Adventure 9: The Dwarven Citadel

The Dwarven Citadel pt. 7 - April 25, 2009

PCs: Lyssa, Shoshenq, Tisiphone, Remus, Lutea, Dynein, Tizoc, Neelie
NPCs: Cyllo, Aisan, Eriadne, Ty, Aeric Flint

The group starts near the Anti-Paladin’s quarters on level 2. Most of the group are injured and low on magic by this point. There are about 90 minutes before the volcano is expected to erupt, the halls are filled with steam that limits visibility, and there are regular quakes.

The party divides up the magic items they have found, giving the Wand of Silence to Cyllo, the Helm of Underwater Action to Tisiphone, and the potions to the main fighters. The party first goes north and around the Great Hall, where they hear clanking sounds. Inside they find a group of orcs and Hill Giants dragging bags of the green armor towards the portal chamber. The party attacks and kills 3 Hill Giants and 4 Orcs in the central room.

The party continues out the west side of the room (down stairs) and heads north to try to get to the treasure room where they believe that their equipment is being kept. The party encounters another group of enemies trying to remove items from the fortress and kills 2 more green armor Orcs and a 6th level Mage. From the bodies the party recovers a pair of Bracers +1, a Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (3 sips), a Potion of Alter Self (3 sips), a Potion of Restore (4 sips), and a Scroll of Invisibility. During the combat the Mage offered to surrender, but Shoshenq slays him.

The party heads north, but the way is blocked by lava to the northeast of Lord’s Hall. The party goes to room 2-25 where Shoshenq and Remus pray for guidance. Shoshenq receives a message that the party has tools that will help if they can only see them. Aisan begins a ritual to summon Tsafared.

Meanwhile, Lutea, Lyssa, and Neelie go back to where the corridor is blocked and Lutea summons a bat to fly over and scout. The bat reports finding a woman with several monsters. The woman appears to be angry and is striking at a wall of ice that is blocking the way to the Lord’s chamber (one of the rooms near the treasure horde.

Aisan draws a circle to summon elementals and reaches Tsafared with about 30 mins to go before the eruption. With information from Tsafared, the party develops a plan. They will wait until most of the enemy has evacuated through the portal. Based on information from Tsafared, they expect that the Anti-Paladin will wait until the last moment, thinking that the eruption will drive off the elementals and allow her to reach the treasure. The party can then get to the ritual room and block her retreat.

The party waits until there is less than 5 minutes left, then heads to the Lord’s Hall. They find that most of the enemy has departed through the portal, and take up positions near the doors from the hall to the ritual room. The Anti-Paladin enters through the west door on the north wall, accompanied by 2 Orc leaders (lvl 9), 3 Hill giants, and a Drow mage.
Shoshenq and the Anti-Paladin confront each other, with the Anti-Paladin demanding that the party get out of the way, and offering them their lives and freedom on the other side of the portal. Shoshenq refuses, and after a few tense moments, Lutea acts first with a Flame Strike on the Anti-Paladin and her minions.

Cyllo uses the wand to place Silence on the area where the Anti-Paladin is, and the battle commences. The Anti-Paladin summons and tries to mount her warhorse, but Shoshenq charges and stops her. The Drow rises into the air to get beyond the Silence effect. Several rounds of combat take place, with both sides taking damage. A Dispell causes the Drow to drop to the ground, but he re-initiates his Fly spell and rises again. During this time the Anti-Paladin takes significant damage and is getting weaker. As all this goes on, the east wall cracks and lava begins to spread though the room. The Drow dispells the Silence long enough for the Anti-Paladin to do a dimension hop to the far side of the room. The Drow takes the opportunity to fly towards the portal, and is gone a moment later.

Another Silence is cast on the area of the Anti-Paladin, and her warhorse charges to her (suffering several attacks of opportunity on the way). The Anti-Paladin flings the dagger to the ground in the path of the lava, then sprints out of the area of the Silence. Once clear, she vanishes.

Lutea transforms into a hawk and sweeps in to retrieve the dagger moments before it would have been covered by the lava. The rest of the enemy call for a truce so everyone can escape before the mountain explodes. The party accepts, and the remaining Orcs and Giants escape through the portal.

During all this, Aisan has run to investigate the portal, and together with Tsfared, he informs Lyssa and Lutea that by using the dagger they can sever the binding that is causing the portal to point to the wrong place. This is quickly done, and the portal reverts to its normal state. The party rushes through, just ahead of the lava, and finds themselves in Eholanna’s realm. Eholanna greets them, with Mandarb and Sirius beside her.

