Princes of the Apocalypse: Day Eight - The Pig, the Priest, and the Peculiar Ice Floor

Before our heroes can even catch their breath after surviving being badly outnumbered, a huge tusk bursts through the wooden doors to the throne room behind them.  The paladin goes to "listen" to figure out what's on the other side.  The doors shatter as a huge wereboar bursts through.  Chasing the boar is a tall half-elf ranger, sword raised  over his head, screaming a battle cry.  (This character is played by Hunter, an 11 year old school friend) He attacks it from behind and all the adventurers join in to kill the beast.  In the midst of fighting, Josh the druid gets slashed by the creature and cursed.  After it's death, the wereboar transforms into the body of Grimjaw, the ruler of Rivergard Keep. They take a moment to heal themselves.  Kyle decided to keep one of the shark-toothed swords. Hunter tells them that he is a member of the Emerald Enclave, just like Lilly.  He has been sent to root out evil in the area.  He tells them that this keep is run by bandits, and Grimjaw was their evil leader.  Then they enter the nearest building, which turns out to be a small chapel.  Inside they find a female priest and two warriors with shark-toothed swords that are listening to her droning lesson. There were no alarms in the chapel, so they are unaware of danger. The druid, of course, immediately runs his mouth and starts a fight.

Lilly, the ranger, goes outside in protest, but rejoins the group before the battle ends.  During the fight, the priestess cast ice at Josh, missed epically, and layered the entire floor with ice.  The eponymously named Hunter, the ranger, tries to run, falls, slides across the floor, and slams into the priestess, knocking her prone.  The battle goes badly.  Josh falls unconscious.  It gets very close to a TPK.  Lilly re-enters just in time to save Josh from death.  Hunter, slowly freezing from a spell attack by the priestess, nevertheless manages to impale her with his sword while she was still on the floor.  They finally slay the guards, as well.   

Princes of the Apocalypse: Day Seven - Beliard and River Keep

Following the map they were given, the adventurers flew to the great stone bridge and then followed the road to Beliard.  Lilly convinced her pet bear to follow them.  In the town of Beliard they hired a horse trainer to take care of their animals.  They bought a couple hundred pounds of meat from the butcher. Meanwhile, Kyle the dwarf went hunting and shot a deer.  They used most of the meat to feed their beasts.  The starving bear was finally content.

Next they went to the Knight's Inn tavern.  They heard a lot of rumors.  One was that giant bird riders in blue robes were swooping into towns and abducting girls.  Also, a madman was supposedly in charge of a keep down river.  The Mirabar delegation had been heading that direction when last seen.  The group set off on foot, leaving their hippogriffs with the trainer.  Down the road they saw smoke and vultures circling about a mile off the path.  They found the remains of the servants and guards who were part of the delegation. The red axe design on their clothing and equipment are obviously those of the missing delegation.  They also find shattered looted wagons.  The delegates, themselves, were nowhere to be found, but there were tracks of a large group of bugbears and humanoids leading to the Dessarin River.  Gouges in the bank show where several keelboats landed.

Using the remains of the wagons, they made a make-shift raft.  Then the Druid used his magic to propel them down the river.  They reach Rivergard Keep and talk their way into a meeting with the leader, Grimjaw.  Unable to get any useful answers from him, they are escorted out of the throne room.  The dwarf and the druid mouth off to the guards... the rather large, well-armed guards who carry big shark-toothed swords.  Early in the fight they learn that two of their enemies have the ability to shape shift into giant water serpents.  Kyle, the paladin, uses thunder smite, which causes a massive thunderous sound which sets off alarms all through the keep.  A frightening roar comes from the throne room and something smashes into the wooden doors behind them.  They manage to kill all but one guy who made a run for it. But then he got shot in the back by the ranger's arrow.

Princes of the Apocalypse: Day Six - Feathergale Spire

Upon their return to Red Larch, our heroes receive a small reward of pig jerky from the town constable for routing the troublesome local bandits.  The constable also tells them that there is a new guy in town who is heading to a location that supposedly has some priests from some cult there, so maybe they can find that rock cult priest they are looking for if they join him.  He is staying at the inn.  Without waiting for any further description or information, they take off to the inn to find this stranger.  At the inn, a shifty looking one-eyed guard tells them that the stranger is over at the tavern drinking and warns them that the guy "has a mouth on him."

