Session 17 Recap & Experience Points Awards

The fierce combat had already taken a heavy toll on the Galjenkito chieftain, Mizlokk.  Badly wounded and with several of his troops already fallen, assumptions of victory had turned to hopes for survival.  The mighty ogrillion pinched a knob of hardened acacia sap from his belt pouch and snapped his leathery fingers.  The sap held a single eyelash—the critical component of the invisibility spell; it sizzled into nothing as Mizlokk vanished from the hilltop platform. 

There was no escape for Mizlokk’s charges, however.  Even as three more warriors finally pushed through the gusting wind to join the fray, the delay had proven decisive.  The remaining Galjenkito were still outnumbered, and would not have the benefit of their leader’s potent magic. 

One Galjenkito spellacaster did remain—Ryyu, cleric of the dark god Scaöl.  Already Ryyu’s entangle spell had sidelined the ranger Unagi, and as their hopes flickered the cleric’s mates surely hoped the furies of Scaöl could deliver still more wonders.  But this was not to be.  The cleric dropped to his knees before a shallow mikveh at the northwest edge of the platform and drank quickly of its contents, before spitting back out in disgust.  The toxic god’s waters would give no aid to this raider, and now the Galjenkitos’ lot grew even more desperate as the gnome Schlemeel blasted them with burning hands and the elf Greyndalf unleased a fireball into their ranks. 

Despair turned further to hopelessness as the dwarf Jowdain and the knight Markos Gramartini sank their blades into wounded Galjenkito fighters.  At last, in the fight’s dying moments did the cleric Gambol call to the remaining Galjenkito warrior to “surrender, and we will spare you.”  Given this choice between certain death and the possibility of mercy, the foe instantly lowered his weapon.  The ranger Unagi tapped the company’s rod of rusting to the blade and saw it crumble into a fine red grist, and the rage of battle had ended. 

At least it should have.  Across the platform, Markos Gramartini’s remaining associate still labored under Mizlokk’s enchantment.  The charm spell had turned the knight’s longsword upon his allies several moments earlier, and already he’d stung his blade into Jowdain twice and carried on with the internecine attacks.  “Control your man,” the mage Greyndalf demanded of Markos Gramartini, “or we’ll be forced to kill him.”  But the armored captain stood dumbfounded as the charmed warrior persisted in his assault.

Finally the barbarian Nomak ended the threat, taking hold of the charmed cavalier and throwing him into the shallow mikveh at the northwest edge of the platform.  He emerged seconds later, seeming fully rid of his enchantment.  But that was not all, for the company also noticed that immersion in the small pool had restored the man to perfect health.

Markos Gramartini’s survival had perhaps not fully matched with the company’s intentions, and yet there he stood—and even one of his men.  Mizlokk remained on the run, however, undetectable even to the haw Unagi.  Catching the Galjenkito leader was glorious work—and, at Greyndalf’s suggestion, the Gramartini Ranger captain readily acknowledged that it best be left in his capable hands.   

A swift interrogation of the surrendered Galjenkito ensued.  His group had come north from the Zind Desolation.  They had attacked the shrine in pursuit of “the diary,” he explained, a mission they had undertaken on behalf of another.  Yet the prisoner refused to reveal the name of his patron.  “Kill me if you must,” the ogrillion offered.  “There is no punishment you can inflict on me that our master cannot exceed.” 

Unable to make further progress with the ogrillion, the company turned its attention to the magic pool.  Their brief experimentation proved most unfortunate for the anarchistic mage Greyndalf, who became instantly nauseous.  Yet his comrades of most orderly proclivities found the waters revitalizing and purifying.  Those having steered a middle path between the harmonious and the disorderly found the pool inert, experiencing neither its beneficial nor malignant effects.

Finally the company moved into the shrine, where they found the Galjenkito to have beaten the solitary cleric Sil-Hurk and chained him to a pillar.  He hung in the midst of his badly ravaged shrine—alive, if barely.  When the party freed him, Sil-Hurk went directly for a bathe in the restorative pool before indulging all of the adventurers’ questions fully.  Cabantha, he explained, was a devious old witch—an “illusionist,” he called her, a practitioner of “false magic.”  He blamed her for the corrupted animals in the region.  Kyzagone Rakke, the ogre mage warlord whom the company sought on the urging of the Quilderran, was nothing but an “overgrown pine goblin” who could be found along the Voo River to the southeast.  The Encrod were an “accursed people” who carried misfortunate with them, and he raged at the deceased cleric Kathmyal for bringing the burden of her people to his very doorstep.

Probably Sil-Hurk’s greatest story came forth once he was asked of the ancient vampire Dombasson, however.  Here was the harrowed tale of a ship’s boy from the Jagged Coast.  According to the boy, who visited Sil-Hurk many years later, the vampire Dombasson had prevailed upon his captain to provide passage for Azwyr Nogaak—a foreboding ice mountain north of the Jagged Coast.  The captain sent the boy ashore with Dombasson’s diary, and was never heard from again.  The boy had left the diary with Sil-Hurk, who readily shared it with the company—perhaps eager to be rid of the text after the visit from Mizlokk’s crew.   

Having rescued the cleric Sil-Hurk, freed the shrine of the Galjenkito, and obtained the Diary of Dombasson, the party has completed Chapter 2 of the Curse of Xiogru campaign.

