The Adventure Continues .... 25. The Weight of Success! (v2.48)

Another successful session! I, however, noticed some minor issues that took some digging into the code to find the fixes. Hopefully, however, I have got to the bottom of these nasties - and players from the latest updates will gain the benefits. To this end, not only has there been the regular Campaign folder update, but I have also needed to update the Module again. This was for game balancing purposes. NOTE: If you are playing MP, then all players will need to update their campaign folder as their is an update to some XML code that all clients need. So, here's the latest ...

The List of Fixes

1) DATABASE CHECKS: The database duplication check had been inadvertently switched off for the last few updates, but I have now fixed that and added the ability to DELETE any database associated with a PC should the player wish to start over using a PC of the same name as one which they have used before. I have added the warning that any previous save games with said PC to date would have some unexpected results if a player tried to load an "older" game after deleting the associated database.

2) CONTAINER FEEDBACK: The CONTAINER feedback had a couple of minor fixes (one of which requires the fixed XML file): (a) First the container limit was showing on container items, which it is not meant to. Hopefully this no longer shows on an item container. (b) Secondly, the object container info section (yellow text at the top) was not always giving/updating with the correct info subject to the object being used. Hopefully, the change to the XML should have fixed this.

3) WALKWAYPOINTS: I noticed an instance where a creature that I was expecting to be patrolling had not resumed their patrol, even though the time of day meant that they should have been. It appears to be a problem related to GetIsDay, and so I have now changed all checks to do with that based upon the HOUR instead. With an added variable reset, this now appears to work as expected on testing.

4) PARTY BAR TOGGLE: Toggling the size of the Party Bar during TB Combat caused the round to move forward unexpectedly. This has now been fixed.

5) MAP BLOCKS: I noticed that some monsters opened the door that are supposed to also update the map by removing visual blocks. However, this only happens when PCs open the doors. It was a quick workaround on the night, but now I have added backup map block removals via triggers as well - in the rare cases when this may be required. (MODULE FIX.)

6) SLEEPING MONSTERS: The TB Combat system was triggering auto-pause even for a sleeping monster (that were not a threat). Checks have now been put in place to prevent this.

7) GOLD WEIGHT: The gold "Money Pouches" returned with an new problem: Disappearing altogether! It turned out that the timing of the gold calculations to ensure the PCs had the right amount of pouches to the gold they carried was off, due to relying on a heartbeat call. This worked well most of the time, but failed when a player entered from a saved game and had left pouches on other PCs to spread the weight. I have now removed the function call from the heartbeat and given it a priority call as part of a home-brew function rework of LBGiveGoldToCreature, which now immediately updates the pouches upon receiving gold, as opposed to within the heartbeat. So far, testing to date shows it works fine.

8) GAME BALANCING: One of the biggest issues for me on the night was recognising that some of the encounters were not balanced for the "large" party my group had managed to gather. Therefore, the encounters were on the easier side for them. As a consequence, I carefully went over the code for the encounters and believe I have now addressed such issues. Time and feedback will tell. Again, variables needed to be added to the module. (MODULE FIX.)
 

The Ettin

The Ettin's Treasure!

Bugbear Tower Approach

The Bugbears Defend

The Heroes Gain Entrance

More Bugbears, Including Clerics!

The Bugbear Chieftain!

All That Gold!

The Water Elemental

The Adventure Continues ... 25. The Weight of Success!

The Burden of Gold.

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.


The decision was finally made: First they would deal with the ettin and try to retrieve its stash, and then they would face the Bugbear tower. The heroes did not have to travel far before they reached the valley where the ettin stood guarding the way. Helden surveyed the beast from afar off, realising it had not seen them yet, and so organised an attack by the summoned creatures first, in much the same way they had dealt with the giants. By the time the ettin was aware of what was happening, the summons and Scraps had made their mark, and even the giant boulders it threw could do nothing to stop its demise.

After relieving the ettin of its treasure, Helden led the group along the valley to the boulder at the end where they knew the beast had hidden more of its booty. After Helden smashed the suspected boulder (as it was too heavy to lift), the heroes were indeed rewarded with a stash hidden beneath it. For the first time in a long while the treasures were back in human hands.

Now it was the turn of the Bugbears - and Helden made sure the party were well rested before the attack would begin. After backtracking to the tower, the heroes decided that the summoned creatures approach was the safest and most likely chance of a quick victory, and so once again, the summons and Scraps were sent ahead. The battle was a bloody one, in which Scraps fell to a mighty blow of a large Bugbear. But the wave of summons kept strong by the spell casters quickly brought on the onslaught the Bugbears faced, driving them all the way back to the tower entrance. By the time Scraps was revived with healing, the summons had cleared a path and the heroes met only one other Bugbear as they climbed the hill path to the tower.

Gaining entrance to the tower itself turned out to be a bit tougher. However, the occupants were caught by surprise, and the heroes managed to make careful use of spell fire from the entrance foyer after quickly disposing of the guards. It turned out that the Talanthians also had a presence here and were the control behind the Bugbears. Although, while the evil brotherhood certainly added to the tower's defence, it did little to stop the heroes from eventually prevailing and gaining entrance. Once inside, the heroes searched the ground floor and found more evidence that the Talanthians were making use of the Bugbears strength.

Climbing to the second floor, the heroes met with more resistance from Bugbears, and even a clerical one who tried to keep the fighter Bugbears healed as they defended. The ratio of blows to heals was against them, however, and like their brethren on the ground floor, they too soon fell. The party still had the advantage of surprise and so they pushed on and headed for the next level. Here, apart from a lone guard protecting some cells (which they quickly dealt with), they found a male prisoner who mumbled a word before he died in Helden's arms. It turned out to be a password to a chameleon stone that Myara found nearby. With little knowledge of the man, the heroes were grateful for his final word, as it transformed the Changing Stone into a spell book, which Karasten graciously accepted.

Reaching the top floor, they came face to face with a huge Bugbear, who immediately summoned a creature to its aid. However, as big as it was, it had no-one else here to help it, and so the heroes all attacked it at once, bringing the chieftain to its knees quicker than any other combats in the tower. With the death of the chieftain, the heroes knew they had broken the Bugbear hold in the area, and that it was yet another potential threat removed.

On the large Bugbear, Myara found a key and noticing a door nearby, went across and unlocked it. Then, before her eyes, she spied thousands of gold coins! This was a find indeed! The only problem was, the more gold they carried, the more it weighed them down. What a cruel turn of events. Here they were, with a massive haul and yet even sharing the gold they had found to date among the whole group still gave them little room for manoeuvre. Helden, who carried the most for the group, could barely move under its weight - and yet move he did. Nothing, he said, was going to stop him removing this haul from the tower and finding a safe place for it.

