Session 34

The party:

• Ploikal, orange magic-user level 6 (TM)
• Pholgon, purple fighter level 4 (MG)
• Xull, orange fighter level 4 (JW)
• Ilyas, orange non-combatant
• Burak, Hasan, Nisa, and Ziba, orange bowmen
• Sgt. Uzildar, orange fighter level 2
• 4 unnamed soldiers, all orange fighters, level 1

Treasure:

• Bone crown with blue stones (30 SP)
• Brass weighing scales (100 SP)
• Carved ivory manacle keys (100 SP)
• Dyed textile crate (100 CP)
• Foreign trade tokens (200 SP)
• Ornate measuring tentacles in bronze and wood (200 SP)
• Phorkys-Thanatos’ Revealing Rod (Wand of Detecting Enemies), taken from boogieman chief Movog
• Potion of Dinosaur Mastery
• Potion of Weightlessness in hollowed thundrasaur tooth.
• Red leather merchant ledger (250 GP)
• Hyginos’ Circle (Ring of Protection), formerly owned by Sgt. Uzildar
• Scroll with “The Call to the Foetid Cloud”
• The Glavrac Blade (sword +1, jale tentacles hold blade), formerly wielded by the boogieman Tribe Glavrac chief Movog
• War banner of exotic hide with gold thread (250 GP)

XP: 5,640

Casualties: Sgt. Uzildar, slain by boogiemen and brutes.

Report:
While Pholgon struggles to train his snarlwyrm—injuring a farmer in the process and earning the ire of the man’s family despite arranging a stay at the temple—Xull successfully breaks in his bird, and Ploikal edges closer to unlocking deeper psionic secrets.

But personal matters must wait. The boogiemen of Tribe Glavrac have plagued the region long enough. The party hatches a plan.

Ploikal has spent weeks scribing sleep scrolls. They hire bowmen and a porter, and convince the count to lend them Sergeant Uzildar and his soldiers, along with their alien ray gun. At dusk, they march on the camp.

They try to slip past the outer boogiemen encampments but are spotted. Xull and Pholgon make short, brutal work of them. For the first time, the party witnesses the terrible power of Xull’s claw—and Cista’s spirit tears free to savage the enemy alongside him. When the last boogieman falls, she whispers: “Finally…”

They reach the main camp unseen and wait for darkness.

Ploikal turns invisible, rises into the air, and drifts over the palisade. Sleep spells rain down like silent death. Before the boogiemen can raise an alarm, most of their warriors slumber where they once stood.

Below, the assault begins. Pholgon and Xull, muscles bulging with potion-granted giant strength, smash through the gates. The defenders scramble—a lone thundrasaur and a handful of boogiemen rush to intercept. Arrows fly. A soldier answers with the ray gun, and colorful light scatters the enemy into unconsciousness. Melee follows. Slaughter.

But the brutes are loosed from their pens, and sleeping boogiemen begin to wake. The heroes dispatch teams into the tents to cut throats while the main force holds the line. The ray gun tips every engagement, but the brutes hit hard. Sergeant Uzildar falls.

Meanwhile, Ploikal slips into Chief Movog’s tent. The chief, his bodyguards, and an aide lie motionless under the spell’s grip. Ploikal disarms them, then methodically strips the tent of its treasures: the chief’s enchanted sword, his wand, a bone crown set with blue stones, and a banner.

Outside, the detachments return. The tide turns decisively.

By morning, the camp is ash. The prisoners walk free. The boogiemen of Tribe Glavrac are no more.

The party returns to town in triumph. The count agrees to cover their expenses—and promises to raise a statue in their honor.