The Hand is "Just a Red Herring"

Run 1 -- "Raiding the Monstrous Lab" #

Player Characters #

Hwinston, Horse Cleric of Aru (Johann Hibschman)
Leander, Cat Hero of Daglir (Sang Lee)
Man-O-War, Horse Hero of Daglir (Jason Pierantoni)
Pants (Zeromus), Otter Mage of Daglir (Vigfus Vigfusson)
Rrappaas, Cat Hero of Daglir (Gerard Narciso)
Slick, Otter Hero of Daglir (James Morales)
Tsugii, Cat Guardian of Daglir (Ben Baragona)

On the Expedition #

The party is briefed by General Bugamug, a Hobbit hero of the First
Resistance, who tells them that with the help of the Noorha network, the
Resistance has managed to find some of the Monstrous Weapons labs.
The party's mission is to recover any intelligence on new monstrous
weapons technology.

Their cover is to pose as slaves bringing materials to the lab; under no
circumstances are they to wear metal armor upon reaching the lab... not
that this bothered the cats. They could hide short weapons (3' or less)
and leather armor under their robes.

Provided with wagons containing the "shipment" and pulled by the horse
grafts, the party makes their way past a sleepy Cyclops checkpoint guard
who seems fooled by their forged papers.

Once inside the lab, they try to make contact with the Noorha agent
by commenting on a symbol of the Hand of Dusk. The Noorha agent should
respond,

"It's just there to frighten the ignorant", to which the party responds,

"So the Hand has nothing to do with this installation?", to which the Noorha replies,

"No, the Hand is just a red herring."

However, the first couple of monsters they meet (a gargoyle and
Ozymandias, an overbearing sprite who is the head researcher) are not
the Noorha agent, and Ozymandias sees that the cart does not contain
what he ordered. The party plays their last card by "suddenly
remembering" they have a special message to deliver, a (forged) dispatch on
Monstrous Command stationery that "warns of Taerth's displeasure" with
the research being conducted at the lab, and this causes enough
confusion for the party to find the Noorha agent, who turns out to be a
Bughieman. Leander, Pants, and Rrappas follow the Bughieman while the
others follow the researchers' orders to pack up the laboratory.

The Bughieman activates a symbol of the Hand on the wall in the
reception area, and the wall slides back to reveal a stairway leading
down to another laboratory, situated on one of the roots of the Tree of Life.
Canisters marked "Nidhogg larvae" are down here, along with their buds,
attached to the root. There are also samples of "SF pupae"; however,
these are just samples sent from another lab, so their buds are not down
here. Nidhogg larvae are maggot-sized creatures that the Bughieman says
are intended to combat the root pirates, as far as he knows. SF pupae
are fuzzy, foot-long caterpillars that have a slightly shimmering
silvery coloration. They seem happy to bond to sentient creatures as
familiars, and provide modest AC and ST bonuses and give their masters a
contented, refreshed feeling.

The Bughieman warns that Ozymandias would be down to this lab before too
long, so they lay in wait and together successfully grappled the sprite.
Keeping him willingly quiet was more difficult, so they knocked him
unconscious and tossed him in a sack. They then hoped to lock the
others downstairs; the Werewolf and Gargoyle were lured downstairs with
an aural illusion of Ozymandias's voice, but the Djinn dallied, so the
party was forced to quickly change plans -- they threw the secret door
shut and Wizard Locked it, while also closing the main doors to the labs
and Sealing it, preventing the Djinn (who quickly went gaseous) from
escaping. They were then able to follow the Djinn about the enclosed
space and kill it.

In debriefing, they hand over the Nidhogg larvae to General Bugamug, but
do not tell him about the SF pupae -- they get a funny feeling that they
shouldn't, and go with it.

*** Future Effects ***
General Bugamug is Mirror, a Doppleganger and member of the Hand of
Dusk, in disguise. The Hand is now in possession of Nidhogg larvae.

