PG Session 4: Brain Bird Tentacle Monster!

Previous session: Session 3: Rub a dub dun in a pretty hot…springs?

Our team in great distress over shy-guy Vince being pulled nakedly down a hidden corridor broke down the secret door and proceeded to the rescue.

Of Grells and raving lunatics

After their noisy opening of the door, the group discovered a dark pathway that followed the edge of the springs. Several other hidden doors led back to the springs to their right. Heading back the way they came they delved deeper into the hall they came to a flight of stairs leading down with a rickety door at the bottom.

Danger Zone, Jam’Kul’s spider familiar, investigated the room. He found a large room, mostly empty, with a hooded figure mumbling in a paranoid tone about the door coming down to a giant disturbing beast. At first glance Jam knew he recognized this horrific eagle brain tentacle monster from reading about it. He could identify the beast as a Grell and warned the party of its paralytic poison.

Meanwhile the grell stabbed Vince with one of its spiny tentacles and Vince slumped to the ground naked and paralyzed.

Nothing of note happened during the fight. The party managed to dispatch both of the dangers in the room without being poisoned or killed.  Crew dressed in the raving man’s robes and Clad used the fancy women’s clothes to cover Vince’s naked form.

Two single doors and one large set of double doors led out of the room.  Behind door one was a room entirely filled with large barrels. Upon opening the barrels they discovered three different types of liquid.

• A green liquid that illuminated when distributed. Clad recognized this substance as the same substance they discovered in the tower and were probably injected with.
• A black liquid that seemed to move on its own and smelled a bit salty.
• A barrel of water with floating amorphous blobs similar in appearance to an oil slick.

Behind door two, a small dingy bedroom sat. Investigating the room revealed a panel on the bottom of the end table. They found a note about required subjects. The note alluded to the cloaked figure having a penchant for human males but not to keep taking them. It asked for rarer races such as gnomes and dragonborn for experimentation and reminded him that under no circumstances should he take targets who would attract the attention of Maidbow city in any way.

As the fight ended, the group was beginning to feel sick. In tandem the group felt aches and pains intensify. They also began to feel a bit woozy.

Half-Ogres and Mine carts

Behind the double doors, rollers set in a ditch beside a path led into a room. The rollers would allow the movement of a heavy object with ease, such as the metal cages seen in the adjoining room.

Ahead two half-ogres sat arguing. One Ogre, a female, played with a doll made of straw pretending it was her baby while they spoke.

“We check out sounds,” she asked.

“No. Nuns of our Business,” he replied as if repeating something he had heard many times before.

The room itself was large and open. Some empty metal cages sat by one wall. On the other side of the room a large makeshift bed wafted its terrible scent. Directly opposite the hallway and double doors was a hallway with rails. In front of the rail system an intricately carved stone pillar.

Crew entered, dressed as the other man, very unconvincingly, “Hey, the other shipment we sent down was bad. Go get it and bring it back.”

“Uhhhhh….Ok.” The male half-ogre began lumbering down the rail hallway. He had to move very slowly because the hallway did not allow him to stand his full height. This was clearly going to take a while.

By now the rest of the party had entered. Seeing non-robed figures the remaining half-ogre set her doll down carefully as if putting a baby to bed and walked to the pillar. She lifted a small stick and used it to press a button on the pillar too small for her fingers. “Ok I call.”

A minute passed and then a loud Oof was heard from the tunnel and then the lumbering steps were accompanied by the sounds of wheels being pushed further down the tunnel.

Crew called him back and he slowly backed out of the tunnel holding a large metal mine cart. The Half-Ogre went to lift Clad into the mine cart but Crew stopped him, “These one’s can do it themselves.”

Everyone got in the minecart and the Half-Ogre used the stick to press a button on the other side. He waved slowly as they left.

The mine cart moved very quickly along the rails in only a few minutes they were at the bottom. Another carved pillar waited at the bottom along with another Half-Ogre. He moved to lift the party out of the cart. Waved away again by Crew he sat and waited.

The room had one large stone wall with a simple lever by one side. Along the other wall sat cages. Two of which contained the passed out elvin woman and the young halfling. Upon Crew’s request, the half-ogre broke the locks off the cages, placed the two of them into the cart and sent the cart back to the other Half-Ogres.

