This session was run on the 4th of October, 2014.
Eagles and Serpents
The adventurers reassembled this week with Elistan, Vriska, Harry, Licks, Zakar, Aethenar rejoining the fight to escape the island. They began their mission by ambushing the squad of Maormer searching the forge - a challenging battle which pushed their skills and coordination to its limit. On their defeated foes they found some valuable equipment. After the fight, they retreated to the crypt behind the trusty swinging blade trap in the crypt.
On Zakar’s watch, the party was ambushed by a trio of Maormer scouts. While they *had* disabled the trap’s pressure plate, they hadn’t accounted for the fact that a lever inside the crypt could reactivate it in a single pull, splattering the hallway with blood and various pieces of Maormer. Licks had a strange dream where he licked some Maormer blood and peed on the rest of the party, causing them all to contract deadly Maormer Ebola. Fortunately, it was just a dream.
The following day, the adventurers pile the corpses of the Maormer marines they ambushed within the forge the previous day, providing a signal of thick smoke to the Maormer encamped outside. Elistan went outside to observe, while Licks hid in the rubble in the entrance to prepare for an ambush. The Maormer captain was rallying his remaining 20 troops to enter the ruins, and Elistan attempted to take him out from a distance. Unfortunately, his attack wasn’t quite powerful enough, and the captain ordered the charge before healing himself and entering the ruin.
The marines tracked down the party and their prize, the Orb of Storms, using detection magic. The trap into the crypt was disarmed and the captain, a powerful storm mage, fired an overcharged Chain Lightning bolt into the crypt, instantly knocking unconscious two adventurers and severely wounding the others. With the Maormer at a clear advantage, a brief negotiation followed, ending up with the adventurers handing over the orb and being taken aboard the Maormer ship and locked in a cage on the lower deck.
While the Maormer were dealing with the adventurers holed up in the crypt, Licks *attempted* to infiltrate the Maormer vessel. After repeated failures at stealth, climbing and combat, the two marines left guarding the ship took him prisoner.
Luckily for our heroes, they awoke the following day to a battle between the Maormer and the High Elf navy at sea. With the cage’s guards gone to fight boarders, the captain of the vessel the adventurers used to get to Kynenmath produced a lockpick he had hidden in his undergarments. Vriska lockpicked their way to freedom, and they gathered their equipment and ventured on to the deck to retrieve their orb. Picking the lock on the captain’s cabin within the chaos of battle, they find their orb as well as a second, intact orb. They proceed to assist the High Elves in battle. Licks lands a deadly sneak attack on the captain, Harry, Vriska and Elistan take down the Maormer’s Sea Serpent with spear and ballistae mounted on the Maormer ship, and the others go toe-to-toe with the Maormer marines. They emerge, of course, victorious, and introduce themselves to the High Elven captain, Cyrelia, a skilled spellsword. She escorts the adventurers and their captured ship back to Mathiisen, an Altmeri naval base, for debreifing.
Upon their arrival, they are met by an officer who takes down their story and grants them access to the navy’s armory, where the party gears up for future battles. They also convince the officer to give them a gold reward. After a brief sleight of hand related altercation involving Vriska, Licks and Aethenar, they leave the intact orb and a coded book they found on the Maormer captain with the navy and return to Skywatch with their prize - the damaged orb.
Upon reaching Skywatch, they check in with the Mages Guild and receive their reward, as well as an additional bonus for retrieving the Ayleid book. The party spends the rest of the afternoon at merchants, selling their loot and buying new gear. The following morning, they are met by a runner from the High Elven military, with a request for the adventurers’ aid at the lighthouse of South Beacon. With the promise of a reward, they most readily accept, and prepare to make the journey.
What is the disturbance at South Beacon? What are the Maormer plotting? Read the next chapter to find out!
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Comments
Licks is a bit creepy.