Episode 2.9

Greg, Ernie, Brad, Kathy, Tony

After spending a few days helping reinforce the former Troglodyte Lair, the party went out in search of the missing intact triangle. They talked to the valley resident that had seen it before and got what little directions they could from him. They searched for most of a day but eventually found a large cavern with an intact triangle, but the cave had a sole occupant – a human sized construct that wielded a two bladed sword. Brad and Greg tried to talk to the construct, but all it would do was warn them away. They decided to avoid a fight and left it alone. They traveled back to the lair and convinced the Dwarf to go with them. The construct became obedient to the dwarf and volunteered some information.

• He has been here since the dwarves left.
• The triangle is a gate that leads to another place, though he does not know where it goes.
• The triangle can be activated by using three icons.
• The party already has two of the icons.
• He has been mostly undisturbed though lately lots of undead have wandered into the cave.

The group used this information then went back to the lair s Ernie could cast Divination. He had a vision of a desecrated dwarven tomb. They had the wolf use his scent ability to lead them to the source of the undead. They found a dwarven tomb guarded by two tall skeletal figures, that were standing behind a pit. Ernie could sense a desecration spell in the area and cast consecrate near the two figures. Kathy hasted everyone. Brad, Greg and Tony ran around the side of the pit. The two creatures had skewering fingers that extended out, giving them a 20’ reach. Brad Greg and Tony all suffered attacks of opportunity as they trie dto approach the two creatures. Meanwhile, Ernie used his turn undead ability and destroyed one creature. Kathy hit the other with her wand. Greg made it all the way to the remaining creature and hit it with his massive psionic weapon attack. Brad also reached it and added to the damage. It tried to retreat and attack but was unsuccessful. Ernie used his turn undead ability again and destroyed it.

Quickly moving on before the haste expired, the party found the open tomb doors and wnet inside. There they found a large magically lit room filled with broken furniture, open stone tombs and at least a dozen hostile wights. A fast and furious melee erupted. Kathy made Tony invisible. Brad and Greg charged into the fray. Ernie turned undead. Kathy let loose a fireball, which damage all the wights. What Brad Greg, and Tony didn’t cut to pieces, Ernie destroyed with his turning.

Quickly moving on, Tony opened the door to the next part of the tomb and discovered a hallway of black tile, with magical torches and several side passages. Looking around a corner, he saw a ghostly dwarf figure that stood up and charged toward him.

Episode 2.8

Kathy, Brad, Tony, Ernie, Greg

Everyone sprung into action. Kathy fired off her wand, then her magic missiles. Greg and Brad took on the Troglodyte king. Tony and the Wolf took on the Grimlock chief, who also attacked the party. Ernie healed people as fast as he could. Brad and Greg eventually wore down the Trgolodyte king, killing him after several rounds. The Grimlock chief hopped up on the cage, ordered his guards into the room and uncovered the Basilisk. Tony and the wolf went after him, as did Brad, after he finished off the Troglodyte. The basilisk started turning people to stone – first Greg, then Tony, then finally Kathy. Brad finally covered the cage and stopped the basilisk from petrifying people. After finding the wand the Grimlock chief used to free the troglodyte king, Ernie turned everyone back from being statues.

Meanwhile, The main door had been barred and the guards began pounding on it. Everyone set themselves and Ernie opened the door. Kathy unleashed a fireball and then Brad, Greg and Tony cut down the survivors. They closed the door, waited for the next group to arrive and repeated the operation. Seeing the futility in trying to kill an unknown number of guards, they searched for a secret exit from the room. They found and snuck out, making their way back to Stonekeep.

Arriving in Stonekeep, Ceodoc told them that an army of thousands of humanoids had been spotted near the avalanche they had set off previously. (see episode 2.6). He had another trap for them to set off, destroying a stone at the side of a mountain lake. He also said that the humans were going to have to relocate. There was no way they could stop a besieging army of that size. The group told them about the now empty Troglodyte lair and agreed to give them a map to find it. Everyone set off, the group followed them part of the way and then went up into the mountains to find the stone that Ceodoc had told them about. They found the stone and cracked it, using the tools the dwarf had sent with them. Water began to flow out of the lake, pour down a valley and into a large sinkhole. The group recognized the sinkhole as the “sun hole” (see episode 2.4) and wondered where the water would go. They made their way back to the Troglodyte lair and asked Ceodoc where the water would end up. He said it would fill the valley behind the avalanche, turning the valley into a lake.

Episode 2.7

Kathy, Brad, Tony, Greg, Ernie

The group set out to track down the destroyer, following the wolf's lead. They first encountered a group of wights, which Ernie dispatched before they could hurt anyone, but not before Kathy and Tony hit them with some sonic orb's and arrows.

