The Portal under the Stars RECAP
Inspired by the death bed confession of Old Man Roberts, the gang decides to loot a tomb. Roberts tells of a magical Portal that appears every 50 years when the constellations in the night sky align. This portal is located on the outskirts of your hometown of Iruk which is located in a large basin along the coast of a huge lake called Tean Lake.
Encounter 1 Portal. Outside the tomb.
The groups waits for the stars to align perfectly, then the Portal opens. They enter.
Encounter 2 Guardian Hall. A room with 4 statues of men holding javelin that are poised to throw. There is a door on the other side.
The 4 statues animate and throw their javelins. Then return to normal statues and do not move.
People are injured and we have our 1st death.
4 javelins are recovered.
The party continues through the other door.
Encounter 3 Monument Hall. A large room with a 30-foot-tall statue of a pointing wizard. There are doors in north, east, and west. The party enters from the south door.
The statue rotates on its base and spews fire at anyone attempting to leave.
Everyone panics and tries to split into three different directions (Bad party! Bad! Bad!)
Tommy's group wedges a crowbar into its base and disables the statue.
Encounter 4 Chieftains Burial. 7 piles of decaying bones and equipment. They animate when someone enters the room.
These animated skeletons must have been here for a long time because they're just piles of rattling bones. The tusk teeth of the skulls still pose a threat.
I think someone gets their face chewed off and dies. I can't remember though. I do remember the skulls getting some good chomps.
The seven skulls are smashed. Unbeknownst to the group, these skeletons are linked to the seven generals in the final battle.
Encounter 5 Scrying Chamber. A room with a throne in it. Large tablets with writing on them are attached to the wall. A huge 15-foot-long snake emerges from behind the throne. It has a horn attached to its head.
It speaks in a sibilant hiss: “I am Ssisssuraaaaggg, and you intrude on my guardianship.” Then, without parley or hesitation, it attacks.
The group gangs up on the snake and defeat it. It dissipates and leaves behind its horn.
Tommy discovers that the horn can be used to commune with a demon. Something that might be useful to an aspiring Wizard.
The tablets tell of an alien race that came from the stars to bring magical implements to a barbarian tribe, who in turn conquered many lands with their new powers. The aliens will return when the stars are right. Many less significant events are foretold by the stars (and tablets) as well: droughts, plagues, the birth and death of kings...
Encounter 6 Gazing Pool. A large chamber with a 3-foot-deep pool in the center. Glowing crystals can be seen on its bottom. 6 docile crystal humanoids approach and stare at the light.
The group distracts the creatures with a light source.
They exit through a door discovered in the north.
Encounter 7 Strategy Room. A long room with a door on the other end. A table with terrain and miniatures is found.
Tommy discovers 4 miniatures are made of silver (20gp each)
The group enters the other door.
Encounter 8 Clay Army. A multi-tiered room. 70 soldiers at the lower lever. 7 decapitated generals at mid-level. 1 king at higher level sits on a throne with a crystal attached.
Jason's guy yells "hello!" or something equally foolish. The clay army animates.
The 7 generals slump to the floor. The 70 soldiers attack and the group tries to rush past them as the clay soldiers scramble up the walls.
Jason redeems himself by getting the kill shot on the king. The soldiers de-animate.
A secret door is discovered.
Encounter 9 Treasure Vault. At the end of the long hallway is a spartanly appointed room containing simple wooden shelves, a camp chair, and a sleeping pallet. The wooden shelves hold a bronze rod, a copper brazier, fine weapons and armor, and a brass-bound tome. In the center of the floor is a large pentacle with a perfect crystal circle at its center. Inside the circle is a stone table on which rests a wrinkled ancient body whose countenance matches the war-wizard’s. At the head of the table is a concave depression.
• The bronze rod of rulership is engraved with half of a demon’s face. It is worth 150 gp, but read on.
• The copper brazier is worth 10 gp.
• The assortment of weapons includes a longsword, a long bow, 40 arrows with quiver, a mace, a spear, a battle axe, a dagger, and a hand axe.
• There is a suit of scale mail.
• The tome is written in a language so ancient it is indecipherable to modern man.
Someone puts the crystal from the King into the concave depression and this happens...
Gazing into the crystal ball, you see an endless field of bright stars on a faint gray background. A ghostly image of the war wizard drifts in the star-strewn ether, perfectly still. Then a harsh goat-like face fills the full sphere, staring intently at you. “I have waited a long time for someone to take the warlord’s place,” says the strange goat-man in a deep voice. “His astral voyage was cut short before he could rekindle the spark of his mortal coil. I am still in need of an ally on your world. Fill this copper brazier with wood from a dryad’s tree and ignite it with the spark of a living fire. The blaze will reveal the location of the other half of the rulership rod. Find that for me, and you shall be rewarded.” Then the globe dims to mere crystal.
Creating 1st Level Characters
In the next adventure, you can run two characters if you want. You can opt to run a single character, if you prefer. You can not run more than two.
1st Character
A player chooses from one of his surviving characters to advance to 1st level.
2nd Character
If you only have one surviving character, then you choose from 4 randomly generated zero level characters.
If you have extra surviving character(s), then you have an option. You can choose to use a survivor, or you can opt for a randomly generated character as above. You can NOT preview the new characters before deciding.
The characters that do not get chosen will return to their boring peasant lives and become NPCs.
Tying up Loose Ends
Some things that will get covered in the next session...
How did you get to 1st level? Who trained you? Did you make a pact with a demon? Are you part of a religious cult? A military order? A Thieves' Guild? What's your Alignment?
Find a Dryad Tree and burn some wood in the brazier. Find out where the other half of that rod is located.
Other stuff that I haven't thought of yet.
Home town: Iruk
Iruk is a large trading center on Lake Tean. You come from one of many farm villages surrounding the city center.
After all this, we will be heading out into the desert. A region called the Blood Plains of Esh.
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