Dramatis Personae:
- The Paladin of St. Faruin - Alsuna of Vlamesht, Bulwark and Vanguard - Played by Sophia
- The Shaman - Cathpailu, Spirit Whisperer and Druid - Played by Andrea
- The Mage - Arash Sehat, Arcanist and Elementalist - Played by Jonathan
- The Dwarven Craftpriest - Thorel, Reclaimer and Dwarven Craft-Catechist - Played by Christopher
- The Elven Spellsword - Triandal Krisna, Dreadsword and Arcanist-Guardian - Played by Nathaniel
- The Cleric - Brother Mikko, Catechist and Mendicant - Played by PJ
- The Barbarian - Belaye Bsrat, Hunter and Pit Fighter - Played by PJ
When last we left our heroes...
The last thing any of you remembered was being dragged into the void. Then, darkness, and the utter and unfeeling cold of the gnawing emptiness outside the world. And then you fell into forgetfulness for a long time...
When you finally come to, you find yourself in a tavern. At first, it seems normal enough, until you really start to look more closely at your surroundings. You find that everything is just a little off. The furniture has not been made with any reference for size or scale, tables are leaning at odd angles which make it almost impossible set food or drink on them, and the wait staff are bad approximations of humanoids, but where their heads should be, there are only gaping maws and 1-4 eyestalks turning every which way.
Perhaps strangest of all, there is a massive hole in the middle of the room, which everyone more or less ignores, even as they move around it.
At this point, the Maitre D' approaches you, a very tall, shifting figure, with four eyestalks branching off of its misshapen head, which itself is just a large central eye and a gaping maw. "WELCOME TO THE PLEASURE REALM OF TIXENZINTRAN THE ALL-SEEING!" he says. "WE HAVE AN EXCITING MENU PLANNED FOR THE NIGHT... YOU!" The figure then proceeds to tell you the specials for the day: "TRANSMOGRIFICATION, DISMEMBERMENT, MADNESS, AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE, DESPAIR."
---
The party decided that they wanted to have nothing to do with this, and, after introducing themselves to each other, began to try to find a way to escape. After investigating their surroundings, they find that the hole in the center of the room is in fact the stone mouth of a well. Brother Mikko investigates it, and, after descending a few feet on a rope held by Alsuna, finds that it drops 15' feet into a chamber below, which is laid out like a giant, life-sized chess board. One by one, the members of the newly formed party dropped down, and in the process, triggered the pieces on the chess board to come alive and attack them.
Quickly, the companions realized that the chess pieces were limited to movement according to the rules of chess, and were able to adjust their movements accordingly. Arash was dropped by the attack of one of the Black Knights, but was revived by the healing hands of Alsuna and stood up with 1 HP (thanks to a very good roll on the Mortal Wounds Table). He cast Burning Hands, destroying the Black King, and deactivating all of the other Black pieces in the process. Realizing this, Cathpailu commanded her spirit animal, a young panther, to attack and kill the White King, deactivating the remaining pieces. The party was then able to make their way safely across the board and through a tunnel to the south.
This tunnel opened up onto a rickety rope bridge spanning a yawning chasm. As the party stepped foot on it, a Kobold appeared at a nearby ledge and began yelling angrily at them. Brother Mikko decided to run across the bridge at full speed as the Kobolds began to prepare some kind of incendiary devices, but lost his balance and fell into the chasm and was lost. As the rest of the party crossed, more carefully, Triandal set off the Kobold incendiary devices with a well-aimed arrow, starting a chain reaction that destroyed the band of kobolds, and the party made it safely to the other side.
In the next chamber to the south, the companions met Belaye Bsrat (PJ's next character), a former gladiator who had also been kidnapped and taken to Tixelzintran's realm. In the room they found a trio of statues that had been carefully dressed in real armor and armed with real swords. One of the statues (according to Alsuna's sense for these things) had been equipped with armor and weapons that were cursed or evil in some way. The party decided to leave the statues alone.
The tunnel continued to the south, where they could hear the sound of rushing water, but there was also a door to the east. After examining the latter, and hearing nothing and finding no traps, Triandal decided to cautiously push it open, revealing a well-appointed banquet hall with a sumptuous feast laid out. Although Alsuna could tell there was nothing evil/chaotic about the meal, she was still deeply distrustful, but some of the other party members sampled the food, and found that doing so healed their wounds from the fight with the chessmen. There was also some magical rum in a gorgeous crystal decanter. Arash sampled this and found that it granted him at least temporary control over the Undead (as a Potion of Control Undead).
Monsters defeated:
- 14 "living chessmen"
- 4 kobolds
Characters killed:
