AAR: The City of Telips: This Time It's Happening

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AAR: The City of Telips: This Time It's Happening

Post by etherial » Fri Feb 02, 2018 4:51 am

Mission: The City of Telips: This Time It's Happening
GM: etherial
Date: 2018-02-02
Difficulty and circle rating: Circle 5 Medium

Player Rewards:
Ceadda: 3 TIPs, 4000 LP, 737.5 Silver, Kelia's Antidote
Grom: 3 TIPs, 4000 Legend, 737.5 Silver, Kelia's Antidote
Romari: 3 TIPs, 4000 Legend, 800 Silver, Plate Armor (-16 TIPs)
Thane: 3 TIPs, 4000 Legend, 1 booster potion, 4 Absorb Blow charms, Passion Lore training, 570 silver.
Varis: 3 TIPs, 4000 Legend, 745 Silver, Passion Lore Training, Halt Illness Potion

Downtime Actions Available:
Romari: Alchemy 7 (Booster Potion, Kelia’s Antidote, Kelix Poultice)
Romari: Item History 15 (3 Ranks)
Romari: Map Making 8
Romari: Research 27 (Rank 4) (Requires 20 Silver for Library)
Varis: Item History Step 16 (Rank 4)
Varis: Research Step 24 (Rank 3) (Requires 20 Silver for Library)

Further Information:
A ruined Temple of Garlen remained relatively safe through the Scourge and will make an excellent base of operations in Telips.

ChrisDDickey
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Re: AAR: The City of Telips: This Time It's Happening

Post by ChrisDDickey » Sat Feb 03, 2018 11:46 pm

From the journal of Thane Cawdor.

Several months ago, an exploration party was wandering around and spotted the ruins of a small city, They spotted Gnashers there. Library research has told us that it is the remains of the small city of Telips, located at the confluence of the Coil and one of it's larger tributaries (map reference 48:16). As soon as I heard the name I became excited because there are many legends about the fall of Telips

The scourge was predicted centuries in advance, yet in the last years events galloped ahead at breakneck speed. Garbled tales tell of the small city of Telips, which was the first major population center to fall to the horrors, before they had even started to move into the kaer they were preparing. Nobody knows exactly what happened, but the panicked and desperate survivors told heartrending tales of murder, madness, and arson that soon became all to familiar. It was quickly noticed that many of the kaers that took these poor refugees in, also soon descended into madness and destruction.
All of this was centuries ago and nobody has had an opportunity to visit the ruins of the city since. Most speculate that the horror or horrors which destroyed the city almost immediately moved on to fresh depredations elsewhere. But who knows what was left, or what has moved in since. The risks may be great, but the rewards are a whole city with no living claimants to it's surviving treasures. Therefore several adventurers, myself included have been anxious to explore the ruins. The first expedition ended up being Ceadda, Grom, Romari, Varis and myself.Golly I love adventuring with both Romari and Varis at the same time, as the combination of Air Armor, Mage Armor and Shield Willow is wonderful, wonderful, and a third time wonderful.

Several expeditions have been planned, but all have been delayed or canceled. We finally decided that exploration must be done slowly and carefully. Instead of entering the city directly, it was decided that the goal of the first expedition should merely be to explore some of the outskirts and attempt to locate and establish a safe base camp.

Since the city is located upon the Coil, we decide to first proceed to Borgin's Rest and inquire about river transport. A deal is struck for a reasonable rate of 10 silvers each. The T'Skrang report that Telpis is the farthest they have taken their river-boat post scourge. They have fought large elemental's and other dangerous things in this area, and don't like leaving such a corrupt place at their backs. We get the impression that they would very much love to have the city cleaned out and would very probably expand there range further if that was to happen.

We had quite a bit of discussion about where to land and begin our explorations. I felt that we did not really have enough information to make an informed choice. We did not know what dangerous things might be where, so until our explorations were started, it was really pot-luck as to what we might find where. Romari on the other hand insisted upon analyzing the pro's and cons of every possible spot that the riverboat might land us. Whether we might find surviving docks at the old waterfront (the conclusion we reached was that we might, or we might not). Whether we should land at the confluence of the rivers, or
go up the tributary to make a landing to the East. Or land on the west. Or land a days travel or more away and make an approach from the North. Each of these options was discussed at length, and the conclusion finally reached was that landing just upriver of the city on the West side was the safest and best spot. The hilarious thing about this decision is that it was the direction that we were approaching from, and if we had just told the boatmen to let us off as we approached the city, that is the exact spot they would have dropped us.

