Greyhawk Session 16

Present were Ehrendar Dawngreeter, elf mountebank; Kabliska, human mystic; Theric, paladin of Pholtus; newcomer Liberius Faxen, human savant; Abo Thistlestrike, human mage; Ardo, human cleric of Pelor; and Sir Faust Ensign, human Cavalier. 

So last time the party was engaged in finding the stolen Eyes of Sandora for the temple of Pholtus. They came to the conclusion that the outlawed cult of Asmodeus, the Ruby Cult, was behind the theft. Alas, when they came to the temple of Pholtus to share the information they had gleaned, they were informed that the Eyes had been recovered “thanks to information from an individual”. The temple hadn’t known of the involvement of the cult of Asmodeus, however, and was quite grateful for the information. Specifics regarding the cult’s former presence in Greyhawk were scarce, however, but brother Jerome promised to pass along any further information that came his way.

Thus deprived of a specific goal (and curiously uncurious about why the Eyes were no longer missing), the party decided that an evening of delving in the dungeons of the Castle of the Mad Archmage would be in order, as they were a tad low on loot, and such might just alleviate that particular problem.

Having tired of going through the Flesh Render hobgoblins’ territory, the party decided to try another of the dwarves’ various passages. The first room landed them in the clutches of a giant spider which was quickly dispatched. However, further investigation of the passages beyond found them in an unusually wide (20′) corridor, with frescoes of running, track and field, and other athletic competitions. Rounding a corner found them face to face with a five-headed hydra, which prompted a general retreat; unfortunately, the door whence they had come had seemingly disappeared.

This forced the party into a melee. The paladin was laid low, as was the cavalier, and the mystic as well. Fortunately, the latter was able to use her pain management power to stay conscious, but once the hydra was finally defeated, most of the party was in need of rest and recuperation. They repaired from the dungeons and made their respite in the Cock and Bottle, after the cavalier had convinced the rest to recover the hydra’s heads.

After selling the heads at the Guild of Leatherworkers and Tanners, and recouping all their lost hit points, the party made one last foray into the dungeons for the evening. This time, they took the other passage guarded by the dwarves, finding a room of impenetrable shadows. Although no source of light would pierce the gloom, the shadows didn’t seem harmful, and so the party pressed on.

They entered a round room, after spiking the door, and noted a round ball falling off a rack on the far wall, bouncing precisely into a hole in the floor. An examination showed that there were numbers written on the balls, they were light of weight, but putting another into the hole had no effect. The balls were eventually gotten out of the hole by pouring water into it, thus floating them out. Various fenegeling had no effect, and the party left the room, with the mage taking the balls with him as he left.

Minutes later, however, the party encountered the lair of three enormous beetles (remembering their bad luck with the “exploding beetles” a few sessions ago). They set oil aflame to little effect, and ended up engaging the creatures directly, with a few more members being laid low, but the beetles eventually being defeated. The hour was growing late, but the party looked into the next room, finding a chainmail pouch with 6 gems and an iron box containing 125 platinum pieces and what seemed to be a tuning fork. Paying their tithe to the dwarves, the party returned to the city, and the session was ended.