Divide and Conquer

Both fortunately and unfortunately, Hydra didn't need to decide.

Igan, Marcus, and Capricornium glanced down the abysmally dark cave to only get the shape of a few figures. Two appeared as armor-clad individuals and another as covered in robes. It wasn't until getting too close and hearing the Mummy exclaim to its Helmed Horror and Shield Defender to go after them. The two magi, not seeing their new ally Thokk behind them, blinked out, leaving Igan to face the artificial bodyguards by himself.

Down the left pathway, Turbulence and Thokk pushed on. Thokk thought he heard a sound down a corridor to the left. After looking to the left, an arrow nearly missed his shoulder as the Hobgoblins in hiding quickly whistled multiple times and retreated. Turbulence felt he needed to get closer and ran down to fight, Thokk close behind with his go-to spells. As soon as they were close enough, another different set of whistles. Arrows suddenly ricochet off the walls behind Thokk and Turbulence.

Igan summed up his opposition, seen them advancing very fast on his position, realized his isolation, and then ran toward Terrent and Hydra. He must've been a little overambitious as he ran past Hydra and toward the Pyramid. Hydra followed. Terrent set his lantern down and hid in the shadows, waiting for the enemies. In the dim glow of the right passage he saw the two armored beasts.

Thokk and Turbulence knew they would be surrounded and possibly overwhelmed if they stayed put. Both ran back toward when they believed Terrent and Hydra would be. Thokk was able to run back to the fork first, and instead of seeing Terrent and Hydra, he sees two menacing pieces of armor blocking the 'right' passage. He continued running (past the hidden Terrent) and finally met up with Igan and Hydra in the Pyramid. Turbulence, who would've been faster, just had to get another Ki-Strike in on the meanest looking Plated Hobgoblin. When he finally retreated, he has an army of Hobgoblins on his heels. When the three groups met at the fork, The Shield Defender made the first move and destroyed a Hobgoblin ... but was in turn destroyed in a single blow by the Plated Hobgoblin. Terrent got a pot shot off on a Hobgoblin captain and retreated to the shadows again and started setting up his trap. As the ball bearings rolled across the floor Terrent had the notion of taking the fleet on single-handedly. Strengthening his magical armor and floating to the skies, he then cast Protection from Evil. Nearly all of the Hobgoblins missed, all except for the Warlord who dealt a deep penetrating lacerations to the wind genasi. Terrent poured oil on over the ball bearings and hid in the shadows and waited for the first stage of his trap.

Turbulence needed to retreat now, and he flipped and bounced off the cave walls toward the pyramid. The Hobgoblins in pursuit slipped on the ball bearings. Tennet used this opportunity to light them on fire and escape down the hall guided only by a candle. After the team was all together in the pyramid, Igan Arcane Locked the door. After a few hours of beating on the door the Hobgoblins left. Resting sufficiently, the group left the pyramid again. At the fork was a message by the Hobgoblins: 23 Cynidecean heads on pikes and the writing in their blood to try to stop them.

Thokk casted Invisibility on himself and decided to go off on his own while the rest decided what to do. The trap door opened beneath him, and dropped him 7 stories and into a cage. The rest of the group advanced after a 5 minute delay and they too sprung a trap door. Fortunately, all except Igan were quick enough to be safe. Igan also tumbled down 7 stories and into a cage.

-----Player Info-----

Due to the Dublin Irish Festival I'm a little behind...

You're all level 5 ... I'll get real XP next time.

Enter the Caves

---PAGES MISSING IN THE MANUSCRIPTS---

... Thokk quickly collected the bone fragments from the nine skeleton guards as Turbulence took the lead. He wasn't in favor of Marcus and Capricornium leading even if they "knew" the way to their home. Of course, other than that minor adjustment to their line-up, nothing much changed. It's difficult to break old habits and everyone who needs to breathe and knows what Hydra can do, tends to favor following as opposed to leading.

It wasn't even a hundred feet into the caves leading to the Lost City before Turbulence recognized a Water Elemental blocking the only path. He quickly turned to let the rest of the group know, but didn't turn back quite quick enough to find himself swimming where he once was standing. Not only him, but the two young magi found themselves face to ... The battle went quiet as expected for the lost crew and additional magic support. Volleys of fire, ice, energy, force, and Hydra even healed the creature once. Igan, Turbulence and Terrent each found themselves floating and churned about inside of their primary target. The bout ended anti-climatically with a small splash.

