Memories of My Mother

Session 10: It belongs in a museum!

When we sleep that night, Elmer has a dream *spooky music* And that's the end of the session

Soren suggests to Dockan that we take our leave. Dockan requests that I document any related discoveries to relay to him if I can, and I agree. Breland Jack thanks us, and says he'll owe us a favor. Soren then escorts us out of the museum and offers to buy us a meal. We are taken to an armor/gear/clothing repair place. Soren takes us through a magewright , who casts healing for all of us. We are then taken to a fancier tavern on the same level. Silverware, fine china, goblets, etc. We get a couple bottles of wine and a feast, mostly of Elven varieties. The party ends up at the tavern we were staying at, and where we were originally supposed to meet Soren--the Lewd Lizardman. Aldriil leaves the merchant who hired us the money he paid down when he gave us the job, and includes a note stating that we were not able to recover the item.

I notice that Soren cringes as Dockan suggests bringing it back. He gives us a look that indicates he wants us to drive Dockan away from the topic somehow, and he is told that it was destroyed/collapsed, but that we made it out alive. Aldriil explains the nastiness it was creating, but Dockan keeps going on the topic, waxing poetic about its significance, etc.

I draw out the symbols I saw, along with a description of the rest of the scene, and give it to Dockan. Khel describes what happened down in the room with the obelisk, and when she picked up the stone. He says he wishes he could have seen it. He looks through the note Khel gave him, and finds symbols for "purge"."savior/lord," and "knight." Dockan finds a book with an image of an obelisk being offloaded from a ship. It does look a bit like what we saw. I roll a 20 on insight.

The gnome, Dockan, is the Xen'drick studies contact Soren gave us way back when after Khel described the vision she saw at the obelisk

Jack leads us past the front desk, where a female gnome is working. [Aldriil is currently carrying the blueprints.] In the office, Soren is with another gnome. He evinces some surprise at our condition. We are offered 100 gold. Aldriil hands over the tablet. It seems that the tablet has to do with manufacturing warforged. After assessing the blueprint's value, the gnome (an apparent department head). He throws in some additional coins, totalling our compensation at 175 gold. We've made a deal.

Breland Jack invites us up to the museum, so we can get compensation. It's quite a journey through this city, and we ascend through a few towers and magical lifts. Eventually we reach a more affluent area (and sometimes the towers up here aren't actually attached to the ground. The museum is accessible from anywhere in Sharn, but the people here do tend to look more affluent. The museum is on a floating platform, requiring us to take a sky bridge to get to it.

Aldriil heals herself to 11 out of 16 hit points. Khel doesn't want to leave, instead wanting to rest, Aldriil convinces her otherwise. We'll need to get out of the sewers, and will be safer once we do. Khel does acknowledge this, refusing Elmer's offer of hard tack. We get up the wall, out the hole, and into the sewers. We spend the next hour and a half navigating them before Breland Jack leads us to where we entered. This is the lower sections of Sharn.

Khel does not care to chase after crossbow man, and Aldriil cannot. Elmer decides not to either. Elmer heals himself for 9 hit points using Second Wind. He then turns on Breland Jack, for which Aldriil scolds him and begins explaining why not. The plan is in fact to turn the artifact (blueprint) in to a museum and get paid there. Breland Jack and Elmer have a bonding moment over the fact that warforged are, in fact, NOT all the same blockheaded bruisers. Khel attempts to get the crossbow bolt out, giving herself 2 points of damage. Medical check failed, haha

Breland Jack attacks and hits soldier 1 with his rapier. 5 point of damage ends soldier 1's life.

Crossbow man flees the battle, taunting the party on the way. Elmer, having worn his sassy pants ALL day, taunts him right back. Khel throws an acid splash at the last available target, soldier 1. He dodges her attack. Aldriil takes 4 damage, as she is still on fire. She finally succeeds in putting herself out. She elects not to chase after crossbow man, but instead demands surrender from Soldier 1, He refuses, and attempts to attack Aldriil. Her readied attack does not hit. Soldier one sends two attacks at her, the first of which does not hit--nor does the second. Aldriil absorbs the hit.

Elmer leaps off the cliff to attack solder 1, taunting crossbow man on the way. He hits solder 1 for 10 points of damage, bringing him to a total of 27 damage after Breland Jack's previous attack on him.

Aldriil is still on fire, having received 3 damage from it the previous round. She cannot seem to pat out the fire. She heals herself for 6 points. Soldier 1 gets up to attack Breland Jack and misses.

Crossbow man swings his sword at Elmer twice, hitting only once. Elmer receives 5 points of damage. Khel throws an acid splash only at soldier 1, who receives 2 more damage. He's at 11 now.

Breland Jack finally decides to take out his sword and join the combat. He shanks soldier 1 for 8 points, giving that solder a total of 19 points of damage. Elmer tries to attack crossbow man and cut his arm off. He misses that attempt, but then attempts a shield bash. It sends crossbow man onto his ass. He pulls his longsword and tries to get up. Elmer tries to hit him, which tings off his armor

Khel throws an acid splash at soldier 1. For one measly point of damage, giving him a total of 9 damage at this time. Aldriil attempts to move and pat herself out.

Crossbow man throws a vial (it's an alchemical firebomb). It gives her four points of damage, and she is currently on fire.

Elmer attempts to attack soldier 1, who currently has no damage. He hits for 8 points of damage. And a shield bash following that...which does in fact succeed. Soldier 1 is now prone. Elmer moves up the rock wall to face crossbow man

Breland Jack heals me for four points, slowing down my blood loss.

soldier 2 dies at Elmer's hands, hitting the ground. Breland Jack's turn--he provides a bardic inspiration to Aldriil. Elmer attempts to hit soldier one with the sword and fails. The shield bash also fails. Crossbow man yells some blustery shit and fires at Khel. He gets her for 6 damage. She's now at 4 hit points and a crossbow bolt sticking out of her trunk. She throws another acid splash, hitting him for 6 damage, and then moves for cover, to a spot in which she can still be in combat.

Aldriil's sword boy has received 23 (soldier 2) points of damage.

Crossbow man fires at me in blustery anger, and only gets one point of damage onto me because he's a little BITCH. Khel just laughs and throws an acid splash at him. She's ACTUALLY having fun. She hits him for 3 damage. So far at this point, I've hit him for 13 damage. Aldriil is up, and the sword boy is prone once again. She hits him for 2 damage, lamenting her sword's apparent ineffectiveness.

Crossbow man fires at me and misses, just barely grazing my ear as it goes by. He is big mad and heckles me. In return I shoot him back with an acid splash, which does 4 damage. I choose not to use my move action. Aldriil hits the sword boy in front of her, who is no longer prone. She does 3 damage. Breland Jack, who has been buffing the party, heals Elmer once again after joining the battle, having buffed himself. Elmer takes a shot with his sword and misses, and attempts a shield bash, which succeeds.

Aldriil does some damage to the prone warforged in front of her.

on my next turn, I hit the crossbow man with an acid splash for 6 damage. He failed his dodge, apparently. Khel isn't impressed.

I throw an acid splash at crossbow man and sword boy, the latter of whom I hit for 5 damage. After Aldriil's turn, one of the sword boys starts rushing at her. She and Elmer are in the front at this point, making them the easiest targets. I am squishy, so I'll stay as far away as possible.

We are about to face three warforged who follow the Lord of the Blades. They want what we have, and to kill all those who are "flesh-born."(we received 800 xp for last session.

Session 10: It belongs in a museum!

Session 9: That's no dog!

Jack offers to let us follow him back to the museum and be compensated, suggested we travel together on the way back out. We make our way through the cavernous ruins with no sign of any fire beetles, giant rats, etc. As we get to the sewer section, there are a trio of warforged standing there. They have weapons built in. two are laying down targeting us, one is standing. All 3 bear the same emblem, a sword and crown, w/drop of blood from the crown. Jack says those are Lord of Blades members. They are warforged terrorists bent on exterminating organic life. Combat initiates.

