[Setting Info] The Temple of Nephtlys

Nephthlys is the goddess of wealth and fate. Merchants sacrifice to her to decrease the risk of their journeys. In the last thousand years her temples have become a focus for banking with merchants able to make deposits in one temple and withdraw them in a temple in another city. She has temples or shrines in all the major cities of the Empire. 

Her primary temple is on the Street of Gods, in the shape of a gigantic black sphere that takes up almost a city block, and puts the temples of many lesser gods completely in the shade. From here, her High Priest Grenspanios oversees all financial transactions. 

The goddess herself is depicted as a beautiful woman with the lower body of a spider. Nobody knows why this is, although some irreverent types joke that once a man begins dealing with the usurious priesthood of Nephtlys, he is forever ensnared in their 'webs' of debt and credit - but most are careful not to say such things within earshot of the masked and robed priests.

TEMPLE SERVICES AVAILABLE

Nephtlys' priests accept all customers regardless of their piety or lack thereof - as long as they bring money!

- Holy water, incense, and religious/mystical paraphernalia are available in generous quantities.

- Magic items are sometimes sold. At any time, there may be potions, scrolls, and some completely random magic items available. Items of interest are also purchased by the temple, after magical identification (one day required).

- Money-changing to other denominations (silver to gold, etc.) is at a 2% processing fee. The temple will also purchase and sell easily converted valuables such as gems, jewelry and art objects.

- The most popular financial service is the sale of certificates in the form of silk strips which may be easily carried in clothes or perhaps a turban without detection. The certificates are redeemable at any of Nephtlys' temples, and of course many other locations at face value. Available in denominations of 200, 500, 1000 and 5000 sp at a surcharge of 10%, they are absolutely secure from duplication or counterfeiting. They save against all harm at +4.

- Deposits of coins and other valuables in the treasury are at a monthly 2% of deposited value.

- The temple will handle wills and other authorized transactions on a 5–10% commission (depending on risk and complexity).

- Sophisticated financial instruments are available to the discerning customer making an investment of over 5000 sp. These high-risk, high-yield derivatives count as carousing (at a rate of 5 sp = 1 xp), but there is a chance of a big payoff in the future.

[DM Note: does this mean that Lolth, the AD&D drow spider goddess, doesn't exist in this campaign world? Are Nephtlys and Lolth the same?? I guess you'll just have to find out...]

Session 48-51

AGAINST THE BAT CULT

Harvestime 5 - Goodgrove 18, 4433

Characters:

Daqqa-Jin, barbarian 5
Robert, fighter 5
Xénos, assassin 5
Uriah, paladin of Seker 3
Young Joe Spruce, druid 4
Finrod, elf 4
Lord Fesgate, fighter 4 (NPC)

After the garden party, the group returns to Viridistan and catches up on a few things: 

- Salzige is retrieved from the clutches of the Inquisition in a surprisingly cordial meeting. The guards with him didn't ask for anything. The sorcerer is missing a finger now, and tells the party about his harrowing captivity and what the Inquisition wants from the group. 

- The party blows some money carousing with their noble acquaintance Vasu Cervantes. A few mistakes are made: Xénos acquires expensive tastes and carousing now costs double for him. Cassia wakes up in the middle of Ugtargnt's temple, incensing the uptight priests with her inebriated blasphemy!

- Information is gained from two sages at the Shadow Market.

- The group spends time training and gets details on interesting quests from their mentors (more later, we wanted to jump right into the action on game day).

The Guild Quest

Robert and his comrades return to the Night Wolf Inn for their first Guild Quest. They meet up with Ms. Haven, a scarred veteran of many battles and high ranking Guild member. She lays out the situation for the party: the Guild group A Motley Crew have gone missing in Room IV and somebody needs to find out what happened to them and mount a rescue if possible. If the Wretched Company can solve the problem the first group were sent in to deal with, so much the better.

Before they leave, she gifts them some items that may be useful: a few potions and two amulets of tongues, used to speak with the room's denizens.

