Category Archives: Burnt Offerings

Session 16

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Now that Brother Bother is holding his rage back the group returns to make sure that the little demon is dead. She is floating face-down in the pool and not moving so they search her tiny body and find her magical returning dagger, a miniature tiara, a tiny black silk gown and what must be an obsidian unholy symbol. Bother’s insane rage eventually subsides but its effects leave him drained.

The two doors in the cathedral reveal empty store-rooms, the runes on the walls are indecipherable and the glowing pool doesn’t seem to be doing anything threatening so they head back to the round room with the red marble statue. Listening at the northern door, Brother Bother can hear some creatures grunting, snarling and chittering. They are some distance away so he opens it carefully; nothing attacks him so after a moment he steps in.

The door leads onto a wooden platform above a prison pit. The monks can just about make out a creature lurking under the rickety wooden walkway which leads off to the east, so Bother creeps down the stairs while Aric covers the room with his bow.

The lurking creature is a Sinspawn and there is another under the platform; as they both rush to attack the monk, Aric manages to get a good shot on one of them. Golden Chile leaps over the platform edge to join the fray but doesn’t land well and hurts himself. However, Bother manages to hit the wounded Sinspawn and Aric finishes it off with another arrow. The remaining creature gives Bother a terrible mauling, its bite causing sinful thoughts to rise in the monk’s mind – he is able to control these but is forced to concentrate on defending himself from further attacks.

As Aric puts an arrow in the second Sinspawn, Gol’den Chile comes to the wounded monk’s aid and batters the creature down, finishing it off.

The prison cells are all locked and contain nothing but ancient bones so the group heads across the walkway and into a disused torture room. A small room off this must once have been a library as it is littered with scraps of scrolls and books written in the same spiky runes seen elsewhere; Aric manages to discover an intact evocation scroll hidden under a broken chair but he is unable to decipher it.

There are three locked prison doors in this room but as they are unable to open them the party tries the eastern door. Bother can hear the occasional low moan some way beyond it, so he opens it and the group carefully creep up some stairs into a 20-foot high, strangely-cold vaulted chamber. Wooden lids cover nearly a dozen pits in the floor, from whence the moaning and some shuffling sounds emanate, but before Bother can take all this in a foul-looking, hideously-deformed goblin hiding round the corner vomits a stream of acidic blood at him.

Aric runs in and shoots the thing; Gol’den Chile follows him and thumps it. They both see that the pits each contain a single zombie, although these wretches are unable to do anything other than moan and wail and futilely reach out to the living things above them.

The goblin-thing has several sets of arms and legs and wields a sword, axe and silver dagger; he slashes Chile with all of these and wounds him, so the monk steps back to cast a protective spell. Aric shoots the goblin again but he responds by vomiting a vile stream of acidic blood at the half-elf. Bother, too weak to join the fight, casts several luck spells on Chile as he attempts to hit the monstrosity, eventually slaying it with an incredible blow to the throat.

Taking the thing’s magical longsword, masterwork hand axe and silver dagger, the group wait for Chile to painstakingly slay all the zombies with his rudimentary anti-undead magic before dragging their wounded, weakened and generally rather abused hides back to Sandpoint for some much-needed recuperation …

Experience: 800 each.

Session map:

Session 15

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Gol’den Chile has been sorely hurt by Brother Bother’s frenzied attacks and is forced to duck aside and drink his healing potion. Bother now switches his attack to the imp, at which point Aric – who had been playing dead – leaps up and also attacks her with his sword, although she moves too fast for him to hit.

Somewhat recovered, Gol’den Chile rejoins the fray with a new mode of attack – grab her! She flits about annoyingly but he is soon able to get hold of her and manages to keep her still. This enables Aric to land a heavy blow which clearly hurts her. However, as Chile wrestles the little demon into the central pool Bother switches his attacks to the half-elf and nearly kills his friend.

While Aric flees up the stairs to the pulpit Chile manoeuvres himself so that the demon is the closest thing to Bother. To Aric’s relief this tactic works as – mad with rage – the big monk starts battering the pinned creature. Aric moves to help Chile hold the demon under the water and although she almost breaks free several times and manages to hurt Chile a little with her claws, under a constant barrage of blows from Bother she eventually loses consciousness.

