Green Pass Campaign IIIb, Session 12: Bad Puppy!

September 17, Caudex Annales, 70 AUP

Intent on establishing a base of operations for the region, the party decided to take the Styxx crew's tower by force, relying on the element of surprise.

After hiding in the caravan carts and covering them, several members of the party rode up the winch-drawn cable in the back of the first wagon -- with D sitting on top, cloaked by invisibility.

Upon reach the top, D sprang out and charged the unsuspecting mage... and somehow managed to stumble and miss on the rocky ground (natural 1!)  A magical spell cloaked the entire area in darkness (the party had an alert spell active to provide visibility), as the party desperately worked to intervene in time to save him from the guardian hell hounds. Conan's djinni carted multiple lizards up the side of the cliff, and the mage soon dropped to a sustained and much more professional dwarven assault.

The hell hounds inflicted terrible fire damage as the battle raged, and the captain (Gustavus) directed his obedient air elemental to protect him from direct assault. He did not, however, anticipate being aerially hassled by the djinni, who disrupted control of the elemental long enough for it to run amok and finish off several hell hounds.

When the battle finally swung in favor of the adventurers, the captain elected to charge up the tower, using a giant enchanted lens to send a bright beam of light (shuttered to create a coded message warning of the tower's fall) to the presumed location far to the northwest. The party quickly smashed down the door and apprehended him for interrogation.

He revealed:

• the Styxx main camp had a much larger force of pirates, numbering in the hundreds;
• several rival pirate crews were in the area (including the one previously dispatched by the pirates);
• caravans traveled back and forth multiple times a week;
• messages were sent back from the tower to the base camp on a daily basis;
• the message beacon lens could be used to communicate with the dark elves at the opposite end of the valley as well.

The dungeons contained a number of prisoners who were liberated and immediately volunteered to join the party -- replacing Boudicca, Grimdark, and one of the Saurians afflicted with lycanthropy (held in check by slow disease), who all elected to stay behind at the tower to create a permanent base of operations for opposition to the dark elves and their slaver allies.

Roster

• Zegzinu (3 henchlizards; one afflicted with lycanthropy)
• D
• Boudica
• Aeryn
• Conan the librarian (contemplating retirement)
• Grimdark (contemplating retirement)
• Zelmar
• Bob the Wolfman (plotting treachery) [inactive]
• Lavi [inactive]

...and introducing four liberated prisoners for next week (whose names I need to record!)

Casualties
D, lost several teeth;
Zelmar, joined the one-eyed club, because all the cool kids were doing it.

Treasure and Experience
Coins: 968 gp [=>  968 gp]
Gems/Jewelry: 0 [=> 0 gp]
Trade goods: 30 weeks of rations, 10 barrels of rum/grog/ale, 28 pirate blades (short swords), blacksmith's equipment and tools
Magical Library: 8000 gp of books in several shelves [=> 8000 gp]
Magical items: war hammer +1, suit of man-sized plate armor +1, ring of regeneration
Unidentified items, but described during interrogation: a lamp (used to summon/control the air elemental, requires incense made from sprite wings and fire salamander claws, recipe in library, requires Alchemy), a scroll (presumed cursed)

Total nonmagical treasure value: 968 gp (Note: The books are too bulky to carry and sell)
Shares: 7 + 3*1/2 = 8.5
Gold per share: 114 gp

Killed: 1 8th-level captain [600 xp], 1 12-HD air elemental [2100 xp], 1 6th-level mage [570 xp], 4 greater hell hounds [3160 xp], 28 1st-level pirate sailors [280 xp]
Surrendered: 55 1st-level guards [550 xp]

Total experience from treasure: 114 xp
Total experience from kills: 6710 xp
Total experience from exploration: 0
Total experience: 6824 xp
Total experience per member: 803 xp

(Note: Henchlizards get half-shares of treasure and experience.)

Domain Assets
Tower, medium round (40' high, 20' diameter, wood doors, floors, stairs) [22,500gp]

Green Pass Campaign IIIb, Session 11: Backtracking

September 15-16, Caudex Annales, 70 AUP

After some new arrivals and departures, the modified expedition roster now included:

• Zegzinu (and 3 henchlizards)
• D
• Bar Helm
• Boudica
• Aeryn
• Conan
• Bob the Explorer Wolfman (inactive)
• Grimdark (inactive)
• Lavi (inactive)
• and Zelmar Krackiss, a mysterious stranger who is (spoiler alert) a disguised Fright Knight in human guise

Greater Hellhound (Dave Allsop)

Torn between investigating the dragon-infested pirate treasure trove and the mysterious tower, the party eventually settled on scouting the tower first. An attempt to camp overnight below the tower attracted the attention of a disciplined group of greater hellhounds which staked out the top of the cliff several hundred feet above the campsite. Scouting by wing (Zelmar) and spider-crawl (Boudica) revealed that the tower itself was patrolled by guards, and the hellhounds seemed to be reporting back to it periodically.

In accordance with the longstanding party practice of throwing the element of surprise to the wind in favor of issuing ambiguous threats, the party decided to brutally murder the captured pirate captain and drop his corpse on the tower doorstep, while under the cover of invisibility. The hellhounds, being undeceived by invisibility, barked up a firestorm that resulted in a volley of angry arrows and doubled security details for the tower.

