Session 19: Pod People, Mushroom Wizard Lab & Quarters

• 4 pod people + an ogre-sized pod person overseer slain
• 1 pod person escaped
• Ramuh took three scrolls from the library
• Large pulsing pod over the cauldrons destroyed
• Living quarters of the wizard investigated
• Repulsion wand hanging on the wall taken
• Portcullis traps navigated south of wizard's chamber
• Dangerous plant beast in large cavern herded by wand south

Diary Entry for Toad and Pod People Cave

This is for session 18. +300 XP to Vira


Map of Toad people Cave:

Partial results of depth first search, to the left. Notable events listed below.

A: While searching the cave where we defeated the dangling plants, Micrin saw an interesting object in the small lake and bravely waded in to claim it. It was a small wooden box, that when examined by Micrin had a mechanical puzzle that allowed us to open it and claim a wooden key. This proved useful at the key doors. Inserting the key in the door diverted the stream allowing access to past the second waterfall.

B: This room contained 20 large human sized pods hanging from the roof of the cave, smelling strongly of dead fish. A pod man jumped out of 1 and tried to take us on, but we didn't give much chance. After it was chopped up, we searched out other full pods. Only 1 was still full, the other 18 open and empty, so there are probably a bunch of these wandering around. Hep'ztar hovered up one of Micrin's daggers and cut open the only full pod. It appeared to be only plant stuff and dead fish. While trying not to gag on the increased stench, we destroyed the pod, ensuring no pod man will ever emerge from it.

C: This room was carpeted in mushrooms that erupt in sticky glowing bright yellow spores, with a floating stone fist-sized head in the room that is attracted to light. We caught the head by coating the inside of a sack in the yellow spores and extinguishing all other light sources, then closing the bag on it. So far it seems harmless and it is currently bobbing along above Ramuh. It has been nicknamed Bob.

D: This room contained 9 trees in neat rows. Unfortunately one of them opened their eyes right in front of Ramuh and in a rage he swung his sword at it. Following suit, Ashen attacked and killed the tree. He was still in an odd mood from the mushrooms he ate earlier. This convinced Hep'ztar and I that negotiation was no longer an option. I ran in and sent a glowing sphere and got a bunch of leaves and twigs flying everywhere, then a bunch of branches in my face. I managed to get away and we slowly hacked away at the trees until there was nothing but twigs and leaves and some spider bodies. Don't really know where they came from. I collected some samples, and Ashen took some tree to make a hilt.

E: Currently in this room, taking some time to update my journal. This appears to be the first man made room in this set of caves with lots of interesting pages and some cauldrons. Hopefully it will lead to some answers of all these created creatures.

Session 18: Pod People, Glowing Mushrooms, Floating Head, Angry Trees

Present: Micrin up through the pod person, Heptzar, Vira, Ramuh, Ashen

• Waterfall diversion with key found in pool
• Room with 20 mostly empty pods, fought 1 pod person
• Room with mushrooms that squirt glowing yellow spores, floating fist-sized stone head, follows light
• Mad tree nursery: 9 mad trees & 3 wandering spiders
• Many winding corridors
• Carved-out room: 3 cauldrons, worktable covered with pages, pink and green pulsing hanging pod

Session 18: Pod People

Danny's report:

Who's bright idea was it to go treading in this god forsaken cave. Must have been Vira's, and that assassin lad. Who are we to think adventure should be the ownly payment. Rituals are expensive after all! Vira always seems to be happy to help people for nothing. Must be a clerk thing, if she went to bard school she would see how the real world is like. Half the party is incapacitated from the mushrooms I slipped into the ale last night. I thought it would enhance the flavour of their "Premium" tank house ale. To think that bartender had the nerve try and charge 1 gold coin per pint. I could perform a full brewing ritual with 1 gold.

I could be enjoying the sub par company back at that local bar right now. Or better year be heading back to the main city for the finest wenches. Instead I am in the middle of nowhere or should I say the "Cave of pointless wondering". If there was some treasure or more action it wouldn't be so bad, but it has been so far uneventful. First we encountered a couple if vines that could pluck rocks out of the air. We dispatched these vine things with some fire and good old steel to the tendrils. I tried to feed them some mushrooms, but it didn't take. Apparently we met some pod people, but they weren't much for talking, so we cut them down. I was too high off these wonderful mushrooms at that point to do much but watch. I could have sworn that one of them was trying to talk to us but what would a plant say. We ended up wondering aimlessly until we arrived at a room full of mushrooms. Jackpot. To my disappointment they were not edible, instead they released a bunch of glowing spores when crushed. Discussing. We noticed however there was a floating rock in the room, it seemed attracted to light. I decided to capture it by using a sack, by coating the inside of it with glowing spores. It worked wonderfully. The sword-mage thought it would be a good pet, kind of like a balloon. We decided to call him Bob. Bob now follows us via a string attached to the sword-mage. At least I'm not dragging him around like the assassin, dwarf, rogue. Good thing I'm so muscular. I wonder if Vira notices my manliness.

We arrived after a few hours in the middle of what appears to be a nursery, full of moaning. We were certain it would be grateful villages waiting to be saved. Instead we find these vile tree monsters with dozens of eyes. There appearance offended the sword-mage who ended all chances of diplomacy by hacking the closest "tree" in half. Out of nowhere Vira, perhaps overcome by my manliness or blood rage, decides to risk her life by charging in the thick of things, blasting all of them with some divine radiance. If her goal was to impress me she managed to do that. However, she paid the price for her bravery as the trees decided to surround and lash at her mercilessly. I managed to pull her what was left of her out of the fray, with a blast of musically "chairs". The sword-mage and I made short work of the wounded trees. While engaging the trees, some spiders showed up out of nowhere behind us, but the Hep'ztar and Vira took care of them with Ramuh's help.

