Session Thirty-Six
Roleplayer of the week:
I have updated the explored areas of the Black Giant's Castle map
From the diary of El'Fross:
Session Thirty-Seven
Roleplayer of the week:
Snf'L is gored and trampled by an enraged buffalo. Not a pretty sight, but with X'Ylo's help, he manages to survive.
11th Goodmonth
From the diary of El'Fross:
Session Thirty-Eight
Roleplayer of the week:
Neither of these players voted, so no Player's Choice Award again this week.
12th Goodmonth
13th Goodmonth
14th Goodmonth
From the diary of El'Fross:
Session Thirty-Nine
Roleplayer of the week:
From the diary of El'Fross:
Session Forty
Roleplayer of the week:
El'Fross wins the Player's Choice Award, since Snf'L's player did not vote.
So don't forget to vote!
From the diary of El'Fross:
Experience:
The "Merkans" or "Demons" (which you now know are really called "Norkers") were only worth 35xp each, but the Monstrous Manual has normal hobgoblins as worth 35xp each and they only have 1 attack/round and ACs of 5 or 10 instead of 3. I have upped the xp of Norkers to 65xp/ea. So the first encounter was worth 1040xp. The next encounter with the spiders was worth 2700xp. Be thankful you never found out why it was worth this much. The stirge colony was worth 2450xp, which may seem a little high, but keep in mind we could have lost two party members to it if circumstances had been a little less in favor of the party. Fighting was foremost and spells were flying around, but there were no thief skills in evidence at all this session. Therefore no thief class xp will be awarded. This means a total of 6190xp, divided with 2 shares to S'Rang and 1 to each other party member. A'Ha the bear was not involved in any of the battles, so he bleeds off no experience this session. So 1769xp to S'Rang, 884xp to the rest of the party members.
Player's Choice (60xp):
DM's Choice (30xp):
Daranel - 884 F - updated!
El'Fross - 452 F, 10 T, 452 MU - updated!
Snf'L - 442 F, 0 T, 442 MU - updated!
X'Ylo - 884 CL - updated! (don't forget he only gets 70% of this!)
L'Wehn - 884 F - updated!
A'Ha the bear- 0 B - updated - cannot earn experience, but takes 1 share away from party (when with them)
S'Rang the former NPC - 885 F, 0 T, 885 MU - updated!
8th Goodmonth
Curing and spells cast. Discussion begins (initiated by El'Fross) about the magical bracers and how they might help L'Wehn, who gets hit quite often (but can take it). L'Wehn doesn't want them, and it turns out this is because she thinks they are ugly. Snf'l is very hesitant to part with them. L'Wehn begins to wonder if the bracers are cursed after all.
They decide to go fishing and X'Ylo to look for herbs. They head down to the lake shore and Snf'L catches quite a few fish. However, some "Merkans" manage to sneak up on them and attack. Daranel is terrified because the creatures are the very "demons" he and his fellows fought when they were all but wiped out. These demons had been backed by hobgoblins and some black-skinned, white-haired elves in the attack which decimated most of the elven army he had been a part of. Daranel is quite surprised when his first sword swing downs one of the "demons". L'Wehn, seemingly terrified by Daranel's cry of "demons", cannot hit a thing for most of the battle.
9th Goodmonth
Curing and spells again. The party then splits up to go hunting and herbing. Nothing edible is found, but El'Fross feels his tracking is improving. He can almost envision the animal as he views its tracks. Where it was going, where it had been, what it did there, and ven what books it likes to read.
Snf'L discovers an old, worn cobblestone path, almost completely covered by plants and terrain over the years. He feels he'd like to follow it, but he and El'Fross decide they better get the others to come.
10th Goodmonth
X'Ylo checks on Pall, who is sleeping and grouchy (and there ain't nothing worse than a grumpy dragon). Siroth is around and wants to play, so X'Ylo plays with the little dragon for hours. The others discuss the newly discovered path and whether or not they should follow it, since it seems to lead back toward the villages of Alok and Tween, where they hope to travel soon to get more veggie bisquits and information about where they might find "the Bright Desert". They decide on a plan and are going to head out the next day. Now that a firm plan is in place, L'Wehn doesn't mind checking out the rest of the castle as a way of passing the day.
They go and check the next room down the hall. There is nothing but rubble it seems, but they faerie fire the area anyway, finding nothing there. They do the same to the next room and find there are critters hanging from the ceiling. Instead of entering this dangerous room they wisely close the door. They neglect to faerie fire the third room and enter to find themselves suddenly surrounded by elf-sized spiders! X'Ylo calls up insect swarm and two giant ants answer the call. They break a hole in the wall, allowing the stirges from the previous room to enter to feed on the blood of the party members. L'Wehn is seriously injured.
Experience:
Although tempted to give all the buffalo encounter experience to Snf'L, it gets split evenly between X'Ylo, Daranel, and Snf'L (fighter only). That's 175/3 = 58xp.
The buckawn encounter could have gone much worse (and almost did!). 300xp for the party for managing to survive (and learn a little something?). Split evenly regardless of class. All were present, so 38xp/share (S'Rang gets 2 shares, of course).
