the portal under the stars, part 3!

(we're just tearing our way through this module! if you want to read the start of it, go here. or, for what happened last time, try here!)

Judge Claire: Okay, yowzers, we've got our first first level characters of the game! Who's what?
Ariel: My characters are all still level 0.
MSG: Me too.
Elle: Ferze is now a cleric, Foxie's a warrior, and Likely's still an elf.
Hettie: Maurdine has chosen the path of wizardry, and Lune, larceny.
Sasha: A thief, huh? Sweet! As for my guys, I said last time.
Akane: This makes ... 3 clerics? Plus two of elves and one each warrior and thief?
Judge Claire: That's my count. Oh, and this may seem mean, but the spellcasters won't be able to use their spells until they've rested. Clerics can do their lay-on-hands right away, though. 
MSG: What's Klutz finding out at this door?
Sasha: Sheesh, in a hurry much?
MSG: Hey, for all we know, those crystal things are charging themselves up from that torch and will come at us hard or blow up in a hail of razor-sharp glass shrapnel any second now.
Akane: My characters find this convincing. We proceed to the door.
Judge Claire: It looks like a perfectly normal door.
MSG: I'm going to look around for anything that looks like it might blast fire or shoot spears at us for opening the door.
Judge Claire: No sign of anything like that.
Elle: Having reached first level, Likely now has her heightened elven senses, correct? I'll walk along the walls of the room in case there are secret doors I might notice just in passing. I won't get too near the crystal torch-huddle, though.
Judge Claire: You don't come across any secret doors.
Ariel: Okay ... let's get out of this place, then. The crystal creepies are giving me the heebie jeebies.
MSG: Klutz opens the door.
Judge Claire: Beyond, you see a long, narrow room with shelves along the walls. Another door is at the far end of the room. Two tables stretch most of the distance to the door. You see that their surfaces are covered with miniature clay soldiers in formation around tiny hills and buildings. More of the soldiers are on the shelves.
Ariel: Ooh! Is it a game? Do we know how to play?
MSG: More importantly, are the miniature soldiers worth anything?
Judge Claire: At a glance, they just look like clay carvings.
Sasha: How about at a look that's less glance-y?
Judge Claire: Are you going to take the time to search them? And is everyone leaving the room with the pool and the crystal creatures?
Ariel: Well, I think we've got some time to spare, because now that he's not in danger of getting french-fried anymore, I'd kinda like my scale mail back from Klutz.
MSG: Sure. I guess it looks safe enough to change in here.
Elle: My characters are all in the room now.
Hettie: Mine as well.
Sasha: In the room and searching. Somebody took a lot of time on these army guys -- maybe some of them are special.
Akane: My characters will enter also. Door closed!
Judge Claire: Roll a search, Sasha.
Sasha: Pff. 9.
Judge Claire: Any intelligence bonus?
Sasha: Nope.
Judge Claire: You don't find anything, then.
Sasha: Ouichre will try too. She gets an 11.
Judge Claire: Two of the little figures, you see, are made of silver instead of clay.
Sasha: Nice! I'll p- ... no, I guess I won't pocket them, since that's my lawful character. She'll show them to everybody and say we can sell them and split the cash when we get back to town.
Judge Claire: Anybody doing anything else? No? Then Klutz and Clover finish swapping armor.
MSG: All right, I'm back down to my lame 11 armor class, so if maybe one of you hulking first-levelers wants to open the door, I'll stand aside for you.
Elle: Foxie's a warrior now, so she can lead the way. All she's got is a handaxe, though. I took battleaxe for my first-level lucky weapon, if somebody wants to trade me.
Hettie: Curious coincidence that she happened to pick a weapon the other group found in the burial chamber.
Elle: It's not a coincidence -- it's luck. Did I not just say battleaxe is her lucky weapon?
Hettie: Touché -- although I don't suppose that's typically a word used in fights with battleaxes.
Akane: Limp Snakish will surrender his rusty battleaxe for a handaxe. The weight of it -- very heavy for him, really.
Elle: I shall open the door, then.
Judge Claire: A spiral staircase leads down into the darkness.
Elle: I follow it. Do we have a torch, by the way, now that we threw away that one to distract the crystal beings?
Sasha: Yeah, Zilda does. I guess she can be second or third.
Judge Claire: Second is probably better given the narrowness of the stairwell.
Sasha: Fine. Second.
Judge Claire: You descend several stories downward until the stairway ends at a door.
Elle: When everybody looks ready, I open it.
