Make a Madness Check: April 2012

QUESTS

Active Quests

Find Alek

Paladin of Bahamut Alek is missing. Jenya and the members of The Chisel have asked you to find him, as only Alek has the birthright to challenge Captain Skellerang for his position and stop the impending attack on Redgorge.

The Missing Janitor

Patch, the janitor at the Lantern Street Orphanage, has gone missing. His brother Rokk is concerned.

Counterfeit Business

Captain Skellerang has asked you to seek out as many counterfeit jester coins as they can find and bring them back to him.

Finished Quests

Where's the Wands?

Jenya has asked you to retrieve the 7 wands of control water that were stolen from Sarcem. COMPLETED

1/7: Found on the corpse of Skaven.
2/7: Found on the corpse of Triel.
3/7: Found on the corpse of a duergar blacksmith.
4/7: Found on the corpse of an orc commander.
5/7: Found in a room with a gelatinous cube / acid pit trap.
6/7: Found on the corpse of Tarkilar.
7/7: Found on the corpse of Tarkilar.

Orak's Decanter

Orak would like you to keep an eye out for his decanter of endless water that he needs to operate his bathhouse. COMPLETED

The Goblin Vandals

Captain Skellerang wants you to track down the source of the goblin vandals and destroy them. COMPLETED

The Vanishing

Yothob has asked you to find a remedy for the mysterious magic disease called The Vanishing. ABANDONED

Ratnapped!

Keygan Ghelve has asked you to rescue his familiar Stargloom from the skulks. COMPLETED

Yothob has asked you to kill the slaver Kazmojen. In exchange, he will return Stargloom. COMPLETED

Finding the Orphans

Jenya has asked you to investigate the kidnapped orphans taken from the Lantern Street Orphanage. COMPLETED

Find Zenith

Davked has asked the Stormhammers to go into the underdark and rescue his son, Zenith. COMPLETED

The Mysterious Maavu

A wealthy merchant named Maavu is suspected of involvement in the recent umber hulk attack that leveled multiple city buildings. COMPLETED

Orphan Rings

Special rings rewarded to the Stormhammers by Alahind, in recognition and gratitude for rescuing the four kidnapped children in Chapter One.

The rings bestow the following abilities:

Power (At-Will): Standard Action. Sense the approximate distance of any other person wearing an orphan ring.
Power (Daily): Minor Action. Regain the use of an encounter power you have already used during this encounter.

The Slippery Eel

A restaurant/tavern in Cauldron, the Slippery Eel caters to a wealthier crowd and is fairly expensive. During the day it is a regular restaurant, and at night it becomes a tavern, though it is more a place for social gathering than it is for hard drinking.

The Stormblades tend to frequent this tavern.

The Rolling Barrel

A tavern/inn in Cauldron. It is the only inn in Cauldron with a stable. It is heavily frequented by off-duty members of the city guard due to its close proximity to the barracks. As a result, there are almost no thefts or bar fights.

Its name comes from a clockwork device installed on the ceiling - a wooden rail circles the tavern near the roof, and a small barrel rolls continually around in a large circuit.

The Drunken Morkoth Inn

An inn in Cauldron. The standard inn for visiting merchants and wealthy guests, the combination of comfortable beds, good food, and reasonable prices make it a favorite among the city's returning visitors. Each of the rooms here are decorated with humorous paintings of Cauldron's legendary lake monster, a large morkoth. The paintings depict the morkoth in any number of embarrassing and ridiculous scenes, always with the morkoth drunk and confused, and often in incongruous locations.

The tavern is decent and has a good amount of safety for visiting merchants. The same follows for the rooms. A large number of guards work here part-time as bodyguards and security.

This is where Ogilvie said he would be staying.

Rhiavadi's Fine Silks

A large clothing/tailoring business. Many types of expensive, fine clothes and outfits are available for purchase or rent here, including the various costumes required for the Demonskar Ball.

The Stormhammers commissioned special chef hats, cloaks and armbands with their logo from here.

The Stormhammers rented a variety of demon costumes from here for the Ball, including Bonesaw renting a bizarre demon hot dog outfit. They also rented some large demonic bat-winged harnesses for horses.

At the Ball, they met the owner of the store, Lady Rhiavadi.

Minuta's Board

A plain inn that caters to large groups of temporary residents. There is no food served here and the rooms and small and simple, but there is many separate rooms available. Large groups receive discount rates. Due to the high amount of traffic the security here is pretty much non-existent.

Gnomeregan

Ancient gnomish city underground Cauldron. Was abandoned hundreds of years ago due to the outbreak of a magical plague called the Vanishing. Below the city was an ancient stronghold where the party fought Kazmojen.

The Stormhammers discovered that skulks now live in the ruins.

The Stormblades were hired to collapse the tunnels leading to Gnomeregan, which they did, making the ruins inaccessible.

Fruit on a Stick

Fruit-selling business which may or may not exist, run by Snake Eyes who has an orchard and casts bloom on it every day to make fruit grow instantly. Snake Eyes supposedly employs Beppo to sell the fruit on Cauldron's streets.

Arch-rival (?) of Meat on a Stick.

Bluewater Academy

This azure building is the location of Cauldron's library and history records, as well as serving as a school and research facility. Vortimax can frequently be found here researching arcane lore.

Annually offers dancing and etiquette lessons for people attending the Demonskar Ball.

The Last Laugh

Thieves Guild operating out of Cauldron. Their members paint their faces black and white like a harlequin's mask.

Rumored to be printing their own coins with a jester stamp and spreading them throughout the city.

Rumored to be kidnapping people from their homes at night. (this has been proved false)

Jil is a known agent of the guild. She reappeared at the Demonskar Ball in disguise and lured Cram to a Last Laugh hideout where he was captured and tortured.

Some members of the Last Laugh were encountered in Session 9 - Baboons and Bandits at the Lucky Monkey Inn. They were all slain.

The party has also learned that the Last Laugh has connections with the beholder.

Vortimax Weer

A cranky old wizard who runs Weer's Elixirs. Not really interested in politics or etc., but intrigued by magical research and discoveries.

Knows a great deal about the arcane, and knows how to cast many different arcane rituals.

Thazienne

Young female human in her twenties. Junior member of Cauldron's gemcutting guild.

Met the party during the Demonskar Ball, and was glad to see other young people join her (the rest of the table were all old or middle-aged people.) Was a last-minute replacement for her guildmaster Geneth, who didn't want to go and made her go instead.

Uncomfortable in the noble, high-culture setting, and enjoyed the Stormhammers' pranks and mischief. Together with Cram, convinced Dalam to add extra garbage to the cart he was attempting to lift, which resulted in him being buried in garbage which she and Cram found hilarious.

At the end of the night, danced an extra dance with Cram before offering him a ride home in her coach since he had burned his to the ground.

It turned out that she was actually Jil in disguise, and led Cram into a trap where he was captured by the Last Laugh.

Skylar Krewis

Human male patrol captain. The party first met him after saving Rufus from an attack by the Last Laugh.

He intervened in Session 8 - The Flood Festival after the Stormblades picked a fight with the Stormhammers, saving the party from spending the night in jail. He told them that the Stormblades tend to have free reign of the town because of their rich and influential families. He said that as a city guard, it was frustrating because they constantly flaunt and ignore the law.

Was saved by the party in Session 27 - Riot after he attempted to arrest Maavu, and was trapped and attacked in the ensuing angry mob of rioters.

Skie

Retired female gnome adventurer.

Operates a shop of magic items suitable for adventurers. Brigs asked her to attend the Demonskar Ball, and she accepted. The two gnomes were the talk of the evening, dancing almost flawlessly and enjoying the meals and desserts. When the evening drew to a close, she and Brigs left together and went back to Skie's home. They dated for a while, but have since broke up.

Recently the party learned that Skie is pregnant. Brigs has said that isn't the reason they broke up though - the reason behind their split was because Skie magically branded Brigs with an arcane mark she can use to contact him.

Shensen

Drow female bard. Plays a lute.

Frequents the Lucky Monkey Inn. Met the party in Session 1 - Laughs in the Alley.

Snake Eyes challenged her to a banjo playing contest, then spent 4 hours making one, but lost immediately when it broke as he attempted to play it for the first time. He then challenged her to a flute playing contest, but lost that too.

Met the party again in Session 9 - Baboons and Bandits after the party rescued her in the basement of the Lucky Monkey.

Lady Rhiavadi

Human noblewoman who owns and operates Rhiavadi's Fine Silks.

Met the party at the Demonskar Ball. Introduced herself to them and congratulated Yggdrasil for being chosen to portray Aggannar, saying that she was especially proud of that design.

When Bonesaw asked if she had also designed his outfit (demon hot-dog) she grimaced and said yes, but not to tell anyone.

Palendor

Singing instructor at the Bluewater Academy. Fussy and demanding, but capable. Was horrified at Huron's singing ability, but still agreed to coach him because if he could make him a good singer, he could do it for ANYONE.

Also coaches Annah Taskerhill at singing.

Was selected to be the judge of the "Song of Heaven" singing competition during the Demonskar Ball. The Stormhammers suspected he would judge unfairly, since they had seen Ankhin Taskerhill giving him a bag of money previously, but Snake Eyes still won the contest.

Lady Ophella Hollowsky

Beautiful, reserved elven noblewoman. Kind and good-hearted. Friends with Jenya.

Lives in Sasserine but has a number of financial holdings in Cauldron, including the Lantern Street Orphanage. Didn't know anything about the disappearance of Patch, though.

Met the party at the Demonskar Ball. Grew fond of them after discovering they were the ones who rescued the orphans. Was invited to dance by Huron, and accepted. Afterwards sat at their table and spent the rest of the night in their company.

Maavu

The party heard two suspicious people who seemed to be eavesdropping on them mention this name. They don't know any more than that.

Update: suspect in the umber hulk attack that destroyed a great deal of city property, and injured several civilians. After the incident, rumors have spread on the streets that Maavu was seen fleeing the city on the back of a horse with clouds instead of hooves. These reports have not officially been confirmed or verified by anyone, however.

Kristof

Human male cleric of Pelor.

