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In attendance:

DM: Kurt Dailey

Note: This session is out of sequence and takes place between sessions #70 and #71

Note: This adventure was derived from "The Scourge of Raftport", by C.A. Johnson. Originally written for a party of eighth to ninth level characters, the storyline was streamlined enough to allow for a one-night adventure, while the encounters were simultaneously “beefed up” to allow for challenging play.

21 November 1108

Having completed the trials and returned to Rota for some much-needed R&R, as well as a bit of shopping and stocking up, the party has dispersed to fulfill their particular needs.

For Roderick, the end of this languorous respite comes all too soon, with the arrival of a message from the local magistrate of The Church of Ihmotep. According to the missive, all contact has been lost with a young missionary sent to the trading town of Raftport, located a short journey upriver from Rota. It is requested that Roderick travel to the area, and make contact with “fighter devotee ascendant” who has been dispatched to the area to assist him in “asserting the will of Ihmotep”. There are some annotations regarding the history of the region, which mention significant dwarven battles, centuries of issues with dwellers in the underdark, a rumoured temple of untold evil, and that “Devil's forge”, a dormant volcano in the area, housed a clan of Fire Giants some centuries ago.

Aware that any simple communication breakdown would have been quickly handled by the regular officials, Roderick attempts to locate the missing missionary using a powerful spell, but receives only a dark image of a stern feminine image, apparently a statue of some type. Unexpectedly, the statue shifts it's gaze to him, and coldly murmurs “no.”, whereupon Roderick's spell collapses. Aware that only the most powerful forces could divert a spell of that magnitude, Roderick quickly gathers those of his associates near at hand, Vincent and Aramil, and heads of to Raftport, expecting the worst.

Arriving in Raftport two days later, having passed many fleeing the area, our group finds the town in the grip of uproar and panic. Roderick quickly locates the church's agent, Orin, a fighter of some prowess. Orin has been in the town for a number of days, and quickly relates what information he has managed to gather.

1. People have been disappearing for months, and the counts are rapidly increasing.
2. The first disappearances were primarily to the north of town, but have spread.
3. Ogres have supposedly been spotted in the area.
4. The local militia has been patrolling every night, heavily armed.
5. Raftport has a fair racial mix, but only humans are being taken.
6. Strange lights are often seen in the northern sky, often following a disappearance.

Additionally, a militia contingent of six experienced fighters did not return from patrol last night. All told, two score souls are unaccounted for… including the young missionary Roderick was sent to locate.

Not wanting to waste any time, our group recruits a mercenary sorcerer, Shadryn, and heads off into the northern woods, intent on finding a clue to the disappearance of the militia the night before. They have not long to wait…

Only a few miles out of town, Aramil spots a pair of ogres lying in ambush along the trail. Drawing them out, battle is joined! Six ogres, led by two of particularly unusual capacity, are engaged, and by the end of the fray, five lay dead. The last fled when his comrades fell, hotly pursued by Vincent and Aramil. In the end, our heroes grudgingly broke off pursuit, having followed the beast for the better part of a day, to no avail. Roderick, as usual aids the casualties of the incident, especially Shadryn, who was grievously injured by the elusive ogre leader. Additionally, seeking out the ogres camp yields tremendous reward, as the missing militia is discovered alive, having been taken prisoner by the ogres the evening before.

Gathering in Raftport the next evening, our group deciphers a crude map taken from the slain ogre leader, determining that there is a relationship with lunar cycles and specific points on the map. Heading to the first annotated location on the map, they are greeted with a grisly scene. Half a score bodies lie littering a small clearing, apparently dead some time. Amongst the dead are humans, ogres, and dwarves. Puzzling through the scene, it becomes apparent that while the human corpses were brought here post-mortem, the ogres and dwarves apparently were slain here, almost certainly by each other. Investigating further, Aramil determines that the Ogres had come from the wooded area north of town, somewhat from the direction of their own encounter with them, while the dwarven tracks headed up into the mountain passes further north of town. After some discussion, and a quick investigation of the other sites on the map, it is decided to follow the dwarven tracks further into the wilds.

For a Ranger of Aramil's capacity, the trail is an easy one, and a few hours journey ends at a hidden doorway in the foothills of Devil's Forge. Making their way in, it is soon discovered to be a long-derelict temple to Shazartza, a human goddess of fire and destruction. Moving through the temple, another grisly discovery is soon at hand – more corpses, all human, left to rot in one of the ceremonial chambers. Looking through the charnel remains, it becomes clear that some of the remains have been here for some time, possibly months, while others are quite new. Continuing a bit further, there is a fortuitous turn of events as a small number of missing townspeople are discovered, locked in cells, held for some unknown, but almost certainly ghastly fate. Among those discovered is young Justinian Arburton, alive and well! Somewhat more cognisant of their situation, the young missionary relates what he can of the situation. The dwarves who are holding them had, as suspected, been supplied the prisoners by the now-dead ogres. They were brought here, those too weak to survive were slain and left in the preceding room, while the rest were locked up where they were discovered. Every day or two, the dwarves return, and a few more hostages are taken away, never to be seen again. With Roderick channeling the good will of Ihmotep, the prisoners are quickly brought to a stable condition, and left in Justinian's care, who will lead them back to the safety of the town.

