Session 36 - The Battle of Sandpoint

Pharast 6

The night before the druid prepared as many spells as he could of soften earth and transmute rock to mud. They left Tanner's Bridge open, and made everything south of it past the south bridge either muddy or hard to pass through.

The militia lined the fortifications to the north armed with bows. The guardsmen in town was positioned at Tanner's Bridge, while ten dwarves from the nearby Torag Monestary that came to help were position at the south bridge. All the townspeople that had any experience were given horses and were stationed near the Sandpoint theater to help where needed. The only exception to this were Veznoot Parooh and Risa Magravi, both were arcane spell casters that were old and could not travel fast but wanted to help, they were stationed in a tower of the cathedral and given wands to use. Some messengers that could ride horses were stationed at various intervals to help communicate. The party stationed themselves at Tanner's bridge.

Rounds 1 - 3

Two stone giants appear north of the city and begin to bombard the gates. The defenders starting shooting arrows at them, occasionally getting hit with a boulder or some shrapnel. Xantumal, in air elemental form cast lightning storm and began to pummel the giants outside the gate.

Rounds 3 - 8

Xantumal continued to throw lightning at the giants at the north gate, while the defenders kept shooting despite their numbers starting to decline. The mobile force of townspeople were called to the north gate to help shore it up.

Charging across Tanner's Bridge came four Dire Bears followed by 3 stone giants. Khazen cast haste followed by a lightning bolt while the others closed in. By round 7 they had pretty much killed off the giants and bears and started towards the north gate to help.

That's when a large red dragon swooped over the north wall scattering the defenders and their reinforcements. It stopped at the garrison where it tried to burn it, but as it was mostly stone the building survived with little damage.

Rounds 9-12

Since only a handful of defenders remained at the north gate, Xantumal ignored the dragon and continued to pummel the giants there killing one.

Another force of giants appeared south of Tanner's bridge. They managed to leap over the muddiest part of east bank, and slogged through the loose dirt and swam across the water. The party moved to intercept and getting anther haste spell. Shalelu took a different route as to get a better shooting angle and managed to see a larger stone giant moving through the city and decided to intercept it, calling out to whomever could hear. Meanwhile the giants that crossed went down quickly from Mogart, Vale and Orik and a couple spells from Khazen.

Meanwhile the dragon started to fly around town, intimidating what defenders were left and circled back to the Cathedral and torched the roof, including the towers. Veznoot and Risa both used the wands and injured the dragon, but had no way to protect themselves and were torched by the dragon's breath. Xantumal finished off the giant at the north gate and summoned an air elemental to distract the dragon and threw a couple lightning bolts at him.

Rounds 13 - 18

Breaking off to help Shalelu with the giants heading into the city, most of the party ran as fast as they could to catch up, some . Xantumal was communicating where the giants was heading so everyone could follow. When they caught up with him, he was digging around the old light looking for something. He knew he had to face them and attacked. The barbarian took a powerful blow almost killing him, while the rest of the party came to his aid and started to pummel the giant. Phain circled around and attacked from the rear and placed a perfect blow killing the stone giant commander.



Xantumal was attacked by the dragon and nearly killed, but the dragon took enough damage that it fled the town only stopping long enough to torch the theater and the Hagfish.

The victory was short lived as Phain noticed smoke coming from near his estates and a messenger telling them that giants attacked near the south bridge. Xantumal agreed to scout Phain's estates to make sure his family was OK, while everyone else left to help at the south bridge.

See all the pictures of the battle here.

Interlude - Part 3

So ends the third part of "Rise of the Runelords" adventure path called "Hook Mountain Massacre". The party are now all 10th level and each of them has a cohort at 8th level. Here is what the party looks like now:

Xantumal - 10th Level Druid of Gozreh
Mogart - 10th level Shoanti Barbarian of the Skoan-Quah clan.
Phain - 6th Level Sorcerer/ 4th Level Rogue
Khazen Dren - 1st Level Ranger/5th Level Wizard/4nd Level Eldritch Knight

After the events at the end of Hook Mountain Massacre, the party traveled back to Kaer Maga to pick up some of the items they had purchased or upgraded, and also spent some more of their money buying additional items. On returning to Fort Rannick, additional recruits had arrived from Magnimar to become rangers. Needing to clean, repair and rebuild the fort would take time, but now they had plenty of help.