The lone remaining member of the Church of Pelor after a tragic roof collapse killed the other two members of the church. Kristof is passionate about his faith, but is young and inexperienced.

Declined to attend the Demonskar Ball, saying it would be reckless to spend money on an expensive costume when the church was in such dire times, but said Snake Eyes could serve as the church's representative in his stead.

Jil

Human female. Member of the Last Laugh.

Hired some town guards to rough up Rufus in Session 1 - Laughs in the Alley. When the party defeated the guards, they spotted Jil perched overhead on an alley wall. She tried to leave without fighting but was attacked by the party, and was severely injured when Jeppy hurled a giant morningstar at her. She did manage to scale the rooftop and escape, however.

Reappeared at the Demonskar Ball disguised as a young member of the local gemcutting guild named Thazienne. After spending the night with the party at their table, she managed to lure Cram to a Last Laugh hideout where he was captured and tortured.

Geneth

Guildmaster of Cauldron's gemcutting guild.

Didn't want to attend the Demonskar Ball, so he told one of the junior members of the guild, Thazienne, to go in his place.

Gary

Goblin male. Cranky and sour. Used to run Meat on a Stick out of a little push-cart in an alley, until it was bought out by the Stormhammers, & subsequently destroyed a few minutes later. Now set to run the new and improved Meat on a Stick alongside Thog and Thunderbomb.

Fang

Fang

Half-orc sheriff of Paradise.

Fang has black hair with streaks of grey. He is 6'4", 280 lbs., and tends to wear bland, unobstrusive colors (browns and greys). He is 45 years old but is still very muscular and in shape. He has numerous scars, limps slightly, and has a military style of speaking

Fang was born in an orc clan, the child of a human slave the clan had captured. His mother died shortly after he was born. He was bullied and abused as a child, but he accepted his fate until he had the chance to kill his father while he slept and escape. He found acceptance in a mercenary army, where he sharpened his fighting skills. He became part of a special strike force used to quickly dispatch an enemy general or captain. He was forced to retire after being seriously wounded in the leg by an archer, and still limps slightly.

He moved to Paradise and quickly became known as someone not to mess with, which caught the eye of the sheriff, a female half-orc named Jala. They had a son, Hofar.

Ten years later, Jala died while defending the town from hobgoblins. Fang decided to become the sheriff in her memory. While maintaining order in town, Fang typically wears his sword Hooktooth, a shortbow and studded leather armor, but he keeps a well-maintained set of heavy armor at home in case of emergency, leftover from his mercenary days.

Fang unofficially adopted Artanis and Huron after their parents were slain, and acted as a mentor/father figure for them while they were growing up, knowing the pain of being an orphan.

Dhorlot

A young black dragon living in the kuo-toa underground fortress, Bhal-Hama. Gottrod considered Dhorlot his rival.

The party encountered him while trying to find Zenith, fought him, and defeated him (Dhorlot fled and escaped the caverns.)

Later, when the party was fleeing a horde of angry kuo-toas, Dhorlot ambushed the party, seeking revenge. However, the party killed him, and cut off his head before continuing with their escape.

Dalam

Male half-orc warrior.

Civilized and refined, this middle-aged half-orc is still heavily muscled and intimidating. Used to be a family bodyguard to the Hawkwinters before leaving Cauldron to start his own bodyguard business in Sasserine. Because of his former job, he is invited by the Hawkwinters annually to the Demonskar Ball, where he met the Stormhammers.

Has a weakness for the bottle and has a bad habit of getting smashed, which makes him crude, obnoxious and uncouth.

Celeste

Beautiful human noblewoman with connections to Cauldron's elite.

Doesn't live in Cauldron, but in the distant city of Sasserine. Visits Cauldron often, often to visit Alahind. The party met her at the Demonskar Ball.

Showed up again in Session 19 - Meat on a Stick, contacting the party on behalf of an old dwarf thane named Davked who wanted to hire them for a mission.

Lord Alahind

Human male in his 40s. Advisor to the Lord Mayor. Likes to drink, likes the Stormhammers, doesn't really approve of the Stormblades.

Winner of the Drink Down The Flood competition for 25 years in a row. Won this year's contest but gave the trophy and award to the other finalist, Huron.

Frequently provides information and advice to the party, such as at the Demonskar Ball when he gave them a rundown on the various dances and events that would be taking place. Whenever a new person joins the party, Alahind makes them an orphan ring to signify their official entry into the group.

Gottrod

Young red dragon. Slain by the Stormhammers in Session 19 - Meat on a Stick after they found him attacking Crazy Jared, shouting at Jared to tell him where someone's lair was.

Was vain and brash as the fight started, but got completely owned by the party, who didn't even break a sweat doing so. In retrospect Gottrod probably regrets his decision to land and try to kill the apparently-alone Vico.

Afterwards, the party dragged Gottrod's corpse back to Cauldron where they cut off his head and had the rest of the body assessed to see what could be made from it. Yggdrasil also used a speak with dead ritual twice to question and taunt Gottrod's spirit. They found out the approximate area of his lair - somewhere around the Haunted Village.

Bhal-Hama

Word in Kuo-Toan which means either "lucky black" or "black fish" according to Crazy Jared.

A kuo-toan temple deep underground. The Stormhammers have entered it, trying to find the long-lost dwarven warrior Zenith.

The party discovered an enormous, multi-leveled shrine to the kuo-toan goddess Blibdoolpoolp, tended to by a number of whips (priests) and containing a huge, 70' obsidian statue of their evil goddess.

Zenith Splintershield

Male dwarven warrior who, 10 years ago, led a squadron of warriors into the Underdark to cleanse it of evil. They were never heard from again and are assumed dead.

In Session 7 - Cleaning the Caves, the Stormhammers found a note signed with a Z and suspect that Zenith is somehow involved with Drakthar and the orcs.

The Stormhammers were hired in Session 19 - Meat on a Stick by Zenith's father Davked to track down and rescue his son. They later discovered that he was in a place called Bhal-Hama, a kuo-toan temple. They infiltrated the temple and found Zenith, quite insane, who was serving the kuo-toas as some sort of mad prophet. They subdued him and escaped Bhal-Hama, and returned Zenith to Davked.

The Taskerhills

A noble human family in Cauldron. One of the oldest and wealthiest families in Cauldron's history, the Taskerhills have been around since Surabar Spellmason founded the city.

Her fantastically wealthy family is one of the noble families of Cauldron. Her father Ankhin owns the various mining operations around the area and is quite involved in local politics.

Lord Ankhin Taskerhill

Lord Ankhin Taskerhill is a human male in his early forties. He is the head of the Taskerhills, one of the oldest families in Cauldron. He owns a series of very successful mines in the region and is also involved in trade exports.

He is married to Elthannah, and they have one daughter Annah.

Lately he has shown interest in the teachings of Kord. This has led some to think he is having a mid-life crisis, while others believe it is the lifestyle of his daughter that is causing him to become more active.

Traveled briefly with Jeppy and Vargas returning to Cauldron.

Was one of the judges in the Archery Trickshot Competition during the Flood Festival and immediately drew the party's ire due to giving them low marks and giving the Stormblades (one of which is his daughter) high marks.

Elthannah Taskerhill

Middle-aged Eladrin woman.

Married to Ankhin Taskerhill. They have a daughter Annah.

The Cusp of Sunrise

Nobles lounge and club. For the rich and elite in Cauldron's citizenry. Dress code, expensive drinks and food, expensive gambling, you name it, the Cusp of Sunrise caters to it.

Soundproofed rooms can be rented for private or secret meetings.

The party met and was hired by Davked here. They also saw Taskerhill, Adrick and Celeste inside.

Adrick

Wealthy dwarf merchant / business owner. Never without a pair of bodyguards.

Encountered the party at the Cusp of Sunrise, where Yggdrasil and Vico convinced him to hire Meat on a Stick to supply his workers with a daily supply of meat on a stick. He asked them 3 questions, concerning meat on a stick's effect on the environment, nutrition, and cost.

Meat on a Stick

Food "franchise" owned by the Stormhammers. Originally was run by Gary out of a stand in an alley, but the Stormhammers bought the business from him and hired him as well. Minutes later the stand was destroyed by a collapsing warehouse. The new plan is to renovate and repair the half-destroyed Lucky Monkey and turn it into a grand, large new Meat on a Stick business.

So far the Stormhammers have convinced one wealthy business owner, Adrick, to sign a contract for a steady supply of Meat on a Stick to feed his workers.

Thog

Ogre befriended by the party in Session 14 - The Obedient Ogre. Revealed that he doesn't want to fight anymore since now all his friends are dead. Instead what he wants to do is cook. The Stormhammers were thrilled to discover this.

He and Thunderbomb have become the new chefs at the Tipped Tankard. Recently has also begun cooking for Meat on a Stick.

Artem Shemwick

Human male in his mid-twenties.

Works part-time at the Tipped Tankard as a cook, but really runs the place. Befriended the party, who gave him their spare invitation to the Demonskar Ball. Was surprised but accepting of two new employees to the tavern, Thunderbomb and Thog

The Tipped Tankard

A tavern in Cauldron located near the dock streets in a shady part of town. The food is cheap, the ale is watered down, and there are usually more rats than there are customers. Still, it's a good place to meet someone without drawing unwanted attention.

Bartended by Pilok. Artem Shemwick works here part-time as a cook, as do Thunderbomb and Thog.

Unofficially the "home base" of the Stormhammers. Because there are almost no patrons, they have pretty much free reign over the rooms and operation of the place.

The Stormhammers have enchanted one of the walls upstairs to be a teleportation gate to Meat on a Stick.

Lantern Street Orphanage

Cauldron's only orphanage.

Its caretaker is an elderly halfling woman named Gretchen.

A half-orc young man named Patch is the janitor.

Four children were kidnapped from here recently:

Evelyn
Lucinda
Terrem
Deakon Stormshield

The Beholder

A beholder!

Showed up in Session 5 - Bulls and a Beholder after the party had rescued the kidnapped children. It demanded that one of the kids, Terrem, be handed over. It beat up the party a bit with various eye beams, then took Terrem and left 200g as payment. It teleported away, which Sir Steven recognized as strange, as teleportation is not one of a beholder's natural abilities.