Any relief is momentary however as Brother Bother is still gripped by madness; as soon as the demon passes out he starts attacking Gol’den Chile. He and Aric decide to try running away, with the agile Chile interposing himself between Bother and the badly-wounded half-elf. However Bother is extremely fast so Chile is forced to confront him again; he is unable to grapple him and barely dodges a pummelling.

Perhaps seeing the frightened faces of his friends in front of him has an effect, or perhaps the madness was wearing off anyway, but a glimmer of Brother Bother’s sanity flickers in his mind. With great force of will, he is able to push back the rage and hold the blood-lust in check for a moment …

Experience: 400 each.

Session 14

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The huge rat and vile mound of quivering flesh that the tiny flying demon had summoned surge forward but Aric holds them in the doorway. He disables the rat with a single blow, then Chile springs past him and lays into the flesh-thing. As Aric finishes off the rat the monks team up to do the same to the fleshy abomination.

The summoned minions dealt with, this leaves only the flying imp. How much trouble can such a tiny creature be? An awful lot.

She is fast, she can fly and she attacks the party by throwing a dagger that magically returns to her hand. This is small and barely does any damage, but she is incredibly accurate with it and despite the group’s best efforts they can barely hit her back. Even when they do so, she seems all but immune to the damage caused by their weapons and fists. Brother Bother’s tiny lightning bolts seem to hurt her but it becomes apparent that she is healing very fast even from the wounds caused by these.

The dagger is not her only means of attack. She casts spells on both the monks that cause significant wounds. Although she needs to touch them to do this she does so almost with impunity, as she is so small and fast that they can barely strike her in return. At one point she belches forth a vile-smelling wad of phlegm at Gol’den Chile but luckily for him he is able to dodge it.

Aric realises that his arrows are having virtually no effect so he uncharacteristically switches to his sword; this is little better.

Thinking that while he can’t really hurt her, conversely she can barely hurt him now that she seems to be out of spells, Bother decides to investigate the bubbling orange pool by washing his hands in it. The effect is immediate and drastic: its freezing waters hurt him greatly and he is seized by uncontrollable wrath, attacking Gol’den Chile who is standing near him. The glowing waters dim slightly.

The imp unleashes a burst of terrible fear, but the adventurer’s stout hearts resist this and they are merely shaken. As she flies about the room throwing her returning dagger, Chile attempts to subdue the raging Bother while Aric continues to try hitting the demon. Things are not looking good. Maybe a new plan is needed …

Experience: 178 each.

Session maps:

Session 13

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The party decides that the ape/wolf thing in the fire-pit room must be the ‘Malfeshnekor’ that Nualia was seeking. However it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and after their encounter with the shadows they are all too weak to confront either it or the giant crab inhabiting the golden helmet in the pool. In fact any kind of danger could prove too much for them so they forgo further exploration and head back to Sandpoint and Father Tobyn.

The priest is saddened to hear of Nualia’s fate but is happy to help with healing, although he does not have any spells ready that can restore drained strength so the group head back to the Rusty Dragon for some rest while he prepares.

On the way they are approached by a woman clearly in a panic, clutching a baby to her chest and holding on to an older child. In a hurried tumble of words she explains that she is Amele Barrett and ever since her son Aeren saw a goblin set a cat on fire during the attack on Sandpoint he has been waking during the night in terror, claiming a goblin came out of his closet. They told the boy to stop telling tales until finally, last night, they decided not to go and comfort him when he awoke howling. But then they heard their dog cry out in pain and the boy started screaming. They burst in and saw a goblin sitting on Aeren’s chest, the dead dog beside it.

Her husband Alergast went for the goblin but it fled into the closet; as he started tearing it apart to get to the creature she grabbed the boy and ran.

