A Dark and Stormy Knight

DM Name: Abbassia

Participants:
Seren Arc, Level 4, Human, Sorcerer
Aliyah, Level 3, Small Canine, Sorceress
Violet Atreya, Level 1, ECL3, Half-Fae, Cleric
Liadan Arc, Level 1, ECL3, Half-Fae, Sorceress
Eve White, Level 1, Changeling, Illusionist

Challenges (Please list each encounter separately in the following format):
1) 8 Rats, CR1/8, (1 injured rat escaped)
2) 1 Lesser Vargouille, CR1
3) 1 Fusillade of Darts Trap, CR1
4) 2 Hobgoblins, CR1/2
5) 1 Zombie Bugbear Knight, CR2 (killed but not by party action, see below)

Experience:
Each character gets 255 XP, except Liadan who gets 180 XP for missing out on the Hobgoblin encounter.

If Rhine forfeits, this means each character gets 325 XP, except Liadan who gets 225 XP for missing out on the Hobgoblin encounter.

Treasure:
Each character gets 255 GP, except Liadan who gets 180 GP for missing out on the Hobgoblin encounter.

If Rhine forfeits, this means each character gets 325 GP, except Liadan who gets 225 GP for missing out on the Hobgoblin encounter.

In addition, the party was able to find a ring, two pearls, and a headband, your contact with the noble house of Sinaran has expressed interest in these items and is willing pay each of you an extra 100 GP and a wooden sculpture in each your likeness to be carved personally by the noble household themselves.

Translator’s Ring (Giant, Terran): This ring grants the wearer the ability to understand two specific languages in addition to those she already knows. If the character wearing the ring is literate, she also gains literacy in the new languages as long as she wears the ring.
Faint divination; CL 1st; Forge Ring, comprehend languages; Price: 400 gp.

Headband of the Stout Heart: This simple leather headband is studded with small iron rivets. It grants its wearer a +1 resistance bonus on all Will saves.
Faint abjuration; CL 1st; Craft Wondrous Item, resistance;Price: 350 gp.

Furthermore, on each of the former hobgoblins is found: a Studded leather armor, light shield steel, short sword, javelin.

One of the ceased-to-be hobgoblins carries also a lifting belt.

Lifting Belt: This heavy leather kidney belt features brass studs and large buckles on both sides. Anyone wearing it gains a +1 enhancement bonus to Strength for the purpose of determining his carrying capacity. The belt does not alter the wearer’s actual Strength score, nor does it change his Str modifier. This effect does not stack with that provided by any other bonus to Strength. Faint conjuration; CL 1st; Craft Wondrous Item, bull’s strength; Price: 500 gp.

Quest Summary:
The party was hired by the agent of the Noble house Sinaran in Avalon to travel to the Hill Country in Autumn Land to retrieve a family heirloom thought to have been buried with a long dead ancestor at Hightower, a sizable tomb complex dug into the side of one of the area's many hills. After the long voyage and as they traveled through the Hill Country, the sudden onset of a strong hailstorm forced the group to take shelter at the rocky outcrop ahead. Fortunately, the outcrop contained a massive, arched entryway at least 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide, set into the side of the hill. Liadan correctly recognized this to be, in fact, their destination; Hightower.

As they entered into the main chamber behind the entryway, they came across three stone doors; one to the left, a similar one to the right, and a larger one before them. The doors were tightly sealed and seemed as immoveable as they had been for centuries past, the storm thundering outside, however, begged to differ; the ground shook with each of the tempest's sudden roars, causing the doors to begin showing signs of weakness until they broke off altogether.

Seconds later, the sounds of squeaking fill the air as a packs of rats swarms in from the now open doorways. The party quickly and easily dispatched them with steel, bow and arcane might. With the pathways open before them, the party elected to explore the side chambers before venturing deeper. As they entered the western chamber, they found naught but dust and a solitary upstanding sarcophagus at the end of the room.