The party enters Room IV and searches the furniture, discovering two finely-made cutlasses which they take. Using the small sailboat provided they head north, seeking a huge island and the village of Tanaroa.

They reach Tanaroa on the second day of sailing and meet the friendly islanders who address them as "Wolfclan." The Guild has managed to foster friendly relations with the locals here. The party rests, buys supplies and gathers information about their quest and the members of A Motley Crew.

In the morning they set out with a local guide who takes them as far as the tar pits, a day's travel past the Great Wall. Daqqa-Jin's tracking skills come in handy and he picks up the trail of a group who passed through recently. It leads north into the hills, and eventually to a mist-shrouded cave entrance. The group descends!

The Cave of Mists

The company explores the cave and rapidly gets stuck into a huge pitched battle with bloodthirsty primitive cultists, accompanied by giant scorpions and a few members of A Motley Crew, now turned to evil!

Use of the Four Winds Bar and Entangle spells turns the battlefield into a giant area-denial zone, and even a pincer attack from behind cannot stop the group. They are able to capture Sebastian the assassin, and rescue most of the other captured Guild members before they can be sacrificed to the crude bat idol. Conylt the cleric does not survive, after fleeing into the lair of a demon deeper into the caves.

The party encounters THE LIZARD-LORD, a strange talking green statue, and pilfers a few gems, but the being seems unable to pursue them. Later, they will sneak around it to pilfer all its treasure.

After resting, burying some of their treasure and sending the survivors of A Motley Crew back to the Tanaroa with their guide. The sorceror Usucachi attacks the group at night with a summoned earth elemental, but is defeated (thanks to Young Joe Spruce's Call Lightning spell, which blows up the pistol he was carrying - oops!).

The party delves deeper into the caves. Bypassing the fly-demon with a holy symbol of Camazotz, they open the great doors into the lower level and enter... 

The City of Bats

The party explores the ruined city. They encounter degenerated, pale lizardmen and interrogate them. 

Many ghouls, mummies and giant bats are fought and much treasure obtained. Several similar-looking bat idols are taken - one from a giant scorpion, one from a mummy, another from a replica of the city. There are some close escapes but the group does well against their foes, deploying all kinds of tactics and avoiding traps with careful observation.

They cross a river of blood, explore ruined buildings, see a room filled with lava, and climb some pyramids. They find a man frozen in a block of ice, but can't think of a way to get him out. They fly over a (probably) trapped floor using the Four Winds Bar.

Young Joe Spruce catches some ghouls in an Entangle.

Thinking quickly, Daqqa-Jin kicks a sneaky mummy into a pit.

They meet a nereid named Ixcacolel, trapped in a pool of water, and give her the Bat Crown so she can escape her confinement.

Finally placing all four bat idols atop the great pyramid, the gate is opened to the inside. The group battles the final guardians of Camazotz, the DEATH BATS!

Xénos lines up a backstab on the biggest bat he's ever seen.

After a tense battle, these final guardians are slain and the sanctum of Camazotz is ripe for plunder. Uriah and Finrod feel ill simply entering this evil place, where reality itself distorts in a dizzying undulation. Ever bold and greedy, Robert the Swift pries the ruby-studded golden eyes from the great idol of the bat-god, and takes its obsidian teeth as well. 

Upon a sinister blue altar lies an artifact of great evil: the Book of Dreams, which describes the granting of wishes by human sacrifice. The group decides to take it and bury it, for now. Returning to the surface, the Wretched Company plans to rest and recuperate, and then perhaps the City of Bats holds a few more mysteries?

The Return & The Treasure Map

The group took up most of the treasure, buried the rest, and headed back to their boat. Scouting ahead of the group, on the second day Finrod spotted a strange nest of two giant spiders. Dropping flaming oil from above drove them from their nest, and then a barrage of ranged attacks caused them to speak, begging for mercy from the group. They were driven away and their gold coins looted.

Returning to Tanaroa, the Wretched Company was greeted by the locals, overjoyed that the cult of the Bat God was broken, and the grateful members of A Motley Crew, including Sebastian, whose domination by the forces of evil was finally over! The assassin was a bit miffed to see Xénos wearing his magical armour, but he reluctantly accepted that such was the price of fighting for the bad guys and - not dying about it.