The group interrogated the two casters they picked up along the way to see if any details slipped their minds about the hazards they may experience, but this only seemed to deplete Turbulence's already low trust in the two. The first fork in the road, when the two said "Right", Turbulence went left. To be fair, he was followed by Thokk, though it's still uncertain whether he wanted to help him or collect his bones after his demise. Igan, wanted access to a teleportation circle went right and Terrent looked toward Hydra to make his decision right after her.

-Player Info-
Hydra - 6,372
Igan - 6,419
Terrent - 6,492
Thokk - 6,435
Turbulence - 6,407

A New Face Joins the Fray

To continue with our story, we must first go back to the desert outside. Unlike the four Genasi that found each other for refuge, a Half-Orc Hermit by the name of Thokk Sula. He faced the same dangers as the other four, but alone, as the hermit he is. He was as the point of exhaustion when he found the ruined walls of the city. Reinvigorated with a new strength he quickly follow the only signs of life he's seen in over a week, a group of five men wearing long robes and frog masks. Into the pyramid he went, but always a few steps behind. He entered a room with three large bronze cylinders that ran from ceiling to floor. Opening the center tube he gazed down the ladder at the head of one of the Frog-clad men.

The four Genasi meanwhile, were preparing to reenter the storeroom with the Giant Fire Beetles. As Turbulence opened the door, he sees five Cynidicean men each adorned with Frog masks and long flowing capes. One sees the light of his torch and give a hearty battle cry and throws a spear ad the door. Turbulence, in a desire not to be wounded, allows the Cynidicean the privilege of hitting the door. Turbulence barges through the door to rush upon his new foe. Thokk decides that now is the time to act as he falls on the Cynidicean at the foot of the ladder sending him to the ground. His impulsive behavior quickly results in him being surrounded by three of the men and being sliced by their swords. One of the Cynidicean seemed   Terrent jolts in and fires a shot crushing through the wooden mask and skull in one shot. Hydra wounded one and Igan fired Magic Missiles killing two of the of their enemies. Terrent kills one of the two remaining Cynidiceans while Turbulence, wanting to get information, simply knocks the crazed looking survivor out.

While Hydra and Igan are interested in meeting their silvery Half-Orc accomplice, Terrent leaves Turbulence to loot the bodies while he investigates the unusual brickwork in the hallway. After removing the masks, the group finds the Cynidiceans to be very pale, very thin, humans with red eyes. The living Cynidicean that Turbulence and Thokk tied to ladder's eyes looked as bloodshot as the deceased. The interrogation didn't prove fruitful as without the mask, their enemy shrieked and cried out "My face!". and when they put the mask back on he only croaked and ribbit-ed. Turbulence left to

Terrent used his time to discover a secret passage. The room was filled with seven Stirges. Turbulence, as always was first to enter through this passage. He quickly rushed in and faces his enemies head first and kills one. Terrent and Turbulence quickly found themselves surrounded. Following this, Hydra yelled "Terrent, hold your breath!" and suddenly released a fog of poison into the hallway with Terrent and the three Stirges that surrounded him. It was just enough time for Terrent to take a deep breath of the poison cloud deep into his lungs. He and the three Stirges fall to the ground. Igan speeds around the corner to kill one of the Stirges. The Stirges suck the life out of Turbulence as he too succumbs. Thokk launches darts of acid from his fingertips taking care of the remaining two Stirges. Igan tends to Terrent and Hydra to Turbulence. The team closes the secret door and beds down for the night to recover.

Thokk, who had first watch, wasn't content with waiting around. He also wanted to see the Sprites Igan taked about. He left the others asleep and headed down the hall and into the room with stacks of crates, but no Sprites. He did however find several fireworks still in good order. Before he made it bask to the room with the others, he heard ... silence. Instead of the screams of "My Face!" from the adjoining room. A peek revealed that there were five more Cynidiceans in Frog masks rescuing their friend. Thokk knew what he had to do, first he cracked the door, then he tossed in some fireworks, and then released a magical torrent of lightning into the room. After the smoke cleared he didn't see anyone, which clearly meant it worked.

