Short Version:
Mia uses her newfound authority to transfer her imprisoned teammates to her ship. Reunited, the team sails by airship to Mordor, in search of a scepter that can cancel other artifacts. After landing at Mount Doom and solving a puzzle by using the thermometer artifact, the group acquires the Disrupting Scepter and the Rod of Sunfires. On a lucky streak, they continue on to find Longshot's Eye and a candle of light and darkness. Since there are more artifacts in the Mordor area, the group remains there to seek out the rest.
Long Version:
The team members that are not imprisoned: Mia, Brunhilde, Deanna, and Dragar, visit the other team members in the prison and attempt to convince them to join. At Allen’s suggestion, Ronald tries to cast a barrier pit under the guards’ feet, but it will not work, since there is some sort of magic-cancelling spell in place. He then tries to dispel magic, but is thrown back against the wall. During this time, Mia speaks to the team, debating mostly with Walter about giving in and swearing fealty to Akmentu. Brunhilde also attempts to convince Walter to swear allegiance. Walter tells them to kindly go to hell, and says that while Mia and Deanna are still young and foolish, Brunhilde and Dragar should have known better.
Finally, the imprisoned team members agree to be transferred to Mia’s ship as prisoners under her jurisdiction. She manages to get the group’s equipment back, and loads it onto her ship. First mate Flynn asks where the prisoners will be stored, and puts the imprisoned team members in the brig at Mia's command. We then set out for Mordor, looking for the magic-cancelling scepter, and other artifacts [see artifact page for Mordor artifacts]. As we travel, Mia keeps the team in the brig, to keep up appearances for the Black Numenorian crew. We approach Mordor from the Northwest (the direction of the Black Gate). There are still orcs and many other creatures living there.
Mia consults with the palantir, and finds that the grey stone is some type of healing item. The scepter can supposedly cancel artifacts, such as the scythe. The parallel artifact with the scepter is a golden rod, which looks blindingly bright. The image of the rod we see is it in the hands of a wizard, shooting an intense, fiery blast. There is a staff with tears on it: a man looks happy, and the staff appears and makes the man sad. There is a golden beetle in a web: the golden beetle is in the palm of someone’s hand outside of a gate; it then grows to 10x its size, and flies into a brick wall, breaking it down. There is a candle, of unknown use. There are earrings: we hear a voice, calling to us and telling us to put them on. There is a mace: we see someone picking it up and beating the crap out of people. There is a spiked collar on a warg: the warg walks down a path, and other wargs get out of its way.
As we approach Mount Doom, we see many undead roaming the mountain. Consulting the palantir, we see the scepter at a gate on the top of Mount Doom. Mia releases the rest of the team from prison, allowing them to fight alongside her in order to assist against the undead. We use the combination of Allen’s holy water flask of Ulmo, and the Helmet of Water Control, in order to wash away the undead threat. The team members and some soldiers climb ropes down to the ground, and stand on the ledge where the One Ring was flung into Mount Doom to be destroyed. Walter and the Dwarves explore the forge, and Walter suggests taking the forge so no one can use it, but Dalir suggests throwing it into the lava to destroy it.
As they are throwing everything away, they find a one-handed hammer that looks rust-free, and in good condition. It appears to be a smithing hammer, and looks too small for combat. The hammer is made of black eog: more rare even than mithril. Walter leaves it to Brunhilde to decide whether to take it, reminding her of the sordid past of the item. Ronald tells us that the hammer is the one used by Sauron to forge the One Ring: it is evil incarnate. For attacking, it gives a +20 OB, and the blacksmithing bonus is +100. Brunhilde nevertheless decides to throw it into the fires of Mount Doom.
The other group searches at the gate for the staff. Mia and Allen notice a switch at the gate; they pull it, and suddenly, there is a large BOOM inside the mountain. A path opens up, from the top of the mountain down to the lava’s edge. We ask the palantir if the thermometer will cool the lava, and it tells us that it will work. The group decides, after some debate, to cool the lava and make an attempt to recover the scepter. Brunhilde and Deanna go to the lava’s edge, and Brunhilde puts the thermometer in the lava to cool it to rock. Allen has the idea, once again, to use a barrier pit. Ronald casts several, and eventually, we get down to a statue holding two scepters: the one we seek that cancels artifacts, and the Sunfire rod. The stone statue is melted by the thermometer, and the two artifacts are released, and subsequently acquired by the team. Mia takes the scepter of magic/artifact cancellation. Ronald tell us that it is called the Disrupting Scepter, and it disrupts any magical spell, and negates any magical artifact.
The other artifact is Arien’s Rod of Sunfires: it shoots a blast of intense magical fire that can melt or destroy almost anything. We give the Rod of Sunfires to Ardwinna. The group agrees, after some debate, to go after a golden eyeball, which will deflect arrows and help to protect the team, instead of going after the mace as Walter wants. The candle is paired with the eyeball, so we decide to look for that too. We touch down in a field, and Smoke begins to howl. He is sniffing at a rock with a rune on it. Princess Ardwinna attempts to read the runes, and recognizes the word for 'open'. Brunhilde picks up the runestone, and a secret passage opens into the underground. The Rod of Sunfires makes it as bright as day underground, so that we can all see perfectly. Eventually, we come to a fork in the path, and there are three passages. There are many doors all three ways.
We go right first, and find five doors. There is some type of magic on the door, but Ronald cannot tell what it is. Mia cancels the magic on the door with her newfound staff, and the group proceeds. On the next, we do not cancel, and Dalir opens it. He sees a copy of himself, but closes the door on it. The copy opens the door and attacks Dalir. Mia cancels quickly, and the copy and door disintegrate. She cancels all of the doors. We continue in this way, finding more hallways with doors, and finally find a door with no magic. We enter, and there are skeletons lying in the room. Just to be safe, we douse them in holy water, to no effect. We find a golden eyeball among the skeletons, and Ronald tells us that the item is the Eye of Longshot: it grants fabulous luck, and allows you to reroll dice when you screw up. We give the eye to Dragar, who tries it. The eye flies into his head and melds into him, somewhat horrifyingly. He can, however, still see out of the eye.
We continue searching doors, and find another with no magic on it. Inside there is a candle; it can control light and darkness, making things as light or as dark as we want. After a minor conflict within the group concerning artifacts and who holds them, we decide to give the candle to Deanna. Walter suggested that Mia give the Bracelets of Intuition to Allen, and that she get the candle. Mia balked at this suggestion, thinking that Akmentu would not take kindly to her giving a personal gift from him to a prisoner who had insulted him. We instead decide to give the candle to Deanna, and let everyone else keep what items they have. We get back on the airship, and the group decides, tentatively, to stay in Mordor and seek more items in the area.
No comments:
Post a Comment