The party are moved to investigate and Amele shows them to her house. As they creep in it is ominously silent. They find the boy’s room and see a man lying half into the closet; turning him over shows that his face has been half eaten away. Before they can react a hunger-crazed goblin ranger bursts up out of a hole in the cupboard’s floor and attacks. In their weakened state the goblin gives them the run-around but he is no match for three heroes and soon he is killed.

Amele is grateful to hear this but when told about her husband she breaks down completely. Used to dealing bravely with tangible threats the group are unsure what to do but luckily Sheriff Hemlock arrives on the scene, alerted by the commotion. He thanks the adventurers for their help and says that he will arrange for the remains of the Barrett family to stay at the cathedral for a few days.

The party rests in the Rusty Dragon for a few days then decides that they will investigate the caverns they tentatively entered when they were first chasing after Tsuto. They return to the passageway in the cliff and enter the catacombs again. As they creep in, they are attacked in the same place as last time by another Sinspawn, although this one is defeated much more quickly.

The rough tunnels become flagged passageways as they explore further and they enter a round chamber with a red marble statue of a strikingly beautiful but monstrously enraged woman with a headdress of hooks and blades. In one hand is a metal and ivory ranseur but in the other is a large book inscribed with the seven-pointed star they have seen before.

Pressing on they find a small shrine with a basin of filthy water, but of more interest are the large double doors. These open into a huge cathedral-like room, the walls carved with spiky runes. A large pool with a ring of polished skulls on stone spikes is in the middle, while at the far end stairs lead up to a pulpit with another pool. This one is churning and bubbling with a translucent, steaming, lava-like liquid, although the room is deathly cold.

Hovering above it is a tiny winged demon who flies into a rage and rasps “how dare you intrude upon the Mother’s sanctum?” She slashes her own wrist with a dagger and a drop of her blood falls into the orange pool. As this happens a Sinspawn emerges from it, but the pool’s glow diminishes noticeably. A look of worry crosses the demon’s face when she sees this, but then she directs her minion to attack.

As the Sinspawn advances the demon begins casting spells and soon has summoned a monstrously large rat and a creature which appears to be a rolling wave of fatty flesh. The party backs away to the relative safety of the doorway and as the Sinspawn is the first to reach them, their combined efforts manage to bring it down …

Experience: 533 each.

Nualia’s notes

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Nualia was an aasimar foundling raised by Sandpoint’s previous religious leader Ezakien Tobyn. Her childhood was lonely and sad as her unearthly beauty marked her out. Other children played cruel jokes on her and rumours that her touch or proximity could cure warts and rashes, that locks of her hair brewed into tea could increase fertility, and that her voice could drive out evil spirits led to endless awkward and humiliating requests over the years. When she came of age Delek Viskanta, a local Varisian youth, began to court her and she practically fell into his arms in gratitdue.

Knowing that her father wouldn’t approve of a relationship with a Varisian (he wanted her to remain pure so that she could join one of the prestigious Windsong Abbey convents), they kept the affair secret. They met many times in hidden places, a favourite being an abandoned smuggler’s tunnel under town that Delek had discovered as a child. Before long, Nualia realised she was pregnant. When she told Delek, he revealed his true colours and, after calling her a slut and a harlot, fled Sandpoint rather than face her father’s wrath. Nualia’s shock quickly turned to rage, yet she had nowhere to vent her anger. She bottled it up, and when her father discovered her delicate condition, his reaction to her indiscretions only furthered her shame and anger. He forbade her to leave the church, lectured her nightly, and made her pray to Desna for forgiveness. In so doing, he unknowingly nurtured her growing hate.

Then one night when seven months pregnant, she suffered a bizarre dream; wrathful energies suffused her mind and she flew into a frenzy. She miscarried her child later that night, a child whose monstrously deformed shape she only glimpsed before blanching midwives stole it away to burn it in secret. The double shock of losing a child and the realization she had been carrying a fiend in her belly for seven months was too much. Nualia fell into a coma.