Romari kept Astral Sight up as part of his chain casting. He reported that he was rarely able to pierce astral space, and that the whole area was tainted at the least, where it was not outright corrupt. And once again, this is not even the city itself, just the outskirts. We carefully picked our way around the city for most of the morning. In the early afternoon we were attacked by 6 Gnashers, which we slew. Due to all the lovely buff spells our spellcasters put upon us all, the Gnashers were unable to do us serious damage with one huge exception. One of the huge mouthed monsters managed to take a huge bite out of Grom, doing terrible damage. I unthinkingly maneuvered such that one of the Gnashers that had been attacking me instead attacked the prone Grom, which was very foolish of me. I have a bad habit of making a plan and then sticking with it blindly, and not adapting it to changing circumstances. If I had knocked the Gnasher down, then moving away from it would have been a good idea. Having failed to knock it down, moving away from it was a stupid idea that could have killed Grom.

After recovering from that fight, we resumed exploring. As dusk approached we found a place that we hoped would be a good place to spend the night. It was a small cluster of ruined building. None of them had a roof, but several walls would at least cut the wind. Romari tried to read Astral Space, but after nearly a half dozen tries was unable to. We suspected that this place might be unusually corrupt, but he pointed out that most of the places near this city were difficult to get a read upon.

As Varis sat to attune his Heat Food spell (for Groms 2nd or 3rd recovery test following the fight, the rest of us checked out the buildings and other features. The first place I checked out was the well, but it was choked with rock and debris. After about 5 minutes, 5 Cadaver men approached. We waited until they approached and fell upon them. I knocked one down the overgrown well, but there was a huge rumbling of moving rock, and a huge Gharmek came up out of the well, flinging the cadaver man that had fallen in a dozen yards away. I appears that I have a talent for spoting Gharmek lairs, since this is the 2nd Gharmek I have fought, and both times it's lair was the very first feature that I examined in detail! This time the fight against the Gharmek went much better. We all ganged up on it, and it fell bonelessly back into the well in less than half a minute. To me it looked like the horror was merely unconscious, and since there were but two cadavermen left, and nether was enraged, I jumped into the well to finish the horror off. We spent an uneasy night at that place.

We found a small enclosure that was in fair repair. It was an acre or two surrounded by a low (6 foot) wall. Inside was a low domed building. I hopped up upon the gate and saw that there were some Dire Centipedes within a ditch or dry moat. The others found some pictures on the gate that seemed to indicate that the enclosure might be a temple to a passion. Probably of Garlen or Jaspree. When they spoke kindly of Jaspree, the gate opened itself. Thinking that the Dire Centipedes might be hostile we threw spears and spells at them. The sky darkened and storm clouds instantly started to gather. The Dire Centipedes attacked and we slew them quickly. As the last one fell, the storm ended as quickly as it had started to gather. We entered the enclosure, and Romari reported that, unlike the rest of the area, the Astral Space inside the walls was open, not tainted at all. We finally realized that the Dire Centipedes might have been the guardians of the temple, which was now defiled by our actions. Inside the building we found a large pool.

The temple grounds are clean and uncorrupted. It could make an excellent base for further explorations. We have resolved to bring a Quester of Garlan here soon, so that the shrine might be reconsecrated.

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BattleChad
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Re: AAR: The City of Telips: This Time It's Happening

Post by BattleChad » Sun Feb 04, 2018 12:15 am

The Great Library of Throal thanks Thane for his contribution.

Journal Rewards: 200 Legend Points and 200 Silver

Jexel
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Re: AAR: The City of Telips: This Time It's Happening

Post by Jexel » Wed Feb 07, 2018 6:32 pm

Journal of Grom Skycleaver

Ceadda
Varis
Thane
Romari

The scourge claimed many cities. They city of Telips on the Coil river south of Throal fell before the scourge. How much danger still awaits in the city is unknown but it is on a major junction on the Coil river. We decided to do some exploring and set up a base camp to explore the city some more

We chartered a boat from Borgan’s Rest to the ruins on the Coil river. Shortly after landing we came upon some giant mouths with legs. They were described as being Gnashers and they eat all the time. We had the fight under control until one of them nearly severed my shield arm with my shield inside his mouth. The battle was chaotic and primal and I loved every bit of it.