The Dwarven Citadel pt. 6 - February 28, 2009

PCs:        Lyssa, Shoshenq, Tisiphone, Remus, Lutea, Dynein, Tizoc, Cyllo, Neelie
NPCs:     Aisan, Eriadne, Ty, Aeric
Party starts in the guard room (1-24). About 10 minutes have passed since the last combat, while the party searched the bodies and discussed. Aisan tells the group which direction the elemental binding room is in, and they head north towards that room, moving through the thick steam (40’ visibility). The stealthier characters take the lead, with Lyssa and Remus in front, followed by Tisiphone and Dynein, with the rest of the party about 20 feet back.

Moving up the corridor, the group passes the first corridor on the left (to the stairs down to level 2), and Lyssa hears breathing from a large creature down that hall. They continue to the second corridor and then the door to the elemental binding room (1-23). At this point there is a load shout of “NOW!” (in orcish) and the party is ambushed by three groups of attackers.

In the first round, a pair of Ogres followed by a Hill Giant attack the from of the party from around the corner of the elemental room. Simultaneously another pair of Ogres and a Cave Troll attack the center of the party from the corridor that leads to the Trade Hall. (1-03). In the following round, the rear of the party is attacked by another Hill Giant and 4 orc archers coming from the corridor with the stairs from level 2.

A fierce fight ensues, with the party battling enemies from all sides. Remus takes on the Ogres and Giant up front, while Lyssa uses her Battle Howl to strengthen the party, and then joins Remus in battle. Dynein stands by in the second rank until Tizoc uses a Benign Transposition to move him to the rear where he can face the other Hill Giant. Tisiphone uses her bow to good effect, peppering the Ogres and Giants with arrows. Neelie uses her battleaxe against the Troll, while Tizoc uses Magic Missile and other spells against the Ogres. Shoshenq summons Mandarb, then wades in against the Troll. Lutea uses 7 of her sleep darts against the Troll (to no effect), then casts Fire Wings. Cyllo moves through the party (and past the Troll) to provide healing and support. The NPCs provide support, with Aisan throwing a Fireball that kills most of the Orc archers, and Eriadne becoming a bat and flying to Lyssa to administer much needed healing. Eventually the party triumphs, but not before the Troll scores a double hit on Mandarb and tears the horse apart with its rend attack.

The party uses a few potions to restore hit points, then regroups and faces the elemental room. Opening the door, they find a room with a ritual circle inscribed in silver into the black marble floor. Inside the circle is a square with 4 globes hovering at the corners (red, brown, blue, green) representing the elements. Also in the room are 4 golden spheres hovering in the corners and giving off a golden light. The party uses a number of divination magics (from Cyllo) and skill checks (notably Tisiphone), to determine that the elemental spheres probably are summoned the elementals here and are holding them on this plane, and the circle and square are providing control over them. Cyllo then uses Dispel Magic to knock out the circle long enough to contact Tsarfed (the Salamander that that party met in an earlier adventure). Tsarfed tells the party that they must destroy the red sphere, using non-physical and non-elemental means. An initial attempt with Acid Arrow fails, but a second try by Lutea using Spiritual Hammer succeeds.
Immediately the complex starts to shake, and Tsarfed appears. He informs the group that the ritual has been disrupted, and that the volcano will erupt in about 90 minutes. He touches Shoshenq, Lyssa, and Lutea and allows them to see through the planes to the ritual room on level 2, where they see a sacrifice take place. A being wielding a shard of dark energy strikes one of the victims, and the bright light of their soul is sucked into it and consumed. The party learns that the enemy are now trying to use the sacrifices to gather enough energy to repoint the portal away from Ehlonna’s realm and allow themselves to escape.
Tsarfed leads the party down to the second level and to the Anti-Paladins rooms, where he says there are items and potions that may help the party. Shoshenq and Tizoc attempt to open a locked chest in the room, but eventually must resort to smashing it, setting off traps in the process. Tizoc is poisoned, but saved by Lutea, and Shoshenq is caught in 3 flame traps, but survives with the help of spells from Cyllo. The party recovers a number of items from the chest (4 heal potions, 2 other potions, a wand, a helmet, a dagger, 7,000gp). The PCs halt for the evening in Anti-Paladins room, having gotten into the chest and taken all items. They have identified the helm, wand, and heal potions.