Vagar had already caught a
glimpse of the battleground. An array of candlestands illuminated a vaulted,
roughly square compartment at least 90 feet deep. The far end of the chamber
looked elevated and featured a crude, scrap wood altar to the snake god
Salomirak. A row of makeshift pews crossed the room, just large stones with
mismatched flat boards laid across. And three hairy lycanthropes—two beastly
martenweres in the foreground, a more human-like weremarten on the raised dais—
stood ready in the broad dome around corner.
There had been some hope one or
more of the hostile creatures might be lured out of their chamber and into the
jagged passageway where the five-strong adventuring company might overwhelm
them. In the attempt, the enchanter Tristan Pureheart had dispatched a glowing
humanoid form into the room by way of a dancing lights spell, while the
elven spellsword Vagar followed with his own, simpler illusion of a warrior
flashing at the threshold. But it was not to be. Sione Bari had warned the
lycanthropes would likely pick up the company’s scent—and so they had. The
purely visual illusions did not fool them, and now but one choice remained: to
go in and face them.
Already the beasts’ deep howls
had reverberated through halls, calling unknown numbers of bloodmartens to their
aid. And even this wouldn’t be all; as soon as the party rounded the corner and
surged into the cavern, an even more hideous foe appeared: zombie-like
bloodmartens, called from the ground by the weremarten cultist Banipal.
Just the deathly beings bared
their fangs and turned to face the company, however, the dwarven cleric
Brodrath extended his tri-bolt wand in their direction. The dark runes of his cudgel
suddenly glowed bright blue in the presence of the undead beings. But in place
of the weapon, Brodrath called down the power of Paomoer to drive the zombie
bloodmartens back.
The turning of his vicious undead
bloodmartens would soon prove the least of Banipal’s frustrations, however.
Vagar, taking a position just behind the threshold of the chamber, paused just
momentarily to draw on the inspiration of his ancestors—then unleashed a bow
shot for the ages. The fletching of his arrow sung through the cool air, until
the tip pierced violently into the serpent shaman’s shoulder and drew of shriek
of anguished rage. A critical hit.
Already Banipal’s line was
broken, and the weremarten badly wounded. But the beasts still had greater
numbers, and furiously counterattacked. The weremarten Arhein led the charge,
rushing to the front of Banipal’s forces and wounding the martial artist Ailier
Solenight with a well-placed jab of his bladed spear (yari). A line of
bloodmartens followed, crowding the entrance and slashing at the company with
their razor-like claws. Even worse, Banipal then invoked some foul incantation,
producing a trio of translucent rays that shot through the air toward each of
the company’s front-line stalwarts. Ailier dodged. The dwarf Jadearch deflected
the magic with his shield. But the cleric Brodrath was not so fortunate; he
fell to the floor, immobilized by the weremarten’s spell.
With no other option to save his
paralyzed colleague, Tristan stepped into the breach—whereupon he suddenly
unleashed a gleaming fan of multicolored magic rays from his wizard’s staff.
The blast blinded the two nearest bloodmartens, knocked another unconscious,
and left the dangerous martenwere Arhein stunned on the floor. Ailier took
swift advantage of the opening, running the beast through with his silver
dagger before he could make any recovery. This prompted a disconsolate wail
from the other martenwere, the one they called Delinda—who could only have been
Arhein’s mate. But she could do nothing to save him. And even then a second
masterful shot flew from Vagar’s bow, striking Banipal again in the torso and
leaving him on the brink of mortality.
Once more the lycanthropes
rallied. This time, Delinda led the charge, berserk with her rage. As her mate
had done, Delinda too charged straight at Ailier Solenight and gashed him with
her rusty blade. But Ailier soon returned the favor, delivering a wicked slash
of his own. In her fury, Delinda never felt the blow. Neither did she mind the
dwarf Jadearch, then engaged with a rabid bloodmarten just to Ailier’s left.
She never saw it coming when Jadearch turned suddenly and thrust his spear deep
into the unguarded side of her body.
A third arrow from Vagar might then have ended the battle in short order. But this time, the shot flew wide and the weremarten cleric still stood. The company watched as Banipal invoked yet another spell, this one seeming to cover him in some kind of glittery aura of protection, before turning and heading for a narrow door in the southwest corner of the chamber.
With both martenweres having
fallen and Banipal having fled, no lycanthropes remained to control the
bloodmartens or martial them into any kind of organized force. Their line broke
and the beasts scattered, leaving the company to mop them up safely from
distance. But this would take several moments—critical time for Banipal to heal
his wounds and regroup for the inevitable second round.
The flimsy door through which
Banipal had fled opened into a narrow corridor, with a second similar portal at
the opposite end. The company massed in the corridor and Jadearch kicked open
the second door and burst through with Brodrath close behind. The two dwarves found a jagged, mostly rectangular chamber, crudely
furnished and illuminated with a blur of light on the high, domed ceiling. This
was Banipal’s personal quarters, and he waited at the opposite end, greeting
the party with an ultimatum. “Leave now and I will let you live.” Between him
and the party stood four of the largest bloodmartens anyone had yet seen.
“He’s scared,” exclaimed Vagar,
taking Banipal’s threat as a sign of weakness. He nocked an arrow and started
to aim for the werebeast cleric. But something in the weave of reality would
not permit this, and the spellsword involuntarily aimed his bow at one of the greater
bloodmartens instead. Bewildered, Vagar reached into his quiver for the next projectile.