Unwilling to attempt to scale the sheer cliff under the scrutiny of a fiendish welcoming committee, the party instead retreated back down the river tower the path, with vague ideas of tricking/convincing the white dragonlings into helping them.

On the way down, they encountered a supply caravan of over sixty guards transporting several weeks worth of supplies (read: booze). Being outnumbered by only six to one, the party decided to charge suicidally into battle.

The lizards took the brunt of the damage without complaint during the initial charge, but then the guards began swarming around the outside of the formation, flanking into the rear. By the time the officers had been eliminated, both Bar Helm and Aeryn had been overwhelmed, and only sanctuary prevented the same fate from befalling Conan and Boudica.

After forcing the surrender of the caravan, the party decided to turn around yet again, this time relying on stealth and deception. Everyone hid in the covered carts, with the sole surviving lieutenant nervously continuing back to the cliff where (according to his description) the entire caravan would be drawn up the cliff face using a giant mechanical winch, one cart at a time.

Not to be confused with a wench!

Casualties
Bar Helm, spine broken at the neck by guards;
Aeryn, damaged knee (carrying capacity reduced by 6, cannot force march);
...and Bob is quietly succumbing to lycanthropy, not that anyone has noticed.

Treasure and Experience
Coins: 8000 electrum, 11,000 silver (=> 5100 gp)
Gems/Jewelry: 19 gems, 9 jewelry (=> 1814 gp)
Trade Goods: 1 crate sprite wings, 3 crates armor/weapons, 4 crates pottery, 33 bottles of fine wine, 5 barrels liquor, 1 jar dye, 4 jars lamp oil, 12 rolls cloth, 37 animal horns, 2 teabags (3014 gp)
Magical items: shield +2, sword +2, oil of sharpness (+1 to weapon, lasts 8 hours), wand of device negation (prevent use of one other wand/staff/rod for one round), ring of water walking
Unidentified items: suit of chain mail, wand, sword, bolt case with 9 bolts, 2 potions, 2 scrolls

Total nonmagical treasure value: 9928 gp
Shares: 7 + 3*1/2 = 8.5
Gold per share: 1168 gp (all as electrum/silver/jewelry)

Killed: 1 5th-level captain (200 xp), 6 3rd-level lieutenants (300 xp), 5 1st-level guards (50 xp)
Surrendered: 55 1st-level guards (550 xp)

Total experience from treasure: 9928 xp
Total experience from kills: 1100 xp
Total experience from exploration: 0
Total experience: 11028
Total experience per member: 1297 xp

(Note: Henchlizards get half-shares of treasure and experience.)

Green Pass Campaign IIIa, Session 10: Home Stretch

Placeholder for the escape from Green Pass session.

Green Pass Campaign IIIa, Session 9: We Shall Not Pass

This is a placeholder for the Footman's Notch session.

Green Pass Campaign IIIb, Session 8: River Pirates

September 7-15, Caudex Annales, 70 AUP

Some new additions to the party included refugees fleeing from the dark elven city in the chaos:

• Lavi, an elven spellsword
• Aeryn, a sylvan witch

The path leading out from under the mountains broadened into a large valley full of forests, apparently surrounded on all four sides by impassible cliffs and snow-caps. Rather than risk drow patrols along the main road, the party broke off to follow the river running through the center, discovering it quickly by virtue of the roar created as it plunged down to an underground lake.

The river wound north and west through the valley, passing through a swamp (where the party was warned about the presence of wyverns along the north fork) and then upstream toward a single high peak in the center of the valley. The peak was flat on top, with a watchtower that offered good visibility to the north, east, and south. From the river, a long track -- some heavy objecting being dragged over the ground -- led to the base of a sheer cliff up the side of the peak, and vanished.

The party bypassed an ambush of several spiders in the underground, and finally followed the river back to the abandoned road where it bridged across. Just on the other side of the road, a group of pirates had set up camp along the river. After some initial scouting (and magical intimidation) the party swept into the camp under the cover of summoned fog, clearing it out completely.

Regrettably, all the treasure (buried higher up in the mountains, along a glacial ravine) had already been lost due to a raid by white dragons. The pirate captain offered to reveal the location, but warned grimly that the dragons had already wiped out a group of his own men.

Casualties
None

Treasure and Experience
No gold or valuables this week, since the pirates had themselves recently lost their treasure to a dragon raid.

Killed: werewolf pack leader (450 xp), 5 werewolves (5x135 xp), 24 river pirates (24x10 xp)
Captured: pirate captain (600 xp)

Total experience from treasure: 0
Total experience from kills/captures/deceptions: 1965 xp
Total experience from exploration: 1035 xp
Total experience: 3000 xp
Total experience per member: 286 xp

(Note: Henchlizards get half-shares of treasure and experience.)

Green Pass Campaign IIIa, Session 7: Reaction Checks

This is a placeholder for the Woldwatch council session.

Green Pass Campaign IIIb, Session 6: Party Crashers

This is a placeholder for the Emru-Marol session report.