Run 2 -- "Raiding Labs, V2.0" #

Player Characters #

Eddard, Otter Mage [pantheist] (Rick Crist)
Khanix, Human Mage [atheist, and no lover of animals] (Jonathan Soto)
Rahtoh eht Ythgim, Horse Hero [pantheist] (Michael Ferrante)
Sampson the Ca, Cat Hero of Gaia (Steve Szczepanik)

On the Expedition #

The second group has a similar mission on a different lab, with similar
results and a few important notes:

  1. At the sentry checkpoint before reaching the lab, the party meets a
    werewolf, who gestures for their papers, to which Khanix replies,
    "Here's our forged documents."

  2. A sphinx claiming to be a representative of Audrey, the Monstrous
    Tree of Life tells the party that Audrey wishes to make treaty with the
    demi-humans.

  3. Their Noorha contact inside the lab turns out to be the SAME
    Bughieman that the last group met.

  4. In debriefing, they hand over the Nidhogg larvae to General Bugamug,
    but also hand over one of the SF pupae.

*** Future Effects ***
The Hand has more Nidhogg larvae. They are also now aware of the SF
pupae, do some investigation, and discover another (non-Hand) lab.

Run 3 -- "Number 3" #

Player Characters #

"Mousetrap", Cat Hero of Gaia (Michael Robbins)
"Trampledown", Horse Hero of Daglir (Jeff Harvey)
Clear Running, Otter Mage of Daglir (Christopher Cavender)
Earwig, Otter Hero [pantheist] (Steven Wolfson)
Leander, Cat Hero of Daglir (Sang Lee)
Llyndawyll, Elf Cleric of Daglir (Ken Silverman)
Nanny Nayla, Human Guardian of Aru (Hugh Huntzinger)

joined mid-run by:
Grumpy Dogrobber, Dwarf Hero [pantheist] (Tom Caloz)

On the Expedition #

The party is again briefed by General Bugamug, who informs them that a
laboratory not previously known to the Resistance has been discovered.
It's in the mountains northwest of the (currently defunct) monstrous
Forge, and they trot out the "supplies for the lab" disguise again.
Upon reaching the Forge, the party is greeted by the sphinx Elddir, a
member of the Hand of Dusk, who seems to be aware of their mission.
Instead of having the party killed, he insists that they go about their
mission and report back to him! Along with them go an "escort"
consisting of a Doppleganger, Runt's nephew Draaar (a Rock Troll), and a
Bughieman who Leander recognizes as the Bughieman from the laboratory he
raided! Another sphinx, Rillydor, outfits them with some minor magic
(with promises of greater rewards upon return) along with Grumpy
Dogrobber, one of the dwarven slaves from the Forge, who has been
promised his freedom if he can convince the party to head into the
Darkwood after checking out the lab.

This crew sets off, and that night, the Bughieman tries to convince
Trampledown and Earwig not to raid the lab, claims to be from that lab
and that its products will be used against the Hand of Dusk, and spins
out a few plans in which the party caould leave the lab alone that
clearly won't work; in the morning, they set off again. When they
eventually reach the lab, the party tries to convince Draaar to go in
first an get the glory of first kill, but he's having none of this and
so Leander is sent in to check the place out.

Inside, Leander finds all the researchers have been killed and the place
infested with horrible creatures. Bolting from the labs and shouting
"here they come"! The group outside finds themselves thrust into combat
against some sort of man-sized grafted creatures with mind flayer
tentacles and fey wings. Clear Running manages to block the entryway
with a Web before more than two can get out, but Trampledown, Draaar,
Grumpy, and the Doppleganger find themselves entranced by the creatures'
wings, and soon the creatures have wrapped their tentacles around Grumpy
and Trampledown's heads. In the fracas, Earwig succumbs to a Distress
Call emitted by one of the creatures, and several party members are hit
by a Cone of Pain from the other. Nanny Nayla forces the creatures
inside the lab away from the web by lopping a fireball into their midst.
Leander and Mousetrap manage to take down one of the creatures (newly
dubbed "MindFlies"), and the other runs off, but not before Grumpy and
Trampledown have had some of their short-term memory stolen. The
Bughieman disappeared during the battle.

