Lost Colonies Session 24

When we last left our stalwart adventurers, they were fighting their way through an orc fortress carved out of the rock wall of a fungal forest underneath an abandoned monastery. Having no luck finding their quarry (a golden-masked magic user now simply referred to as The Yellow Lady), the party continued to seek out prisoners that they could interrogate. Most of the evening's fun centered around dealing with the kitchen staff, made up entirely of witless goblins.

After an initial show of bravado, the goblins broke and started to run. This led to the party splitting up in order to prevent others from being informed of their position, and to try and get some information. Unfortunately, the latter proved difficult because of Ahkmed's sword Hornet. Magical in nature, it requires the dwarf to make a Save vs. Magic every time goblins are around. If he fails, the sword appears in his hands and he is compelled to attack until all said goblins are dead. Ahkmed failed is saving throw.

In addition, one of the goblins managed to hide himself quite well in a meat locker. After failing to find it, Ahkmed decided to surrender his own will to the sword in order to allow it to find the goblin. Hornet glowed blue, as did Ahkmed's eyes. He began shouting various things in Elvish and proceeded to hack everything in the meat locker to pieces until the goblin was found and skewered. After which, he proceeded to eviscerate the captive goblins, much to the horror and frustration of the rest of the party. Once dead, the blue glow faded and Ahkmed was forced to ask every one what just happened. He is now aware of a sleeping entity in the back of his mind that keeps whispering Elvish sweet nothings to his subconscious.

Fortunately, Hamlen forsaw the possible rampage by his dwarven companion and managed to secure a captive in another storage room while Ahkmed was busy on his killing spree. He managed to convince (scare) the goblin into taking a job at his bar in Headwaters. He then learned that the kitchen staff would deliver food to the orcs and ogres "downstairs through the secret door where the lady is." Having secured this valuable piece of information, Hamlen risked introducing "Tyrd" (not my doing, Hamlen insisted on re-naming the poor fellow after a "great warrior king") to the rest of the party. Ahkmed made his saving throw.

The rest of the session saw the party explore the level behind the secret door. They found several storage areas, which had items of much more interest to the party than the stuff they were finding in the levels above. Of particular interest were three barrels of what has been termed "alchemist fire" — a black powder that explodes when exposed to fire. There was a great deal of discussion as to what to do with it. Hamlen finally convinced the party to leave it alone — the idea of being hit with a fireball while in possession of three barrels of the stuff was enough to give everyone pause.

The party also found what appeared to be the sleeping quarters for the Yellow Lady. There was a tapestry depicting an alien city, a chest protected by a magical trap the party couldn't disarm and a desk that seemed to be built to have a drawer, but had no visible sign of one except for a circular indentation at the back. Rather than mess with these things, the party decided to set up an ambush, banking on the fact that if the Yellow Lady had a bed, she had to sleep. Therefore, eventually she would come to them. This seemed eminently better than they going to her.

The session ended with a battle. Indeed, the Yellow Lady showed up with a pair of ogres in tow, one of which was armed with a weapon that used the alchemist fire. Limited in her spell selection, lest she destroy her own possessions, the Yellow Lady primarily allowed the ogres to do her fighting. Unfortunately for her, the party had worked out a very good anti-ogre strategy that proved very effective. Rather than continue with her handicap the Yellow Lady fled and the group was very happy to stay put.