Real Date: January 8, 2006
Campaign Session: 35
Adventure Session: 19
Campaign: Legacy of the Burning Star
Adventure: The Banewarrens
Theeurth Date: Daarlem 18-22, 2806
(Early Summer)
Location: The Banewarrens (Inner Vaults and the Baneheart)
Players/Characters Present:
Bruce Barnett - Bonzimir Amantes (Rog6/Hlf3)
Barbara Muth - Nereida Amantes (Clr9) and Elida (
KSK7)
Tim Chan - Demetrios Amantes (Wiz 6/Hum3)
Davis Murphy - Basil Amantes (Ftr8)
NPC - Aulus Hirtius Neverius (Ftr5/Eldritch Warrior4)
GM's Note - It has been more than a year
of real time (November 10, 2004) since we started the Banewarrens,
and exactly two months of game time.
The Company of the Starborn rested for two days in the presence
of Saggrinitys the Silver King, while he contemplated the state of
the Banewarrens. The great king did not speak much, but was
gracious and noble when he did. At last, the Company left,
returning to the double doors which they felt certain would lead
further on the path towards Tremoc Korin, the Baneheart. All
agreed that they did not wish to visit the doors beyond the
"Green Dust Corridor".
Beyond the double doors they found a room with an elaborate
fountain and a statue of a beautiful elven woman. The statue
turned and asked "What does it mean to be good?" in a
pleasant but commanding voice. The Company looked one from the
other for a bit, but Demetrios at last spoke up "To actively
pursue evil," he said. "and not let it lie."
Smiling at this answer, the statue opened a secret door in the
room, which led to some stairs going up.
Beyond the stairs, the Company came to a large cavern split by
a deep ravine. Anchors for what must once have been a rope bridge
could be seen driven into the rocks, but there was no way across.
Demetrios cast an arcane eye spell to examine the room and
the far ledge. Using it, he discovered a party of bestial humans
waiting in ambush just beyond the far archway. A well-targeted fireball
and a few arrows ended the threat, as the neanderthal-like banebrutes
were easily slain.
With the aid of a fly spell, Bonzimir created a rope
bridge across the chasm. As the team carefully crossed this
bridge, Aulus suddenly lost his footing and plummeted toward his
doom. As fast as he could, Demetrios dove after him, catching the
eldritch warrior in mid-air and using his winged boots to
slow them down. The two still crashed hard into the stone floor of
the chasm, but managed to stay alive.
[GM's Note: This was Demetrios's use of a Hero Point to
save Aulus from certain death. Nicely played, Tim!]
After leaving the chasm and investigating the charred remains
of the banebrutes, the Company continued ever upwards, arriving at
another, similar chamber with a chasm and no bridge. Here, Aulus
grabbed his head in pain and fell to his knees. At the same time,
all the Company's light sources went dark and the Veil of
Meteors spells protecting Nereida and Demetrios winked out.
Nereida and Basil dragged Aulus out of the cavern, where he
quickly recovered. Grimly, he returned to the cavern to confront
what had happend to him, while the others produced more mundane
light sources such as lanterns and an alchemical sunrod. He
told the Company when he entered the anti-magic zone, he suddenly
remembered a shadowy figure that had magically altered his mind,
forcing him to work against the Company. This mysterious figure
had given Aulus secret instructions to prevent the Company from
retrieving the Sword of Lies, or to delay them from
returning to the surface if he could not stop them. Aulus knew
that the mental domination was still there, but felt certain that
he could control it now that he knew about it. He wanted to stay
with the Company both because the Banewarrens still needed
sealing, which was his original motivation, and because he hoped
to confront the shadowy figure at some point, and wanted their
help. The Company agreed, but kept a close watch on Aulus. Using
their last rope and a grappling hook, the Company ascended to the
ledge on the far side of the chamber and continued.
The path led them through several mysterious chambers, and they
passed another sealed Vault Door, which they left alone. They had
another brief battle with some banebrutes and wrinkled their noses
at the noxious purple liquid bubbling up from a pool in the
banebrute village. Eventually, they left the area and ascend
further, arriving at last at Tremoc Korin, the Baneheart.
The entrance to the Baneheart is a tremendous iron statue of
the Dread One, and all are initially terrified. After assuring
themselves that this was not the dreaded iron golem, they entered
the space beyond and stared in open amazement. They were on the
inside of a shaft that rose and rose far above them. It was more
than one hundred feet across and contained hundreds of door that
they could see, rising ever higher into the gloom. Each was a
sealed vault door. At many of these levels, slender bridges
spanned the space After overcoming their awe, the Company noticed
that several doors were unsealed and open, including one on the
floor level.
Perhaps more importantly, Nereida and Demetrios felt a powerful
force surging through the place, a thoroughly evil force like
nothing they had ever felt before. Concentrating on it, they
discovered that if they so desired, they could power their spells
with this awesome energy, but also sensed that to do so was
perilously evil, for the force wanted to be used, to take
shape. Shivering at the thought, both put the temptation quickly
aside.
In the first room, they found a floating platform they could
not understand. After experimenting and discovering it was not the
elevator they had hoped for, they abandoned it and looked upward.
By sending another arcane eye upwards as fast as it would
go, Demetrios discovered that the ceiling was some 2500 feet up,
meaning that this single chamber accounted for most of the height
of Mons Tarteros. Demetrios calculated that the level where they
now stood was higher than the tallest towers of Echoriath.
Deciding to fly to the next open door, Basil borrowed
Demetrios's Winged Boots and took Bonzimir with him. As
they rose into the air some sixty feet above the floor, a horrible
screeching sound surrounded them and out of the distant shadows
emerged a huge flying monstrosity, a nightmare of ropy flesh and
pallid feathers. Demetrios recognized this as a vrock demon in the
moment before it struck. Bonzimir was able to drop free, landing
unhurt thanks to his ring of feather falling, while the
demon's scream struck Basil and paralyzed him in mid-flight. The
demon then snatched Basil from the air and flew upward with him
towards a convenient ledge.
Basil came out of his paralysis and began to duel with the
demon. Meanwhile, Demetrios cast fly on himself and Elida,
while Nereida seized Bonzimir and Aulus and used Navanna's headband
of dimension door to ascend to the demon's level. The demon
was tough and very difficult to hurt, but the Company managed to
injure it repeatedly until it teleported away, vowing
horrible revenge. It had infected Bonzimir and Basil with its
spores, and now the infection was rapidly growing weird purplish
vines.
And here the story paused...
1) Where is the vrock?
2) Who opened the open doors?
3) Where is the Sword of Truth, and where is the Iron Golem?
4) What else lives in the Baneheart?
5) Where is the Sealing Rod?
6) Where is the final portion of the Staff of Shards?
Back
to the Burning Star
Forward
to The Banewarrens, Part 20
|
