The party once again discovered that the dungeon tunnels were flooded. This time, though, the control station was just beyond. Releasing the auxiliary control lock-out back to Wainskirtle allowed the dungeon to be drained. Jeeves stayed back at the control station to keep in contact, while the rest of the party advanced into the final chamber. Sensors in the primary control station indicated "unusual levels of extraplanar activity" in the area.
Aside from a small entry ledge, the room had no floor. Instead, the entire floor was effectively a portal to the Elemental Plane of Water. The infinite ocean beyond was murky with depth and dimly illuminated, but something far below with too many tentacles to be a standard fish was staring back out of the abyss. In both corners of the ledge, chuul guards waited for the signal to scuttle forward to the attack. A host of slimy-skinned humanoids, transformed thralls of the aberration, floated just below the waves. The aboleth used its innate telepathy to initiate conversation with the party, informing them that they were merely pawns of more powerful forces manipulating the Tower. Only by allying with the aboleth could the Tower be preserved against the dreadful threats gathering against the region.Jeeves reported that the Chancellor and his trolls were advancing through the dungeon, creating a sense of urgency in the conversation. The party pondered the possibility of turning against the chancellor by flooding the tunnels again, much to the delight of the aboleth. It offered immortality in exchange for the alliance, assuring the party that even slavery (to the winning side, of course) was a far better fate than a cursed existence among the undead. A slightly better sales pitch might have carried the day (weighed against the obviously dubious character of the Chancellor!), but apparently the idea of an eternity of aquatic servitude wasn't quite sufficient tempting. Instead, the party steeled itself for battle.
At first the situation seemed promising, as a wave of enthralled skum were cut down by powerful arcane magics. But then from behind the party, a powerful ambush force of drow dropped in the astral plane behind the party's spellcasters, along with a
Viserion charged the mind flayer (fortunately responding fast enough to prevent any psychic mindslave nonsense), but took a polymorph eyebeam form the sorcerous sphere in exchange and promptly found himself transformed into an unhappy lemming dropped into a bottomless ocean. (Note: Rolled this saving throw three times. Came up a "1" every time!) The party had little time to intercept the ridiculously large number of drow blades from behind, but fortunately the chancellor and his dire trolls burst into the hallway just in time to pin them down from behind, chopping through the back ranks of surprised drow on the way to the marilith. After a few rounds of brutal hand-to-hand fighting, the party was down one dragon but otherwise victorious.
The aboleth seized the unhappy lemming (who was wearing a miniaturized version of the Iron Crown of the Sorcerer Kings, which apparently couldn't be completely abosorbed by the polymorph), with obvious intent of converting it into some kind of abominable immortal-dragon-lemming-slimeskin-mindslave, and beat a hasty retreat into the depths. Thinking quickly, Zelmar used a short-range teleport to catch it from behind and grapple away the mind-controlled rodent. The aboleth briefly gave chase, but quickly realized it was overmatched by the party and turned around for another retreat... but too late.
The party elected to eliminate the whole "evil lemming dragon god" problem by tossing both the crown and the lemming into a bag of devouring, but kept a single dragon scale in case they changed their minds.
Roster
- Zelmar Krackiss, lizard-in-disguise (Andrew)
- Edward
SirDame Winsley, 5th-level dandy mystic - Jeeves, 1st-level butler-paladin
- Anatolia
- Frigodria Dawnbringer, 5th-level paladin (Reba)
- Grurdev Onyxvault, 5th-level dwarven lightbearer (Sion)
- Need to check about henchmen here also (two, I think)...
- Viserion, 5th-level young white dragon (Zac)
- Adonirim, 3rd-level mage
- Shayna, 6th-level shaman (Kim)
- a powerful new arcane caster (Kyle)
- Saltbeard, dwarven pirate (Trefor)
- Will's character
- Aksel Steelheart, 9th-level vaultlord
- 10 dwarven lieutenants:
- 4 5th-level vaultguards
- 3 4th-level vaultguards
- 2 3rd-level vaultgaurds
- 2nd-level vaultguard
- 18 fire dwarf infantry
- ~ 90 light-infantry pirate survivors from the defeat of the Charybdis crew in the Saberstrath campaign
- Ur khla lu khbea, 4th-level gladiator (Jonathan)
- The
veryyoung white dragon, Namazu, reporting back on the frost giants - Sir Rock Boulder Fist, dwarven 5th-level summoner
- Sir Robin (sounds retired, according to Kim)
Casualties
Viserion, transformed by an eyebeam into a lemming and drowned on the elemental plane of water, then completely destroyed along with the Iron Crown of the Sorcerer Kings using a bag of devouring.
Saltbeard, who wasn't injured but decided that he was outta there and promptly exited the dungeon by the quickest route.
Will's character was cut down by a chuul as well.
Treasure
- 8 jars of lamp oil, worth 20 gp each and weighing 6 stone per jar.
- 3 jars of dyes and pigments, worth 50 gp each and weighing 5 stone each.
