Baboons and Devil/Demon cults oh my.... recap 9/2/07

….. leaving off in mid combat from last session.

The Baboons where furiously pounding down a door into the Lucky Monkey. Churchkey and Bolgrim where forcing a table against a now decimated door frame. Lanky apish arms flailing, trying to get by the makeshift barricade.

Soon another door beings to feel the wrath of these blood lusted Baboons. Bolgrim runs to the other door and wedges a chair under the door handle. Churchkey shoes slip on the floor. No matter what he does, the baboons seem to be inching progress and thus making them more lustful.

Donner leaps the table blocking the main entrance to the Lucky Monkey and aids Churchkey. The two are making a better show, but not much. Barrett and Connell have a plan and run to the side entrance of the Lucky Monkey and then to a room on the back side of the garden where the baboons are currently housed.

Donner in an attempt to close the ever growing gap between their table and door frame ignites an oil flask and tosses it over the table. Howls erupt and the table closes most of the distance. The only thing halting a total closure is a foot and a baboon arm.

Barrett lays in wait at one end of a corridor, while Connell taunts the Baboons. Two baboon come charging toward him. A battle ensues with Connell yelling something about a change in plans… followed very quickly by Barrett screaming a slew of expletives.

The battle is fierce and mighty. Pepper is crossbow crazy and actually hits about ½ the time whittling the baboons down. Both Connell and Barrett are dropped but due to the might of Bolgrim both regain consciousness. The party is finally over the combat and healing is being liberally dispensed.

Churckey sets up watch on a door. He can hear some kind of grunting and sounds emanating from within. Donner enters the garden and begins peering in different windows. Everyone is set up when the door by Churchkey is flung open. There is a ½ Baboon, ½ man wearing leather armor and wielding a falchion. After the initial shock, the Baboon man creature barks something in baboon and quaffs a potion. A baboon lunges between this strange hybrid and Churchkey gnashing teeth and claws. Churchkey easily repels the attacks and begins his own assault against the baboon. Barrett is close behind.

Donner hears breaking glass to his left two more baboons are rushing from the kitchen through the garden. Donner attacks. Connell comes rushing from the corridor to aid Donner. Melee continues. The baboon man thing quaffs another potion causing him to grow to twice his size.

The Babboons in the garden are not faring well, nor did the baboon in the hallway. When the Baboon creature lunges with the falchion, part of the door frame is smashed and Churchkey is thrown against the hall with the force of the blow. Blood is carpeting the ground.

Donner and Connell both leap heroically through the windows into the kitchen and take out silvered weapons. Churchkey strikes a mighty enhanced by the grace of Pelor. The baboon creature is wounded but is unshaken. It takes another nasty blow at Churchkey ripping a hole in his armor and knocking him to the ground. Connel is able to drive a spear deep into this creature back and Donner is able to clobber it with a silvered staff.

Pepper makes an amazing lucky roll of the proverbial and literal dice by subjecting himself to an attack of opportunity on the creature to heal Churchkey. The fates were smiling for it missed him…. barely. Barrett kept the creature occupied launching attacks with the chain. With attacks by the rest of the party this menace to society and nature was dropped.

Binding wounds was the first order of business and the then surveying the kitchen. Unfortunately the severed head of Sarcem (head of the church of St. Cuthbert) was found staked to the wall, his tongue eaten. Also on a table was a load of cash and items obviously taken from guests, workers and the owners of the facility.

One of the more frightening objects found was a black wooden triangle with a symbol carved at each corner: a hand gripping an eyeball, six arrows in an X-shape, and a wrathful demonic face. It didn’t take long for the religious folk to figure out these were the symbols of Vecna, Hextor and Erythnul. Why all three of these hatful being were inscribed on one symbol is illogical and disturbing.

The party makes a quick sweep of the rest of the Lucky Monkey and makes their way down to the basement. There they meet some more resistance but recover the body remains of Sarcem and take an Alleybasher prisoner. He explains little except that they were to try and take down the human cleric and everything else was just loot. Not sure how many, but the cleric was a tough bastard and took out a good number of them with the help of some woman. She is hiding in the basement.

