Session 9: The Blighted Waste Report

General Summary

Galensday the 27th of Harvestide in the year 3025 AF After defeating the trolls at the stone bridge, the Fate Bound decided to take a short rest to collect themselves. It was still early afternoon and they needed to continue traveling until nightfall if they had any hope of finding Cold Hollow and intercepting the cultist of Thydos from Little Ferry. As they continued on their journey, the way forward rose slightly and brown, stony, wilderness surrounded them on all sides. They noticed that the grass and vegetation of the overgrown trail they followed was covered with a slimy substance that they could not identify. It appeared to be spread around in patches as far as the eye could see. Iados determined that it was not magical, but that it was certainly unnatural. Tenzin was bold enough to touch the substance discovering it to be a bit oily, but he suffered no ill effects from it on his fingers. Further along the trail, they approached a ravine that cut straight across their path. As they neared it's edge the heroes spied a rope bridge swinging in a slight breeze. It was the only way across for many miles in either direction. Three stone ledges served as a staircase leading up to a landing with access to the rope bridge. Looking across the ravine, they saw that the walls of the cliff on the far edge were pock-marked with caves, their dark openings hiding whatever might be within. Druss remained at the foot of the stairs so that he could keep an eye on the mules and the wagon, while the rest of the Fate Bound climbed to the landing. The bridge creaked in the wind and some of the wooden boards along it were missing or partially broken. Arveer strode forward onto the bridge and stopped short as five winged creatures erupted from the caves beating their wings furiously. They had the upper body of a female humanoid and the lower body of reptilian creatures, with scaly legs, clawed feet, and clawed hands with knotty fingers. The Fate Bound had stumbled onto a harpy nest. The vile creatures began singing a melodious song that reverberated against the walls of the ravine. The Fate Bound steeled themselves against the siren call of the harpies, but Druss, Tenzin and Shayne were mesmerized and starting moving slowly forward toward the harpies and the edge of the ravine. Arveer continued onto the bridge heaving two javelins one after the other gravely wounding the nearest harpy.