Here is a list of Fort Rannick troops:

Khazen Dren - Commander of Fort Rannick
Vale Temros - Officer
Xantumal - Officer, Coordinator of security in the forest around the fort
Shalelu - Officer
Jakardros - Officer and Chief Trainer of recruits
Mogart - Shoanti Ambassador at Fort Rannick
Preacher - Shoanti Ambassador at Fort Rannick

Each of the three players with leadership has followers manning the fort or the area. Khazen has a group from Magnimar of mostly criminals or down on their luck individuals looking for a second chance. Mogart brought a group of barbarians and rangers from the Storval Plateau. Xantumal has a contingent of forest animal to scout and report to the fort in case of any threats in the area.

After about a week, the party traveled back to Magnimar to report their findings and progress on rebuilding. Phain demanded and received a parade in his honor. Each of the players were rewarded with one magic item of 20,000 or less of their choice.

Everybody but Phain and Orik returned to Fort Rannick. Phain returned home to greet his wife, but now as a goblin instead of human. Assuring the town that he was not a goblin, but the hero that had saved them numerous times, the town came to accept him again. Phain and his Vinder in-laws worked to expand their business in town and in Magnimar.

Things were peaceful for awhile until rumors of attacks on villages and farmsteads began to surface. Magnimar sent out some patrols to find the bandits, but with no luck. Fort Rannick patrols started seeing increased stone giant activity and Magnimar's mayor specifically asked that the heroes that helped him go and find more information.

Khazen, Vale, Xantumal, Shalelu, Mogart and Preacher all headed out searching for giant raiding parties. Tracking some west of Sanos forest and North of the Malgorian Mountains, they eventually came to Wolf's Ear where their patrols had encountered some southwest by the Fogscar Mountains. Scouting around those mountains they headed south until they picked up a trail heading southwest. Soon the discovered that the raiding party was heading towards Sandpoint so they headed there straight away to warn them.

With Phain and Orik they asked for as many volunteers were willing to help defend the town. They also called in the militia. They evacuated as many people as they could into the smuggler's tunnels and the catacombs, and any other place they felt people could be safe.

In the morning....they came....

The next game will be the Battle of Sandpoint. It will take place at one of the player's houses, and the town will be built from miniature terrain. Pictures will follow!

Session 35 - Kreeg Lair Completed

Neth 18 Around 5 PM

Heading towards a passageway leading west at the choke point, the party reached the final room of the lair. Inside were three hideous women around a cauldron, and the undead body of Lamatar.

Preacher used his aura ability to prevent level drain while everyone else but Phain attacked Lamatar. Phain attacked one of the hags. Lamatar was destroyed very quickly, but the hags cast a spell that looked like a cage made out of energy that either trapped everyone inside the cage or blocked entrance to the room. Preacher managed to get in the room before the cage surrounded him, and the druid shape shifted into an earth elemental and moved through the stone wall and joined Phain. A spell from Khazen and another hit from Phain managed to kill one of the hags, preventing another joint spell from going off. Phain used his boot to retreat up a wall and to the ceiling to prevent attacks, letting the druid attack the remaining hags. Soon the hags were dead too.

The party gathered up the remains and made sure there wasn't any secret areas they had missed. After they were sure the Kreegs were defeated, they headed back down the mountain and went back to Fort Rannick.

Neth 19

The party travelled back to Whitewillow and gave the ghost a piece of Lamatar. As the ghost faded she thanked the group and the curse to the area started to recede. Lamatar, reincarnated, reappeared and thanked Khazen, Vake, and Shalelu for all they did. After getting introductions to the rest of the group, he thanked them each as well. He told Khazen that he wasn't returning to Fort Rannick and instead decided to remain in Whitewillow as its protector. That meant Khazen would be the commander of the fort now. He also gave them a magic device that allowed them to re-size an item once a day.

