10-29-1994 (Rich, Heather, Glenn, James)
We set sail north for Saltmarsh, hoping to find the Sea Ghost there. The weather is poor, and we get lost twice. The second time, we end up traveling in a semi-circle, finally arriving east of our starting point. Amazingly, we see ahead of us an island before which is anchored the Sea Ghost! [Editor's note: the Dungeon Master indicates that these dice rolls were just as amazing to him, as he had already given up this adventure as a total loss.]
Ulthar polymorphs Karnov into a scorpion after rendering himself and Windrush invisible, and Nimbus teleports the three of us to a mansion on the shore. Two guards are posted where we appear, and one of them notices a scorpion appear in mid-air and drop to the ground (oops!). He goes after it with his sword, but Karnov is able to find a place to hide. The windows are all bricked up, so Windrush and Ulthar go round the back, where they see two more guards at another door. We try to take them out silently, but fail, and one of them sounds the alarm. As they advance, two (more) undead attack us from behind. Karnov, in scorpion form, has followed them and found us, since we are now visible. Ulthar dispels Karnov's polymorph and then hastes him, enabling us to dispatch the second group of undead while Windrush turns the first.
Entering the house, we deal with three more unpleasant creatures in the entry-way, two of whom are almost immediately sent to their forefathers by the mighty Karnov. We proceed, searching several rooms and finding nothing, until we encounter a room of darkness. Ulthar casts light into the room, and Karnov enters, immediately taking massive damage and having to save vs. poison or die. Thankfully, he makes the save, after which Ulthar dispels a glyph on the doorway (which he should have noticed in the first place).
After healing ourselves, we prepare to enter the next room. Karnov opens the door, but we don't see anyone yet. Ulthar enters and reads cone of cold from a scroll upon seeing a High Priest, a Hierarch, San Bolette, and Ned. A massive battle ensues. As the rest of the party enters the room, Nimbus telepathically informs Ulthar that there are invisible entities within, but it is too late. An invisible assassin attacks Karnov, killing him instantly. Ulthar is cut off from his companions by a blade barrier cast on Windrush by the high priest just as she notices a female magic-user with four mirror images in effect. Ulthar uses the Talisman of Zagy to wish Karnov back to life, whereupon he immediately imbibes a potion of total healing. Eventually, Ulthar is able to dispel the blade barrier and join his compatriots. But before Windrush's opponent can be slain, she dissolves into a pool of bubbles, just as the High Priest escapes downstairs. We follow him, but Karnov is overcome by a symbol of hopelessness in the stairwell, and cannot continue. Instead of wisely tossing a fireball past Karnov to the priest, Ulthar decides to believe the priest when he says he has no intent to kill Karnov. Nonetheless, the priest readies a slay living spell, and we are forced to retreat (although Ulthar could concievably have absorbed the spell with the Staff of the Magi).
Hearing the priest moving down the stairs, we return to find to our horror that the slay living has been discharged upon poor Karnov. He lies dead on the stairs, stripped of all his items and clothing, with a magic pentagram carved into his chest. Ulthar detects and removes another symbol, whereupon the party descends, carrying Karnov's body. As we search, light begins to surge through cracks in a previously hidden doorway. We drag Karnov back along the tunnel as a pit fiend begins to emerge from the door. We realize immediately that he intends to gate more of his kind in from their hellish plane, and we retreat with the body. In order to be able to do at least a quick search before the devils overtake us, Ulthar hastes Windrush. We find some magic items on San Bolette's body (a Wand of Flame Extinguishing and a Rod of Splendor), and a book: The Unholy Text of Asmodeus, presumably the source from which the cleric learned how to summon pit fiends. We take the book with us, intending to destroy it when we have learned how, and as we escape the pit fiends, the house begins to collapse and burn.
Captain Garvin is waiting at the shore with a dinghy, and we escape to his ship, from where we see the High Priest and the female magic-user escape after appearing aboard the Sea Ghost. But the magical destruction becomes so intense that Captain Garvin decides to plane shift his ship. As we arrive in an unknown land, we consult the old gypsy Vincenzia about Karnov's condition. She reveals that the pentagram is an enchantment, put there so that the caster could find and possibly control Karnov at any time. She further informs us that it can be removed only by a wish or by the direct intervention of a divine being. Ulthar prays to Labelas Enoreth, beseeching the deity to step in and restore Karnov so that we might one day liberate his people, the Talislantans, from the Black Savants. After a roll of 97%, Ulthar has a vision of the god. Labelas Enoreth agrees to do this on two conditions: firstly, the Elven Shield +11 (which Windrush has been using) must be returned, and secondly, Ulthar must perform a service to the god, which will be revealed later in dreams. Ulthar asks how to return the shield to its rightful owners. Labelas Enoreth tells us to build a great funeral pyre with the shield atop it and light the pyre, all the while praying both for the elves who died to protect the shield, and for those who were protected by it. Ulthar's Charisma score is increased by one point. We follow the god's directive, and all present have a vision of great elven warriors circling in the air just above the flames. They take the shield and disappear, leaving all present moved beyond words.