As she slept, she dreamed unhealthy dreams of Lamashtu. Nualia became obsessed with the cruel demon goddess and the conviction that her wretched life was inflicted on her by those around her. She came to see her angelic heritage as a curse, and the demon-haunted dreams seemed to show her how to expunge this taint from her body and soul, replacing it with chaos and cruelty. When she finally woke, Nualia was someone new, someone who didn’t flinch at what Lamashtu asked of her. She jammed her father’s door shut as he slept, lit the church on fire, and fled Sandpoint.

The locals assumed Nualia had burned in the fire, a tragedy made all the worse by the death of Father Tobyn as well. Yet Nualia lived. She fled to Magnimar, where she enlisted the aid of a group of killers known as the Skinsaw Men. With their aid, she tracked down Delek and murdered him. Yet his death did not fill her need for revenge. Sandpoint and its hated citizens still lived.

The leader of the Skinsaw Men gave Nualia a medallion bearing a carving of a seven-pointed star called a ‘Sihedron medallion.’ Nualia learned that she had a larger role to play, and that her dreams were a map to her destiny. Taking the advice to heart, Nualia returned to Sandpoint, and found herself drawn to the brick wall in the smugglers’ tunnels where she and Delek had conceived her deformed child. Nualia bashed down the wall, and in so doing, discovered some ancient tunnels known as the Catacombs of Wrath and a creature named Erylium, also a follower of Lamashtu. For many months, Nualia studied under Erylium’s tutelage. During this time, Nualia received another vision from Lamashtu – a vision of a monstrous goblin wolf imprisoned in a tiny room. In Nualia’s dreams, she learned that this creature, named Malfeshnekor, was also one of Lamashtu’s chosen. If she could find him and free him, he would not only help her achieve her vengeance against the town of Sandpoint, but he would be the key in cleansing her body of what she had come to see as her ‘celestial taint.’ Nualia wanted to be one of Lamashtu’s children now. She wanted to become a monster herself.

She dug up her foster father’s remains during the attack on Sandpoint and offered these in a ritual to Lamashtu, which saw her rewarded with a promise of things to come – her left hand was transformed into a demonic red talon and she was sent a yeth hound as a companion.

Nualia’s journals outline her plans to send an army of goblins against Sandpoint and to burn the town to the ground, not only to offer it all as a burnt offering to Lamashtu in hopes of being made a half-fiend, but to fuel something called a ‘runewell’ in the Catacombs of Wrath below. This is some kind of pool which can create things called ‘sinspawn’ – to manifest a sinspawn, a creature need only allow a few drops of its blood to fall into the pool and moments later, a sinspawn emerges.

The notes go on to say that if one were to overextend the runewell’s stores, it would be deactivated. Nualia wasn’t sure how to reactivate it, and several times stresses that the runewell shouldn’t be used much until after Sandpoint is razed and the deaths of hundreds of angry citizens and goblins have refilled the well.

Session 12

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Aric is weakened and can barely move but the two monks decide that they will not flee from shadows. Casting Mage Armour on Chile they creep back to the pillared room and make their way into it, keeping their eyes peeled. As they near the far end the shadows emerge again but this time they are met with stiffer resistance.

With his Mage Armour and unnatural agility Gol’den Chile seems almost invulnerable to their attacks and with his fists imbued with the power of Arcane Strike he can even damage them, albeit lightly. He engages all three undead freeing Bother to blast them with his bursts of positive energy. Nevertheless the pair don’t seem to be doing much damage and for a while the fight is a stalemate. Eventually Bother’s positive energy overwhelms one of the shades, but the others strike back at both monks and they are considerably drained of strength. When his positive energy runs out Bother falls back on his electric bolts and finally, helped by Chile’s weakened blows, the shadows are defeated.

A search of the room yields no treasure but Bother does notice some odd lines in the western wall. After a bit of head-scratching they eventually figure that this is a secret door and they manage to open it. Beyond, a short passage branches into two staircases heading down. Doors at the bottom of these both lead into a room which has partially collapsed into a tidal pool. What remain of the walls of the room are covered with detailed and impressive carvings of incredible treasuries filled to overflowing with coins, gems, jewelry and other riches. On the east wall is depicted a towering mountain, its peak carved in the shape of a stern face just above a great palace, with an immense city of spires in the valley below.