It also teleported into a Last Laugh safe house where Cram was being interrogated, and said that the information he had given up would be very useful in bringing about the Stormhammers' downfall. It also said it planned to add Cram to his "collection."

The party assumes it was a shapechanger, since Terrem was later returned to the orphanage by a woman in a red veil. Yggdrasil believes it is a "body snatchers" incident.

Two Face

The nickname given to a robed figure who was attempting to purchase Terrem from Kazmojen when the party interrupted them. The nickname came from when Snake Eyes threw a bag of 5 acid flasks in the robed figure's face, burning him horribly.

The robed figure escaped and wasn't caught.

Kazmojen

Slaver who was responsible for people being kidnapped from Cauldron. Was described as a very "ugly dwarf" according to a skulk, who said Kazmojen was uglier than Morate.

Turned out to be a half-troll, half-bugbear. The party killed him in Session 5 - Bulls and a Beholder and took his head as proof for Yothob.

Wielded magic platemail and used a magic greataxe, both now in the possession of Bonesaw.

Terrem

Terrem

Human boy, six years old. One of the children kidnapped from the Lantern Street Orphanage. Likes penguins.

The orphanage janitor Patch said that a man named Revus paid him 50 gold to keep an eye on Terrem, but the party wasn't able to find Revus to question him about this.

In Session 5 - Bulls and a Beholder, the party interrupted Kazmojen just as he was trying to sell Terrem to Two Face. Shortly afterwards, a beholder arrived and demanded that Terrem go with him, and left the party 200g as payment. The party later found out that Terrem had been returned to the Orphanage by a mysterious red veiled woman. When questioned about this, Terrem was unable to provide any details.

Revus

A mysterious person the party knows little about, other than he is a human male about six feet tall, and always carries twin daggers and likes to do tricks with them.

Paid Patch 50gp to watch over one of the children at the Lantern Street Orphanage, a boy named Terrem.

Known to frequent the Tipped Tankard and the Slippery Eel.

Killed brutally when Bonesaw choke-slammed him from the second story of The Lucky Monkey into a stone fountain below.

Patch

Half-orc male in his early twenties. Wears an eyepatch over his left eye. When asked how he lost it, says that he has been told it was in an accident as a child.

Grew up at the Lantern Street Orphanage as a child, now works there as a janitor.

The party learned that Patch was paid 50gp by a man named Revus to keep an eye on one of the children, Terrem, who was later kidnapped from the orphanage.

The party found out from Rokk in Session 8 - The Flood Festival that sometime after the orphans were saved, Patch disappeared and has not been seen since.

The Church of Kord

Dedicated to Kord, the God of Strength and Competition.

Their temple is commonly referred to as the Temple of Lordly Might.

Gramps and The Champ train here to hone their physical skills.

Rokk Strongarm

Male half-orc cleric. Head priest of the Church of Kord.

Massive and muscular, Rokk defines the tenets of his church - strength, power, and a driving sense of competition. Respects strength and bravery, and doesn't have much need for cowards or sneaky people.

Likes to spontaneously challenge strong people to arm-wrestling contests.

Brother of Patch.

The Church of the Raven Queen

Dedicated to the Raven Queen, goddess of the dead. Responsible for all funeral rites and burials.

The church's cathedral is a majestic building made of black marble, stained glass and obsidian, and it reaches high above the city walls.

Notable figures:

Embril

Female human cleric. Head priestess of the Church of the Raven Queen.

Met the party in Session 8 - The Flood Festival, and again at the Demonskar Ball. Snake Eyes asked her to dance, which she coolly accepted despite him being the official representative of the Church of Pelor at the event.

Iverson

High-ranking human male cleric of the Raven Queen.

Was the one who performed the commune with dead rituals for the party in Session 8 - The Flood Festival.

Ghelve's Locks

Locksmith shop, owned and operated by Keygan Ghelve.

A small building with a main storefront room, a back room with some sample chests to try out locks, and a bedroom and kitchen/pantry upstairs.

The party discovered a secret door in the back room leading down a long stairway to an abandoned gnome city.

Keygan Ghelve

Middle-aged male gnome who runs a locksmithing store called Ghelve's Locks.

Met the party in Session 2 - Investigating where they learned he was working with the skulks because they had ratnapped his familiar Stargloom.

Was found guilty of involvement in the kidnappings but was granted leniency due to being extorted. His punishment was to replace all the locks in town free of charge and supply the town guard with a set of master keys.

Good friends with Tygot.

Tygot

Elderly male halfling. Runs a store called Tygot's Old Things that carries antiques, old bones and relics.

Told the party that if they find anything old and mysterious, to bring it to him so he can take a look.

Ended up sitting with the party at the Demonskar Ball, and talked with them about his close friend Keygan and his involvement in the local kidnappings. Liked the party's responses and said he would give them a bit extra if they find any old relics to sell him.

Captain Terson Skellerang

Middle-aged human male. Leader of the town guard. Very business-like and straight to the point.

Has started lobbying the Lord Mayor for additional funds to finance a larger, better-trained guard presence walking the streets.

Alek Tercival

Human male paladin of The Church of Bahamut.

Childhood friend of Jenya. Met the party at the Demonskar Ball, where he thanked them for their heroic deeds in aiding Cauldron.

Frequently out of town on church-related missions or requests. Sells any antiques or treasures to Tygot, an old family friend of Alek's parents.

Recently challenged Captain Skellerang to an honor duel for Skellerang's position, believing that Skellerang is corrupt and not truly serving the will of Cauldron's people. Has not been seen for a few weeks since issuing the challenge.

Lord Mayor Severem Navalant

Human male in his mid-fifties. Lord Mayor of Cauldron.

Reluctantly appreciates the Stormhammers and their accomplishments, but has made it clear a few times that he prefers the Stormblades.

Drink Down the Flood!

Drink Down The Flood!

Annual drinking contest that takes place during the Flood Festival. Consists of 6 ladder rounds of 1-on-1 drinking matches. Each round takes place on a different day at a different tavern.

Day 1: Town Hall, 64 people left
Day 2: The Tipped Tankard, 32 people left
Day 3: The Rolling Barrel, 16 people left
Day 4: The Drunken Morkoth, 8 people left
Day 5: The Slippery Eel, 4 people left
Day 6: The Coy Pixie, 2 people left

The winner of the contest receives a special drink-themed trophy and an invitation to the Demonskar Ball.

The Flood Festival

The Flood Festival

One of Cauldron's biggest and most celebrated traditions, the Flood Festival is a result of the city uniting years ago and working together to ward off dangerously high flood waters from the winter rains. Since then, it has become a time of feasting, contests, performances and enjoyment. Some of the highlights of the Festival are the Drink Down The Flood competition and the Demonskar Ball.

A Brief History of the Flood Festival

32 years ago, the rainiest winter in centuries resulted in massive flood damage to the lowest reaches of Cauldron. Representatives of the churches of Pelor, the Raven Queen, Kord and Bahamut came together and pooled their resources to create Wands of Control Water to lower the flood waters. Next year, the clerics armed with the wands successfully fought back the flood. After the flood season ended, the town celebrated with a massive festival, which grew into the tradition we enjoy today. Since then, the winter rains have lessened - but even though the clerics haven’t needed any wands in over ten years, the Festival is still going strong!

The Demonskar Ball

The annual highlight of the Flood Festival, this high-class banquet and dance is Cauldron's most prestigious and exclusive event and takes place a week after the Festival ends. It is open to nobles and persons of importance in the city, but otherwise is invitation-only. One of the only ways to receive one of the coveted invitations is to make a name for yourself during the Festival and receive one as a prize.

So far the party knows that people attending dress up as either a member of the demon army, or a member of Surabar Spellmason's army, depending on if their invitation had a crater or a mountain. There is also a unique invite with a mountain with horns on it, which symbolizes Aggannar, the leader of the demon army. Whoever gets this invitation has a special honor and role in the Ball - they attend as a regular demon, and then take part in a special re-enactment of the final battle between Spellmason and Aggannar, during which Spellmason outfights the demon lord and casts him down into the deep ravine now known as the Demonskar.

They also know that there will be numerous dances and performances, an extravagant feast/banquet, and the chance to meet and mingle with the upper crust of Cauldron's elite citizens.

They also know that as nobles, the Stormblades will be attending.

The Demonskar

The Demonskar

A deep canyon that splits the countryside near Redgorge. It got its name for the mighty battle that took place there hundreds of years ago between Surabar Spellmason and an invading army of demons.

Aggannar

The demon lord general of a vast army of demons that attacked the area hundreds of years ago. They were defeated by Surabar Spellmason, who rallied regular citizens to stand against the demon horde and fight them back.

Aggannar met his demise in a one-on-one fight with Spellmason, after Spellmason cast the demon lord into a huge ravine. The ravine is now known as the Demonskar.

Each year during the Demonskar Ball someone wears a costume and pretends to be Aggannar during a dance re-enactment of his final battle with Spellmason. Yggdrasil had this honour when the party attended the Ball.

Surabar Spellmason

Famous archwizard who founded the cities of Cauldron and Redgorge over 650 years ago. Also renowned for leading an army against an invading army of demons at the Demonskar, and defeating the demon army leader Aggannar in single combat.

The Stormhammers discovered in Session 8 - The Flood Festival that he was also an accomplished chef, and they enlisted his spirit as help to win a cooking contest during the Flood Festival.

Honored in Cauldron's most prestigious celebration, the Demonskar Ball, in a number of meals and dances named after him, including a dance re-enactment of his final battle with Aggannar.

Cauldron

Cauldron

Cauldron is a large town built in the caldera of a dormant volcano.

Over 650 years ago, the towns of Cauldron and the neighboring city of Redgorge were founded by Surabar Spellmason, a great wizard adventurer. The rim of the extinct volcano serves as a natural defense against local wildlife or invaders, and the many profitable mines quickly attracted prospectors and adventurers to the area.

Buildings are tightly packed and built from volcanic rock and wood. Cobblestone roads form circular streets around a small lake in the center of town. The streets all slightly incline towards the lake, so rainwater trickles down into the basin.