The group does the best they can to cover over the entrance to the lab,
then marches off a little way to camp for the night. The MindFly that
escaped earlier comes back, but is quickly driven off again and it
doesn't return. In the pre-dawn light, the party kills Draaar and the
Doppleganger. Returning to the Forge is not an option, and Grumpy
brings up the possibility of going through the Darkwood. The party is
equally enthusiastic about this idea, and eventually settle on levitates

They return to find that General Bugamug and Ozymandias have been killed
by a Mindfly that had come out of its cocoon.

*** Future Effects ***
Mirror decided to drop his General Bugamug cover in favor of Bugamug's
son. The existence of MindFlies becomes general knowledge within the
Resistance. The Bughieman was a high-level Succubus from my scenario
last year in disguise, and seemed to cause more confusion than she was
worth. She could appear next year, but am considering dropping her.

Run 4 -- "Nidhogg on the Edge" #

Player Characters #

"Mousetrap", Cat Hero of Gaia (Michael Robbins)
"Trampledown", Horse Hero of Daglir (Jeff Harvey)
Clear Running, Otter Mage of Daglir (Christopher Cavender)
Earwig, Otter Hero [pantheist] (Steven Wolfson)
Shadow II, Horse Hero of Mavors (Darrell Purnell)

On the Expedition #

The party is briefed that there are reports of an infestation of Nidhogg
worms in one of the roots of the Tree of Life near the edge of the
world. Apparently, when exposed to the root of the Tree, the Nidhogg
grow to Drake size!! They are then sent to investigate, perhaps kill a
Nidhogg if possible, and report. The party, equipped with Umber Hulk
glasses, sees Nidhoggs tunneling along and eating bits of the root of
the Tree. The Nidhoggs seem to ignore the party, so the party observes
for a while and hatches a plan to bring a specimen back. When another
Nidhogg comes along the tunnel, they pop open a dimension door in front
of it, and set the other opening 200' above the plain. The Nidhogg is
nearly dead from the fall, but the charging Horse Grafts more than
finish it off.

A 6-second combat!

*** Future Effects ***
With a corpse to study, the demihumans will hopefully find out more
about the strengths and weaknesses of Nidhogg. However, many are still
on the loose, and they can present a significant danger to the health of
the Tree next year...

Run 5 -- "A Diplomatic Mission" #

Player Characters #

Ambervale, Elf Guardian of Gaia (John Kliminski)
Haw the Indigestible, Horse Cleric of Gaia (Kevin White)
Hwinston, Horse Cleric of Aru (Johann Hibschman)
Jeremy, Cat Hero of Mavors (Paul Anderson)
Tigeris Donove, Human Hero [pantheist] (Tim DeCapio)

On the Expedition #

The party is briefed by Major Bugamug (the former general's son) that a
meeting the Audrey, the Monstrous Tree of Life, has been arranged, and
the party is to serve as diplomats. As a side mission, the Major gives
the party three Nidhogg canisters, and tells them that should the
opportunity present itself, they should put the Nidhogg in Audrey's root
system. The party hides the canisters somewhere safe, for possible
later use. They are met by Madame Warden Leuconoe, a sphinx, who warns
them that Audrey will demand their blossoms in exchange for her current
help and peace down the road. Once in Audrey's presence, they find her
seeming lack of concern for the fate of her individual children
unsettling (Tigeris is especially creeped out), but she is otherwise
reasonable, if paranoid. There is great intra-party debate over the
wisdom of exchanging blossoms, and Audrey sweetens the deal by offering
them some of her pollen, which "encourages" her children who come into
contact with it to visit their mother... Haw the Indigestible offers
himself as the test case for the blossom exchange program, and the pact
is made.

*** Future Effects ***
Haw will soon be a Warden of Audrey. The blossom exchange continues,
and could be a factor in Pcon 31.

