Jason was unavailable for this session, so Karnak was left out of play.
One day after being forced to abort session 15 due to connection problems to our chat server we were able to resume play and finish out the climactic battle at the end of The Sunless Citadel. The first half of this log is the remainder of game play. The second half is largely bookkeeping and other stuff pertinent to getting the characters leveled up and prepared for future challenges beyond the end of this module.
* Bruce clears off the markers from http://www.baugh.info/citadel2.jpg since the twig blights are now all toast.
*** iChris is now known as Meridius.
*** Bruce is now known as DM.
<DM> Okay, I'd like to back up to the last point I'm sure I made sense. :)
<DM> At the end of whichever turn it was, the following conditions applied:
* 11: Silana opens the log of session 3... ;)
<DM> Belak is dead, cut down by Sir Braford.
<DM> Sir Braford is going to be looking for a new target.
<DM> The Gulthias Tree has burned down and exploded, though it has not sunk into the swamp.
<11: Silana> We may be able to supply the swamp on the way out.
<DM> Sharwyn has been clubbing Liatus with her staff, and is prepared to continue doing so.
<DM> The twig blights are all dead. So is the giant frog.
*** Rick has joined channel 10 [Sat. D&D Special].
<DM> Meridius has healed up to...11 hp, was it?
*** Rick has joined channel 11 [Sat. D&D Special Chatter].
<DM> Liatus is at, I believe, 9 hp.
* Meridius has 10HP.
<DM> Silana is in pretty darned good shape, and has recently climbed down from the cave wall.
* Silana is down 3 HP, thanks to Sharwyn. Gnaea is down 4.
<Liatus> I think 10 was Meridius. He was at -8 and I got a role of 18 on my Heal roll.
<Meridius> The log of yesterday's session: http://www.q7.com/~carter/rpg/dnd3e/meridius-and-co_session-15.html
<DM> http://www.baugh.info/citadel2.jpg is the map, and I've been figuring that most of the action takes place in and around the choke point between areas 55 and 56.
<DM> 10 hp, right.
<Liatus> I was at 0, IIRC, then healed myself to, IIRC, 6 and then healed myself again while Sir Plantsalot was cutting down the evil druid
* DM nods to Liatus.
<Liatus> I can't recall what I got on the second heal roll for myself.
<DM> 7 on the second one.
<DM> So you're at 13 hp right now.
<DM> Sharwyn has taken a couple of clouts, Braford one good one. They both ooze a mixture of blood and sap; it's hard to tell how much more they can take.
<Liatus> So I was at 13, and standing next to Meridius, both of us 20 feet from the quarrelling plant people when the druid died and the plant woman decided to come back and attack me again.
<Meridius> May I metagame tactics for the start of the next round?
<DM> Right.
<DM> Sure, Chris, go for it.
<DM> So our situation right now is that Liatus is engaged with Sharwyn. The others can choose new targets this coming round.
* 11: DM waves to Rick. Climax of Sunless Citadel here.
<Meridius> If Silana can engage Sharwyn immediately, she should do so. Liatus should break off his engagement with Sharwyn and attack Sir Braford. Meridius will engage Sir Braford as well. Our party has the initiative on our opponents, so we should be able to get them in the desired positions without difficulty, barring odd tactics from them.
<11: Rick> yeah, I've been following it on livejournal and wanted to see how this bear will end
<DM> Liatus would draw a target of attack from Sharywn to do that, but that's the only complication I see.
<DM> Er, attack of opportunity. y'know. One of those there things.
<Silana> I have one L1 spell left, and thanks to my jaunt across the ceiling, the only melee weapon I have is my dagger. I have my crossbow, though.
* Meridius is also down to his dagger.
<Liatus> Meridius has my sword.
<Meridius> No, I never took it. I'm not sure how I'd get it in combat.
<Liatus> I offered it to you right after I healed you. This was the same round the plant people decided to attack the druid instead of us.
<Meridius> Bruce, would it be okay to stipulate I drew Liatus' gladius at the time he healed me?
<DM> Yes, that'd be fine with me.
<Meridius> Though I clearly didn't use it right away, since I still had pilum to throw.
<DM> It's the sum of a couple of actions which do not interfere with the major action of that round.
* DM nods.
<DM> Okay, then, at the top of the next round, I believe it's Meridius' lead.
<DM> And you can move around Sharywn to hit Sir Braford without complication.
<Meridius> I move to a position that'll allow Liatus to flank Sir Braford should he elect to disengage from Sharwyn this round, and attempt to plant Liatus' gladius in the paladin's vitals:
## Meridius rolled 1d20+7 = 12 (5).
<DM> That's a miss, alas.
<DM> Silana, you can shoot from where you are or close, or do something else, I guess. :)
<Silana> Shooting from here is about the best I can do, I think.
* DM nods.
## Silana rolled 1d20+4 = 6 (2).
<Silana> Or missing from here.
<DM> That doesn't help much.
<DM> Liatus, you're up.
* Liatus sighs and attempts to flank Braford.
<DM> You draw an attack of opportunity from Sharwyn...
## DM rolled 1d20 = 11 (11).
<DM> ...which doesn't matter.
<DM> YOu can now flank Sir Braford.
<Liatus> What's the bonus for flanking?
<DM> +2.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+6 = 18 (12).
<DM> That hits.
## Liatus rolled 1d8+2 = 5 (3).
<DM> All of a sudden Sir Braford goes from fighting machine to collapsed.
<DM> He topples over, gushing a great deal of both blood and sap.
* Meridius salutes Liatus with Liatus' own gladius!
<DM> Sharwyn takes another whack at Liatus.
## DM rolled 1d20-2 = 14 (16).
<Liatus> That's a hit
## DM rolled 1d6 = 4 (4).
<DM> 4 hp of damage, then.
<Liatus> Ouch
<DM> You'll notice that she's also oozing more.
<DM> So at the start of the next round, Meridius can easily step back to hit her.
<Meridius> I approach Sharwyn and attack:
## Meridius rolled 1d20+7 = 12 (5).
<DM> That misses, though not by much.
<DM> Silana, you can shoot at her, or wait.
* Meridius is still feeling a bit poorly in the wake of his near-death experience earlier.
* Silana will try to put an end to this. Looking unhappy about it, she sights in and fires again.
## Silana rolled 1d20 = 11 (11).
<DM> That also misses. Liatus?
<Liatus> Don't worry, it happens to every guy sooner or later Meridius.
<Silana> And misses again.
* Liatus turns and hits Sharwyn.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+4 = 16 (12).
<DM> That hits.
## Liatus rolled 1d8+2 = 10 (8).
<DM> And she falls as well, thoroughly crushed. You can see that her chest cavity is a mass of woody tissues like that rat in the room where goblins were poking at it.
* Liatus remains on guard for more enemies.
<DM> That's the last of them.
* Meridius returns Liatus' gladius to him. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to put it to better use in these last moments."
<DM> Map update shows you the rest of this big cavern.
* Silana waits a moment to see if anything else is going to happen. If no further enemies appear, she recalls Gnaea, the wounded owl looking a bit unsteady as she returns to her mistress.
* 11: Liatus does a little victory dance.
<DM> You can see a trio of twig blights near the remains of the Gulthias Tree, which rotted and bled out much like Sharywn and Sir Braford.
<DM> And that was an encounter level 6 set of challenges, which means that you have 2700 xp to divide among yourselves.
* Liatus wonders if these twig blights were once rats. Or perhaps goblins.
<Liatus> Woo!
<DM> YOu can also poke around some, if you'd like.
* Liatus searchs.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+2 = 16 (14).
* Meridius sets to despoiling the body of Sir Braford. "I think I've found a replacement for my shattered gladius."
<DM> You can take 20 on this search, actually. :)
<Meridius> What do I make of Sir Braford's sword?
<DM> Meridius, it's an obviously magical longsword. You don't have the Sunder feat, do you?
<Silana> "I need my things back," says the barefoot sorceress. "Then we should take them and get out of here, once we've searched this place. We should take those books from back there, also."
* Meridius does not have the Sunder feat.
<DM> Well, you can enjoy the benefits of a +1 longsword and learn some extra things about Shatterspike (the name engraved on its hilt) later. :)
<Silana> ('Them' referring to the bodies of the fallen.)
* Liatus goes to check the druid. If his head is still attached to his body, I'm altering the fact.
<DM> The druid's head is still attached, but you can fix that easily.
<Meridius> What else might I find on the paladin's body?
<DM> His scale mail, a short bow and half a dozen arrows, the holy symbol of his minor cult, and 21 gp.
* Liatus also checks the druid for anything of value or use.
<Silana> "Guys...?"
<DM> Belak's robes prove to hold a masterwork sickle, a sling and a dozen stones, the wand he used to urge the plants on to entanglement, and 5 potions - 2 of one sort, 3 of another, not labeled.
<Liatus> "Yes?"
* Meridius looks up.
* Liatus looks at Silana as he pockets the druid's things.
<Silana> "It might be possible to do something for them still. They're victims of the Outcast, not true enemies. We should treat them accordingly."
<Silana> "At the very least, their possessions should go to their families."
<Liatus> "This is true. But right now, Meridius is without a sword, and Sir Braford is in no possition to use his."
<Liatus> "As for the Outcast, I fully intend to burn his remains."
-> *DM* Does Sir Braford have family in Roburcollis that I'm aware of?
<Silana> "I agree. We shold make use of what we must to safely get out of here."
*DM* Madame Hucrele said he came from somewhere over the mountains on a wander/quest. He wasn't local.
<Meridius> "Sir Braford has no family in Roburcollis or the area surrounding it."
<Meridius> "I will offer his cult's holy symbol as a token of his passing at such time as we make a memorial to those who passed here."
<Meridius> "I would not recommend returning Sharwyn's body to her mother. The condition of it would only serve to upset her."
<Meridius> "We should return with tokens of her passing, though."
<Liatus> Once I've finished looting the druid's body, I douse it with goblin hooch and light it up.
<DM> You can see the Hucrele signet ring on her finger, Meridius.
<Liatus> I do the same for his head at least twenty feet away.
<Meridius> I'll take the ring and stow it with Sir Braford's holy symbol.
<Meridius> "I have given some thought to how we might memorialize those who suffered under Belak's cruel sway, and assuage the sadness of those closest to them."
* Silana shakes her head sadly. "And what are your thoughts, then?"
<DM> The druid's head and body both burn quite well, by the way, Liatus.
<Liatus> "If I may, the goblin's we killed earlier were experimenting on a rat that looked much like these two. It's possible that the books I took from their workshop may provide clues to reversing this... abomination. If so, it might be well to store these bodies some place until we can investigate the matter fully."
<Liatus> (I've no idea if Bruce is allowing reserections.)
<DM> If you peer down at the smoldering remains of the Gulthias Tree, you can find twisted pieces of the bark with niches big enough to hold a person. And the soil directly beneath the tree is a very deep black ash.
<DM> I'm not ruling them out, at least.
<Meridius> "We were given something by the Kobold Queen that will cause a tree to grow swiftly. I think we should plant this tree in memory of Belak's victims, at a ceremony to be led by Liatus."
<Liatus> "Although I lack the ability, there are those few priests of such piety that they are said to be able to restore the dead."
<Silana> "That is my thinking, also. It is far beyond our power, but it may be possible to restore them to life and wholeness."
* Liatus makes an arcana roll about the tree to see if he can gather information about it.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+7 = 26 (19).
*** Signoff: Rick (EOF from client) at Sun May 18 8:39 PM PDT.
<Meridius> "In the legions we let the dead rest after they've fought well, whether the dead are our opponents or no. We should let these rest as well." <gestures to Sharwyn and Sir Braford>
<11: Liatus> Yes, flee, Rick Jones! Flee before the power of my mighty Arcana roll!
* Liatus pokes at the tree a little. "This ... thing must have been created by the builders of this temple. I've never even heard of its like, much less seen one before."
<DM> Down in the depths of the trunk you can see some black rock that the roots were breaking up, to make some of that ash in their soil.
<Meridius> BTW, folks, we've probably all just leveled up. I just checked Meridius' XP and he's over 6000.
<DM> Whoo hoo!
<Liatus> Woo
* Liatus makes another arcana roll for the rock.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+7 = 27 (20).
<DM> I will apply the same principle as before: you all hit the new level at the same time, because I can't separate out your contributions readily.
<DM> Man, Liatus is _smart_ to day.
<Silana> "I can't in good conscience just leave them here. What was done to them may or may not be reversable, but if we do not take them with us, we cut off whatever hope might remain for those we were sent to save. I could not face Madame Hucrele only to give her news that they had been transformed and controlled, and that we were forced to kill them ourselves."
* Meridius is bothered that he is more familiar with the fine art of dissembly than Silana. :)
<Liatus> "We'll take the bodies with us. If we can reverse this foul magic, good and well. If not, we can burn the bodies."
<Meridius> (I guess that's what Meridius gets for being of neutral alignment. :) )
<Liatus> "If we must burn then, then we tell Madam Hucrele that they were killed by the Outcast before we could find them."
* Silana nods. "Which is, in that case, essentially true."
<Meridius> (Now Silana gets it. :) )
* Silana gets that. She just hasn't given up hope yet.
* Liatus gathers up some of the rock.
<Silana> What she gets for being young and idealistic. Then again, if she wasn't, she wouldn't be here in the hinterlands.
<Meridius> As far as XP is considered, if everyone bumps theirs up to 6180 you'll all be even with Meridius and at 4th level. Sound good?
<DM> Sounds good to me.
* Silana nods.
<Liatus> Cool
<DM> By the way, before folks level up, check with me. I may have some spells and feats to suggest from supplements.
* Liatus finishes collecting rocks and begins looking for the owl.
<Meridius> "'Dealing with the bodies is, to my mind, largely a matter of expediency. We have no means of taking two bodies back to Roburcollis other than carrying them: a task both cumbersome and gruesome. Attached to the issue of expediency is how we would treat Madam Hucrele and others who were concerned over these people. We in the legions don't make a habit of sending war-maimed bodies back to their families."
<DM> Gnaea flew down at Silana's command after the battle was over.
* Meridius thinks youth and idealism on Silana's part will only get her a bad back and bad reactions from the townsfolk. :/
* Liatus uses two of his 0 level spells to cast minor wounds on Gnaea.
<DM> Oh, that's right, no bonus feat at 4th level except by class, but you can add 1 to one of your abilities.
* Silana gets Gnaea to hold still for the healing magic, looking at Liatus gratefully as he casts his spells.
<Liatus> "If I may, my earlier statement still stands. It is possible that we may find a cure for them. There's also the issue that that there are certain areas of this place we've yet to explore properly. I suggest we find a place to store the bodies - the library over there will be suitable - and then find a place to rest and recover for the night. Silana and myself can attempt to investigate the materials we've found and see if they contain a way to break this curse."
<Meridius> "Well, suit yourself. But in my experience, death is a difficult condition to treat."
<Liatus> "If we can't, there's always the option of drafting a note to Karnak, instructing him to make the necessary inquiries, and sending Gnaea back to the town with it. If this still provides us with no solution, *then* we can conceed defeat and return to town with the ill news."
* Silana nods. "I was also thinking that waiting the night would be good. If either the goblins or our supposed kobold allies are feeling bold, we're in no shape to face them now."
<Meridius> Here's a roll for my level 4 HP:
## Meridius rolled 1d10 = 5 (5).
<DM> How ordinary, as Madeleine Kahn says. :)
<Silana> And here's mine:
* Liatus nods to Silana. "I suggest that we encamp in the goblin baracks. We can easily seel the door leading to the gardens as well as those leading to the other areas.
## Silana rolled 1d4+1 = 5 (4).
<Silana> Woohoo!
<Silana> I just broke 20 HP. :)
<Silana> 21, to be exact.
* Liatus is envious.
## Liatus rolled 1d8-1 = 1 (2).
* Meridius has 37HP when fully healed.
<DM> BA, re-roll that.
* Liatus grumps.
## Liatus rolled 1d8-1 = 1 (2).
<DM> Dude, re-roll and don't get a 1. :)
## Liatus rolled 1d8-1 = 7 (8).
<DM> There you go. :)
<Liatus> That puts me at 25
<DM> It may take the imperial presence a little while to notice, but it does. :)
<Liatus> I've really got to work on upping my Con.
<DM> And I bet I know where your ability increase is going. :)
<Liatus> Yeah, I'll be upping my Con to 9.
