#ganbataar

[wolfsteak]

Another character sheet down. Not so sure about the colors yet, but meh, I’ll figure that part out later.

[foolsiwillshowthemall]

Drew's Pathfinder game recap

The party had just defeated a minotaur, who had been in the middle of setting up a labyrinth which his buddies were allegedly out finding victims for.  Pearl’s last volley arrows pierced the monster’s skull and it toppled over in Ganbataar’s summoned puddle of Grease, but before they could celebrate their victory the group heard a voice softly say ‘Now’ and a spell of magical darkness fell over them.  Strangely, not even Ganbataar’s magically glowing marble could pierce the spell.  As they considered what to do, Kyann heard another spell being cast - this one which she was able to identify as Wind Wall.

Kyann cast Dispel Magic on the Darkness, revealing two elves, who were two of the House of Ianeak elves that the party had ambushed in an alleyway back in Ivyshire.  (The third elf from that group, the one that the party had captured and interrogated, was nowhere to be seen).  One of the elves present was the elderly magic-user who had fled under darkness in the previous fight.  He was now surrounded by a Wind Wall, standing well away from the party, and gloating.  The other elf, Ilena the female Witch who had last been seen screaming in agony after being shot in the back by a poisoned arrow by Pearl, was looking even worse now.  Hunched and lurching, her skin shrunken and pale, her hair unkempt, her clothes fraying and torn.  She had in fact died from the poison, only to be raised as a zombie by her master.

There were also four animated dwarven skeletons, dressed in expensive-looking fancy full plate armor, between the elves and the group.  Later investigation would reveal that these were the honored dead from the fortress’s crypt, in ceremonial burial armor, raised as cannon fodder by the elvish master.  Said master stood in the back gloating as his undead minions pressed the attack.  He said that he had raised Ilena as a very special kind of zombie, so that she could have revenge on the one who murdered her.  Indeed, the zombie elf witch, screaming “YOU KILLED ME!  I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” still had all her spellcasting abilities, and focused them exclusively on Pearl, pursuing her heedless of the danger from the other party members.  Pearl took hits from multiple spells, burned by fire and dazed by sonic blasts, and was reduced to hiding behind Eba as there was very little she could do against the undead.

Fortunately, Kyann was very effective against the undead, blasting them all with channeled positive energy.  That along with the melee attacks from Eba, Ganbataar, and Cedrik cut down the undead attackers.  Unfortunately the Elf, still protected in his shell of Wind Wall, had merely sent them out as a distraction.  While they attacked he pulled a little metal stick out of a pocket.  Saying something about the wonderful toys that the dwarves had left behind, he snapped the stick in half.  A series of sharp explosions erupted from the tunnel which lead into the area from the surface, and rock crashed down and caved it in permanently.

The Elf gloated that the party would be trapped forever even if they survived the undead.  He himself would not be trapped, because Legba had granted him access to teleport spells.  He then ducked around a corner and vanished.

After defeating all the undead, the party took stock of their situation.  The entrance tunnel was collapsed beyond their ability to clear it, but the diary that led them to the fortress said there was a hidden exit through the lower levels.  The Elf who had trapped them and teleported away believed them to be dead or unable to escape, and would probably not bother coming after them until he learned otherwise.  Kyann could summon clean water and food forever if need be, and there were several weeks left on their contract to map the fortress, so they could take their time exploring it.

Pearl examined the body of the Elf zombie witch who had attacked her, and realized that the corset she was wearing was a protective magical item.  She took it off the corpse and put it on herself.  Fortunately, this experiment in wearing unidentified magical items did not have horrible results.

After a bit of magical healing, the group began exploring the rest of the fortress.  They poked through the dusty administrative offices and living quarters before reaching the tombs.  Kyann detected a horrible aura here, and realized that before raising the skeletons of the honored dead to serve as mindless cannon fodder the elven necromancer has first cast a spell to desecrate the site.  Skeletons were still crawling out of their coffins, and immediately attacking the party.  Fortunately, they were coming one at a time, with no orders or organization, and were easy for Pearl and Eba to defeat at range with arrows.  Finally the party reached the center of the tombs, where the desecration was worst.  Eba, Ganbataar, and Cedric held the remaining coffins shut as skeletons tried to claw their way out, while Pearl and Kyann used the group’s two vials of holy water to perform an impromptu blessing in the name of Epona to re-consecrate the site.  It worked, and the restless undead became restful dead again.