Before the heroes were done with the Bugbear tower,  there was one last region, beneath the tower, accessible by a ladder, which they had not yet explored. Placing the gold they found to one side by the tower exit for the time being, the heroes lightened themselves so they could manage the ladder and carry their animals with them to the lower level. Once below, they viewed a cavern full of water ... and Karasten spied something glistening in the rocks ahead.

Carefully, Helden led the way and waded into the reasonably shallow water - although neck deep for Myara - and removed the object caught in the rocks. It turned out to be another Changing Stone, but even before they could do anything with it, a water elemental suddenly rose from the waters and started to attack the party. "Back up to the dry ground!" cried Helden, and the group obliged, leaving only the summons and Scraps to stay behind and fight the elemental.

This strange monster was surprisingly strong, however, and had soon taken out all summons and Scraps, and made its way towards the heroes. The fighters had taken position, however, and as soon as it hit dry ground, the fighters let rip, and water splashed everywhere as they took chunks off the strange creature. Whether it was because the creature was no longer in its home water or simply because the fighters were prepared, it was hard to tell. Suffice to say, the last of the water beast was dripping from their weapons after only a few more rounds.

That was the last battle within the bugbear tower, and apart from deciphering the Changing Stone riddle with a little help from a Life Essence and recovering a Fireball Lore scroll, the heroes found nothing else. Recovering the dropped gold by the exit, the heroes decided to leave this tower, grateful in the knowledge that the Bugbears were defeated and that their pockets were that much more laden with gold! 

"What shall we do with it all though?" said Myara to Helden as he staggered to move.

The gold they now carried was indeed turning into an issue, and so it was decided that they needed to find a safe place to stash it while they continued their mission within the enclave. To this end, they made their way very slowly, back to the caves where they first encountered the Talanthians this side of the portal. They would find a chest and place it in there ... and remember it when they came back!


TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 2 Hours 9 Minutes.
GAME TIME SINCE START: 49 Hours 49 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 11 QUESTS COMPLETE: 21 (Ignoring Rule Info)

The Adventure Continues .... 24. Escaping The Ancient Crypt (v2.47)

Another great session, with some completed quests. There were a few issues I needed to deal with after the session, but nothing that affected play: One issue simply involved removing some debug text, but a few other issues were more important, which I detail below. Also, I have tweaked the ranges.2da, which means players will need to download and update the "Others.7z" file, which contains the hak folder, which in turn holds the althea_campaign.hak, which contains the altered 2da file. NB: For ease, a player need only replace the single hak file from the download to gain the benefits. Furthermore, this alteration mainly affects gameplay from module 2 onwards.

I have also updated an encounter within the module, which means a newer version of the module is also available. Note: I have started to align version numbers with the latest campaign version number. So while some file releases are fewer and in between the regular campaign releases (like modules and others), they will now reflect the version that the campaign was on at time of their version release.

The List of Fixes

1) RUNE LOCKS: There were two issues with these: (a) I had left some debug lines in place after the last fix, which needed removing. (b) The ability to interact with a Rune Lock was disabled after resolving the puzzle, which should NOT be the case, as some of the locks can be used again. Both of these problems are now fixed.

2) FAST TRAVEL PILLARS: Some of the fast travel destinations were not being presented due to them NOT being limited to the current area. This meant some of the valid ones had run our of space to be displayed. This has now been fixed.

3) RELOAD (DEAD HENCHMEN): If a game was saved with a dead henchman (which it should not be really), then it caused problems with the henchman not reviving on a reload. This has now been fixed so that they do recover if that is done by mistake.

4) RELOAD (VARIABLE BAG): On a rare occasion a "variable bag" ("VAR BAG") could be found on a game reload. This is only likely to be the case if the game did not save correctly or the player was doing something during a save. A check has now been added to help remove/fix any instances of that occurring.

5) ENCOUNTER (MODULE UPDATE): There was an encounter that needed altering to prevent it firing too soon. While not a critical fix, it makes the game flow better.

Heroes Defeat Melakar!

Heroes Escape The Crypt!

Heroes Return Magnici Devadi To Zakeree

The Ominous Bugbear Tower

Trying To Avoid The Bugbear Tower

Demon's Bowl!

Heroes Attack Hill Giants!

Hill Giants Retaliate!

Heroes Confront Ongar!

The Adventure Continues ... 24. Escaping The Ancient Crypt

The Beauty and The Beasts!

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.

"What makes you so sure we need all this buffing Helden?" said Myara as Helden ordered the clerics to cast more buffing spells on the group before they opened the door they had just unlocked.

"Let's just call it a hunch ... like one of those moments when your gut warns you that undead lurk just beyond."

In truth, the heroes had already lived this moment of time, and were now about to play it out again ... and so as the door was opened and the summoned creatures followed Helden into the room beyond, Melakar advanced out of the gloomy darkness ahead of the group, along with a pair of wights.

Scraps and the summoned creatures were the first to respond, quickly forming a block between the undead and the heroes. Unfortunately, they were able to do little against the undead and rapidly suffered drains of life as they fought bravely to hold ground. The time they gave, however, was enough to allow the spell casters to send magic missiles and spheres of electricity towards the undead, which did make their mark, quickly sending the wights back to their graves.

Melakar, however, remained, and was even regaining strength by draining life from the summoned creatures that remained. It was at this realisation that Helden ordered the clerics to unsummon their creatures to allow the fighters, Flint and himself to break through to the dread wraith to deliver their stronger blows instead. It was risky, but the summons were simply unable to do enough damage, and Scraps was now out of the fight, fleeing in fear.

As the summoned creatures dissipated, the fighters stepped into the combat, and swung their weapons with as much accuracy as they could, with some blows simply gliding through the air as the incorporeal monster faded in and out of the material plane. However, when the fighters did strike, it was sound, and as fearful as the touch of a dread wraith was, the fighters were well prepared and buffed with many cleric spells, making it difficult for Melakar to strike them too.

The battle went on for a number of rounds, with each strike of the dread wraith threatening to drain the life of the one it struck .... but the life draining touch that they all dreaded, never succeeded. At the last moment, Helden did feel the wraith's touch, but the fighter was able to shake off the draining effect just as the final blow to the ghostly apparition was delivered. The battle they had been dreading was over ... and apart from Scraps, everybody else in the party remained undrained.

The heroes spent the next few minutes exploring the area where the dread wraith had been encountered, but they found nothing apart from another key that allowed them to open a locked door in the Rune Creation chamber. In that small room was a chest, which contained among other things, a few more runes. As the heroes had already created all the ones they were missing, the new find was not required.

The heroes now had now explored the entire area and had everything they needed to leave. They took one last rest in a small side chamber to allow the clerics to learn spells to heal Scraps from his draining, and then recovered the book they had acquired for Zakeree before using the runes one last time on the exit pillar to finally escape the crypt. Outside, the air smelled sweet.

The heroes wasted no time in returning to Zakeree, and took the fastest route possible to help avoid any activity that would cause the ancient tome they carried to be damaged any more than it already was. Thankfully, they managed to return to the hermit with the book without any further encounters and so the book was in relatively excellent condition considering its age and fragility. Zakeree was most pleased and gave the heroes a hefty reward of gold and gems for their efforts. Their business with the hermit settled, the heroes bid their farewells.

Helden had received a bloody nose the last time he had encountered the bugbears in the centre of the enclave, and so wanted to try to avoid them for the time being if possible. To this end, he led the party as far west as he could, skirting the river to the far side of their tower, and then once past, turned back and tried sneaking along a small gully to the south of them to try to sneak around them going east.

As the heroes tried to sneak around at the closest point, however, a bugbear archer caught sight of their movement and started to let arrows fly. Some caught Karasten, who immediately returned fire with his crossbow. Then, deciding magic would serve better, he loosed a magic missile, which quickly finished the bugbear archer off. Thankfully, that had been the only bugbear to have spotted them, and so with it silenced, the heroes were free to continue their path.

After the incident with the bugbear was over, the heroes realised that the path they had been following had led them to a circular dip, not unlike a large land bowl with water in. Reading an inscription on a nearby stone marker quickly revealed that this place was called "Demon's Bowl" and somebody called Arlen was supposedly buried somewhere in some caves beneath the water. An interesting folly, but without an ability to breathe underwater, of no use to the party - and so the heroes continued to follow the valley around.

As the heroes entered into the next valley, east of the bugbear tower, a fey creature, a beautiful dryad ran up to the heroes and began to speak with them. Helden was immediately on his guard, fully aware that these creatures were known for their beguiling nature. Karasten, on the other hand, was curious as to why this fey had revealed itself to the heroes, which was quite against its nature.

It turned out that the dryad had had its tree, which was critical to its survival, recently cut down by some giants and that it needed some ingredients to help its tree to recover. Unable to make any promises, nevertheless, the party agreed to keep an eye open for the items it required. However, it was not long after this encounter with the dryad that the heroes encountered the giants accused of being responsible for the trees damage ... and supposedly carrying one of the ingredients that the dryad required.

The beastly giants had been seen from a long way off, and it gave the heroes time to plan how they were going to deal with them. They had seen at least two, and both were within long distance spell fire. That was one advantage. Furthermore, the heroes planned to send in the summoned creatures first. That would be a second advantage. In fact, by the time the giants knew what hit them, the battle would already be half over .... and thankfully, this is exactly what happened. There was one minor incident when Myara panicked and froze not knowing what to do, as a huge towering giant ran straight for her after she had moved forward for better aim with her bow. But then, after what seemed like seconds, the halfling came back to her senses and ran back towards the party, whereupon the summoned creatures and Scraps intercepted the following giant, giving the halfling the time she needed to escape.

Shortly after this the two giants were dead, and from where the giants fell, the heroes could see the remains of a fortress just beyond them on some higher ground. Not finding the item the dryad required on these two fallen giants, the heroes decided to approach the fortress with the aim to search it. As they climbed the hill and passed though a large gate, they then spotted a third giant branding a massive club. Without delay, the same tactics that had just brought them victory were employed again ... and quickly brought about the same results. Ongar, the fortress hill giant was dead ... and this time the heroes discovered the magik leaves the dryad sought upon the giant's body.

After searching the fortress and relieving it of its treasures, the heroes decided to search for the magik soil that the dryad said could be found at the waterfall where the hermit lived. After a quick retrace of their steps, carefully avoiding the bugbears, they found the soil with ease. With equal care, they made their way back to the dryad grove, who appeared to them as they entered it. Needless to say, the dryad was delighted and for their reward she offered the heroes information. Some of which related to the Demon's Bowl and a secret on how the heroes could enter the water and still breathe! Pushing the dryad for more information, Helden was also able to learn of an ettin that walked in the next valley further east, which had stashed some booty under a boulder near the end of the river.

"What shall we do now?" asked Myara, to which Helden simply looked ahead pondering the exact question..

TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 1 Hours 55 Minutes.
GAME TIME SINCE START: 47 Hours 40 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 13 QUESTS COMPLETE: 19 (Ignoring Rule Info)

The Adventure Continues .... 23. Better The Demon (v2.46)

We had a handful of different issues in the last session. Nothing too drastic, and only issues that would have (mostly) affected either a MP or DM hosted game - both of which is our current situation. There was one other minor issue that would have affected all game types, but nothing too serious. Here is the rundown.

The List of Fixes

1) GUBRIEL ROCK PUZZLE: When the players went to respond with the correct answer to the Gubriel Rock test, the rock did not reveal its treasure. I had to alter the code to ensure the variable was checked against the Main PC even when playing a different PC.

2) SUCCUBUS JOURNAL ENTRY: There was a trigger that started a conversation with the succubus when the players came within sight of the demon. However, the journal entry for the appropriate conversation line was missing on its node, so while we received my own coded "Journal Updated", the actual journal entry did not fire and update. Thankfully, the journal rights itself on the next trigger point, but it has now been fixed anyway.

3) PICK LOCK INTERACTION (MP): The pick lock GUI could fail interaction after first usage in a MP game. An incorrect variable check has now been fixed and checked working.

4) RUNE LOCK INTERACTION: The runes selected with a Rune Lock interaction (four runes to activate) could fail to enable correct interaction after first usage. Checks have been put in place and the code made more efficient to ensure the runes display their correct state. NB: This fix likely needs to be in place before any interaction with the rune locks within the Ancient Crypt.

5) UNDEAD DRAINING: This occurred because I recently altered some code to give DM feedback. The problem was, I used the same variable to send the feedback to the DM (or player) as the one who received the draining. Therefore, none of the draining (either levels or abilities) was targeting the correct PC when called. This has now been fixed. (For our own session, we are considering replaying the last battle where the scripts would have been most used.)

6) INCORRECT LIFE ESSENCE COUNT: The statistics was showing an abnormally high figure for Life Essences collected. The problem appears to have been because I had done some testing between the save game sessions, which allocated around 60 (3x20) Life Essences, which upped the global count, but were never actually present on a player reload. I have since edited the global value to the correct value and edited the script that adjusts the value to ignore "tested games". I will watch this closely in case it was caused by anything else.

The Gubriel Rock

The Demon In The Dark!

Brendagoth's Revenge?

Giant Spider Attacks!

Clay Golem Surprise!

Another Dangerous Encounter

The Rune Creation Chamber

Melakar The Dread Wraith!

The Adventure Continues ... 23. Better The Demon

So, We Meet Again!

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.

As Elana approached the Gubriel Rock, she heard a question within her head and to speak an answer before the great revolving boulder known as the Gubriel Rock would reveal its secret. Without hesitation she remembered the passages from the book they discovered in the Eastern Tower where Soul resided and spoke the word she knew would release the Magnici Devadi book, which the rock contained.

