I forgot what pizza we had so let's move on.
Games are on Tuesdays sometime around 5:30PM at World's Best Comics, 9714 Warwick Blvd Newport News, Virginia 23601.
PART 1.
++++ START OF SESSION ++++
The party continued battle with 107 Gargoyles as modified from the the summary of 12 May.
From where we left off at the end of the 6th round we continued until the 10th round of desultory combat with Elefus and the Constable in the Church. Slade was left hanging by his petard outside the church steeple and was otherwise ignored for the rest of the night.
Numrendir directed his Spectral Forces to delay incoming squads of Gargoyles until they had sufficiently passed their saving throws. As a result of his efforts the squad of Gargoyles he last messed with was nearly also the last squad to arrive at church.
As mentioned last full summary, Honda high-tailed it to her ship, picked up a pair of plus-two weapons (the magical requirement to hit Gargoyle Lords) and ran back to join Huang. (This took several rounds and is only mentioned once.)
Meanwhile back in the Inn, Huang was left to his own devices and was knocked unconscious for a two rounds. During which time he was carried off by the Gargoyle Lord knocked him out. Of course two rounds later and 30 feet into the air, Huang woke up and wrestled his way out of the Gargoyle Lord's clutches. (It caused no damage to the Gargoyle Lord, seeing as he could not be hit without a magical weapon, but Huang did get free and fell that 30 feet. Being a Monk, he Kwai-Chang'ed his way out of falling damage and ran off to meet Honda and the much needed plus two weapon.
Numrendir, keen observer from where he was, took a pot shot with a Phantasmal Fireball at the Gargoyle Lord that had just dropped Huang. Using published best practices of evil creatures, the Gargoyle Lord went after the last attacker that targeted himself, and beat Numrendir to a pulp. When Numrendir reached negative one hit points, the Gargoyle Lord picked up his new prize and headed for the church.
Elefus and the Constable battled Gargoyles until there was a pile at their feet. The Constable was finally killed and Elefus had backed into a corner so he could only be attacked by six Gargoyles at a time. (Three Gargoyles at ground level and three Gargoyle Lords flying from above.) Therefore as more Gargoyle squads entered the church, they simply sat in the pews waiting their turn for an empty spot in front of Elefus. Once all Gargoyles were in, several unoccupied Gargoyles also shut the remaining doors to prevent Elefus from getting reinforcements.
Knowing himself to be invincible Elefuls kept at the Gargoyles shouting, "Surrender or die!"
However the leader of the last squad of Gargoyles replied in turn, "Surrender, or these kids get it!" True to his word the last squad of Gargoyles had brought with them a dozen of the town's orphans as hostages.
Elefus replied, "No problem, after I'm done with you I can raise them all back."
Not to be outdone, the last Gargoyle Lord to enter the church (after carefully locking the door behind him), added his two copper pieces while dropping Numrendir like a sack of potatoes, "Surrender, or your buddy here gets it!" And if any of these unfortunates here fail their Resurrection Survival Roll, it will be on your head!"
Elefus faced with continuing the fight facing or facing an alignment audit said, "Let's Talk." But first let Numrendir go so I can heal him before he dies.
The Gargoyles made that gesture.
Negotiations brought to light several things:
#1 Gargoyles were NOT the burglars the party was looking for, they were "Set up" by a person or persons yet unknown. (Apparently disguised as, and left evidence as, Gargoyles.)
At this point two Gargoyle Ushers (complete with name tags) let Huang and Honda in the Church main entrance. "We've been expecting you." And negotiations continued.
#2 The real purpose of the Gargoyles was to spy on the town of Boggy Bottom, specifically gathering intelligence on one beknighted Cleric of the breakaway Kingdom of Blackmoor, who went by the name of "Elefus". Since "Elefus" was an rumored to be orphan raised in Boggy Bottom this was considered a key starting point. They were specifically to collect information on Elefus' friends, geneological history (if any), financial records, and phone metadata. All this without a court order.
Then the gargoyles let go one of the orphans as a token of "goodwill", the idea of "good" actually being a foreign concept.
#3 Next it was revealed the Gargoyles were employed by Iron Duke Limited, from down South in the Empire. Apparently after the previous destruction of Boggy Bottom by the Beholders who nearly destroyed it, the town was forced to take out a loan for reconstruction, a loan that was also footed and insured by Iron Duke Ltd. The Gargoyles were to take place in that town's new architecture.
#4 The carefully orchestrated overtures by Iron Duke Limited was a loosely concealed scheme to bring the town of Boggy Bottom back into the Empire.
Seeing as blame on the Gargoyles was all a misunderstanding and the espionage of the the Gargoyles were willing to start letting the orphan hostages go, except for one problem. The Gargoyles were culturally "Chaotic Evil" and Elefus would be otherwise compelled to continue killing them all, just based on principle.
To wit Gargoyle Leadership said "Tell us more about this concept called 'Good' and 'Law' ..."
To make this short story even shorter, since the Gargoyles were seated in Church pews, and Elefus had the pulpit, he converted them all the Gargoyles to the Gawd Heimdall. Complete with an altar call reminiscent from the scene from Triple Rock Baptist Church in the Blues Brothers, and a rainbow.
Elefus then introduces himself.
An agreement was reached in that the Gargoyles would take up residence back in their building perches, cancel their contract with Iron Duke Ltd, and supplement the town's Constabulary, as "Deputies".
P.S. The Constable was also raised from the dead during the Elefus sermon. His raising was probably used as object lesson on the efficacy of "goodness".
P.P.S. It is presumed Elefus and any other Church Officials will also raise any other Gargoyles slain during this mini-adventure.
Our episode next session: "HEY GUYS THIS IS SLADE, WILL SOMEONE GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!"
++++ OUT OF CHEESE ERROR ++++
BT
BBBB
PART 2.
++++ CHARACTER ROSTER ++++
CHARACTERS
Count Elefus, Human Male Abbot
Sir Weasel, Human Guild Soldier, Enchanter, & Champion (Stayed behind in Blackmoor).
Sir Kmaregh Dismal, Human Thaumaturgist (Bad Karma, left on the boat.)
Sir Huang - Master Monk of the Stone Tiger Order
Dame Honda - Human Datai Samurai
Numrendir - Human Orderer (7th level Conjuror)
Slade Wilson - Dwarven Professional (4th level Bounty Hunter)
Twitch - Human Larcenist, (Returned from the retired list, left on the boat.)
NPCs:
Nine Pilgrim Henchmen with swords of various levels. (Left back in Blackmoor with Weasel.)
CAPTURED CHARACTERS
Junkbot Jackson - Tracker/Adept
Gerry Castagere, Human Fingersmith, and ever loving devotee of Elefus
Fundisha - Half-Elf Swordsperson
BT
BBBB
PART 3.
++++ RECORD KEEPING ++++
This missive is also posted on two forums and one blog:
viewforum.php?f=76http://www.furiouslyeclectic.com/forum/ ... php?fid=13http://furiouslyeclectic.com/hackmoor