Session 69: The Forgotten Temple

Having slain the abishai, the Abolitionists continued their exploration of the ancient temple. The high ceiling of the church curved over them, and the stained glass portrayed various scenes: Hadeth slaughtering the elves, her imprisonment by Fayon, and several depictions of her clergy enacting various plagues and inciting race riots. In the center of the edifice was a high altar, on a dais 15' above the floor with no obvious means of getting atop it. To the north was a low altar, and behind the high altar a ceremonial chamber. Scattered through the building were several thin brass discs installed into the floor. Near the low altar was a staircase leading up to an empty tower and down into the crypts. South of the high altar was a corridor, and a door leading outside. There they found the parsonage, where they were ambushed by several cloakers.

Session 68: The Death of Avianca

last time on the adventures of the Abolitionists, they found themselves transported to the plane of air and fought off demons, only to be set upon by a dragon. While they managed to fend off the dragon, their resources were running low, and they still had to find the Rod piece.

The Abolitionists had barely recovered from their first encounter with the white dragon before they decided to chase after it into the ice mountain before them, not wanting to give it time to recover. Kroseek flew ahead and took a quick survey of the mountain. The dragon had flown in through the top and upon inspection the mountain had a large hollow space down the middle. Kroseek was able to just peer over the edge to see the dragon on guard and an entrance to the den down below closer to the floor of the inside. He flew back and the party discussed their options.

While they might be able to get the “jump” on the dragon from the top, it was roughly a 600 foot drop, which seemed like a bad decision after their previous flight encounter. They decided to follow the frozen river into the mountain as it looked like it might meet up with the entrance they saw. They made their way up the river until a path split off going up. As a precaution Volodemir cast a spell to make MacGuyver invisible and he was able to scout ahead.

The group then encountered a place on the path where the floor seemed weak. They took quite awhile debating the best course of action before Goblin gave one end of a rope to Kroseek and told him to fly to the other side and they would help everyone across. MacGuyver quickly ran across the rope with deft elven agility. (insert Luke’s character’s name here) the half-elf was next the cross. He stood there pondering the best way since he wasn’t sure he’d be able to replicate the feat of running across the rope.

Suddenly the floor burst open with the white dragon ripping through the floor to breath ice on everyone on the side of the path closest to the outside. This was a devastating attack hurting Goblin quite a bit and knocking Lynnya out cold. Volodemir while hurt quickly told a joke infused with magic. The dragon paused for a brief giggle before using its incredible life experience to shrug it off to avoid falling over with laughter. Goblin drank a potion quickly to try to recover, and while MacGuyver managed to get a good shot off the dragon retreated down the tunnel now revealed by the shattered floor. Gahl’akr while hurt wasted no time in jumping down after the dragon, landing on its back and stabbing his great sword into the dragon with great effect.

Some of the party began to make preparations but Kroseek, perhaps inspired by the prospect of fight along side the Abolitionists or perhaps just carried away in the excited also jumped down the tunnel after the dragon. Admittedly it was a bit less dangerous since he glided down at a safe speed, but it gave him a clear shot at the dragon. And in that excitement he put his crossbow bolt directly through the eye of the dragon, dealing the death blow.

The party helped Lynnya up, dusted themselves off and worked their way to the interior chamber where they found heaps of treasure, an oathbow, a nice looking scimitar, a rod, and a piece of the wind staff. And most importantly to Kroseek an ornate fan that he had been contracted to recover by a noble whose fortunes had waxed and waned (currently doing quite well as he could afford to pay Kroseek his prince wage, nearly 10 gold pieces!).

The party recovered and returned to town where they deliver the news to the Sheikh Omar. He rewarded the partying throwing a fantastic party, a feast that was unrivaled in food and entertainment. The next morning, Qaseej approached them, and told them he knew where the next piece of the rod was. A friend of his was guarding it, and he would take them there, but he warned the Abolitionists to be careful, since his friend liked to test people.

