At first sight...

7/25/1999

Prelude

The Tomb
At last, the Sleeper stirs!

Amon-al-Khabul
I have returned
It is even worse than before. Will they help us?
They are coming, I only hope they are in time.

Long Lake
Say, what ever happened to those elves who used to ask after our health?
I don't really know
Maybe you should find out.

Summary of the Adventure

With their goal in sight, the group hurried along a narrow defile towards the valley below. As they moved along, they were suddenly attacked by a blue dragon. Before they could react, the dragon had snatched Chaka-Khan from his saddle and was winging off with a tasty lunch. The Company responded quickly, with volleys of missiles and spells, but it was not enough and the dragon landed atop the cliff to finish its meal.

Calidon flew up to the top to try to save the outlander, and Andi began scaling the wall. Both brought ropes to help the rest of the group ascend the cliff face. Calidon reached the top first and was surprised when the dragon breathed a bolt of lightning at him. He managed to secure his rope before trying to jump clear. Andi and Androth continued to climbed and the dragon shot missiles at Androth. Meanwhile, Calidon returned to the top of the cliff and charged the dragon, rending a large tear in one of its wings.

The battle began in earnest as all three attacked the dragon and he fought back. The two mages first tried to run, but then decided they had best join the others. When Urbane arrived, the dragon, already sorely pressed, made good his escape, using several beats of his massive wings to drive his foes to the ground while getting himself enough air to glide down the cliffside. He covered his escape with a feather fall spell, which prevented the missiles from hitting him. While Urbane worked to restore Calidon to health, Andi, Androth and Malz pursued. Daran paused to look for treasure and, finding none, joined the pursuit of the dragon.

Despite a burst of speed by Malz, the dragon made it to it's cave where it used it's breath weapon to cave in the roof. The group arrived and were soon joined by Urbane who had brought along their mounts. Picketing the horses, they waited for Daran to make them invisible then picked their way through the rubble.

Following the dragon's obvious blood trail they found that he had exited through another opening, then closed it with a lightning bolt as well. Urbane made his way cautiously through the second cave-in where they discovered the exit. While he did that, the dragon slaughtered their horses and disappeared. The group, still invisible, returned to the treasure chamber where they began collecting coins. Urbane, concerned about the load they would be carrying, suggested they stow their gear in the dragon's lair.

While carrying the gear back and forth, Malz noted something strange along one wall, further investigation revealed a hidden door, which Andi was able to open. Along with four chests, the company found a fist-sized saphire with a custom pedestal.

Journeying to the tomb, only Androth and Urbane were visible. They presented themselves and the denizens of the area, taking them as pilgrims, invited them to worship services. They joined the rest of the faithful at the foot of the pyramid. When the sun reached its zenith, the ceremony began. The area around the statue of the god glowed gold, and he move and spoke, delivering wisdom personally, without even a priest to aid him.

While Urbane was realizing that someone had tried to snare his mind with a spell, Andi climbed to the top of the temple invisibly and waited. Urbane hefted his axe and made to climb up the temple to destroy the god. The faithful damned him as an unbeliever and asked that he put down his weapon and leave. They offered safe passage, food and water.

Urbane was not impressed and insulted their god. As he did, Malz created an area of darkness and the god was momentarily obscured. The faithful, seeing this as a sign of disfavor, fell to their news in prayer. Urbane charged up the steps towards the statue of the god. When he reached the top, a protective spell jolted him, but he survived. Andi assasinated one of the guards at the top and Urbane subdued the other. Then, while the faithful looked on in abject horror, Urbane smashed the head of their god free from his altar.

Malz created a fog around the faithful so they could not see what came next, but they fell to their news in paryer and chanting to their god. Urbane picked up the severed head and hurled it into the crowd.

Daran created an illusion of a storm cloud over the god and Malz levitated into the illusion and loosed a minor magic at Urbane. He then announced that they should return to their tents and he would deal with the unbeliever. An illusory lightning bolt struck Urbane, but he ignored it and resumed his earlier task of destroying the statue.

At that point, the faithful, certain that this was not their god, began massing as if to attack. Malz tried to maintain the deception, but it was too late. A spell from somewhere struck at Urbane and left him unconscious. The faithful, seeing they could not hope to defeat the company, promised to leave and build a new temple somewhere else.

While they packed, they cursed the company loudly, but took no action. The statues began talking to the company perched atop the building, but the source of the voice could not be identified. At last, Andi found a hidden door beneath the stairs.

The group went through several rooms of the tomb, all of which looked recently used, and eventually found themselves at a bronze door. Androth's keen hearing saved the day when he heard the gas seeping into the room and blocked it. They opened the door and started down a long corridor.

(To be continued in next week's adventure)

In Character Moment(s) of the Night

I don't think any notes were taken

Player Moment(s) of the Night

I don't think any notes were taken

The Spoils

Character	Item
Malz	Scroll of Protection from Fire Scroll of Protection from Magic Boots of Varied Tracks
Androth	+2 Sword Belt of Undetermined Power
Daran	Fist-sized saphire Continual Light pedestal
Brother Urbane	Gauntlets of Ogre Power

Experience Summary

Player	Adventure	Bonuses, penalties and what not	Total
Andivarai Shea	6,000	Silence on the rubble +1,000	30,200
Androth	7,000	Attempting to talk to the faithful +1,000 Doubting the merit of the parties actions +1,000	40,700
Brother Urbane	7,000	Scooby Doo thing +500 Righteous fury +1,000 Ignoring deception +500	42,500
Calidon	7,000	Active/useful use of the boots +500 Going off on the rest of the group +1,000 Suggesting a reason for all the problems in the land +500	33,100
Daran	7,500	Effective use of spells +1,000 The spit thing +500 Not canoeing about canoeing +500 The violin thing +500	31,850
Jameson	0	Did not play	10,250
Malz	6,500	Effective use of spell +1,000 Indecision Rant +500	32,500

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