The districts nearer the rim of the city tend to be occupied by upper class families. The closer one gets to the center of town, the shoddier the construction and the more dangerous the dark alleys.

A 50-foot-tall fortified wall of black malachite encircles the city. Four roads descend the outer walls of the volcano, becoming major roads leading to other towns and regions.

Cauldron's major exports come from mining in the surrounding mountains. Obsidian and diamonds are the primary products mined in the region. Water is never scarce, but most of the city's food must be imported from coastal cities since local fishing and farming is minimal.

The town's Lord Mayor is a human man named Severem Navalant. His face is stamped on all local currency.

Religious groups in Cauldron include:

The Church of Bahamut
The Church of the Raven Queen
The Church of Kord
The Church of Pelor

Redgorge

Redgorge

A nearby mining town. The party hasn't been here yet and don't really know anything about the place, except that the Stormblades recently rescued a young girl who had been kidnapped from the town by kobolds.

Tarkilar

Male human cleric of Bane. One of the names the ghost of Drakthar mentioned in Session 8 - The Flood Festival when asked who he sold Orak's decanter of endless water to.

In his room, there were various notes and tomes on the treatises of Bane, and notes on performing a giant ritual involving the sacrificial deaths of thousands of people, which Tarkilar hoped to achieve by flooding Cauldron. There was also a small idol/statue of Bane sitting in a bowl of water on a nightstand.

The party encountered Tarkilar in Session 16 - Pit Trap, Mirror Trap, T-Rex Trap. He was in the middle of flooding a circular underground cavern, around which were numerous effigy landmarks of Cauldron. He shouted at the party that they would not interrupt his ritual for his dark lord, but the party killed him and his zombies and giant T-Rex skeleton that came running out of an alcove. He had on his corpse the final wand of control water.

Skaven

Halfling wizard follower of Bane. One of the three people Drakthar sold the decanter of endless water to.

Attacked the Stormhammers in Session 10 - Here Comes Halfling Death and nearly killed them all. Was killed though in the end by his own dazzling spell, which reflected off Drrk's platinum belt buckle.

Had a variety of valuable tomes and books related to the ruins, as well as one of the wands of control water.

Orbius

Apparently Drakthar's master. The party found this out in Session 8 - The Flood Festival when they spoke with Drakthar's ghost.

Drakthar

Bugbear vampire. Leader of a gang of goblins who were vandalizing and stealing from warehouses.

Deceased. Slain by the Stormhammers in Session 6 - Beneath the Bathhouse.

Through a Speak with Dead ritual, Snake Eyes asked him a few questions and found out that Drakthar:

- sold Orak's decanter of endless water.
- works for a Master Orbius.
- sold the decanter to three people: Triel, Skaven and Tarkilar.

Orak's Bathhouse

Public bathhouse operated by Orak. Powered by a decanter of endless water that Orak found during his adventuring days, there are a number of individual baths and a few larger group ones, as well as numerous fragrance soaps and oils available on request.

Since Orak was mesmerized by Drakthar, the decanter has gone missing and Orak has been forced to semi-close the bathhouse, since he has no workers and can only fill and empty one group bath by himself.

Orak

Middle aged male dwarf. Retired adventurer who now operates Orak's Bathhouse. Lost an eye while adventuring and wears a black silk eyepatch with a small ruby inset into the center.

Greatly appreciates the Stormhammers for clearing out Drakthar's minions beneath his bathhouse (fortunately doesn't remember the beating they laid on him prior to heading underground) and for recovering his decanter of endless water for him from Tarkilar, Skaven and Triel. As thanks, any member of the Stormhammers has lifetime free baths and access to his scented soaps and fragrances.

Triel Lanthenmire

One of the names the ghost of Drakthar mentioned in Session 8 - The Flood Festival when asked who he sold Orak's decanter of endless water to.

The party also learned that Triel took the 7 wands of control water from Sarcem after murdering him at the Lucky Monkey.

Later, they found out that her last name is Lanthenmire, and she is the sister of Cora Lanthenmire. Triel was formerly a member of the town guard in Cauldron, but 3 years ago she seemingly went mad while on patrol and murdered 3 of her fellow guards. More guards arrived and fought her off, and she fled the city, seriously wounded. Nothing has been heard from her since so she was assumed dead. The Lanthenmires immediately disowned her and struck her name from any family records.

According to a female bandit hired by Triel who the Stormhammers questioned, Triel has wild, fiery red hair, wears black spiked fullplate decorated with a black ram (the symbol of the evil god Bane) and has a lot of tattoos.

The Stormhammers confronted Triel in Session 13 - Triel vs. the Stormhammers and after a long, intense battle, defeated her. Afterward they decided it was too dangerous to let her live, and they executed her. She had one of the wands of control water on her, as well as a black iron key on a keyring.

The Lucky Monkey

A small inn located a day's travel from Cauldron, it is a common stop for people traveling through the region. There is a small shrine to Avandra where travelers can say a quick prayer.

It is owned and operated by Nather.

Shensen also lives at the inn when she is not traveling.

UPDATE: The inn has been attacked and ransacked by bandits, and all its employees and patrons slain except Shensen. The inn is currently in ruins, and bloodstains and bandit corpses are scattered throughout the building. The once-beautiful courtyard is now burned and barren.

The Stormblades

The Stormblades

A local adventuring group. Each of the members are born from one of Cauldron's noble families. Rivals with the Stormhammers.

Jenya asked them to look into the kidnappings, but they said they were busy with other tasks.

They recently defeated a tribe of kobolds who had kidnapped a girl from Redgorge. The Lord Mayor also hired them to collapse the tunnels leading down into Gnomeregan so that the magic plague would not rise to the city.

Upon hearing of the theft of the wands of control water, the Lord Mayor asked them to travel with haste to Sasserine, the nearest major city, and purchase more wands. They did so, but returned just after the Stormhammers had recovered the stolen wands, which irks the Stormblades greatly.

Annah Taskerhill

Female half-elf bard. Regal, beautiful and arrogant.

Member (leader) of the Stormblades.

Her fantastically wealthy family is one of the noble families of Cauldron. Her father Ankhin owns the various mining operations around the area and is quite involved in local politics.

Detests the Stormhammers, especially Snake Eyes, who bested her at both a singing and a dancing contest.

Cora Lanthenmire

Female human warrior. Wears scale mail, a heavy shield and a bastard sword. Loves to fight, drink, and compete.

Member of the Stormblades.

Has an interesting relationship with Bonesaw of the Stormhammers. They hooked up during the Demonskar Ball.

Her family is one of the noble families in Cauldron. They have are wealthy importers and distributors of supplies, equipment, weapons and armor and other materials.

The party has learned that she and Bonesaw have retired from adventuring and have run off together. They imagine the Stormblades are not happy about this turn of events.

Zachary Hawkwinter

Male half-elf cleric of Kord. Wears scale mail and a warmaul. Handsome and charming, but not too bright. Offends easily.

Member of the Stormblades.

Snake Eyes pickpocketed Zachary's platinum holy symbol of Kord when the two groups first met. Zachary has since had it replaced, but still wonders what happened to it.

The Hawkwinters are one of the noble families in Cauldron. They are heavily involved in art & antiquities, but also have investments in more mundane trade goods, be it clothing, textiles, art or foods. They also host the annual Demonskar Ball.

At the Ball, helped host the event and greet guests, and played the part of Surabar Spellmason during the dance re-enactment of the battle between Spellmason and Aggannar.

Todd Vanderboren

Male human rogue. Wears red leather armor and carries a mace. Possesses some kind of teleportation ability. Kind of weaselly looking, shifty. Nervous twitches.

Member of the Stormblades.

The Vanderborens are one of the noble families in Cauldron. They own a great deal of property in the city, and manage / sell real estate in town and in the surrounding regions. They own or have a stake in many of the common businesses in town.

The Stormhammers (dead, discarded, retired)

Vargas - Warforged Artificer. Played by Shaun. Discarded after Session 1 - Laughs in the Alley.

Human Artificer (formerly Warforged). Played by Shaun. Character #1/#10.

Backstory: Used to be trapped in a heavy suit of armor. He was working in his lab but was attacked by an unseen foe; mortally wounded, he managed to infuse his life force into a decorative suit of armor that his uncle had given him years ago. Since everyone he knew found his lifeless body, no one knew he was still alive, and so he was traveling around under a fake name trying to discover clues to who attacked him.

Discarded after Session 1 - Laughs in the Alley because both Shaun and the DM didn't realize how unfun artificers were to play because of their 1-minute long infusion cast times. Became an honorary member of the Church of Pelor and serves as its handyman (since he doesn't need sleep or food), and then returned to adventuring as an artificer as Shaun's alternate character.

Artanis Bjorler - Changeling Sorcerer. Played by Jamie. Discarded after Session 2 - Investigating.

Changeling Sorcerer. Played by Jamie.

Twin brother of Huron. Usually adopts the form of Huron in everyday life.

Crafts candles in his spare time. Thinks he can craft other things as well, but actually can't.

The Incident: When the twins were roughly 12 years of age, a tragic event forever changed their lives. They were playing outside when they heard a commotion coming from their home. Being young and curious, the two young boys went to investigate the excitement. But when they arrived, they had found that someone, or something had brutally murdered their father and taken their mother. Fang was quick to find care for the orphaned children with their the owners of the tavern. From then on they lived as orphans under the care of their guardians, but more importantly under the watchful, caring eye of Fang.

The Twin's mission statement: To find out where and why our mother vanished, and to find out who killed our father.

Fate unknown. Wandered off at the beginning of Session 3 - Flying Brains and hasn't been seen since.

Ishmael Grimscale - Halfling Swordsage. Played by Shaun. Discarded after Session 2 - Investigating.

Halfling Swordsage. Played by Shaun. (character #2)

Wears dark, rogueish clothing and carries a pair of kukris.

Fights with fast movements and throws. As his enemies stoop to face him and put themselves off-balance, he uses their momentum to hurl them away, much to their surprise.

Dislikes the Stormblades.

