frp

• Third Age, Year 1108
• 7 June - The group leaves Shiriki, heading for Baka. The rain stops.
• 10 June - Encounter with flying Slaad and Chaos minions

At the end of the last session, Bigby managed to successfully Charm the captured Chaos minion. However, his spell will last only eight hours. (I was charitable and gave him his new level instantly). Since the encounter happened at 22:15, this means the spell will expire around 6:00 on the morning of the 11th.

While the Chaos minions have the same stats as Blue Slaad, they appear in most respects to be men. However, all the party saw during the fight was head-to-toe plate armor. There is almost no uncovered skin (the only exception being a small amount at the front of the neck).

If the minion's helmet is removed, he will be seen to be a man. His features are those of the Baka tribesmen - with which the party has only passing familiarity. However, his skin is pale blue - as if the blood has left him due to exceptional cold. His lips are nearly black, and his eyes are a shimmering gray. Looking at his eyes causes a mild confusion effect - much like the giants that invaded Ohanzee (see Voyager #23). This is all because the enemy created these minions by imbuing warriors from Baka with Chaos and Shadow. (For more details, see the “Big Story” document - which I will hopefully write one of these days). Because of this origin, if the minion is killed, his body will emit a copious amount of shadow. None of the other minions died within sight of the party during the combat, so this phenomena was not noticed.

Despite Bigby's charm, the minion will attempt to summon a Slaad in the middle of the night. Without communication from his pal, Bigby, he must make certain assumptions. Chief among them is that Bigby would not mind a little summoned “help”. This attempt will be made at 3:30am. Luckily for the party, it will fail. However, it will summon a dark fog that will limit long range visibility when morning comes. This fog is laced with Shadow and is one of the many ways the enemy tracks the party.

Those on watch may notice a scrying effect (with a DC20 Intelligence Check). Dhersion is the most likely to notice - and is also the most likely to be the target (as the enemy is aware he possesses Matchitisiu's staff).

When morning comes, the party must find a way to extend Bigby's enchantment. As sunrise is at 5:23am, Roderick will not reasonably have his spells ready until 7am. (Not to mention that Roderick won't have had eight hours of rest until around 6:30). Thus, the party must find a way to extend the hold for at least one hour - probably two.

Without this, the Chaos minion will make every effort to escape as soon as the charm dissipates. While his Chaos Hammer ability will not have recharged, he still is able to use his other spell-like abilities (since they do not require verbal, somatic, or material components - per page 315 in the Monster Manual). Thus, even while bound, he can use Hold Person and Telekinesis at will! Note also that the ranges on both of these spells is quite large.

When Roderick is able to pray for his spells, the enemy will make another random substitution - like he did when Roderick was in the desert. (See Voyager #21). Like last time, it will be a 0-level spell (chosen at random from the 26 spells he can now cast). Replace the 4th one on his chosen list with “Detect Poison”. Note: This is the same replacement that occurred in the desert - and is likely to mess with Roderick's mind in a severe way…

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