Session 30: Scanelorn

With acknowledgement and apologies to Michael Moorcock... 

The PCs begin still in the Bone Man's tower. They can see, in the distance, what Debi believes to be the fabled extradimensional city of Scanelorn.

They return to the wall, and to the Troll's Tooth, telling Captain Klang what they have seen and done.  Klang and his goblin crew begin to paddle the ship into the passage through the wall. 

They manage to get through without incident. Anchoring in the middle of the river, just beyond the wall, they get some sleep. 

The next day they proceed to the city. As they near it, they see that then entire city is apparently surrounded by a wide and deep moat, into which they can see other rivers as well as the one they are on, connecting. Rivers from other planes of existence. 

They find a place to dock and pay 10gp for a week. 

From the boat, they see eople clearly not from their own reality. They hear the common tongue spoken with strange accents. Humans and demi-humans are recognizable but...not quite the same.

The Goblins take shore leave. Debi inquires with the harbormaster, on behalf of the group, to find a good tavern where they might eat and seek information. He suggests the Lucky Traveller and gives her directions. 

At the Lucky Traveller, the PCs sit down. Debi chats up the bartender, who invites her to take the stage and entertain the crowd. Simon "blesses" her (rolling again to make contact with the god Ahki while on this plane), and Debi rolls a very high performance roll.  She introduces herself and sings a song about the founding of Langwon.

After her set, two strangers approach them at the table. A man going by Samhir the Blue Archer and an albino woman in a black cloak known as Shalla Hess. The PCs all make perception rolls, and notice that the two have familiar accents. The archer and the albino tell them they are also from the Langwonian plane and have been trapped here. They need help to return home, but until now have found no other Langwonians. They explain a rumor that the head of the Thieves Guild has a magic ring that can activate a planar gate located somewhere in the Black Marsh to the north of the city. They tell the PCs where the Thieve's Guild HQ is.

The PCs say they might be interested. They agree to meet again later.

Being a rogue, Mick goes to check out the HQ. Debi and Simon go to the Archives of Scanelorn.

Mick finds a large stone building with no windows - just small slits for light and air. One door on front with two guards. Alleys on either side. In the middle of the Thieves Quarters, an area of confusing, crowded, narrow streets and alleys. 

Behind the Guild HQ he finds a tavern. He goes in check it out.

Debi and Simon go to the Archives, where Debi researches lore about both the city, the Planar Gate, and the Bone Man. She rolls a natural 20 on investigation and gets lots of info. It requires the right river, on a magic ship, to sail into Scanelorn. They had neither. That and the "wall" lead her to believe they were sent here for some ill-intent by unusual methods.

In the tavern, Mick encounters two thieves who mess with him a bit. One of them says he should "meet the boss." The other rolls a 20 and picks Mick's pocket, stealing his magic dagger. He then flaunts the dagger to taunt Mick with his skill, then gives it back to him. Mick leaves, after using an invisible Mage hand to pull the hood down in the face of his pickpocket.

That night they return to the Lucky Traveller, where Debi performs for tips. The meet up with Shalla Hess and Samhir the Blue Archer to scheme. After a long discussion they decide to go to the scummy tavern behind the Thieve's Guild and try to kidnap a thief to question. They agree to try to knock one out, take him back to the Troll's Tooth, and Debi will use her Detect Thought's spell to get info about the interior of the Thieve's Guild and the Master Thief. All they know about him is that he rarely leaves the building, and is a portly but nimble fellow.

They go to the tavern. Samhir and Shalla Hess get on a nearby rooftop to act as snipers if needed. Simon casts pass without track to enhance everyone's stealth who is near him. 

Mick goes in, using Alter Self to change his appearance. 

He sees a thief walk out to relieve himself in the alley. Mick sneaks after him, and knocks him out. The PCs her Shalla Hess and Samhir chuckling from the rooftop.

They blindfold the man, put him in the portable hole, and make quickly for the Troll's Tooth, needing to reach the ship before the man runs out of air in the hole.

End of Session.

Session 29: the Bone Man

 The Odd Three begin where they left off, at their rowboat, at the old dock on Castle Island. Debi has the whisker from Bubastis, the blue feline, and they row back out to the Troll's Tooth, where Captain Klang has kept his work and waited for them.

