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Giants of Malaan

Ceremonies and Oaths

Introducing Khord the human greenbond and totem warrior
The party thoroughly searches the weave warren and dismantles it completely. They collect the loot, etch the site in their memories, and leave. They return to Em Tarel with the good news and the people of Arrowhail rejoice in knowing their freedom from the scurge of the spidereyed goblins. They are promised a party in their honor.
They enjoy the party, endure the Giant songs, and are honored by the ceremony of gratitude. The children give them flowers, the people give them single coins etched with their family runes.
Later there is a feast in their honor at the Stewards great hall. They are granted, as expected, her patronage for the mission to the mouth of the Westwash.
Melkior consumed vast quantities of alcohol.
Bael tried to rebuff the attentions of the young and beautiful Sae Alurun.
Sajsan and Rhodri speak with Racine, the wealthy explorer who kindly refuses their offer of inclusion in the mission.
He does offer the assistance of a former colleague, Khord, as a guide and expert for the exploration.

The next day, they met together and drafted an oath of association for the party.
They came together and swore the oath. SPECIAL GROUP HERO POINT (usable by party consensus)
Now confident in their trust for each other, they met with seneschal Ozwilde and firmed up the plans for their mission. They then met with Del Shauna and swore an oath to carry out the mission.

During the next week they prepare for their journey. Melkior atunes his new staff and mounts the Dragon Head Figure to it. Sajsan finds a couple of porters to join the mission. Bael, Rhodri and Khord prepare themselves and the team for the mission.

Operation Arachi Freedom

The party returns safely to Arrowhail and conveys their findings to Del Shauna. She urges an immediate return to deal with this threat, and she asks that the party keep quiet about the training manual so as not to tip their hand to whomever produced it. Sajsan, who suffered greatly from the poison, decided to stay back and heal up, and maybe snoop around to figure out who might have produced the document. The party gets healed up and looks for someone to help them return to the Goblin weave warren. They find a Sibbecai totem warrior, Kharbouk, who agrees to go with them.
The return without incident to the weave warren, but discover that the goblins and spiders have sealed up the entrance. They burn their way through the webs in into the main tunnel. They have a brief fight with a few medium spiders when suddenly the tunnel collapses when a huge tree is dropped on them from above. Everyone except Rhodri is entangled in the web and takes some damage. They fight the goblins that set off the trap and make quick work of them. Still they are wounded and winded, and take a few moments to heal up and press on. They make it the main hall and find a strange note attached to the stuatue. They try to decipher it and while doing so hear a strange noise like a snare drum. They look in horror to see dozens of spiders of various sizes stampeding towards them. Acting quickly Melkior casts a spell creating a great wall in the canyon causing many of the spiders to be squashed as they race into it. The rest are stopped and then scatter over the wall into the wastelands above. What caused the stampede, or where they went in unknown, but the spiders do not return. The party makes to the sleeping quarters and is attacked by surprise by goblins in the webbing, and two large spiders. A pitched battle ensues, but the party is victorious. They clear the dead and burn into the cylinder of webs to find a deep hole. They attach a sun rod to a goblin and throw the body down. It lands some 150 feet down. They start the long journey down and about have way are confronted by a large spider swarm. Deciding not to deal with them there, they jump off the wall and Melkior casts a Safe Fall to bring them safely to the floor. The floor is the top of a domed building, there is a crack large enough for them to slide down. They drop a rope and begin climbing down. The spider swarms catch up with them, and the party descends quickly and moves for cover.
Some moments later they find themselves in a dead end with the spider swarm approaching. The concoct a plan, of sorts, to target them using Rhodri as bait. He stands near the entrance, and lets the spiders attack him. At the same time Melkior casts a Fire burst at them both. The results are effective, the spiders are dead, but not without cost, Rhodri is seriously injured, and poisoned.
They examine the walls and architecture of the place and come torealize that this was probably an ancient Dramojh site. Such places are feared and respected by those in the know. There they also discover two unusual things that lead them to believe they are in some kind of Power Cyst; the first is that with some practice first Melkior and then Bael are able to power spells using the ambient magical force in the area. The second is that everyone begins to heal their ability damage at a rapid rate (1pt/hour).
During this discovery they are surprised to find themselves trapped in the room by rubble dropped down the hole, blocking the dome. But with the enhanced magical abilities of the cyst, Melkior is about to cast a Fly on Kharbouk who ascends to the block and digs it out with his pick. They re-afix the rope and ascend the tunnel. Using an object which grants him the power of illusions, Kharbouk hides their ascent. Still they are attacked as they rise from the hole. A pitched battle ensues, against several goblins, their witch-leader and the huge wolf spider. The party is victorious!
They prepare to clear out the area and burn it to the ground.
Hero Point - Melkior for numerous instances of quick thinking with his spells (stampede/wall, swarm/safe fall)
Hero Point - Bael for hanging back and sucking up damage from the spider swarms so the others could get down
Hero Point - Rhodri for his willingness to risk himself to target the spider swarms

Totem Warriors - Four

Okay I think I am getting to the point where I am ready to make some rules.
Here is a first draft, you can make some comments before I finalize it.
In Lieu of an animal companion, the Totem Warrior gets.
1. Summon Animal [sp] (of the Totem Type) with HF equal to TW levels for 1rd/TW levels once per day. It has the Celestial Template. This is a standard action to summon, and the animal can understand the TW and obey his commands.
2. The Totem Warrior gets 1 Totem Point per 2 TW levels per day [Sp]. These operate like low powered Hero Points. To activate this requires a Standard Action, and the Focus of a Totem item (rod or amulet), and verbal componets..
The character makes a request for aid from his totem spirit. The actual assistance is up to the DM to determine the most appropriate form of the aid. The aid should be consistance with the 'theme' of the Totem Spirit.

Totem Warriors - Three

Okay so, I am still working on the Totem Warrior Alternatives for Animal Companions.
I am considering the following... Totem Points.
Each level of Totem Warrior grants the player one Totem Point, these are similar to Hero Points, and can be used relatively interchangeably. The difference is mainly one of manifestation, when needed the character's Totem Animal can intervene on behalf of the character (distract an attack, provide a useful clue, rouse someone to consciousness).
What do you think of this idea?

Arachnomania

The party follows the trail of the goblins deep into the crags. They spy a likely ambush site and using Melkior's magic they confirm that there are some goblins there. They make quick work of the goblins and manage to stop their runner from alerting the tribe. They follow the trail to a dark canyon with ominous webs and tunnels. They try to burn the webs but discover it is a futile effort, They decide to press in and investigate. They face several traps before encountering some resistance. They fight a series of goblins, and spiders each timme they are successful. They press the fight deep into the canyon. After succeeding in forcing a retreat they get to a strange chamber filled with webs and cacoon-like hammocks. They face a large crowd of goblins and as soon as the move in are confronted by the biggest spider they've ever seen.
The fight goes badly. Bael is soon surrounded, the goblins press in and soon overwhelm the party. Melkior, out of spells, finds himself soon in melee, not his ideal situation. He falls unconscious to their relentless onslaught.
Thinking quickly and selflessly, Sajsan grabs her fallen comrade and even with her poisoned weakened body, she begins to drag him to safety.
About the same time, the goblins begin to wear down the might Bael. He decides to break for it and runs past the surprised goblins. The party begins to stage a careful but hasty retreat. The Goblins having suffered considerable losses and fearful losing more allow the party to retreat.
The party moves quickly back to town.

HERO POINT to Sajsan for bravely risking her life to rescue Melkior.

Any recommendations for Hero Points?