The trip from Innsbruck found the gnome driving the wagon and the rest of the crew in the wagon, weapons ready in case of bad things. The first day found a nearby pack of wolves but they sped the wagon and got away. The warded traveler's camp let them get a full night's rest without incident.
Mid morning of the second day though they were attacked by barbarians, presumably from Griffon's Nest. The encounter was meant to be challenging, but with most of the party having forgotten to level up, and with the bard and sorceress unable to fight effectively, it turned into a TPK in the making. 3 characters dropped quickly and karma points kept two of them from the true death. The third lie bleeding. With no paladin, ranger, or tiger on their side, the group was feeling hopeless.
The remaining luckily had insight that the barbarians were after their wagon and horses, since they had little else. The dwarf grabbed the horses and offered them up in return for his fallen comrades A dwarven barbarian heard his words and agreed. The party healed and slumped away, foregoing sleep to arrive in Innsbruck more quickly after being left on foot.
Innsbruck, a great walled dwarven city of the North, turned out to be a far more pleasant place. The group was alarmed a bit at first that magic users had to register at the city court and that the Noble's Quarter required a pass. However, the other three quarters provided many new opportunities.
The paladin found his way to the Temple of Helm to get his next mission. Met by the rather annoyed Elvan cleric Heron, he found himself in a heap of trouble. A person named Squati, claiming to be a friend of Rodar the Paladin, apparently talked a group of trainee paladins into undertaking what was supposed to be his mission to check out the local Dungeon of Ruins. The group had gone missing. Heron left the paladin to take care of the situation.
Arriving at the local pub, the Paladin finds Squati, a cloaked figure in the back corner of the room playing cards. Talking to him, he recognizes the voice of the Quasit his group had unleashed. The paladin has had enough and attempts to use manacles on him, but the manacles are instead crushed and handed back to him as Squati stands to full height as an 8 foot tall half-orc. The paladin leaves.
(The group was astounded by the Quasit's change. Strange -- I thought transformation into another form would be something they would be comfortable with. Hmmm)
The gnome, dwarf, and hel-elf find Durid Coven's supplies, ran by an old dwarven ranger/druid named Flyleaf. He tells stories and sells them goods.
Roy, the dwarven fighter, finds his way to Griffon's Armor and gets his armor polished and reset and his blade sharpened.
The Gnome Ally gets very drunk at the pub after 3 dwarven ales.
Don the Magnificent carefully uses his one-man band instrument to make money on the streets, enough to buy a magic pass. He even finds a dwarven lass to keep him company. More importantly though, Don finds out what this pyramid necklace around his neck is. Were he evil, he could command undead. It takes two spellcasters of level 15 or higher (arcance and divine) to remove it. And it links him to the giver, only indicated by the initial D. And when he dies, D. will get a great power from him.
The groups beds down for the night without incident and after picking up their stuff around town, gets underway for the Dungeon of Ruins. The paladin has a map of the way the dungeon once was. There are rumors of frog-like creatures dancing about fires near the ruins. And the paladin knows that a nightwatchman of the city has left and may be up to no good in the dungeon.
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The near TPK with the party was a close call. Losing one party member is not a huge problems, but beyond that is a big problem. Besides, a party member should only really die for two reasons: doing something stupid or sacrificing themselves for the greater cause.
I like the quasit a lot. By bringing him in as a full NPC with a body that allows him to fit in, he has the potential for a lot more.
Mid morning of the second day though they were attacked by barbarians, presumably from Griffon's Nest. The encounter was meant to be challenging, but with most of the party having forgotten to level up, and with the bard and sorceress unable to fight effectively, it turned into a TPK in the making. 3 characters dropped quickly and karma points kept two of them from the true death. The third lie bleeding. With no paladin, ranger, or tiger on their side, the group was feeling hopeless.
The remaining luckily had insight that the barbarians were after their wagon and horses, since they had little else. The dwarf grabbed the horses and offered them up in return for his fallen comrades A dwarven barbarian heard his words and agreed. The party healed and slumped away, foregoing sleep to arrive in Innsbruck more quickly after being left on foot.
Innsbruck, a great walled dwarven city of the North, turned out to be a far more pleasant place. The group was alarmed a bit at first that magic users had to register at the city court and that the Noble's Quarter required a pass. However, the other three quarters provided many new opportunities.
The paladin found his way to the Temple of Helm to get his next mission. Met by the rather annoyed Elvan cleric Heron, he found himself in a heap of trouble. A person named Squati, claiming to be a friend of Rodar the Paladin, apparently talked a group of trainee paladins into undertaking what was supposed to be his mission to check out the local Dungeon of Ruins. The group had gone missing. Heron left the paladin to take care of the situation.
Arriving at the local pub, the Paladin finds Squati, a cloaked figure in the back corner of the room playing cards. Talking to him, he recognizes the voice of the Quasit his group had unleashed. The paladin has had enough and attempts to use manacles on him, but the manacles are instead crushed and handed back to him as Squati stands to full height as an 8 foot tall half-orc. The paladin leaves.
(The group was astounded by the Quasit's change. Strange -- I thought transformation into another form would be something they would be comfortable with. Hmmm)
The gnome, dwarf, and hel-elf find Durid Coven's supplies, ran by an old dwarven ranger/druid named Flyleaf. He tells stories and sells them goods.
Roy, the dwarven fighter, finds his way to Griffon's Armor and gets his armor polished and reset and his blade sharpened.
The Gnome Ally gets very drunk at the pub after 3 dwarven ales.
Don the Magnificent carefully uses his one-man band instrument to make money on the streets, enough to buy a magic pass. He even finds a dwarven lass to keep him company. More importantly though, Don finds out what this pyramid necklace around his neck is. Were he evil, he could command undead. It takes two spellcasters of level 15 or higher (arcance and divine) to remove it. And it links him to the giver, only indicated by the initial D. And when he dies, D. will get a great power from him.
The groups beds down for the night without incident and after picking up their stuff around town, gets underway for the Dungeon of Ruins. The paladin has a map of the way the dungeon once was. There are rumors of frog-like creatures dancing about fires near the ruins. And the paladin knows that a nightwatchman of the city has left and may be up to no good in the dungeon.
---
The near TPK with the party was a close call. Losing one party member is not a huge problems, but beyond that is a big problem. Besides, a party member should only really die for two reasons: doing something stupid or sacrificing themselves for the greater cause.
I like the quasit a lot. By bringing him in as a full NPC with a body that allows him to fit in, he has the potential for a lot more.
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