Klang barks some orders to his goblin crew and they hoist the rowboat back aboard. It is about 3am, and they decide to set sail immediately for Langwon.

The next day they find themselves sailing through a thick fog. When they get through it the see a 50' wall rising out out of the sea, and extending to either horizon. Debi (making her Arcana roll) remembers a story about sailors encountering just such a phenomenon on a different plane of existence, and tells her companions that they seem to have left their home plane, though no on knows how.

As they approach the wall, Mick climbs to the top of the crows nest and uses Captain Klang's spyglass to try to look over the top of the wall. From this position, he sees that he wall not only extends to the horizon but seems to extend far into the distance. He can't see the edge.

A goblin rows them to the base of the wall, where Mick uses his rogue skills to climb to the top. 

When he gets to the top, he can see that in the distance the wall apparently does have an edge.  Looking to the left, he sees that there is actually an opening big enough for a ship to sail into, but the color and cut of the huge stones of the wall create an optical illusion. You could sail past it and not see it. He can then see that the opening leads to a passage through the impossible wall, likely to the other side. 

Returning to the ship, the PCs inform Captain Klang. They decide that the PCs will return to the top of the wall and walk to the other side to scout things out. Klang will keep the ship there, or he may take it carefully into the passage, but he won't leave them.

Climbing back up the wall, the PCs reach the other side easily. Below the edge of the wall, extending several miles into the distance, is a plane of black sand. To their left they see a river exiting the wall (likely the exit point for the passage they found) that goes across that sandy plane and into the hilly, wooded land beyond.

About halfway across the plane, near the river (on their side of the river), they see thin white spire rising from the sand. 

The climb down and begin toward that tower.

As they get closer, they can see that there is "bulb" at the top that appears to have windows. The tower itself is made of smooth, white columns that twist like a vine 100 feet into the sky. When they are 1/8" of a  mile from the tower, they can see more detail. The structure appears to have massive white roots that protrude into the black sand supporting it. The outer structure twists and turns line a vine, leaving a hollow area inside, in which they can see stairs that climb up the inside toward the bulb at the top.

As they stand there studying it, Debi hears something behind them. She alerts Mick and Simon, and they see from all sides hundreds, if not thousands, of weird-looking skeletal rats emerging from the sand and staring to swarm them! The only path open to them is to the tower!

They take off running for the tower. They take a few bites from the skeletal rats before reaching the tower. They run up the stairs a bit. They can see between the outer structural "bones" of the tower that the rats have stopped and surrounded the tower, but are not entering it.

Mick begins up the tower, going about 20 feet in front of the other two, looking for traps. They ascend. 

Coming to the top, Mick finds that the stairs enter a large chamber. The interior of the chamber is made of the same organic-like material that seems like polished white bone. He casts Dancing Lights to light the place up. H sees the windows. He sees glass-domed display cases around the room. At the far side he sees a massive white chair that seems to have grown from the white floor. Sitting on the chair is a very tall humanoid shape, made completely of the white bone material, it's eyes simply glowing points on the face. it speaks....

"Ah...the servants of Raxilliah...here to pay me a visit. Come and and visit with me and perhaps I'll send you home."

Simon and Debi the booming voice as they enter then room.

They approach the figure, seeing some interesting artifacts in the displays. The creature stands, focussing on Debi, and says "Give me that whisker your retrieved for Raxilliah and I may send you home." Debi replies, trying to negotiate some other arrangement. The Bone Man starts becoming enraged...raising voice. Debi feels his anger in her mind, experiencing his anger and feeling paralyzed. He attacks her with two huge, clawed hands, missing both times.

Simon attempts to cast a spell, and finds that his connection to Ahki seems weaker on this plane, which must be far removed from the planes on which Ahki is strong. He is required to roll his Wisdom or less on a d20 to cast a spell. He makes the roll. 

The PCs fight the enraged Bone Man. Debi rolls all attack rolls at disadvantage until she can make a Wisdom save to overcome the rage she is feeling from the Bone Man.

