10_27_04

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Departure From Guido's Fort

Party at the start:
Mace Blackstar (Mike D.; Human Fighter)
Wilbered The Silent (Bob S.; Human Cleric)
Castor Bean (Steve B.; Human Bard) petrified
Trygvie (NPC, normally Steve G.; Elven Wizard)
Kane (Al G.; Human Monk) petrified
Zuran (NPC; Human Fighter)
Malus Thunderhammer (NPC.; Dwarf Ranger) petrified
"Red" and "Blue," (Human peasants from Nudlo) Red is petrified, Blue is with the party

When last we left our dauntless heroes, they were hanging out in their flea bitten room in the Lion's Den Inn in Guido's Fort, a squalid nest of depravity in the Valley of Asthar Rho. They had made arrangements with the Cleric Numen to obtain a scroll of Break Enchantment in order to restore their petrified companions to flesh and hoped to pick up that scroll later that day. In the meanwhile, their Companion "Blue" had reconnoitered downstairs and confirmed that a black robed fellow with an eye patch, a companion of Cirdis who had caused them much grief in Feldspar, was lurking in the taproom.

A knock at the door heralded the arrival of a young half-orc, a servant to the Cleric Numen. The half orc lad told them that Numen had told them to come to the tower, so the group packed up all of their gear and headed downstairs. Before leaving the room, Trygvie took the precaution of casting a spell of Invisibility upon Wilbered the Cleric since they reasoned that the mysterious bearded stranger would be first to recognize the cleric. Looking neither right nor left, they trooped through the taproom and out into the street where the cleric was once again restored to visibility. They went directly to the tower where Numen and his cronies were waiting.

After paying a small bribe to the guards, they were ushered in to Numen's presence. The priest sat behind a table flanked by two lesser clerics and several large fighter types with weapons in easy reach lounged around the room. A scruffy humanoid, covered with patches of scraggly hair and scars, showed the party the scroll they had desired. Numen announced that although he had originally asked for 1,000 gps and the wand in exchange for the scroll, he now wanted 1,600 gps. The players haggled with him a bit and finally agreed to pay him 1,400+ gps and a handful of gems of uncertain value. Having successfully purchased the scroll, they immediately left the town, passed through the gate and proceeded south through the ruins.

On the road south towards the Snake Temple they encountered a group of scruffy looking creatures that resembled the servant of Numen's who had brought them the scroll. After conversation, these creatures described themselves as "mongrels" and begged for money. Questioned by the cleric, the mongrels revealed that they were the poor and wretched denizens of the valley. The "monkey men," also known as Tasloi, were servants of the snake people who were led by a powerful man known as "The Master." The frogmen, also known as "Bullywugs," were servants of the Frog Cultists. Wilbered gave them some coin in exchange to forcing them to hear of the wonders of Saint Cuthbert and both groups went on their merry way.

Without incident, the group reached the snake chapel where so many of their party had come to grief last time. The doors were closed and 2 burning torches flanked the entry. The party decided to carefully pass the temple by and proceeded to the amphitheater where they had left their petrified comrades.
Reaching the amphitheater, the group searched it and failed to find the statues. They used Mace's magical sword to illuminate the ground and found many tracks -- some of humanoid feet, some smaller, some boots and shoes and several large swaths, as if something large and heavy had been dragged or pushed across the ground. Many of the tracks appeared to be going back to the Snake Chapel. Cursing the stupidity that made them leave their petrified comrades in the amphitheater, they proceeded back to the Snake Chapel.

After discussing what to do, the players sent Hootie, Trygvie's owl familiar, crawling through a hole in the wall of the chapel. Hootie was small enough to pass unnoticed, they reasoned, and could report back to them who or what was in the chapel and if their petrified friends were to be found in there. Hootie came crawling back and informed Trygvie that he saw two of the snakes with human arms as well as a human sized creature dressed in robes in the temple beside a pile of stone statues in a heap on the floor.

Preparing their weapons and spells, the group threw open the doors and tossed a fireball inside. The two snakes with human arms and one medusa survived the explosion and turned and attacked the invaders. The group did much better in this battle, thanks in a large part to some very good saving throw rolls. During the fight, Blue was petrified and Zuran and Mace were transformed into garter snakes, but the snake people were all killed in the end. The medusa used a summoning spell to summon fiendish wolves, but since Wilbered had taken the precaution of casting "protection from evil" the summoned creatures could not harm him.

The piled statues proved to be their lost comrades. Kane and Castor were "unpetrified" but the spell failed to turn Malus, Red or Blue back to flesh. Castor the bard complained of feeling unwell; Wilbered cast a restorative spell returning him to full health. More spells restored Mace and Zuran to their natural forms. The party gathered up the petrified bodies of Red, Blue and Malus the Dwarf, carried them out to the woods, dug shallow holes with their blades and buried them there, hoping to return for them later. They then headed back to the Snake Chapel to rest for the rest of the night.

The next morning, Castor once again complained of feeling unwell. The adventurers began planning their next move.

The session ended here.

Character	class/race	player	xp at start	xp at end
Zuran	human fighter lvl 3	Al G.	3816	4816
Mace	Human fighter lvl 6	Mike D.	19438	20438
Wilbered	Human Cleric lvl 6	Shawn D.	18424	19424
Castor Bean	Human Bard level 6	npc	15023	15023
Trygvie	Elven Wizard level 6	Steve G.	16198	17198
Kane	Human Monk level 6	stoned!	17642	17642
Malus	Dwarf Ranger Level 5	stoned!	10912	10912	petrified and hidden in the woods
"Blue"	Human peasant level 1	npc stoned!	816	816	petrified and hidden in the woods
"Red"	Human peasant level 1	npc stoned!	408	408	petrified and hidden in the woods