The Chronicles of a DM: Part VII

The paladin Reed returned, and along with Valdour and Alrick, entered into the next part of the fray. They begin with a quick loot of the room they were in, scoring some minor junk... before finding the really big items! Woo!

Ready for battle, they kick open the next doors and enter a large room, in which there are some fire beasties... and two strange purple motes that float in the air. [And they fail their dungeoneering checks. Heh.] The azer in charge says something [no-one speaks Giant, why would they?], and the battle is joined. [Two Huge beasts are effectively pinned by a simple use of Bigby's Grasping Hands, which occupy spaces, but can't be attacked or moved. This leaves the other three creatures which aren't that much of a problem. Indeed, only PC actually has a problem. Damn that Hospitalier Paladin. There are interesting hazards in the motes, which move around, but I couldn't make a decent attack roll with either of them. Or any of the monsters either, unless it's versus Reflex on the Paladin. Sigh.]

With nothing to loot, they look disappointed, then move on, espying a silver glimmer on the floor in the corner of the corridor. They find the VERY SECRET DOOR, and go through a short corridor to find a hidden library to find two floating ghost brother scholars. The brothers ask for their help, as they don't want to be here, but the PCs don't care as they aren't personally getting anything out of it. Eventually they strike up a bargin whereby they agree to help the brothers if the brothers give them information. [The negotiation part of the skill challenge was the only real challenge, as their skills are so high (the DCs are so low) they can't fail the 'dismantle the traps' portion.] I use this opportunity to pass on some interesting tidbits from the history of the Fortess, which while interesting isn't passed on to the players in any shape or form. Annoying.

[At this point, while discussing the oddness of the Fortress, they remember something they want to point the Paladin as, as he is the only good character. And he uses a holy symbol. He gets a previous item of bling the others missed.]

Now with party funds increased, they head into another battle, where there are souls trapped in pillars that they must give blessings to, as well as fight, fight, fight the fire creatures and two new horrific creatures. [First item of business, Alrick lays down Evard's Black Tentacles, which immobilises the enemies rending them pretty much pointless. The two Abyssal Hurlers are the only real threat, but it's not a hard fight. To be honest, if we had more time, I would have ended the fight early and gone on to the next. Meh.]

They pick up the third soul ring from the mini-bosses. One more to go...

[END]