Using a combination of spells (Thunderwave, Spiritual Weapon, Magic Missile, and Dissonant Whispers) they PCs damage the Bone Man badly while, incredibly, he misses every attack roll. They notices that the cracks they are making in his body are healing fast. They manage to "kill him" but can see his part regenerating. They smash the bones to bits, taking the skull and some of the bones and flinging them out different windows. 

Looking over the stuff in the room, a lot of it looks like the kind of things one would find in Rax's shop. Simon casts Detect Magic and Identify on some of the items. They find that the orb in front of the chair is an Orb of Planar Vision. They also find a carved white art piece that looks like a mouse skeleton, a scroll, and a vial of the black sand, that all radiate magic.

Debi, no longer under the effects of the Bone Man's rage, realizes that carrying the whisker of the telepathic/empathic Bubastis was amplifying the rage and causing the effect. The whisker is sensitive to emotion. They put the whisker, in its vial, in the portable hole, which is a pocket dimension and should shield the carrier from the effect.

Looking out the window, they see the rat skeleton monsters are gone. In the distance, they see a city, which Debi has recalled is likely called Scanelorn. 

End of Session.

Session 28: A Pool of Madness

 The party begins where they left off. The decide to explore one of the stone stairwells that descend under the ruins of the castle. 

Simon cast Light on a crossbow bolt, and Mick fires the bolt down into the passage. They go down the stairs, coming to an old cellar what was likely used to store food in the past. Mick lights it up with Dancing Lights. There are overturned shelves and other junk. At the far side of the room they see a door off its hinges and on the floor, in front of an opening.

Beyond the passage they find a rough-hewn passageway that curves. It is dark. Mick lights up the passage and sees three human shapes clinging to the rough walls and ceiling, moving like spiders. They are pale, skinny and sinewy, have stringy hair and wild eyes, and wear the remnants of simple clothing. The creatures squint as the light hits them and begin chattering and gibbering and laughing in a disturbing display of madness. Skittering across the walls and ceiling like roaches, they move quickly and attack the party.

One of the creatures bites Mick. The bite does a little damage, but also attacks Mick's mind. He hear's, in his mind, horrible shrieking and mad howls of tortured human minds, taking additional psychic damage. Each time the creatures are hit they simple giggle madly. The party kills these insane beings, and continues down the hall.

The passage opens into a large excavated cavern-like chamber with a 20-foot ceiling. Dancing lights illuminates the chamber, revealing human bones scattered across the floor, an area raised 10' at the far end and stone steps leading up to it, and in the middle of the floor a 3' tall stone cistern the apparently is full of water. 

Mick walks by the pool on his way to the steps. As he comes nearer the pool his mind is assaulted by the feeling of dozens of minds screaming in terror and confusion. Debi comes up for a look and the same thing happens. 

Suddenly Simon is confronted by a being that looks like the old man from his lucid dream. The creature attacks him. He fails a save and is paralyzed due to a mental assault in which he senses some familial connection with what is happening -- he is stunned and loses a turn.

Mick runs up the stairs. When he and Debi looked into the pool they saw clear water, human skulls sitting in the bottom, and thousands of undulating smoky black tendrils moving in the water in a complex web, constantly changing and shifting. 

Simon regains his senses and casts Bless on himself and his two friends.

The party feels confusion and madness emanating from the pool. Debi sings and gives Bardic Inspiration to Simon.

Longer water tendrils rise from the pool and attack the party, ignoring armor protection and doing psychic damage upon hitting.

Debi is confronted by a creature resembling a mixture of her patron, Rax, and his pet, Magpie. The creature attacks her. Mick is confronted and attacked by what appears to be an undead version of his mentor, Blix Yodarian. The PCs see each other fighting non-existent enemies. Simon finally saves and the Phantasmal Force illusion leaves his mind. He blasts the pool with Guiding Bolt. The spell hits, and the party hears dozens of voices screaming in their heads.

More water tendrils attack, but finally Debi and Mick save against the spell. Simon attacks with Sacred Flame. Debi leaves the room (she has taken heavy damage), as Mick slashes into the pool with his magic dagger. He is surprised that it does in fact cut and damage the smoky black tendrils in the water. 

