Campaigns

Back to the Burning Star

The Banewarrens, Part 5

Players/Characters Present:
John Sikking - Basil Amantes (Ftr7)
Bruce Barnett - Bonzimir Amantes (Rog4/Hlf3)
Barbara Muth - Nereida Amantes (Clr7) and Elida (KSK4)
Chris Wood - Felix Amantes (Psi7)
Peter Drake - Demetrios Amantes (Wiz4/Hum3)

Photos of the game can be found here: Banewarrens Photos

The session began with the Company of the Starborn in the Vitellius (Vladaam) vaults, along with Nicalon. They escaped from there handily enough and then descended the cliffs to where Elida waited with the boat.

[GM's Note: In order to add a bit of tension to what was feeling like a conspicuously easy scene, I had Elida mention that while she was waiting, she'd seen a light on the water, out in the fog. It was one of those moments where the game goes seriously off the rails and careens out into space.]

The party decided to investigate. Since Basil still had fly, invisibility and water breathing spells active, he flew out to take a look. Now, a smart GM would just have said it was a fishing vessel, and had done with it. But nooo... Mr. hotshot GM decided to spice it up. It was in fact, a daring act of piracy underway. Basil found a former pirate ship, the Queen of Geshtai, which had several months before been captured by the Imperial Navy, and was in the process of being re-stolen right out from under the noses of the harbor-master.

So, not long later, the Amantes' boat was stopped by a navy ship giving chase to the Queen of Geshtai. Bonzimir (with the hand), Basil and Felix had all dived in and swimmed to shore. Nereida, Demetrios, Elida and Nicalon were taken aboard the ship and questioned. Being a patriot, Demetrios told the captain what he'd seen and which direction the Queen of Geshtai had been sailing. But because of their promise to Brother Tobias, Demetrios and the rest refused to say what they were doing out on the water at night, stating that they were under orders from the Great Church and that only the Great Church could release them from it. This wasn't strictly true, but they stuck with it.

Thus, the entire party lost four days while the navy gave fruitless chase attempting to catch the fleeing pirate ship. They only returned to sea when they did because the Great Church interceded with the Emperor's Court to send a message recalling the ship. On land, they were questioned by an Inquisitor who satisfied the naval authorities that they knew nothing about the act of piracy. They were released at long last.

After spending four days as a prisoner aboard an imperial navy vessel, Nicalon was rather righteous in his demand to know what made the mummified hand so important. The Amantes debated how much to tell him, but did mention that it was a key to an ancient storehouse of evil, and that terrible things like the Thought Stalker which was still terrorizing the city had come from there. They even mentioned the Quann by name. Nicalon easily guessed that they meant the Banewarrens, at which point, they confirmed the guess.

Nicalon asked to examine the hand, but Bonzimir balked. Flavia's warning was still in his mind, and he wondered whether Nicalon had his own agenda. However, the rest of the family felt that Nicalon had proved himself and deserved to be taken into confidence. Demetrios warned Nicalon that once he knew the whole story, his life would likely be in danger. Nicalon replied that he had already risked much, and that the Amantes should tell him as much as they could and let him decide whether to join them.

At last it was decided that Nicalon should accompany them to the Temple of Agaleus, god of Death and Justice, where both Nicalon and the Amantes would be questioned by the Inquisitors at the Amantes' expense. Incensed, Nicalon declined, saying that as a Knight of the Chord and as a companion for the last several days, he was above reproach. The Amantes asked him to return if he changed his mind. 

That afternoon, they went to the Ghostly Minstrel to see if any messages had come in. One had. A man named Nicalon Regelis had come asking for them the day before. It now dawned on the group that Bonzimir must have been right, and that "their" Nicalon was an impostor. Though why the impostor helped them into the Vitellius mansion, they haven't figured out.

"Eew! And I kissed him!" cried Nereida.

"You don't even know that he was human," noted Bonzimir.

"Or male," pointed out Demetrios." 

From there, the reunited Amantes family proceeded immediately to the Banewarrens.

