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+~~NOTOC~~
 ==== V2 Session Nineteen - 26 October 2007 - "The Sinister Spire" (part 5) ====
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 ^ Player ^ Character ^ Race ^ Class ^
 | Dave | [[Freyrik]] | Human(Feytouched) | Warlock/6 |
-| Ken | [[Ash]] | Human(Aasimar) | Paladin/4 |
+| Ken | [[Ash]] | Aasimar | Paladin/4 |
 | THF | [[Líkami]] | Human | Monk/5 |
 | VW | [[Heilli]] | Human | Soulknife/5, Psion/1 |
 | Kurt | [[Ketamine]] | [[Crag Gnome]] | Barbarian/1, [[Witch]]/4 |
 | Chris | [[Yosi]] | Wood Elf | Barbarian/6 |
-| Val | [[Allie]] | Human(Aasimar) | Favored Soul/5, Ranger/1 |
+| Val | [[Allie]] | [[Lesser Aasimar]] | Favored Soul/5, Ranger/1 |
 //Note: This adventure comes from
-"[[http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/107977400|
+"[[http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/107977400|The Sinister
-The Sinister Spire]]", by Bruce R. Cordell and Ari Marmell, as
+Spire]]", by Bruce R. Cordell and Ari Marmell, as published by
-published by [[http://www.wizards.com|Wizards of the Coast]].//
+[[http://www.wizards.com|Wizards of the Coast]].//
 === 18 September 1111 ===
-//Area S99)// TBD
+Rest at the Dripstone Inn in Pedestal.
-Details to come...
+=== 19 September 1111 ===
+Return to the Necromancer's Spike.
+//Area S24)// Hall of Mirrors
+As they puzzle the meaning of six, large mirrors that make up the far wall of
+this room, the glass in the mirrors grinds and flows to form a large humanoid
+and two glass spiders. The ensuing battle involves flying daggers of glass,
+glass tentacles reaching from the other mirrors, and dangerous glass shards
+littering the floor.
+With no obvious exits, the party searches for (and finds) a secret door.
+//Area S28)// Shrine of Orcus
+This evil shrine has two undead fire elementals and an incorporeal undead air
+elemental.  Once they are defeated, the party recovers two //Elemental Gems// --
+one for Air and one for Fire.
+//Area S29)// Cursed Stairs
+As he steps onto the spiral staircase going down, [[Ash]] triggers a magical
+"curse" trap that he barely avoids.  For his first Wisdom demonstration,
+[[Líkami]] wonders aloud whether the magical trap was a one-time or a recurring
+event as he steps on the stairs to find out.  Cursed with reduced Constitution,
+he finds his answer.
+After [[Freyrik]] dispels the magical trap, the party proceeds down the stairs,
+only to find that the whole thing is unstable.  [[Freyrik]] and [[Ash]] tumble
+to the bottom amidst a pile of twisted iron.
+The remaining party hurriedly fixes a rope and descends to rejoin the two.
+//Area S31)// Gallery Hall
+A short hallway houses alcoves with statues of various creatures (mostly Drow).
+Each appears to have been turned to stone, but has one feature (eyes in one,
+hands in another) that remains flesh.
+They are:
+  * A drow male crouching low as if he is a hound, his ears and nose still flesh.
+  * A male duergar smith with his hammer raised. His eyes are normal, and they squirm madly within the stony sockets.
+  * A female drow holding her hands out, palms upward as if in supplication. The hands are clearly flesh.
+  * A female drow standing balanced on one foot, her flesh mouth still keening.
+  * Two drow children pointing and gazing upward as if in awe.  Their pointing fingers still wriggle.
+  * An angelic being struggling to launch itself into the air, its wings still soft with white feathers.
+//Area S35)// [[Fadheela]]'s Lair
+{{ fadheela.jpg}}
+In the last major room in the Spike, the party finally finds [[Fadheela]]
+(though they don't know it at the time).  She turns out to be a hybrid
+Medusa/Yuan-Ti and presents a serious challenge.  Through most of the fight, the
+party manages to avoid her petrifying gaze -- but once her minions are
+destroyed, they must take more risks to take her down.  In the end, [[Freyrik]],
+[[Yosi]], and [[Líkami]] are turned to stone!
+[[Fadheela]] herself is kept from dying and a bag is placed over her head so
+that her gaze does not further trouble the party.
+**In a nearby storage room and a closet, the party finds the following items of
+interest:**
+  * //[[http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#elementalGem|Elemental Gem (Air)]]// (from S28)
+  * //[[http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#elementalGem|Elemental Gem (Fire)]]// (from S28)
+  * Two pieces of Art (200 gp each) **//(sold)//**
+  * A crystal goblet (25 gp) **//(sold)//**
+  * A set of gem-inset flatware (500 gp) **//(sold)//**
+  * A gold comb (150 gp) **//(sold)//**
+  * A platinum circlet (450 gp) **//(sold)//**
+  * Documents -- numerous papers written in Undercommon.  These papers are apparently contracts put out on various figures in Pedestal. Almost all the contracts contain a scribble in Undercommon at the bottom that reads, "Complete." **//(given to Es Sarch)//**
+  * Three rolled scrolls written in Yuan-Ti.
