Session Number: 127
Date: Sunday 25 March 2012
Venue: Densial's
PCs & Players:
| Arrian | Rog1/Clr10 | (Fergus) | (kills: none) |
| Feren | Rog11 | (Yeran) | (kills: none) |
| Lionel | Rgr6/Wiz1/ArcA4 | (Ash) | (kills: none) |
| Rowaine | Pal11 | (Craig) | (kills: none) |
| Troll | Wiz11 | (Densial) | (kills: 1 Isendor Guard) |
XP Awarded: TBA
"How about this for a plan?" Troll whispers. "As soon as one of those guards throws a clay pot in here, I'll Fireball the bottom level. What will that look like to anyone watching? Plus it's got to unnerve the guards a bit."
The others agree. Troll casts Rope Trick on the top level, adjacent to the spiral staircase. All enter the interdimensional space. They hear the Captain of the Guard counting down the last few seconds before his ultimatum.
"Time's up!" he yells. Five panes of glass break simultaneously and five ceramic balls are thrown in. Troll leans out and casts Fireball near the door on the ground floor. All but one of the five windows explode outwards. Flames billow upwards and heat washes over Troll's face but he is unharmed. Below, the tree itself has survived the brunt of the explosion, but the bedclothes are freely burning. He hears elven swearing outside:
"What the …?" "I thought you…" "Get in there! Move, move, move!"
There is a banging and smashing on the door. Troll casts Caustic Mire on the floor of the ground level. Its flammable fumes crackle when they waft near the many open flames. Boom! The door smashes open and the Captain moves in.
"Holy shit! he says as his boots melt. The soldier behind charges in and slides on the slippery floor. The Mire takes him, horribly.
"Get out!" The Captain yells. "Abort!" He grabs the fallen guard and pulls him out. "Get a wizard, get one now! Wake him up! Hold your positions!"
The party remain holed up in the Rope Trick. They occasionally hear whispers outside. Eventually, the flames below die down. Troll's acid disappears, but not before it has made a wreck of the floor and furnishings. He surveys his handiwork. It is conceivable that any bodily remains from the 'explosion' could have dissolved in the acid.
"That should buy us some time," Troll says, then settles down into his meditative position. Arrian does likewise.
Ten minutes later, the Captain of the Guard peers through the door, then cautiously steps inside. He looks behind him and gestures behind him. He circumnavigates the floor while another enters. The newcomer casts a spell, then shakes his head. The Captain shuts the door, then makes a circular motion with his free hand.
The wizard and soldier thoroughly examine the ground floor, the former occasionally making arcane gestures. They communicate nonverbally again, then both move to the staircase. They slowly and silently climb up, the Captain's sword leading the way. They pass right beside the Rope Trick and begin searching the upper level. The party's field of vision from within the Rope Trick does not cover the entire top floor, so the pair are often out of sight. It is very eerie when they walk straight through the area "occupied" by the Rope Trick.
The Captain moves over to the wizard. "What di.." he begins, but is immediately hushed by the wizard's upheld hand. His other hand gestures downstairs. They both quietly descend the stairs quietly and leave through the door, shutting it behind them. There is no one visible through the two broken windows in view.
Fifteen minutes later, the Captain of the Guard, the first wizard and a third elf enter the redwood. The newcomer is none other than Sovak Larellian, second son of the ruling family and Lionel's liege. He looks around the entire lower level. He looks at fragments of ceramic on the floor, those that have survived the acid. He spends twice as much time upstairs and casts a number of spells. All three then leave, again closing the door.
Four hours pass. Troll and Arrian break their reverie, their minds refreshed. They immediately set to preparing spells. There is no sign or sound of anyone.
"Sovak came in while you were trancing," Feren says.
"What was he like?" Arrian asks, looking at Lionel in particular.
"Himself," the archer replies.
"He is a spellcaster?"
"A sorceror."
