Intro Text and Character Choices

[angle]

THE HIDDEN SHRINE OF TAMOCHAN

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Prologue: Part the First

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Your party is lost!

You should have never cut away from the roads and struck out into the trackless Olmanese marshes, but your mounted pursuers were closing in, and the trackless bogs seemed the only way to outpace the relentless pursuit.

Stumbling through the Azclan fens, you make for higher ground in the distance. As you cross a low ridge and enter a dense line of jungle, the sun sinks below the horizon. Strange trees and clinging vines block out the waning light of dusk.

Breathless, you drop to the ground, eager to catch precious minutes of rest after hours of flight. Gradually, the merciful cool of night steals over these searing tropical lands. The companions gaze at each other in grim silence:

Cair the Apprentice, a half-breed who is both magician and thief by trade, loathed by agents of either profession.

Myhrra the Disgraced, a banished agent of a stern god, declared a heretic by the orthodoxy of her church.

And Rhialle the Wanderer, the closest you have to a guide in the uncivilized Olman lands, both savage by birth and savage by trade.

Allies by necessity and circumstance, you three had hoped to find refuge from your troubles in the searing Southern wildlands. But at every stage of your journey, your steps have been dogged by relentless pursuers who will not be deterred from the grim exercise of their law.

Pursuers whose shouts and cries echo through the dimming jungle even now!



Next step - choose which of the three characters - Cair (1/2E M-U5/Th7), Myhrra (Hum C7), or Rhialle (Hum F6) - you'd like to play for the module. Please list your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice when responding.

Here are Stranger's choices, as I received them yesterday. As first to post, Stranger is now in Group Alpha!

Cair (1/2E M-U5/Th7) - 1
Myhrra (Hum C7) - 2
Rhialle (Hum F6) - 3

The Master's choices are in the same order -

Cair - 1
Myhrra - 2
Rhialle - 3

Looks like Master will take Cair, Stranger will take Mhyrra, and third to post will be placed in Group Alpha with Rhialle, unless their first choice is Myhrra.

[AxeMental]

I'd like to take Rhialle if someone else hasn't already taken it for group Alpha.

[angle]

Over the course of your flight, you have all had numerous mishaps and triumphs - enough to learn something of the mettle and cunning of your companions.

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Rhialle the Wanderer - (Axemental)
Brawny Olmanese Man

17 STR
09 INT
09 WIS
16 DEX
17 CON
15 CHA

AC 5 (Studded Leather)
HP 58
Move 12"

Melee: +1 hit/+1 dmg
Missile: +1 hit/+1 dmg
Special: -2 when attacking magic and magical beings, due to superstitious nature

Normal Weapons of Choice
Choice of most Basic Noncombat Equipment from PHB

Potion of Climbing (can be divided into smaller doses)
Keoghtom's Ointment. 5 doses left

Tinderbox
Torches
Water Flask
Salt

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Cair the Apprentice - (Master)
Wiry Flanessi Half-Elf

13 STR
12 INT
12 WIS
17 DEX
16 CON
10 CHA

AC 5 (Leather)
HP 43
Move: 12"

Melee: +0 hit/+0 dmg
Missile: +2 hit/+0 dmg
Special: Infravision 6", Detect Concealed Doors on Search 50%, Detect Secret Doors on Search 33%, and the rest of the basic half-elf package

Normal Thief Weapons of Choice
Choice of most Basic Noncombat Equipment from PHB
Thief's Tools
20' silk rope and grapple hook

Scroll Bandoleer - (5 spells on 5 scrolls) -
• Protection from Evil, 10' radius
• Locate Object
• Blink
• Fireball
• Monster Summoning II

Potion: Stone to Flesh

Spells Prepped:
Magic Missile, Light, Detect Magic
Knock, Strength
Haste

Spell List:
Magic Missile, Detect Magic, Light
Knock, Strength
Haste

Available Spells for Substitution: (you can duplicate spells from the existing list, or swap in spells from the following available list, up to your maximum allowance. Spells not already prepped and not listed in the substitution list are not available in your spellbook.)