+  * Clothing: There are numerous outfits that appear to be traveling attire or black working suits designed for [[Fadheela]]'s humanoid torso.  However some of the outfits include pants or other leggings that clearly would not fit her.
+  * Stone Chest containing 412 pp.((As written in the adventure, this chest also contained three vials of viscous oil which functioned as oil of //stone to flesh// -- However, since this is nearly ridiculous (and VW made light of just such a cliché), I've decided to remove this from the treasure list.))
+  * //Field Provisions Box// -- This stone box is carved with runes denoting abundance.  When activated, a field provisions box produces a full day's sustenance for up to fifteen humans or five horses. It functions once per day.  Price: 2,000 gp.((You discover this one's function without requiring an Identify))
+  * //[[Banrhialorg]]//((Anyone speak "Celestial"?)) -- A finely tapered staff of ash wood shod with unblemished gold on its foot and a golden draconic head with sapphire eyes and a ruby tongue on its top.  Close examination reveals that the faint lines and veins in the wood form a sequence of arcane runes that repeat down the staff's length.  Masterwork quarterstaff that also functions as a lesser metamagic rod of "Extend Spell".((When Ketamine (and //only// Ketamine) grasps the staff, the golden head's sapphire eyes flash with lightning and its tongue burns with fire, shedding light like a candle.  She can suppress this display as a free action, but it returns when she picks up the staff anew.))
+**On [[Fadheela]] herself, the party finds:**
+  * //Obsidian Ring// -- This ring has a skull glyph carved inside its loop.  It allows the wearer to bypasses the trap in S2 and control the (now destroyed) bloodhulk fighter. **//(given to Es Sarch?)//**
+  * //Snake Key// -- This small gold rod has a head showing an opened, fanged mouth about to close over a blue agate that resembles a globe.  It activates a gate made of electricity (and is worth 200 gp).
+  * //Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds//
+  * //+1 studded leather// **//(sold)//**
+  * //+1 buckler// **//(sold)//**
+  * //+1 shortbow// **//(sold)//**
+  * 15 poisoned arrows
+  * Key to Storage Room
+**Additional treasure adjustments:**
+  * Cost for eight //Identify// spells: 880 gp
+  * Cost for seven //Break Enchantment// spells: 3,150 gp //(see below)//
+  * **Net**: 535 gp for each of the seven characters
+Finally, [[Fadheela]]'s lair has a functional Gargoyle Sink.  That, along with
+the Field Provisions Box and the nearby lavatory means that a large group could
+live here for an indefinite time.
+Since [[Fadheela]] was not killed outright, the party opts to keep her alive
+(with a bag over her head) while they question her -- as follows:
+== ==
+**Why does Xeron want the bones?**
+//Heh.  Ask him yourself, if you wish.  He's in my museum.  You passed him on
+the way in.//
+//His job was to find the bones and the weapons and deliver them to me.  I was
+to then pass them on to the Vanguard.  But the fool showed up without all the
+pieces, claiming he was being pursued.//
+//I sent the bones and two of the items along, but kept one as protection
+against reprisal.  I will NOT be punished for the incompetence of that fool!//
+**What is your role in the House of the Circlet?**
+//The House is for the purebloods.  They like to think they serve a greater
+role, but in reality they only serve the Vanguard as liaison to the cattle.//
+**What does the House want? What is their next move?**
+//To build a new Serpent Kingdom, of course.  Their next move is to await the
+dawn of Sertrous.//
+**What do you know about [[Mosargrax]]?**
+//Very little.  She was dealt with decades ago.//
+**What is the Vanguard of Sertrous?**
+//Your future rulers.//
+**Where are you from?**
+//I am from the south - near what the cattle call [["Arela"]].  But my form made
+me an outcast, so I moved to the frontier to help with the migration.//
+**Who is/was the winged creature in the entry? Who are the rest?**
+//You like my trophies?  They are all fools who tried to oppose me.  You would
+be there, too, if circumstances were different.//
+**Why does the vanguard want the bones?**
+//To rule the world.//
+**What items were sent to the vanguard, and which did you withhold? What pieces
+were missing?**
+//That fool Xeron never found the sword.  And I kept the staff for myself.//
+**How can your victims be returned to flesh?**
+//Why would you want to do that?  Perhaps their natural state is stone?//
+**Who, or what, exactly is Sertrous?**
+//He is the Slumbering Serpent who feeds on the souls of the weak.  He walks in
+nightmares and brings madness to the chosen.  Soon, he will wake and lead my
+people to dominion over all the races of the world.//
+//Or at least that's what they say.  I, of course, won't be there to see it.//
+//I think it is time you sent me home.//
+==== ====
+With that, the party determined they had retrieved all they could from
+[[Fadheela]], so they executed her.