Loading everything on the boat, they took an alternate route inland and returned to take the rest of their buried treasure, passing a few zombies along the way.

After loading up their boat so it was almost ready to sink under the treasure's weight, they scouted out the location marked on their snakeskin treasure map. In the wastelands stood a plateau with a crumbling temple to some forgotten god: scouting it out invisibly, Finrod spied a great black dragon resting in the courtyard, and flew away with all haste!

Returning to the Inn, the group got a message left by the Behringer knights: they have discovered a gateway to a ruin of the ancient world, and want the Wretched Company's help exploring it. Also, the war against the Mad King is escalating, and they need all the help they can get!

Their new weapon passes allowed them to stroll through the Great Wall checkpoint with ease. Thanks, Inquisitors! In Viridistan the group sold off their mountains of treasure, had their money changed to gold coins and identified their raft of magic items. Many future plans are being made. Many characters reached level cap. Lord Fesgate needs to rest and recuperate after the shock of too many fights with the undead.

What's next for the Wretched Company?

Some Weeks Ago:

A group of young and reckless adventurers disembarked from the Sea Ghost in Viridistan and sold off a mountain of trade goods and contraband, gaining much experience in the process. After training, they plan to investigate the Crimson Curse plaguing the city...

From The DM:

When I told everyone to come over for a one-shot game on Halloween 2019, I never imagined this game would make it to 50 sessions! Thanks for coming back again & again boys. We have plenty more thrills & spills coming up in the future!

Monsters Defeated (11642 xp):

2 sabretooth tigers (1020 xp)
6 giant bats (120 xp)
Pumacaja (AKA "bat-boy,") antipaladin (290 xp)
Sebastian, assassin (660 xp)
Usucachi, M-U (290 xp)
Conylt, cleric (660 xp)
42 primitive cultists (840 xp)
2 giant scorpions (380 xp)
earth elemental (2800 xp)
3 lizardmen (141 xp)
2 mummies (1720 xp)
13 ghouls (611 xp)
giant black widow spider (80 xp)
giant scorpion (190 xp)
5 giant bats (100 xp)
6 DEATH BATS (1740 XP)

Treasure Obtained (Total value something like 35,000 sp):

pile of silver coins (in chest)
pile of copper coins (in chest)
bronze shield
gold armlet
gold scepter
fire opals x5
lava rock heart of the bat idol (4500 sp)
Usucachi's spellbook (spider climb, magic missile, summon familiar, invisibility, darkness globe, locate object, ESP, stinking cloud, blink, water breathing, haste, wall of ice)
headband studded with pearls
golden ore chunk
marble urn
electrum ore (4x)
bag of pearls (11x)
gold and jade amulet
golden torc necklace
amulet of Camazotz (2x)
treasure map scrawled on a tattered snakeskin
potion (violently bubbling scarlet, with a tiny iridescent feather floating in it)
scroll of Neutralize Poison
Blizzard Bag
priest scroll (from Conylt)
assorted jade items: jaguar, egg, nose plugs
coins (500sp, 900 copper) (Xénos picked up)
granite bust w jewelry
57 gold coins (already split up)
potion (bright amethyst fluid with dark indigo specks) 
assorted jewelry (11 pcs)
priest’s bat mask 
golden goblets (2)
onyx skull 
magic sword w/ bat wing handles 
Bat Crown (given to Ixcacolel)
Bat Idol's gold & ruby eyes (5000 sp each!!)
Bat Idol's onyx teeth (16)
Book of Dreams [placed in storage]
Assorted magical weapons, armour & shields looted from foes

After fighting many undead, the group have gained 3 fear points each. Lord Fesgate seems to be acting erratically after so many harrowing encounters, and needs to rest!

Sessions 47-48

THE PARTY: CONCLUSION!