Harpy Iados hurled magic missiles from his wand at the harpies while Gilligan cast viscous mockery, but it was resisted by a harpy. Just as they were about to step over the edge, Druss, Tenzin and Shayne came to their senses and were able to shake off the influence of the harpy song. A harpy flew down and grabbed onto one side of the rope bridge causing it to sway back and forth violently. Arveer lost his balance and was headed over the edge into the ravine, but at the last moment he was able to grab onto the rope bridge and prevent himself from plummeting over the side. The other harpies started to dive down and claw at the heroes as they flew by. The Fate Bound retaliated with missile weapons and spells as they shook off the effects of the harpy song once again. In desperation, Arveer pulled himself up onto the bridge using sheer muscle and he aimed a javelin at the wing of the nearest harpy. The creature screamed as they javelin tore through the membrane of it's wing. Seizing upon that idea, the Fate Bound followed Arveer's example and aimed there attacks at the creature's wings. Leonardo, Gilligan and Shayne landed telling blows. A harpy, seeking to prevent the heroes from crossing over the bridge flew down on the far end and pulled out one of the stakes holding the rope bridge causing it to lean dangerously to one side. Arveer braced himself preventing a fall. Another harpy flew down to help her sister preparing to pull out the other stake. Iados cast shatter blasting the two harpies as Shayne nimbly raced across the bridge followed by Arveer. Tenzin summoned his spiritual weapon to attack the harpy trying to pull out the other stake. Together they slew one harpy and the other tried to fly away, but was felled by a javelin thrown from Leonardo. After the battle, the Fate Bound repaired the bridge and using a block and tackle they were able to bring across the wagon and the mules safely. Suspecting that there might be treasure within the harpy caves, they lowered Shayne down into them for a quick search. The harpies had been living in filth and the smell was almost unbearable as he picked through the caves. Sifting through it all his hand and arms began to itch and burn temporarily, but he was only able to find a couple of gems so they hauled him back up. Wounded and tired, the heroes decided to make a camp and rest for the night. As Druss began preparing the evening meal, he called them all together. He took out his bottle of Whiskey Gold and poured them each a glass. Then he made a toast saying, "Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good!" As they drank the fine spirit down he continued to stir the pot over the fire. It smelled fantastic. He told them that their dinner tonight was going to be something he called "Lucky Man's Chili". He had named it that to remind them all that if you are sitting here eating it, you were lucky enough to have survived the battles of the day. Looking them each in the eye, he told them they had made a good number of mistakes today, but that they were lucky enough to live to tell about it. With that he spooned out the chili giving a generous portion to each of them. As they sat beside the fire enjoying it, he told them that they all needed to start working together and not against each other. He warned that if they continued to allow their emotions to get the better of them on the battlefield that their luck would run out. He suggested that they start paying attention to each other and try not to put each other in danger. When the plan is to hold the line, running off in different directions will eventually lead to someone getting killed. They all nodded as he spoke and agreed that they would work on their teamwork and discipline. Arveer and Shayne talked among themselves as they finished their chili. The two were unlikely companions. Arveer son of a hero and a local legend himself, long-time friend and companion of Iados with whom he had traveled for many years and Shayne a former killer for hire and an outcast not only because of his heritage, but because of his past associations. Arveer did not give his friendship easily or without merit. He wanted Shayne to know that despite their differences he had become a valued and welcome member of the Fate Bound. With full bellies, they all rested through an uneventful evening. Tyrsday the 28th of Harvestide in the year 3025 AF The next day dawned to reveal an overcast sky with rain beginning just after dawn. The Fate Bound pulled their cloaks tight about them and continued on their journey through the Blighted Waste. It was tough going as the rain turned the trail into a muddy mess and the weather had grown colder. A few hours into their journey, Tenzin and Shayne noticed a circular depression in the brush off to the right side of the road. The heroes went over to investigate it more closely and found it to be a perfect circle looking like a large stone had been placed in the grass and then removed without a trace. Iados cast Detect Magic to no avail as he could detect no magical auras nearby. Since they could not determine what the depression was, they decided to continue, but more carefully. An hour later they came upon a terrible scene. About fifty feet ahead of them just off the trail they saw bodies sprawled face down in the grass. Fearing a trap, they stopped and did not approach. When the bodies did not move Arveer picked up a stone and threw it near the bodies, but still they did not move. Leonardo used Divine Sense to determine that the bodies were undead creatures, which he guessed were zombies. The heroes decided to avoid the bodies and continued on giving them a wide berth and so they continued on toward Cold Hollow. Just before they planned to stop for lunch, they reached a fork in the path. To the left the trail continued on a slight upslope and to the right the way forward sloped downward. After a brief discussion, they decided to take the path to the left. It lead to an old cemetery surrounded by an ancient looking, crumbling stone wall. Dead trees were spaced sporadically among the graves and a large statue stood forlorn at it's center. A few of the tombs were intact, but most were reduced to rubble. As they approached, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky illuminating the cemetery in bright light. In that moment, they saw bodies sprawled in the grass among the graves unmoving and rain soaked.

Cemetery Druss tied the donkeys to a tree outside the cemetery and then the Fate Bound moved into the eerie place in a tight, circular formation fearing an ambush. Some of the graves had been disturbed while others looked as if the burials there had been haphazardly performed, but they were now so old that grass and weeds choked the area. The bodies were similar to the ones that they had seen earlier in the day, clearly undead and not moving. Suddenly, about one hundred feet away on their right a party of six humanoids emerged from a large mausoleum. They were tall and slender with rough, leathery yellow skin and bright black eyes sunken deep in their orbits. They had long and angular skulls, with small and highly placed flat noses, and ears pointed and serrated on the back side. A great sword was strapped to each of their backs. One of them wore an elaborate headdress and carried a sack. When he noticed the heroes, he pointed at them and said something to the others in a language the heroes could not understand before disappearing from sight leaving a slight shimmer in the air where he had once been. Remembering what Druss had told them the night before, the Fate Bound remained in their formation and waited for the enemy to come to them. The warriors facing them moved quickly drawing their great swords and charging forward. At first, the heroes believed that their tactics would work because it appeared that their enemies would not be able to reach them and attack, but they would soon learn that was no the case. As the first warrior moved forward they were shocked when he also disappeared with a shimmer and then shockingly appeared instantaneously thirty feet closer directly in front of them and able to attack! Their swords glowed with runes that flared with energy causing additional damage with each blow. The yellow-skinned warriors proved to be formidable foes using their mobility to strike swiftly and move away. They also concentrated their attacks on the weaker member of the group and the spellcasters working hard to bring down Gilligan, Iados and Tenzin. The warriors hit hard, their runic swords doing additional psychic damage with each blow. In spite of this onslaught, the heroes remembered the words of Druss from the night before and remained together in their formation enabling them to come to each others aid when necessary.