They can hear bad singing coming from the open door of the tavern and lots of laughter.  Upon entering they find a handsome, though somewhat stupid, half-elf bard playing the cowbell and singing a ridiculous song to the tune of a human children's song.  (This is Bob, who is played by our kids' former babysitter, Luke.  He is joining us for just this one day of adventuring.) He tells them that he has been sent by a rich lord from Waterdeep to find the lord's missing young bride.  Within a very short time of their arranged marriage, for some inexplicable (to him) reason, she abandoned her wealthy 60ish year old morbidly obese husband to join a cult.  She ran off with a priest.  Bob has followed her trail to here and is heading to Feathergale Spire tomorrow where he hopes to find her.  Savra Belabranta is her name.

The four adventurer's arrive at Feathergale Spire late the next evening and ring the bell near the closed drawbridge.  They are welcomed warmly by a young woman who is a knight of the spire.  She takes them up through the lofty white stone spire that is perched above massive steep chasms.  They see other knights riding giant vultures and hippogriffs and other creatures in the sky.  Also strangely thin priests and acolytes trying to become one with the air.  At the pinnacle of the spire they meet Thurl Merosska, a handsome blonde human commander of the air worshipers.  They tell him that they want to learn more about the group and he invites them to join him and his people in their 10th anniversary celebration and feast.  During the feast they ask about the missing rock cult priest.  He promises to discuss it more after the meal.  They also learn that the female Knight may be the noblewoman, Savra, that the bard has been searching for.  She seems very happy here.

Then an alarm is sounded because a vicious manticore has been spotted outside.  It's a misty night outside.  Our heroes decide to join in the manticore hunt, riding hippogriffs loaned to them.  They encounter the monster before the knights can find it.  During a brief fight the bard is injured by a tail spike shot at them like a porcupine's quill.  Then the bard and the ranger become lost in the mist.  The dwarf paladin and the druid fight on alone.  Although they manage to severely injure the beast, the dwarf is knocked unconscious and the manticore tries again to escape into the mist.  The druid keeps chasing it and Lilly, the ranger, runs into them in the dark and joins the fight.  She manages to strike the killing blow.  On the ground, the druid decapitates the creature with his scimitar and they return to the spire in triumph.  For a reward they receive a beautiful expensive ring from Commander Thurl.  But the druid keeps whining about wanting a long sword.  The bard asks if they can have Knight Savra as a reward, but she refuses to leave and Thurl says it's not his decision to make.  Instead he tells them that they may find the priest they are looking for at the Sacred Stone Monastery where he believes evil people are doing evil things.

The dwarf, Kyle, is taken to a knight's quarters to be healed and rest.  His friends visit him and see Commander Thurl leaving his room next door.  Since they were invited to stay the night, Lilly goes down to the Acolytes dorm to sleep.  Josh and Bob sneak into Thurl's room to investigate.  They find a message from Queen Aerisi Kalinoth congratulating Thurl on kidnapping the Waterdhavian noblewoman and brainwashing her and also for a successful skirmish against the Black Earth Cult at the Sacred Stone Monastery.  They also steal a potion and scrolls from a chest in his room.

Then, they heal the dwarf and sneak up to the pinnacle of the spire.  There they capture Thurl and cast a truth spell on him and learn much about his air cult, the Cult of Howling Hatred.  Knowing that Savra's room is one floor below with an open window, Josh, the druid, levitates down, casts confusion on her while she's sleeping and lifts the bolt from her chamber door.  The bard disguises himself as Commander Thurl and convinces her to come with them.  They escape on the same hippogriffs they rode earlier that night (while almost accidentally leaving the sleeping ranger, Lilly, behind.) Josh lights up his magic dagger so they can see, thereby alerting an airborne guard to their presence.  Bob, the bard rolls a crit (20) and completely convinces the guard that he is Commander Thurl and leaves the guard in charge, telling him not to let anyone up to the pinnacle of the spire (where they left Commander Thurl bound and gagged). He salutes and leaves them free to escape.  They deliver the girl to the obnoxious Waterdeep noble and receive gold (and a long sword for the druid who just won't stop asking) and permission to rest there that night.  They sell the ring, learn what spells the scrolls have on them, and get a map of the Sumber Hills so that they can travel to Beliard the next day.  Beliard is the last known location of the delegation from Mirabar.  The bard thanks them for their help and chooses to stay behind in Waterdeep.

