Intrigues recap 18 + 19: Island Hopping
Renegar Subitai: Pete
Jek Kemetou: Steve
Taefala of Vamana: Mike
Cirian: Bob
GM: lil’ ol me, Storn
[i]Last week, I was so busy with Wizarding Weekend prep (Ithaca, NY festival on Oct 29-31) that I did not get to do the recap…so another double bill here. We are also doing slightly shorter sessions, from 7:30-10ish, were as the past we tended to go to 11:00 or even 11:30[/i]
The destruction of the grove of gods, including Vamana’s statue, has Taefala ready to end the cruel Nagas that Cirian can “feel” at the temple at the other side of the island. Hacking through jungle for a few hours, the party arrives at the temple and scouts the outskirts. One Naga is outside of the temple, one is in the temple (although some of the roof has crumbled) and one is below the temple in some sort of catacombs. Handy, having a psychic kid around.
The nagas seem to be in deep, mystical stasis sleep.
The heroes elect to go around the first one and try to get into the temple before they wake, but some kind of mystic signal goes off and all 3 Nagas wake. They close on the temple one, with Taefala leading the charge. Between Taefala’s Truthbringer (her spear), Cirian’s mental blasts and arrow fire from Jek, the first Naga is almost vanquished before the 2nd one gets into the temple complex from the outside. Renegar tries to delay the outside Naga, by whipping earth and dust in front of it. It does make it hesitate, but starts to use earth magics similar to Renegar, by whipping small rocks at fast speeds back at Renegar. Renegar manages to deflect most of the assault.
The “temple” Naga goes down under Taefala’s brutal assault. The 3rd Naga, phasewalks through the floor from below and attacks. In very short order [i]Heroes’s dice were hot that night[/i], the “outside” naga perishes and quickly the combined spellpower turn on the last one and it too lies dead at their feet.
An exploration of the below catacombs garners a Bone Wand [i]Will destroy 1 undead before crumbling[/i] and a Circlet of the Mind [i]a focus useful to Cirian, especially on psionic defense[/i]
Resting for a day and having plenty of food, the party decides to push onto the next island in their makeshift catamaran. They reach it with no difficulties a few days later. It is Windward Island (based on the most excellent map). The island folk are accommodating, but the next real ship is not due for 2 or 3 weeks.
[i]end of ep 18, we talked as a group about a possible airship from Cirian’s people that crashed on the top of the island, getting a guide, exploring while waiting for a ship off the island. Much of the next ep is not going to make sense unless you take a gander at the map pic. [/i]
Episode 19 (same cast as above)
While at the only Inn/tavern on the island, (but it did have hot spring baths), the party listen to the island folk’s rumors, history and wisdom. Several knew of the airship crash and that pilot married on of their own. The couple had a daughter, Jarita, who was one of the Aerie Wardens (the only licensed climbers who could harvest wyvern eggs).
Dokanos managed to stammer out that he wasn’t sure he wanted to return to Parsantium, nor was he much up to climbing cliffs. Hoping to get some monies for settling down on Windward Island, he brought that he thought his adventuring days were over. Renegar, who hadn’t trusted him since the Dokanos awoke dreaming of the Illithid, was pretty cold to Dokanos and was fine with letting him go. Dokanos recieved a large sum from the coins liberated from the Ashanti ruins.
Jarita comes into the tavern shortly after Dokanos makes his leave. Cirian quickly recognizes that she has raw, untrained psychic talent. While she is genuinely likeable, she is also broadcasting, empathic nudges to “like her” to everyone around her. No surprise, she is the darling of the small island’s 400 people population. Jarita knows of her father’s scout ship, but very little about her father’s, Batholomew, and Cirian’s people. She is fascinated by the few kernals that Cirian is willing to impart. Her father was a friend of Cirian’s father, but from a rival house, the House of Tides.
Jarita is totally excited about the expedition to see her father’s ship. He died when she was three and while she has looked at the ship in its resting place of 10 feet of lake water, she has no idea how to fix it or make it run. Cirian, who isn’t exactly an aeronaut himself, knows a bit more and hopes that between his knowledge and psychic gift, it might work again.
Rejecting the “let’s climb the cliff” despite existing pitons and ropes, the party turns to Jarita to lead them up some natural caves. The caves are a bit easier and will take about 6 hours to get to the top of the island. There are “Scalers”, aquatic, 4 foot lizard people, but they should leave such a big, well armed party alone.
A day of rest and prep, the party heads out. The make good head way inside the natural caverns, but Jarita is surprised to see a landslide/cave in. A large cavern is revealed and some pintles have the same architectural motifs as the large temple complex that portal led them to a couple of weeks back.
But the 12’ tall, clanking, whirling battle automaton that comes charging out of the cave is terrifying. Renegar is loathe to use his unstable magics underground and Cirian is surprised to feel the programing of the machine includes psionic wards. But it is Taefala’s spear thrust past a joint deep into it’s vitals brings it to a stop.
The cavern starts to glow with programmed lights as rows of Ashanti weapons, surveillance equipment are revealed. It is an awesome display of Ashanti technology, set up to fight the Illithids eons ago. Cirian manages to get a spy eye on top of the island going, displaying all kinds of Ashanti information, which some of which he can guess at. Jek stumbles into a teleportation alcove that takes him back to the island of the Temple momentarily and quickly brings him back. Two weapons still have their mystic charge. Jek’s spirit magics and Cirian’s psionics deduce that this bow and scimitar were crafted with enslaved human souls and are designed to give an edge in battle against the Mind Flayers.
The psychic spy eye is pushed to another island by Cirian’s coaxing. Jek recognizes the Island of Ghosts, a place where his people send their holy men and women for something akin to a walkabout. Known for lots of ghosts of a spin-off civilization of the Ashanti. The black, writhing, floating Illithid spire is there and it is hoovering up ghost souls to repair some damage that was done.
Cirian cuts the spy eye connection immediately, hoping to escape detection. After raiding the armory for mundane arrows and weaponry (all still in remarkably good shape after centuries of rest), the party climbs the rest of the way up to the top of the island. They make their way to Batholomew’s downed air scout ship.. A elegant craft about the size of a schooner. Its psychic programming makes it capable of solo flight, provided the pilot is gifted and skilled.
Renegar gently raises the ship easily with his magics of earth, water and air. But the arcane display is “felt” by Illithid scouts… who are on patrol miles and miles away from the Illithid spire. What were dots on the horizon are suddenly upon the top of the island. Disgorging illithid shock troops to investigate the magic abilities of Renegar, and the rest of the party.
[i]And that is where we leave it. Good to end on a cliffhanger. [/i]