1st: Burning Hands, Charm Person, Enlarge, Feather Fall, Hold Potral, Jump, Shield, Shocking Grasp, Unseen Servant, Ventriloquism
2nd: Darkness, Detect Invisible, Pyrotechnics, Rope Trick, Web
3rd: Blink, Fireball, Hold Person, Phantasmal Force, Water Breathing

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Myhrra the Disgraced - (Stranger)
Tall Suloisean Woman

15 STR
14 INT
16 WIS
11 DEX
16 CON
14 CHA

AC 4 (chain and shield)
HP 53
Move: 9"

Melee: +0 hit/+0 dmg
Missile: +0 hit/+0 dmg
Special: Turn Undead (Sk,Zm,Gh: Destroyed, Sh-Wg: Turn, Gt: 4, Wr: 7, Mu: 10, Sp: 13, Va: 16, Go: 20)

Normal Weapon of Choice
Choice of most Basic Noncombat Equipment from PHB
Holy Symbol (Wooden Rosewood Cross)
Silver Baton of Office
Garlic Buds

Wand of Secret Door and Trap Detection - 15 charges
Scroll Reliquary (5 spells on 5 scrolls)
• Silence, 15' radius
• Purify Food and Water
• Slow Poison
• Slow Poison
• Slow Poison

Spells Prepped:
Cure Light Wounds x2, Bless, Create Water, Command
Silence, Resist Fire, Hold Person, Snake Charm, Augury
Dispel Magic, Remove Curse
Neutralize Poison

Available Spells for Substitution: (you can duplicate spells from the existing list, or swap in spells from the following available list, up to your maximum allowance. Spells not already prepped and not listed in the substitution list are not available from your patron deity.)

1st: Detect Evil, Detect Magic, Protection from Evil, Remove Fear, Resist Cold
2nd: Spiritual Hammer, Detect Charm, Know Alignment, Speak With Animals
3rd: Create Food & Water, Cure Blindness, Cure Disease, Prayer, Speak With Dead
4th: Cure Serious Wounds, Lower Water, Dispel Magic

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Outfit the characters as desired with equipment and/or spells as allowed in the description. I'll be out of town till next Wednesday, and will return with the next stage of the intro then.

[The Master]

So it's me, axe and stranger.

[angle]

yes indeed, group alpha is in the house!

Continuing the intro...

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You scramble to your feet as the din draws closer, fearful of the keen sight of elvish hunters and the relentless drumming of the dwarven platoons whose axes make swift work of the dense rainforest you have sought refuge in. You force yourself into ever denser brush and vines, past barely-seen boulders of curious regularity that rise from the vine-choked ground. A full moon rises on your renewed flight, sending silvery beams and ghostly shadows flickering down through the branches. Impossible faces seems to mock and sneer from the dimming jungle around you, sinuous serpents and great crouching cats, till what seems a descent into madness at last resolves into monumental faces carved into antediluvian stones, choked with lianas and creepers! The strange monoliths grow denser, till at last you stumble between a narrow gap in the stones into a great clearing, feeling hard stone replace the yielding jungle soil underfoot!

Lo! Before you lies an ancient ruin, and beneath you the dense jungle floor has given way to broad flagstone boulevards and curving vine-draped pillars. A gigantic, timeworn pyramid dominates the ruined landscape, easily a furlong across, and half a furlong high, drawing your gaze to its steep stone terraces. After the oppressive gloom of the jungle, the crumbling ziggurat seems to nearly shine in the bright light of the waxing moon.

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OOC: stranger, master, last chance for alternate spell selection for myhrra and cair.

I will post the last introductory thread on Friday, and commence the module proper in a brand new thread.