The ancient and extremely delicate tome in hand, she returned to the group. Then realising transporting the book was not going to be easy, the heroes decided to leave the book in a safe place while they continued to explore the Ancient Crypt. At least with the finding of this ancient tome, they knew Zak, the hermit, would be happy; as long as they could make their escape!

Finding the last runes and escaping the Ancient Crypt was the heroes next task. It was also the reason why it was Elana who had come ahead of the group rather than Helden. For earlier, the group had heard a female cry out across the chasm at them: it was the succubus demon! Knowing the demon's past influences with male adventurers, the females of the party had decided to take the lead, and ensure their male counterparts stayed away from the beguiling nature of the demon.

Now it was Myara, Elana and Threska who approached the succubus demon, who stood alone in the dark within its Demoncage. "Please help me", whined the seductive demon. The female half of the party were having none of the demons guile, however, and questioned the demon carefully. (Their male counterparts had remained back close to where the Gubriel Rock had stood.)

As the conversation continued, it seemed that the Demon was in quite a strong bargaining position, because it held runes that the heroes needed to escape the chambers. Not the exact runes, but ones that would allow them access to a temple area where they could acquire the ones they needed. The female heroes, played their hand carefully, however, and believed that they could win the runes without aiding the demon by using the secret word that Dringle had given them when performing the reversal of the Demoncage Ritual to free the demon. From what Dringle had said, it would destroy the demon and end his own curse.

Playing along at first with the succubus, the female heroes placed the ritual bowls and items required within them around the circle. Then they chanted the words needed and added the word Dringle had given them. However, it was a ruse and had been all along! The demon had out-smarted the heroes and it had now been freed. Furthermore, it then came to light that the demon was in fact the one and the same Brendagoth, a barbed devil the heroes of Isil Ia Dom had once encountered many years ago. At that time, the barbed devil had escaped, but had seemingly survived its return to the Outer Planes, although it had been demoted in rank and changed allegiance to serve a different cause - it's own! The devil had been reborn as a succubus demon, bent on its revenge to destroy those that had caused its downfall all those years ago.

To this end, the succubus also summoned a second demon to aid in its attack. At the sight of this, the female heroes could do nothing more than run - and run straight back to the support of the males. The succubus had no idea that it was running into a second trap - even though this trap had never been intentional. However, because the males waited on the far side of the chasm along a narrow ledge, it meant that once the females had gone over, it left the succubus vulnerable to attacks from the waiting hordes of summoned creatures and additional attacks of the male heroes waiting on the other side. The succubus's own demon trapped behind its summoner and unable to offer any further help. It was due to the fortuitous circumstances that the heroes were in that meant their victory was assured. Brendagoth, the demon, now faced a beating for a second time, and at its defeat, the second summoned demon dissipated with it.

"Thank goodness Herreta had the foresight to trap the demon on the other side of the narrow ledge", said Myara, and the rest of the party had to agree, knowing it went a long way in helping the heroes have an advantage in the battle.

After the battle, Helden was able to gather the runes that had fallen from the demon, and sure enough, the few collected were found to make a difference. Having followed the halls back to one of the rune locked gates, they presented the runes that included one from the demon's collection and the rune lock opened and allowed access. The heroes could now explore the northern regions of the crumbling crypt.

The northern section of the Ancient Crypt was even older than the area they had been exploring. The crumbling walls were lined with sealed walls that guarded the way to more mausoleums, which Helden was able to break down and allow Myara access to the chambers to search for any more runes they may need. In the course of their search, giant spiders dropped from the ceiling and came out of the shadows, giving the fighters another excuse to draw their blades .. and blood. Compared to the combat with the demon, however, these were a simple task.

Eventually, after much searching of the northern end of the crypt, the heroes found enough runes to try another large gateway that had blocked their progress to the north-west of the crypt. Thankfully, and although still four missing from the set, the heroes had the right runes now to bypass the large gate, and was made much quicker with Myara's abilities.

Beyond this large gate was the temple itself, and the heroes were able to investigate some corpses that lay strewn around the ground here, and finally glean some information from a book near one of the corpses to discover what had happened. It seemed an ancient sect of Abbathor followers had come here with somebody called Malakar to progress their evil plans. However, it appeared that whatever their original intentions (something related with the runes), Malakar, their leader had taken steps just a bit further than some of the followers had originally intended.

The heroes did not have to wait long to see the proof of what had happened, when wights stood from the ground and started to approach the heroes. The spell casters did not need to wait for Helden to give the order, and immediately summoned creatures to make a barrier between them and these undead. Threska and Elana then started trying to turn them, as the fighters kept their distance and used missile fire. Nobody wanted to get too close to a wight, which had the ability to suck the life from you ... especially Helden, who for this very reason, hated undead.

The well timed  summons and powerful turnings made their mark, and it was not too long before the undead showed signs of being rebuked and the summoned creatures were able to drive them back to the graves without too much retaliation. The battle over, the heroes sighed a relief,  as nobody had suffered any draining.

The temple had two exits: further west (opposite the way they had entered) or south. Myara asked to go south first, and so Helden agreed and the rogue led the way checking for traps. As the group turned a corner, there was a heavy scraping sound behind them, and from the shadows of an alcove, a large humanoid statue had animated; it was a clay golem closing to attack!

The golem had caught the heroes off-guard, and this turned out to be a battle tougher than the succubus because not only had they been surprised, but they also were soon to learn that Myara's arrows had no effect. The clay golem had resistances to both weapons and magic! Thankfully, Helden and Flint managed to form a barrier between the golem and the more vulnerable members of the party. The battle that ensued turned out to be one of attrition, which the party won, mainly thanks to the supporting healing from the clerics as the fighters took blow after blow from the lumbering monster.

At the end of the corner from where the golem had attacked, the heroes found a chamber that appeared to be some kind of sacrifice pit that disappeared somewhere into the mountain deep below. It turned out to be a dead end and there was nothing new found here, and so the heroes doubled-back to the last passageway they had to explore of the area that led west. At the end of this passage, after dealing with a couple more wights in much the same way as before, the heroes opened a door onto a chamber that supported some strange devices.

Next to a large circular device, the biggest in the room, Helden spied another husk of a body, similar to those they had encountered before, but this one was different. Karasten confirmed that this looked like magik and not the touch of undeath. From a nearby large tome, the heroes were soon to learn the nature of this room, and from a smaller book next to the corpse, the final understanding of what had happened here.

It turned out that the large circular device was a means of extracting Life Essences from living beings, which the sect of Abbathor wanted to follow up by Gathering peoples to use within its magik to collect Life Essences. Then, in another nearby device, they could use the Life Essences to make the magik runes. However, it seemed Malakar, the husk on the floor near the large device had other plans, and simply wanted to convert (drain) everyone to a state of undeath, where they could then "live" forever, and serve Abbathor forever. Not everyone had wanted this, but their fate had been sealed by the evil high priest.