With all three discs, Aldrill and Khel work it out, and a section of the wall separates open. There's an arcane forge in there! Elmer gets really excited. I roll a 19 for Arcana. But this type of stuff isn't MY magical expertise--it's more Aldrill's. We opt to open the forge. Elmer moves to do it, and it opens easily. Inside there is what looks like an empty space. And at the bottom, there is a plate that's been set into a pair of clasps. Aldrill does an Arcana check on it. It's an artificing blueprint, and to crack it she'd need time to study it. Jack insists it should be in a museum. Elmer of course says we should have it. Aldrill shares that our patron is Thomas Gorman, and Jack mulls this over. [Also in the forge are a shortsword and a dagger] Jack indicates Thomas is a shady pirate. Aldrill agrees to let Jack take it if we are compensated, having no loyalty to the man who hired us. Elmer wants the sword. Khel decides she likes Jack, and says so, resuming investigation of the discs. Elmer takes the sword and dagger. I'll take rubbings of the discs, and return them to their places. [Jack also has a magical light about him].

I discover that in position 3, there are the most corresponding images. I'll go right away to tell Aldrill this information. Elmer demands to know if the warforged has anything, finds he doesn't. Elmer doesn't believe this. Elmer demands to gamble for what he wants. Jack agrees to roll some dice with him. It goes badly, and funnily, and we get him out of the game in time to NOT lose him his sword. We try the disc in the way that I suggest, but nothing notable happens. The images do still seem to match on the left and the right, though not on the top or bottom. Jack continues to be amused by our misfortune, as much as a warforged CAN be amused--while he plays his lute. Elmer agrees to work with the warforged and they have an exchange. the warforged comes in to speak to us. He indicates that he has the other two because YES IT IS HIS DIG, and how did we get here. He does let us see the discs, though.

I roll a 16 on investigation for this last room that we are in [previous note lost booooo.]. I find a couple of intact vials. They are a thick orange/yellow color. my 25 Arcana tells me this stuff is sulphurous--and likely combustible. I leave it behind because I have no use for it. We return to the main chamber, which Aldrill searches again. She doesn't find much. I look at her metal disc, and at the motif on the wall. There are 3 spots within the carvings on the wall that will fit a disc, but carved to be hidden in plain sight. I share this with Aldrill, who begins to investigate where it might go. She tries all of them, cyclops first. nothing happens. Are there more discs, is there a pattern? I use my 21 Arcana and Aldrill her 25 Arcana. This is an arcane locking device. Elmer opts to go and ask the warforged if he has any more discs like the one Aldrill has. Aldrill goes to the foreman's office. I use a 15 on Insight on the frescoes to investigate further, especially around the arcane locks.

I roll an 18 for my Investigation of the room. Books on the southern wall, raw materials on the northern wall. There are some fine silks that have not aged as they should. I also find a couple small Eberron shards, red in color and commonly used in things such as rails and airships. I offer them to Aldrill and goes to investigate the silks. Adrill is searching the desk. Could this be a foreman's office? The desk has a false panel! Inside is a brass disk. blank on one side, the other side has 4 intricate carvings. A water wheel, a scale, a man, and a 4 armed cyclops. Aldrill shares her find with the party. I roll a 23 on Arcana to investigate the silks. I determine that they are glamour-weave--magically infused cloth. I spend some time removing it from the bolt and packaging it in my bag. We go to the next room.

Elmer wants to open the doors first, in case of traps. He opens this one, which happened to have been slightly ajar already. It opens, and inside this room, we see what must have been something of an office in its day. It has a desk of stone, a leather chair, some shelves w/books and materials on them, and a small fireplace. Khel wants to investigate along w/Aldrill

I roll a 25 in Arcana about the frescoes/dragon motif. Aldrill rolls with History, getting a 12. The motif could be a historical event, we notice--a chronological listing, even, as you pan through. My Arcana roll tells me that something sticks out: an area showing creatures with long limbs/tentacles coming out of mountain doorways. Also goblins, bugbears, as well as these. This reminds me of Dalkyer invasion history I've read about--a period of time before the age of man. She communicates this knowledge to everyone else and puts it in her own notes. Aldrill searches the room, but doesn't find much. It was likely used for normal smithing. We move to the next door.

The southeast room appears to have been a forge room. We see a kiln structure in this room, a dragon breathing fire.