The encounter with the sneaky-ass spiders gains the party 4550xp, which is split normally except for no experience for anyone's thief class, as these skills were not used in the session at all. S'Rang gets 2 shares from this encounter - both of which will be placed on his mage class. That's 650xp/share.
Player's Choice (60xp):
DM's Choice (30xp):
Daranel - 58+38+650= 746 F - updated!
El'Fross - 13+325= 338 F, 13 T, 13+325= 338 MU - updated!
Snf'L - 10+58+13+325= 406 F, 10+13= 23 T, 10+13+325= 406 MU - updated!
X'Ylo - 58+38+650+60= 806 CL - updated! (don't forget he only gets 70% of this!)
L'Wehn - 38+650= 688 F - updated!
A'Ha the bear- 38 B - updated! - cannot earn experience, but takes 1 share away from party (when with them)
S'Rang the former NPC - 25 F, 25 T, 25+1300= 1325 MU - updated!
10th Goodmonth (cont...)
Luna's new moon
Party relaxes in the castle, curing and making plans. Snf'L makes a bow (for Daranel I believe). El'Fross looks at Tenser's Floating Disc, but is having trouble with the spell. It will take him 8 full days of study to leanr it. Does he have the wherewithall to stick with it? We shall see...
I told her that spiders are not to be taken lightly and that she was far too easy a target in this particular situation. In any other battle (with non poisonous) creatures, L'Wehn might have fared better as she can take a fair bit of punishment, but in a case when even one hit could spell doom, her inability to dodge blows is clearly a liability.
Experience:
Sorry I took so long to update this. The only experience gained for the week is for the two giant snakes in the tunnels. This experience is 1950xp, divided among the party members, including X'Ylo and A'Ha. Even division between classes because I really forget the battle details now. The party did not defeat the Ooze, so no xp for that.
Player's Choice (60xp):
Also 1 vote for S'Rang. "He is doing a damn good job of trying to show the
kids what not to do and how to find out more about monsters (i.e. watching
the ooze to find out its movement rate) Good thinking!!!"
DM's Choice (30xp):
Daranel - 244 F - updated!
El'Fross - 81 F, 81 T, 81 MU - updated!
Snf'L - 81 F, 81 T, 81 MU - updated!
X'Ylo - 274 CL - updated! (don't forget he only gets 70% of this!)
L'Wehn - 244 F - updated!
A'Ha the bear- 244 B - updated! - cannot earn experience, but takes 1 share away from party (when with them)
S'Rang the former NPC - 163 F, 163 T, 163 MU - not yet /updated
Snf'L is talked into making 4 wooden longswords for a mock battle between L'Wehn and El'Fross. L'Wehn is out to prove that avoiding taking hits is not neccessarily better than being able to take a few hits and keep on fighting.
No events - a rather boring day, so we will not recount what happened, save to mention that El'Fross actually managed to study Tenser's Floating Disc a second day in a row!
L'Wehn ready to fight El'Fross. L'Wehn loses badly, not even managing to score one hit on El'Fross, "Luckily for him," she mutters, after coming to. Other sparring matches go on, and the party is very bruised and battered when they go back to explore the tunnel where they fought the spiders. They find it goes on a bit and then is completely blocked by rubble. They hear a very, very quiet noise seeming to come from the rubble blocking the passage. They surmise something is trying to break through from the other side. They decide to go outside and look. There is naught but a cliff face where the tunnel would be. X'Ylo (or someone else, I forget) prods the wall every so often, looking for soft spots.
Daranel manages to knock himself out trying to shoot a tree with an arrow while the party explores. Snf'L politely explains to him that you are to let go of the arrow and not the bow. Suddenly the poker of the wall finds a hollow space beyond. There the party encounters a giant snake, at which X'Ylo bolts like a rabbit, encountering the snake's mate alone in the tunnel as he is leaving. He dodges this monster and heads outside to the protection of A'Ha the bear. The rest of the party follows after dispatching the first snake and they all kill the second snake. They realize that in their weakened state, exploring caves is a Really Bad Idea, so they go back to the castle to rest up.
While resting up, they find that X'Ylo is missing. He had mentioned something about going after Siroth the dragon, so the party goes searching for him. All they find is a dart and a vial of holy water. Later they discover the grisly truth: some horrible mustard-smelling "Floaty-Pokey Thing" has devored their friend, sna is still carrying around the acid-scorched remains within it!
Experience:
Since the original encounter with the Oozey thing resulted in a rout for the PCs, there was no experience to give. This session resulted in a dead Oozey-thing and the recovery of X'Ylo's skull. The party gets 4000xp to share. 7 shares = 571xp each, with 1143xp to S'Rang.
Player's Choice (60xp):
Unfortunately, Murray did not vote and therefore no Player's Choice Award again this week...
DM's Choice (30xp):
Daranel - 571 F - updated!
El'Fross - 190 F, 190 T, 190 MU - updated!
Snf'L - 190 F, 190 T, 190 MU - updated!