<Liatus> What's everyone's HP tally atm?
<Silana> I'll be putting mine in CHA, I think. It'd take me this one and the one at L8 to get rid of my STR penalty, but that's not hampering me as much as gaining a higher bonus and more bonus spells will help me. :)
<Silana> I'm down 3, which means I'm at 13HP, or 18 after leveling.
<Liatus> Meridius?
* Meridius has 10HP. If I can add my level 4 HP to that, I have 17.
<Liatus> OK, and I was at 13, plus 7 so I'm at 20 now.
* Liatus is going to cast Cure Light Wounds on himself and Meridius, using up the last of my level 1 spells for the day.
<Liatus> For Meridius:
* Meridius puts his stat increase into STR, raising it to 16, which gets him a +3 bonus (bumped up from +2).
## Liatus rolled 1d8+4 = 6 (2).
<Liatus> And for me:
## Liatus rolled 1d8+4 = 9 (5).
<Liatus> Any chance I can reverse those?
<Liatus> Because I'm only down six.
<DM> Sure.
<DM> The Imperial Presence remainsa little extra happy with you at the moment.
-> *DM* I can potentially take the Sunder feat at 4th level. What good does it do me as far as Shatterspike is concerned?
<Liatus> That puts me at 25 and Meridius at 26
*DM* With Sunder, you can attack an opponents's weapon without drawing an attack of opportunity, and you get a +4 on rolls to strike the weapon; if successful, it does 1d8+4+Str bonus damage to it. It can shatter weapons up to +4.
*DM* Which is good if you foresee attacking opponents' weapons a lot, otherwise no big deal.
* Liatus also casts his last two Cure Minor Wounds spells, once on Silana (bringing her up 1) and once on Gnaea (curing all but one of his damage points).
<Liatus> And I'm outa spells for the day.
<Silana> So Gnaea and I are both down 1. Cool.
<Liatus> Unless I instantly get my new spell slots not, which would mean I've got one more of each 0 - 2.
<DM> You will get your new spell slots immediately, yes.
-> *DM* It's not the sort of thing that strikes me as a legionnaire's tactic. Maybe I can trade in the longsword for a magic gladius... :)
* Liatus casts Cure Light Wounds on Meridius again then.
<11: DM> Chris, I want to suggest a few feats out of Swashbuckling Adventures, just to see.
## Liatus rolled 1d8+4 = 6 (2).
<Liatus> THat puts him at 32, I think.
* Silana huhs. The oddness of bonus spells for high CHA. With my new level and CHA, I'll now get more L1 spells a day than I do L0. It goes 6/7/4 -- Yes, I get L2 spells now. :) I only get to know 1, though, so I get to cast the same one 4x/day, whatever I wind up learning.
<11: Meridius> Yes?
<11: DM> Beat. Prereq: Str 13+, BAB 1+. When you attack an opponent, you may choose not to deal damage. Instead, the target loses the use of his primary or secondary weapon during the first attack of his next turn - your choice of weapon. He loses any Armor or Dodge bonus that may come from that weapon until after the first attack. Finally, he must make a DC 10 Reflexes save or it goes flying out of his hand.
<Liatus> Fireball!
<Silana> That's L3.
<Silana> I need two more levels for that.
<Silana> Flaming Sphere would've been damn useful in this room, though. ;)
<Silana> Cat's Grace could also be good, except 4x/day is less useful.
<Liatus> Flaming Sphere. Protection From Arrows maybe. Bull's Strength. Cat's Grace would be really useful since you use Range weapons.
<Liatus> Scare?
<Silana> Not as my one-and-only L2 spell.
<11: DM> Improvised Weapon. Prereq: BAB 2+. You can pick up just about anything and use it as a weapon. Range and damage depends on its size. (Small: d4, 20/x2 crit. Medium: d6, 20/x2 crit. Large: d8, 20/x2 crit.) This also applies to weapons you're not proficient in. You don't take the -4 for using improvised weapons.
<Silana> That's the thing with Sorcerers -- Spell selection is a whole different thing from with Wizards, since you get a lot smaller selection overall.
<Silana> BRB.