"Watch out!" Helden cried out to Myara, but his cry came too late. Her curiosity simply got the better of her and she stepped through the large circular gateway. The leader had just been using the second device to construct the runes they were missing using some of the Life Essences they carried, when the halfling had wandered close to the large Life Extraction archway.

"Arghh! That felt awful. I feel weak now. But hey, I just got four Life Essences!" It had been a small reward for the sacrifice of her constitution, but the rogue at least knew what it was like to use the magik of the gateway. Elana sighed at the folly of her small friend, and Karasten hoped that it may be possible to find a way to reverse the effect some way. For now, however, the rogue had to accept that things were going to be a little tougher for her now, until anything could be done.

There had been two other doors that the heroes had not yet tried, due to being locked. On the body near the archway, they had found a key. It did not fit the door in the room they were in, but it did turn out to fit the door in the corridor just prior to the rune chamber. Myara used the key to open the lock and Helden stepped into the dark room first. There was a terrible scream from within the darkness, and the heroes were about to discover what had become of Malakar: A dread wraith!

Helden immediately ordered the group to send in the summons and Scraps to form a barrier between Melakar and themselves. Then, it was a matter of standing their ground or run! The odds of the latter increased when the heroes also noticed a couple of wights come to the support of their leader. In response, the clerics starting turning and Karasten cast spells. It seemed, for now, the battle ensued, but was this going to be the death of them too?

0 --- 0

DM REPORT: Eventually, the heroes were victorious in this battle, but the code was broken that affected draining. While previous battles had also been affected, the outcome was less likely to be much different compared to this one. At this point in time, we have decided to replay the battle with Melakar now that the code has been fixed. However, as the heroes had been victorious previously, I added the benefit that if the result differed too greatly (i.e. the heroes lost), then I would simply reload and allow the previous result to stand. However, because this battle would affect the PCs final Life Essence count and constitution attribute states, then I felt the battle was worth replaying to have a balanced result if possible. So, join us next time to see what happens .... ;)

TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 2 Hours 58 Minutes.
GAME TIME SINCE START: 45 Hours 45 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 12 QUESTS COMPLETE: 18 (Ignoring Rule Info)

The Adventure Continues .... 22. Searching For Runes (v2.45)

Last session played without any hitches or problems at all. In fact, the only reason for the latest update was to improve the Rust Monster code that seeks out metal items on PCs to "eat" ... or basically, destroy! The code was slightly off, and so I include it as a fix anyway, even though it worked reasonably well in our own session. Apart from that, I have been taking the opportunity to look over some old notes again with respect to working on module two. Some days I am better than others when it comes to doing any coding. Lately, I have had to resort to doing less due to tiredness and lack of concentration. Hopefully that will turn around again soon ... and at least looking over the notes is quite relaxing.

The List of Fixes

1) RUST MONSTER AI: A loop that determined what items to attack was not very efficient. I have now added a more direct order of preference for the creature, and it works more efficiently now. Make sure you don't get caught up close by one of these fellows!

A Dead End

Lower Caverns

An Ornate Room With Fountain

Rust Monsters!

Caryatid Columns!

The Gubriel Rock!

The Adventure Continues ... 22. Searching For Runes

Protect The Equipment!

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.

"It's a dead end this way," said Myara as she scouted the pathway ahead in case of traps. The path she had followed came to an abrupt end where it had fallen away, lost somewhere in the deeper caverns below. Instead, Helden led the party back towards another circular door they had seen earlier and led them to the chamber within. Inside, alongside a couple of useful workbenches, they noticed another Rune Panel, that required four runes to unlock its mechanism ... whatever that did? For now though, they decided they did not hold enough runes to risk experimenting on the lock's requirements and so left the chamber and continued their search for more runes in other areas of the crypt.

They went via another circular door they found within this chamber and discovered that it went downwards and into some natural caverns instead of the clean cut walls of the upper chambers. "I want to head back up and finish exploring the upper chambers before we head further this way", said Helden, and the fighter led the party back up and towards another section of the upper chambers.

As they went their way, they followed a mausoleum lined passage and through another circular door into a large square chamber, more elaborately decorated than the previous ones, sporting the remains of a library and a fountain in the middle of the room. The heroes wasted no time in carefully searching this chamber and were rewarded with some ancient texts, as well as the all important book containing information about the Demoncage that they were after. They also found a small magikal ring caught up in the fountain brickwork that enhanced its wearers intelligence. A find indeed!

There were two exits to this decorated chamber. One was blocked by another rune lock panel and the second by a locked door that Helden made short work of breaking down with his heavy axe. Beyond was another dark passageway, which the rogue went ahead scouting for traps. After indicating it was clear, the rest of the party caught up and Helden spied a corpse off to one side. As he went to examine it, he suddenly noticed some creatures out of the corner of his eye approaching to attack. "Rust monsters!" the experienced fighter called, and the party instantly took up a defensive stance to guard against losing any items that contained metal to these metal eating monsters.

The battle was eventually won by the heroes, but not without cost, as both helms and shields had been lost to these dungeon vermin before they were disposed of. Thankfully, however, the use of summoned creatures, Scraps and ranged weapons helped to minimise the loss, and a bigger thanks was uttered by all that no magik items were lost! The metal eating monsters now removed, the party looked closer at the corpse, and from a diary found on it, realised they had discovered what had happened to Herreta, the female cleric of the party of Dringle. The heroes relieved the corpse of its items, recognising that there was no point leaving anything that may be useful, especially as they had just lost some of their own.

The rest of the upper chambers could not be reached by the looks of it, unless they happened to have the correct runes to bypass one or two rune locks that may have offered another path. Helden was not prepared to risk this just yet and so decided now was the time to explore the lower natural caverns beneath the decorated area of the crypt. To this end, Helden led the party back to the lower caverns and began to search of the eastern section first.

The search involved taking risky narrow path ways that required extra care to pass. Once navigated though, the heroes found themselves within a mining area and were able to collect various ore and rocks, including some of the the very rare Ammonite ore, which the group had also just recently learned from the book found in the library, would be needed in the situation involving the succubus. Continuing to follow the path around, the heroes eventually discovered two exits. One linked up with a secret door back into the upper chambers, which they had discovered a short while earlier, while the second opened into a new unsearched area of the upper chambers.

Ahead was a sectioned off area of the inner room with four raised portcullis doors, within which stood a lone chest. "I don't like the look of this. Even I can see that this looks like a trap! We need to take precautions," said Helden. Then the heroes cautiously searched the large chamber, taking extra care to avoid the central section with the chest. However, after checking the nearby mausoleums for anything useful, and only finding the odd rune, a group decision was made to investigate the chest after all. So Helden, being the strongest, took the lead and stepped into the inner section towards the chest with the others close behind him for support.