Lionel wants to become invisible, then Teleport out. Troll wonders about investigating the surrounding area first. What could they learn? Arrian doesn't want to leave the city. Troll cannot Teleport eveyone out - there are eight and he can only evacuate seven.
The party discuss whether the wedding might go ahead - at Trina. She could detect and possibly remove the parasites.
The conversation shifts to more pressing matters. Perhaps Rowaine and Arrian could escape under their own steam, leaving Troll to evacuate the remainder.
"How about just Rowaine?" Troll asks.
"I'm not happy with that," Arrian says before Rowaine can answer. "Despite its logic."
"What if Lionel were to go with Rowaine?" Troll says. "He knows the city. What do you think, Ro?"
"We have to leave at least one person behind," she says. "We should safely get out those we can. So I'll stay behind. I can get out by myself. Harley will take care of me."
"I do think you are safer by yourself," Troll says.
The party arrange to meet at Avarriel, at Ethalyn's tower. Might they distract whoever is watching, perhaps with a summoned monster? It might give Rowaine the opportunity she needs to slip away.
Rowaine looks at one of the broken windows. "Could you move me through a windowframe on one of your Discs, Troll?"
"Can't see why not," Troll says. "Let me know if you think it's possible."
Rowaine takes off her armour, to be quieter, and gives it to Troll. Troll casts Invisibility on her, then Invisibility Sphere on Arrian. Troll dispels the Rope Trick, to maintain the area of invisibility. Rowaine goes down to scout. Moments later, the creaking timber stair treads announce her return.
"There's one window I think I can go through, she whispers to Troll, placing a hand on his arm. "The rest all still have jagged glass in the frame. I could do it, but I'd smash some glass on the way through." She points Troll's hand towards the window that is clear.
The windows are just over three feet wide - just enough for a Floating Disc. Troll creates one and directs Rowaine to it. Rowaine gets on. Troll sends the Disc downstairs and towards the window.
These Floating Discs - are they totally invisible? For this scenario, they are… However, I quite like the idea of them having a visual effect like a heat shimmer. Perhaps the caster can choose at the time of casting?
Arrian slips over to the window nearly opposite where Rowaine is heading, and looks out. He sees guards outside. He looks at Troll and starts casting a Summon spell. Arrian knows the monkeys will probably attack the elves, but hopes that they are weak enough not to pose too much of a threat. Troll moves the Disc outside. Everyone else stays away from the windows. Arrian indicates his spell is complete.
Seconds later, celestial monkeys appear outside, hooting and hollering, 15' behind the Isendor guards on the opposite side of tree to where Rowaine exited. Feren moves onto the bed on side where Rowaine exited, and peers out. He sees more guards and crouches down. Troll gives Rowaine time to disembark.
The monkeys mob one of the guards. One monkey is run through by a retaliatory strike. Troll Teleports himself, Faavulel and the two genuine Avarriel guards to Ethalyn's tower.
The others hear a female cry of alarm outside. Arrian moves to the window, looking out where Rowaine left the tree. He sees a figure standing with hands splayed. In front of him are masses of webs on the ground and between the trees.
"We're all gonna be visible, guys," Arrian warns. Feren ducks away from the window as Arrian casts Recitation. Everyone becomes visible.
Troll Teleports back. "Come with me if… why is everybody visible?"
"Rowaine is in trouble," Arrian says.
Troll moves to Arrian's window. "What's going on?"
"Rowaine is trapped in a web spell and there are two spellcasters casting spells out there."
Troll ducks down. Another robe casts a spell. The figure whose hands were splayed steps back and casts another spell. Rowaine appears, hard to see beneath layers of web.
The party quickly weigh up their options:
- Making Rowaine invisible again? Tricky, as it requires touch.
- A Scorching Ray centred on Rowaine? It would burn the web, but ouchies…
- A Caustic Mire around the enemy spellcasters, to disrupt their concentration?
- A Fireball - take the suckers out!