Calling upon the power of Ahki, Simon calls down Sacred Flame once again to blast the pool. 

The party hears screaming in their heads and each takes psychic damage Simon's spell destroys the network of magic neural tendrils in the pool in an explosion of mental energy. 

Debi comes back in. The characters all feel a sense of peace replacing the background noise of insanity and confusion. They go up on the raised area and find record books which list the names of inmates in the asylum who were apparently used in evil magic experiments in this chamber. They find scrolls describing those experiments and the theories behind them. They put all this stuff in the Portable Hole and leave.

As they exit the stairs to the surface they find a gigantic blue saber toothed blue cat sitting high above them in the ruins. Clearly it is Bubastis. The cat slowly evaluates them. Each of them feel the cat's mind telepathically probing theirs. They converse with him. He says they have silenced the screaming he has heard in his mind for many years, and he is grateful. In thanks, he allows Debi to cut one of his smaller whiskers to complete her quest on the island, then tells them to leave without killing anyone else.

The party leaves, returning to their rowboat by the small dock.

End of Session.

XP award for this and the previous session: 510xp

Session 27: Castle Island

 We resume where we left off. The PCs are in the wizard's lair, having killed him and his imp familiar. They search the building, finding potions of healing, fire breathing, and storm giant strength. The return home for a long rest.

The next day they return to Rivas Greel's home to tell him what happened. They are let in by his goblin doorman and meet with him. He thanks them for their help. He leaves the room briefly and returns with the statue the retrieved for him. He holds it up, then he smashes it on the floor, breaking it. He explains that he staged the whole thing to draw out anyone plotting against him. The magic aura that Simon detected on the statue was in fact Nystul's Magic Aura spell cast on the statue. 

Debi is unhappy that they have been used. Rivas apologizes, and tells the trio that he owes them all favors now, and he will make things right by them. Debi reluctantly accepts this apology as do Mick and Simon. 

Debi tells Simon and Mick about her recent encounter with Raxilliah the Merchant, and that Rax tasked her with bring them a whisker from the giant blue feline, Bubastis, on Castle Island. The other two agree to accompany her on this task.

They go to the World Library to research Castle Island and Bubatis. They find that until about 25 years ago the island, site of a ruined castle, was the location of an insane asylum where the most crazy of Langwon were sent. At some point people started disappearing and rumors of evil began to circulate. It is now the home to the remaining patients, humanoid beings (like ogres), and the legendary cat Bubastis. Debi finds the account of a man who encountered the cat on the island, saying that Bubastis was about 10' long and spoke directly into his mind. 

They go to the port of Langwon, and the harbor master directs them to dock 42, where he says they'll find a ship and captain that may be willing to take them to Castle Island, which about a 1-day sail out into the ocean.

Going to doc 42, they see a somewhat beat-up ship and a single goblin crew member swabbing the deck. They address him, and he calls the captain - Captain Klank -- also a goblin. They negotiate passage - only 120 gp IF Simon will heal his infected tooth. Simon heals him. They set off the next day, sailing through the night on the Troll's Tooth. Debi and Mick entertain the crew.

Arriving at the island, Klank takes them to the north side, gives them a rowboat, and tells them he'll wait three days for them. 

The trio rows to shore, pulling their boat on to dry land.

They follow a trail into the woods, and after a while are attacked by 8 local humans. Debi is hit by two primitive spears. Mick uses and illusionary roar in the woods to scare three of them away. Simon fries one with Sacred Flame. Debi blasts with Thunderwave. Mick crossbows one. Debi uses Detect Thoughts to read the surface thoughts of one of them, and finds him to be 100% insane and thinking "They're back to get us! Kill them!". The PCs dispatch those who didn't run and continue on their way.

Up the trail they avoid a village of ramshackle huts and a woman tending a garden. They continue toward the castle ruins. 

Arriving, they find a castle that has been mostly destroyed. They creep up, and hear two ogres inside the walls eating and talking. Sneaking around the side, Mick uses Mage Hand to place his line and grappling hook over the edge or the top of one of the towers. The trio climb. 