We emerged victorious, with minor wounds. Vira and I take some samples of these strange trees, they appear to have an Elven flare to them. Perhaps they have some sort of magical property.

After some more wondering, we finally arrive at a room with a glowing red pod suspended from the celling. I'll end the log here as I feel action shall be upon us.

-- Ashen

+250 XP

Gambling at Steal the Rest

+300 XP to Zacarias

(Summary of session 17.)

"Ah, yes, see, I don't have the money just now - no, no, really not a problem, it's just that, well let me explain. No wait... even better, I wrote a song about this.

There was a young man from Kelex,
Who very much liked to -

No wait, that's a different song. How did this one go again? Aha!

The sorcerer frogs, they came they saw, they slew.
The world was their oyster, or was it their fly, oh my!
And your town of Steal, in their path, was doomed, you knew.
Until, that is, some heroes saw aught was awry.

We seven did come, the dust of the trail behind,
When evil we spied in the wood, yes evil most fell.
But heroes we are, and to fear, we are all but blind!
So the battle was joined, and at battle, we do excel.

We locked and loaded and drew our guns with haste.
They bound, they leapt, but in the end they croaked.
And thus we saved your man from becoming frog paste,
So put down your knives and let me go home un-poked.

Post-script: if you don't, my friend Ramuh may rage.
I've seen what befalls a toad struck by lightning,
And if you provoke my friend, this here dark sage,
The tale they'll tell of your demise shall be quite frightening!

That croaked bit was a pun by the way. Yeah, I make a better bard than Ash the screamer over there. So what do you say we just forget about the money and go home?"

Session 17: Toad People, Fungus Mage, Steel, Carousing, Rescue

Present: everyone

Completed battle with the toad people
Plant beast was allowed to wander off

Treasure:
6 gems, 100 gp each
200 gp in coin
-50 gp donated to kidnaping victims = 150 gp total remaining

Visited the town to Steel (tavern: Steel's Rest)

Defeated two hanging tentacle plants

Total XP from toad people battle and plants: 1900 / 7 = 271 each

Carousing XP:

• Berrian: 50
• Zacarias: 50

Session 16: Return, Airship Wreckage, Toad People

"Raise you 80 gold. Hm? No, no, but I'm good for it. Honest - it's - what? Not on the table? I know it's not on the table, but I'm good for it. My word is my bond. Swear on my mother's hair. Come on. Or are you just scared of the hand I've got here? Is that it?

Re-raise? Really? Come on, we both know you're behind. You're not going to bully me out of this one. Do you know what I do to bullies? Let me tell you a story... it was just after the Battle of Whatsiston when my associates and I had just defeated the notorious Thousand Goblins of The House of Five Blades and saved the town, if not the entire country. But that's another story.

Anyway, we walked back into town, where Vira healed the wounded and the guard captain thanked us for saving them from certain death. Now, it is well known to every adventurer that a dispatched villain's corpse and belongings are the property of the ones who killed him, and you would think that it's just common courtesy but apparently not. So then, believing that we could safely leave a few bodies strewn about without the locals picking over them like grave robbers - who would do such a thing, can you imagine fencing grave goods? - yes, so we left the bodies and went for a well-deserved rest.

We awoke to find that the locals, led by none other than the infamous Corpulomancer - ah yes, I see you've heard of him, haven't you? Back then he only weighed twelve hundred pounds but now it's another matter, best left for another story. So the locals, at his direction, had stolen all of the loot that we had left stored on clearly marked corpses so that there could be no confusion about who owned them. Thus the theft was obviously deliberate. Well, we went marching straight to the Corpulomancer's door, brushing past his shyster guards and into his den of disrepute.

"Excuse me sir," I politely announced our arrival, "I believe you owe us a few things, do you not?"

"No it's all ours," he replied, "because blah blah whine whine whine some goblins pissed in my gruel this morning or some crap like that so I'm keeping it."

"That is terribly bad manners old chap, are you sure you wouldn't like to just do the right thing? I'll give you this one last chance." I'm nothing if not gracious, you see.

Call your two hundred gold, by the way.

Anyway, then the Corpulomancer spat "Noooooo. I'm a big whiny bitch who likes to molest dead bugs and I'm going to keep your stuff."

So I put on my serious face. "What if I were to give you a sandwich?" I asked him.

"..."

"Of the knuckle variety." He knew that I wasn't talking about pork knuckle sandwiches, although I do make a great one of those too.

"Phhhhhhhhhhhhhhhbttbtbbbbbbbbbbttttt," he heaved a sigh of pure terror, spitting chunks of food that had been stuck in his teeth at me. He said not another word and, utterly defeated, handed everything over. But as I said, I'm nothing if not gracious, so we left him a very nice staff and then went about our business which, as it turned out, was to kill an army of sorcerer-frogs and save the Queen's entire civil service from kidnapping, but that is another story.

Would you look at that, you do have a hand after all don't you? Right, about that money... no, no, there's no need for knives. I'll just go get it, it's umm, on my horse outside, right-o, see you in a minute!"

+250 xp for Zacarias
+50 xp for Hep'ztar