Friday, September 18, 2009

The tide is high, but I'm holding on. I'm gonna find your lost grandson.

Exhausted and low on resources, the party retreats to the Sea Wyvern and sails down the coast to recuperate. After a day of sailing, the crew spots a ruined mansion on the coastline. A shore party rows over and explores the ruins. The main house had mostly collapsed, only a ruined stone tower stands against the ravages of time. In the dusty tower a spiral staircase winds down, deep into the earth.

At the bottom of the stair, is a locked door surrounded by broken glass. As Rudy listens at the door, a mouth forms in the door and warns that to pass unharmed the party must first figure out and speak the answer to the rebus scribed on the door. Rudy scratches his chin, Gwen recalls a story about a Pasquale Rumano. Pasquale was an evil priest long ago, that protected his lairs with traps and elaborate puzzles. As the rest of the party discusses the problem, Rudy makes strange faces at the door until his eyes light up in surprise. "Spectacular!", he shouts and the door opens.

The party moves into a large hall and Rudy moves ahead to explore. As he does, a purple worm strikes. The party rushes to Rudy's aid, and the monster is dispatched quickly. An impressive looking minotaur strolls down the hallway, from the direction of where the party entered the cavern. He introduces himself as "Bubba Minos", and he has hands instead of hooves. He is the last surviving member of his clan. His clan was destroyed by an evil sorcerer named Mandallorean Milano. Bubba Minos now hunts agents of Mandallorean: a pirate chick, a warforged, a drow elf, a pirate dude, and an evil priest. Gwen recalls a poem from the dead bards society about the descendants of Pasquale Rumano, one of whom is Mandallorean Milano. Rudy looks a little greener than normal hearing the news.

The party backtracks to a side passage and meets a metal elemental named "Matt". Without being able to communicate, Vin tries to walk by which provokes the elemental's attack. The fight becomes interesting when the elemental transforms into a whirlwind of metal blades and sucks most of the party up into the vortex. The party finished of the beast, and discussed in great detail the profit possibilities for the 48,000 pound corpse.

Exploring the other side of the passage, the party meets a wood elemental named "Woody". Negotiations go a little better when a bit of magic is employed to aid communications. The elemental is a guardian, and is awaiting a gift of passage. After a long discussion, Rudy borrows on of Nualla's quarterstaves and offers it as the gift. The party passes on and explores the rest of that passage.

Going down the hall, the party explores the purple worm lair, and a beetle filled room. Hidden in the beetle room is a door into a very narrow passageway. Gwen explores the passage, and successfully avoids a pit trap. As she approaches another room, however, she sets of a trap of multicolored light. Gwendelyn shrieks, and the party rushes to her aid...

(to be continued)

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Session Characters: Vin, Nualla, Gwen, Rudolpho, Hjalmgerdr, Bubba
Session Loot: 12 assorted gems (500gp each), elemental gem (metal), lump of ore (100gp)

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