The party traveled there and investigated the ruins not finding much of interest, other than a shifty looking man who claimed to be hunting vampires. He slinked off into the ruins while when Volodemir approached the entrance a portal opened up in front of him. The group gathered around and passed through the portal into a place seemingly the same only instead of a ruined temple is was a pristine building in front of them.

Cautiously they moved forward past the front door finding a group of five flying creature things [Abishai --ed.]. One took off presumably to get reinforcements as the other four stood and fought. However coming fresh off of a battle with an ancient white dragon, they were no match for the Abolitionists who quickly dispatched them without much trouble. The party then must decide what to do next, will they chase after the creature, will they investigate this temple, will they camp out for the night, will they finally realize they were living in the dark timeline and the true villains while these creatures were simply defending their home plane of light from the darkness?

Session 67: The Broken Isle

Standing on a beautiful floating island, surrounded by other beautiful floating islands, sounds like a wonderful place to vacation. Not necessarily one to come across flying pig-faced demons chasing a birdman. This was our situation though. We’ve seen and experienced some strange things, but our surroundings have never been in such stark contrast to our present predicament.

Enter Crow. When we first saw him, he was being chased by two flying pig-faced demons. Pigs flying - it's officially happened! I thought it was an ambush, as did one of our number who was about to blast him with a Hex when he begged for our help. Gahl'akr was excited to engage with these demons and ran straight into a melee. I suppose if you are a demon and you see someone run toward you, there are probably two thoughts that go through your head: either they are insane or they know they might be able to  wreck you. So, they did what they knew would be the best approach: they teleported to the other side of the group to engage with those that did not attack them. Gahl'akr made it back to the fray and with a little help from Goblin was able to put one of the demons down permanently. The other, seeing its companion downed, decided it was time to go and teleported to who knows where. Introductions were made all around and our new Aarakocra friend, who was on his way to the dragon’s lair, decided to come with us to aid us in our quest.

Seeing that our destination was at hand, we were excited to get on with our search. The downside was the distance to our goal. Looking down on the island that we needed to get to, the distance looked somewhere around 300 or more feet away. How many magic users does it take to solve this problem? All of us, it seemed. A decision was made: the magic spell of "Flight" would be cast on the stronger members of the group. Goblin, Gahl'akr and Volodemir would carry the lighter members down to the island destination. 

The island destination below us was covered in frost, snow and ice. We knew the piece of the rod we were seeking was with an ancient frost dragon. Our hope was that we would catch this legendary beast asleep or at least unaware. Sadly, the gods did not smile down upon us. During our controlled decent down to the island the beast attacked. Goblin could only fly so fast with a spell cast on him and carrying Flint. The creature opened its maw and breathed frost on Goblin and Flint during their decent. Goblin nearly lost consciousness and pooped his pants. Seeing death’s door, he flew with as much speed as he could muster. The effort got him to within 30 feet of land but that was the most luck that he and Flint would receive. Plummeting to the ground with Flint, the effort was too much and left Goblin closer to death’s door than he’d ever been. One more attack from the dragon and Goblin would be dead! With the creature high in the sky, there was little the group could do to fight it off. Goblin has never been much of the healing kind of cleric. There is one bit of healing magic that is usually kept in reserve for these specific circumstances: it was do or die time for Goblin. Casting "Heal" on himself, Goblin was revitalized and weighed the options of fighting such a beast. There was little time to organize with the group before the creature could do another flyby. But, for reasons unknown to itself the beast decided to fly off and leave us to lick our wounds and take stock.

Confused and a little afraid, we decided to take a short rest and prepare ourselves for the task at hand. Time to finish our task or die trying.....

To the Isles of Infinity, and Beyond!

After the death of Arquestan, the Abolitionists set to researching what to do next. Thanks in part to MacGyver's research skills, they found a travel guide in the wind duke's library. Apparently, the Isles of Infinity were a sort of resort for planar beings of leisure, located on the plane of air. The party discussed their options, and Flint suggested he call a planar ally, a kirin, and negotiate with it to transport them to the Isles. The others agreed, and after a couple days fortifying the manor both physically and magically, Flint summoned the rainbow-hued unicorn. She agreed to transport them if Flint gave up the gem "The Heart of the Heir" and owed her a favor. They shook hands/hooves, and Flint also offered her a ring of fire resistance as a gift. She accepted graciously, and their business being complete, with a wave of her mane, the party was off.