They all returned to Fort Rannick with all of the threats in the area finally defeated.

Pharast 5, 4708

Khazen, Vale, Mogart, Preacher, Xantumal and Shalelu come riding into Sandpoint during the evening. They immediately go to see Sheriff Hemlock, and Phain and Orik are soon summoned into the meeting.

They report that a raiding party of stone giants will arrive to Sandpoint in the morning and there isn't much time to prepare.

Session 34 - Kreeg Ogre Lair

Neth 18 Around Noon

The barbarian led the party up the trails leading to the Kreegs. As they came around the bend, they saw two Kreegs guarding the entrance. Khazen enlarged everyone except the barbarian and cleric, then the group charged the ogres. The barbarian got there first and used his new greatsword to stun a giant while Orik and Vale soon got there to help out with the other ogres. The two guards were down quickly and unable to raise an alarm.

At the entrance to the cave were ancient bones of a dragon sticking out of the ground. Thassilonian runes were carved on the bones over the years by various ogres. Inside was a gigantic statue of a giant they didn't recognize. Upon closer inspection they realized it wasn't a statue at all but a frozen preserved giant wearing a Sihedron medallion. Knowing one of the powers of the medallion is to preserve the body upon death, they assumed taking it off would destroy the body. The barbarian climb up and removed it, falling in the process when the body crumbled to dust. The barbarian kept the mediallion for the false life spell it could cast would be handy in times of emergency while raging.

Heading further into the caves, the stumbled upon three ogres guarding a choke point in the cave. With everyone still enlarged, the area became tight. Orik attacked one ogres, while the barbarian attacked another. Phain used his quick reflexes to catch the farthest one off-guard, and dealt a mighty blow to it. Unfortunately for Phain, when it recovered, it returned an even mightier blow with his Ogre Hook which killed Phain outright. Vale also became victim to an ogre hook, but still clung to life. The barbarian was also close to death but managed to kill off his ogre while Preacher channel and healed those still alive.

Knowing Phain was important to their success, Xantumal took Phain's body and prepared to Reincarnate him back to life. Orik and Vale disposed of the Kreeg bodies and kept watch to make sure no Kreeg's interrupted the ritual. A little over an hour later, Phain was back alive, but in a goblin body. Phain, very concerned about his physical appearance and how this would affect his life was very upset about the change, but was ready to exact some revenge.

Heading south from the choke point, they came into a huge room being worked on by a number of ogres that looked to be worked close to death. Three Kreeg ogres were keeping them on task. Using the advantage of surprise, Khazen blasted the ogres with a fireball while the Mogart, Orik, and Vale all charged an ogre. Two of the taskmasters were dead before they could put up a fight. The third went down easily enough, and the other ogres were to exhausted to threaten the party seriously.

Heading down another passageway north, the party found a long abandoned shrine to Lamashtu. Preacher wanted to rededicate it, but they decided that could be done when all of the threats were gone.

Heading east from the shrine, they came to a gigantic chamber. A Stone giant was sitting on a throne and ordered a second stone giant bodyguard to attack the group. Phain used his boots to climb up to the ceiling and try to sneak up closer to the stone giant on the throne, but he noticed him and started to throw some spells his way.

The main group took care of the bodyguard soon enough and turned their attention to the one on the throne, which they found out was Barl Breakbones as he announced to the group wanting them to know who would kill them.

The group prevailed, but Barl severely injured the Mogart and Vale. Preacher was able to heal their wounds, but was close to being out of spells, including the rest of the group. They hadn't yet found Lamatar's body, and knew there wasn't anytime to rest. They had no choice but to press on.

Session 33 - A Little Rest

Neth 5 - Neth 17

In the aftermath of the last week, coming to Turtleback Ferry, clearing out the Dam, killing the Grauls, retaking Fort Rannick, and retrieving the Seven Swords of Sin, the group finally had a chance to rest.