The party goes to the end of the hall and finds a door swollen shut and a few dead hillfolk dead and nearly frozen leaning against the door. A short conversation through the door and your hear the amazingly pleasant relief of a figure on the back side of the door. She gives you some warning of Brown mould and that you not judge her on her looks. Churchkey scans for evil and finds none. Upon opening the door, you see a terribly beautiful ½ drow who looks nearly fatally wounded. She introduces herself as Shensen and has a great desire to get back to her order. She knows only a little of what happened

According to Shensen she was returning from a walk when she heard the sounds of combat from within the Lucky Monkey. She ran to investigate and found that the bandits had already slain most of the guests and employees. Only a few remained standing, including a human cleric who seemed to be the focus of the bandits’ attention. The bandits were lead by a horrible man-beast, and that this creature followed the orders of a beautiful woman with red hair, facial tattoos and a suit of spied full plate emblazoned with Hextor’s unholy symbol. She lent what aid she could to the defenders, but they were eventually forded to retreat into the basement, where the beast-man killed the cleric. This left Shensen alone and completely outnumbered. She fled to the far end of the basement, barricaded herself in, and spent the next several hours praying.

The party rests for a short while, gathers the horses and then begins a very exhausting trek back up to Cauldron.

While in Cauldron research was done on all kinds of levels. Some people signed up for etiquette classes for the Ball. Churchkeys family was able to take the invitation originally meant for him and offered it to another member of the party. Others did some research at the churches and of course Jenya was left with the body of Sarcem.

A long story short:

Everyone can get into the ball with the exception of one person. However for 250gp they can buy a ticket in.

The party was asked to give 500 gp for information about the red haired woman. They did and Barrett went and gleaned some powerful info.

• The woman’s name is Triel Eldurast, a one-time town guard who escaped punishment after murdering several of her fellow guards while on duty. This event took place nearly a decade ago, so the specifics have grown hazy in the memories of the people. Nothing has been heard of Triel since her escape. She has been seen entering an old lava tube whose entrance is about 200 feet below the North East wall of Cauldron.

The party also learned that the black triangle is of a bizarre cult called the Ebon Triad. An attempt to get the three demon gods of Vecna, Hextor and Erythnul to merge into one huge demon lord to overthrow the world.

Kristof Jurgensen the head of the church of Pelor seems quite concerned with the missing wands and pledges to do what he can. He knew nothing of them, for 6 months ago, he was third in command of a very small and modest church. Kristof is far over his head in skill to be leading a church. But he is doing an admirable job.

The lake in rising and is currently subsuming the first ring of buildings. Most are on stilts but the lake is close to cresting the top and flooding these buildings.

Donner continues to visit Skie making friends with the gnomish magic dealer.

That evening, with the ball three nights away. The party makes their way to the lava tube at midnight. They follow this very long 6 foot diameter tube for what seems miles but is obviously much shorter. Until it opens up at a small ledge overlooking a vast cavern. A small pile of wooden planks is stacked on the edge of the ledge. Nearly a hundred feet below, the waters of a lake filled with dimly glowing green algae lap against cave walls encrusted with pallid fungi. A small stone building is built into the side of the ledge wall, and a pair of heavy ropes descends from a winch on the buildings side, dangling across the lake to a similar winch attached to a wooden structure on the lake’s far shore. Suspended on these ropes is a rickety wood-and-iron cage mounted on a system of pulleys. The lake’s phosphorescence just barely illuminates the vast cavern, and you can see what appear to be the partially melted ruins of several buildings protruding from a sparkling wall of volcanic rock along the far wall of the cave. Several of these buildings have small doorways at ground level, but your see no window in the ominous dark facades. The air here is thick, warm and excessively humid.

Carefully moving in the party surprises two winch guards in the back of the winch house. They note there is a lot of high quality rations and water. Some of the party puts on the uniforms and the red sash. They then descend in the “cage” with Barrett running the winch. Connell is able to turn some curious gards away with just a wave of his hand. Then the party waits for the rocketing Barrett to hit the beach and make a great tumble but still take a bit of subdual damage.

The party is hiding on the lake side of this Winch building. The glowing green lake lapping inches from your feet. While on the other side is the façade and entrance to what seems an other worldly city of strange angles and melted stone.