Run 6 -- "Assault on the Sanctuary of Dusk" #

Player Characters #

Ambervale, Elf Guardian of Gaia (John Kliminski)
Elgar Marblechin, Elf Guardian of Daglir (Alan Zitomer)
Garnak Iron Belly, Dwarf Cleric of Daglir (Keith Vander Vegt)
Korthos, Dwarf Hero of Daglir (Ron Seidel)
Tieryl Stormwind, Human Guardian of Gaia (Tony Macaluso)
Tigeris Donove, Human Hero [pantheist] (Tim DeCapio)

On the Expedition #

(out of game note: while getting ready to set off, Alan pointed out
Elgar's invisibility ring, which allows him to remain invisible even
when fighting. Ron commented on this by saying, "Why do you think I
[Korthos] have blind fighting?")

The party is part of a split expedition to destroy the Tree of Dusk;
this group is to take a tunnel (built in last year's Con) through the
mountain to the Forge. They run into some trouble in the tunnel with a
small group of Bughiemen, and then encounter some dwarvish slaves who
appear to have been conscripted into service. Their leader, Colonel
Nicholson, seems unwilling to join the party without knowing some
details of what they're up to, and the expedition stalls until the
Colonel is called away by a runner, adn the Colonel's wife takes over
negotiations. Tieryl, holding a mirror of True Sight, reveals her as a
Succubus (Special K, in fact!), and the remaining dwarves join the party
immediately. They lead the party to a root of the Tree of Life that was
uncovered some time ago, and Tigeris is dismayed when they don't find
any blossoms on it.

Note that while this was happening, orbs given to Ambervale by
Tabernaculus begin glowing, and he disappears momentarily. While away,
he has a conversation with Tab, who tells him that if they destroy the
Tree of Dusk, the balance will swing too far in the direction of "good",
and the plague dragon will be released. Tigeris is again dismayed by
this contraindication to their mission, and has some choice words for
Tab the next time they meet. ;-) Just as they're deciding to leave,
the floor of the room is broken open by some Worms, who have been
attracted by the magic show put on the the activated orb. Ambervale
engages in a Telepathic conversation with them, and upon being asked
inform the party that a "new" Tree is several miles to the southwest
and, yes, they would be willing to tunnel the party there, if only to
continue the show. On the way there, Ambervale turns into a fey?!!

The worms break surface and Korthos peeps out and gets an 8d4 lightning
lance for his troubles, but he sees the Tree of Dusk! Korthos takes a
quick heal from Garnak and then the party charges!

Round 1: Korthos charges in the direction opposite the Tree, from where
the Lightning Lance originated, and spies a Beholder (Zzazz!), with
Elgar invisible and in dragon-form a little behind. Garnak and Tigeris
charge for the Tree, with Tieryl a little behind. Ambervale flies into
the branches of the Tree. Korthos takes another Lance, and the people
charging the Tree take a Cold Cone, and they spy Haroun!

Round 2: Ambervale preps Feeblemind; Tieryl preps Conjure Elemental.
Garnak and Tigeris prepare to charge Haroun. Elgar breathes on Zzazz,
and Zzazz blasts Korthos with another Lance, then engages Korthos in
melee to avoid another breath attack from an invisible opponent! Things
look bad, but Ambervale's Feeblemind succeeds! and Haroun goes gaseous
and flees. An Earth Elemental appears. Korthos activates an item that
casts Mirror Image. With Haroun gone, Garnak and Tigeris charge Zzazz,
who is within melee striking range.

Round 3: Zzazz blasts Tigeris. Korthos lands an offensive blow, and
Tigeris manages to land both blows from a doublestrike! Near the end
of his HP, Zzazz feebly floats out of melee range but is finished off
the following round.

Combat ends, and Tieryl is suddenly struck down (failed system shock
from blossom grafting). The Elemental goes out of control, and the
party makes to flee, but not before breaking off a branch from the Tree --
after all, Tab said pruning was OK! Tigeris leaves an unopened Nidhogg
canister at the root of the Tree as a warning.

*** Future Effects ***
Special K has some explaining to do to her husband. The Hand of Dusk
survives, but sorely weakened. They probably have a role to play in
Pcon 31, but not as the power brokers they once were.

PrinceCon 30 Summaries & Run Recaps: #

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