Harvestime 4, 4433

Cassia, fighter 3

Finrod, elf 3

Salzige, necromancer 4

Black Phalaros, necromancer 3

Daqqa-Jin, barbarian 4

Robert the Unsociable, fighter 5

Xénos, assassin 4

Young Joe Spruce, druid 3

Uriah Sunstrife, paladin 2

Oddrick, cleric 3 of Odin

NPC - Lord Fesgate, Fighter 4

NPC - Vasu Cervantes, Fighter 2

The Inn is Under Attack!

A horde of creatures emerged from the woods and swarmed towards the Night Wolf Inn.

The Wretched Company sallied forth, along with several high-ranking Guild members to meet the foe and buy time for the Inn's employees and other noncombatants to get to safety. Deploying the Four Winds Bar and their spells, they cut through the enemy's ranks until the more powerful foes got closer, and then fought a delaying action for several minutes, eventually retreating into the Inn itself.

The Inn's magical defenses (a group of gargoyles in the shape of winged wolves) helped out, crunching through the weaker foes outside.

Meanwhile, Karakaël appeared in the tavern to report a horde of enemies rising up from below the Inn's cellars! The Wretched Company hurried downstairs to fight on this second front.

A horde of the same wretched creatures waited behind some locked portcullis gates. One of the 'leaders', a hideous and short fishlike entity, was able to speak. It addressed the party, asking for its "sister" Oolpoollib. The Wretched Company didn't know what to do, especially when the beasts produced several wood elves and a few unfortunate Guild members as hostages, including the young & helpless Ruby Stone!

The conversation was short and unproductive. The creature spoke harshly but cryptically about the Guild Master. 

Just when it seemed there was nothing anybody could do, terrible magics were unleashed. A few party members collapsed with crippling headaches while the monsters began to explode, unleashing a storm of blood & gore throughout the cellars. Waves of fire and lightning followed, destroying whole packs of creatures. The magical assault emanated from a stooped, cloaked figure leaning on a staff, surrounded by a dark halo of energy...

Was this the mysterious Inn Master?

Monsters Killed:

tons!!

Treasure Gained:

none

Experience:

[This is a "story award" for lack of a better term, based on character level and how many days of the festival characters attended. There was no opportunity to gain treasure, and the mass combat XP would have been divided among a huge number of allies. So this award is my thanks for showing up and trying out a different game session from the usual! This XP award is unique and breaks past training caps, just this once. It has already been added to your XP totals. - DM]

Cassia - 900 xp

Finrod - 900 xp

Salzige - 400 xp

Black Phalaros - 900 xp

Daqqa-Jin - 1200 xp

Robert - 1500 xp

Xénos - 1200 xp

Young Joe Spruce - 900 xp

Uriah Sunstrife - 600 xp

Oddrick - 300 xp

NPC - Lord Fesgate - 600 xp

NPC - Vasu Cervantes - 200 xp

Somewhere in Viridistan

Unknown date, 4433

Three other people enter the room. Two are clearly guards, tough looking Viridian veterans who stand at attention on each side of Salzige. The third is an old Ghinoran woman: she wears an ornate gown of foreign design, a circlet studded with gems around her brow, her fingers covered with gold rings of various sizes and shapes. Her walnut-coloured hands shake with weakness. Phaidros holds her arm and helps her into his chair, and Salzige sees that she is blind - her eyes are blank and white.

"Allow me to present Lady Metztli, of the distant south," intones Phaidros. "My lady, the subject is before you."

Lady Metztli grabs Salzige's hand and flinches visibly. "Aah! Much darkness I see, in the land beyond shadows! We will purge you of this blight now... Hold him!" The guards each clamp down on Salzige's shoulders and hold his head still. Lady Metztli's sightless eyes stare directly into his and again he gets the sense of having his mind and soul scrutinized -- but this time, the pain is immense!

The agony burns every nerve ending in Salzige's body, as if he were immersed in boiling magma. It seems to last for eternity... at a certain point he begins to hallucinate, entering a waking dream. He hears Lady Metztli's voice echoing in his mind: 

"We will rewrite his future for him..."