The keep, with the aid of the barbarians and the townsfolk, had started to get some emergency repairs and getting the bodies out and disposed of. After making sure everything was proceeding with the repairs, the party took a boat to Kaer Maga. There they sold off their magical items and either bought or enchanted some of their existing items. Also in this time, Phain and Khazen researched the swords and discovered their history and some of their power. Mogart too the Sword of Wrath, while Phain took the Sword of Pride, and Khazen took the Sword of Envy.

Upon returning to the fort, there was a pixie named Yap waiting to speak with them. His mistress, Myriana and nymph was killed exacting revenge on the kreeg ogres and was corrupting the forest. He wanted them to help since she was the lover of the former commander. Khazen agreed and they all went to talk with her.

As they neared here location the forest became corrupted, dark and twisted. When they reached her she told them that she wouldn't stop unless a piece of Lamatar was returned to her, and his body was taken back to the Kreeg's stronghold. The party agreed to return with his body, or a piece, if she would stop corrupting the forest.

They return to Fort Rannick, got a supplies they needed, and headed off to Hook Mountain.

Session 32 - The Swords of Sin

Sunday Neth 4 Around 8PM

Continuing on, the party came to a room with a huge well of lava. Two small red dragons were in the pool. One dragon was taunting the party, while the other yelled out for a wish. A Genie came out of the pool and started to fling spells at the group. Khazen used the amulet with the silence on it from the room before to stop the dragon from using any more wishes. Xantumal summoned an air elemental to help control some of the damaging spells. A barbarian charged into the room and helped to kill the dragon.

The barbarian revealed he was actually preacher's brother. They are Shoanti, barbarian from the Storval plateau. Preacher wasn't really a cleric of Pharasma, but a shaman of the Skull clan, though he was aligned with Pharasma in his mission. The barbarian, Mogart never knew where his brother had gone, and was only here to help out the fort. The Skull Clan of the Shoanti, for reasons of their own, want access to Korvosa and are in peace talks with them. But if an agreement won't work, the Shoanti want to help Magnimar win control of Varisia and part of that aid will be access to Korvosa. Mogart brought barbarians with him and when he heard the description of the party that assisted Jakadros retake the fort, he recognized the description of his brother and rushed down to help.

The genie came over and thanked them for freeing him from the control of the dragon. He granted Preacher, Xantumal, Phain and Khazen all one wish. He gave them a token that they could call upon him whenever they felt like using it. Preacher used his on the spot to regain his old form. The genie also warned them that the sword were in the next room.

Heading south they saw the swords rotating around a woman. Phain noticed there were only 5 swords in the air, with one in her hand. The stone pillars were in the side of the room closest to the entrance, while a bridge conncted the other side of the room over a small river. Mogart was going to take the silence amulet and cross the bridge and keep Tirana silenced so she could cast any spells.

As the barbarian crossed the room, Earth elementals popped out of the ground, and Mogart discovered there was some sort of barrier blocking the bridge. Unable to cross, he turned his attention to the elementals. Despite the hard rocky surface reducing his weapon efficiency, each blow seemed to crack and break pieces off of them.

While the barbarian kept the elementals busy, the rest of the group either studied the rock pillars, or tried to find another way in. Khazen used a scroll to turn himself into an earth elemental, as did Xantumal use his shape shift to do so, and tried to find an alternate angle to get inside, with no luck. Orik, Phain and Khazen who returned used a teleport scroll to get inside, but the spell fizzled.

After the elementals were defeated, a kobold came out from a crack in the wall and asked to be freed in return for him helping them get to Tirana. The machine on the upper level had to have a certain pattern of switch flipping and dial turning to power down the three pillars protecting the area. Vale took him upstairs while everyone else waited for the force field to disappear.

When it did, their plan worked to perfection. Mogart used the amulet to keep Tirana silent, while the druid dropped in elemental form right on top of Tirana. The party killed her off without much resistance.

As they recovered the swords, they noticed the scimitar, Chellan the sword of Greed, was missing.

Session 31 - Council of Truth Levels 2 and 3

Sunday Neth 4 Around 2AM

After a rest they approached the next room. This room had spikes all along the floor and ceilings. There was a staircase across the way leading down. Phain used his boots to walk along the wall and check out the staircase. It was real and not trapped. Searching for traps on the way back he was finding multiple traps when a glowing creature attacked him and then disappeared. Khazen cast a detect invisible spell and directed everyone on its movements until they killed it. Phain lead everyone safely through the traps.

