Wiki of The Dungeoneering Crew

The party started this session standing on the wall above the gate house, having just finished killing a lot of Gnolls. Their first concern had to be the army outside the fortress that was headed their way. They rolled up the drawbridge below them. With all of the portcullis' down, that should give them a little time to move deeper into the castle. They went south along the top of the wall and east to the door leading into the closed section at this level. Audra opened the door and moved in, She barely made it any distance before she encountered two gargoyles. There was no way more than one person could fight them in this area so Audra called back to the others, stay back! The others moved forward but kept their distance. She called out Gargoyles as she backed out of the tight confined area. Once outside, she moved to the side so everyone could fight against the Gargoyles but they didn't follow her out. Kipp could see that the Gargoyles had retreated as well.

Pyreece charged into the room and much further into the hallway and engaged one of tbe creatures. Kipp moved in behind her and attacked the other. They were far enough in this time to allow several people a chance to get next to and fight one of the two creatures. It took a few rounds but they did finally defeat them. Doors lined the hallway they were in. They opened the first door to find some kind of a circle drawn on the floor along with some books opened and scattered about. The circle made them think of something like a summoning circle.

Pyreece moved into the room and around the circle, being careful not to touch it. She got to a book and picked it up. It was opened to page that discussed two creatures. One was an Erinyes while the other was a Belker. The Erinyes was a Devil like monster. They instantly thought of Selson. If an Erinyes had been summoned, and if it was Selson, then that creature was dealt with. The Belker was a smokie creature with large black wings. If they had summoned one of those, then again, they'd already fought and defeated one of those. Hopefully, that's all they summoned. Pyreece kept the book and the exited the room and continued down the hallway.

Checking the other rooms, one was a temple to Asmodeus, God the nine hells. Pyreece used Holy Water and a blessing to try to remove the stench of evil that was this god. There were banners and tapestries piled in the back of the room but nothing of importance to the task at hand. The other two rooms were bedrooms. One had the clothing of a man and the other one appeared unused. Through the double doors in the hallway, they found a room with lots of books and a desk. On the desk were papers that clearly laid out Daresh's plans to conquer this realm and the immediate realms around her.

There was a circular staircase leading up in the back. Audra started up the stairs with Kipp not far behind, Pyreece moved onto the bottom stair as Audra heard a conversation. The conversation was between a male and female. They didn't recognize either of their voices. They later learned that the male was Mordrammo, a caster of sorts, and the Female was Daresh. At that time, they'd only heard Daresh screech commands and statements before. They'd not heard this tone before and didn't recognize it to be her until they saw her. Audra paused and listened.

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Mordrammo - The sounds of battle have gone quiet. The encampment is mobilizing however. Fright, their supposed commander, is nowhere to be seen. No updates from your scouts. Perhaps you should remove yourself from harm's way until this chaos is reconciled.

Daresh - Sultry Voice - My dear, you need not be concerned.

Mordrammo - We do not share your confidence. Your newly found power has made things unstable. Instability could lead to mistakes and mistakes risk discovery. We cannot have that.

Daresh - You forget your place Mordrammo. This region is only a start. My power grows with each day. Soon I will have power your petty schemes could not imagine. For now it serves my interests to provide you my prisoners. They are of no use to me.

Mordrammo - The power of the Elemental Eye is ..

Daresh - Spare me the prattle about your feckless god. It is I you should worship. As all shall do in the coming weeks. Even now the object of my ascension draws near..

Mordrammo - You are foolish to mock the all powerful. He can bring low those who oppose his will and damn them to eternal suffering. Your power has blinded you and will be your undoing..

Daresh - We shall see won't we my dear. You have enough for your masters for the time being. Oh.. and what about your ladyfriend? Is she still a concern?

Mordrammo - Masters? Your condescension is laughable. The “lady” to whom you refer, is no friend.. and she is not to be trusted. I will deal with her. You would be wise to avoid her. She and her people are foul to the core.

Daresh - But she is most exotic is she not? In due time she will yield her secrets to me..

Mordrammo - Yes.. perhaps there is a way you could be of great assistance. But.. then I would have to trust you. For now who she is will remain my secret.

Daresh - Ah, but I have seen her in my scrying. Her nature is known to me..

Mordrammo - What? That is not possible.

Daresh - There you go forgetting your place again. Does my power frighten you darling. It should you know.. Now come.. you seem tense.. bring the oils and I will ease your stress..

Mordrammo - Hmmmm

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Audra stayed still preferring to let them get involved in whatever activity they were going to use the oil for. After a moment, she moved up the stairs slowly trying to get a look into the room without being seen. She failed as she wasn't the stealthy type. Both Daresh and Mordrammo turned to face them. Between the two groups were 5 Gargoyles lined up across the room. Reaching the two would require running through them. Daresh cast a Mirror Image spell while Mordrammo cast a Silence spell around the party. Audra felt the sword, in her mind, tell her to attack Mordrammo. She activated the teleport feature and appeared directly in front of Mordrammo. He was shocked and terrified at how quickly she was able to reach him. Before she could strike him though, he teleported out of the room, not to be seen again.