Continuing on, our group is set upon by a spectre, an undead servant of the temple from centuries past, damned to spend eternity defending the unholy temple of his outlawed goddess. Brandishing the symbol & will of his righteous god, Roderick quickly casts him away, allowing the group to time enough to find a hidden passage leading further into the depths of the mountain's cavernous base.

The interweaving labyrinth of tunnels seems endless, but eventually a large chamber opens before them. All is not well, however, as this area serves as a likely locale to post someone, or something, to guard the passage, keeping any unwanted visitors from proceeding any further. In this case the guard is of the most foul and unholy type – A Dark Naga, further transformed and empowered by Vampirism. The right of passage is relented, as the foe eventually flees before our adventurers, but not before the Naga dines richly on Aramil's precious blood, coming perilously close to taking his life altogether, and casting him down amongst the undead for all eternity.

Once again, Roderick mends the wounds of battle, replenishing vital energies lost to the fleeing Naga. The effort of so much conflict is beginning to show, both in combatants and spellcasters, but the stalwart group continues on, certain their quest nears its end.

As the group enters the next chamber not far off, Roderick immediately recognizes the single dominant occupant of the room – a grim statue of a rather husky woman, now evident to be a dwarf, which he had seen in his vision a few days earlier. Clearly, they were still on the right path, and things were coming to a close. Moving through this temple-beneath-a-temple, two of the inhabitants are soon stumbled upon. A pair of Duergar, a foul dwarven sub-race, are discovered hotly arguing some unknown topic. Caught unawares, they are quickly dispatched by Aramil's flashing blades. In the quiet following the conflict, the unmistakable sound of metal on metal echoes through the temple. Somewhere near, a smith is hard at work. Taking a moment to listen, it is clear this is no ordinary smithing underway – the temple shudders slightly at the fall of each blow…

Following the tremendous din, A massive, unholy forge is discovered, and the final, terrible reason for all that has come to pass becomes apparent. A Fire Giant stands at the far end of the hall, lustily staring at that which he has payed dearly to attain – A giant greatsword, being furiously worked by three duergar smiths, the foremost of which is dealing tremendous blows to the length of the red-hot blade with a flaming hammer while the lesser smiths temper the blade in fresh human blood, taken from prisoners held nearby. At the head of the table stand two drow, busily weaving complex enchantments over the weapon, curing the blood and death and fire into that which the Giant has sought-

A man-bane sword, worthy of his power and rancor against his ancestors' destroyers.

Battle is joined. The drow take the earliest opportunity to mystically escape, linking hands and disappearing in an instant. The lesser smiths, not prepared for the might of the heroes, fall quickly. The master smith, however, is of sterner stuff, and joins the conflict in earnest as the giant draws his own blade and leaps at his cursed enemies. The power of the giant is tremendous, and were it not for the powerful magics of Roderick and Ihmotep bolstering their abilities and bodies, the day would have almost certainly gone against the heroes. Twice our heroes hung at the brink of the realm of death only to be swiftly brought by by the clerics mighty spells. This was the telling factor, and is tipped the scale against evil this day. While Orin and Vincent brought about the demise of the Duergar master smith, Aramil took the life of Engar Firebrow, ending, once and for all, the menace of the fire giants of Devil's Forge.

Treasure, by encounter:

1st encounter: Dervish, Sly, and the ogre gang.

• Ogre sized +2 splint mail
• Large +2 spiked chain
• Potion of bull's strength
• chest containing 3000sp
• (Vincent will eventually find the 300pp hidden in the bottom, right?)
• 3 casks of fine wine, 150gp each
• Sly escaped, none of his gear was captured

–2nd encounter: Cleric Specter

• No treasure

–3rd encounter: Vampire Dark Naga

• Naga escaped, no treasure captured

–4th encounter: Duergar lord & cleric

• Dwarf sized +2 half plate
• +2 small steel shield
• +2 battle axe
• 1000 gp jewelry (mark of rank)
• Dwarf sized +1 banded mail
• +1 small steel shield
• +3 warhammer
• 1000 gp jewelry (holy symbol)

–5th encounter: Engar, Duergar smiths and Drow enchanters

• Nearly complete giant sized man-bane +3 greatsword
• Giant sized +2 epic flaming (+2d6 fire) greatsword
• +3 giant sized chain shirt
• 700 sp
• 1100 gp
• 675 pp
• 7x 50gp gems (bloodstones)
• 2x 100gp gems (spinels)
• 3x 500gp gems (rubies)
• Dwarf sized +3 banded mail
• +2 flaming unholy warhammer
• Locking gauntlets of ogre power
• 2x dwarf sized +1 banded mail
• 2x +1 shield
• 2x +2 warhammer
• Drow enchanters escaped, no treasure captured.

XP awarded: 2,500 for Roderick and Vincent; 1,800 for Aramil.