Even more interesting is the content of the pool – shattered urns, crumbled stone chests, rusted bits of once-beautiful armour and weapons. Even more interesting than that is the giant-sized, coral-encrusted golden war helmet, five feet across, that sits in the water. This becomes more interesting still when it turns to face Gol’den Chile.

The monks are taken aback but do not flee straight away. Noting that spindly legs appear to stick out from the bottom of the helmet and that it moves slightly when they stir the water, they decide that anything big enough to move that is not to be argued with when they are both so desperately weakened. Retiring with Aric to the round room again they rest for the night, although the morning brings only a small recovery of their strength.

Ignoring the strange helm for now, Chile searches the sarcophagi from the shadows’ room while Bother investigates the pillar of gold coins. Eventually he spies that on either side there is a tiny coin-sized slot. Inserting silver pieces into these simultaneously achieves nothing but the loss of money, but repeating the trick with gold coins causes the pillar to begin sinking into the ground with a loud rumble. Beyond it is revealed a large anteroom with three pairs of double doors.

Bother enters and scans for magic, finding a slight aura of abjuration to the south and a moderate one of illusion to the north. He tries the southern doors but finds that they have no handles, just an indented outline of a seven-pointed star, its shape covered by hollows and slits. Joined by Chile, he instead tries the eastern door. The three low tables in here are covered with a chilling selection of tools – saws, long-bladed knives and objects whose purpose is not apparent. On one table is a strange collection of bones that seems to be a skeleton of a two-headed man with a smaller man growing from his back. Ignoring this, Chile searches amongst the tools and finds one that strikes a chord – a silver and gold seven-pointed star, one surface studded with nodules and blades.

The monks take this straight to the southern door and fit it into the matching indentation. With a twist, the doors swing open.

The large room beyond is lit by a ten-foot wide pit of flickering fire which emits a strange humid heat and the smell of burning hair. The southern wall bears an immense carving of a seven-pointed star – a recurring theme – but before it crouches a large, terrifying-looking beast that seems to be a foul cross between an ape and a wolf. It snarls and bares its fangs. Bother immediately hits it with an electric bolt, at which point it vanishes into thin air. He doesn’t believe he has defeated it so easily however so he quickly slams the door shut; a moment later something heavy thuds against the other side with an infuriated howl.

Somewhat spooked, Bother and Chile listen instead at the northern door; they can hear very faint speaking but decide to enter anyway. Throwing open the door they see a marble throne on a dais, flanked by more statues of the stern, glaive-and-book-wielding man. In the throne sits a ghostly simulacrum of the same man, addressing the room in a faint unknown tongue. Every 15 seconds or so the speech starts again at the same point.

Unable to make sense of anything they have found, the group retreats to Nualia’s lair again. After some pondering they realise that they have not yet looked at Nualia’s copious notes, so they settle in for a few hours’ reading …

Experience: 800 each.

Session maps:

Session 11

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Aric, waiting by the rope bridge, is astonished to see a badly-wounded Chile burst out of the main gates, run around a corner and hide. When Bother appears a moment later and hides in the bushes on the opposite side he knows it is time to draw his bow.

Seconds later an ugly Yeth hound appears in the doorway sniffing the air – without hesitating Aric fires one of the bugbear’s magic arrows at it but it bounces off harmlessly. With a little healing from Bother Chile tries to batter the dog while the other monk tries to fry it with lightning bolts. Only the bolts seem to have any effect and that is minimal.

The situation worsens when a furious Nualia arrives. Casting a spell she steps through the door and attacks. The monks engage her while Aric backs slowly across the bridge firing at the dog. Eventually his determination pays off and with a whimper the beast falls into the sea, but by this time Nualia has incapacitated Brother Bother. Gol’den Chile, buoyed by Bother’s last bit of healing, tries to hold Nualia off but – eyes focused on Aric – she casually cuts him down.

She steps onto the bridge. Aric tries a shot but can’t pierce her armour and the shimmering magical field which she has summoned around her. Badly wounded himself he flees across the bridge to try one last shot from range and she charges in pursuit, but neither Aric nor Nualia have counted on Chile.

