ATC Klayshift Castle

In a far off land (Politzania), a powerful mage had an alliance with Barbarians (Toli's People) to create a Champion's Test. For those lucky few who survive, their prize was A Wish. However, over many centuries the powerful magics were perverted, and the castle started "shifting" and challenging heroes on its own. The party travels to the castle grounds to begin the test!


Storming The Castle
The First Ring
May 19, 2018

The party headed to the Great Forest with some trepidation, hoping that the Great Druid isn't still pissed about the whole Heart Of The Mountain. The party was given an escort named Talia to assure them safe passage. Arriving at the heart of the forest, all seemed quiet now that the war was over and the refugees have been settled. After some time, the lady druid arrives. The party apologizes and explains their actions. The Lady is obviously unhappy, and declares without any exaggeration that she will do what she can to kill the party if the Heart Of The Mountain is used against her. After that fun, the Lady told us that there are 3 layers to the castle with only a limited amount of time on each level. She decided to send Talia with us to the center of the wilderness, telling us to plant the three swords into the ground to summon the castle.

(Game Time: April 11)The next day the party set out with Talia to middle of no where, plunged the swords into the ground and declared "Klatu Barata Nicto!" A fog enveloped the party, and when it wafted away, the party found itself in front the entrance to a maze of shifting walls. On the ground in front of the entrance were two strange spinning object that seems to indicate Fire-Earth-Water-Air. After some arguments, the party lined and jumped when earth was showing, and the world shifted again.

The party finds itself at the entrance to a maze with 15' high walls and high gusts of wind blowing from the direction of the castle. After a few minutes the wind dies down and the sandy path widens. After a long walk it became clear that the winds, the width of the walls, the floor and other attributes like small statues strewn around were all shifting randomly. Then a loud and terrible noise like a rolling steamroller of rocks coming the party's ways! The party decided that hiding in a Rope Trick until the storm of stones had passed. To Be Continued…


Storming The Castle
The First Ring(cont.)
Jun 02, 2018
410 xp

The Party decided to change things up and make 90' turns to see if angle view causes different perspective, with no result of any difference. Arranz gets a premonition the group is running out of time.
Group picks up our pace but keep rolling 6's for encounters, all time streak, incredible. Again, had to use rope trick to avoid the storm of ricocheting stones. Also, twice attacked by groups of medium sized earth elementals. Ace got beat up pretty good but party able to knock them down. Finally get to an large open area and see a similar portal as what we got here…. except there was a 20' tall giant earth elemental blocking our way. It seems that this is our punishment for not getting to the Castle in time. The party knew it was either (1) fight the elemental or (2) start over at the beginning. As option (1) was out of the question, Party buffs up with plan the 3 main fighters, Basel, Hunter, Mojo keep it busy and rotate as take damage while casters blast it. Mojo goes werewolf and drinks potion of blur. Shoot arrows at long range, multiple hits but no damage. Combat begins and soon realize takes +2 weapons to hit the Earth Elemental. Mojo would have been hit 3 times but the blur cancelled 2 hits, he still took 30 points damage out of his boosted 86. Ace casts lightning bolts but don't seem to be doing as much damage. Arranz cast Envervation spell to drain levels from the monster. Basil gets multiple hits in, does 50 total damage. Hunter takes the brunt of counter-attack and drops to -15 in 2 rounds. More lightning bolts and magic missiles are cast, then Talia the Witch, new to the group, charges up and does shocking grasp on Earth Elemental doing only 3 points damage…. and it collapses into rubble.

Hunter's soul asks for divine intervention and fails with 85. Basil calls on his righteous stench of piety for his god to intervene and Hunter starts to gasp and cough up blood. Nice roll 97 for DI.
Hunter also avoids catching the attention of Loki on DI, as we been cursed for interfering with Highmoon's "penalty".


Storming The Castle
The Second Ring
Jun 16, 2018
300xp

Game Time April 11

With the golem dispatched, we stand before a portal of shifting colors. Have to pick color combinations, Green/Blue or Black/White.
Talia, Ace, Ogrel role intuition(30,26,21 respectively) that Black/White is magic, G/B is nature. Group picks magic and enters portal

Find a large mundane building, looks like a rest hall with large central fire pit, but all radiates magic. Appears no one around. Someone lights the firepit and we get a story played out in the pattern of the smoke. Story of two beings in conflict, our journey will be affected by the conflict as it plays out. Fought two sets of glowing humanoid shaped beings in this plaza with a large central water feature/fountain. The party tried to get passed them, but beings were blocking the party way. Quickly retreated when Mojo nearly incinerated by 2 of them for 74HP damage, and Kevlar takes 42 to find out +2 weapons were needed again. Pavelow attempted to run past them on wall and jumped to other side and disappeared. The glowing humanoids began to approach each other in clockwise fashion and one by one explode on contact, causing AoE damage but was figured out being in the center of the water, damage was less especially if submerged. Waited until all had blown up and moved to next plaza.

This plaza had a set of 4 gazebos with portals determined to be some type of teleport pad, party splits up and step thru them in effort to solve riddle and get next gate open. In keeping with the theme the party chose, two gazebos were white, two black. When someone steps into a gazebo, the person reappears in the gazebo of the same color. After some futzing around, the party decide that everyone should go through the portal at the same time. Unfortunately, the time it took to go between the portals in the extra-planer space was random, so it took 10 hours for some of the party to reappear.

