Session Summaries; Vol. 07: Rana Mor @ 26 Nov 2006 09:36 am by Kevyspice
Rewards Earned
- Experience Points: 2000
- Treasure: None to speak of
The Ran Pe grew narrower and swifter over the next few miles, channeled between towering limestone cliffs. Still nervous from their exploration of the shrine, the party was relatively unsurprised when the calm afternoon was interrupted by ululating shrieks from the jungle. Four war canoes burst out from hidden coves among the cliffs, two on each side of the Starchaser. Will devastated the crew of one canoe with a lightning bolt, and Gor-bob stitched up the defense on that side by swirling the river into a large magical whirlpool. Edo dove into the water on the other side of the ship and assumed the form of a crocodile to await the other two canoes, while Spike and Chow took potshots at the remaining Banda. When the canoes finally closed with the crocodile, Edo managed a couple of attacks before the canoes and their crews simply disappeared. (Later conversation implied that these two canoes were illusions.) By this point, the only Banda survivor on the other side of the Starchaser leapt into the river just past the edge of the whirlpool. Edo, not otherwise occupied, gave chase while the rest of the party caught their breath and watched for other attackers.
Edo returned a few minutes later, trailing a stream of blood. He joined the party on the ship, and reported that he had taken out the fleeing Banda leader and six hidden reinforcements in a bloody fight. Balama thanked the party, and the Starchaser continued upriver for a couple more hours before holing up for the night.
The next day passed without incident, and around noon of the seventh day out from Coral Bay, the Starchaser reached the Gorge of the Rain Tiger, a wide, broken waterfall that prevented further progress up the Ran Pe. In the center of the falls, the party saw a small island with a large stone carving of a winged tiger, which Balama notified the party was in fact the Rain Tiger. Hurm and Terez pulled the ship up to the west bank while the party gathered their gear for the hike up to Rana Mor. Balama gave her crew orders for the next few days, gathered her belongings, and joined the party on the old stone roadway that ascended from the bank.
The Rangka road, formerly wide enough for ten soldiers to march abreast, was so overgrown that the group had to hike in single file. They had been following the road alongside the noisy river for about eight miles when a pair of strange bipedal creatures pounced on Gor-bob from the jungle. The monsters sprayed the unfortunate half-orc with twin streams of acid before he could react, melting his face and damaging his body beyond the group’s ability to repair. The rest of the party, shocked by the sudden demise of their comrade, killed the digesters in moments. After saying their goodbyes to Gor-bob and seeing to his mortal remains, the group continued up the road.
Another couple of hours brought the party back down to the Ran Pe, as the road descended through steep hills into a broad belt of grassland beside the river. One of banyan groves dotting the plain obscured a ceremonial gate that marked the intersection of the river and a shallow canal heading northwest. Looking in that direction, the party could just make out dark spires rising from the plain a few miles away. With dusk approaching, the group discussed their options for the night. Presuming that the towers indicated the location of the temple, they decided that following the road beside the canal at night would be safer than trying to approach the temple and its unknown defenders during the day, and headed up the road.
Just past the gate, the debris-filled water of the canal seemed to rise up and attack the party. On closer inspection, the thing that grabbed Spike and Balama was in fact a massive plant-like creature with two tentacles and a gaping maw. Spike used his dagger to cut himself free before he could be swallowed whole, while Balama tricked the creature with a mirror image spell to help extricate herself. The party managed to batter the thing into submission, but suspected that acid would be required to destroy the creature fully. Lacking that capability, they opted to follow the canal on the far side of the road.
After a five mile trudge, the party finally reached the outskirts of the Rana Mor temple grounds. The last mile of the road crossed several wide moats and broad plazas surrounding the temple. The group picked a relatively safe-looking stand of banyan trees on one of the outlying plazas, set up camp, and welcomed the end of the long, bloody day.