- 60 animal horns worth 2 gp each, weighing 2 stone per 5 horns.
- 2 jars of dyes and pigments, worth 50 gp each and weighing 5 stone each.
- 2 thousand silver pieces.
- 3 barrels of fine spirits or liquor, worth 200 gp each and weighing 16 stone each.
- 4 barrels of fine spirits or liquor, worth 200 gp each and weighing 16 stone each.
- 1 crates of glassware, worth 200 gp each and weighing 5 stone each.
- 2 thousand electrum pieces.
- 3 carcass scavenger carcasses, totaling 21 hit dice and weighing 1 stone per HD. Their values are: 900, 280, 350
- 5 bee, killer giant carcasses, totaling 32 hit dice and weighing 1 stone per HD. Their values are: 640, 800, 420, 350, 120
- 3 thousand gold pieces.
- 50 GP crystal.
- 75 GP sardonyx.
- 50 GP citrine.
- 50 GP crystal.
- 25 GP lapis lazuli.
- 25 GP agate.
- 25 GP lapis lazuli.
- 50 GP moonstone.
- 25 GP tiger eye.
- 50 GP citrine.
- 50 GP onyx.
- 50 GP crystal.
- 10 GP malachite.
- 25 GP turquoise.
- 25 GP tiger eye.
- 25 GP agate.
- 25 GP tiger eye.
- 50 GP onyx.
- 50 GP crystal.
- 75 GP chalcedony.
- 25 GP turquoise.
- 25 GP turquoise.
- 25 GP tiger eye.
- 25 GP agate.
- 25 GP tiger eye.
- 50 GP bloodstone.
- 25 GP tiger eye.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from ivory worth 600 GP.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from wrought copper worth 110 GP.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from carved jade worth 1200 GP.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from chryselephantine worth 900 GP.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from ivory worth 900 GP.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from fine wood worth 600 GP.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from porcelain worth 600 GP.
The total value of this hoard (excluding any magic) is 16110 gp and its total weight is 274 stone.
- 18 pieces of fine ivory, weighing 1 stone per 100 GP value.
- Their values are: 4, 80, 48, 73, 95, 81, 99, 20, 27, 6, 78, 63, 13, 50, 32, 96, 58, 74
- The total value is: 997 and the average value is 55.
- 3 crates of fine porcelain, worth 500 gp each and weighing 2 stone each.
- 2 thousand gold pieces.
- 6 opal cameo portraits and intaglio erotic tableux, each worth 800 gp.
- 8000 GP flawless facet cut diamond.
- 4000 GP flawless diamond.
- 6000 GP facet cut star sapphire.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from chryselephantine worth 800 GP.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from wrought orichalcum worth 3000 GP.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from wrought platinum worth 1000 GP.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from silver studded with turquoise worth 1000 GP.
The total value of this hoard (excluding any magic) is 33097 gp and its total weight is 17 stone.
- 3 thousand platinum pieces.
- A piece of jewelry constructed from gold studded with ruby worth 5000 GP.
- 2 ornamental jars of rare spices, worth 2500 gp each and weighing 4 stone each.
- 48 typical fur capes, worth 100 gp each and weighing 1 stone each.
- 2 thousand platinum pieces.
- 6000 GP facet cut star ruby.
- 8000 GP flawless facet cut diamond.
The total value of this hoard (excluding any magic) is 14000 gp and its total weight is 0 stone.
Total treasure value: 103,007 gp
Total treasure value per member (7 shares): 14715.3 gp
Note: I think only four players (Reba, Sion, Andrew, and maybe Kyle) have continuing characters, but I'm still giving the retiring characters from previous sessions (including Jonathan, who missed the final night) a share of the treasure. I guess technically you could cut the missing/quitting characters out... but even if so, you'd only split their shares, not get any more experience from them.
Magical Items (easily ID'd by the Tower)
- The totally unreadable private journal of... probably Eldred, judging from the creepy cover
- Potion of Dragon Control
- A scroll with the following spells: Speak with Dead, Permanent Illusion, Curse of Swine, Silent Step, Dismember, Haste
- A scroll of the following type: Ward against Magic
- A scroll with the following spells: Charm Monster
- ... and a treasure map
Killed: skittering maw [1600], marid [3900], 2 intellect devourers [2x980=1960], 6 chuul [6x3400=20,400], 10 skum [350], 5 drow 3rd-level fighters [400], 1 drow 5th-level lieutenant [500], 1 drow 7th-level priestess [1490], Lady Vysh, a marilith [2500], Brzzt-Kosh, a sorcerous sphere [4800], Molyg the Polyp, a mind flayer [1600], Brasyphylactis, an aboleth [2600]
Total: 42,100 xp
Total experience from treasure: 103,007 xp
Total experience from kills: 42,100 xp
Total experience from exploration: 0 xp
Total experience: 145,107 xp
Total experience per member: 20,730 xp