Yellow-Skinned Warrior The melee that followed was a furious and bloody one. Arveer stood strong in the center of the fray, using his sword to defend his friends from attacks and striking telling blows whenever an enemy came to close. Shayne ducked in and out of harm's way making certain to strike when his enemies were off balance. Iados was able to get off a few spells, but was knocked unconscious by vicious blows form the runic swords. Tenzin tried to maneuver out of harm's way and heal his friends, but the warriors singled him out and he also dropped to the ground unconscious. Gilligan also fell to the blows from the determined and deadly warriors. Leonardo, a righteous fury growing inside him channeled holy energy into any warrior that stepped within range. Druss protected the rear of the formation, but stepped up when necessary to defend fallen friends and was able to make the warriors pay when they got too close. Tenzin feeling his lifeforce draining away, reached out with all of his willpower to Morwen. He saw a vision of the goddess, radiant and pure, reaching out her hands to him and with a searing jolt he was fully healed. As he surveyed the battle, he saw one of the warriors nearby attacking Leonardo and off to the right was the unconscious form of Gilligan. Using Healing Word he was able to bring Gilligan back into the fray. Desperate to do more, he called upon the power of the Empaths and grabbing the warrior attacking Leonardo from behind he channeled the divine energy of Morwen through his hands and quite literally sucked the life force out of the yellow-skinned warrior dropping him to the ground now a desiccated husk. Tenzin knew immediately that this was a mistake. His vision was filled with an image of Morwen that he would never forget. She was receding from him as if repulsed by what he had done and wanting nothing to do with him. It was an image of his goddess that he thought he would never see and one that he never wished to see again. A small mote of darkness now stained his soul and he would never forget it. What Tenzin had done helped to turn the tide of the battle. Gilligan cast Heat Metal on one of the warriors while Arveer and Druss brought down another warrior. Soon the battle was over and all of the warriors were slain. After the battle, Tenzin moved away from his friends and sat with his back to the statue in the center of the cemetery after throwing his staff into the mud. Druss and Arveer began collecting the bodies of the dead warriors and piling them into a heap. Shayne searched them finding little of value and Gilligan picked up one of the great swords only to learn that the runes on it were no longer active. Iados and Leonardo started to move toward the mausoleum that the warriors had come out of, but soon turned to talk to Tenzin who was looking more and more distraught over what he had done during the battle. Soon all of the Fate Bound had moved to support their friend who was in need. Leonardo was the most vocal picking the staff up from the ground and handing it back to Tenzin as Gilligan used Prestidigitation to cleanse it. Leonardo told his friend that he should get up and face what he had done. He told him that there was so much good he had done and that one mistake could not and should not define him. Surrounded by this friends, Tenzin slowly rose to his feet with and he looked at them all, a determined look on his face. He would never forget what he had done, but he would not let it define him. The heroes then turned their attention to the mausoleum. The doors were open slightly, but they could still see the silver circle surrounding the scales of justice; both symbols of Dalana. A stone sarcophagus rested in the center of the tomb, it's lid thrown haphazardly against the far wall. Lying within was a skeleton clad in half plate with his arms resting with it's hands together as if it was once holding something that was no longer there. They decided to look around more carefully for any clues as to why the yellow-skinned warriors had come here. Iados cast Detect Magic and discovered that there was once an abjuration spell on the doors which had been expended, but there were no other magical auras within the mausoleum. They noticed that the walls were covered with images painted and carved into the stone. They depicted a warrior fighting undead and monsters wielding a brightly covered sword. They quickly deduced that the skeleton was probably holding a weapon and the weapon is what the warrior with the headdress had taken. Looking very closely at one wall, Leonardo brushed away some dirt and cobwebs and could barely make out a name. It read Dolendai which sent a chill up his spine. Somewhere in the Blighted Waste was the city that he had been looking for. Here ends session 9

Campaign

Into the Maelstrom

Protagonists