It was then that Brodrath suddenly
fell. One of the great bloodmartens tore his razor claw across the cleric’s
neck, before a second sunk deep into his torso. The power of the first strike
was unexpected, and the second equally so—and the combined damage proved too
much for even the stout dwarf to bear. Outnumbered once more and having exhausted
their magical reserves, the outcome of the battle fell again into question. “This
is your last chance,” Banipal warned. “Leave this place. Or die.”
At that moment, the shimmering
shield that covered Banipal seemed suddenly to dissipate, and Vagar took
advantage. This time, the silvered arrow struck Banipal squarely in the
forehead; the bone ceded to the force of the impact and the lycanthropic cultist
finally fell dead. Moments later, a successful shot from the bow of Tristan
would finish off the last of the giant bloodmartens and the caverns at last
fell silent.
Now in the flickering candlelight,
the company proceeded to gather what treasures they could find in Banipal’s
sparse room and the lycanthropes’ remains. This amounted to just over 100 GP in
coins, several pieces of jewelry, some books, a carved snake figurine, and a pair
of potions. It was something; it wasn’t enough for all that the victory had
cost.
The thought of a warm bed and a properly-cooked
meal beckoned. But there was still work to be done, and stops to make along the
way. The body of the party’s fallen cleric called for proper disposal—not to
mention that of their former guide. A leather-bound diary on Banipal’s bookshelf
told of weapon called “Blackfang” that was likely interred in a nearby grave. And
back on the edge of town, the old warrior-turned-farmer Savu Bari had promised
his own reward for the destruction of the lycanthrope threat.
Adventure Notes
Animate Dead
Animal. It is well-known throughout the realms that certain evil priests
and even some arcane mages have the ability to raise skeletons, zombies, and
potentially other forms of undead. Typically this magic is associated with the “animation”
of human, demi-human, or humanoid corpses
and other remains. However Banipal appears to have known a spell to animate the
corpses of bloodmartens.
Hold Person. Long have you feared the hold person spell, which can paralyze even the strongest warrior from a considerable distance. It is too much to say that pure luck saw you through the battle with Banipal. But the spell immobilized one party member—and only fortune kept the spell from immobilizing a second, or even a third.
Sanctuary. The late Brodrath spoke once of sanctuary, an incantation of the time/space sphere that mystically causes foes to ignore a caster in the swirl of battle. The spell is broken by violence, but otherwise the gleaming cloak of sanctuary works like inattention blindness on one’s enemies. Brodrath had said even more powerful version of the spell exist, though he did not know the details.
Spiritual Hammer. Banipal made his final attack with a hovering weapon of shimmering force. Ineffectual though it proved to be in this case, the “spiritual hammer” might have inflicted some serious damage had it managed to connect with its target.
Laceweed. A recreational drug popular with youth in the Sekara lowlands, laceweed is an amphetamine—commonly ingested through smoke inhalation—that stimulates the central nervous system and tends to cause a short-term energy boost, heightened alertness, and exhilarating feelings of power, strength, energy, self-assertion, focus, pleasure, or peace. However the high wears off within hours, and is usually followed by a crash associated with nausea, extreme fatigue, depression, paranoia, and violent urges. Laceweed is highly addictive and withdrawal symptoms are reportedly severe.
Potion of Poison Resistance. Sometimes called “Liver of the Gods,” the potion of poison resistance is one of the few magic items common folk ever come across. Indeed there are some who question whether the concoction is truly magical at all, or simply a miracle of mundane medical science. Whatever its origins, this green liquid turbocharges the imbiber’s ability to process and neutralize toxins of any kind. For one hour after consumption, the imbiber has advantage on saving throws vs. poison, and any poisons that do affect the imbiber inflict 50% less damage over twice the expected duration.
Ioke Mase. An authority on many things magical, the venerable elven sage Ioke Mase still lives in the Chalmwood. Given the proximity of the Cave of Horrors, it is not at all surprising that Banipal would seek out a copy of her tome, Jubilex’s Garden: On Deadly Slimes and Jellies. Whether (or how much) of that work he might have been able to read, however, is anyone’s guess.
Experience & Inspiration
· The company attempted to lure the martenweres into the hallway with dancing lights and illusion cantrips. However the attempt was not successful, perhaps in part because the dancing lights were directed to enter the martenweres’ chamber and continue toward Banipal (rather than linger at the entrance or otherwise function as “bait.”). This hard lesson is noted by all. 30 XP.
· The company defeated 12 standard bloodmartens (240 XP), four undead bloodmartens (120 XP), four greater bloodmartens (270 XP), the martenweres Arhein (185 XP) and Delinda (165 XP), and the weremarten Banipal (2,000 XP) in battle this session. Because these monsters were all faced simultaneously, and in Banipal’s lair, a 15% bonus is applied to the base total (2,980), resulting in 3,427 XP.
· The company did not fall for any of Banipal’s ultimatums or attempts to stall or negotiate. 100 XP.
· The company reached Banipal’s personal chamber and recovered the various treasures from his lair. 250 XP.
· The company has completed its mission to rid Larkingwood of the martenwere threat. 2,500 XP.
Session 10 total: 6,307 XP
The total 6,307 XP award from the
session will be divided into sixteen shares, which comes out to 394.19 XP per
share. This will be rounded up to 400 XP per share. The first fifteen shares
are then distributed as follows:
Jadearch (4 shares)
Tristan
Pureheart (4 shares)
Vagar (4 shares)
Ailier Solenight
(3 shares)
Accordingly, Jadearch, Tristan,
and Vagar each gain 1,600 XP from the session. Ailier gains 1,200 XP.
At the option of Ailier’s (and
formerly Brodrath)’s player, the final share (400 XP) may go to Ailier or to a
new character to be created.
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