ASE: Session Four, Group A

Date: Lapin 6th and 7th
Weather: Sunny, then a downpour of drizzle

Party:
Aria (Priest / Duelist)
Cedar (Warrior / Beastmaster)
Francis (Warrior / Expert)
Laguna (Elementalist / Healer)
Smith (Warrior)

Cohorts:
Raymond (Axebeak)
Rex (Wolf)

Summary:
As rumors start to spread about some sort of treasure on Mount Rendon, the party plans their next move. They pay Niberius for his work and he leaves, but as soon as he walks out they soon begin to smell a rat. A merchant named Francis del Grok, sixth son of the Grok family, offers his services in exchange for a share of the loot. Seeing as they need all the help he can get, they allow him and his 'zard to join.

The journey up Mount Rendon was relatively uneventful, save for the next day when it began to rain. As they got to the cave, they deliberated hiding the animals in the cave to protect them. There they discover stirges, only mutated and glowing green. They decide to dispose of the stirges and keep them far from the animals.

Oftentimes described as a "mosquito's wet dream".

 Getting inside, there is a larger, more humanoid robot waiting for them, who informs them that the western wing of the gatehouse had been closed off, refusing to explain why. Unsatisfied, the party regardless makes their way back to the broken frame, to which Aria correctly identifies it as a god's eye. They deliberate on restoring it (or prying it off the wall and selling it), but decide to explore the rest of the gatehouse, heading south.

 

 

The party stumbles upon automatons hiding from the abomination, and they start to realize the scraping noises are getting louder. In a panic the party rushes through the automatons, leaving several behind to get destroyed by the abomination, finally stumbling upon the guardians of the gatehouse, the greater guard automatons. There is only a few moments to prepare for the abomination as it busts into the room, metal screeching and sawblades whirling in frenzy!
 

"The church has a point, technology sucks!"

 A fight ensues, the party making copious usage of all the metal bodies between them and the abomination, wearing it down before it could do any lasting damage to anyone still living! With multiple instances of percussive maintenance applied, the autobomination finally stops moving, for now. The party is able to loot the body and gain the respect of the surviving automatons, as they allow them to pull the lever to the south.

They pull the lever, causing Mt. Rendon to quake and rumble for several minutes, loud klaxons sounding off throughout the facility before the door opens to a set of stone stairs leading down into the darkness. Aria takes point, descending slowly, freezing in horror when she sees a giant spider-like creature looking back up at them at the foot of the stairs. It skitters off, leaving the party unsure if they want to delve deeper. Regardless, they press on.

 

The party explores around the first level, discovering an old note Laguna translates as a farewell message. Not long after, they set off a dart trap:

"I tap around the room with my pole."
"You discover a loose floor tile."
"Great! I press it."

They see a strange, spindly birdlike creature exit a room as soon as they enter it, and almost have a run-in with doglike creatures gnawing on a goblin corpse, deciding better than to bother them. Instead they go to experiment with the giant pillar with carved faces in the center of a room. Aria pokes her 10' pole into one of the eye sockets, which culminates in the stone faces crying out corpse jellies. Francis and Rex get smeared, but the jellies are all defeated and the paralysis the two suffered quickly wore off. The party now deliberates their next move...

I am skeleton jelly, I am skeleton jelly...

 

Treasure:
-50 sp (split equally, 10 sp to each party member)
-Gold and Emerald necklace (worth 75gp)
-Several hundred feet of gold wire (20 gp total)
-String of blue quartz gems set in tarnished copper (worth 30 gp to a collector)
-Metal bar (used to open up a previously locked door)

Experience:
Aria (lv 2, 5 xp)
Cedar (lv 3, 6 xp)
Francis (lv 1, 1 xp)
Laguna (lv 3, 6 xp)
Smith (lv 3, 6 xp)

My Current Thoughts: I ended up taking on two more players, bringing us to five for group A and three for group B. Exciting! My players have been making several remarks about how lethal the game apparently is, how the game emphasizes setting up an advantageous position or avoiding combat rather than duking it out with foes in a straight-up fight. I'm happy they're discovering this, but with the party's current focus on combat defense and survival it is unlikely much on the first level will threaten them if they continue to play smart. Well, unless they trip into some green slime...