The remainder of the night went smoothly and the group was fully recovered. The next morning, after Igan wrote down his dreams from the previous night, Turbulence led the group down the next hallway, past the stairs, and into a room with a dead hobgoblin. No indication of how he died, save a hole in his arm, the team gets ready to press on.

Player Information

Hydra: 145

Igan: 137

Terrent: 164

Thokk: 310

Turbulence: 172

Out of the Storms

(Begin play of TSR's The Lost City Module using Wizards of the Coast's 5e rules)

It was an unfortunate outcome for a very promising expedition. A caravan across the desert that once held the capital of a great nation also ended the lives of thousands of travelers, merchants, and military personnel. It was supposed to save a full third of a year, but greed proved to be the demise of a great contingent on the desert hills. The sole survivors of the devastation dealt by sandstorms, lightning, heat, thirst, hunger, anti-magic, and confusion were a strange group of four Genasi, one from each element: Turbulence, an Air Genasi noble trained in the discipline of martial arts; Igan, a Fire Genasi studied in many fields of knowledge including secreted arcane lore; Hydra, a Water Genasi Druid who is a renagade champion of the common people; and Lt. Terrent, an Earth Genasi and standard bearer to the late general.

Refuge from the heat came after finding the ruins of the ancient capital city and its great pyramid (capped with three strange statues). Once inside, Terrent searched for any traps that the passage might hold while Turbulence spiked the door open. Hydra, with the help of Turbulence and Igan, quickly furnished the group with water. Heading deeper into the pyramid revealed a strange room with three large brass cylinders. Terrent noticed three giant sleeping weasels in the dark room, but failed to notice the pressure plate he stepped on until it was too late. The team evacuated to the hallway to discuss what to do as the door shut behind them. Turbulence, after a time, impetuously ventured into the room letting the door shut behind him. He seen the Giant Weasels that Terrent saw, but all dead and in a different location. When he became dizzy, he quickly decided to stop breathing and levitate. After reopening and spiking this door, the others didn't see any threat. Terrent searched for traps on the middle cylinder while Turbulence discovered a trap door while opening the cylinder the the far right. This would've been disasterous had it not been for the Air Genasi's speed. One at a time the crew headed down a ladder discovered in the cylinder with only Hydra venturing up into one of the statues at the apex of the pyramid.

At the bottom of each of the cylinders was a Giant Fire Beetle lighting the derelict storage area, though they didn't seem too disturbed when Terrent was searching for traps. The Air Genasi, discontent with remaining stationary, chose a door and went. Terrent briefly paused the team when he noticed the brickwork on the southern wall was slightly askance. After marking the wall with borrowed chalk from the Fire Genasi, Turbulence presses on down the hall leaving the others to explore rooms. The first room was uneventful ... mainly bales of decomposing fabric. The next room housed a dozen playful Sprites. While these Sprites piqued Igan's interest, he later regretted his decision to try to document his surroundings. The practical jokes they played on him involved swapping the journal he was writing in with another, putting his spellbook in a mix of the fireworks found in the room, and complete nudity. Though the Earth Genasi would've preferred to stand his ground, Igon had enough. Closing the door behind them the the Sprites poured into the side hallway through a tiny hole in the wall. Turbulence, upon seeing the Sprites, decided that showing off his Pan Pipe talents were the best use of his time (and with an unending breath, he's practically a monster with circular breathing). The Sprites in full agreement decide that their good friend Igor should join them.

A (nearly) final practical joke of changing Igan's fiery animated red hair into that of a blonde bombshell, and Turbulence broke open the door to the end room of the hallway. Nearly stepping onto a Green Slime and Turbulence decided to fight slime with fire. The slime thrashed back and attached to his leg. Igon rapidly threw a Fiery Dart at the Green Slime. The Sprites "packed" Igon's Staff before disappearing in another crack in the walls. A little more fire and Turbulence and Igor dispatched the Green Slime. The team headed back to the Giant Fire Beetle room.

Player Information

Hydra - 213 XP

Igon - 239 XP

Terrent - 222 XP

Turbulence - 223 XP