<11: DM> Lunge. You may choose to lunge with a bladed or piercing weapon. You draw an attack of opportunity, but if you hit, it's +5 damage.
* Liatus nods.
<11: DM> Pain Tolerance. Prereq: Con 13+. You remain conscious until -5 hit points, and you get a +2 circumstances bonus to Fortitude saves and other rolls for resisting torture and such.
<11: Meridius> Seems to me the trick with Lunge would be whether the AoO occurs before or after your attack.
<11: DM> The AoO before your strike.
<11: Meridius> For the time being I'm going to take the Expertise feat so as to fill in the entry on HeroForge. I may change it after further discussion.
<11: DM> That's cool.
<11: DM> That looks like it can really come in handy.
<11: DM> Pommel Strike. Requires a weapon that has a shaft or blade and handle. You can choose to attack as normal but do 1d4 points of subdual damage, and the target loses their Dex modifier and all dodge bonuses to their AC until next round.
* Liatus ponders writing a letter to various imperial authorities concerning sending an expedition to study the ruins here.
<11: DM> I don't expect anyone to take this, but it's just too cool...
<11: DM> Tagging. When you successfully attack an opponent, you may choose to do no damage. The next time during that encounter that you make a critical hit on that target, you may choose whether to increase hte damage multiplier by 2, increase the damage die by one type, or double your Strength modifier. You may tag an opponent up to three times, with your choice of effect for each time.Additionally, each time you tag an opponent, you increase your critical threat range by 1, up to a maximum of 3.
<DM> In the meantime, some comments on what you find in Belak's library...
<DM> As local stories above and below ground suggest, he arrived twelve years ago, following rumors of the Gulthias Tree. He started tending it and experimenting, in the meantime cowing the goblins into servitude. Three years later, it started growing more rapidly, and his magic became stronger, picking up more strength with each solstice. He barely noticed the kobolds arriving last year, busy with his schemes to coax more power out of the tree and the rock it grows out of.
* Silana is back.
<DM> His speculations suggest that it's probably a very good thing for Roburcollis and beyond that he's dead now. He was hoping to be able to offer people to the tree at a distance.
<Meridius> A new version of Meridius' character sheet is available at http://www.q7.com/~carter/rpg/
<DM> In addition to his notes, you find that he had brought with him several potentially useful old books: a guide to prayers of healing to many gods, a manual of poisons with marginalia about the various species he was having the goblins harvest, and Secrets of the Spider, which seems to cover various spells to give you spider-related abilities.
<DM> There's also a set of six bottles containing something peculiar. in a slightly cloudy fluid float glowing runes in various colors (which, blue, red, green, black). They seem to be patterns of light rather than anything physical.
<Silana> Oh, cool. I hadn't seen that this is a level where my BAB goes up. I now actually have a +1 in melee, despite my STR penalty. And within 30', I'm now +5 with the crossbow. :)
<DM> Yay!
<DM> Belak's notes say that when he came to the Citadel, the runes were floating in a pool at the base of the tree. He's studied them on and off, but when his own magic started working better, he became less interesting.
* Silana winces OOCly at the correspondence of rune colors.
* Liatus makes an arcana roll on the runes.
## Liatus rolled 1d20+7 = 24 (17).
<Liatus> "These runes seem somehow related to the beliefs of the dragon cult that built this place. I beleive they may have chosen to build their temple hear because a piece of the fundement fell to earth here."
<Silana> (Okay, two skill points each in Climb and Search. Seems appropriate.) ;)
<DM> It does. :)
<Meridius> I put mine in Listen and Intimidate.
<Silana> Nice to get rid of the net -1 in Climb.
<Silana> And I'll need to pick up a L2 spell somewhere. I also still have a new L1 spell coming from when I mad third level.
<Meridius> Do we have any further business of particular consequence or shall I close my log?
<DM> I think that's probably it for now, though I can keep logging just in case.
<DM> Silana finds Belak's and Sharywn's spell books, by the way, which give access to a bunch of common ones along with the exotic ones mentioned above.
<Silana> (Like I said when I chose to use up the scroll, I really wasn't interested in making Spider Climb my other L1 spell.) :)
<Meridius> I think I'm gonna depart for ch. 1, then. Later, folks.
<carter@q7.com>