Crew gave instructions for the Half-Ogre to follow the cart up the path and make sure that the people were let go. As they waited for those they assumed were coming to pick up the now saved people they heard the slow and repetitive noise of the Half-Ogre going Ooof as the mine cart hit him, then the sound of him shoving the cart away, and another loud Oof as it hit him again. The sound grew fainter as they waited.

And now we have some horses!

They waited a while and were greeted by the sound of someone shouting for the oaf to open the door. They opened the door, prepared to fight. When the door opened they were greeted by two hardened fighters and two common looking men on two narrow carts drawn by sturdy horses.

They killed the common looking men first, and then one of the hardened fighters. The last remaining refused to surrender. He alluded to it being worse for him if he said anything. They ended up killing him and taking the carts and the horses. Both of the veterans had amulets of a circle wrapped with a snake.

City of Maidbow

The party, having general knowledge that Maidbow was renowned for its healers, headed there to try and address the wooziness they all felt.

The players arrived at Maidbow not long after they murdered everyone coming to take people away.

As they neared the city, the main streets became congested with those flocking towards the city. After asking a passing merchant, they were informed that it was the Maiden’s festival in a few days.

The group noticed several posted advertising a great tournament, the winner or winners of which could enjoy a hefty prize and the honor of escorting Queen Leliana for the remainder of the festival.

First things first the party took their well-earned loot and went to Fantasy Costco. They purchased the following items:

• Zed: Knockback Fist
• Clad: Xtreme teen bible & True Heart Clasp
• Jam’Kul: Ring of Recall
• Crew: Magic Quiver, Cupids Arrow, Jumanji Arrow, & Health Stealing Arrow
• 2 stones of Far Speech

After their trip to Fantasy Costco they traveled in search of a merchant with a Mastiff. The party decided to sell one of the small carts they had from earlier and Zed purchased a Mastiff, & War Saddle. The remainder of the party chipped in what they could for a saddle & saddle bags for one of their horses.

It tingles in a good way

After their shopping spree the party set out to locate a doctor. The small gnomish doctor took a sample of blood and using a complex contraption that analyzed the contents of their blood became puzzled. There was no trace of poison of disease.

The group was then bounced from doctor to doctor and brought finally to the Academy hospital. The training hospital home to the best and brightest healers, could not assist them in identifying what was wrong.

Begrudgingly, they were sent to a hermit healer in the Steam Woods. He warned them that she may not see them but that it would be worth a try.

A small branching path from where the road to the mining town nearby led them towards her home. The path, ill-used and overgrown, still managed to accommodate the narrow cart, horses and dog in single file.

At the end of the path was a simple well with a spiral stair leading downwards. The Mastiff was able to follow down but the horses had to be tied up.

Midway down a booming unnatural voice greeted them, “Who is it that comes?”

Clad replied with his own spell amplified voice that they were in need of medical aid.

“Very well,” was the only reply.

When they reached the bottom of the well it opened to one very cluttered room with a fire pit and small pot over it. Everywhere they looked bottles and papers overtook themselves. Small pots with exotic plants sat by the edge of the well.

Sitting on a stool facing them was a black skinned half elf. She had the skin color, high cheekbones and black eyes of a dark elf but the reddish-brown hair and ears of a human woman. She was older and was immediately studying them with her sharp eyes.

She questioned them briefly on their illness, motioned Zed forward and pricked his finger. She swiped the blood up on her own finger and swiped it over her teeth. She spat it out onto the ground. Raised on finger for them to wait and headed back through the only door.

She returned several glass bottles with plants and mushrooms within. She began adding materials to the pot over the fire and stirred it slowly. As she did this the party questioned her and she gave them the following information:

• The amulet symbol belonged to an old and long thought destroyed, sect of necromancy. The sect did not bring people back from the dead however, they changed them. Morphed them into horrible creatures.
• That their illness would only get worse. Much slower than if they had gotten additional doses but would get worse.
• She said the sect had long ago resided in the swamps far south of there.

She spooned a thick gray paste from the cauldron into a bottle. With her fingers she applied the paste to their injection sites. It tingled pleasantly and their aches and pains almost instantly began to fade. The group gained 10 days of healing paste.

This was not a permanent cure.  She said she could heal them but that it would be draining to her to do so and she required payment. She requested they take a sealed letter and hand deliver it to Queen Leliana.

The adventure continues soon!