Thankfully, at this point, nothing happened, and every party member was able to enter the small area unhindered. However, at the moment the chest was opened, Helden's theory was proven correct and the four statues that surrounded them jumped to life as the four portcullis doors slammed shut behind them. The battle was on! To the unprepared or lone adventurer, these statues would have been deadly, but to a well organised and fully prepared group of adventurers, these animated Caryatid Columns were no more than an inconvenience, which the heroes swiftly dealt with. The battle over, Myara was able to confirm that the chest did contain something useful ... a golden ritual bowl, something that was mentioned in the ritual for the Demoncage.

The heroes had now found about half of the twenty four runes that made up a complete set, which Helden figured was still too little to attempt any of the rune locks that required them for now. Instead, the leader of the group decided that they needed to backtrack and check the other region of the natural caves; the place where the heroes believed the succubus to be located, trapped within its Demoncage. The confrontation had to happen sooner or later, if the heroes wanted to recover the runes they needed, but every member remembered the last encounter with a demon and that could have gone better.

As they made their way west through the caves, carefully checking for traps as they went, Helden commented, "I can see a large floating boulder ahead, like the one we read about in that book we found." Sure enough, about one hundred yards ahead, a large heavy looking boulder could be seen floating and spinning slowly around in quite an unnatural way.

"The Gubriel Rock," Karasten mumbled under his breath, as the group of heroes slowly moved towards the legendary rock, not knowing what awaited them.

TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 2 Hours 16 Minutes.
GAME TIME SINCE START: 42 Hours 47 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 13 QUESTS COMPLETE: 17 (Ignoring Rule Info)

The Adventure Continues .... 21. A Well That Wishes Well? (v2.43)

The latest session was smooth and stable, with enjoyment had by all. There were a couple of minor issues that I discuss below, but apart from that, this post will mention some latest news and updates in general. Of particular note: I updated another puzzle (the dwarf four runes lock) for multi-player support. I have also been working on encounter balancing and planning some module two areas.

The List of Fixes

1) AUTO-PAUSE FEEDBACK: In TB combat, the auto-pause would sometimes report a combat was "over" and give the incorrect message if a character fell in combat, because I had set the character check loop up wrongly. The loop has now been fixed to check all characters before reporting if needed. (Intercepted.)

2) TB SOUND NOTIFICATION: There were some instances when the sound to indicate combat was started would not sound. This was due to not being able to locate a nearby useable placeable object to play the sound. Now, I have added a check to compensate for these situations, which should prevent the lack of sound in future encounter situations like this.

3) REVIVE DISTANCE: I have now added some checks to ensure any fallen companions or henchmen cannot "revive" after a combat if they are still close to an enemy that the rest of the party cannot see. i.e. The heroes need to be able to reach a fallen companion without any nearby enemy activity within the vicinity of the fallen party member.

4) RUNE PUZZLE (PAIRS) TIMER: There was one instance spotted in our last session when a timer for a puzzle did not start. I could not see any obvious reason for this, but altered the code slightly to give the timer a priority in the code calls, which may help ensure it starts correctly. I will keep an eye open on this one.

5) SOUL CONVERSATION (LOGICAL FLOW): There was a logical flow error in Soul's conversation, where a PC could mention Soul by name, prior to them knowing it. This has now been fixed.

6) SOUL'S QUEST AWARD: The final XP award was broken, and required a fix to ensure the final XP award is granted and give the "Quest Complete" message. (NB: In the broken version, the quest did complete in the journal, but did not give the reward.) This has now been fixed. I remind my own players that while they missed out on this XP reward, that it was easily compensated on the earlier XP award issue that gave ten times the amount that should have been given then. The differences balance out. :)

The List of Updates

1) FOLLOW/STAND IN COMBAT: I have now re-enabled the "Follow" and "Stand Ground" buttons in my GUI to be useable during combat as well. They override any existing combat actions for all group members the player controls, and so must be used with caution in combat situations. However, it may be useful to use to enforce a "regroup" and prevent PCs from wondering off to a distant enemy when you do not want them to.

2) AREA MAP NAME: I have updated the code to enable a builder to be able to rename a map on the fly with scripting. I needed this for my own work with module two. NB: This required an XML change, which means all players in a MP game require the updated campaign folder to play.

3) DM SPELL FEEDBACK: I added a small debug line that gives a single DM information about spells being cast by either players or monsters.

Helden Deals With The Barricade!

A Plush Room Lies Beyond ... With A Well!

A Library Behind A Locked Door!

No Way Out!

A Battle For Freedom!

A Crypt With A View

Disturbing The Dead!

But Returning Them To Peace!

A New Passage Opens Up Ahead

Myara Picks The Locks Of Ancient Crypts

The Adventure Continues ... 21. A Well That Wishes Well?

Anything For You Masters?

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.

The Goblin Tower (Soul)

"It's no good. We need a specific password," said Myara as the heroes tried to open the door at the bottom of the stairway. Lacking the information they needed to open this door, the heroes decided to turn back and head back upstairs to learn what lay beyond the barricaded section instead. Upon reaching the barricade, Helden made short work of removing it with his battleaxe. Behind the barricade was another door, but this one was locked by a dwarf rune lock, which Myara was able to deal with successfully this time.

The room ahead was large and brightly decorated, much like the plush area they had seen in the tower's lower levels before. Yet one strange feature stood out: there was a well here! As the heroes approached the well, a voice from its depths spoke to them in common tongue. The well was sentient and addressed itself as "Soul". It appeared to be a unique life form, offering its services to keep the heroes (it's new "masters") as comfortable as possible.  As the well continued to chat with Helden, Myara gently whispered to Elana, "I bet 'Soul' is the password to that riddle for the door below."

Eventually, the conversation with the well was over and Helden suggested the heroes be on their guard. He felt there was something off about this inanimate being, and gave the order for the party to search the area for anything that might be useful. There had been something about the way the well had spoken of it's previous "masters" that made the group feel uncomfortable, in contrast to the well's efforts to ensure their comfort!

The heroes continued their search of the whole area, including the lower regions (Myara had been correct about the password for the door that led to the lower level) where the library and study were located. As they rummaged around books and items that had not been touched or disturbed for a very long time, the group gradually built up a picture of events that had transpired: It appeared that the builders of "Soul" had become prisoners of their own invention.

"We need to get away from this place fast!" said Helden, after he realised the implications of what Soul had done. Without further delay the heroes made for the exit, only to be stopped dead in their tracks at a large wall that now blocked the way out. "It's the work of Soul!" said Karasten.