The party then decided that the right thing to do was to gather up all the dwarven skeletons and return them to their coffins, doing their best to restore and seal the tombs.  This took most of the rest of the day.  After their labors, the tired party members made their way to the fortress’s main dining hall.  There Pearl found and safely opened a trapped and locked door.  Behind it they found a room full of barrels, bottles, and flasks - a collection of alcohol left behind when the fortress was abandoned.

It being late, the party decided to camp in the spacious dining hall.  They set up a feast, best as they could, with their rations and exotic dwarven booze, and dined in the name of the dwarves who had made the fortress.

[foolsiwillshowthemall]

Game recap

Ganbataar woke to find himself sore, hung over, and filthy.  He also found a confused note with many crossed-out bits written from Kyann, from which he was able to gather that she had gone adventuring to someplace called 'Creekend'. Before heading after her, he decided to get cleaned up at the local bathhouse.  Afterwards, he met Mitmet the gnome, who was still angry about having been defeated in combat.  Mitmet made vauge threats, calling Kyann a 'Stupid girl' and saying he wouldn't forget this.  Ganbataar completely failed to make the connection that the raven following Mitmet around was his familiar. On the road to Creekend, Ganbataar came across the aftermath of the earlier bandit attack on Kyann and Pearl.  Unnaturally grown plants, stone walls knocked over, and a badly injured halfling bandit tied to a tree.  Not knowing what had actually happened, Ganbataar freed the bandit and gave him a sip of a healing potion.  The halfling - introducing himself as Finntram Underroot - claimed to be the victim of a bandit attack himself, and claimed that they had beaten him, tied him to a tree, and taken his dog.  He declined the offer of heading in to town with Ganbataar, but instead pleaded for the return of the dog, saying he'd meet back at the same spot in a day. Meanwhile at the tiny and not very interesting town of Creekend, Kyann had become bored with whatever boring thing Pearl and Flambe were off doing, and was playing with her Dire Corgi, Bloodthirst the Murderator.  Bloodthirst spotted Ganbataar into town and they headed off to greet him.  What followed was a confused conversation where Ganbataar told her about the halfling he had assisted, and then Kyann told him her side of the fight and what had really happened.  Ganbataar was furious about having been lied to, but also not happy that the bandit had been just beaten up and left out in the woods, and tried to explain notions of justice and law to Kyann.  Kyann had been learning about this thing called 'thinking' from Pearl, and shot down Ganbataar's plans to free all the Dire Corgies from captivity.  They did decide that Finntram's offer to meet in a day to get his dog back was probably a trap, and decided to set up an ambush of their own. Cedric the fighter rejoined them at this point.  He showed them the way to the tomb where he'd seen the goblins, although he wouldn't accompany them all the way there.  At the site, up a trail into the hills, they found a metal door in a cliff wall..  The door was surrounded by worn masonry and unnaturally overgrown grass.  Something was moving in the tall grass.  Kyann told Bloodthirst the Murderator to go kill it.  Ganbataar investigated and found an unusually tiny goblin - about 9 inches tall - trying to defend its treasure-hoard of three gems and a half-eaten chipmunk.  He grabbed and threatened the tiny creature, and then felt like a bully for attacking something tiny that hadn't actually done anything to them.  They released the magically shrunken goblin, which grabbed its treasures and slunk off to hide in the underbrush. They turned to the door itself.  It was solidly made, of metal, and had a well-built lock.  There was some damage to the door, a scorch-mark made by lightning or something that had slightly damaged it.  Ganbataar turned over some statues and stones, and found a small gem but no key.  With no other way to open it, he decided to use his great monk strength to smash it open, which he was eventually able to do.  This actually impressed Kyann. Next week:  Return of the other two PCs, and then a dungeon crawl!