Elmer bets w/Jack, the warforged. If we get into the vault without his help, we get a ring he has. Elmer bets the rest of his own gold. We break camp and begin our day. We will go deeper into the building. In the next room, there's a long wall across from us. 2 doors on the left, 2 on the right. Curves to connect to the room we were previously in. Lots of shelves and debris. But in here vs. out there, it's a lot cleaner. Khel wonders if this building either survived a lot or was built after the decay of this layer. The entire wall is frescoed w/ a massive, changing tapestry of images including an army, dragon and dragon fire, etc. We also have some benches, tables, and not much else. Aldrill chooses to start with the door on the right--the southeast door.

whatever it is agrees to wait, and then sets off the alarm to spite Elmer. Everyone attempts to go back to sleep except me. I am still on watch. Two hrs later, the alarm goes off, as agreed. I ready my acid splash once again as Elmer opens the door. On the other side is a Warforged, dressed in brown leather and a white shirt. It believes this building is its own find, and wants to know who sent us. This place, he insists, is his own discovery. I join in the sass a bit but nothing comes of it. Aldrill attempts to convince the warforged that WE should have it instead. It agrees to let us try, and Aldrill dismisses him. He sits down a short distance away, to wait. We opt for a breakfast of leftovers from the inn--biscuits for me, hard tack for Elmer.

I get up and start doing my rituals, to the best of my ability, given Elmer's nearby snoring. About an hr into my watch, my alarm sounds again. We hear picking noises, as if someone is just trying to hammer their way in--or something of that nature, because we can't see it. But someone/something is actively working at opening the door. Elmer yells out an admonishment, citing his need for sleep. It and he banter through the door.

We are all ready to fight if need be, but the rattling stops. Aldrill attempts to listen at the door, but hears nothing. We go back to sleep and try again, and during the rest of Aldrill's shift, we are not interrupted. Elmer begins his shift, wishing Aldrill pleasant dreams. She's making vocalizations in her sleep. I am sleeping like a log. It is quiet for the rest of Elmer's shift, except for those noises. Elmer then wakes me.

I cast an alarm spell on the door. Benches are successfully moved. We have secured a sleeping spot and Elmer is snoring loudly. I am also sleeping. It is first watch, and Aldrill is on watch. A couple hrs in, my alarm spell is triggered. I am instantly awake. The door was rattling, and that's what set it off.

Correction:We are just sitting down to the long rest. Elmer starts moving heavy things around to block entrances.

We are immediately inside the building we entered during last session, after a long rest post-combat with those nasty guard dogs.

Session 9: That's no dog!

Session 8: Did you see something?

We opt to take a long rest here. Aldrill decides to take first watch.

I healed for 7 and am now out of hit dice.

We are all inside the building now, and Aldrill pulls the door shut. This looks like the entry to a workshop.

I choose to use magic missile. send 2 bolts to the one attacking me for 4 total damage. It kills the one attacking me. I hit the other one for 4 damage total. Elmer clobbers the last one standing for 11 damage. Aldrill bonks it too. I acid splash it for 3 damage. it is still standing and opts to bite Aldrill. Elmer attempts to hit it with his swords, which misses. His shield bash succeeds. Aldrill is freed and it is prone. She delivers the killing blow.

Elmer heals himself a bit and attacks the dog on his ass. He also attacks the one on my hip and severely damages it but does not dislodge it.

Elmer takes a bite from the other metal dog for a chunk of damage, and is also engaged in a grapple. He now has one hit point.

I take 8 total damage on this attack, and I am grappled.

I throw an acid splash at the doggo near me, and I miss. It misses me in turn, putting a rip in my coat in the left sleeve. The other one attacks Elmer and misses. Elmer attacks my dance partner and knocks it prone. Aldrill gets one with her dagger. I acid splash the prone one near me for 3 damage. It tries to get up and we each get an attack of opportunity. I hit it again for 4 damage. the one I keep hitting bites me gnashes at my right hip.

I throw an acid splash at the metal dog Elmer is fighting after I enter the building. I hit it, for 4 acid damage. Prone doggo gets up and tries to attack me, because I'm nearest to it. But Elmer takes an attack of opportunity to try to save me. He hits with his spear for 4 damage, penetrating the body. It evinces pain, but still tries to attack me. It misses because Elmer's assistance lets me dodge it. Elmer gets bitten, but he shakes the dog loose. He then throws his spear at the one attacking me, and it's still trying to get me.