"Died" at the start of Session 3 - Flying Brains when Pimchi shoved Jeppy down some stairs into him.

Jeppy - Human Barbarian. Played by Corey. Slightly modified to become Pimchi at the start of Session 3 - Flying Brains.

Human Barbarian. Played by Corey.

Wields a giant, heavy morningstar. Carries a large barrel around with him strapped to his back. Also has a pet pig, named Pig.

Jeppy is a large, muscular human male. His parents died when he was young, so her aunt & uncle took her in. His Uncle is a well-off councillor in Paradise, his aunt doesn't do much. They have a son, Pimchee.

Jeppy was very neglected growing up, and while he wasn't abused, he wasn't very loved by his adoptive family either. Pimchee, who is a slovenly boor who is fat and doesn't do much, liked to harass him.

Jeppy was picked on as a youth, because he didn't fit in with anyone. He was too athletic for the smart kids, and too smart for the jock kids. As a result, he got in a lot of fights. Because he got nothing from her family, he worked at a farm to earn some cash and develop his muscles. One kindly farmer gave him a baby piglet on his birthday a year ago, and he has taken care of it ever since (and named it Pig.)

He tends to be wary of other people because of his bad experiences with them, but trusts animals freely.

ENEMIES HORRIBLY CRUSHED: 2

Image:Jeppysketch02.jpg

"Died" at the start of Session 3 - Flying Brains when Pimchi pushed him violently down the stairs, resulting in a broken neck. He also crashed into Ishmael. Then their corpses spontaneously combusted, which was attributed to thermite.

THEN reworked so that Jeppy has been Pimchi all along. (There was no Jeppy - Corey has been playing Pimchi the whole time.)

Lord Humphrey - Human Weapon Connoisseur. Played by Shaun. Discarded after Session 3 - Flying Brains.

Human "weapon connoisseur" (fighter). Played by Shaun. (character #3)

Specialist in exotic weapons. Died in a horrific smelting accident.

Thrust "The Crusher" Splathappy - Gnome Wizard. Played by Shaun. Discarded after Session 4 - Between an Ogre and a Hard Place.

Gnome wizard. Played by Shaun. (character #4)

Freed from a magical stasis curse in Gnomeregan in Session 4 - Between an Ogre and a Hard Place.

Used to be a courier before getting trapped in the curse. Still carries around a courier's satchel with the words "Crusher Courier" on it.

Just abandoned completely at the start of Session 5 - Bulls and a Beholder, with no mention of what happened to him.

Morate Windwalker - Dwarf Favored Soul of Obad-Hai. Played by Mark. Retired after Session 4 - Between an Ogre and a Hard Place.

Dwarf Favored Soul of Obad-Hai. Played by Mark.

Morate was always a little different than his peers back at home. He hails from the Stormpike family, but was disowned when he decided to pursue his life above ground. When he made this choice, many other families that were normally allies were on the brink of shunning the Stormpikes forever. In an act to save his name Ghrimshun Stormpike, Morate's father, made a deal with a traveling group of merchants to have Morate smuggled out of the city.

When Morate was tossed out of his home, he journeyed aimlessly into the forests, not sure of where he was going, and what he would do when he got there. Days turned into weeks, but somehow the forest provided for Morate, bearing fruit to eat, trees for shelter, and a variety of herbs for when he came injured or ill. During his travels he stumbled upon a clearing, with knoll in the middle of it. The knoll was actually the home of an aged cleric, who taught Morate about Obad-Hai. It was here were Morate felt he had found his true calling, and he started studying underneath the old human to become a cleric of Obad-Hai.

The aging man saw great potential in Morate, often calling him a Favored Soul. But tragedy struck before Morate's teachings were complete; the clutches of Death began to take its hold on his teacher. It was here where Morate was given a small trinket.

Its a small vial attached to a hardened cord; its contents appear to be sand and dirt, enchanted to swirl around constantly within the vial. The vial is plugged by a cork that has a small symbol of his deity on it. It was to symbolize his graduation from pupil to cleric. His understanding of the token is that it was purely symbolic and nothing more, but when he received the vial his teacher warned him of the power and wrath he would suffer if he used the contents incorrectly. Morate contemplated the earth within the vial for quite some time, but was not able to discover it's use or hidden power. Years have passed since he last attempted to understand the vial and its purpose, but he has always felt a need to wear it... even if it seems, to him at least, nothing more than a trinket from the past.

Since then Morate has gone about his travels, looking to nature for signs of where to go. Curiously, it has led him to a group of adventurers heading for Cauldron.

Retired from adventuring after the party rescued a female dwarf from Kazmojen. They have gotten married and now live in Cauldron. Semi-came out of retirement to take part in the Drink Down The Flood competition with the party.

Blaze Carter - Half Orc Bounty Hunter. Played by Tyson. Discarded when campaign changed to 4E.

Half orc ranger. Played by Tyson.

Bounty hunter. Wields a greataxe, whip and net. Well-traveled. Had a harsh childhood so hates seeing children in danger/trouble.

Pimchi - Human Fighter. Played by Corey. Discarded when campaign changed to 4E.

Human fighter. Played by Corey.

Fat, short, and albino. Wields/throws greataxes (among other things), and likes to throw grenade-ish weapons (like alchemists fires). Has a pet pig named Pig.

Was originally Jeppy but was slightly modified to become Pimchi at the start of Session 3 - Flying Brains.

Barthalemue McKing IXX - Human Fighter. Played by Mark. Discarded when campaign changed to 4E.

Heinz Higginbotham Junior - Halfling Barbarian. Played by Shaun. Discarded when campaign changed to 4E.

Moeesha Ray - Minotaur Fighter. Played by Jennifer. Discarded when campaign changed to 4E.

Sir Steven O'Maxitaur - Minotaur Favored Soul. Played by Dale. Discarded when campaign changed to 4E.

Dragonborn avenger. Played by Dale.

Loves giant axes and breathing fire. REALLY loves breathing fire. Desperately wants to be a hero. Worships Kord and honors his deity by performing wrestling moves in the middle of combat.

Had a custom costume designed for the Demonskar Ball - a demonic giant hot dog, with the words "SIZE MATTERS" written on the front.

Infatuated with Cora Lanthenmire and hits on her whenever he can. His efforts finally paid off during the Demonskar Ball, when the two of them hooked up in a broom closet.

Eastwood - Half-Elf Cleric. Played by Justin. Discarded when campaign changed to 4E.

Half-elf cleric. Played by Justin.

Carries a lead pipe that he channels his holy light and spells through. Has a tendency to mutter incoherent things. Likes to threaten to "bust up the place." Likes to headbutt people.

Silverfang - Human Ranger. Played by Shaun. Retired, joined the city guard.

Human ranger. Played by Shaun. (character #6)

Some character that Shaun played. Not memorable.

Dangerous Deadeye Drrk Darkenson - Drow Rogue/Ranger. Played by Shaun. Retired when PHB2 came out.

Drow rogue/ranger. Played by Shaun (character #7).

Grew up as a commoner in the same drow city as Fraxx, and they became friends as youths. When Fraxx's house was destroyed Drrk tried to find him. Instead, Fraxx's father Bob found Drrk and brought Drrk to the surface so he could find Fraxx.

Fraxx - Drow Warlock. Played by Mark. Retired when PHB2 came out.

Drow warlock. Played by Mark.

Grew up in a drow city in a noble house. His house was destroyed in a coup but his father, an archmage, rescued Fraxx and brought them to the surface. Fraxx was angry and they argued, and his father teleported away, disappointed. Fraxx is now trying to find himself and figure out who he is, and then find his father and make amends.

Wears dark leather and a big hood which hides the fact that he is a drow.

Thunderbomb - Male goliath warden. Played by Shaun. Retired for no reason because he was boring.

Goliath warden. Played by Shaun (character #8).

Former chieftain of his village, and former slave of drow wizard Bob. Was freed by Bob in Session 12 - Through the Walls when Bob took Fraxx and Drrk away.

Retired to become a chef with Thog.

Lover - Male minotaur Paladin of the Raven Queen. Replaced with Gramps.

Male minotaur Paladin of the Raven Queen. Played by Corey.

Wields a gigantic executioner axe and has a horned helmet, with two holes for his natural horns so that he actually has FOUR horns protruding from his head.

Vargas - camera.gif Male human artificer. Played by Shaun. Retired because Shaun wanted to try someone else.

Human Artificer (formerly Warforged). Played by Shaun. Character #1/#10.

Backstory: Used to be trapped in a heavy suit of armor. He was working in his lab but was attacked by an unseen foe; mortally wounded, he managed to infuse his life force into a decorative suit of armor that his uncle had given him years ago. Since everyone he knew found his lifeless body, no one knew he was still alive, and so he was traveling around under a fake name trying to discover clues to who attacked him.

Discarded after Session 1 - Laughs in the Alley because both Shaun and the DM didn't realize how unfun artificers were to play because of their 1-minute long infusion cast times. Became an honorary member of the Church of Pelor and serves as its handyman (since he doesn't need sleep or food), and then returned to adventuring as an artificer as Shaun's alternate character.

Faust - Male human wizard. Played by Shaun. Discarded because Shaun he was boring.

Human Wizard. Played by Shaun. Character #11.

Some wizard that Shaun abandoned after one play session.

Bonesaw - Male dragonborn avenger. Played by Dale. Retired to date Cora.

Razeteron - Male minotaur paladin of Kord. Played by Dale until he moved away.

Wrenn - Male gnome rogue. Played by Justin (Alternate).

Gnome rogue. Played by Justin.

Focuses on being invisible and dealing out heavy sneak attack damage.

Brigs - camera.gif Male gnome sorcerer. Played by Mark. Retired as Mark doesn't play anymore.

Gnome sorcerer. Played by Mark.

Used to be a diamond inspector until Bob forcibly awoke the magical energies within him. Since then he lost his job/mansion but doesn't hold it against Bob, loving the intense magic power he now wields. Still wants to get rich and purchase a mansion again though. Also on a constant quest to discover the perfect gemstone.

His Chaos Bolt takes a form related to whatever elemental resistance he has that day, such as a small little stormcloud if he has lightning resistance.

At least partially insane, though prone to moments of surprising insight. Also prone to streaks of extremely good luck.

Asked Skie to the Ball, and they were very well received by those in attendance. Later they left together and went back to Skie's home. They dated for a while but have since broken up. The party recently found out that Skye is pregnant, but that is not why they broke up - they broke up because Skye magically branded Briggs with an arcane mark which she can use to contact him.

During a recent battle with a strange otherworldly abomination, Brigs found himself shunted to the Far Realm, a twisted, warped dimension. He spent a week there before being brought back to the normal world, but doesn't remember any specific details of his time spent there.

Gramps - Male bugbear ranger. Played by Corey. Retired as Corey doesn't play anymore.

Old bugbear male ranger. Uses a trident in one hand while he grapples and slams foes with his other hand.

Used to use an enormous bow made out of some hideous monster's spine, but gave up on archery because it took two hands, and he needed a free hand to use his puffer.

Has, and frequently uses, a puffer. Also fond of turning into a rat using his ratform armor, and took the claws from a dead umber hulk to wear as clacker-hands.

Ragnarok - Male human warlord. Played by Ryan. Retired as Ryan doesn't play anymore.

Male human warlord. Played by Ryan.

Originally comes from a charred, burned-out mirror image of our world. Fell in a lake and woke up dazed in the brush outside Cauldron, where he met the Stormhammers.

The Stormhammers (Current)

The party's registered adventuring party name. Chosen mostly to antagonize and irritate the Stormblades. They have had special cloaks made with their symbol, as well as customized chef hats.

Huron

Male shifter barbarian. Played by Mike.

Shifter barbarian. Played by Mike.

Orphaned as a young boy, due to his father being found dead and murdered, and his mom missing. Had acquired strange powers that rapidly healed his wounds and granted him tremendous strength during his early youth. He has since found out that his mother killed his father because he "found out her secret" which is that she transforms during a full moon.

Has a strange fascination with bones of all types. Wield dual khopeshes, and carries a large shield that he nails dead hands of worthy kills to. Doesn't really value money at all. Used to use a giant bone hammer (a t-rex fang), a halberd, and a fullblade.

Snake Eyes

Male changeling psion. Played by Jamie. Aka Peter aka Mindbender.

Half-elf bard. Played by Jamie.

Wears full black ninja suit with a full face mask, so that most of the party doesn't even know what he looks like. Likes to shout insults at people to kill them, and tends to feign death upon receiving injuries.

Has a membership to the Bluewater Academy.

LIKES TO CHEAT.

Apparently has joined the Church of Pelor, and actually represented the church at the Demonskar Ball. Has a divine blessing from Pelor and radiates light constantly (unless he shuts this ability off).

former info: Former info: Wields shurikens, a hand crossbow and a hand claw (like Vega). Wears full black ninja suit with a full face mask, so that most of the party doesn't even know what he looks like.

Yggdrasil

Male warforged cleric of an unknown construct god. Played by Justin.

Warforged cleric. Played by Justin.

Has only a single glowing red eye in the center of his face. Likes to socket and attach all his gear to his body. Deposits coins directly into his arm, which he can later "dispense" into his hand. Wields an iron pipe as a weapon (now a broken mace handle), which sockets into his arm and pops out to blast enemies.

Used to be human but had his soul forcibly implanted into a construct body after he was fatally injured in a dragonborn bandit ambush. His dying body was retrieved by a wizard who bound his soul into a construct. Worships an unknown "construct god" and is attempting to build a church to spread its worship and for other constructs.

Follows an unknown deity (the "warforged god") and wants to construct a church to honor his god. Also seeks out other constructs and tries to find out more about their origins and history.

Received the Aggannar invitation to the Demonskar Ball, and portrayed the demon lord during the dance-fight against Zachary Hawkwinter, playing the part of Surabar Spellmason. When he was announced, an unexpected musical montage broke out with Cram contributing billowing smoke and Brigs throwing in some dazzling ray light display. Yggdrasil himself spent a few minutes robot-dancing around the ballroom shooting off holy light, with light beaming out of his eyes from a light spell. Everyone was stunned.

Cram

Male human wizard. Played by Cam.

Human wizard. Played by Cam.

Wears a black executioner's mask and a shimmering shiny robe. Dual-wields staffs and carries an enormous executioner's axe. Likes to melee. Was formerly an executioner who practiced magic in his spare time. Real name is Graham, he just calls himself Cram because it's scary.

Has an owl familiar named Murgatroyd who is surly and cranky. Cram frequently sends Murgatroyd on suicide scouting missions, but the owl never remembers the last 5 minutes before it dies, so it never remembers actually dying. It still resents Cram.

After attending the Demonskar Ball, Cram left with a young woman named Thazienne, who turned out to be Jil in disguise. Cram was captured by the Last Laugh and tortured / interrogated about the other members of the Stormhammers.

Vico

Male eladrin battlemind. Played by Shaun (character #9).

Loves to teleport and move fast. Got trapped on this world after a teleporting mishap in the Feywild, where an elder was warning young eladrin not to use their fey step abilities near an ancient magical artifact, and Vico instantly said "Like this?" and vanished, reappearing on the material plane.

Uses a lightning whip.

Likes nice clothes, and really likes wealth.

Was formerly a swordmage, but switched before Session 29 - Fucking Gnolls to be a battlemind.

The Champ

Male minotaur monk. Played by Tim.

Male minotaur monk. LOVES to headbutt foes and slam them into the ground. Surprisingly nimble and agile.

Trained his physical abilities at the Church of Kord and met Gramps there.

Trims his horns as he develops as a martial artist. Purchased an expensive and fancy carriage (with two horses) for the party to use as transportation.

C05SE29 - Elemental Eruptions

Session 29 - Elemental Eruptions

February 12, 2011 - Elementals and Hill Giants are defeated as the party continues to track Alek.

Huron, Vico, Yggdrasil, The Champ, Snake Eyes

The game starts off with the Stormhammers settling down to rest outside the dead ogre's cave. They double check to make sure it's REALLY dead and not going to rise up as a zombie or something, but the cave is quiet. They notice, again, the heavy, deep wounds it suffered, akin to axe wounds.

The Champ decides that the way he is going to guard Dogmeat is digging a gnoll-sized trench in the ground, putting Dogmeat inside it, then lying on top of it so he is staring down right into the gnoll's face. The Champ has also, apparently, trained himself to sleep with his eyes open, so he spends the entire night glaring at Dogmeat despite being fast asleep.

Yggdrasil isn't there yet, so it turns out only Vico is on watch. The night passes uneventfully, though Vico does spot a strange fox-sized rodent with glowing red eyes and four forelegs. He watches it carefully but it doesn't approach or do anything unusual, so he doesn't react.

In the morning they decide to try to win Dogmeat's loyalty by arming him. They give him some old +1 Leather Armor they had in the bag of holding and give him back the spiked, oozing-blood club that his gnoll companion wielded in the riverbank fight. His eyes light up and he seems much more at peace upon receiving the items. The party seems unconcerned that they just gave Dogmeat a powerful magical weapon attuned to its evil Demon Prince Yeenoghu that only functions in the hands of loyal gnolls, but oh well.

They return to the rock quarry and cross the waste pit, and continue into the mountainous hills. The air starts getting stale and thin, and a noxious smell starts filling the air, like brimstone or some other toxic source. Far off in the distance, they can see two towers or pillar jutting up above the cloud line, though they are too far away and cloaked in haze/smoke to accurately identify.

Eventually they reach a steep shale mountain face, with a thick 10' wide metal pipe protruding from the side, leading into the mountain at a gentle decline. Inside, the smell is stronger, and it is completely dark. The party scouts ahead tentatively, and eventually discover the pipe continues for a short ways before emerging into a large stone quarry. A sloping path descends to the right, leading to an open plain pitted with large cracks and fissures, and dotted with bubbling, hazardous looking liquid pools. On the other side of the plain is a natural slope leading to another ledge at a higher elevation, from which the two columns jut into the sky. The pools gurgle and boil constantly, and look very hot and unpleasant. In some of the pools silt is flowing across the surface, while small fires are actually burning on the surface of another, which seems to be a tar-like substance.

The party edges carefully down the slope, being careful not to get too close to any of the pools and avoiding the larger cracks on the ground, from which they can see steam and light smoke drifting up into the air. Snake Eyes lurks up above, suspicious. As they cross the ground though, the pools erupt and a variety of elementals burst from the pools or coalesce out of the air - a fire elemental, a silt elemental, an air elemental, and some other ones I can't remember now. (Maybe a steam elemental? And a magma one, or a gravel one or something? I dunno.) They quickly learn the air elemental can turn invisible and fly away, as it quickly does so and flies up to attack Snake Eyes. Small toxic slimes also emerge from the pool and jiggle towards the party. They are felled in a single hit, but the party discovers that whenever one is "killed", a previously-killed slime comes back to life and resumes its attacks.

The other elementals attack the party with a variety of wind and fire-based attacks, though Huron's dragonhide armor proves very valuable and negates much, if not all, of the fire damage. The wind elementals don't deal much damage, but prove a pain in the ass as they knock and slide the party around periodically. The party manages to resist (mostly) the elementals' efforts to push them into the boiling liquid pools, however, and kill them all. Actually, Huron delivers the killing blow to every single one, which earns him an as-of-yet unnamed achievement.

They catch their breath and then head up the other hill to the second ledge. As they ascend, they notice the two columns are two massive metal cylinders, likely pipes similar to the one they traveled through a few minutes ago. The two pipes stick straight up into the sky, and every so often a deep echoing bellowing noise emerges from them, resonating around the entire mountain range and ringing in their ears.

They notice that this stone ground is criss-crossed with a variety of long, jagged cracks of different shape and size. Almost the entire ledge is cracked in this manner, though there are a few small uncracked spaces. Huron decides to run across, avoiding as many cracks as possible, to the other end and see what is there. He makes it across untouched, and spots a large natural doorway leading into the mountain, but it is covered with a massive barrier of wood and nails and spikes that has been laid across the entrance.

A bunch of ogres and giants come out and attack, the grounds begins to erupt in caustic spray and scalding steam, but there is a screeching tone that precedes the different blasts. After some trial and error the party figures out the pattern and dispatches the giants, who are knocking them back and throwing rocks etc. Afterwards they head inside, find the giant barracks and hunker down for a rest.

C05SE29 - Fucking Gnolls

Session 29 - Fucking Gnolls

January 23, 2011 - The party battles gnolls as they follow Alek's trail, and encounter an angel.

Huron, Vico, Yggdrasil, The Champ, Snake Eyes

The session starts right off with the gnolls attacking! There is an archer, a ferocious looking hyena-wolf hybrid looking thing (large size), and a large leader-type gnoll swinging a spiked, massive cudgel oozing (!) blood. There are also some other gnolls.

There is a fast-flowing creek diving the beach, with heavy logs spanning the gap as makeshift bridges. The party charges in and starts to fight the gnolls. They notice that the big hound-like one is actually a bestial, savage gnoll of larger size, which is completely feral and wild. The archer backs up to the rear lines but The Champ circles around and cuts him off.

Yggdrasil crosses the log bridge, but when he's on the other side another gnoll bursts out of the river behind him and attacks. This gnoll is wear a strange wax cap marked with three squiggling lines on the front.

The fight is short and bloody. The gnolls don't have great defenses but they DO receive additional benefits from flanking and surrounding their foes. At the end of the fight, one of the gnoll minions tries to flee by running away and jumping into the river. The Champ doesn't want it to get away, so he charges after it and does a diving spinning headbutt right into the poor gnoll's face, in the river, killing it instantly (natural 20). The party also decided that The Champ's headbutts aren't traditional headbutts, but rather he picks is target up and bodily smashes them into his head/horns. So picturing him doing this in mid-air to the river gnoll was particularly funny.

The last remaining gnoll - the cap-wearing one - is actually knocked out and captured by Snake Eyes. They stabilize its wounds and tie it up before waking it to interrogate it. Unfortunately, gnolls speak Abyssal and that's the one language Snake Eyes doesn't speak. However, he knows a martial ritual that will allow crude communication with someone even without a shared language. The only problem is, it can't be used with a hostile target. So the party spends a few minutes alternately befriending/intimidating the gnoll. They take its cap and discover that it is a Cap of Water Breathing, but everyone is reluctant to wear it because it looks really weird.

Someone gets the idea to wash the gnoll because it's dirty. They come to instantly regret this decision, as it reeks like wet dog. They build a small fire and take a short rest to dry it out and continue interacting with it. They reach something of a truce with the gnoll. The show it the silver plate with etchings on it and it seems to visibly recognize some of the landmarks.

Suddenly, their meal is interrupted (they were eating in the ruins of a small building) by intense, brilliant line shining from the beach. The Champ peeks out and sees it coming from behind the headless statue. Everyone warily goes out and from behind the statue steps a beautiful, blue-winged woman with pale white skin and silver hair. Yggdrasil and Snake Eyes immediately feel divine power emanating from her.

She introduces herself as Nirama, and confirms their suspicions that she is an angelic being. She tells them she has come to tell them that their path is true and right, and that they must continue to avert a great evil from awakening.

She points at Snake Eyes and gestures at the replica staff he carries, his reward from the Demonskar Ball. She retells the story of how she once appeared many years ago to give a powerful artifact of goodness, Alakast, to Surabar Spellmason, so that he might defeat the demon fiend Aggannar (she nods at Yggdrasil, who played the part of Aggannar in the Ball). She tells the party that soon Alakast will similarly appear to the Stormhammers to aid them in their battle against a terrible evil that is on the verge of re-awakening. She tells the party to look for Alakast in the "lair of the false sisters."

Vico is noticeably unimpressed that she has only vague advice and warnings to offer and not any concrete help. She thinks and says that she is unable to help and interpose herself in the affairs of mortals directly. She lifts her head as if communing with an unknown presence, and then does tell them that the great evil she spoke of is known as he of a thousand faces, the Frozen Lord, and that he calls himself "The God of Death". She then blesses them all lightly (some temporary hp) and fades away. The sounds of the jungle and wildlife slowly fade back into earshot.

The party continues on, telling the gnoll - who they name Dogmeat - to lead them to the first landmark on the plate, a big hole or cave marked "HOM". They travel through the thick jungle without incident, and stop at the crest of a large hill. Down the other side, about a minute's walk away, is a gaping hole in the side of another large hill. The gnoll looks fearful of the cave and gestures at it.

Huron and the Champ decide to sneak down the hill and investigate the cave. They stealth down and draw near, and are met with a terrible stench of death and rot coming from inside the cave. Huron peeks in and sees a massive shape lying on its back in the cave - an ogre. He doesn't see it moving or breathing, but he's not close enough to be sure. He is able to see many various scars and bloody, dried wounds upon its body, though. Various dead animals and bones litter the floor of the filthy cave. They sneak in, but Huron steps on a bone which snaps loudly. They freeze, but the ogre - who they suspect is a zombie - doesn't react. Eventually they go up closer and find out that it is very dead and not undead after all.

The stench is horrible, but they determine that the ogre was killed by repeated injuries inflicted by a large blade. Under the ogre's body, they find the crumpled remains of a steel shield marked with the symbol of Bahamut, and deduce that it is Alek's. They return to the party and tell them what they discovered, and the gnoll looks relieved. Snake Eyes points at the next landmark - the bridge - and they continue on.

The path eventually leaves the jungle climate and ascends into dry, rocky mountains, covered in jagged, sharp stone protusions and tall canyons. They come across a ramshackle rope bridge spanning a pit 20 feet below them. They look in, and it seems to be a refuse or garbage pit, as there are lots of bones and waste and it smells awful. On the other side of the pit, the rope bridge is tied to two large statues carved to resemble some kind of demon.

They look uneasily at the pit for a bit, then Huron decides to sprint across and see if it will hold. He makes it 75% of the way but before he reaches the other side, a gnoll wearing ragged robes and a headdress steps out from behind one of the statues and severs the rope, sending the bridge and Huron into the pit. He lands nimbly, but hears growling coming from to his sides. The pit actually extends underneath the mountain, into recesses which were not visible from up above. From out of the pit bounds a handful of hyenas and an enormous, frothing-at-the-mouth, savage gnoll.

The gnoll in robes doesn't waste any time bringing the rest of the party into the fight, enveloping them in a swarm of carrion and ravens which peck and push them into the pit. The Champ avoids them and stays above with Dogmeat, who is cowering and looking uncertain. The Champ takes the rope/chain tied to Dogmeat's manacles and pounds it into the wall, then glares at him for good measure, before sliding down the broken bridge into the pit.

The ferocious bestial gnoll starts tearing into the party pretty good, including a nasty "shift its speed and attack anyone it is ever adjacent to during the shift" attack, but the party copes with its frenzied attacks, the nipping of the hyenas, and the gnoll carrion caster quite well. At one point in the fight Dogmeat attempts to free the chain from the wall, but the Champ leaps up and punches it back into the wall and glares at him, and he stops any further attempts.

After slaying the gnoll, they dig around in the pit and find some treasure, including an ivory goat statue covered in arcane runes. They deduce that it is a figurine that allows them to summon a "regal goat" spirit to fight at their side.

Quite exhausted, they decide not to proceed further and head back to the ogre cave to rest. Yggdrasil and Vico stay up on watch (Yggdrasil doesn't sleep, Vico meditates in a state of full awareness). Because the smell inside the cave is so nasty, they set up camp in the clearing just outside the entrance.

C05SE28 - River Ruckus

Session 28 - River Ruckus

July 2, 2010 - The party sets out to find Alek Tercival, battling crocodiles and tentacles in the jungle waters.

Huron, Vico, Gramps, Yggdrasil, The Champ, Snake Eyes

The party spends a day or two taking care of affairs in town, hearing many rumors and whispers about the riot and its aftermath. They see many militia and mercenaries training and doing military exercises, almost like something is planned and they are preparing for it.

They decide to go find out what the Stormblades have been up to. They ask around town and find out that they normally frequent the Slippery Eel restaurant, a high-class place, so they put on their fine clothes and head there. Since The Champ doesn't yet have any fancy clothes, they stop at Rhiavadi's Fine Silks and he orders a pure white suit, magically enchanted so that the wearer can, as a minor action, clean it completely. Amazed, Snake Eyes and Vico also get this enchantment placed on their outfits, which earns them all a discount rate (which is then discounted further from their fame in town.)

They head to the Slippery Eel. Inside, Annah Taskerhill is dining with a young man they don't recognize. Snake Eyes sidles up and eavesdrops; everyone else goes to the bar to watch. He overhears them talking about the latest fashion trends; magically inscribed head bands and ribbons that glow. Snake Eyes interrupts them to tell them that feathers are where it's at; Annah, annoyed, looks to see how many feathers he is wearing (none) and rolls her eyes in disgust. Snake Eyes then does something (I forget what) to cause a bit of a scene, and two bounces make their way over to escort him out. Somehow he manages to sneak away, and joins the others at the bar.

Snake Eyes asks the bartender for his finest wine, which he brings out and says will cost 50gp. Snake Eyes says it's not cold enough. The bartender hints that he may have some...special cold drink if they have the coin. Intrigued, the party pays attention, and Gramps pays 200gp for this special drink. The bartender pulls out a crystal bottle containing an icy clear liquid, and frost literally coats the crystal coating and anything it touches. He tells them it was smuggled in from the para-elemental plane of ice, and is extremely rare. He says it has magical properties, that drinking it makes someone intensely cold, and that this drink has been known to save people from raging infernos. The bottle contains enough for two swigs. Gramps tucks it away.

Huron comes over and asks where the other Stormblades are, as he has a message for them. Annah coldly tells him that he can just give the message to her, since she's leader of the Stormblades. He refuses. She shrugs, but then adds that there isn't really a Stormblades anymore anyways, since Cora ran off with Bonesaw. She insults Bonesaw's heritage and race a bit, but the party is simply entertained that the Stormblades are having issues. She gives them dirty looks as they smugly enjoy her discomfort. On their way out, Huron buys her a drink, something "a snooty bitch would like". She gives him a surprised, suspicious look as they leave.

Gramps reminds everyone that Maavu (now outlawed in town) said they should come find him in Redgorge so he can thank them properly. They go to Redgorge, and poke around a bit. It is a smallish mining and farming town, and the people are hard-working civilians. They don't recognize the party for their fame, which deflates them a little bit. They find out that Maavu can usually be found at the Redhead Miner's Inn. Intrigued by a popular "Hall of Carvings," The Champ and Snake Eyes go visit there while the others go to the inn. Snakes Eyes wants to go buy a boat, which confuses the DM, who doesn't let him. :P

Inside the inn, and the Hall of Carvings, and actually all around town, are various paintings, frescoes and statues of Surabar Spellmason. There are many scenes of him battling the demon army, kneeling before an angelic figure and receiving a glowing staff, and using the staff to defeat a terrible demon which must be Aggannar. Snake Eyes, in the Halls of Carvings, takes out the golden replica staff he received at the Demonskar Ball, and compares it to a statue of Spellmason holding a staff. He is impressed by the accuracy and detail in the replica. Meanwhile Yggdrasil compares the paintings of Aggannar to his demon outfit he wore at the Ball, and is similarly impressed by the attention to detail.

The innkeeper, a jolly plump man named Mikimax, greets them with food and drink. They ask where Maavu is. He inspects them a bit but quickly realizes who they are, and leads them into a back room and then down some stairs into a large basement room. Maavu and some others are talking or hanging out downstairs, all wearing brown tabards with a chisel on it. Mikimax removes his apron to reveal that he too is wearing an identical tabard. Maavu walks up and shakes Gramps' hand gratefully, and gives him 1000gp for saving his life. The Champ and Vico ask Maavu if he can use his connections to clad their carriage in armor and weaponry. He is surprised but says he'll see what he can do. He is baffled by the idea of a "repeating ballista" for the roof, however.

After a while, Maavu gestures around at the people in the room and says they are all part of a group called The Chisel. Maavu says that the Chisel is the true reason he's asked them here today. He explains that their organization is dedicated to upholding Surabar's beliefs and protecting Redgorge and Cauldron. Recently they have begun to suspect deep corruption within the Cauldron government, that someone or a group of people are manipulating the officials for personal gain. To counter this corruption, the Chisel asked Alek to stand up against the government and challenge Skellerang for his position, which would be the first step the Chisel would need to start stamping out the liars and thieves in power.

The problem is, he explains, is that Alek delivered the challenge and all was going fine, but then he disappeared. No one has seen Alek in roughly two weeks, and the Cauldron government is seizing his absence to discredit Alek and the challenge, and even worse, rumor has it that they are mobilizing to attack Redgorge and destroy the Chisel, calling the group a "rebel group." Such an attack would be a pointless waste of hundreds of lives. Only the return of Alek to settle matters and calm everyone can end this without bloodshed.

The party points out that the Chisel is apparently well-known for a secret organization. Maavu frowns and agrees, and says that they *were* a secret organization that worked behind the scenes...until Alek bluntly declared his challenge as being supported by the Chisel. Maavu, frustrated, says he doesn't know why Alek would say that - he's a smart young man and much more diplomatic than that normally.

The Chisel members explain that maybe Alek is hurt or needs help - he needs to be found. He was last seen a few weeks back when he stopped in Redgorge before continuing his explorations of the jungle area surrounding the Demonskar. Maavu explains that Alek would boat downriver into the jungle and explore, before returning to the Cauldron area to rest and recover. Lately he'd been going back into the jungle more and more - there must be something important there. Maavu adds that Alek once told him he was on divine missions...that he had spoken with his god and knew he was on the path of something important.

The Stormhammers start planning an expedition. They go to the docks and find a large rowboat, which Maavu gladly offers to them to help them find Alek. They start talking about how they will return...Gramps suggest finding a really, really long rope and tying it to a post here in Redgorge, and then pulling themselves back after finding Alek. Mikimax laughs and says the jungle is "hundreds of miles away" and no rope is that long. An insight check reveals that Mikimax...really has no idea how far it is. The conversation does stir something in the fat man though, who goes and fetches a strange metal plate from a back room. He sheepishly admits that Alek gave it to him a while back to pass on to a wizard to study, but he forgot and grew fond of the etchings on it.

The party gathers around and inspects the plate. Huron recognizes the six-armed figures as an ancient magic-using race called Spellweavers, though they haven't been seen in hundreds of years and little is known about them. The Champ, Snake Eyes and Vico inspect the left side of the plate, and realize that it tells a story, from bottom to top, of a Spellweaver overseeing slaves struggling with blocks; then the Spellweaver dripping something on the slaves who lift the blocks easily; and finally a finished, majestic temple. Gramps flips the plate over and sees a crude map carved into the back, with horrendous writing/spelling and hard-to-decipher landmarks. They spot what looks like a river, and a figure by it that is labeled "NO HED".

Hearing them, Mikimax says that there is a large headless statue a few miles into the jungle by river, and says that he could never read the scrawl on the back. He looks shifty about this though, and Huron grabs him and threatens him to tell the truth, which Mikimax does in shame - he can't read. The party laughs at him and heads out to their boat, which Vico attempted to decorate with the Stormhammers logo, but it ended up horrible. Snake Eyes takes a turn and creates a masterpiece.

As for how they will return, they convince a Chisel wizard to perform a ritual on their boat that let them, once only, return the boat and anything/anyone inside to the Redgorge docks. While the wizard is casting the ritual, The Champ starts fishing and immediately falls into the water and starts getting washed downstream. He catches himself easily, but while everyone is gaping at him no one notices Snake Eyes snatch a leaping fish out of mid-air, and no one believes him that he actually caught it after.

Before they leave, Snake Eyes goes to the town's Shrine of Pelor and prays to Pelor for an hour. He asks Pelor if they are doing the right thing by helping Maavu, as it's unclear who is right here. He receives a warm feeling and feels good about their decision when they set off down the river, towards the jungle.

They start heading down the river, with Gramps manning the oars and The Champ navigating. He proves a capable guide, and the boat trip is smooth and uneventful. They spot rough weather ahead though, looming over the jungle wilds, but decide they are moving too fast to stop the boat and wait out the rain. They enter the jungle, which has heavy trees and branches draping overhead, and a relentless downpour starts to blanket them, impairing their vision and hampering their senses.

They drift farther into the jungle, spotting various wild animals at the shores. They come to a stretch with some clumps of land poking out of the river (now with a strong current). They spot an enormous crocodile dozing in the shade, underneath one of the large trees extending overhead. They decide to give it a wide berth and steer the boat away from it. It lazily watches them but doesn't move closer. However, ripples are spotted in the water before and beside them, and they ready for combat just as whip-like, fleshy tendrils break the water and start lashing out at the boat.

The tendrils snap out and start wrapping around people, dragging The Champ right off the boat into the water, and the beneath the surface. The Champ is bitten by a beak mouth underwater and starts struggling and drowning. Up above, the storm continues pushing the boat down the river, and the giant crocodile slithers into the water.

Yggdrasil summons a spiritual guardian into the boat, and plants a battle standard. Snake Eyes leaps off the boat to shore and starts throwing shurikens and slashing with his sword, on the tendril that is holding The Champ underwater. The huge crocodile surfaces and lunges at the party, trying to bite and hold a target with its massive jaws, and the other tendril attempts to drag Vico off the boat. A second, smaller crocodile surges out of the water and latches on to Yggdrasil, and tries to drag him off the boat.

The party begins fending off the various grabbing attacks, all while struggling to keep the boat from drifting off, and treading water against the strong current, and trying not to drown when the tendrils drag them underwater. The Champ has the displeasure of discovering that while underwater, any damage taken results in a very difficult Endurance check, and failure on this check results in a lost healing surge. They also discover that aquatic creatures (which both crocs and the tendrils are) receive bonuses to attack non-aquatic swimming foes.

Snake Eyes leaps over a tendril to get back onto the boat, which floats down the river and beaches itself on a clump of mossy land. The Champ suffers underwater for a few rounds before escaping the tendril and making his way up to the same clump of land. He dashes back into the fray, running through the boat and leaping off to attack the smaller crocodile.

The smaller crocodile continues to back up before charging the boat, clamping its jaws around anyone within reach, and even ripping them further when they escape its mighty jaws. It ravages Yggdrasil, the Champ and Vico a fair bit before the Champ finally drops it with two counterattack strikes. Meanwhile, Huron and Snake Eyes turn one of the tendrils into fleshy chunks, which Huron grabs some of, and they also slice off the top 3' of tendril which Gramps grabs and shoves into a pack.

They turn their attention to the huge crocodile, which is slow and lumbering and failing at really doing anything at all. The other tendril manages to wrap up Yggdrasil and drag the warforged away, but being a construct, he doesn't start to drown, just sink. Disappointed, it lets him go, blinding him with an ink cloud before making its way over to Huron. Snake Eyes leaps off the boat on top of the huge crocodile, and starts slashing and stabbing it fiercely.

The huge croc snaps out at the Champ and bites him fiercely, bloodying him. It then snaps its head up and SWALLOWS HIM, and starts digesting him! Desperate, they pour on the damage, and inside (being devoured) The Champ crits the Crocodile, smashing a blunted horn right through its stomach lining so that the horn protrudes out its back. He also pockets a small black stone idol he finds inside its belly. Yggdrasil pours out the healing to keep everyone up, and bashes the croc on the head, killing it. Huron rips the other tendril in half as it attempts to swim away, and Vico and Snake Eyes swim frantically after the boat which has begun drifting away downriver. They catch up and row it back up to the party, who all pile in and catch their breath.

A few minutes later, Huron spots a looming stone figure on the side of the river, lacking a head. The rain is still heavily obscuring their view, so they drift over and land the boat, only then noticing that the beach is occupied. Half a dozen gnolls armed for battle are scattered about the beach, who turn and look at the party. They draw their weapons and leap to the attack.

Of note: Snake Eyes gets an impressive 20-point achievement for going an entire game night without taking damage!