Not quite done for, the barely-conscious monk uses the last of his strength to yank out the rope securing the trapped bridge. With an infuriated yell Nualia is just able to grab the rope as the planks disappear from under her and is left dangling in mid-air screaming obscenities at Aric, who takes his time to finish her off with arrows. She follows her dog into the sea.

Aric makes his way across the ropes as fast as he can towards the dying monks. He arrives just in time to administer a healing potion to Bother, who is then able to aid everyone with his final healing auras. Somewhat refreshed the group decides to investigate what Nualia was up to.

Heading back down to the lower levels and jumping over the polished area they examine the round room. Apart from a lever behind the font which causes mechanical sounds in the corridor there is little of interest so they head south into a large L-shaped hall. At the south end are large doors carved with skeletons while at the east is a strange pillar carved to look like a huge pile of gold coins. Detecting illusion magic here the party decides to retire to the round room to rest and recuperate. At some point in the night they hear dog-like sounds outside the door but Chile has wisely sealed it shut with pitons and they have an undisturbed rest.

The next morning they set forth to try the skeleton doors. These open into a large domed chamber containing several sarcophagi and another statue of the stern glaive-wielding man. As the group are inspecting these, three incorporeal shadows emerge from the walls and attack. Fortunately no-one is caught off-guard but even so, Aric is hit several times and has much of his strength drained. The party’s weapons don’t seem to affect the creatures and with only Bother’s bursts of positive energy seeming to do any minor damage the group makes a fighting retreat. As the last one leaves the room, the shadows fade back into the walls…

Experience: 1,067 each (including 267 which you should have received last session for defeating the trap).

Session maps:

Session 10

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Just as you are about to leave with your captive a door to the south opens to reveal a stern-looking warrior with a hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw. Behind him, shoving a little, is a gaggle of goblin wives. He eyes you up, clearly not sure what to make of things, then asks what you’re doing with Lyrie.

Three things become clear in the ensuing discussion: firstly, this man had no love for Tsuto; secondly, he has a soft spot for the dark-skinned mage who he refers to as Lyrie; and thirdly Lyrie is not the Nualia you’re looking for. After some bargaining the man (whose name is Orik) tells you that Nualia is down on the next level and you agree that he can leave, taking his unconscious friend with him. Aric escorts him up the stairs to make sure he doesn’t renege on his word and lay a trap for you.

Following Orik’s directions Brother Bother and Gol’den Chile find the stairs down. This level is clearly much older than the upper passages and has a floor that slopes up to the east. Passing through an ornate stone door and a hall of damaged statues the monks pause in a corridor with a strangely-clear polished area between two more statues of glaive-wielding warriors. Unwilling to step on the polished area, Chile jumps over it and listens at the two doors beyond. Low chanting can be heard behind the northern one so he opens it.

The room beyond is round and lit by four burning skulls set on a red marble bench, also littered with other strange objects. Praying at a bubbling fountain is a beautiful silver-haired Aasimar woman with violet eyes, but as she turns to face you you see that there are terrible scars on her belly and her left arm is a red claw. She touches an amulet at her neck and begins to cast a spell as the strange dog-like creature at her side flies into the air and attacks Chile.

Bother jumps across the polished area and joins the battle. The dog-thing emits a soul-chilling howl before biting Gol’den Chile; the monk’s fists seem to bounce off its hide with no effect so he attacks woman instead. However she is no mean adversary either; her face remains impassive but her eyes blaze with hatred as she swings her long-bladed sword and slashes with her demonic claw. Bother manages to wound both hound and woman with his miniature lightning bolts and Chile hits Nualia hard but she and her pet both hit back harder. Despite Bother calling forth healing auras and Chile downing a potion the monks are eventually forced to retreat, jumping over the polished area in the corridor and running full-tilt back the way they came.

But the baying of the flying hound is not far behind…

Session 9

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Gol’den Chile springs to Aric’s aid and pummels the bugbear who cries out in pain and anger. With Aric and the monk flanking him and both hitting him hard he is soon badly wounded and tries to flee up the corridor; however despite his size and great strength he is unable to barge past Brother Bother, who has run to the sound of battle. A few more blows bring the brute down.