Building has large, intricate, heavy, stone doors. Huge metal hinges. Door frame stands about 12 feet tall AND wide. They do not have locks, but they do have handles. Elmer attempts to open the one on the right. it opens. inside, we hear a hum. inside that hum is a sound of metal on stone. Elmer wants to go in, but we stop him, and exchange his lantern for Aldrill's light spider. Elmer heads in ahead, spear out. We are now fighting metal attack dogs.

We move through this area, and about halfway through the chamber, we see that the wall ahead of us boasts a built-in building, larger than all the others. Relatively intact. Could this be our building? We take a look.

i roll a 5 for perception. la la la...

We avoid the beetles because Elmer tosses the beetles some jerky. We make it to the next section of the undercity. This section gives off a more "industrial" air than the previous one. Aldrill consults the map and figures out where we should go next. Elmer is holding his lantern and the soap, marking his path.

we have encountered fire beetles, which my insight roll of 17 discovered. (we are below Sharn, as per notes in the last session).

Session 8: Did you see something?

Session 7: Sharn City of Towers

We go to the brothel, Velvet's, and find a way-too-obvious entrance to the sewers. We choose to just go in to avoid hanging around too long and raising too much suspicion. Elmer goes first, with a lantern. We get down to a level with bigger sewage lines coming together, and the smell is worse/more potent. We come across a giant rat that attacks Elmer. I roll a 14 initiative. There are more behind it that Elmer is aware of. We fight them. My acid splash attack finishes one off that was already injured. Together, we finish off the large rats, and the smaller ones disperse.

After we finish eating, we take this man to our rooms to hear his offer. He wants an item retrieved from some ruins. Not illicit, but potentially dangerous. The fee involved is for the danger. He pulls out a large bag of money and sets in down in front of us. Upon retrieval of his item, that money is ours. We discuss privately while he waits downstairs. Adriil is inclined to accept, as is Khel. Elmer elects to go along with us, though he feels he has no need for money.

We are approached by a heavyset brown-haired man with purple and gold in his attire. He offers a retrieval job, and sets off alarm bells when he requests private quarters for further discussion. He elects to sit down with us while we eat, and my companions make small talk. I continue to eat, and apart from having asked what kind of money he offers, do not speak to him unless he speaks to me first.

We receive, care of Aldriil, from a gnome messenger, a letter from House Sivis. It glows, then opens easily. It's a note from Sorin to say that we will meet Sorin at our rooms in a couple of days. We have a couple of days off to do as we like in the city. Sorin elects to go and gamble a bit for his fun, and finds a dwarf adventurer to gamble with downstairs from our rooms. Aldriil and I hang out downstairs in the bar, observing and hanging out. For one gold, we can get a piece of meat from the pig roast, and roasted rosemary potatoes, complete with a glass of ale or wine. -1 gold, to equal 22 gold and 1 silver.

Sorin takes us through the Black Gate, where the Sharn Watch asks for our identification. We cross a large stone bridge over a chasm, and Sorin stops us to discuss plans. He has personal errands to run involving a contact, and recommends us to use a House Galandra tavern, as it should be quite safe. It's on the Lower Central Plateau. More adventurer-types around here. "A step and a half above the rough-and-tumble." The Lewd Lizardmen is the tavern he recommends. He gave us a bag of 50 gold with which to get the room, food, etc. It takes us about an hour to make it to the Lewd Lizardmen. It's a moderately priced tavern, housing adventuring companies, merchants, those looking for work. It appears to be a lizard gay bar. We can get two rooms that are near each other, 2 beds each. One pleasant interaction with an innkeeper later, we have our rooms and free reign of the place.

We wake on Day 4, and can already see Sharn in the distance, due to its massive mile-high height. Sorin treats us to fruit and pastries for breakfast. We get off the train and find a variety of people around, workers, vendors, etc. A very wide mix of people, with a presence of war-torn clothing admist the cleaner, nicer clothes of the wealthy. Outside the train station, we drop into a section of Sharn called Lower Tavick's Landing.

The morning of Day Three toward Sharn.... The night was once again uneventful, and Khel was not required to have a watch. We opt to take the rail from Wroat, which we previously passed through. We have an hour to shop/look around before our train leaves. Khel opts to find some street food for purchase, and then waits for the train with her food. She buys a hand pie and some root veggies for one silver, and eats them while she waits for the train. [-1 silver ] On the train, we have a private room again, a couple windows, a few seats, comfortable. The rain continues. But inside this car, it's warm and dry. Khel makes sure to get every last bit of moisture out of the nice, thick coat she wears while she rests on the train. 5ish in the afternoon, we begin to get tired, and eventually drift off. Mid-morning on day 4, we arrive to Sharn.

We have made camp after our first full day of travel toward Sharn, and that is where we ended the previous session. [and it takes Khel forever to find a good campsite. In fact, she's really shit at it this time. They end up helping to find a better one.] All watches go well, and the night is uneventful. I wake for my morning rituals. We travel for half a day before we hit the road, which takes us southeast past Ardev(sp?). We pass many wagons, as well as others on horses, as this is a well-maintained and well-traveled route. We get halfway to Galethspyre. I roll an 11 and find a decent spot with reasonable concealment from the road via a copse of trees. No one feels the need to challenge it.

Session 7: Sharn City of Towers

Session 6: Breland Bound

I wake up feeling well-rested on the morning we are to travel to Sharn. We can eat in the galley. They've got fresh baked bread, and other delicious foods. We meet Soren and Capt. Jazz, who flirt as Soren explains the plan for the day. We set out riding. We get about an hour of travel before the rainstorm washes over us as we go, making everything muddy, cold, and a little bit dangerous. More than once, we find it necessary to dismount the horses, and lead them.

We are to go to Sharn, and it will take us the better part of a week.

Session 6: Breland Bound

Session 5: Mercenaries, Mines, and Mayhem

We reunite with Soren at the outpost and brief him on what happened. Markings on the obelisk match those on the throne in my vision. Soren sees a connection to the land of the giants. We get to the point at which she could tell the company about the crystal she took. She elects to keep it to herself for the moment.

We make it back to the Greywall Outpost.

My sleep was filled with visions of my mother running toward me, calling to me. I get up to take my watch shift. As the light begins to crest, I start to perform my morning ritual. Right as I begin a new form, I turn to see two gnolls come rushing at me. I attempt to deal with them, and at first, I don't do very well. I burned one spell slot trying to cast a sleep spell on the gnolls.

Eventually, in our travels, we choose to get off the trail and camp in the woods to avoid a party coming up quickly behind us. We choose to attempt to be stealthy in what we're doing. I get first sleep. As I'm rolling out my bed, Aldriil notices that the party following us is four gnolls on horseback. Aldriil and Elmer discuss how they want to handle it. We attempt stealth. To some degree, it fails, and they begin heading closer to our camp. Elmer and I hide, as directed. Aldriil handles them very well. She takes first watch as Elmer and I sleep.

I received 34 gold to add to my total later. Khel puts it in her purse.

We pack up and start heading down the mountain, with Khel riding in the middle. Elmer is in front, Aldriil in back. We make it back onto the roadway that brought us there, and travel for about one hour before we encounter anyone. The first is a surly old orc named "Smitty," who believes he has a claim to the surrounding hills. He lets us go because he wants us gone. As before, Aldrill enters the kobold village while the humans wait outside to avoid frightening the townsfolk.

I rolled a 25 for Arcana, and a 9 for Insight, total. It seems that Khel has picked up quite the bigtime magical stone. As Spencer put it, "dragon meteorites." She has picked up the most rare and powerful of them, and is currently hiding one in her backpack.

What Khel does in her downtime: --All appropriate daily salutations/rituals. --Meditates on the vision she saw when she held the stone. --searches her brain for anything Master Jazbay might have taught her about the dragon shards. --Journalling.

We have all rested in the cave, and have officially leveled up to 2.

We did our best, together, to block the entrance to the cave in an attempt to keep its secrets a secret going forward. Clearly, those who gain access don't tend to come back...unchanged. Back to the kobold village with us.

I searched through a few of the fallen to see if any magical items NOT from the obelisk were to be found. I was not successful, but Elmer has brought back a pick to start weakening this structure we're in. Aldriil's idea is to weaken it at several points, rather than just one. I agree, but cannot help more than once before resting, if I'm to use magic.

Session 5: Mercenaries, Mines, and Mayhem

Session 4: Into Darkness

Session 4: Into Darkness

Session 3: Droaam Days