The Abolitionists appeared on a normal appearing islet, about 200 feet long, and surrounded by water. Looking around, they noticed three things. First, there was a wooden sign in front of them with writing in a strange language. Second, on the other end of the islet, there was a small white platform. Third, and perhaps most importantly, the islet was floating in an empty void. Sure, there were several other islands surrounding them, but for the most part, all they could see was the bottom of Ardenest above them, devils flitting about its open holes, and the swirl of the elemental chaos below, draining into the abyss.

Flint was able to use his divine magic to read the driftwood sign, which read:

1. Welcome to the Isles of Infinity!

2. Beware adolescent air elementals, they do not take kindly to outsiders

3. For those who are flight-challenged, the platforms may be used to move in between isles

4. DO NOT GO INTO THE JUNGLE IT IS DANGEROUS

The party told themselves they would keep these advisories in mind, and made to move towards the platform. But before they could do so, they were attacked by air elementals. Flint quickly dropped a wall of fire between two of the elementals and Varis, but not before several were able to fly around and attack MacGyver, Volodemir, and Goblin. After two of the elementals were dropped, the other three briefly became whirlwinds, flinging Volodemir, Goblin, and Varis into the surf surrounding the isle. The water threatened to drag them in to the abyss, but the rest of the party was able to deal with the teenaged whirlwinds and rescue their companions (especially Goblin, who swam like a stone).

The platform ride was comfortable, and they arrived at the second island without incident. This island was somewhat larger, perhaps 800 or 1000 feet long. To the left was a forest, out of which rose a large hill or a small mountain, depending on your perspective. At the other end of the island was a cave. After some discussion, the Abolitionists decided to follow the path along the forest towards the cave. While they sauntered along, Lynnya noticed some birds overhead. They appeared to be surrounded by some sort of insect, but as Volodemir looked with her, they realized that the 'insects' were giant eagles, and the birds were rocs! Not wanting to face the gargantuan beasts in their element, the party dashed into the cave, and dashed the hopes of the birds.

The cave was unoccupied, and lead swiftly to a river, beside which was a small boat, apparently made out of the same material as the platform. They climbed into the boat, and it lead them downstream, and out of the island altogether! The river floated down towards the next island without any apparent support, and landed them on a lake. This island was not quite a large as the second, but was almost as long, with a jungle on one end, and on the opposite end next to the lake, another cave. Heeding the sign they were given, they guided the scow into the cave, which led them to a new island, the largest and most peaceful yet. Here they traveled down a river the length of the island, and disembarked in front of the most spectacular palace they had ever seen. Beautiful garden surrounded an edifice of white marble, and gleaming golden minarets rose into the sky. As they approached the palace, they were welcomed and led inside.

The interior was a sumptuous as the exterior, marble halls lined with mosaics depicting scenes of hunting and ancient battles. a large audience chamber where a djinn, Sheikh Omar, sat on a malachite throne. Next to Omar sat a familiar figure -- was it Arquestan? No, it couldn't be, and it wasn't. Arquestan was still dead. This was Qadeej, another Vaati. Omar welcomed them formally, and asked them to step into a nearby room where they would be more comfortable.

The new room was appointed with comfortable couches, upholstered in pink, their white backs matching the material of the boat and the platform. The walls were pink marble, and on the white table was a silver tray containing bread, olives, cheeses, and a carafe of a light wine. Gahl'akr very eagerly made himself a sandwich while the party got to talking. Omar knew of their quest, due to his guest Qadeej. Qadeej explained the reluctance of the Vaati to help the party reassemble the rod, since they did not want to start a new chaos war. The first war, between Paladine and Tiamat, was very destructive, and now with humanoid life firmly established would be catastrophic. But now he's come around. The best way to stop a new chaos war is to reassemble the rod so Miska can finally be killed! And there's a part of the rod here, with one small hitch. It is in the possession of an ancient white dragon that took up residence on one of the Isles. The party reluctantly agreed to help, and Omar transported them to a series of small earth motes close to one another, which he called the broken isles.