Heading down the stairs they found a room with a strange device. When they started to investigate it, a wizard appeared out of no where telling them to leave his experiments alone. A fireball sprang from his fingers damaging everyone. The group attacked him and managed to avoid a slippery area on the floor. After they killed him they found a Hound Archon corpse he was dissecting. The device in the nearby room turned corpse into healing potions, and they used both the wizard and the Hound Archon to make some.



Going down the other hallway, they came to a room with a breeze blowing inwards. Inside the room was a man covered in tiny bug-like creature. It attacked as well as a swarm. When they killed the man. a swarm burst out of it. Khazen and Xantumal used spells to damage the swarms, Khazen almost was infected but Xantumal had a wind spell that dispersed them long enough to save him. Beyond this room was a scrying pool that required a key. The party remember the key in amber, so they went back up and experimented with the remaining combinations of powders and liquids until they made an acidic solution that freed the key. Using the key caused a pod of water to cover the users head. Xantumal cast water breathing so everyone would be OK when using it.

Heading further down the other hallway, the worked stone turned to natural cavern. They entered a large area with a lake and a boat. Also a small hallway branched off so they decided to see what was down there first. As they were going down the hallway they came to a ziggurat shaped room that had swords raining from the ceiling and falling into slits of the floor only to reappear at the top of the room to fall again. A vampire was in the center of the room and pulled in Phain, Khazen and Orik. Gravity increased in the room and they had a hard time standing up or avoiding falling swords. Orik managed to stand up and attack while Preacher used his aura against death to protect from life drain and then hit him with a searing light spell.



They killed the vampire, but it escaped down a small hole in gaseous form. Xantumal changed shape into a tiny creature and followed it down to the vampire's lair. There he staked the vampire, cut off its head and doused it in holy water.

Heading back to the large cavern, Xantumal cast air walk on everyone so they didn't have to rely on the boat. A large black dragon emerged from the water and breathed acid on everyone, and then bit and held Phain in its mouth repositioning itself for another breath when they felled it as it was inhaling.

After searching for the dragon's treasure, they continued on to an area the was covered in some slippery slime leading to a trench in the floor where water was flowing, and on the other side was a door. Preacher moved up first and got attacked by two crab like humanoids. One grabbed him and took him underwater, but luckily still had water breathing spell in effect. The other Chuul grabbed Phain and took him underwater as well. Vale jumped in to save them, while Khazen, Xantumal, and Orik used ranged attacks. Preacher used his channels to keep himself and Phain alive, but even those were not enough to save his life.

The group retreated back to the library to rest.

Sunday Neth 4 Around 5PM

After resting Xantumal cast a reincarnate spell on Preacher. Preacher came back from the dead, but now as a gnome. Gone was the intimidating priest of Pharasma, replaced by a perky looking gnome. Preacher was not happy about the change, and seemed to have a death wish.

Heading past the water trench to the door, it lead to stairs. Preacher bolted past the group, down the stairs, and into the following room. There were three levers int he room that wouldn't budge. Khazen and Vale came into the room and when Khazen approached the southern doors, they all closed, and three fire elementals appeared. They each moved to one of the switch and pulled at the same time opening the door, but causing walls of fire sectioning off the three areas. Xantumal used a quench spell to remove the walls and weaken the elementals as the rest of the group poured into the room and killed off the elementals.

Heading to the next room there was a grate on the floor and when Phain approached it, two oozes pressed through the grate and turned into four oozes. Khazen cast a well placed fireball damaging the oozes while Xantumal summon elementals to finish them off.

Heading east, the group came to a room with a portal to another plane. Phain advanced and saw a Xill and a Destrachen. The destrachan emitted a piercing howl, while the xill appeared in the middle of the group with a silence spell on. They killed the xill before it could lay eggs in anyone, then turned their attention to the destrachan. Soon both creatures were dead.