[GM's Note: I had decided that as more than a week had passed since the demise of the first Grail Quest Team, the Pactlords had by now sent a second team, and that it was already in the Sealed Door area. Specifically, I decided that they had made camp in the room of the Waning Guardian. I decided that they had spent the last day trying in vain to open the Sealed Door.]

At the Abandoned Manor House, the Amantes found the bodies of two murdered city guardsmen (the Church had prevailed on the City to station guards to keep away vagabonds and children). One guardsman had been savaged by a large beast and the other had the top of his skull removed and his brains were missing. They proceeded with caution, and in the Generator Room discovered the murdered bodies of Kalerescent and Rsanir. The former had been cruelly crucified on the spikes of the Warding Generator after having had his brains eaten.

This, alas, did not move them to greater caution but to greater speed. It was decided to check on the last Warded Door before using the hand on the Sealed Door. Unbeknownst to them, Ostarach the Ogre Mage had been invisibly observing the room from the balcony and warned the Second Grail Quest Team. An ambush was prepared...

As the Company of the Starborn entered the Waning Guardian Room, they were flanked by Erzak the gnoll ranger and his dire ape companion to one side and Nisselantar the ettercap with his spider companion to the other. Knowing that Yuinthu the Mind-Flayer was invisible and prepared to use his Mind Blast, Wiver the Heiracosphinx remained off to the side at first. The ground around the entrance (where Bonzimir and Basil wound up) was coated with Nisselantar's webs.

The Pactlords achieved surprise. The melee combatants closed to attack, while Yuinthu and Ostarach moved into position. Little damage was done in this surprise round. But Yuinthu rolled a very high Initiative for the following round and that ultimately spelled disaster for the party.

Basil managed to kill the giant spider in the first moments of combat, but then Yuinthu unleashed his Mind Blast and managed to stun all of the Company's melee characters (Basil, Bonzimir and Elida). Shortly thereafter, Ostarach's  Cone of Cold devastated Demetrios and Felix. Even then, victory was uncertain for either team through most of the long fight. 

Felix's Mind Thrusts managed to keep Ostarch busy while Demetrios's Fireballs drove off Erzak, his ape and Nisselantar, while seriously injuring Wiver. Yuinth's excellent Spell Resistance kept him from ever suffering any damage. Meanwhile, Ostarach's regeneration kept him in the fight while Basil's heavy armor kept Wiver's attacks largely at bay. Yuinthu failed to affect anyone else with his Mind Blasts, but successfully Charmed Nereida and instructed her to run away.

[GM's Note: It was later discovered that Nereida should have received a +5 on her save against the Charm, but as three rounds had passed, I refused to retroactively allow the save.]

[GM's Note: Another thing that went wrong for the party was Nereida's attempt to free Basil from being stunned. She cast Remove Paralysis on them, but I have a house rule (cadged from Monte Cook, author of The Banewarrens (and of D&D 3E!)) which doesn't allow such remedies to be automatically successful. Instead, it forces a caster level check, which Nereida failed. On the one hand, I allow clerics to cast spontaneously, so she could have cast another, but on the other hand, she was charmed by Yuinthu the following round and never had the chance. Had Basil recovered from being stunned, he could no doubt have made short work of the physically frail Mind-Flayer].

In the end, Ostarach brought Felix low and Demetrios felled Ostarach. Wiver killed Basil and Yuinthu paused to dine on his brains. Demetrios had a chance to flee, but as his brothers were dying around him, chose to stay and fight. Both he and Bonzimir soon fell victim to Yuinthu's Mind Blasts and were eaten. Only Nereida escaped, and only because Yuinthu had ordered her to flee.

Now the Company of the Starborn is broken and the Pactlords have the Banewarrens key. Ouch! 

I'd like to give a personal tactical thumbs-up to Peter who (over the phone!) came up with using the Unhand spell to try to ruin Yuinthu's meal of Basil-brains. If they had survived, I would have given Hero Points to both Bonzimir and Demetrios.

Instead of my usual battery of questions, there is only one:

What Next?

Back to the Burning Star

Forward to The Banewarrens, Part 6