Previously, on The Broken World Campaign…
The deception paid off as Bantu, Brahn, Leikner and Solomon get the drop on the two guards in the section of the mines being used for this purported ritual that Urt the Xorn informed the team about. The Thuelians were surprised and quickly dispatched. The group then proceeded into the nearby halls finding two circular chambers with incarnum crystals set up in a cluster in the center of each. The cluster was encircled with a series of protective glyphs. Leikner and Solomon decided to test the glyphs and tossed one of the Thuelian corpses into the cluster to see what would happen. The corpse hit an invisible barrier and and explosion burst forth, rocking the immediate area and causing Leikner and Solomon to jump out of the way to avoid being caught completely in the blast. A little bruised and shaken, the two look in the room and besides the gore of the destroyed corpse sprayed across the room, they see the cluster of crystals intact and only one of the two dozen protective glyphs burnt out.
With only one other corpse left, the group decide to take a different approach. Norro goes to get Vayl, the Ordo Arcanis sorceress to see if she can help, but finds that she is not where they left her in the tunnels leading to this section of the mines. Norro informs the group, not knowing what to make of this, and then does a little recon deeper into the tunnels and finds a branch that seems to lead into a larger circular chamber that has a larger cluster of crystals within. The group split up and search side tunnels and find that each contains a circular chamber with a cluster of incarnum crystals within a circle of protective glyphs.
The team decides to go into what appears to be the main chamber, so Bantu, still disguised as a dwarf thrall, enters and does a walk-by to get the layout of the room while the rest of the group stand just outside the entrance. Bantu sees the main chamber is empty of occupants but there are two side chambers that have Thuelians within – guards and robed ones. Bantu signals for the group to enter and most do, but Brahm decides to hold back. Solomon tries to surprise the Thuelians in one of the side chambers and charges in, attacking the nearest one. His sword slices right through the Thuelian, revealing it to be an illusion. At that point, the trap is sprung and the entrance to the room is sealed off separating the group’s wizard from the rest of the party that is in the room, and the half dozen Thuelians that were in the main room the whole time become visible.
A robed Thuelian within the protective circle that encircles the cluster of incarnum address the party, asking who is the leader. All point to Bantu. The robed Thuelian introduces himself as Arit’oth, servant of the “master” who wishes to extend an invitation to them to join the Thuelians as they seek to take down the oppressive regimes of those who follow the false gods. Arit’oth also says that the master thanks the heroes for bringing them the daughter of their hated enemy from the Kingdom of Anduin. Bantu tells Arit’oth that there’s no way they will join them and so Arit’oth promises them a quick death! The battle commences as Solomon continues to attack the Thuelians in the side chamber, only to discover that the robed one is also an illusion. Leikner charges Arit’oth, but when he crosses the threshold of the circle protecting the crystals that the mage stands within, he is assaulted by Void Magic, which tears at his mind. Arit’oth, also prepared for such an assault, unleashes a powerful Void Magic spell using Void Speech, which further assaults Leikner’s mind. The spell creates a swirling purple vortex in the room which encompasses Bantu as well, and both begin taking necrotic damage from the energies unleashed by the vortex. The other Thuelians use strange weapons against the heroes, such as a steaming axe, a rod that unleashes disintegrating rays and a hand held device that fires a barrage of razor sharp metal shards. Bantu quickly responds with his own spells, one creating a fog cloud that obscures them from the adjoining chamber where other Thuelians are, and another that hurts Arit’oth and forces him to lose his concentration. The vortex disappears but Leikner drops from the mental and physical assault.
Outside the room, Brahm pulls out his want of lightning and blows a hole in the door separating him from the party. Bantu manages to cause Arit’oth to flee from him with a spell and the wizard disappears into the fog cloud. The fight gets brutal as Bantu is beset by two Theulians and is injured and knocked unconscious. With Leikner and Bantu down, Solomon and Norro fight alone until Brahm uses the Misty Step spell to enter the room and begins to unleash lightning bolts and scorching rays. Solomon makes a risky move to help his friend Leikner, falling back from his attacker, running through a fight and over to Leikner’s fallen form to feed him a potion of healing. With Leikner back in the fight, the heroes turn the tables on the Thuelians and manage to kill them all. Bantu’s fog cloud disappears, revealing the adjacent chamber where Arit’oth ran into and where other Thuelians are and Brahm launches a fireball into that room. The explosion causes the illusions of the Thuelians to dissipate, but Arit’oth is no where to be found.
After finishing up with the other Thuelians, the group begin to search these rooms and find a crate containing 17 potions and a pair of goggles. Upon donning the goggles, the wearer sees strands of energy that are being fed into the incarnum crystals. The incarnum that seems to be naturally jutting out from the walls or floor seem to be taking in this energy and spreading it outward into the island and is visible as a web of energy in the walls, floor and ceiling of the room. The crystal cluster in the center of the room seem to be taking in this energy, but not feeding it back out into the floor like the natural incarnum is. Leikner and Solomon decide to find out what happens when they pull out the two large crystals that are jutting out of the floor and with an amazing display of strength and teamwork, manage to pull the heavy crystals out of the ground. The goggle wearer sees the energy that is being fed into them and dispersed out of them stop immediately, but the cluster of crystals in the center of the room seem unaffected by what they did. Brahm tries to figure out what this all means and the only thing he could think of was a magical theory that he read up on once regarding the unproven existence of ley lines – magical networks of energy that some claim exist and can be tapped into. The sorceress Vayl also believes the ley lines to be the source of power that is keeping the islands alive, which is one of the reasons she is on this expedition, to try and prove her theory to her masters at the Ordo Arcanis. The heroes search the rooms for a hidden way out that Arit’oth may have used but find none suggesting he used magical means to leave the area. The heroes rest for the moment to try and make sense of what has just happened. They had been unsuccessful in damaging the clusters of crystals, they killed and chased off some Thuelians and learned that they have taken Vayl, probably to this “master” that Arit’oth spoke of. They also learned that the Thuelians are using strange and exotic weaponry the likes of which they have not seen. This is where the session ended. The heroes level up to 7th level.
