==== V3 Session Thirty-One -- 01 October 2010 -- "The Lost Mines of Karak (part 3)" ====

[[v3session30|(Previous Session)]] [[v3#session_notes|(Back to V3 Index)]] [[v3session32|(Next Session)]]

=== Story ===

== June, 1120 ==

Picking up directly after the last session...

The party decides that they made enough of a ruckus fighting the Vulture Drakes
that any other groups in the fortress will be on the alert.  So, they hurriedly
explore the areas that the Troglodytes were guarding.  On the second level, they
find a portcullis locked close -- but [[Ibiza]] manages to pry it open. Beyond
it, they discover a group of Human guards -- but quickly overpower them.

Interrogating a surviving guard, [[Oin]] learns that Queen Shephatiah is an
Eladrin.  The guard tells the party how to reach the Queen's chamber and gives
them a brief overview of who is likely to be there with her.

Armed with this new intelligence, the party finishes a cursory exploration of
the remainder of the fortress and then goes upstairs to enter the Queen's
chamber from behind.  In there, they find another group of Human Guards, a
Longtooth Hunter, and a pair of Cacklefiend Hyenas guarding the Queen.

During the battle, it becomes clear that the Queen is //not// an Eladrin, but is
actually an evil Dryad.  And her area of the fortress contains a number of odd
trees that only grow in the Underdark.  The trees, it is later learned, grow
here because there is some kind of magical (likely elemental) energy seeping up
from below.

During the fight, the Queen spends most of her time teleporting between these
trees, taunting the party, and cheering on her defenders.  But in the end, the
defenders all fall -- and the Queen is killed.

With the Queen defeated and with the discovery of a potential energy source in
the lower levels, the party returns to a set of blocked stairs they had
discovered earlier.  They move the blocking crates, open the portcullis, and
descend -- fighting past an Iron Cobra and a pair of Longtooth Hunters.

Throughout the fortress (but mostly with the Queen and her entourage), the
party finds the following loot:
  * 1,800 gp 
  * One 500 gp gem
  * One 1,000 gp gem
  * 4 art objects((to be detailed later for Dailey's amusement)) @ 250 gp each
  * 1 Level 9 Uncommon Magic Item: Strongheart Tattoo  ([[Ibiza]])
  * 1 Level 11 Uncommon Magic Item: Circlet of continuity ([[Zim]])
  * 1 Level 12 Uncommon Magic Item: Jagged Shortsword +3 ([[Imbo]])

//To Be Continued...//

=== Game ===

This adventure comes from
[[http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/duadp/20081022|Dungeon Magazine
issue #159 (pages 56-93)]].

== Encounter 1: Guard Hall ==

Since two players were missing from this session, I restored this encounter to
its originally-written specs.  In hindsight, this was a mistake -- as the
encounter is split into two halves and did not present a serious threat.

== Encounter 2: Great Hall ==

For the same reason as above, I restored this encounter to its originally-written
specs.  This one fit the party better -- but it still presented little real
challenge.

Despite the cake-walk aspect, I awarded the party a milestone for these two
encounters...

==== ====
^ # ^ Challenge  ^  Type  ^  XP  ^
|  5  | Human Lackeys  |  Minion/7  |  75  |
|  5  | Human Lackeys  |  Minion/7  |  75  |
|  1  | Longtooth Hunter  |  Soldier/6  |  250  |
|  2  | Cacklefiend Hyenas  |  Brute/7  |  300  |
|  1  | Dryad  |  Skirmisher/9  |  400  |
|  1  | Iron Cobra Guardian  |  Skirmisher/6  |  250  |
|  2  | Longtooth Hunter  |  Soldier/6  |  250  |
^  Total XP ^^^  2,750  ^
^  (4 PCs)(([[Erasmus]] had car trouble, and [[Zim]]'s daughter was a princess)) ^^^  688  ^

[[v3session30|(Previous Session)]] [[v3#session_notes|(Back to V3 Index)]] [[v3session32|(Next Session)]]