Quietly looking over the grounds from the top of the tower, they see the ogres. They also see, in the rubble, two stone staircases going down under the ruins. Debi fires a crossbow bolt with a little catnip down by one of the stairs. Nothing comes up. They come up with a plan.

Going back down, they sneak to a hole in the outside of the wall not far from the ogres. Mick uses Minor Illusion to create the roar of a big cat. Failing morale rolls, the ogres drop their meals exclaming "Bubastis! RUN!". They run out the front gate to escape their perceived enemy, and go out into the woods.

The team enters the ruins. Debi retrieves her crossbow bolt. 

End of Session. 

Sesson 26: Wizard Hunt

 The PCs find out that the wizards was disguised and Rivas's friend Cushing Hammar, a local "merchant." Larsh finds him tied up. They investigate, going to building Simon tracked him to in the previous session.

They surveil the building and chat up people in the neighborhood. The local kids are afraid of the building and tell them all sorts of wild tales about the goings on in there. 

The group climbs to the roof, where they find a metal framed glass dome that casts mystic symbols down to the bottom floor. Looking through, they can see that there are large holes in the 2nd and 3rd floors. They cannot however get in via the roof.

Returning to the ground, they enter the building.

On the bottom floor they find arcane, profane symbols painted on the walls. A summoning chamber. This may account for the wizard attempting to have Rivas's statue stolen. 

They explore the 2nd floor, finding living quarters.

On the 3rd floor as they explore something invisible strikes Mick, knocking him over the edge of the whole in the floor. Mick makes an acrobatics roll, manages to grab the edge as he falls by, and flips himself to safety down on the 2nd floor!

An Imp is now visible after its attack on Mick.

The wizard materializes and attacks with another lightning bolt, doing some damage to Debi and Simon. They attack with spells - Debi with Dissonant Whispers, doing damage. Eventually Simon hits him with Guiding Bolt - the wizard screams as he falls through the hole, to lie dead in the middle of his summoning circle 30 feet below!

End of session.

Session 25: Scum Town Shuffle

 The PCs begin where we left off, in the old textile mill with Ty Kimbal in front of them.

Ty has introduced himself, saying he was testing them to see if they would be worthy adventuring companions. He is quite arrogant. He gives each of them a small bag with 5gp for their trouble, and invites them to the Eye of the Beholder for a drink, it still be night time. 

After a quick drink he leaves. The PCs stay. Their old associate Rivas Greel comes in with his bodyguard Larsh. Rivas sits with them and invites them to a party the next night at his estate, saying he has acquired a piece of pre-cataclysm artwork and is throwing a party at which friends and associates can view it. He's in a great mood. The trio accepts the invitation.

That night each of the PCs has a different experience:

• Simon has a lucid dream, in which he is on an island with a castle. He explores the castle, finding a long corridor full of prison cells. Each cell has a human skeleton in it. He hears "help..." coming from further down. After going down what seemed and endless corridor, he comes to the end. He finds a cell with an old, withered person in a cloak and hood sitting against the wall. As Simon watches, the person pulls back the hood, revealing a face just like Simon's but aged many many years. It begins cackling madly at him. Simon awakens.
• There's a knock on Mick's door. It's his thief associate Slovas,  who informs him about the party at Rivas's house, the artwork which is a statuette carved from a huge ruby of a pre-cataclysmic barbarian queen. He wants Mick and the others to help hims steal it. Mick says he'll discuss it with the others and they pick a place to meet up the next day.
• Debi hears a trilling music in her room, and sees a spectral image of Rax's pet, Magpie, who signals for Debi to follow. She enters Rax's shop, where they catch up. Rax tasks her to go to the Castle Island, a days sail off the coast of Langwon, and retrieve a whisker from the giant feline being Bubastis, who lives on the island. No strict time frame. Debi of course agrees.

Mick buys some fancy clothes and hat with a feather in it for the party. The group arrives to find many VIPs they have previously met already at the party. Debi is offered a snack by Slovas, who is disguised as a servant. He winks at her. She lets Mick know that he's there. 