Taking advantage of the distraction the wizard flees past the fight and runs up the stairs. The two monks rush after her, leaving Aric to be assaulted by the goblin wives. The are puny but the half-elf is in no great shape himself and is soon surrounded by clawing monsters. They are somewhat cowed when he fells one and threatens the rest but they do not let him be and he is forced to shove one out of the way and run up the stairs after his friends.

On reaching the upper level the wizard has raised the alarm and Chile is faced with a goblin warrior in the entrance hall. Another two warriors and a goblin dog soon join him, and as Aric follows Bother out of the stairwell another group of goblins emerge from a barracks room behind him. Surrounded and outnumbered the fighting is intense and only Brother Bother’s repeated healing magic keeps everyone on their feet.

Gol’den Chile leaves the melee and sprints after the wizard, who has fled at top speed across the rope bridge. He manages to catch her, bring her down and choke her unconscious before throwing her over his shoulder and rushing back. Arriving just in time he helps Bother and Aric kill most of the goblins, with only two surviving to flee in panic. One of these is trapped in the corridor outside the chief’s throne room and as the monks head back down the stairs to loot the bugbear Aric casually peppers the pleading coward with arrows until he dies.

When they have finished searching their defeated foes the party decide it’s probably time to haul the unconscious mage back to town …

Experience: 982 each (which by my reckoning takes you to 9,545 in total).

Session 8

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It sounds like the goblins have brought everybody out to search for the mysterious invaders. A very, very angry woman can be heard giving orders and there are other non-goblin voices too, but just when it seems as though a properly-organised search is going to uncover the party’s hiding place an ululating battle cry is heard and several arrows thwack into the fortress. Someone is attacking Thistletop again and the defenders clearly think that that someone is the party, for after the attacker withdraws (or is defeated) there is no more searching.

After resting up overnight for as long as they dare the group prepares to resume their mission. Brother Bother casts some much-needed healing before Gol’den Chile sneaks up the wall and makes his way carefully across the roof. Guards can be seen on the towers but fortunately the party are coming from the seaward side and the guards are looking landward. They decide to take out the two goblin dogs in the courtyard and sneak back into the fortress that way.

In an efficient silent attack Aric shoots one dog while Gol’den Chile drops down and kills the other. Bother drops into the courtyard and finishes off the wounded dog before it can bark.

Two mouldering goblins with their heads stoved in lie outside the boarded-up stables and there is clearly some kind of creature inside but the group decide to leave this for later and enter the fortress. After Aric spends time investigating a particularly foul-smelling goblin latrine Chile discovers some stairs leading down. These end at a door beyond which can be heard at least two people moving about; Chile throws the door wide to be confronted by a dark-skinned woman who immediately casts a spell and turns into three dark-skinned women. He rushes in to the attack, to see that Tsuto Kaijitsu is also in the room.

Tsuto Kaijitsu

Bother and Aric engage the prodigal half-brother while Chile attacks the wizard. Her Sleep spell is ineffective as are Tsuto’s monk attacks and he is quickly brought down by his two attackers. Chile and Aric both manage to hit one of the wizards but their blows only strike illusions; the now singular spellcaster scorches Aric’s backside with a blast of fire before running off down the passageway, cat in tow.

While Bother retrieves a magic ring and flask from the fallen Tsuto, Chile and Aric pursue the mage, passing through a war-room with maps of Sandpoint and another mural room with a giant goblin drawn at the heart of Thistletop. Chile hears a door slam and ends up in a room with five portals to choose from, but on an uncanny hunch listens at the right one and hears frantic whispering with grunting in response. Before Chile can do anything the grunter throws the door open and the monk is facing a ferocious-looking bugbear, the wizard and a harem full of goblin women.

Blows are traded and arrows fired. The wizard’s Magic Missile has no effect on Chile’s Shield spell and the bugbear, spying Aric, barges Chile aside and attacks the half-elf …

Experience: 533 each.