G11: "Worst Picnic Ever"

Real World Info

This session was played on August 29, 2009, featuring Golkar the Stout, Kang, Larissa and Uda Grimwulde. They were accompanied by the hirelings (and later PCs) Emory and Francois. Later they were joined by Hamish's henchman Bernard and four more hirelings: Javier, Guy, Henri and Isaac.

Summary

Three of our heroes raise a small army of kobolds to storm the wizards' halls; two perish in the attempt, but Uda Grimwulde and her hirelings make away with a tidy bit of treasure. She then plots to rob Hamish's man Bernard on the road to Glantri City, but an effort to render the henchman blind drunk is interrupted by a goblin ambush. Returning to Eastkeep, the party explores the wooded hillside above the keep and discovers the entrance to the lost fortress Quasqueton. Their first sortie is turned back by the fortress' poisonous denizens.

I: Return to the Halls of Wizardry
With Hamish off in search of the Boss and their other companions otherwise occupied, Golkar, Kang and Uda Grimwulde decide to have another go at the Caves of Chaos. They hire on two of Javier's mercenaries, Emory and Francois and set out for the caves, where they persuade ten kobolds to accompany them into the wizards' lair in exchange for a handful of coppers, with those who perform well in battle earning silver or even gold! Our heroes then prepare for a ruse; Uda dresses in a stolen wizard's robe and wears a looted Quincarnon badge-amulet, while Golkar holds a rope around his wrists to pretend to be Uda's prisoner.

Bypassing the previously looted wizards' chamber, the party presses on and encounters another platoon of zombies. Brandishing the amulet, she orders the creatures to turn back — and they do! The party presses forward on their heels; as they reach the first door on their route, it opens to reveal some rather surprised wizards!

Spells are flung. Fortunately, the kobolds soak up a sleep spell that would have rendered the entire party insensate. Unfortunately, Kang is charmed, and as he attempts to protect his new wizard "friends," Golkar inadvertently brains him with an axe. Two wizards fall; their two companions escape through the press of departing zombies. Golkar and Uda loot the room. As they do so, they hear a voice incant strange words and order the zombies to return to the fray. Uda finds that her badge no longer controls them, and in the resulting fight, Golkar is slain! Flaming oil finishes the rest of the zombies, and a wounded Uda flees with her hirelings, Kang's magical spear and two chests worth of wizardly goods. Emory and Francois take advantage of Uda's vulnerability to renegotiate for full shares.

II: Accursed Picnic
After purchasing healing from Father Michel, Uda fixes upon Hamish's new henchman Bernard as her next mark. Failing to break into his room to avail herself of his newfound wealth, she inveigles him into letting him accompany her to Glantri City. Emory and Francois tag along, as does the priestess Larissa. Francois is eager to help fleece Bernard, though he's unwilling to kill the poor fellow, saying that Emory (who is not a part of their pact) would disapprove.

On the road, the group stops for lunch, and Uda breaks out a keg of ale. Soon, Bernard is thoroughly soused, while the others are merely tipsy (except for Larissa, who drinks weak tea). Before the pigeon can be plucked, unwelcome guests arrive: a trio of gnolls drawn by the group's drunken laughter! Larissa and Emory are quickly downed, and when one gnoll is killed, the other two descend on Bernard in a frenzy and tear him limb from limb! Uda and Francois only barely succeed in slaying the remaining gnolls.

Though gravely wounded, Emory will survive. Larissa, sadly, is too far gone to save. She utters two final words, "Accursed picnic," and breathes her last.

III: Quasqueton
Uda procures more healing from the chapel, then makes a deal with the wizard Robert Hazart to give him access to the group's cache of spellbooks in exchange for his services. The party then decides to seek out the rumored fortress Quasqueton, leaving Emory behind to recuperate. They hire Javier and his remaining men, who have just returned from guarding a caravan to Flamberge, to bolster their numbers. After hours of stumbling through dense greenery, our heroes find a lightly wooded area, and in that area, a path that leads to a door set into a stone massif. Success!

After listening to the sinister warnings of magic mouths, the party ventures through a secret door and down a winding hall, eventually stumbling on what seems to be a lady's ruined bedchamber. Plashing through water from a clogged fountain-basin, they part the softly glowing curtains of a canopied bed, revealing the sprawling, lumpish mass of a giant phosphorescent fungus. The fungus wails! Destroying it, they start searching the room, only to be interrupted by the arrival of winged centipedes like those encountered at the nearby Caves of Chaos. The centipedes are easily dispatched, but their poison incapacitates Robert and one of Javier's men. Not wishing to confront further dangers in their weakened state, the party returns to Eastkeep.

IV: Losses & Loot
The party defeated eight zombies, two wizards, three gnolls, a shrieking fungus and three flying centipedes. In the Caves of Chaos, the party obtained some fine copper tableware, four spellbooks, assorted papers, two wizards' amulets, two pouches of assorted spell components and 91gp. Aside from the books, papers and amulets, the loot from that part of the adventure totaled 369gp. The gnolls had no treasure, but the party looted Bernard's body to obtain 300gp in gold and cheap jewelry. In Quasqueton, the party found a bottle of fine perfume, a silver-plated comb and 1gp.

For creatures defeated and treasures earned over the course of the session, Uda Grimwulde and Francois each received 381xp, Emory received 223xp and Robert Hazart received 38xp.


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