Princes of the Apocalypse: Day Five - Bandits!

The dwarf, the ranger, and the druid spend the night near the old abandoned rock quarry.  During the night, while the druid is keeping watch, strange sounds, low voices, and eyes low to the ground catch his attention.  The dwarf wakes up and, after hearing the druid's report, goes to investigate.  They are camped in a small copse of trees and bushes with  a large grassy hill and meadow nearby.  Kyle creeps into the bushes.  There is almost no moonlight, but his dark vision allows him to see something moving towards him low and fast.  Several small objects knock into him and he tumbles to the ground.  One presses right up against his terrified face and says, "Baaaa".  Lilly, the ranger, wakes up due to the noise.   She and Josh laugh at the dwarf repeatedly for the next hour, while the DM makes random sheep jokes.

In anger, the dwarf kills one of the sheep with his battle axe and cooks it over the fire.  Then the local halfling shephards arrive.  They are none to happy.  There is almost a fight while the dwarf refuses to apologize.  In the end, Lilly pays them 10 gold for the sheep and the druid promises they will leave at first light.

The next morning they return to town and discuss the stone cult with the town constable.  They want to find the priest, Larrakh, who convinced the town council to murder people in sacrifice.  The constable suggests they check out some of the hiding places south of town where several bandits may be hiding out.  (He may be suggesting this just to get rid of a local problem, though.)  The heroes locate the bandits, who are cooking around a camp fire and also have a captive bear in a cage with a makeshift lock.  A battle begins.  Lilly avoids it in order to try to tame the angry starving bear.  She shares her rations with it.  Meanwhile Josh, the druid, pauses the fight after killing half the bandits to try and get information out of them about the priest in exchange for their lives.  But then the dwarf and the druid disagree on whether they are going to steal the bandits' ill-gotten loot.  The dwarf uses a thunder attack that enrages the bear, which breaks free of its cage and chases after the bandits who had been mistreating it.  Kyle and Josh try to kill the bear.  Lilly breaks down crying because she had just succeeded in getting the bear to be friends with her.  The bear escapes and chases after the bandits who get away.  But then the bear comes back to snuggle his new favorite ranger.  The dwarf takes the bandits' loot, and the druid furiously leaves the table vowing to never play this stupid game again.  (Two days later... "Mom? Can we play D&D again tonight?")

Princes of the Apocalypse: Day 4 - Rescue & Pursuit

The heroes rushed to the crossroads in the center of town, bringing the boy with them.  They were shocked to find a massive sinkhole had opened up in the ground, dragging a wagon with children into it and little Pell, the poultry shop owner's granddaughter, was clinging to a tree root.  Josh, the druid, used a levitation spell to lift Pell to safety.  Then Lilly, the ranger, gathered villagers to help her hold the rope while Kyle descended to begin healing the injured children.  Lilly and Josh quickly followed.  Josh pulled massive rocks off a child and Lilly put another on her back and climbed the rope back to the surface.  Meanwhile, two angry leaders of the town, Waelvur, the wagon maker, and the woman who manages the quarry, began yelling for everyone to stay clear of the pit.  When the party started telling what they had seen below the town, the two leaders demanded that they be quiet.  As soon as Josh declared that they had discovered murder victims, the council members all turned and ran.  The father of the boy they had rescued earlier took his son and disappeared.  The heroes chased Waelvur.  Lilly managed to hit him with an arrow and then follow his blood trail.

In an old abandoned rock quarry outside of town, they had a final stand off with  Waelvur and two rock cult guards.  The druid used a mold earth spell to move a five foot cube of rock into and around one of the guards, filling his insides with rock.  After a hard fought battle, Waelvur finally surrendered. Kyle, the paladin, cast a zone of truth spell on him and they learned that Larrakh, an earth cult priest had been manipulating the town council and made them murder three travelers who had learned too much.  He was ashamed of his actions and swore to never do evil again.  The party released him.

Princes of the Apocalypse: Day 3 - Cave In!

