Stonehell: Body Dump Interrupted

Session 229 was played on 10/1/23

Morgana, Magic User (Rob)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)

Exploring deeper in the sewers the party finds and destroys the stirge nest, and then comes to a room with 4 floating orbs that spin lazily around the room. They’re purple and not entirely solid, showing a little wobble as they orbit the center of the room. Everyone decides its best not to mess with the orbs, and they continue on.

As they open the next door, they see half a dozen grey dwarves with weirdly black veins that shift under their skin far too much, as they’re about to dispose of a body in a sack into the flowing sewage.
“Sorry, wrong door” Blotto explains as he tries to close the door. The grey dwarves are having none of it, and yank the door back open. They were not counting on Morgana summoning a water (sewage) elemental behind them. 6 are quickly slain. The bodies are checked, including the one in the big sack. It contains a very emaciated minotaur. Lopping a head from one of the dwarves, they take it, and the minotaur body back to the minotaur guard.

From the guard’s post, they head to a small side room, fireballing the nest of spiders within, quickly clean it out, and then Morgana uses Hallucinatory Terrain to hide the room, and the party stops to rest. While they rest, a couple of spiders check out what was their nest, but are deterred by the spell.

Gains:
Kills: 6 Draugrdwerg, 4 spiders
Losses:

Stonehell: Dipping their toes in the sewer

Session 227 was played on 9/24/23

Morgana, Magic User (Rob)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)

Agreement in hand, the party leaves the Fire Beetle Bar, and heads through the Blood Horn Gang’s territory up into the lost rooms and toward the sewers. Morgana used her map scroll to fill in the area. They poked about the weird floating rocks room, the stone dome room, and then headed up past the sewer gate, getting the attention of another Blood Horn who was on lookout.

Once into the sewers they were almost immediately set upon by 7 weird stirges. Not only were they harder to kill, they were also… gooey. Both Morgana and Blotto get bitten but the monsters were killed before they could do too much damage.

Gains:
Kills: 7 Slime Stirges
Losses:

Stonehell: Hiring Mercenaries

Session 227 was played on 9/17/23

Morgana, Magic User (Rob)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)

Gathering in the manor, the party reviews their maps, and plans their next excursion. Heading in through the front door, they swing by Rocky and ask the following:
Q How to get into the Hermitage?
A: 4 Ways, The Front Door, the Sewers, and from Below
Q: How to raise and train rust monsters?
A: Carefully
Q: What traps await in the sewers?
A: Traps that aren’t there, Gems that Wander, and a Drink that will take you far away.

 Into the Quiet Halls, they shoo a fire beetle away, and Koltic sends a half dozen shuffling zombies back into their eternal rest. Taking the teleporter down to the Vrilyan halls, they escort Yagrick back to the casino, and then return to the Fire Beetle Bar.

Talking to the dower Crope, he suggests that if they’re serious about assaulting the Hermitage, that they should talk to the minotaurs to get passage through their territory. Crope makes an introduction and during the initial discussion Morgana manages to catch the ear of the 15 dwarven traders who stopped into the bar rather than hang out with the Vrilya, and they misunderstand what’s going on, thinking Morgana and the minotaurs are planning on taking out their caravan.

Borumar soothes the situation out while Morgana gets the Blood Horn tribe to not only allow passage, but to make an assault on the front gate (as a diversion) in 48 hours. It costs her 6,000gp, plus a 300gp bonus for every confirmed dwarf casualty. Crope serves as witness and the contract is signed.

Gains:
Kills: 7 zombies
Losses: 6,000gp to the Blood Horn tribe (paid in advance)

Stonehell: Insert Training Montage Here

Session 226 was played on 9/10/23

Morgana, Magic User (Rob)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)

Downtime! A grand tournament in town meant a number of weapons masters and even grand masters were available for lessons. Over the course of 8 weeks everyone manages to level up their skills, except for Nick, who failed training both with a spear master and an ax master.

Blotto works diligently at training the rust monsters, but their limited intellect made the process slow. So far he’s succeeded at training them to wait to eat, and gotten one to wear the makeshift saddle without too much complaint.

Over the 2 months Yagrik gets increasingly nervous about being above ground, and everyone agrees that it’s about time they return to Stonehell, and get him back to work.

Gains: Cloak of Displacement
Kills:
Losses:

Happy First Contact Day!

 

 

Not only is today the day we will make contact with Vulcans, but it's also the day after the premiere of Star Trek Discovery's 5th and final season. While I'm sad to see Disco end, I'm really looking forward to what this season will bring. 

Stonehell: A little help from a friend

Session 225 was played on 8/7/23

Morgana, Magic User (Rob)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)

Thanks to Koltic’s magic, the tattoo’s are quickly healed, and the next morning the party explores more around the settlement, making their way toward the slums near the Majusek Sulcus. After satisfying their curiosity they depart the Tanna T’Liev and make their way to the casino. Most of the party sticks to the bar, rather than try any of the games. Morgana meets with the Yagrik to discuss some magic plans. She convinces him to take a vacation to help her with some research and item creation. Yagrik is thrilled to have the opportunity to do something new. Fortunate Dran insists that Yagrik not share any of the magics used to protect the Casino, and that he’ll return promptly. Morgana agrees to make sure he’s returned safely.

Heading home, she and Yagrik quickly get to work making a cloak of displacement, and after a little over a month, and a lot of gold spent on materials, they’re successful!

Gains: Cloak of Displacement
Kills:
Losses: