Spectrum's Comments: In the wake of Zynara giving birth, some of the group has stayed to explore the cave system, while others have returned to Gateway. Here's the A file, featuring the group exploring.
The Frontier #95
SUBJ: Frontier #95 (R) FROM: GM Mad 06/06/91 S#: 797779
Pad prepares the horses for teleportation back to Gateway. He shrinks some of the mounts, and polymorphs others. After Polymorphing his own mount into an Armadillo, it falls over dead. Couldn't take the shock.
The rest of the horses safely disappear once the pillar formation is activated.
Time passes and those who remain prepare for the exploration to come. Several of the Seekers remove the second Wall of Stone Pad put over the shaft opening for safety.
Late that afternoon, Pad returns with Claudius. The pair appear near Fin and Steph as the two tumble in the autumn leaves. Pad's spell went off without error.
Claud fills the group in on the latest goings on in Gateway.
Next morning, the Seekers continue on. The mages rememorize their spells. (HINT! HINT! ;>)
The shaft itself appears no different than it did a few days ago. You repel down without incident.
Returning to the Beholder cave, you discover a new addition to it. Mysteriously, the opening that the Beholder was guarding is now gone. Only the cave wall meets your gaze.
SUBJ: GM Notes (R) FROM: GM Mad 06/06/91 S#: 850900
Current Hit Points:
Bernice 37 of 38
Stephanie 52 of 60
Spellcasters, don't forget your new spell lists!
Now what??
The remains of the Beholder are still in the cave. Only the opening is gone.
Arocken examines the longsword from the demon's goodies. He notes lightly etched elvish runes on it. More then likely, the sword was forged by elves. Otherwise, the sword does not appear different in any other way.
Spectrum's Comments: This is the sword that Arcken refered to in the New Frontier posts. Unfortunately, he didn't have it very long.
SUBJ: Padraig (R) FROM: GM Shifty 06/06/91 S#: 436215
As horse keels over, "I knew I should have bought the other one."
Before the party starts down the shaft, Pad asks if anyone would like a Stoneskin or a Strength spell. He has one of each available.
When the party gets to the bottom of the shaft, Pad casts a Halo of Eyes spell on himself. Suddenly his head is ringed with floating eyeballs. Aside to Claudius, "If there's one thing I've learned about working in close quarters, it's that it pays to have eyes in the back of your head."
Upon entering the Beholder's room, Pad casts a Detect Undead spell and starts scanning. Assuming there aren't any close at hand (i.e. in the room with us), he'll cast a Detect Magic and looks at the far wall. Assuming he sees a spell operating there, he'll check to see what type of magic it is. If it's Illusion based, he'll inform everyone and attempt to disbelieve it. If it is Evocation based (Wall of Stone), he'll cast a Dispel Magic on it.
Pad's spells
1st Level: Magic Missile x2, Shield, Detect Magic, Detect Undead.
2nd Level: Web, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Detect Invisible, Strength.
3rd Level: Lightning Bolt, Fly, Dispel Magic x2, Hold Undead.
4th Level: Ot's Resilient Sphere, Polymorph Self, Halo of Eyes, Stoneskin.
5th Level: Cone of Cold, Teleport, Dismissal, Wall of Stone.
SUBJ: FINROD FROM: SGT STONEY 06/07/91 S#: 418124
Fin is somewhat put off when Claude and Pad appear at such an inopportune moment, but then whispers to Steph. "We have an audience, dear. Let's make it worth the price of admission." :)
When Pad offers the Strength and Stoneskin spells, Fin will quickly volunteer to receive the Stoneskin, but declines the Strength.
Before moving out, he casts his own Strength spell on Stephanie.
When we reach the chamber with the missing door, The elven multi-class will move forward and begin exercising his thievish training, looking for secret/concealed doors, and traps. Sometimes the trigger mechanism for a secret door is hidden far from the door itself, so he will not neglect the other walls, nor the floor and ceiling.
Finrod's Spells;
1st Level: Enlarge, Charm Person, Color spray, Detect Magic
2nd Level: Strength, Mirror Image
3rd Level: Haste, Fireball
--Finrod Fasthand
--Mercenary Exhibitionist
;)
SUBJ: GM Notes FROM: Mad GM 06/08/91 S#: 429264
Pad casts several spells. He fails to detect any undead in the cavern. Casting Detect Magic, the wall where the opening once was now glows. It is Evocation magic.
Fin unsuccessfully searches for hidden things.
Pad then casts Dispel Magic and there is suddenly an opening in the fail. His Detect Undead goes into overdrive!
Beyond the opening is a huge cavern. None of the other sides of it can be seen. Seemingly dozens of human-like figures shuffle forward towards the group. They utter a low moan as they approach.
SUBJ: Stephanie FROM: Schar 06/08/91 S#: 512759
"AHHH!!" I scream when Pad and Claud suddenly appear.
"Do you mind?!?"
Steph turns beet red. ;D
Later, when we go back down to the caves, I'll draw my sword as I expect trouble. Once Pad locates the cave opening, my jaw drops when the undead appear.
"Undead! Fry'm Fin, Fry'm!!"
I'll wait for the fireball to go off, and any other mage spell, before wading into them and making them permanently dead.
Spectrum's Comments: At least one of them had the decency to be embarrassed.
SUBJ: Arocken FROM: Wildchilde 06/09/91 S#: 849424
"A sword forged by my brethren, this is indeed a good sign." Arocken will go about polishing the blade before the journey down, also will attempt to read the elvish runes.
In the room, Arocken will hold off on a frontal assault until the Spellcasters have tossed a few, then he will attack blades swinging.
SUBJ: Claudius.. FROM: GM Falcon 06/09/91 S#: 827572
Claudius will return at the...inopportune moment. His eyes first bug out at Steph and Finrod.. then he blushes.
"Umm.."
When Padraig cast's his Halo spell, Claud's eyes will again bug out. Then, noticing the attempt at humor, he'll smile faintly. "Very funny.."
At the lair, he looks at the walls, and frowns: "An opening? Where?" Then Pad starts doing his thing. "Oh.. that opening! What the.."
Claudius will waste no time in standing next to Finrod, and dumping a fireball into the room too. (Theirs, not ours ;))
"Let's get those souless snotbags!", he cries. (;))
Spells: Magic Missile 2, Color Spray
Flaming Sphere, Web
Fireball
(Battle: 1- Fireball)
(2- Magic Missile, 3- Ditto)
(4- Web the opening, 5- Flaming Sphere the web)
(Will not use magic items unless they overwhelm the front line)
SUBJ: Finrod FROM: SGT STONEY 06/09/91 S#: 824330
When the creatures begin their moaning shuffle toward the door, the blue-eyed mercenary is at first a little curious... we have seen too few undead, and it might be interesting to see why they moan so...
But then his beloved Wife does everyone the service of startling him out of his curiosity attack with her shouted order. So, he promptly zips a Fireball out to just beyond the Moaning Shufflers,(or are they Shuffling Moaners?) setting it to detonate far enough from the freshly-revealed door that little or no flame spills over into the friendly-held room.
Provided any of the unfortunate undead survives the conflagration, Fin will cast Mirror Image upon himself and move forward to fight at Steph's side with sword and dagger. No sense wasting too many spells too early.
--Finrod Fasthand
--Fireball Flinger
SUBJ: Padraig FROM: GM Shifty 06/10/91 S#: 812756
Pad just smiles at Steph, "No, I don't mind at all. Don't feel you have to stop on our account, we were just passing through." Pad walks off with a smirk.
As the undead horde starts shuffling forward, Pad looks at them for a moment and decides that they are probably zombies. Given this evaluation, he sees no reason to waste a large boom spell on them. Instead he stays at the back and waits.
When the things get closer, he will study them a bit closer, drawing upon the memories he stole from the lich/necromancer. If his identification holds up, he'll wait for the others to finish the horde. If they get in trouble, he'll add a Lightning Bolt to the effort, aimed at the back ranks. If the undead turn out to be something more dangerous than zombies, he'll immediately let loose with a Lightning
Bolt, and even a second if necessary, to lessen the odds.
SUBJ: Bernice FROM: Merri2 06/10/91 S#: 501813
Bernice waits nervously for the search of the caves to continue. She puts on her 'new' leather armor, (She won't wear it as a rule.) and tries to rub her one remaining wound. (OK, it's only 1 hit point, but Bernice has never been brave about pain.)
Down the shaft, Bernice is getting pretty spooked. She's looking around real nervous and peers into the darkness beyond the party. The little thief is impressed by Pad's quick removal of the wall, but jumps back when the undead are sighted.
'EEK!' The halfling gasps. Before she can recover though, she sees more magic than ever before in her life. Hopefully there will be nothing for her to do after two fireballs and a lightning bolt. (Did I miss anything?) ;)
The jumpy halfling,
Bernice
SUBJ: VALIDAR FROM: Bl Panther 06/10/91 S#: 427484
Validar will move closer to the opening, but delaying enough to allow the mages to complete the casting of their various magicks. As soon as the carnage has ended, Validar will move through the portal and hold a position with the intent of preventing any of the moaning shamblers from passing.
"Let us not waste too much of our spell power on this pitiful, motley lot. They can surely be defeated with nothing more than cold steel and our good right arms."
While positioning himself just beyond the doorway, Validar will try to take a moment to survey the new surroundings, provided the zombie-like undead are far enough away to permit this. Once they get within a few feet, he will concentrate on their eradication.
Spectrum's Comments: And now the B file with the Gateway Gang.
The Frontier #95B
SUBJ: The Frontier #95B FROM: GM Mad 06/06/91 S#: 787514
Much to the guards' surprise, Pad appears in the pillar formation with a group of horses. After realizing who he is, they assist him in getting the mounts up top.
Once at the manor, he informs Claudius and Armon of Validar's decision to continue on. Claud agrees to return while Armon decides to remain in Gateway.
Casting his Magic Mirror once more, Pad homes in on Finrod. Using the image in the mirror as his target, Pad Teleports himself and Claudius away.
Blod and Zynara spend the rest of the day settling in. Zynara feels much better after being Healed by Selinda and can function normally.
Meanwhile, Armon hits the taverns. He finds that most are crowded. The night air has a chill to it as he travels.
Armon returns to the mansion at a very late hour. Almost all the lights are out as he draws nearer. He notices something in the darkness. A man, perhaps? Spying on the manor? Upon being noticed, the man runs off.
SUBJ: GM Notes FROM: GM Mad 06/06/91 S#: 800126
Current Hit Points:
Blod 24 of 36
Armon will find that he can get access to Sharadin's Library. It is a large building that is regularly frequented by mages. (Claud, Pad, Zynara and Fin have gone there many times themselves.) The texts range among many subjects. Some deal with magical casting, but none are in themselves magical.
Now what Gateway Gang??
SUBJ: Armon FROM: Omni Tuens 06/07/91 S#: 498858
Armon is surprised to see the snoop, and attempts to pursue him. If he fails, he'll be sure and tell the others, while setting up a lil inconspicuous ambush for the next few nights. ("Darn it, this means I can't visit the taverns!")
The bard will also take the chance to visit Sharadin's library, looking for references to the pillars and their destinations. Hopefully, since they now have more information on them, he can uncover something. As for spells, the bard will try and learn Invisibility, Alter Self, Continual Light, and/or Acid Arrow, based on availability.
SUBJ: GM Notes: FROM: Mad GM 06/08/91 S#: 425424
Spell note: Neither Finrod or Claudius have the 3 spells you listed in their books. No chance of learning them that way!
Armon has trouble locating any tomes on the Elders and their artifacts. The fact of the matter is that there are only a handful of such books in existence. With Sharadin also researching the very same subject, it would be a safe bet to assume that he has the books that you seek in his personal library.
Spectrum's Comments: Now back to the main group.
The Frontier #96
After dispelling a Wall of Stone placed over the cave opening, the Seekers discover a huge cavern. Dozens of undead creatures shuffle forth. The warriors step through the opening and draw weapons.
Fin casts Fireball and let's it rip. The spell explodes far enough a way so no Seekers are caught in its area of effect. For a moment, the entire cavern is lit up. You can see that the ceiling is roughly 60' over head. The far wall is well over 100' away. The sides of the cave are 40' away.
A huge group of the creatures are blown away by the Fireball. Dozens of smoking bodies liter the cave floor. Undaunted, the creatures keep coming.
Pad studies the creatures and concludes that they are zombies.
Claudius tosses another Fireball at the approaching zombies. More bodies go flying. Several other creatures were caught in Claud's Fireball. Two appear to be ogres, but their flesh is as rotten as the zombies. A rust monster is also among the group.
The creatures reach attack range. Arocken strikes with his Elvish blade dropping the zombie. Validar and Steph both slay two of the creatures.
The zombies strike back. Arocken and Steph are struck for minor damage.
Finrod casts Mirror Image upon himself. Suddenly, there are now 7 Finrods! He draws his sword to discover that it is glowing slightly.
Pad's eyes grow wide when he sees the monster Zombies among the regular zombies. He sees rust monster, ogre and in the back, hill giant zombies! A master necromancer must be at work here!
Claudius spots the rust monster zombie advancing and hits it with a trio of Magic Missiles. It falls over and does not stir.
The warriors go to work again. Arocken slays another zombie. Steph also kills one. Validar downs two more.
One zombie breaks through their defensive line. It lunges at Bernice, but misses her badly.
Claudius sees a hill giant zombie approach. He hits it with another trio of Magic Missiles, but it doesn't even slow it down.
Pad adds his magical skill to the fight, throwing a Lightning Bolt. Six regular zombies fall from the bolt as do three ogres and two more rust monsters. The giant zombie is slowed, but still keeps advancing.
Arocken connects with his longsword once more. Down goes another zombie.
Finrod's sword glows brighter and begins to shake slightly as he approaches the incoming giant. Fin strikes with his blade, driving it deep into the giant. He does heavy damage, but the giant still stands. Steph downs an ogre, while Validar finishes off two more zombies.
Bernice stabs her attacker with her shortsword, but it is still up. The zombie swings at her, but misses again.
The giant zombie swings at Finrod with his huge fist. Fin looses one image.
SUBJ: GM Notes FROM: GM Mad 06/13/91 S#: 509606
That covers the first three rounds. You can roughly tell that there are over a dozen regular zombies, 3 more rust monster zombies and almost a dozen ogres and giant zombies approaching.
Current Hit Points:
Bernice 37 of 38
Arocken 28 of 31
Stephanie 48 of 60
Now what??
Spectrum's Comments: Gee, a master necromancer with a thing for zombies. I wonder just who that could be?
SUBJ: Padraig FROM: GM Shifty 06/13/91 S#: 454153
Pad assumes that the attacks of a zombie rust monster will have the same effects as a live one's would. This makes them a higher priority than anything else, since they are the one thing that can probably do significant damage to the front line fighters. Pad casts a Hold Undead, hopefully catching all 3 in it. If he can't get all 3, he'll follow up with a Magic Missile, dropping 3 missiles into any that escape the Hold and throwing any excess missiles into a giant.
Once that is taken care of, he'll stand by and let the fighters carve through the rest of them, unless they get into trouble. In that case, he'll help them out with a Cone of Cold. While he's waiting, he'll add a Detect Invisible, Shield, and Mirror Image to his battery of running spells.
(It's nice having the leisure time to throw up all these defensive and detection spells. ];> )
Mail From: GM Shifty Date: Thursday 13-Jun-91 21:15 EDT
re: Frontier
I just noticed that I had forgotten to specifically post what I was doing with the Strength spell and Stoneskin I offered to the party before we went down. Since only Fin asked for it, I'll drop the Stoneskin on him. Since nobody asked for the Strength spell, I'll drop it on myself, just in case, heavens forbid, I should have to melee something with my staff.
SUBJ: Arocken FROM: Wildchilde 06/14/91 S#: 829295
Arocken continues to swing his blades, seemingly oblivious to his wounds, (and hoping his ring of regeneration kicks in quick)
SUBJ: Claudius FROM: GM Falcon 06/14/91 S#: 798595
Claudius will frown, then call out: "Save some spells! If there's someone powerful controlling these things we're going to need them!"
He looks around, and mumbles something about clerics never being around.
Claudius will simply back off for now, not wanting to waste the last of his spells. However, he will start using his wand if the tide of battle is clearly turning against his comrades.
SUBJ: Stephanie FROM: Schar 06/15/91 S#: 800893
After the Fireballs go off I rush to the attack with Lightning. These foes seem to go down easy, but there are so many of them!
I then notice Fin by my side. And there are 7 of him!! (Heck, one is bad enough! ;D)
Seeing Fin being attacked by the giant, I'll move to help him. After that I'll seek out the closest foe and introduce him to Lightning.
SUBJ: VALIDAR FROM: Bl Panther 06/18/91 S#: 435312
Seeing that the there are a few other fighters to hold the entrance to the chamber with the wizards and Bernice, Validar will move forward to meet the rush of the giant and ogre zombies, concentrating his attacks against these more powerful undead, rather than the mere ex-human zombies.
Besides the fact that these opponents are clearly more dangerous than the horde of normal zombies, Validar would tend to agree with Claudius, in that the wizards should save some spells for whatever may happen to present itself after this army is destroyed. Whoever or whatever created this monstrously ghoulish band will not be well disposed to us after we crush it.
Validar will try and attack the giant zombies directly, if possible, unless there are some lesser ones in the way which simply preclude a direct blow on the largest and most dangerous of our present foes.
Seeing that the Seekers seem to be making a serious dent in the undead forces, Validar will refrain from attempting to shout any orders over the din of combat. It is unlikely that with the clash of blades and roar of magic, that anyone would be able to hear his shouts, muffled as they are by his great helm, anyway. Therefore he simply tries to lead by example, meeting the giant zombies directly and hoping to catch a quick glance at whomever may be controlling these mindless monstrosities.
Spectrum's Comments: And once more the B file with the Gateway Gang...
The Frontier #96B
The morning after Armon saw the spy begins early. The screaming of a servant awakens you all.
Rushing the scene, you discover that Sheba has snuggled up around the child. With a somewhat puzzled look on its face, as puzzled as a snake could look, it looks at Ross.
*"This thing in you?"*, Sheba asks Zynara. *"Odd way to hatch children. Will he shed his skin?"*
Zynnie does her best of calm the servants down and to explain that Sheba would not have harmed Ross.
Later in the day, Armon hits the library again. This time he does come across something of interest. In an old text about the Elders, he finds a rough map. He notes that several of the words on the map match those on the pillars in the ruins.
Locating a present day map, Armon matches up the locations with their modern equivalents. Magus matches up with Gateway. Wolde to Shadowkeep. Radle to the believed site of New Keln. Cruth to a town called North Ending. Lenic to a mountain outpost called High Watch. The last elder word, Sokob, matches up with an island in the southern sea.
Armon sets up his watch that night, but no stranger is sighted.
Spectrum's Comments: Sheba seems to take great delight in scaring people.
SUBJ: Armon FROM: Omni Tuens 06/15/91 S#: 439970
Armon is extremely pleased with himself when he finds the Elder text, as he pretty much had to scour the entire library for it. He quickly jots down the material and sets it somewhere 'safe' at the mansion. Later, he might look further in related books for any more information. When he's unable to get at any of the spells he wants, Armon comes up with a logical answer. Bard logic, that is. He thinks to himself..."There's one family in this town that's almost all highly trained spellcasters, right? Sharadin's!! But he's probably too busy researching the same stuff I am.... Maybe its time I visit his lovely daughters, and see if they can help a poor, magic-less bard."
The young man proceeds to put his plan in motion.
SUBJ: GM Notes FROM: GM Mad 06/16/91 S#: 410809
By snooping around, Armon is able to learn that the girls spend their nights at "The Wizard's Familiar", a high-class tavern/night club for spellcasters.
He also learns that Sharadin used to be a fighter before becoming a mage. Armon also learns that he is very protective of his daughters.
SUBJ: Armon Flamehilt FROM: Omni Tuens 06/17/91 S#: 522573
Armon is pleased to learn where the girls hang out, and sees what he can do about putting on his spiffy clothes before setting out for the Wizard's Familiar. He ignores what he learns about Sharadin's protectiveness, assuming he would be in favor of a fine upstanding young man like himself.
SUBJ: Mercy FROM: Mastiff1 06/19/91 S#: 822493
Mercy hits the library, reading all He can on the history of the Elders and the surrounding area. Sometime in between books, Mercy will ask Zynara if she could Identify his morning star. If she is unable to, he will seek out someone who could.
Spectrum's Comments: Next time: The battle against the zombies continues and Armon tries to get close to Sharadin's daughters.