Salzige's Dream

The face of the moon was the Hideous Monkey Statue, mocking as it leered down from the sky. Below, Zalan schemed and cursed in a graveyard, calling up the dead for his vengeance. An army of undead rose, devoured their maker, and swept across the land in a great holocaust of blood. A few terrible figures led the charge: at the forefront were a vampire in a jagged pointed crown; and a floating, legless skeleton with a circlet and a staff.

Against them was arrayed a strange army: in the front were the wood elves, painted savages with spears and rocks. Beside them walked more bizarre examples of elfkind: some ghoulishly pale and tattooed, others with night-black skin. Behind these were shadowy creatures, almost like elves, their very skin the stuff of darkness and dream. Behind these, driving the charge, were tall ethereal beings with glowing skin and shining armour, blasting their foes with terrible eldritch forces.

These two armies met in a titanic conflict, a war which spread to every corner of the world. Even the Emerald City was consumed with flames!

The fires died down and acrid winds scoured the dust of the city away until nothing remained. Over the ruins of the Empire rose a massive horned monument to evil: a statue of Yredelemnul, the goat-demon, lord of death!

Lady Metztli's voice echoes: "This is as it may be, not as it must be..."

...

An androgynous figure in black clothes walks down darkened tunnels. It passes a huge, glowing red ruby on a marble platform, then walks down a white staircase, passing beneath three golden gates.

Later, this same being stands in a dark room before an ancient, weathered book written in blood-red inks. On a stone block rest a plain golden cup, an oddly-shaped skull, and a jewelled spear. The cloaked figure intones unpronounceable words from the book, and ripples of darkness flow from the walls, plunging it into a sea of liquid black. From this sea of darkness rise humanoid shapes, bodies of pure blackness which climb the walls, drag it under, and flow out of the room in a flood...

An ibis bird floats on a vast lake dotted with rushes. It is peaceful. The bird speaks, and its words bring a sense of serenity and wisdom, but afterwards they cannot quite be recalled...

A great set of golden merchant's scales... 

A floating fortress inside a storm cloud... 

A crumbling white dome, set amongst the mountain peaks... 

A distant glowing star, streaking blue and pink trails across a silvery-grey void... 

A frozen city beneath an enormous glacier, with a blood-soaked gate guarded by a demon..

...

...

Special: Village of Braddol 4, 5

THE SEA-GHOST

Summer, 4433

Characters:

Tarr the Younger, archer 1

Xasan Karimov, barbarian 1

Lothryk Bjargson, cleric of Njord 1

Ryoga, incantor 1

Krom, fighter 1

Arkane Gnossienne, cleric of Anubis 1

Katamtaman Toxotai, archer 1

Philip, fighter 1 (NPC)

Samuel Browne, fighter 1 (NPC) R.I.P.

"Bloody" Bjorn, fighter 3 (NPC)

Zhalgas, fighter 3 (NPC)

Avast!

The group hatches a plan with Samuel Browne to ambush his former smuggler comrades, using the signal chart found in the Haunted House.

Using a rented fishing boat, the party poses as the smugglers they only recently killed, with the turncoat Samuel in front. When the ship, the Sea Ghost arrives, they sail out with half their group covered by tarps.

This ruse allows most of the group to get onboard before the smugglers realize something is wrong and a battle breaks out!

The fight quickly becomes a swirling back-and-forth struggle. The enterprising Ryoga begins barricading doors to prevent reinforcements. Half the group gets webbed while Xasan, Philip and Samuel chase down the first mate Bloody Bjorn. From the other direction, Captain Sigurd blazes a one-man trail of destruction across the deck nearly killing several people, and Tarr takes bowshots at targets everywhere.

The battle turns when Tarr kills the wizard Punketah, Samuel convinces Bjorn to join the group, and Sigurd is slain in a desperate melee with Xasan, backed up by Tarr's bowshots. The appearance of more foes from belowdecks only prolongs the inevitable.

At this point three hooded and cloaked figures break through a door Ryoga had barred. One conjures poisonous snakes from out of his eyeballs (?!) and all 3 make for the fishing boat with one of the smugglers.