Judge Claire: Beyond, you find an enormous, brightly lit chamber. At the far end is a huge throne atop a raised dais. A carved clay figure on the throne resembles the fire-spewing statue from the level above. In front of the dais, at floor level stand seven more clay statues -- strangely, they're all missing their heads or have them bashed in.
Ariel: Seven bashed in ... hey! Did we do that smashing up those skulls earlier?
Judge Claire: You might want to wait to chat about that, because in addition to the warlord and his seven decapitated generals, you see that the center of the room is taken up by a shallow pit, about 4 or 5 feet deep, in which stand dozens and dozens and dozens of clay soldiers.
Ariel: Um -- are they the size of the ones from the game room upstairs?
Judge Claire: No. Human sized. The light, you see, is coming from a pulsating crystal globe above the throne. With a series of jerky movements, the clay warlord breaks the silence, rising to his feet and thrusting a hand out toward you in a commanding gesture. In response, you see the ranks of clay soldiers start to shift where they are standing.
Sasha: Let's get that guy! Zilda makes a run for the dude on the dais. I'll try to stay away from the edge of that pit. Can I make it in one round?
Judge Claire: No. The room is about 80 feet long, and we have to roll initiative before Zilda starts her run. Let's keep rolling by player, even for the first level characters. I don't want to have to keep track of more than 6 initiatives.
Ariel: 16 for me!
MSG: 8.
Elle: 11.
Hettie: 16 for my characters as well.
Sasha: 12.
Akane: It's a 4 for me, and only because of the very agile Quickly Tightrope having +3.
Judge Claire: Well, at least that wasn't an attack roll, or it would have been a fumble. Aers?
Ariel: I guess we'll all run for the warlord dude like Zilda said. Phill, Noseele and Tweeter can do 60 feet in a round if they're chugging hard. Clover can only go 50.
Hettie: Lune asks if someone can trade her a sling for one of her weapons. She'll average a lot more damage that way.
Akane: Snakish has one and is poor with it. No trade needed -- I have another weapon for fighting by hand..
Judge Claire: Okay, those two characters take their turn on the stairs for the handoff, since Lune will need the ammo, not just the sling.
Hettie: Maudine runs after Ariel's coterie, then, and Feralia as well, though she can only manage 40 feet a turn even moving twice.
Judge Claire: Okay, so lined up along the right side of the room, in this order, are Phill, Tweeter, Noseele, Maudine, Clover, then an open space, then Feralia.
Sasha: I guess Zilda runs up into that open space in front of Feralia. My other two guys will run to the other side so we're not all tripping over each other too much.
Judge Claire: Elle?
Elle: Ferze has a sling, so if he gets inside the room, he's within 80 feet of the general, right? I'll take a shot at him. I'm minus 2 for range but plus 2 for agility. 16.
Judge Claire: You hit!
Elle: One point of damage. Foxie follows Sasha's characters toward the left side of the room. Likely Bi-tit is going to try to defy her name by hiding out in the stairwell. Argyr Ironskin is slow too. He'll hang out by Ferze to defend her if any statues come near.
Judge Claire: Klutz's turn, then.
MSG: Same as Foxie.
Judge Claire: The clay soldiers are starting to mill about, but kind of directionless-ly. Akane, your characters can go.
Akane: Three will move out of these stairs to defend our slinger also. Limp Snakish is still exchanging with Lune.
Judge Claire: It's a new round, then. Ariel? Your three lead characters are close enough to get into melee combat with the warlord.
Ariel: Let's do it, then! Phill pitchforks it with -- ugh, 7. Oh, and -2 for my bad strength. I can see from your face that's for sure a miss. Tweeter daggers with a 17, though! Hff. One point of damage just like Ferze. Okay, come on Noseele ... dagger! Noooo! I fumble. My fumbly roll is 2.
Judge Claire: You trip. Make a Reflex save of 10 or you're prone next round.
Ariel: 10 exactly!
Hettie: I'm next? Lune comes out firing with her sling. She misses wildly. Maudine rushes the warlord and pitchforks it -- 5 to hit. Feralia tries to get closer to the melee with a double move.
Sasha: I probably have to double-move this turn too, right?
Judge Claire: Yes. Zilda can get to melee range this turn with a double-move. Your other characters will be within a single move when their next turn starts. Elle?
Elle: Ferze is going to move 30 feet closer along the right side and then shoot her sling. Whew! 13 hits, right?
Judge Claire: Right.
