Tarsakh 7

Tarsakh 7, 1370:
    High = 50, Low = 30
    No precipitation
    Wind gusting to 18 mph from the prevailing direction.
    Partly cloudy.
    
    The current story running about town:

WATERDEEP: Dharjamyn Thauntle has collected "pretty rocks" for years, buying "stones from afar" from caravan masters. A short, stout citizen of respectable years, Thauntle says he can no longer swing a pick with "sureness," nor scramble up the brigand-haunted tors and cliffs within a halfday ride of the city. So he has turned to scaling the slopes of Mount Waterdeep despite City Guard disapproval. Somewhere thereon, before sunset yestereve, he split a rock along a "soft streak" and found that it held six rubies of worthy size. Local gemcutters scoff at Thauntle's tale, but a nameless one of them purchased his stones this morn. Horthan Hethdance of the Guard warns that citizens who "tear apart the mountainside looking for gems or anything else" can expect "arrest, at the very least!" The cobbler's shop, Thauntle's Good Heels and Soles, stands on the north side of Olaim's Cut. © Ed Greenwood

    Ag, Brogan, Darius, Denyae, Deringa, Dexter, Henkles, Maanamere,
    Steve, Staric, Tristan, And Mrap-M'rap headed into
    Undermountain. 11gp from party treasure.

    Ag to 19 DEX
    Brogan cast Blessed Watchfulness on Ag
    Henkles & Maanamere STR to 18/00 (Tristan)
    Dexter +4 STR (18/20) for 8 hrs (Darius)
    Denyae +5 STR (18/30) for 9 hrs (Darius)

    Marching Order for the Day
             Ag  Henkles
          Steve  Tristan
             Darius
         Dexter  Staric
             Denyae
             Deringa
      Maanamere  Brogan

    The goal of the day was to try their luck in the metal web room
    that they first recovered loot from on Marpenoth 26th, 1369, so
    they headed in that direction after exploring their way around the
    Null Magic room.

    Along the way, the party encountered a group of hobgoblins who
    used a deadfall to drop lots of rocks on the party before
    attacking.  It wasn't enough.
      315xp to Ag, Brogan, Darius, Denyae, Deringa, Dexter, Henkles,
        Maanamere, Steve, Staric, and Tristan for 9 hobgoblins.

    Searching the bodies recovered the following:
      27cp, 16sp, 7ep, 9 Toals
      6 comp short bows
      buncha arrows (27)
      6 spears
      1 pot sleep poison (ok for 1 week, 2rnd onset 5-10 rnd dur)
      3 10gp Satin Spars (Ornamental)
      1 45gp Corstal (Ornamental)
      4 10gp Banded Agates (Ornamental)
    

    The party made their way without further incident to the metal web
    room.  They sent Ag into the room alone and he climbed out to a
    bag without difficulty and without interference from the
    mechanical spiders.  He recovered the contents of one bag and then
    left.  Staric then attempted the same thing and was likewise able
    to recover a bag.  Brogan then made an attempt to recover a third
    bag while using Alter Self to give himself the body of an
    orangutan and with Fly cast on him as a backup.
    Unfortunately, having an orangutan's body and knowing how to use
    it to best effect are two different things, and he lost his grip.
    When he used flying to avoid a fall, the spiders started milling
    around and suddenly magic ceased to function in the room.  Brogan
    caught a cable, but was stuck.  When some party members rushed to
    help him, the spiders started advancing on Brogan, who made an
    attempt to get back to the balcony, but fell to the spikes below.
    He took some damage, but was not affected by the poison on them
    and was able to exit the room. 

    The contents of the two bags that were emptied were:
      * 28 small round moss agates (marbles) worth 25gp ea. wrapped up
        in a Shirt of Tackiness

      * 23 triangular ep, 12 Gond Bells, 13 toals, 2 Dwarven Battle
        Tankards (HackJournal 4.03, p13, no seal), a bottle of
        Settlestone Hardsilver Mead, a white scarf that radiated
        magic with the first verse & chorus of a popular dwarven
        drinking song knitted into it in silver threads, and a
        small green vial that radiated magic.

    After that AFAL decided to head to the area where they where once
    attacked with a barrel of smoke powder to see if they could learn
    anything about the smugglers.  They weren't sure exactly where it
    had happened but new from their notes that they were heading for
    the portal to Nesme at the time, so Henkles brought out Wife and
    asked it to lead them there.

    The party was passing through a large room with a broken statue in
    the middle (popularly known as the "Lightning Statue Room") when
    they were attacked by a strange magical creature or creatures.
    The attack came through small purple portals that opened up in the
    air around them.  Toothy "heads" came through some portals and
    strange arms that split into three forearms came through others.
    Most of the hands held weapons, some of which Tristan identified
    as magical.  Henkles hit hard enough to get one of the hands to
    drop its Mace +2, +4 vs. negative energy and level draining
    creatures and two mundane daggers.  After that the heads and arms
    withdrew into their portals and disappeared.
    
    While they were stopping to pick up the mace, the party was struck
    by a lightning bolt that shot from the arms of the statue and
    bounced back through them again.  Ag and Denyae were among those
    struck.  Darius used Alternate Reality spells to help
    Denyae's flying carpet and Ag make saving throws.  Ag was reduced
    to -3 Hit Points, so they needed to get him out of the dungeon.
    They loaded him onto the Tenser's Throw Rug and headed for the
    exit.

    The party tried to head through the Spider Altar room and the Hall
    of Sleeping Kings, but they took a corridor they had not passed
    through before to get to the Spider Altar (from the west) and
    discovered that there was a teleportal there.  They ended up in
    another section of Undermountain with no clue as to where they
    were.  They decided to risk the noise from Wife again to get out
    and discovered that they had only been teleported a short distance
    to an area southwest of the Spider Altar room.  Once they got
    there, they silenced Wife and departed the dungeon without further
    incident.

    11gp from party treasure.

    (game 9/23/12)

    The party returned the City Watch breast plate that they found on
    a troll to a local Watch barracks (and explained how they found
    it) and were thanked for their citizenship.

    Sell some loot:
      Jewelled Dagger from a troll worth 250gp
      glaive, broadsword, short bow, chain maile, shield from former
        1st mate of Star Chaser 46Toals
      longsword, spear from curst = 7gp, 125cp
      6 comp short, 6 spear, 2 dagger, arrows from last umtn trip =
        5 Harbor Moons, 1gp, 180cp
      All placed in undivided loot.

    Debt resolution:
      277gp, 155cp: Darius ==> Steve ==> Dexter ==> Misery ==> Deringa ==> Denyae ==> Maanamere ==> Darius