The Other Cultists

September 8, 2011

The group does watch the house at the docks and finds several more leads on the asmodeus cult.  However, they also have to deal with the two idiots and the fact that they are meeting someone at the Green Griffon.  Paelias goes to the Green Griffon and sees the two idiots meet up with some people.  He is close enough to hear that they are meeting at the old cemetery, there is one outside of town about a mile, and that something big is happening tonight.  He goes and tells the group and they go get some supplies. 

The group heads out to the old cemetery as soon as they can and lay in wait for the group coming out.  They take up positions around the cemetery to be able to see what happens.  They see some lights approaching but as they get close. Qynn notices lights behind them.  The group can only hold its collective breath as the group approaching from the city passes through the cemetery, doesn’t notice them, and goes on to meet up with the second group.  Qynn notices that several of the lights and people are gone after a few minutes and he’s not sure where they went.  However, it is obvious to him that the rest are set up as guards outside of it. 

Paelias decides the direct approach would work and starts walking directly toward the group.  Pelenois joins him and soon all of them are walking straight at the cultists.  They are being approached and asked what they are doing but it’s the two idiots who recognize them from the city cemetery and cry out in surprise and alarm.  The fight is on! 

The idiots realize they are outmatched and try and run away as the party deals with the other cultists still guarding the area.  The idiots don’t get very far and are rounded up by [Mike’s character] and taken back to the thorn wall.  They are told to open it up.  The idiots find a fake thorn and pull it only to find it’s a trap.  Paelias manages to fey step away from it and isn’t hit but the trap but the two idiots are killed.  Pelenois uses fire magic and burns the door down as they aren’t sure how to disarm the trap they think is on the door. 

Paelias goes into the first room to find more cultists talking about the plan.  He bluffs his way into the group and all but Qynn join him with the cultists.  Two cultists are sent out to find out what happened to the guards, that Paelias says were dead when he arrived.  Qynn manages to kill one of them silently but the other is able to cry out in alarm.  Paelias again manages to bluff that the trouble must be up there, not the group, and the cultists are sent by the leader, a Halfling, out to reinforce the first cultists.  This only groups them up for Pelenois to blast with lightning and kill several of them.  Qynn deals with the one outside as the rest of the group deals with the Halfling and a spider summoner plus the swarms and spiders he conjures into the fight. 

Qynn, when he enters the room, easily sees the secret door behind a shelf that contains some pamphlets that are basic information on the cult.  The information is generic enough that it could sound tempting to those who want to be “serving the right side when the end comes.”  However, the group knows enough about the cult to know it still has a hierarchy not to trust them.  They take a few but Pelenois burns the rest. 

The secret door leads into a passage that is trapped but the group is able to bypass the trap, first by jumping over and then deactivating it once Qynn is across.  They see the barracks and more cultists sleeping as well as a ritual happening in another room.  As Qynn hears the ritual, he can’t let it happens, so they go into the worship area and disrupt the ritual as best they know how. 

After the fight, which did include the sleeping cultists waking up and attacking, Paelias is the one to find the secret compartment in the alter which contains some secrets of the cult and some rituals as well.  He keeps that to study and know how to defeat it.  Qynn meanwhile, spots the secret door and finds the stairs going down.  Pelenois checks back the way they didn’t go, burns the beds in the barracks, and then joins up with the group as they enter the secret door. 

The next level is unfinished.  There are several places for traps, which the party spots and bypasses, as well as unfinished areas.  More hallsways that will have history and stories carved into the walls but it’s not done at this point.  There is one trap done but Qynn absorbs it all, saving the group from the damage.  They find the elevator platform and descend again. 

The next level is a natural cavern that is set up for a dragon, probably a live one at first as it has water, but not obvious way for a large creature like a dragon to escape.  However, Qynn easily spots the gold pieces scattered on the floor and the secret door.  Again, it is blasted away and the group is able to find the treasure area!  It includes a lot of information on the cult, rituals to summon a dragon, to create a dracolich, and even how to make a cave lair and an egress for a dragon.  The group takes what they can, including gold and magic items, and Pelenois again burns anything that they don’t take. 

They leave and head back to town. 

450 xp

GM Notes

• I had created a multi level dungeon with dungeon tiles and the Plexiglas I have and also had a hidden level under the graph map I have.  It was quite fun to create and run the group through it.  They also liked it as well, which is always nice!
• Unfortunately, I should have taken pictures, either of each level as I made it or as we gamed to be able to put them here.  Darn it.  I didn’t save the maps and don’t think I will try and recreate it for here. 
• I thought it was better that the group, which doesn’t have a rogue, could use magic to burn through doors.  So, I had that happen several times.  I think it worked out well. 
• The service the cultists were performing was fun but I quickly floundered in my descriptions of what they were saying in trying to make a service out of it.  I got the point across and it was funny, so it worked out. 
• Had some good times with people willing to take damage from a trap so no one else is hit or to absorb magical attacks and redirect them.  I ruled that on a miss that was fine, and I think it worked out well.  Good role playing as well. 
• I don’t know why but I really thought we could get through this in one night.  But, DND encounters should have taught me about how long this would take.  I did have eight challenges, fighting and otherwise, and that would have been a lot for four hours.  I did speed it up and they also managed to skip a few fights due to Qynn’s high passive perception.
• At first, I wanted to challenge the players with how I laid out the map, and had some obvious areas that they hadn’t explored yet.  However, Qynn had such a high passive perception that he could notice everything!  I went with it, though, and I think that worked out as well. 
• I really like the idea of passive insight and perception and think they work well in game.  I do think in non stress situations that even on a roll, they should get their passive scores but maybe that’s just me. 

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