Session 6

Members

 * Gylian, Goliath Paladin


 * Eriden Stryd, Human Ranger


 * Ash Greyborn, Genasi Ranger


 * Misdir, Elven Ranger


 * Herb, Elven Druid

Timeline
Day 8, 9, and 10.

The Adventure
We begin our session in the sewers of pashin. Ash, Herb, and Eriden wake up with red and puffy eyes. Eriden's case seems to be worse and he feels much weaker than normal. The elves diagnose his case as Blinding Sickness, a common ailment in the sewers and give him a poultice for his eyes. It clears up, but Eriden is weak for a few days afterward.

Talking to Lady Shaylin, the party remembers the key and shows it to her. She explains that 'the key' appears when there is great need, and that it is very important. It seems to have been lost for 800 years. Shaylin does not know what caused it to be found, but it seems that the meeting of the party, the rise of Takhisis, and the return of healing magics in the world are all interrelated.

The elves seem to be afflicted by a mysterious disease. The house cleric has had no luck in identifying it. They all seem weak for elves, but the disease does not appear to be fatal.

lady Shaylin has seen visions of a place she calls the 'Shattered Ruins'. In the ruins of Hurim, an ancient city, there was once a temple build to honor the Gods of Light. Elven legends speak of a great betrayal by one of the temple's high priests. It is said that the priest sold out to a ruthless ogre overlord, and the ogres sacked and destroyed the city. As the temple fell, the gods cursed the city. Even the roving bands of desert nomads will not venture into the valley now. 800 years ago, the entire valley was sealed off by a landslide. Lady Shaylin has seen visions that the way is now clear.

Lady Shaylin gifts the party three canvas tents tents, scarves, and a bit of mistletow for Herb. The party organized their supplies and equipment and make a rough sled for carrying water and supplies. Shaylin offers Naelathan, one of her guards, as a guide to the secret passage through the sewers:


 * The somberly dressed, mordant elf known as Naelathan runs swiftly through the sewer tunnels, until he stops along one of the eastern walls. Holding up a hand, he makes a fist, quietly indicating a halt.
 * Running his hands along the wall, he seems to be murmuring quietly under his breath. With a grunt of satisfaction, he locates the correct switches as a section of the wall suddenly pivots. Turning toward you, Naelathan sweeps a deep, sardonic bow, indicating the opened passageway.
 * "Follow the passage, it should be clear. Once at the far end, you will enter a tunnel that will lead you about five miles out of town. I'd say it's been a pleasure, but then it hasn't been, has it?" With a mocking chuckle, the elf rises and spins about on his heel, and without a sound, disappears.
 * The path ahead is dark, the tunnel rocky and clearly not of the same craftsmanship as the sewers.

The bright sun of the afternoon is a welcome sight after days in the sewers. Ash proposes to head to the badlands, a route that will add an additional 10 miles to the journey, but that takes the party through his favorite terrain. The journey through the desert starts off uneventfully, but soon gets difficult. Seemingly from nowhere, a sand storm approaches. With nowhere to run, the party just huddles behind a small rock outcropping. After hours of white out conditions, the winds finally die down and the party sets off again. As they are walking, they begin to hear a slight buzz.

Looking up, they see a locust swarm approaching. Gylian lit a torch and stood back to back with Eriden. With a bit of time before the locusts arrive, Gylian prays to his god and blesses the party, then sets fire to his shield. The locusts hit and start to bite the party. The mindless swarm just keeps flying by. Misdir shot an amazing arrow that blew a hole through the entire swarm, but it was quickly filled. Misdir ran for the clear, and the rest of the party was enveloped by the locust swarm. Gylian got a locust in his eye, the others had locusts crawling under their armor and into their ears. Seemingly instantly, the locusts swarm passes.

In a mad dash away from the locusts, Misdir manages to fall into a batch of quicksand. The rest of the party notices he is gone, and they head off in the last direction they saw him. Ash sends his spider, Argon, into the quicksand. It manages to get a rope to Misdir, and the party pulls him from the sand.

Having only traveled 10 miles of the 85 mile trip, the party sets up camp for their first night in the desert.

The following day, the party manages good time. They manage their goal of 30 miles for the day, and even find a decent area to camp. Ash went off looking for supplies, and managed to find a Quiver-Tree. He destroys most of the branches, but does manage to find 10 perfect ones, the ingredients for masterwork arrows.

As the party settles down for the night, they are surprised by a roving group of minotaurs. The leader madly rushes in and drops Eriden in one hit. Gylian slashes away and Misdir put an arrow in its shoulder. Argon feeds a goodberry to Eriden, and he is back in the fight.

Misdir misjudges his footing and falls to the ground as he attacks, then Gylian goes down, and Eriden catches an arrow to the chest, dropping him unconscious as well. The fight appears to be going badly. The spider feeds another goodberry to Eriden. Ash, paying attention to his spider, instead of the battle, takes an arrow to the chest and falls.

The minotaur leader soon follows Ash, and the party destroys the scouts. Goodberries get the fallen members up, and at the end of the fight, the party is left with some used equipment, one damaged tent, and eight minotaur horns. Gylian carves up the leader, and the party dines on steaks for dinner.

Day three is rough for the party and they only mange 15 miles of travel. In the evening, they are attacked by a group of draconians. Misdir falls unconscious right away, and Eriden is surprised as one of the Baaz draconians turns to stone. He manages to pull his short sword free though and it is not encased in the now petrified draconian. After killing half of the draconians, Eriden slices off an arm of one of the remaining ones, and Gylian knocks another one out. The rangers all miss the tracks of the Baaz, but Gylian notices that they lead off to the northeast.

An hour after the fight, one of the unconscious draconians wakes up. The party intimidates him and he tells them about 'Big Boss Man', the Draconian leader. The party coaxes the name Verminaard out of the draconian and he offers a great rewad if they free him. The party agrees and the draconian leads them back to his hideout. Inside, they find some loot and two giant eagle eggs.

Eriden knocks the draconian unconscious and Ash leaves a deep cut in its shoulder in the shape of an X. The party heads out and manages to finish the day uneventfully. We end out session as they aet up camp for the night.

Distance to go: 30 miles.

XP
5,300 for the session

1060 each

(Total campaign XP per player: 3,098)

Congratulations on level 4

Loot

 * 50 gp


 * 4 bloodstones in a small leather pouch (worth 75 gp each)


 * a silver wine bottle of elven filigree (worth 125 gp; the fine wine has long since been consumed by the draconians)


 * a snood (an elegant net used to style a woman's hair) of interwoven golden threads inset with small chips of amethyst (worth 145 gp)


 * Ivory scroll tube imprinted with the symbol of Mishakal (worth 10 gp) with a scroll containing the spells bless and lesser restoration


 * 2 giant eagle eggs in the cave. They can be sold in Khuri-Khan in the spring (giant eagle eggs in  good condition are worth about 2500 gp each)