This session was played on September 30, 2010, featuring Goldfinch, Hamish the Dim, Hanna Darrowkin, Pritchard Hood, Richard Loubeau and Robert Hazart, as well as the hireling Julius and Hamish's minions Melmar and Yves. The attack on the gnolls was joined by Arnold Littleworth and Pog.
Summary
[Note: This summary was provided by naked samurai, the player of Hanna Darrowkin. Some statements may not be entirely accurate.]
Preparation and ATTACK!
Scrutinizing their maps and calculating their forces, the party decided to try to lure the gnolls into an ambush, using the lower floor of a gallery as a makeshift pen while shooting spells and missile weapons from above. The plan to use Yek, a charmed gnoll youth, and a couple of fatted goats, to lure out the gnollsoldiers proved eventually successful. Hallucinatory terrain concealed part of the balcony, oil was strewn on the floor, and a great canvas blind and wooden mantles were set for defense. A trap on the nearby stairs was discovered in the most painful way.
Gnolls poured in, some y-slept, some lit a-fire. Still they came, hucking javelins at the mages along the balcony. Eventually a massive hallucinatory fireball dropped from Robert Hazart mowed down the most of them. The party mopped up the rest, then set about slitting throats (and chopping off heads, against ghoulification).
The largest had wielded Silverstrike and was wearing the Dandelion Armor and was unceremoniously stripped of both.
During the attack, the chieftan had been heard to yell, "Take them from the other way!" But this alternate prong was never encountered.
Deeper into the Lair
Pog and Arnold departed. The party received some assistance from the orcs. The party convinced Goldfinch to scuff to his skivvies and quaff a potion of Invisibility. He scouted the lair beyond the ambush and spotted no gnolls, but heaps of rusted weapons, dung, as well as the hanging bodies of their former companions.
The party followed, rummaging through the trash. Karvenn was more freshly dead - likely had hung suspended in agony for days while Farkas was stripped and eaten. Farkas gave Hamish's minions a surprise, cutting him down, as he was a ghoul! He munched Melmar and was turned by Hamish, loping off into the darkness. Pritchard nearly disappeared, too, pursuing his swiftly moving friend.
A wight showed up, glowering and menacing the orc youths before the closest Crossed Sword, the mage Hazart, drilled it with a magical missile and blew its head off, the next turn, with his Staff of Striking.
One side room exposed a realistic-looking statue with an expression of abject terror, leaving the exploring characters backing out swiftly.
An air elemental spun into the room and then unremarkably moved on.
Another room, with a red glow escaping the door, was wizard locked, but was pounded down with Hamish's Fist of the Boss. An object that would not last much longer.
The chamber had several haunting tapestries floating to the floor, the scenes they depicted along the walls allegorically suggestive. Richard touched one — showing sylphs and faeries hovering over a distant mountain — he was thrown to the ceiling! Up was down for him, down was up! And a painful fall it was.
Not having enough, he touched the depiction of a merchant presiding over a gold-laden table, which dropped down and smothered the cleric, seeking to swallow him up.
One more turn and he'd be done for, if not for quick thinking. A Potion of Gaseous Form was thrust down his gasping throat and he soared, envapored, away. The tapestry rung back to its mooring, with his equipment now showing on the table. They party shot it down, thinking this monster might cough up what it had stolen, but instead lost these things forever.
Having enough, the party left with the bodies of Karvenn and Melmar, thinking to decapitate the rest of the gnolls before leaving - some of which had already been stolen away by the wandering carrion things of the dungeon.
Results
GhoulFarkas went deeper into the dungeon. Karvenn was retrieved and now goes to his boyhood home for burial. Silverstrike and the Dandelion Mail were rescued. A number of gnolls were killed (15?), as was a wight. A decent amount of treasure was collected and sold, including the amount Karvenn once possessed.
Losses & Loot
Our heroes defeated 19 gnolls, a gnollish leader, a gnollish shaman, a wight and an animated tapestry. They recovered most of the worldly goods once owned by Farkas Fulmont and Karvenn, as well as a variety of coinage and jewelry from the gnolls, a few bits of furniture and a magic gravity-inverting tapestry. Each member of the party received 421gp.
For creatures defeated and wealth acquired, party members each received 315xp.