The heroes made their way back to the well and tried to reason with Soul about letting them go free. However, Soul was not prepared to let them leave in much the same way he had not let his previous "masters" leave. There was nothing more the heroes could do now, except to follow through with a plan that they learned the previous masters had prepared (but obviously failed to deliver), with respect to destroying Soul, in the hope to gain their freedom.

After pouring the destabilisation potion into the well called Soul (that Karasten had prepared), the heroes tried to reason with Soul one last time. Sadly, however, the bond between Soul and its "masters" was too strong and if the heroes were ever to leave this tower again, then there was nothing left but to destroy the well while it had become destabilised. With a sigh of regret, Helden led the blows, which the rest of the party soon followed, that began the destruction of Soul. As the last blow brought the well to an end, magic beams shot forth from the remains of the well, animating books all around the heroes, and attacked them.

The books, although many in number, did little harm to the heroes, who quickly slashed the animated objects to pieces. The room had gone dark now ... lifeless. The entity called Soul, which had been keeping the place bright and warm was no longer present, and in the dark, one could even feel the temperature begin to drop. With no further reason to stay, the heroes made their way back upstairs, hoping the wall that had previously blocked their way had been dispelled as well.

As the heroes reached the exit level, Helden was immediately aware that while the wall had indeed been dispelled, that a number of animated beings now roamed the area where the wall had been instead. It seemed these were the last vestiges of what had remained of Soul's previous "masters", who now, lifeless, served in a twisted form as servants of the one that once served them. If the heroes wanted freedom, then they needed to get past these lifeless beings as well.

Karasten initiated the combat when he released a fireball in their direction. Unfortunately, it appeared to do little or no damage to the humanoid figures who appeared to be made from the stone wall that once blocked their way. However, it was enough to alert them and start a combat. Thankfully, Flint and Helden were positioned for the attack, and summoned creatures were already engaging with the stone-like humanoids before they could reach the spell casters. The battle, like so many others beforehand, was short lived, due to being well prepared.

The stone creatures now disposed of, the heroes were now able to see and reach the exit. As Helden opened the door, the cool pleasant evening breeze welcomed them to their freedom once again. "That's one of the three towers dealt with!," said Helden, who now led the party back out of the valley in which the tower stood, and made his way north and east, knowing only too well that this path now led to the crypt that Zak, the hermit had spoken of only a few hours ago.

The Ancient Crypt

"That's the second lock done." said Myara. Flint had already given Myara the answer to the first riddle lock: Abbathor. Now, with both locks disabled, Helden had to make the begrudging decision that there was now nothing stopping them from entering the crypt, where undead no doubt awaited, and so should enter. There was a brief hesitation by everyone though, as the entry to the crypt was not by a door, but by some sort of magik that was going to teleport them inside. Was this going to be a one-way trip? After reasoning away that fear, the heroes let Myara place her hand on the teleport activation and within a heart beat the heroes found themselves in a dark and musty chamber ... the entrance to the crypt.

For the time being, all appeared quiet, much to the relief of Helden. There was the usual dungeon debris laying around, and a gong beside a bridge that led from the entrance chamber deeper into the crypt ahead. After a quick scout around, the heroes could do nothing more than take the bridge ahead of them that spanned a large drop going somewhere deeper into the mountain, which they assumed they were now within.

As the heroes crossed the bridge, they were suddenly brought to a stop when a spirit rose from the remains of a body that lay halfway across the bridge. Helden did not know whether to attack or run, but it soon became obvious that this spirit was not going to attack. It turned out that this gnome spirit, who introduced itself as Dringle, was actually quite talkative, and not intent to do evil at all ... or so it seemed. After a long conversation with the spirit, the heroes were to learn that Dringle (and his own party) had become the victims of a curse due to a Succubus demon that now lay entrapped within these halls somewhere to the south. The curse led to their eventual deaths within the crypt.

When quizzed further, the heroes also learned that the Succubus likely possessed some runes that the heroes would need to activate the teleport to exit the crypts. It appeared that the heroes fate was to deal with the Succubus not only to help rid Dringle of his curse, but also to acquire the runes they needed to eventually escape the crypt themselves! Dringle spoke of something called a Demoncage that currently held the Succcubus captive and mentioned a means by which the demon may be destroyed. However, it involved finding a book ... and that could be anywhere within the crypts, assuming it survived at all! Having learned all they could, they bid the spirit of Dringle farewell, and the spirit dissipated. Much to Helden's relief, the heroes were alone once more.

However, Helden's relief did not last long, as shortly passing to the far side of the bridge, the heroes encountered more spirits from nearby corpses, but these ones were not friendly like Dringle, and upon manifesting, immediately attacked the heroes. Helden's nightmares had just come to life!

The fighter need not have let his fear ride too high at this time, however, as the heroes were able to successfully deal with the threat, even if Elana's attempt to turn the undead creatures appeared to have no effect (or failed due the spirits' resistances). Maybe these were not that "type" of undead after all, thought Helden, who imagined dark fingers of death sucking the life from his very soul.

"Inner crypts!" blurted Myara, giving Helden a sudden jolt from his dark thoughts. "Could be treasure ... I mean something useful in these." Helden gave the nod to Myara suggesting she crack the door locks so that they could search their contents for anything useful. Without the need for further orders, the halfling quickly went from crypt to crypt, cracking locks and searching their contents.

They had only explored a small section of the overall crypt, but already the heroes had had to deal with both violent spirits and painful traps. On the plus side they also found some unusual runic scrolls, that looked to hold some promising crafting recipes. However, these recipes, like the exit door lock, required runes ... and in their search to date, they had only found ten runes out of twenty four they knew could be found. If they hoped to use the scrolls, or more importantly escape the crypt altogether, then they needed to find the other runes. That, as already had been shown, meant the heroes would have to confront a Succubus.

TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 4 Hours 23 Minutes. (Roughly speaking.)
GAME TIME SINCE START: 40 Hours 31 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 13 QUESTS COMPLETE: 17 (Ignoring Rule Info)

The Adventure Continues .... 20. Of Goblins and Bugbears (v2.42)

Last session went well with only two minor glitches (detailed below). In fact, I have been able to concentrate more on the second module of late. The entry code now works reasonably well on testing, and so I have now turned to updating and polishing the first area. I have been improving the ability to walk in an area and not be stopped by objects. I also pulled out all my old D&D notes, because the next module will be a rework of my previous pen and paper (PnP) modules. Incredibly, it has been over 25 years since we played those, and so I am using a little poetic licence to rehash the story and adapt it so we can play them again in NWN2. I already checked with the player who played the original and he said he was good with that. After all, it will help him remember the main plot as well. Anyway, here is what was fixed and how the latest session went ...

The List of Fixes

1) AREA ON ENTER COMBAT: There was one remaining instance of a timing of pausing the game when entering an area straight into a combat situation. Those not using auto-pause would not see the issue, which pauses the game before the player has had the "FadeFromBlack" applied. This can also cause a player to drop to desktop if left in such a state for too long. Regardless, this has now been addressed and fixed.