Further along, they ran into a nest of stranglers. They only spotted three of the eight that ultimately attacked them. The battle got intense as Brad, Tony, Greg, Kathy and the wolf were each caught in a strangler's tentacle at different times, despite Kathy having fireballed the lot,with a bead from her necklace, before most of the creatures got a chance to act. The triumphed in the end, with Greg, Tony and Brad killing the last three creatures. The party searched the area, finding a bag of gold and a nice quarterstaff, before resting.

The continued to follow the scent, eventually walking into a large cave, one obviously made by the destroyer. The wolf indicated that the creature's scent was fresh and the party began making battle plans and casting preperatory spells. While they were doing this, the creature tried to sneak up on them. Brad heard it just as Kathy spotted it and shot it with her wand. It unleashed a sonic attack, causing a serious amount of non-lethal damage to everyone except the wolf. Tony, who had been made invisible, tried to sneak around behind it. Brad moved towards it and shot his crossbow when he finally saw it. Greg did the same, only he threw his blade at it. Kathy went for the big and hit it with a fireball. Ernie, working on the theory that silence would block it's sonic attacks, cast the spell on Brad. Brad moved in and went to work on it with his fists. Tony moved around behind the creature. The creature moved away from Brad, suffering attaks of opportunity, and unleashed another sonic attack, but this time with regular sonic damage. It hit Greg, Ernie, the wolf and Kathy, putting the mage down. Ernie immediately healed her. Kathy got up, now quite vexed, and struck the creature with a lightning bolt, killing it.

After a celebratory victory dance, the party chopped off the creature’s head, rested and made their way back to the Grimlock’s lair. When they arrived, the chief sent his guards from the room and talked to the party. He seemed delighted that they killed the destroyer for him and turned over the treasure he promised without hesitation. He gave them the gold first and then his dwarven icon. To get the other dwarven icon, he needed to turn the troglodyte king back into flesh. He went to his fur covered box, claiming he needed something out of it to turn him back, but when he got there, he whisked off the cover, revealing a cage containing a six legged reptile. The creature stared at them and the party each felt some type of magical effect try to overwhelm them. All of them through off the effect. Disappointed, the grimlock chief retrieved a wand and turned the troglodyte king back into flesh. The king, recognizing the party, immediately started to attack.

Episode 2.6

Brad, Tony, Greg, Ernie, Kathy

The party healed and then debated whether to go back to Stonekeep and rest or to press on. The dwarf wanted to press on so the continued. When they arrived where the dwarf was going to set of the avalanche, the wolf signaled trouble and the group got ready for an attack. Expecting another humanoid ambush, Brad ran up to where Tony was leading the group so the ranger would not be caught alone. They spotted something moving in the grass and Tony shot it with his bow and Kathy hit it with her sonic orb wand.

It wasn’t a group of humanoids. They were attacked by a single gargantuan dire snake, similar to the one the killed at the “sun hole” (see episode 2.4). Tony and the wolf moved out of the way. The snake moved forward and attacked Brad, biting him first and then wrapping his coils around him. Greg got closer and threw his blade. Tony dropped his bow and moved in with his swords. Kathy fired a lightning bolt (which Brad evaded) and Ernie used his healing rod to heal Brad. The snake continued to crush Brad but decided to bite Tony instead. Two bites later, Tony was down and looking very dead. Greg jumped in and unloaded his big attack. Kathy continued firing spells. Brad, despite being grappled, used his unarmed attack. They eventually killed the beast, but not before it bit and poisoned Greg. Upon death, the snake fell over and released Brad from its coils.

While Ernie brought the mostly dead Tony back from the brink, Ceodoc went and set off his landslide and the rest of the group searched the cave, finding several choice goodies. They rested for a few days, healing everyone. Afterward, they set out for home, making a short detour so that Ceodoc could see the spirit of the mountain. The disembodied voice was home and it seemed happy to see a dwarf. It asked if he was going to leave like the rest of the dwarves left. It also warned them that there were several “dead things” walking around and that they seemed to be coming from somewhere in the north. On the way out, they encountered a group of Grimlocks who had an invitation from their chief for them to come visit. The took the invitation stone and headed back to Stonekeep.

They dropped off the dwarf, rested and then went to see the grimlock chief. The grimlock’s lair had a series of twisting tunnels. They met the chief in a large square room. He had several guards that seemed to be disinterested. Also in the room were two unusual objects. A very well made statue of the troglodyte king stood at the side of the room and a large fur covered box, perhaps 10 feet on a side, was in the corner. Tony noticed that the crown on the statue of the trogolodyte king contained one of the small square dwarven icons (see episode 2.3). There was another icon in the chief’s ceremonial ruling staff.

The chief ordered his guards out of the room, much to everyone’s surprise, and tried to bargain with the party. He offered them a large pile of gold (which he had hidden behind a secret door) if they brought him the head of creature they called “the destroyer”. The party agreed to do it if he also gave them the two dwarven icons. The chief agreed and had one of his warriors take the party to where the destroyer was last seen. The wolf picked up the scent of the destroyer and also the scent of more wights.