As we explored deeper we came to an area near a well where we could camp for the night. In clearing the area we killed something called a Gharmek? It is a disgusting worm that has many features of a reptile with a sharp bony beak. He seemed to summon and control several Cadavar Men.

The next day we came upon a temple on a raised and protected plot of land. This appeared to be a perfect place for an outpost. Master Varis read the riddle at the gate and was able to get it to open by offering food. During our scouting we noticed several large insect creatures which were referred to as Dread Centipedes. They are about as long as a man is tall and have a poison which paralyzes the victim as they consume them. We readied our spells and defenses and launched our attack. Fortunately no one was poisoned and we took the insects down.

Inside was a giant pool and appeared to be a temple of Garlen. Some got the feeling that we descrated the temple and those insects were actually its guardians. Odd choice for a guardian to say the least. Currently the pool seems inert but the spot does appear to be a great point to lead expeditions into the city.

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BattleChad
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Re: AAR: The City of Telips: This Time It's Happening

Post by BattleChad » Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:55 am

The Great Library of Throal thanks Grom for his contribution.

Journal Rewards: 200 Legend Points and 200 Silver

Dougansf
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Re: AAR: The City of Telips: This Time It's Happening

Post by Dougansf » Tue Feb 20, 2018 4:21 pm

From the travel journal of Varis

The ruined city of Telips has been discovered to be overrun with Horrors. Someone wants to mount an expedition to reclaim it, and is looking for a scouting party to find a good place to set up a headquarters. Ceadda, Grom, Romari, and Thane join me as we head South.

Day 2
We arrive at Borgans Rest and secure passage upon a riverboat to get us as close as possible. Groms navigation skills find us an excellent place to land and start our search, which also keeps the ship safe.

Day 4
As we start entering the outskirts of the ruins, we spot 6 Gnashers among the rubble. One catches our scent, and charges towards us. Ceadda stabs it several times, but it stands. Romari casts powerful Mind Daggers to lower defenses. I use Air Spear to stun a group of them. Thane bashes with his shield to put them down. Grom takes a nasty hit, losing lots of skin off his arm, falls down, but avoids a second one attacking him.

After we burn the Gnashers, we head out looking for a camp, as night falls. We find a collapsed trio of buildings, with a well out front. Thane checks out the well, and the buildings, but finds nothing. As I prepare to Heat some Food, 5 Cadaver men emerge from the treeline. Ceadda kills one instantly, but has 2 more take its place. As one approaches, Grom and Thane jump on it, and knock it down the well. The corpse is thrown back up the well, and something rumbling occurs as a Gharmek comes out of the well, and it bites Grom twice, knocking him down. We gather and focus fire on the Gharmek, and kill it. The body goes limp and slips back down the well.

Day 5
Most of us take part in a Fire Heal ritual to prepare ourselves.

We eventually come across a small walled mansion. Thane and Romari get a look over the wall, and see 5 Dread Centipedes inside. The walls and gate look intact, so it may be a good place to set up a stronghold. I look at the gateway, and recognize some pictures of Namegivers sharing bounty. I invoke Jaspree's name, and the Gates open.

We all gather above the gateway, and use ranged attacks to draw them out. Once we attacked, the sky darkens, and lightning bolts shoot through the sky. The centipedes crawl at us, up the wall, and start to nip at the fighters toes. We kill them rather quickly, and take minimal damage.

Romari discovers the Astral is Open inside the compound, but corrupted on the other side of the walls. Inside the shrine, there is a pool of greenish water, or rather there is a green thing in the water, a suit of plate mail that seems to be growing. The shrine of Garlen seems to be good for defense, though desecrated by our attack means the healing pool will not function.

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BattleChad
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Re: AAR: The City of Telips: This Time It's Happening

Post by BattleChad » Thu Feb 22, 2018 12:54 pm

The Great Library of Throal thanks Varis for his contribution.

Journal Rewards: 200 Legend Points and 200 Silver

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