
pickpocketed in town, he let the other ruffians beat on each other as
he did recon and kept careful eye to the action and ear to the wind.
MaKing short work of the trolls on the way to the dragon's lair, they
passed by a cave which Sargen wanted to explore, but was struck unconscious
before entering. Something was banished or barred inside there, and
for very good reason. They quickly bypassed the cave and once they reached
the dragon lair, Tharivol (under Telekinesis and invisibility) went
inside and did a lot of recon for the other teams which allowed them
to come up with an efficient plan to deal with the reptilian menace,
including using his owl to navigate the open topped stone maze. The
plan worked, and Team D.F.A. once again proved how valuable they can
be to the other teams. Death From
Afar survives to adventure again.
- Team Fireflames
Player: Peter Farina
Yempo (Psion 5, Pyrokinetisist 10) debuted for this adventure, quickly
showing what skills he had to bring to the other teams. Boiling an assassin
in his own skin being one of them, he talked team Death From Afar away from
going inside a rather nasty cave which could have been the end of them all.
He aided Team Steel Order during the fight with the Blackguard, wiping out a
sorcerer/arcane archer before he could unleash anything nasty, and helped the
same team fly over a quicksand marsh by using his talents as a psion; the
quicksand could have made short work of the heavily-barded animals. Upon
reaching the dragon lair he aided Team Steel Order further by melting through
a door of solid gold leading to the dragon's main lair. When the dragon was
dealt with, he searched the treasure and did not find the artifact so he went
back into the stone maze, searched, and found it. He brought it back and
presented it to the King, who rewarded him with a ring key and several
goodies, including money, a magic ring, and a broadsword with some cool
tricks.
Team Fireflames survives to adventure again.
- Ghost Wind
Player: Christopher J. Ford
Team Ghost Wind seemed to have doubts on the whole mission, going
slowly and letting others experience a little bit more in the early going.
Illiri (Sorcerer 16), Thomas (Ranger 1), Anak (Fighter 3), Liz (Sorcerer 3),
and Ja'Nek (Cleric 3) quickly picked up on what was going on thanks to the
druid's information gathering, and for most of the travel there made sure the
group was not being followed by bravely bringing up the rear. Though who
would want to follow them after a psion boiled someone in their own skin as a
warning to others in the outlaw town?
Seeing the copper dragon in trouble, Illiri decided enough was enough.
Utilizing several Teleport Without Error spells, he transported many
of the teams to the lair in the far distance, but not before the black
dragon killed the copper one and moved into its lair. Doing recon while
waiting for Steel Order, he was the first to notice that the
tree outside the lair was a scrying device. Sending in Prying Eyes he
quickly figured out the best route and course of action, dispatching
the Gorgon in the stone maze with Acid Fog spells and letting Steel
Order wipe out the rest of the monsters on that one side.
Reaching the dragon, Illiri amused it by throwing up a Wall of Force while
Steel Order moved in from the side to attack and Team Twig's
dire bear got seriously buffed before attacking and diverting its attention
further. Dropping the wall and annoying it with a couple dozen orbs of energy
straight to its skin, the dragon was about to attack; it had other things to
worry about first though and never got a chance.
While this adventure resulted in no ring key for the team, they did get
somewhat of a consolation prize... 500 pieces of gold and a potion of cure
moderate wounds, which I'm sure will be put to good use.
Ghost Wind survives to adventure again.
- Twig
Player: Vanessa Wilcox-Swarez
Team Twig probably had the easiest time of all the teams. Finding
their contact dead and quickly communicating this to the other teams,
Lisonamit (Druid 16) proved that if you anger nature, you anger her.
You anger her, you get hurt. After being teleported to the dragon's
lair after a time, she slowly waited for her right moment to strike.
When the dragon showed its ugly reptilian face, her dire bear got buffed
up via magic and latched on to the dragon's neck. An Enlarge spell followed
by Greater Magic Fang (among other things) served both to make the bear
nearly as large as the dragon, and to deal it more damage as well as
serve as a distraction. While the dragon turned to breathe on Yempo
breaking through the door, the bear scratched and fought, and Lisonamit
slipped in and touched it... discharging a Harm spell which quickly
robbed the dragon of its remaining strength so it could be finished
off and its riches plundered.
She too was rewarded well for her efforts, receiving gold and a set of
potions.
Team Twig survives to adventure again.
|