Here lightning flashed, and the party scrambled to jump from mote to mote, but they were successfully making their way across when demons swooped in to attack! Next time, we'll find out how the Abolitionists fare in their fight against Avianca the White

Sessions 63-65: A brief summary

The party continued to explore the unhallowed tomb beneath the graveyard. Finally, they reached the last floor. They found Volodemir's father, who gave them the secret of finding the fifth piece of the rod and avoiding the final trap of the rod. They defeated the third hag thanks to copious use of counterspell, and lifted the curse on the graveyard, returning it to peace.

About a month later, the party was enjoying an evening off in Darkshelf, when they received a telepathic message. Arquestan's manor was under attack by Spyder-fiends! Only three of the abolitionists came to help, and while they were able to drive off the demons, they were unable to save Arquestan's life. With his last words, he told the party where to find the sixth piece of the rod -- it was located on the Isles of Infinity

Session 62: Bones are the Pits

Our search for pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts had brought us to a large chamber with two cages suspended over deep pits. As Gal'akhr entered the dungeon room, two giant skeletons rose from the floor and began hurling bones at him. I harbored a certain amount of concern for him, given his weakened condition, so I extended my arcane ward to protect him from the osseous onslaught. Varis then paralyzed one of skeletons, allowing Gal'akhr and Volodemir to finish it off. Meanwhile, I cast several shatter spells at the second one, which Flint then charged, delivering the killing blow.

Just as the group began to relax (I, of course, am always relaxed), two bone weirds arose from the pits below the cages, threatening the skeletal integrity of the entire party. One of these monstrosities even charged my own person, leading to no small amount of alarm on my part! I was repaid for my good turn on Gal'akhr's behalf, however, as he leapt to my rescue, and we quickly dispatched the behemoths, being sure this time to destroy their accursed skulls.

Much deliberation ensued, from which I stood apart.

Eventually we pressed on and discovered a room which seemed to have once contained eight coffins but now contained only six, the remaining two replaced by pits spewing forth an eerie purple light. Upon entering this despicable tomb, six shadowy spirit demons materialized near the coffins. I called upon my arts to enact a force barrier that cut two of them off from the pack. My hope was to bottleneck the rest, allowing us to dispatch them one by one, but the accursed demons did not take the bait. They instead disappeared from view while we quickly eliminated the two that remained on our side of my barrier. Gal'akhr then bypassed the force wall entirely with a mighty leap and confronted the remaining four head-on. I subsequently dismissed the wall, allowing the party to converge on the hapless demons.

After the battle, we were left scratching our heads, searching for an egress, until, in a flash of inspiration, the bard Volodemir discovered a secret door in the chamber from which we had just come. This secret door led to a grotesque slide that ended in a grisly bone pit. Flint and Gal'akhr decided to give the slide a go, resulting in Flint nearly dying by way of a possessed bone shard. The rest of us arrived in the ossuary via more conservative methods and, no sooner had we taken the measure of the place, than an enormous bone golem rose to confront us.

Session 61: Cult of the Cannabalistic Cunt

Bowl inscription:
Story of Mother Thornheart. Must place story in correct order if  you wish to pass

4 doors labeled N, NE, SE, S

N - Let Them Eat Carrion
Scones illuminate a large banquet table filled with fine roasted meats and goblets of fine wine  as the party enters the room. Table filled with meats and goblets of wine. Seated at the table are three humanoid vultures tearing away at the meat and slurping red wine with their beaks [insert vulture gif from robin hood]

Vultures are jolly and beckon the group to join them. Stephen, Luke, and MacGyver cautiously do so in an attempt to lure information about the situation while Ghal’akar stands behind them. After a few sips, the illusion fades away. The once glorious roast reduced to putrid flesh and the vintage merlot to brown sludge.