[stranger]

Myhrra will arm herself with a footmans mace and a hammer. She will also take any of the following equipment she will be allowed.

Backpack
large pouch
large sack
6 iron spikes
small silver mirror
water skin {full}
50' of rope
bullseye lantern
3 flasks of oil

She will also stick with the preselected spells.

[AxeMental]

After a moment of shock at this spectacular site, Rhialle bares his teeth in a false grin expressing disbelief and a terrible since of doom at what looms ahead, "Huhhg....I fear the gods mock us Myhrra, we shall know no piece this night! It seems we might find a place to escape from those dogs that follow us, but to what greater dangers!" The fighter cetches his breath from the run and in a few moments is ready for action.


Rhialle carries a bastard sword,
compound long bow with 36 arrows and 12 silver arrows.
2 silver daggers (in boots)
hand axe.
A wooden shield


Backpack
large sack
2 small sacks
water skin (2) both full
50' rope
Flint and Steal
3 viles oil (2 made into bombs)
hooded lantern
10 torches
4 candles
50 foot spool of fishing line and 5 bone hooks
boots (high hard)
belt with pouches
sturdy walking stick
a weeks iron rations (if allowed)
a small bag of wheat flour

[The Master]

I pm'd my character, but here is a summary

3 daggers, 1 broadsword, 1 sling, 3 oil vials
Backpack, lantern, weeks rations, waterskin. Pouch
Thief's Tools
20' silk rope and grapple hook

Scroll Bandoleer - (5 spells on 5 scrolls) -
• Protection from Evil, 10' radius
• Locate Object
• Blink
• Fireball
• Monster Summoning II

Potion: Stone to Flesh

Spells Prepped:
Magic Missile, Charm Person, Detect Magic
Web, Darkness
Hold Person

Spell List:
Feather Fall, Shield, Hold Portal
Knock, Detect Invisible
Fireball

Made one last change, i had magic missile listed on both sheets.

[angle]

Rhialle's mighty lungs fill with air, and the warrior easily regains his wind as he regards the eerily familiar sight.

It is Myhrra, clad in links of chain mail, who moves slowest through the tropical muck, and Rhialle easily keeps pace in front of his companions along with Cair, whose sensitive half-elven eyes have led the companions through these trackless forests.

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Perhaps somewhere among the broken boulevards of this forgotten city, a hidden shelter can be found- or failing that- a place to make a desperate stand against your demi-human hunters from the high ground of the pyramid itself. With Rhialle in the lead, you tread carefully across cracked and unsteady flagstones, stepping over shattered pillars whose sides display the sinewy forms of animals carved in stark relief. A queer stone shape at the pyramid’s pinnacle resolves itself as you close upon the monument, giving the impression, at this distance, of membraneous wings spread wide from the toad-like body of a colossal stone bat.

You do not have long to dwell on the sight: Just then the haunting pipes of the elven scouts slice through the night air, followed by the bass notes of dwarven bugles in response. Gripping your weapons, you reach a courtyard of ruined fountains at the foot of the pyramid and face the forest from whence you emerged.

There! Silvery forms with slender bows flit through the forest gloom, calling with lilting voices that belie their cruel intent. And behind them, the blazing brass lanterns of the dwarves! But lo! A thunderous crack peals out from the heavens, drowning out the pipes, the bugles, even the drums themselves. You look at the sky in alarm, and for a precipitous moment the great stone statue of the bat seems to be tumbling from its perch above.

Then the earth shudders beneath your feet, betraying your balance and gaping wide in a jagged whirlpool of collapsing earth and stone. You fall, tumbling amidst masonry and earth, until the roar of sliding stone is all you can hear.

Dust fills the jungle air and the moonlight disappears as you are swallowed by the darkness below!

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To be continued!

[AxeMental]

Rhialle instinctively pulls his arms around his head protecting it from rocks while he tumbles down below.

[The Master]

Cair will tuck into a ball and try to roll with the fall.