The Gargoyles attacked, three on Kipp, one at the stairs, and one stayed back to protect Daresh. With Audra having made it behind the line, that Gargoyle was turned on her. Kipp took a lot of damage quickly from the Gargoyles. Brandy climbed past Pyreece and up onto the main floor. She began firing at the Daresh's Images. Audra ignored the Gargoyle and charged at Daresh. They burst all of the images quickly but she created more images. Others made it up into the room but were held at bay, fighting now two of the Gargoyles as one of the ones on Kipp moved to Tony. Daresh held out her hand toward Kipp and said, “Kill!”. The black whipping tentacle whipped out and struck at Kipp but had no effect. She was shocked. More images were destroyed.

Brandy did manage to strike her once when firing at all of the images and heard a satisfying screech of pain. Meanwhile, the Gargoyles had managed to take down Kipp. About the same time, the party took out a couple of the Gargoyles, Daresh darted across the room in an attempt to reach and grab Kipp's coin. Audra managed to get one hit on her as she turned her back on her. Elenor, seeing Daresh make a move at the fallen Kipp, darted to intercept her. There was a struggle to keep Daresh from the coin. Daresh was frantic, still trying to get to Kipps coin. Audra darted over to her while she was focused on the coin and struck her. Brandy turned and fired at her, ending her life. Elenor got a goodberry into Kipp, stabilizing him. Oglesby got a dose of an Extra Healing potion into him.

While the others attempted to finish off the remaining Gargoyles, Kipp struggled with his own coin. He overcame it's corruption of him and he began trying to destroy Daresh's coin by striking it with his sword. He managed to sever the hand but the coin itself was prooving much harder to destroy. After a couple of attempts, his own coin was beginning to take control of him. Audra tried to take it from him but was knocked back. Pyreece and Tony both fell. Audra saw no other thing to do but to kill Kipp. She attacked and with one strike, stopped and ended her friend. As he hit the ground, his coined rolled free. The last of the Gargoyles were finished off. Pyreece and Tony were both given goodberries and a dose of a healing potion.

The two coins began to move as blue and green sparks of energy danced around them. Elenor called out, “We have to get out of here! They are going to explode!”. Audra and Pyreece grabbed Kipp's body and they began moving quickly down the stairs they had come up. Once in the room below, they heard and felt the explosion from above. Part of the ceiling collapsed. They got a goodberry into Kipp and stablized him again as they continued to move along the western wall and back down to the rooms below. They followed the path they'd entered back to the room with the secret entrance. Oglesby found the panel and opened it. They darted into the hidden tunnel and closed the secret panel behind them.

Oglesby moved closer to the exit and listened. There were sounds of fighting and shouting outside the tunnel. The Gnolls appeared to have turned on each other and the factions, no longer under Daresh's control, reverted to their animosity for each other and began killing each other. Oglesby snuck out as the sounds appeared to pass them, and after determining that it was probably as safe as it could be in this chaos, he motioned for the others to escape. They darted off, as best they could, Pyreece and Audra continuing to support Kipp who was very weak and barely able to stand, much less run. They cleared the immediate battle zone and made their way back to where Banderas and the others were staying.

As they approached, Pat whistled and stepped out of hiding. He motioned them over and then guided them back to the rest. At first, seeing the party badly beaten down, they were concerned that it hadn't gone well. Banderas asked and they told him that the witch was dead. I think they even sang a little song, “Ding..Dong..The witch is dead!”. “The Gnolls were at each others throats, fighting amongst themselves.” they told him. Pyreece suggested that they have someone c heck to make sure they were not being chased. Banderas sent a couple of his people to check on that.

They put Kipp down into a tent and his people began tending to him. Banderas, not seeing Selson, asked after her, only to be told that she was not what she'd appeared to be, but was a Devil. She had been put down.

They shared a night of revelry and storytelling around the campfire. Tonight there are no howls in the dark, no strange lights in the sky, even Kipp seems a tiny bit more sociable. Banderas and crew hang on every word as you weave the tale of the pig man and the apparent slave transaction.

The other slaves remember the pigman. They called him Swagbelly. A merciless slave merchant from a place they had never heard of. A place called Elredd.. They were to be delivered to Darkshelf and Rudder. None of the names were familiar to you. More of your tale followed..

The fierce battle with the Gnolls, the treachery and nature of Selson, The slaying of the witch. Her mysterious companion Mordrammo. The destruction of the coin and it's chaotic aftermath.

It would seem Darromar should be the next stop says Banderas. We can take these folks to the authorities there and they can hopefully get them essentials, some shelter and a way home.

Sneakz pulled Brandy aside: “Brandy.. Since we met it seems you have a defensive, isolated quality about you. That is not how it should be. Your “friends” seem to be a great source of pain for you. If they are so contemptible and untrustworthy why do you put up with them? Your skill is amazing. Perhaps you would consider joining us? Banderas is fair and smart. We only seek to help the poor and downtrodden. And if we can line our pockets in doing so all the better. Besides another halfling on the team would be … we could be such friends.. You could help me be a better fighter.. I could show you how to gain surprise on your enemies.. We would be a force you and I…”

Brandy told her that she would think about it.

This is where this session ended.

Start the recorder.

Exp: 2192 + 219 = 2411

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Things picked up on in the conversation overheard between Daresh and Mordrammo: We do not share your confidence.? Elemental Eye? Ladyfriend? - She and her people are foul to the core. But she is most exotic is she not? In due time she will yield her secrets to me. For now who she is will remain my secret. “Daresh” - Ah, but I have seen her in my scrying. Her nature is known to me.. “Mordrammo” - What? That is not possible.