The house is crowded with people. Rivas invites Debi to entertain in the trophy room, where the statuette sits on a stone platform, under glass. She rolls a total of 22 on a performance roll, completely entrancing the crowd with her song and the Moon Lyre. 

As she performs, she sees the statue suddenly disappear from its display case. She sees Slovas looking surprised. Simon casts detect magic, and is aware that a man standing hear him as cast a spell. A servant near the door to the lounge suddenly has the statue in his hands. He throws it to another person who runs out the front door.  Mick and Debi take off after them followed by Larsh. Simon sees the spellcaster turn invisible. He attacks but misses as the other two pursue the thieves, Simon casts Locate Object to track the unique boots the wizard was wearing. He follows the wizard outside, to find that he' dropped invisibility and use Fly to take off. Simon hits him with Guiding Bolt, but he continues flying. 

Simon tracks the spellcaster from the ground using Locate Object after the wizard dips between buildings. 

Meanwhile Mick and Larsh chase the thief with the statue into the sewers. Debit pursues the other and casts Charm Person on him, convincing him to lead her to where the thieves had planned to go to get away. He leads her to the sewer, where she meets Mick and Larsh. The charmed thief reveals that his partner is hidden in a secret hiding behind a secret door, and that just beyond it is large chamber where they'd have been attacked by giant frogs. They open the door and catch the other thief.

Simon follows the wizard into a building. After a brief encounter, the wizard blasts him with Lightning bolt, coming 1 point from killing him. The wizard leaves, not knowing that Simon can heal himself quickly to almost full health calling upon the power of his god, Ahki. Simon then follows the wizard, successfully using stealth, to what may be his lair.

He returns to the group.

End of session. 

Sessions 22, 23, and 24: Lament's Stronghold and The Test

 This will be a quick recap, as it has been a while.

The party arrives at the Great Canyon and finds the triangular obelisk markers of the stairs down to the bottom of the canyon. Debi Hari uses the scroll's incantation to drop the magical force field which previously repelled Mick as he attempted to go through. The party starts down the stairs on the 600 foot decent. 

Halfway down they are attacked by a flock of disgusting, flying, fleshy creature that look like  across between hairless bats and mosquitoes -- stirges. The creature are easy to kill, but with three stirges per party member they do some damage. The party survives and makes it to the bottom.

They find the entrance to the stronghold of Straja Lament. Debi opens it. Inside they find the mummies of an elf in shining chainmail, a barbarian, and a dwarf. When Debi uses Mage Hand to take the elven chainmail and try it on, she gets a nasty electrical shock. They leave it. 

Going up the stairs Mick almost finds a trap, but misses it. As he steps on one of the steps, and iron gate blocks off the exit at the bottom, leaving Jewell and Lorian locked out of the stairwell. Meanwhile in the room above a crystal golem-like construct attacks. They destroy it, and the party manages to figure out the gate mechanism. Debit and Mick use Mage Hands to manipulate the mechanism while the strong characters lift the 600 pound iron gate. The party is reunited.

They explore the stronghold. Simon finds a hollow wall and then a secret door that provides and easy entrance to the interior. 

They explore, finding Lament's old chambers and workshop. They fight the hydra-vine in her garden. They discover the treasure room in which they fight two more of the crystal guardians. Finally they defeat 9 giant crystal spider constructs in the bottom of a pit room.

They leave and return to Langwon. XP 445 each. 

 Returning to Langwon, the PCs are at the Eye of the Beholder. They are lured to an abandoned textile factory by what appears to be Blix Yodarian, Mick's mentor. Mick goes in first by himself and is hit by a crossbow bolt trap in some stairs. Simon and Debi join him. They find themselves in a building that has been filled with deadly traps, which they explore. Finally they open a door and see a beholder in there. Simon cast Sacred Flame but misses. Debi casts Cloud of Daggers. Mick slams the door shut. It is the monster's turn. They hear a giant blast of air inside the room but don't open the door.

A wizardly figure appears behind them, introducing himself as Ty Kindal, who has been studying them. He set this all up to access their prowess as potential adventuring partners, and explains that inside the room was a Gas Spore, not a Beholder, and that they avoided being infected by its explosion when Mick slammed the door.

End of session 23. 200 more XP each.