19 October 2012

Johnna, David, Scott, Morgan, Jan, Tod

We are in a hallway facing a magnificent multi-locked door. Behind the door is a circular room. There are all sorts of tubes and wires strewn on the floor, making it difficult terrain. There is a platform in the room where stands the Creation Forge. Crusher wonders aloud if this was where he was ‘born.’ “It could be,” says Wilhelm. “You could create your perfect wife!” he quips. The Gorgon emblem of House Cannith is plainly visible on several surfaces, as is the Mark of Making. There is an exceedingly hot brazier spouting flames 10 feet outward, as well as a matching brazier emanating poisonous clouds 10 feet outward. There is a throne where sits a volcanic iron golem heavily integrated with weapons. Next to the throne stands an infernal hound.

Phaedra Twin Strikes. The golem moves forward targeting Wilhelm, Runty, Crusher and Phaedra with blasts of fire. It sears Wilhelm with pain from fire and poison. The hound phases up to Crusher and Runty, releasing a horrid howl that marks Shanti, Phaedra, Runty and Crusher. Also, the infernal hound shrouds Phaedra in flames. Crusher catches his second wind, attacks the golem and hits. Shanti targets the hound with fire and hits, but the hound shrugs off most of the damage. Wilhelm hits with his throwing shield. Runty attacks with Form of the Fearsome Ram and Strength of Stone. He also realizes that he’s been standing too close to the burning brazier and needs to move soon. Ugarth charges the hound and hits with his attack.

We notice that the room hasn't been opened in over 40 years, making it impossible for the Lord of Blades to have entered here. We find that interesting. Runty wonders who was ‘authorized’ to access the Forge. It was probably someone dragonmarked with a Mark of Making.

Phaedra moves away from the hound, which she then quarries, and Twin Strikes it critically. Runty is attacked by the hound’s baying and it also bites him, not only harming him but enveloping him necrotizing flames. Runty laughs. The golem retracts its projectile launchers and begins attacking with a giant iron blade. Runty dodges and the golem accidentally injures his hound, severely. Runty laughs again. Crusher summons Winsome Dog to flank with Runty. Then he strikes with Anvil of Doom, vexing the golem. Shanti targets the hound, striking the death blow. Standing close to the fiery brazier, Wilhelm knocks the golem to the floor. Runty is standing too close to the brazier also, but strikes the golem a heavy blow and then catches a second wind as he moves away from the brazier. Ugarth charges the prone golem, delivering a mighty wallop.

Phaedra quarries the golem and Twin Strikes. An arrow of hers pierces deeply. Shanti, Winsome Dog, Crusher, Wilhelm and Ugarth are targets of the golem’s blast of projectiles. Ugarth falls to the floor and Winsome Dog returns to its statue form. Crusher does not succumb to the barrage, instead becoming dazed. Attacking again, the golem damages Crusher. Using its iron blade, the golem again attacks Crusher but misses. Crusher activates an item that heals him. Shanti’s magic hurts the golem. Wilhelm is dying. Runty triggers Wilhelm’s second wind. Ugarth resists slipping closer to death.

Phaedra lets loose with her Flying Steel power and deals some damage. The golem stands and tries issuing a volcanic breath but somehow misses. It attacks Ugarth and Wilhelm. Ugarth takes some damage, but the golem critically hits Wilhelm. Crusher uses the Dragon Fangs power, misses with the first attack and hits with the second. The docent speaks to Crusher and tells him that the throne has a trigger which activates something when someone sits on the throne. Shanti damages the golem with lightning. Wilhelm heals Ugarth. Runty tries to get to the throne but is stopped by golem as the hulking monster gets a swing at him. Ugarth stands, second winds, action points, attacks…and hits!

Phaedra stuns and greatly damages the golem with her Confounding Arrows. The golem does not shake off his stun effect, but its aura does knock down Wilhelm. Crusher hits for damage. Shanti bloodies the golem. Wilhelm slides closer to death. Runty takes some heat damage from the brazier but he makes it to the throne and sits on it. The braziers and arcane platform deactivate. Then, Runty throws his shield and his aim is perfect, critically striking the golem. Ugarth injures the golem.

Phaedra Twin Strikes, and her sneaky attack hurts. The golem fails throwing off its stun. Crusher hits the golem and pushes it away. Shanti does something (sorry, the recording was obscure at this point). Wilhelm cries for help. Runty hits AGAIN with his shield! Ugarth is on his feet, charges the prone golem, but misses.

Phaedra hits. The golem saves against being stunned. Crusher triggers a healing surge for Wilhelm. Shanti investigates the Creation Forge. It is a cross-dimensional ‘scoop’ used to grab elementals from other dimensions during the creation of Warforged. It could be cross-wired to cause damage and possibly shut down the golem. The resulting blast, however, might kill all of us. Wilhelm stands up and heals himself. Runty throws his shield and hits the golem yet again. Ugarth does damage to the golem.

Phaedra’s arrow strikes true, ailing the golem more. The golem stands back up. He blasts Ugarth, Wilhelm, and Crusher with his Volcanic Breath. Ugarth collapses. Crusher, still dazed, searches the table ruins. There are devices of artifice and manuals far beyond his understanding. Shanti and Wilhelm both miss with their attacks. Runty throws his shield one last time. It slams into the golem’s neck, slicing through, sparks fly and the monster slumps over.

So that Runty can come off the throne, Phaedra inspects the trigger it conceals and then asks Crusher to drag golem back onto the throne.

Here, in the throne room and Creation Forge, we can take an extended rest. It will take a couple of weeks to work the Forge to our purposes, so we’re going to get to know each other even more than we already do.

We find 5000 gp and an Elven chain shirt that Pheadra was hoping for.

After a couple of weeks, Rune announces that he has uncovered the procedure for using the Creation Forge. Someone is going to have to use the extra-planar scoop, an exercise in catching a soul (Shanti). Someone else has to man the great bellows (Ugarth), to keep everything from overheating. Someone else has to crawl and shimmy around the wires to manipulate them (Phaedra). Wilhelm and Rune are going to work the controls. Wilhelm places contacts on his temples and can see into other planes. Runty and Crusher are going to have to stand very close to the Forge and use their presence to guide the souls to the right place. They are using their plating to bounce beams of arcane energy to the correct location.

Rune says that we only get once chance to do this correctly. If we mess up, a very upset elemental will be turned loose in the Forge.

Operating the Forge in its slapdash state is complicated, difficult, and confusing. At one point, everything is going according to plan, until Ugarth starts yelling, “Splinter! Splinter! It really smarts!” Runty yells, “Suck it up, man!” At another point, Shanti pressed the wrong button and everything screeched to a halt. In the end, we barely succeed in summoning a barely perceptible buzzing swarm onto the platform.

“Don’t shoot them!” yells Wilhelm

Rune looks to Shanti to be the commander of the little swarm, to give them orders. Runty whispers, “Tell them to destroy the tektites.” Shanti does not know what to do. Rune says to tell them to do something before they realize they have free will. Phaedra says, “They need to be inside me!” Shanti commands the elementals to purge the tektites from Phaedra.

Phaedra feels a battle rage inside her body – a battle that goes badly for her and the elementals. She feels a lot of pain, and then she does not feel the presence of the elementals anymore. Rune determines that they lost the battle against the tektites

We go through the summoning process once more. This second attempt at summoning elementals still isn’t easy – and, in fact, we are not exactly successful. A blast erupts from the Creation Forge and a huge elemental roars down at us.

2233xp for golem + hound battle
1000xp for skill challenge while operating Forge
200xp for roleplay at table
200xp for thread, even though there wasn’t one
50xp for voting and attending