As they approached, it became apparent that the head of the figure carved upon its lid looked distorted and seemed to have tendrils instead of hair. Suddenly, the eyes open, revealing the glow of green flames, a pair of batlike wings extends from its temples and it flies forwards to attack. Aliyah recognizes the vile outsider as a vargouille, though a lesser one, but more, she recognized the danger of the creature's paralyzing shrieks.

Sensing the danger as well, the party let loose a barrage of arcane at the flying head before finishing it off with an arrow through the cheek. But all was not done as they grimly decided to open the sarcophagus, luckily finding nothing more than dust and a ring which they held triumphantly in the air as spoils of their conquest of the flying head.

Returning to the main chamber, the party entered the eastern chamber now to experience a familiar feeling as they enter a chamber only to find again nothing but dust and a singular stone chest, thankfully without a part of it attacking them this time. Violet the cleric attempted to test the chest for traps by bouncing a stone harmlessly off the chest. To her misfortune though, the trap mechanism was tied to the lid's opening, she realized this as she dodged the fusillade of darts, coming out none the worse for it.

As the party gathered up the spoils of the stone chest, cheerful of having fared so well against the denizens of the tomb, they ventured boldly down the main path, all but Liadan, who unfortunately sprained her ankle when she was surprised by the darts trap causing her to stay near the entrance in the main chamber in order to rest. At any rate, the party headed deeper into the tomb. Whereupon they came across a sort of preparation chamber furnished only with cracked, moldering tables on which lie rusted implements of iron. Rain falls into the middle of the room from a shaft in the ceiling that must run all the way to the top of the tor. From the bottom of the shaft dangles a rope, swinging slightly. A drain in the center of the floor allows the water to escape, but old, dark stains suggest that it was used to carry away other fluids long ago.

Suddenly, from a doorway on the far side of the room step two burly humanoids. Each stands more than 6 feet tall and has feral eyes and flat facial features. With a roar, the two draw their weapons and charge. Their charge however is deftly met by the magical party, knocking both foes helpless but alive, much to the unexpected misfortune of the party.

By knocking out their foes instead of killing them, the party that had fared so well now faced a greater challange; a moral dilemma that threatened their unity and as it turns out perhaps even their lives; one of the sorcerers, Seren Arc, argued for binding their hobgoblin captives, while Violet the Cleric moved instead to finish off their vanquished foes. Trying to prevent what he perceived as "murder", Seren attempted to use his magic to influence Violet to leave the hobgoblins alive, but Seren was only met by Violet's determined gaze as she thrust the metal of her spear through the sleeping hobgoblin's throat. Growing desperate as Violet proved immune to his non-violent charms, Seren began casting a more harmful spell at the cleric, who turned to finish the other hobgoblin.

But just as the party stood in shock at the escalation between Seren and Violet, a javelin suddenly flew from the darkness, finishing off the miserable hobgoblin, the party all turned to hear the eerie low moan of a tall humanoid figure emerging from the shadows, as it slowly stepped into the light of the shaft above, they saw that the figure was the well-preserved corpse of a tall humanoid wearing the tabard and belts of a knight, its rotted horrible face adorned with a large horned helmet.

The undead knight slowly stepped into the room and uttered a terrible eerie moan, "Nnnniiii", but as it did so, the storm outside roared again as it did earlier, causing the ground to shake as a bright flash came from the flash then darkened, leaving only the lights of the party's torches, the awkward silence was finally broken by a large crash as it appeared that huge stone fragment of a large statue had fallen down the shaft above into the chamber.

As the dust cleared, the party was able to see that the unholy creature lay crushed and destroyed beneath what appears to be an unusually large stone foot. Despite the comedy of the scene, tensions still ran high as they all exchanged meaningful glances before going forward to retrieve the Sinaran heirloom, they then returned to their bewildered companion at the main chamber, where they awaited in awkward silence for the storm's end.

When the storm finally abated, the party emerged to deliver the heirloom and receive their rewards, the return journey far more awkward than the previous.

Exp and Rep awarded by Jennibear