+The four //"survivors"// then descended the spire and returned to the Dripstone
+Inn, leaving the three petrified characters behind.  There, they discuss their
+adventure with Es Sarch and ask him to help fill in some of the gaps in their
+understanding.
+== ==
+**Do you know of any other agents of Sertrous, or members of the Vanguard, in
+town right now?**
+//Until you arrived, I had never heard of this group.  Since then, I have tried
+to glean as much information as I can -- but have found essentially nothing.//
+//My suspicion is that [[Fadheela]] was a lone agent working for this "Vanguard"
+group.  Whether she was sent here or whether they recruited her after she
+arrived in Pedestal is something we may never know.//
+//I was able to learn, though, who "Sertrous" is.  He is a demon lord revered by
+a small cult of snakemen.  Unlike "normal" demon lords, though, Sertrous
+allegedly lives on the material plane - though he has been asleep for
+millennia.//
+**Does you know who the Medusa's victims might be? The winged one, in
+particular?**
+//Again, this is an area where you have more information than I.  Despite all my
+contacts, I have *never* heard of a Celestial being in Pedestal. Perhaps it was
+a spellcaster caught in an alternate form?//
+**Do you know of someone who can de-stone the winged one and our friends? (And
+we need it as cheaply as possible.)**
+//The only spellcasters in Pedestal capable of performing this spell would be
+the drow clerics - and I **strongly** advise against approaching them.//
+//First, they care nothing about you and would charge far too much. Second, they
+have a special hatred for surface elves, so could not be persuaded to help your
+friend, Yosi - at any cost.  Third, they claim the Necromancer's Spire as their
+own.  To learn than you had infiltrated the place (killing their guards in the
+process, I presume) would be a "deal-breaker".//
+//However, there is an alternative.  If you can be patient, I can send word to a
+colleague who lives far to the north.  While she is still a drow, she has turned
+from the way of [[Lolth]] and embraced the goddess [[Eilistraee]].  It seems
+that two years ago, her enclave suffered some sort of calamity.  Most were
+asphyxiated - but she (and a few others) survived.//
+//She has been most helpful to me in the past.  I can get word to her in a day,
+but even if she agrees to help, it will take her at least a week to make the
+journey.//
+==== ====
+=== 20 September 1111 ===
+And so begins the long, uncomfortable wait in Pedestal...
+While the party waits, they find a spellcaster willing to cast //Comprehend
+Languages// on the [[fadheela_scrolls|three Yuan-Ti scrolls found in Fadheela's
+quarters]].
+=== 8 October 1111 ===
+Finally, after nearly three weeks, [[Banaud'a]], a drow cleric to [[Eilistraee]]
+arrives in Pedestal.  She turns out to be quite unlike any drow the party has
+seen so far and is not only able to help, but is also //willing// to help.
+Of course, she still expects to be paid for her services -- and since the spell
+required((//[[http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/breakEnchantment.htm|Break
+Enchantment]]//)) is a powerful spell, she can only cast three per day.  On her
+first day, she successfully revives the "angelic being", who turns out to be a
+male Drow Half-Celestial named "Sh'honale".  Despite her promises of further
+assistance, [[Banaud'a]] ignores the party for the remainder of the day to learn
+all she can from this strange creature.
+=== 9 October 1111 ===
+[[Banaud'a]] uses all three of her spells to cure [[Freyrik]].
+=== 10 October 1111 ===
+[[Banaud'a]] cures [[Líkami]] and [[Yosi]].
+The party is (at last) whole and reunited!
 ^ # ^ Challenge ^  CR  ^
-| //TBD// | //TBD// |  //TBD// |
+| 1 | Shardcaster  |  7  |
-| //TBD// | //TBD// |  //TBD// |
+| 2 | Glass Spiders  |  3  |
-| //TBD// | //TBD// |  //TBD// |
+| 1 | Voidwraith  |  6  |
-^ ^ Total XP (each) ^  //TBD//<sup>6</sup>\\ //TBD//<sup>5</sup>  ^
+| 2 | Fevers (Fire Necromentals)  |  4  |
+| 1 | Bestow Curse Trap  |  5  |
+| 1 | [[Fadheela]] (Medusa/Yuan-Ti Halfblood)  |  8  |
+| 1 | Bloodhulk Fighter  |  4  |
+| 4 | Grimlocks  |  1  |
+^ ^ Total XP (each) ^  2,060<sup>6</sup>\\ 2,420<sup>5</sup>  ^
+[[v2session18|(Previous Session)]] [[v2#session_notes|(Back to V2 Index)]] [[v2session20|(Next Session)]]