Now with time as a factor again, the group hustles thru and fights a group of monsters to get to next portal. Here Pavelow "pops" in and rejoins group. Get thru gate and into an ornate room with overstuffed chairs and a sign stating "Rest here until ready." Very nice comfortable room.


Storming The Castle
The Third Ring
Jun 30, 2018
325xp

Game Time April 12(not sure of time flow)

Leave the rest hall and open door to see Astral Plan all around a bridge to a large castle door, impressive and reinforced iron bars with all kinds of scarring. We have the paladin knock and ask politely if we can come it, and pull the door open. Come to a completely dark room, need torches, with slick marble floor and design in middle of a green chess "rook" piece. Symbol of Klayshift is speculation.
A hallway to right and left, with a stairs straight ahead. Took hall to left, find a small armory and Basil enters only to be attacked by the weapons off the walls. After brief combat, all animated weapons shattered. Find another door in armory with a passage split to left and right, a line of small cells, unlocked with a small pile of cloth, lining the hall on one side. Party splits left and right, Siv leading one group to check for traps, Ogrel the other using his rogue skills. Both paths lead to same torture chamber room. Upon entering, get attacked by an undead shade, Zephyr turns it but it shrieks out before fleeing thru the walls, but some fell victim to its fear aura and believe they have to get away from it. Those who ran, encountered a platoon of mini-undead(from the mini-cells). Party regroups and attacks the mini-undead. Mojo uses his Psy-War ability to climb the wall and get behind them, and the mini-undead are all destroyed.

Basel insists on waiting for the shade to come back in order to try and kill it. We wait for a couple hours and it pops up in torture chamber, the party quickly kill it with combination of magic missiles and melee attacks. Party marches off to the right hallway from main entrance room. There see and kind of waiting room with drinks, and further on another door leading to a room with 4 doors each leading to a dark portal. Toss things thru one door and they randomly come out another door. Try multiple combinations but seem to get no where. Then check out the drink table and see the glasses match to the doors. Fill up the drinks and able to be teleported to a new room, all go except Mojo who thinks they are all crazy. Siv finds a second room and untraps/unlocks a large treasure chest of ……… 60,000……. copper.

Plan to head to main stairs. End of notes.


Storming The Castle
THE Castle
July 28, 2018
500xp

Game Time: Still April 12

Head up stairs and come to landing with a double door, on which a round bar crosses. This bar has multiple rings on it and on floor a riddle of the number of rings needed to open the bar. Talia immediately figures out the answer to be 6. and door opens. See a huge room with swirled color design on the floor, room has a door on each side and large double door across the room. Ogrel says no traps and Mojo steps on floor, hears it crack and a poison gas seems out. good saves only mean slight effects from gas. A pattern is noticed in the floor, and the safe walkway to each door is by avoiding any square with the slightest amount of the green swirls. The party marks the path to each door with copper pieces. Basel goes to right and opens that door. shuts it and runs screaming in terror back to landing and starts taking off his ClockWork Armor. The door pops open and we see why, its a rust monster. Fayren, Mojo and Basel with a spear attack it. Ogrel fires with magic missiles and monster is killed, falling over it shatters several tiles of gas, causing some damage to those around it.

Move thru the "Rust Monster" room, just a normal sitting room check another door, Ogrel steps thru after not finding traps and is attacked by a "flamer" human-shape, taking serious damage before help arrives to put this flame out. Decide we finally need to rest and see if able to heal up and get spells back, been a long "day". This room has outside windows and see sun setting. At night, a pack of hounds run up to window and bark, then they bark to a larger hound that seemed like conversation, after a bit, the pack runs off.

We search some more rooms, Basel is attacked by giant vines in a outdoor atrium "room" but Zephyr has control over plants and holds them. We do a quick search but see nothing of value. A couple rooms later a shadow tries to attack but Zephry turns it and it dissappears thru a wall. In a dining room, Basel again attacked by the chairs and other objects. They get bashed until broken.

End of session.


Storming The Castle
THE Castle
Aug 11, 2018
425xp

Game Time April 13

The party awakens the next day and continues to search the castle and have minor encounters. In a "collector" room, fight all types of bows. In a kitchen, fight some type of steam elementals and Mojo gets his eyes scalded.
Move thru rooms and find a huge 3 story room with chairs along the circular wall, with perfect cast statue of a young woman by wall on right side and a piano harpsichord on the left. Mojo and Arranz check out a balcony and see odd set of granite "cups" with lines and depressions in them. Not able to determine use after putting in lose change in each and then water. Move on thru the rooms, slowly circling back to main entrance room. Find another walled atrium, in the middle a 20' statue of a man in armor holding a globe in one hand and goblet in other. It starts to shoot darts when we enter, the darts causing secondary damage in later rounds. We attack it and after a bit of beating it crumbles, and the globe and goblet become free. It is noticed the globe would seem to be a perfect fit in the granite cups on the balcony. Hunter finds out the goblet can heal moderate wounds but only able to do it once, so figure limited to one attempt per day.

Next room is filled with taxidermied heads and a bear. Naturally they come alive and attack, heads flying off the wall.

Next room search shows a library with another statue of a scholar type looking up like into the distance. Suspiciously, nothing happened.

Final room: find another fine detailed statue of the same young woman in the harpsichord room when suddenly a pamphlet of music sheets burst and start flying around, slashing a slicing the party with a thousand cuts. The papers swirled around the room and settled in the arm of the statue of the scholar where they formed up a scroll? I think?


Storming The Castle
THE Castle
Sept 04, 2018
400xp


Storming The Castle
THE Castle
Sept 22, 2018
2000xp


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