S'Part - 301 CL, 301 MU - updated!
X'Ylo - 0 CL - updated!
L'Wehn - 571 F - updated!
A'Ha the bear- 0 B - updated! - cannot earn experience, but takes 1 share away from party (when with them)
S'Rang the former NPC - 381 F, 381 T, 381 MU - updated!
14th Goodmonth (cont...)
Party discussing X'Ylo's departure and another K'Needian elf arrives, a priest of Sehanine no less! He rides upon a snow spider that he calls "Tikkeltakkaflickel" (who's voice, if the party could but hear it properly, sounds like Butthead with a lisp and no laugh). S'Part escaped the carnage of the village and has been living with the snow spiders, who migrated north. He came back with one that does not seem bothered so much by the warmth of the southern lands and hankers for adventure.
Mykell is nervous about the snow spider. Tikkel in his own fashion is nervous about Mykell, who is big enough to squash him underfoot.
Snf'L and El'Fross go and get some of the curing buffalo for supper. Snf'L does a hammock and Tikkel goes to find a big bug or two to eat.
15th Goodmonth
Celene's new moon
A few spells cast by S'Part and the party is feeling much better after their recent trials.
The party discusses S'Part's adventures and reminisc about the head cleric of the K'Needian elves, S'Rok.
They decide to head to Daranel's home village of Unicks. They discuss travel plans. They distribute the wieght of what they wish to carry among the group.
They go fishing with Mykell one last time. Mykell himself catches 5 big fish, and they have a last supper with the giant. S'Part turns out to be an excellent cook, and the party has a tasty meal for the first time in a very long time.
Experience:
Wow. Lots of travel and many days gone by, but no real encounters. Some good role-playing (you guys, not me, I was out of the groove for sure) going on and the danger of real encounters did exist, they just did not come up. I'm giving everyone a straight 100xp for travel and meeting other people.
Player's Choice (60xp):
Three new rules:
DM's Choice (30xp):
Daranel - 100 F - updated!
El'Fross - 73 F, 73 T, 73 MU - updated!
Snf'L - 33 F, 33 T, 33 MU - updated!
S'Part - 50 CL, 50 MU - updated!
X'Ylo - 0 CL - updated!
L'Wehn - 100 F - updated
A'Ha the bear- 100 B - updated! - cannot earn experience, but takes 1 share away from party (when with them)
Siroth the White Dragon- 100 D - updated! - cannot earn experience, but takes 1 share away from party (when with them)
Tikkel the spider (what a horrid thought!)- 100 S - updated! - cannot earn experience, but takes 1 share away from party (when with them)
S'Rang the former NPC - 33 F, 33 T, 33 MU - updated!
16th Goodmonth
Party travels all day in the Fellreev Forest and makes it to a village called Razan at dusk. It turns out to be a Sylvan Elf village, and they stay the night. An early morning hailstorm causes A'Ha the bear and El'Fross, who refused to leave the bear alone in the forest, to seek shelter in a barn at the edge of town.
17th Goodmonth
Party does some shopping and some wheeling and dealing. They make a deal with the keeper of the local tavern to make them some Elven Veggie Biscuits, which they will come back for. The tavern-keeper agrees to hold them for two weeks for the party. They will take 1 week to make.
Just as the party is leaving they meet some traders coming into the village. Their cargo is sine from Unicks. They know Daranel and are distressed about the news of the decimated army.
A day of travel brings them to the village of Lestung, where they spend the night.
18th Goodmonth
Luna's first quarter moon
Traveling all day is uneventful, except for running into the same 13 Sylvan Elves they have run into before in the Fellreev. They join to party, as they are traveling to Unicks as well. Joe, the leader, tells the party they are going the wrong way but nobody believes him. Joes oges off west while the other 12 members of the group stay with the party.
Party camps out that night. Tikkel brings a bundle into camp and El'Fross exclaims in disgust, "Does he have to eat here?!" But it turns out to be Joe, either lost or following the party.
19th Goodmonth
Party arrives in Unicks. They find out Daranel's dad is a public official and his mother is the head of the merchant's guild.
The town of Unicks is stricken dumb by the news that their army is dead. A huge memorial service is planned, and S'Part is asked to give a speech at it. His reward is a scroll from Lillethaneles' collection. He gains a Cure Critical Wounds scroll.
Snf'L at first is excited about all the newly-widowed and mourning young elven females, but eventually goes with one of the ones who was single to begin with.
20th Goodmonth
El'Fross studies Tenser's Floating Disc but still can't seem to get it.
21st Goodmonth
Day of the memorial service. S'Part says a few words.
22nd Goodmonth
Daranel arranges for travel across the river. They are taken across quite cheaply in two boats. The party then heads for Tween. They camp in areas much more familiar to them that night, and it is uneventful.
23rd Goodmonth
Party arrives in Tween and consults with Agald the wizard. He does not have the spell they seek, polymorph other to change A'Ha into a shape with which he can cast spells. The old wizard does not know where to find such a spell, he only knows polymorph self.