Samuel is bitten by one of the poisonous snakes. Feeling the icy touch of death, he seizes the asp in one hand and dives headfirst into the fishing boat, hoping to take some of the fleeing foes with him! For a smuggler, he went out heroically.

A torrent of bowshots and some flaming oil kill a few, while a thrown rope snares the boat. One of the cloaked men flees in the water, one is dead and the third held by his own reflected spell.

Now in possession of the ship, the group gets Bjorn to show them around. They find plenty of treasure and clues.

They free the prisoner Zhalgas, a desert warrior on a pilgrimage from the Holy Cities.

They interrogate the cloaked man they captured, who turns out to be a cultist of Set. Using a clever trick they persuade him to talk, and learn of a magical relic called the Chalice of Aldren, already in possession of the Setites somewhere in Viridistan!

The group has a ship, a pirate crew, a hold full of cargo and a mystery to solve. What else could a 1st-level adventurer ask for?

Enemies Defeated (853 xp):

8 smugglers (150 xp)

captain Sigurd (260 xp)

Punketah the conjuror (100 xp)

Foul Frithof (65 xp)

2 asps (78 xp)

2 sinister robed guys (200 xp)

Treasure Found: 

various silverware, jugs etc (500 sp)

banded chest: locked

brass-bound chest: locked

500 sp inside

captain's potions: (already noted)

sea charts (nice to have)

crew's chests: pack of playing cards, 2 sets of dice, address book filled w/ladies' names

parrot: a magical talking bird from a far-off land (value unknown)

longsword (magical)

wand (magical)

ring (magical)

assorted coins, jewelry, gems (553 sp, 7 cp)

Note to Captain from *"Black Leaf"*

Crude drawing of jeweled goblet

demonic statue

box that rattles with coins (unopened)

box with a... voice inside? (unopened)

In the Cargo Hold:

90 bolts of silk

81 brandy casks

219 wine casks

3 casks of soap

1 cask of salt

[Treasure values posted when you sell it all off in Viridistan, see downtime thread!]

Experience:

Lothryk is capped at 1565 before treasure XP, and needs to train!

Sessions 45-46

THE MIDSUMMER PARTY

Harvestime 2-3 4433

Characters:

Cassia, fighter 3

Finrod, elf 3

Salzige, necromancer 4

Black Phalaros, necromancer 3

Daqqa-Jin, barbarian 4

Robert the Unsociable, fighter 5

Xénos, assassin 4

Uriah Sunstrife, paladin 2

NPC - Lord Fesgate, Fighter 4

NPC - Vasu Cervantes, Fighter 2

For Those Unable to Attend:

You missed the social event of the season!

The Night Wolf Inn's midsummer garden party was a rousing success. Financed from the Guild's own coffers and the contributions of dues-paying members like you! 

This was one of the most successful gatherings in the Guild's history:

The party had 872 attendees over the course of three days. Over 2,000 meals were served; 1,400 pints of beer poured; 128 bouts of wrestling, armoured and unarmoured melee; 350 arrows fired; 210 spears thrown; 59 prizes awarded; 0 deaths and only 1 disappearance!

Read on to learn more about the experiences of our Guild members at this year's party:

Day 1

The group arrives with old Olayinka, who thanks them and walks off to meet her old friends and set up shop. 

The opening ceremony is marred only by the presence of the local tax-collection bureaucracy. Finrod's interruption and the legal acumen of Mr. Blackrest put these troubles to rest swiftly, but the party may have made an enemy.

Cassia and Finrod join the Guild for free. Daqqa-Jin gets a magical tattoo at great expense that grants him a magic shield for a limited time.

The party meets the salt merchant Thando, now prosperous, who tells them to see him later. They buy some astral dust, then some magical cigarettes from a slug-man. They bid on some treasure maps at auction, but don't win them.

Many characters join the contests of skill and arms, most progress up the leader boards to the next day.

Some wild wood elves arrive, and after a tense moment they are welcomed. They brought ominous warnings of evil forces entering the forest and humans despoiling their grave-sites.

Salzige and Finrod get alcohol poisoning at the drinking contest, coming nowhere close to winning. Cassia and Uriah do well at the singing contest. Daqqa-Jin tries his hand at Evocation, watches other players get cursed and walks away with a bit of money himself.

The group investigates the library, speaks to a kindly old man doing research, and is asked a strange question by a talking bust of Asmodeus (shudder!). They learn a few clues about the cellars.

In the smoking room, they hear the mounted animal heads chant a strange song which Rain magically translates for them.

Assorted rumours and chatter was heard from other attendees, too much to write down here.

Day 2

When the party wakes up, Salzige is missing! Finrod has a note in his pocket: 

"You know what to do. -B"

The Inquisition is at it again! The party concocts a plan with James to bring some fake "stolen information" to Bolivar to get their friend back. We will see how it works later on.

Daqqa-Jin wrestles TORG the ogre and wins! He gains a potion of heroism as a prize and moves on to day 3. Cassia and Uriah both lose at dueling in extremely close matches. All those in other contests of skill continue.

At the auction, Finrod wins an expensive mithril ingot, useful!

The group goes fishing and is almost eaten by a giant carp.

Other guild members come up to the party asking questions - almost like a fan club. The party tells the story of the Four Winds Bar and Daqqa-Jin demonstrates its power, and they relate their adventures in the cellars. The low-level rookies are suitably impressed.

A notice board is tacked with signs, including advertisements for adventurers wanted and announcements of brave expeditions.

Uriah does incredibly well at the singing/oratory contest, reciting an ancient hunting poem of his people. He has a strong chance of winning on the final day.

Black Phalaros has not done much so far, but decides to try Evocation, and plays an entire nine hands at a prestige table! Not only does he win some good money but he draws a mystical combination and is warded against death for a month. The entire tavern watched this event in rapt attention, he is developing a reputation as a savvy gambler in the Guild.

Late at night, the party watches a fight in the ballroom, where a barbarian fights a massive illusionary dragon and loses (badly). They learn how the ballroom works.

Blessedly sober, the group goes to sleep in preparation for...

Day 3

At the auction, many wondrous items are sold. Finrod buys a magical Everfull Purse of gold.

Thando finds the group and thanks them with 6,000 silver worth of jewelry!

Phalaros buys the magical book Evocations of the Doomed City for a kingly sum. This book will summon up the mythical lost City of Brass.

Nobody wins the archery, spears or knife contests, but several prizes are won for placing: free time in a few Inn rooms, and maps to points of interest within. One map is for Room I, and will surely be useful in the war against the Mad King.

Daqqa-Jin loses his wrestling match but wins several magic potions for making 3rd place.

Uriah wins the oratory contest and chooses a pack of IOUN stones, getting tremendously good results!

In the smoking lounge at the end of the night, the Guild VIPs are playing a high-stakes card game when a horde of monsters emerge from the woods! Even James seems shaken by this development - the whole Guild is in danger!!!

Treasure Gained:

jewelry box (6000 sp)

Experience Gained:

none

Sessions 42-44

RETURN TO FORT BEHRINGER

Thistleburn 19, 4433

Characters:

Daqqa-Jin, Barbarian 4

Robert the Giantslayer, Fighter 5

Xénos, assassin 4

Uriah, paladin 2

Young Joe Spruce, Druid 3

Mardonius, Magic-User 3

NPC - Lord Fesgate, Fighter 4

NPC - Vasu Cervantes, Fighter 2

NPC - The Behringer Boys: Otto, Hans, Stefan, Leonhard

For Eric!

The Wretched Company (joined by the young daredevil Vasu Cervantes, and his M-U friend Mardonius) returned to the Moonlit Zone to liberate Fort Behringer.

With clever ploys they ambushed a starving gnoll patrol and drew a large part of the main gnoll army out of the castle. A flying Mardonius dropped flaming oil to sow chaos inside the fortress. At the right time, the party rushed an abandoned spot on the walls and climbed up into the fort, then Young Joe Spruce cast an entangle spell to further tie up the gnolls.

