S3: The Final Enemy

The 23rd full game session. Dean (Thic Duc), Matt (Barron), Mariel (Leah), and Jon (Elorion), are returning cast members.

As we left the party, their weapons heist had succeeded, and most of the party were hiding out in the Saltmarsh manor with Guildmistress Elena. Michael had previously traveled (with Elorion’s corpse) to Saltmarsh, in order to invoke the Adventure Capitalist’s insurance policy and have him raised from the dead to continue his adventure.

Elorian gasped back to life under the tender ministrations of the Saltmarsh herbalist, watched over by a strangely silent Michael. Before long he reconnected with the rest of the group hiding out in the previously-haunted manor. After a stop to refresh their provisions, the group journeyed back into the swamp.

Their first stop was at the bullywogs. Those simple creatures, most of their warriors already dead at the party’s hands but ignorant of the identity of their killers, were willing to make a another deal. Barron offered their women and tadpoles shelter in their former home, under the loving protection and care of the lizard folk, in return for aid from their warriors in dealing with the aquatic sahuagin. Their small unit of three warriors were to be used as cannon fodder scouts.

The lizard folk described their plan. The bulk of their warriors would train with the weapons the party had retrieved for them, while the party itself, along with their slaves friends the Scooby Gang and the small bullywog unit, would scout their old lair. A small unit of lizardfolk would accompany the group to provide backup and numerical support. After the scouting mission, a full assault would follow with all of the lizardfolk forces.

Discussing matters with the Scooby Gang revealed some unexpected talents. Velma can apparently copy magic-user scrolls and thinks she might be able to use the scroll the party found with the instructions for Water Breathing. She’s not sure it would do anything, but is willing to try it. The party arranged for 5 copies of the scroll to be made, just in case.

Shaggy: says he feels musically inclined, is fond of brawling, and wants to get in touch with nature. He has no other special skills
Fred: feels a holy calling to fight evil and unmask monsters
Velma: wants to understand all the magic tricks, and maybe learn them herself
Daphne: Still seems sort of confused, but holds her own in a fight and seems comfortable being stealthy
Scooby: Doesn't have much to say

The party then interrogated the sahuagin prisoner. The prisoner initially claimed to be a noble triton, a race of inherently good humanoids who dwell beneath the waves. However, the party did not buy it. After convincing the prisoner that they had cast a spell that would blow up his head if he lied, he admitted the truth: he was a sahuagin and his people had indeed taken the ancestral lair of the lizardfolk from them. He had been captured by the lizardfolk while away from the lair. His people’s god of the sea has, according to the prisoner, taken steps to improve the suitability of the island for his people. This has something to do with rising waters and drowning those on land… but the details are not clear, as his monologue was interrupted by Barron’s relatively unprovoked attack.

Lashing out with a surprising number of teeth, claws, and flippers, the sahuagin fought back against the whole party’s somewhat coordinated (after a moment of surprise) assault. Elorion’s Charm Person spell took effect just as the creature bled out the last of its fishy ichor, and the dead, fishy eyed gazed upon the half-elven wizard with a love that will go forever unrequited.

Barron gleefully sold the corpse, bit by bit, to whoever wanted it… including the younger grandson of the lizardfolk chieftain, who wanted a trophy to mount on his wall, just like granddad…

After some discussion, the iridescent ioun stone (+1 level) was provided to Elorion, the deep red sphere (+1 dex) was given to Barron, and the pale green stone (sustains without air) was kept for general party use. The helm of underwater action was also kept for general use.

To be continued…

Treasure

Helm of Underwater Action
Ioun Stone: pale green prison (sustains without air)
Ioun Stone: deep red sphere (+1 dexterity)
Ioun Stone: (+1 level)
550 gp
5 rubies (250gp each; 1250 gp total)
50 gp for sale of body parts etc
-375 gp for buying pearls to use with identify

Experience

100xp each for showing up
100xp each for roleplaying
500xp for retrieving the treasure from the bullywogs in time to use it without killing them
500xp for successfully interrogating a prisoner
Killing a helpless, unarmed sahuagin prisoner: 1xp
Treasure: 1850xp
Total Group Experience: 2850xp (not including individual bonuses)

Roleplaying moments and quotables

"For an extra 10 gp, I'll tell everyone you killed it yourself!" "Ssssssold."
"Elena was in charge of Informal Resource Segregation (IRS) in Rookroost."

Dangling Threads of Fate

Player Character Level Experience Total Next Level Larry Michael 5th 13,230xp 27,500xp Dean Thic Duc 4th 16,010xp 22,500xp Matt Barron 5th 12,111xp 20,000xp Mary Kriselle 3rd 6,266xp 8,000xp Mariel Leah 3rd 10,077xp 10,000xp Nathan Kevin 3rd 5,509xp 7,500xp Jonathan Elion 1st 1523xp 2,500xp Jonathan Otis 1st 1,053xp 2,251xp