2) SUMMON CLOCKROACH FLUTE: I had a check to only pass "ACTIVATED" items for the script to run. Apparently, it should have been only "SPELL CAST" checks, which it now is. The horn/flute now summons the clockroach again.

A Note on Game Balance

Interestingly, in the last session my players had a "tough" battle when they encountered some bugbears. They did survive and came through victorious, but I thought I would double check the encounter in case it was in any way unbalanced. However, when I tested the encounter myself (allowing the AI to control my PCs), the combat was short and the party came through in a far better state than my players did on the night. CONCLUSION: I think a lot can depend upon the timing of certain spells and dice rolls ... and that the combat was balanced.

Bugbears Attack At Night!

Riverside Path

A Great View!

The Goblin Tower!

Goblin Evil Altar!

A Secret Passage & Trap!

A New Area Beneath The Goblin Tower

The Adventure Continues ... 20. Of Goblins and Bugbears.

Taking The Rough With The Smooth!

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.

"I think that looks like bugbears ahead" said Helden spying a couple of large lumbering giant types. The party responded quickly, readying their missile weapons and waiting for orders to attack or cast spells. Helden was waiting for the right moment.

"Careful, I can also see a bugbear up high, on our left!" said Myara, concerned that Helden was taking just a bit too long to take advantage of the surprise. Then, before anyone could respond, the bugbear on high ground loosed an arrow at the party, and combat was underway.

Instantly, Helden and Flint moved forward to bow the other bugbears up ahead, as Karasten released magic missiles at the bugbear on high ground. By now, however, the rest of the bugbear party on the lower ground were aware of the attack and a cleric among them summoned a beast that ran forward and engaged the heroes fighters. Karasten continued to blast magic missiles at the one on high ground, oblivious to the fact that another three bugbears had joined the combat on their level.

One bugbear broke through the ranks and made headlong towards Myara and Threska at the back of the party, causing Myara to turn tail and run. Meanwhile, Helden and Flint were suffering the brunt of the attack from the bugbear fighters. Then, Helden suffered the Daze effect due to an (unknown)  spell directed at him by the bugbear cleric and the fighter was left floundering for a few moments. Arrow fire and melee attacks did manage to bring down a couple of the beasts, and the spell casters managed to release some summoned creatures as Flint also took a pummelling.

Then Helden fell! He took one blow too many, and although just recovered from the daze effect, he had already taken too much of a beating before Elana had time to heal him so shortly after summoning her own creature. Meanwhile, Threska was desperately trying to keep Myara conscious, casting heal spells at her as the bugbear continued its attacks against the rogue. Then, there was a grunt from flint, and like Helden, he had been the target of his own enemy spell, and also became dazed.

Thankfully, the summoned creatures of the spell casters finally overcame the summoned beast of the bugbear cleric, and having defeated that, were able to break through and attack the remaining bugbears and cleric. At about the same time, Flint got over the daze effect, and managed to bring down another bugbear, but only just before he was brought down himself. Thankfully, though, he remained conscious long enough to allow the summoned creatures to finish the remaining bugbear fighter and cleric, and then turn back to head towards the bugbear attacking Myara.

As the summoned creatures reached Myara, the brave rogue took another hefty blow, and even though she had been taking healing potions, was unable to stand any longer and fell unconscious too. Now, all that remained were Threska, Elana and Karasten, the spell casters, plus their summoned creatures. Thankfully, along with their summoned creatures, they had enough resources remaining to overpower the final bugbear. When the bugbear fell, the battle was over, and the clerics could now move among the fallen administering healing.

This had been a hard fought battle, and the heroes concluded that they had underestimated the enemy. Only moments before the battle, Helden had commented how the battles of late had not been as pitched as ones of old. Now, he could not help but reconsider his words ... and determined new tactics were needed in this area, especially as the denizens appeared more powerful than any others they had encountered to date since returning from the outer planes.

After tending their wounds, the heroes backtracked to an area near to the hermit cave and rested again. It was morning by the time the heroes were ready to return to the task of exploring the region, and this time they summoned their creatures before moving onward, and cast some buff spells ahead of time to be extra prepared.

As they approached the bugbear tower, the heroes carefully navigated their way past and out of sight to avoid further combat for the time being. Helden spied a couple high up on guard, but they did not see the party ... or at least, if they did, they did not open attack.

Following a path around to the east, the heroes found themselves in another valley. It branched a couple of ways. On investigating the first path going east, they discovered it went to a cave that appeared to travel further east and out of the valley itself by the looks of it. This would lead them too far from their goal and so they turned back and checked out the second path. The second path turned south again, and into its own small valley that wound up a small path towards a dilapidated tower. Upon approaching it, Elana could discern the smell of goblin dung. This must be the goblin tower!

Readying themselves for combat, Helden pulled the large ring that opened the entranceway and led the party inside. They were right to be prepared, as at least half a dozen goblins opened attack as soon as they entered. These smaller denizens of the enclave were no real match for the heroes, however, and even the summoned wolf and larger goblin leader were no match for the heroes. As a result, the battle was short lived and the heroes quickly victorious.

The tower was obviously in a poor condition and fallen in places from the ravages of time. There was, however, a stairway leading down, which the heroes investigated. Below they encountered two more goblins, both obviously shaman, as they tried to summon creatures to defend themselves and the altar at which they had been praying. Again, they stood no chance against the larger party of heroes and were soon disposed of ... and so was their evil altar just a few blows later.

The battle over, Helden pointed out a secret door that he discovered just to the side of where the altar had stood. Furthermore, behind where the altar had been itself, there stood a large barricade blocking a way ahead. "We'll check out the secret area first I think," said Helden, the party leader.

A short way into the secret passage, Myara told everyone to hold still, as she tried to disarm a trap. This trap, however, was a little more complex than normal, and she believed the only way to deactivate it was by some nearby statues that appeared to have a switching mechanism related to the nearby trap. After pushing a spear on the statue back, she reasoned the trap was now disarmed, and Helden took the step of faith and tried it out. He ran across the ground where the trap had been pointed out to him, and thankfully, nothing happened. Either there was no trap after all, or Myara was correct. He suspected the latter.

Rounding the bend, the passage led to another stairway that descended further. Leading the party forward, the fighter descended to the area below, and discovered that the decor changed dramatically. Above the decor was simple stone and dark; now, the chambers were elaborately decorated and quite plush. It was clear that nobody had been down here in a very long time. Helden was confident that the goblins never even knew this was here.

TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 0 Hours 12 Minutes. (Over 1 hour paused combat.)
GAME TIME SINCE START: 36 Hours 8 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 12 QUESTS COMPLETE: 16 (Ignoring Rule Info)