Elle: Annd another 1 point of damage. Foxie and Argyr repeat their strategies from last round.
MSG: Ditto for Klutz.
Akane: Limp Snakish will move to protect Lune. My other characters, to protect Ferze.
Judge Claire: It's the warlord's turn! He attacks Noseele! 18 to hit. 6 points of damage. Sorry about that.
Ariel: I really liked her name, too! But I guess the silver lining is as long as at least one person dies, we get better experience for the fight, right?
Judge Claire: Right. The clay army within the pit begins moving with a little more direction. Some of the ones nearest the edges begin climbing up.
Ariel: Eek! All right, Phill pitchforks with a 10! Urgh, but he's so weak that makes it an 8. Tweeter stabs and misses. Clover moves up where Noseele was ... poor Noseele! Take this shovel to the face, clay-guy! Wham, 17! 5 points!
Hettie: Maudine jabs it with her pitchfork ... assuming it's still alive.
Judge Claire: It is. Well, I mean it's still animated, anyway. I don't know that it was ever alive.
Hettie: Well, whatever it is, it still is, because I roll a 4. If Feralia is close enough, she's going to throw a handaxe at the warlord.
Judge Claire: She's close enough, but remember the friendly fire rules.
Hettie: I roll a 17, so we're good.
Judge Claire: Even 1 hit point of damage destroys the clay effigy. With its destruction, the remaining statues lose their vitality, freezing in place wherever they stood, or toppling if they were off balance when the warlord died.
Ariel: Woohoo! Go, Hettie!
Hettie: The power of a halfling handaxe. I'll retrieve it, naturally.
Judge Claire: That battle wasn't so tough, really, but Noseele's death kicks it up to 3 experience points for the survivors.
Ariel: Yay! Time to level up!
MSG: I think that goes for everybody, at this point. Unless Likely gets docked for hiding on the stairs.
Elle: I'm fine with that; I've already leveled up.
Judge Claire: One point to Likely for prudence. Elves, give me a secret door roll to see if you spot something on your way to or once you reach the dais.
Elle: Lune gets a 14.
Hettie: 16 for Ouichre.
Akane: Dwimmerlet, 11.
Judge Claire: Lune and Ouichre spot an odd bit of paneling on the wall behind the throne. It's a secret door.
Elle: I'll bow to Ouichre's sharper eye.
Judge Claire: In a chamber beyond the door, you find a bronze rod engraved with half of a demon's face. The workmanship is wondrous. It must be worth a small fortune. There's also a copper brazier worth 10 gp, a suit of scale mail, a tome of some sort, and a variety of weapons: a longsword, a longbow with 40 arrows, a mace, a spear, a battle axe, a dagger, and a hand axe.
Ariel: How should we split it up?
MSG: First things first, I think we need to figure out which characters we're going to keep and play -- assuming this wasn't just a one-shot. No point handing stuff out to the cannon fodder.
Akane: But -- we are still in the dungeon! Is this prematurity? There could be more perils.
Judge Claire: We can call this one a wrap, I think -- unless someone's dying to go kill those crystal things or swim in the pool. As for continuing on, I'm game to. But I'd like us to get a little farther in Akane's campaign before we switch off again. I'll need some time to pick out a module and read up on it.
Ariel: I'm obviously going to level up Clover. Tweeter and Phill both kind of suck. Sorry, Phill.
MSG: I don't have many options.
Elle: You might be able to convince someone to give you one of their castoffs. I've got no use for Argyr, for instance.
Hettie: Feralia is not a bad character, if you ask me. I'll definitely be playing Lune in any further adventures.
Sasha: Henna doesn't totally suck. Ouichre rolled some shit spells and has a -2 mod for strength.
Akane: I don't know which character to pick ... Quickly, so agile, but his hit points, so infirm. Tuff Cheese has substantial in hit points, but his stats except in stamina disappoint. You can have the one I abandon. Probably you don't want Dwimmerlet or Limp Snakish; both are clumsy and unbrainful.
MSG: I really like halflings in this game, so I'll take you up on Feralia, Het. Thanks!
Hettie: You are thoroughly welcome.
Sasha: If I was you, Akane, I'd level up Quickly and Tuff both, and see which one's better after you roll their hit points and other stuff.
Akane: Intelligent! Thank you, Sasha!
Judge Claire: Okey doke! Well, you've got the list of loot and you've got characters to level up, so let's shut down here and next time we meet back up, maybe we'll get into that black tower in Akane's ruined town!