The company weathered the night at the Shrine of Sil-Hurk, resting to regather their strength as the cleric also relieved Greyndalf of his nausea.  “Only those of the purest heart and deepest integrity will find rejuvenation in the pool,” he scolded the mage.  “Just as pain shall be the wage of dishonesty and treachery.”

The company was off the next afternoon for the southern pass, where they soon came upon the headwaters of the fast-flowing Voo River.  Following its flow several miles to south, the party soon came upon a stone bridge.  There, four lackadaisical pine goblins sat, guarding either the bridge or a row of burlap sacks lined upon it.  But all four scampered quickly for high ground as Greyndalf stood in the shadow of the nearest mountain and called the illusion of a roaring wave from far upstream. 

At this, the gnome Schlemeel dashed with the half-orc Onog to inspect the burlap sacks, but were disappointed to find them stuffed only with rice, grain, and millet.  So the party left them, and moved onward along the Voo River.  Yet only moments later, the skies darkened above as the shapes of three winged lizards—stingless wyverns, or “dugaar”—swept down to attack, each bearing a pine goblin rider.

The party defeated the dugaar attack without great difficulty.  First, a blindness spell greatly hampered one of the dugaar’s movements, limiting its effectiveness and allowing the company to concentrate on the remaining two.  Greyndalf’s scorching ray knocked another from the sky, and Jowdain—given the gift of flight with a fly spell—mercilessly slashed another with his great axe.  Within moments, all of the pine goblin riders were dead, and the party listened to the Voo River rush over rocks and rapids as one wounded dugaar limped off into the wilderness.  

The eastern rapids couldn’t be far now.  But as the twilight faded to perfect night, the barbarian Nomak stepped to the fore of the company with unexpected news.  “It has been good to travel with you this far,” the eastern warrior declared.  “But my business remains at Sil-Hurk’s temple.  Seek me there, should you have further need of my services.”

Adventure Notes:

·       Diary of Dombasson.  The Salomirak priest Sil-Hurk gave you an old diary he claims was written by the vampire Dombasson and brought to the temple by a man who had seen an old sea captain take Dombasson to a mountain of ice north of “the jagged coast.”  Holding the diary may be dangerous, however, as evidently someone sent Mizlokk and his Galjenkito raiders to obtain it.

·       The Mikveh of Sil-Hurk.  A small ritual pool outside the Shrine of Sil-Hurk provides restoration for those of lawful bearing, while afflicting deleterious conditions on those bending to the ways of chaos. 

Experience Points & Inspiration 

DM’s experience award moderation note: In this campaign, experience points are awarded for overcoming obstacles, solving problems, and achieving goals.  Although experience points are typically awarded for defeating adversaries, note that an adversary need not necessarily be killed to earn those points if the adversary can be defeated in another way.  Experience points are earned collectively and then divided among the player-characters.  In addition to experience points, players can earn inspiration for creativity, superior tactics, and especially strong role-playing.

The company completed the battle with Mizlokk, Ryyu, and eight orgillion warriors at the Shrine of Sil-Hurk.  Experience points for three of the defeated warriors were awarded in the previous recap, leaving 3,050 XP to be awarded in this session.  These XP are divided between the seven player characters and Markos Gramartini (whose only surviving lieutenant was charmed, and thus did not exactly aid the company in the battle).  This totals 381.25 per character, which we can round up to 382 each.

After leaving the Shrine, the company ventured southeast and encountered four seemingly harmless pine goblins, before enduring an attack from above by three pine goblins on dugaar mounts.  The company is awarded 1,425 XP for defeating these assailants, divided solely among the player characters for (203.57 rounded up to) 204 apiece.

The company is then awarded experience for the following accomplishments:

·      Reclaiming Shrine of Sil-Hurk and rescuing the cleric, 2,000 XP

·      Obtaining Diary of Dombasson, 250 XP;

·      Non-disastrous experimentation with the Mikveh of Sil-Hurk, 100 XP;

·      Persuading Markos Gramartini to pursue the fleeing Mizlokk, 100 XP;

·      Reaching the Voo River Bridge, 50 XP.

This portion of experience points is divided among the player characters only, with a half-share to Nomak (who is more-or-less an NPC at this point).  This comes out to 192.31 per half-share, which we can round up to 193 XP—meaning 193 XP for Nomak and 386 XP for each of the other PCs.

Again the adventure gods took much delight from this session of adventurous play.  But they were particularly impressed with the fidelity shown to Gambol’s violence-minimizing tendencies even while Gambol’s ordinary consciousness was delayed in arriving.  In a bit of a twist, therefore, Gambol is assigned one point of inspiration, which Gambol may award to any other character of his choice.

Final Session 17 totals:

·      Jowdain acquitted himself well in battle, garnering 894 XP.

·      Gambol pleased his deity and is rewarded with 894 XP.  Gambol is also assigned one point of inspiration, which he must award to a different character at the outset of Session 18.

·       Greyndalf remained a cunning and resourceful (and mostly naked) adversary, earning 894 XP.

·      Schlemeel still don’t give a f*k, but he picked up 894 XP.

·      Onog played it cold as ice, and acquired 894 XP.

·      Unagi looked fresh as ever and gained 894 XP.

·      Nomak contained his rage, and is enhanced by 701 XP.