Xénos boldly followed the fleeing giant Kucmalog up the tower, Robert close behind. The assassin caught the giant in the highest rooms of the tower, but his strike fell short of causing instant death. Robert caught up in time to back him up and the troublesome moon-giant was slain.

The group was almost trapped by the gnolls, but decisive and bold action by Uriah led to a one-on-one duel to the death against their chief Trorgezz. The paladin prevailed [I don't know how! He was a 6th level monster with a magic weapon! Seker smiled on you that day. -DM] and the rest of the gnolls fled confusedly out of the fortress, hungry and lacking leadership.

The party swiftly looted the fortress, except a few ancestral Behringer pieces, and Daqqa-Jin flew back to Rauffe's camp to gather the troops. 

The group discovered a magic mirror and saw many sights with it including the real Sage of Lune, replaced by an impostor and imprisoned - on the moon?!

Meanwhile, Daqqa-Jin was leading the rebels through the forest when they encountered some black-robed priests of Uthummaos, whom he spoke to briefly before blasting them all with the Four Winds Bar's lightning.

The victorious party was visited by an emissary of the Carrion King, who congratulated them and provided a way to contact him in the future, since it seemed they were "going places."

The company returned to the Ruined Town in an effort to right old wrongs: they restored most of the missing pieces in the Solaris shrine (only a halo and some kind of large piece are missing). Daqqa-Jin proclaimed for Karttekeza, sacrificing a valuable black sapphire in an effort to replace the gems taken long ago, then turning the shrine's water back on, washing the evil mud that infested it away. The god's influence is spreading back into the world.

Liberation!

The group returned to the Forgotten Village and discovered it occupied by the Mad King's troops, and their ally Shandril held captive by the traitorous, one-handed sergeant Baran.

Xénos once again showed his skills, shanking Baran through a window as the rest of the group held his attention.

Mike, upon learning Xénos has 17 STR: "and they called him... the Creatine Kid!"

Shandril was rescued and a pitched battle took place through the city streets and fields. These troops were fairly weak and no match for the Company. After more than half their number were slain including all their leadership, the rest surrendered and agreed to join the rebel cause [great reaction roll!]. From now on, some of the flowers grown in the village would be skimmed off and sent northward to the rebels, while the rest go south to the Mad King's troops.

The group left with many new options, clues and plans, but first: selling treasure back in Viridistan!

Monsters Defeated (4229 xp)

Kucmalog, Moon-Giant (1560)

Trorgezz, Gnoll chieftain (680)

1 Gnoll sergeant (100)

10 Gnolls (470)

1 gray ooze (80)

4 moon-moths (284)

Baran (460)

19 king's troops (190)

3 clerics of Uthummaos (405)

8 clerics of Uthummaos (1080 - Daqqa-Jin only)

Treasure Found:

sack of gold coins (200)

sack of gold coins (500)

gold belt buckle (250 sp)

silver crescent blades (200 sp each)

gold ring, studded with diamonds (2200 sp)

7 LARGE silver trade bars (7000 sp total)

giant-sized platemail (4000 sp)

giant-sized shimmering robe (1200 sp)

finely crafted 2-handed sword (1000 sp)

gem-encrusted peacock pimp chain (2200 sp)

black sapphire gem (2000 sp)

altar-stone of solaris [replaced in shrine]

3 metal angel halos [replaced in shrine]

12 holy symbols [10 donated - 2 kept]

seal of uthummaos (magical) [kept]

scroll of protection vs. undead

gold dust of heroism

sparkling moon-moth dust (as web spell)

red & white luckstone

one-handed flail +1

Lion's Blade +0

giant's dagger (shortsword +1)

greatsword +2/+4, frost brand

giant 2-handed mace +2, 13 STR to wirld, casts knock 1/week

velvet jewelry box with fly candy (magical - from carrion king)

Treasure Shares:

100 gp, 3375 silver to each player character

50 gp each to Vasu and Lord Fesgate

[XP totals posted when I get back from work]