With only one other corpse left, the group decide to take a different approach. Norro goes to get Vayl, the Ordo Arcanis sorceress to see if she can help, but finds that she is not where they left her in the tunnels leading to this section of the mines. Norro informs the group, not knowing what to make of this, and then does a little recon deeper into the tunnels and finds a branch that seems to lead into a larger circular chamber that has a larger cluster of crystals within. The group split up and search side tunnels and find that each contains a circular chamber with a cluster of incarnum crystals within a circle of protective glyphs.
The team decides to go into what appears to be the main chamber, so Bantu, still disguised as a dwarf thrall, enters and does a walk-by to get the layout of the room while the rest of the group stand just outside the entrance. Bantu sees the main chamber is empty of occupants but there are two side chambers that have Thuelians within – guards and robed ones. Bantu signals for the group to enter and most do, but Brahm decides to hold back. Solomon tries to surprise the Thuelians in one of the side chambers and charges in, attacking the nearest one. His sword slices right through the Thuelian, revealing it to be an illusion. At that point, the trap is sprung and the entrance to the room is sealed off separating the group’s wizard from the rest of the party that is in the room, and the half dozen Thuelians that were in the main room the whole time become visible.
A robed Thuelian within the protective circle that encircles the cluster of incarnum address the party, asking who is the leader. All point to Bantu. The robed Thuelian introduces himself as Arit’oth, servant of the “master” who wishes to extend an invitation to them to join the Thuelians as they seek to take down the oppressive regimes of those who follow the false gods. Arit’oth also says that the master thanks the heroes for bringing them the daughter of their hated enemy from the Kingdom of Anduin. Bantu tells Arit’oth that there’s no way they will join them and so Arit’oth promises them a quick death! The battle commences as Solomon continues to attack the Thuelians in the side chamber, only to discover that the robed one is also an illusion. Leikner charges Arit’oth, but when he crosses the threshold of the circle protecting the crystals that the mage stands within, he is assaulted by Void Magic, which tears at his mind. Arit’oth, also prepared for such an assault, unleashes a powerful Void Magic spell using Void Speech, which further assaults Leikner’s mind. The spell creates a swirling purple vortex in the room which encompasses Bantu as well, and both begin taking necrotic damage from the energies unleashed by the vortex. The other Thuelians use strange weapons against the heroes, such as a steaming axe, a rod that unleashes disintegrating rays and a hand held device that fires a barrage of razor sharp metal shards. Bantu quickly responds with his own spells, one creating a fog cloud that obscures them from the adjoining chamber where other Thuelians are, and another that hurts Arit’oth and forces him to lose his concentration. The vortex disappears but Leikner drops from the mental and physical assault.
Outside the room, Brahm pulls out his want of lightning and blows a hole in the door separating him from the party. Bantu manages to cause Arit’oth to flee from him with a spell and the wizard disappears into the fog cloud. The fight gets brutal as Bantu is beset by two Theulians and is injured and knocked unconscious. With Leikner and Bantu down, Solomon and Norro fight alone until Brahm uses the Misty Step spell to enter the room and begins to unleash lightning bolts and scorching rays. Solomon makes a risky move to help his friend Leikner, falling back from his attacker, running through a fight and over to Leikner’s fallen form to feed him a potion of healing. With Leikner back in the fight, the heroes turn the tables on the Thuelians and manage to kill them all. Bantu’s fog cloud disappears, revealing the adjacent chamber where Arit’oth ran into and where other Thuelians are and Brahm launches a fireball into that room. The explosion causes the illusions of the Thuelians to dissipate, but Arit’oth is no where to be found.
After finishing up with the other Thuelians, the group begin to search these rooms and find a crate containing 17 potions and a pair of goggles. Upon donning the goggles, the wearer sees strands of energy that are being fed into the incarnum crystals. The incarnum that seems to be naturally jutting out from the walls or floor seem to be taking in this energy and spreading it outward into the island and is visible as a web of energy in the walls, floor and ceiling of the room. The crystal cluster in the center of the room seem to be taking in this energy, but not feeding it back out into the floor like the natural incarnum is. Leikner and Solomon decide to find out what happens when they pull out the two large crystals that are jutting out of the floor and with an amazing display of strength and teamwork, manage to pull the heavy crystals out of the ground. The goggle wearer sees the energy that is being fed into them and dispersed out of them stop immediately, but the cluster of crystals in the center of the room seem unaffected by what they did. Brahm tries to figure out what this all means and the only thing he could think of was a magical theory that he read up on once regarding the unproven existence of ley lines – magical networks of energy that some claim exist and can be tapped into. The sorceress Vayl also believes the ley lines to be the source of power that is keeping the islands alive, which is one of the reasons she is on this expedition, to try and prove her theory to her masters at the Ordo Arcanis. The heroes search the rooms for a hidden way out that Arit’oth may have used but find none suggesting he used magical means to leave the area. The heroes rest for the moment to try and make sense of what has just happened. They had been unsuccessful in damaging the clusters of crystals, they killed and chased off some Thuelians and learned that they have taken Vayl, probably to this “master” that Arit’oth spoke of. They also learned that the Thuelians are using strange and exotic weaponry the likes of which they have not seen. This is where the session ended. The heroes level up to 7th level.