Our adventurers found and rescued an 11-year-old boy who had been pinned under heavy stones as a punishment by his father, a town councilman, for failing to deliver a message.  He had been there quite some time and was dehydrated and hungry.  The group helped him and questioned him.  He declared himself to be a devoted "Believer" who worshipped the "Delvers", and was afraid his father would be angry that they had released him.  Fearing he would report their presence to his father, they kept him with them.  Then they explored further.  Two of them were almost captured by giant metal cages that fell from a tunnel ceiling.  Then they found and questioned another believer, an old man that they met just outside of the room of the Delvers.  Within, they found giant rocks that magically rose into the air when they stomped the floor.  Meanwhile, an unknown person snuck quickly out the back into another secret tunnel entrance and then triggered a cave-in to block it.  Josh, the druid, transformed into a small bug and passed through the rock pile.  He learned that the tunnel exited into the rock quarry they had passed when they first entered the town.  When he returned they all headed back to the entrance near Waelvur's Wagon shop.  The ground began to tremble and they just barely escaped back outside when a massive tremor shook the town.  Townsfolk ran outside in a panic, and then the screaming began near the center of town.

Princes of the Apocalypse: Day 2 Secret Tunnel

Lilly and Josh stayed at the Swinging Sword Inn, while Kyle decided to save some coin and slept at Minny's boarding house.  He heard quite a few strange rumors of crazy weather events happening in the area recently.  They all met up at the tavern across from the inn.  There they met a man who worked for Waelvur, the wagon maker.  For a bit of gold, he told them he had seen Waelvur and several others wearing hoods sneaking in and out of a secret door behind the wagon works.  The party followed his directions.  They discovered a secret tunnel with cloaks and torches that led to caverns and tunnels carved from the rock below the town.  They found strange dwarven statues, mysterious floating rocks, and the bodies of murdered travelers with strange symbols carved into their skulls.  They discovered a petrified dwarf with treasures like offerings for a god in front of it.  Then six men surprised them.  They called themselves the "Bringers of Woe".  After a fierce battle, the party was still standing.  While trying to decide which way to go next, they heard soft crying of a child coming from the direction that the men had come from.

Princes of the Apocalypse: Day 1 Red Larch

Our fearless heroes were gathered together and sent by Lord's Alliance member, Sildar Hallwinter, to investigate the disappearance of a delegation from Mirabar.  They passed right by the quarry, choosing not to investigate it.  They ignored the dressmaker's shop/bath house.  Lilly, the Ranger, wanted to go to the bakery, but agreed to first visit the leather shop with Joshua, the human druid, who bought a pair of shoes.  Kyle, the dwarven paladin, waited outside in a huff.  He wanted to visit the weapon smith.  The baker (who the druid refers to as "Sir Lies-a-Lot") told them that the poultry shop owner's granddaughter saw a ghost recently and she could give them directions.  So they visited the poultry shop, bought some pickled eggs, and got directions from little Pell to the ancient rich guy's tomb.  

Outside the tomb they stumbled upon a goblin and a half-ogre, who they quickly dispatched with a massive lightning strike by the druid.  It might have been a bit of overkill, but they were excited to finally have their first battle.  They entered the tomb and found a locked door, rusted shut.  The specter of a soldier who failed to protect his master in life fought to keep them out.  He was knocked back through the door.  The party failed to force the door open through strength.  So, the druid magically froze it and the paladin shattered it with his battle axe.  Inside they destroyed the specter.  Then, Lilly opened the coffin within and a magical flying sword rose up from within to attack them.  Several failed attacks had them in dire straits, before the Paladin struck three massive blows to the sword, ending it's reign of terror.  In the tomb they found signs of a ritual and a hippogriff feather.

As evening came, they headed back toward town.  Along the way, they encountered an old acquaintance of Lilliana's.  Grath, a textile merchant driving a caravan, welcomed Lilly and her friends.  He spoke sadly of his regret that she had been exiled from their people at the young age of ten.  He informed her that her mother had died some years ago.  Even worse, all the young girls of their village, including Lilly's sister, who is now 16 years old, were recently kidnapped by invaders who were riding hippogriffs.  He doesn't know where they were taken or why.  Grath and the party all headed to Red Larch together.