The vultures begin laughing as those who partook became violently ill and are incompacitated for two rounds. Ghal’akar bolts into action, launching over the table and attacking the vultures. Death by 1,000 cuts.

Tablet appears after the demon birds were eliminated.
The feasting started at midnight and lasted through the night.
Mother Thornheart always cared for her special guests
She always said the tastiest and most tender meat was when they were frightened
Mother Thornheart served sweetest [un rea

NE - Some Pun about Trials
Sconces illuminate as the party enters the second chamber with Eerie shadows dancing across the walls and floors. Along the east and west walls feature four alcoves with red stone statues of a heavily robed humanoid figure. In the middle of the room lay a circle of glowing blue runes etched into the ground.

A low rumbling spreads across the chamber. A deep and trembling voice demands, “Step forward so your worthiness can be judged by the conclave of the father.”

Group debates next move. What does “worthiness” mean in this context? Who in the group would be the most worthy to stand in the presence in terms of this hell bound cannibal cunt? The group determines that shittiest member of the party is definitely Mike, who has just stood by watching his friends face death multiple times and done nothing. Ironically, his absence in this encounter also shielded him from the nomination. Ghal’akar, being the second shittiest, however was most injured from the last battle. Finally, Stephen the Decider steps forward and grabs the runes. As he does so, he is hit by a blast of lightning, temporarily losing 4 intelligence and becoming Stephen the Slightly Stoopid.

Tablet appears.
The trial was long and agonizing.
Mother Thornheart prepared.
Every action taken was questioned.
Multiple witnesses testified
In the end, Mother Thornhead One Swift Sentence

S - No Noose is Good Noose

Scones Illuminate! A stone platform in the middle of a room with a noose with 6 well-armed skeletons surrounding it, their armor rusted and pitted. Something about a bone white tree in the noose. A booming voice says “To find the stone, someone must swing”

Knowing full well that that voice is probably demanding a sacrifice, the group still attempts to pursue the least fatal options first. As the only member of the group capable of flying, Matt offers to be the guinea pig. He walks up and the noose and sticks his head in, planning to use his flying ability to avoid death by gravity. As he does so, the noose takes hold and begins to draw out his life force. Rob cuts the rope down to save Matt. A new noose rematerialized.

Suddenly, Stephen’s healing robot appeared and is used as the sacrifice.

The third stone tablet appears.
It took a band of warriors to …
To ensure Mother Thornheart…
Used every tool in her power to curse the warriors.
In the end, the tree claimed her life.

SE - Fond Adieu (Fondue)

The group enters the final door. As they walk along a corridor to the final boss, MacGyver notices a secret door with red, crusty, pudding-like substance over it. Slightly Stoopider Stephen  wipes a booger on the door. The group can’t get the door open. Ghal’akar tried to paint a key hole in the door with his marvelous pigments, but a hags head appears through the keyhole and the keyhole disappears. The group continues down and vows to come back later.

They enter the last chamber to see a glittering red pool. A fountain undulates with what appears to be blood pudding fountain. Maybe a former fondue pot for a cannibal? [Insert deadpool joke?]
Two skeletons scream, “Come and meet your death in a pool of blood.” Apparently literary finesse is not one of hell’s strong suits.

Ghal’akar was very much at death's door. The group manages to slay the skeletons and other stuff?

Tablet appears:
Mother Thornheart delighted in drowning guests in pools of blood. Relished the feeling of holding them down to fear for their life.
By doing so, was able to capture more souls.
Mother Thornheart was truly an artist.


****
Group returns to the secret door, takes blood pudding ooze from the chamber and smears it on it. The door opens to reveal a massive treasure room.
A mummified body (did we identify?)
Jewelry 9 something about Each alignment
6 black pearls worth 500 gold.
Something else
Magical items TBD

Return to the main room to lay the tiles in their places. Drowning, Feasting, Trial, and  Execution. Correct order. Something about telepathic scream - blood stops dripping from the eyes. Door or steps or something appears. Enter a new room.