The Good Team had been hired by the wizard leader of Unther to go into a tomb and retrieve the Rod of Eternal Victory and help save Unther from the savages of Mulhorandi. The Evil Team had been instructed by the High Priests of Tiamat to go into the same tomb and keep the Mulhorandi from getting the Rod, primarily by stealing it themselves.

None of this was known to either team when we sat down. The Good Team broke into the Tomb and reached the first serious puzzle room. While looking around, they heard someone breaking through one of the walls of the room. Wary of Mulhorandi tomb-robbers or guardians of the tomb, they prepared themselves to eliminate the potential foe immediately. (One does not become 18th level by waiting to see the "whites" of their eyes.)

The unknown foe broke through the wall and Astarak cast Mordenkainen's Disjunction upon them. They were not ready for such an assault. Their magic items all quivered under the arcane attack and many of them became mundane, losing their enchantments.

Needless to say, the Evil Team was pissed. Rachel's character in particular held a seething grudge against Chris' Mage for the rest of the day, as born out in the session quotes.

Some quick negotiation by our bard and priest and we agreed to tolerate each other and get through the tomb. Traps were avoided, riddles solved, guardians destroyed in a remarkable degree of interparty unity.

After the dinner break (Italian home-cooked meal provided by Christine Rentz (Hoody Hoo!)), we reached the final tomb. We found giant crystals on pillars, a tremendous skull, a sarcophagus all within a demi-plane where things that fall off the edge eventually fall again on you from above.

We tangled with a major demon, a legendary assassin, a demilich floating skull, and the fact that the Rod we sought dominated Father Janus when he grabbed it, removing him from the battle.

In the end, the Evil Team won, taking possession of the Rod of Eternal Victory in a Bag of Holding, and not personally. Those left standing? Astarak and Thurgan from the Good Team; Mark's Priest & his cohort, Rachel, and Rob's Rogue from the Evil Team. Dugger was sucked into a demilich tooth. Mike was slain by a "harm" spell from the demilich. Big Dog's priest was disintegrated by Astarak. Chris K's mage was frozen and slain by coup de grace by the legendary assassin and his vorpal sword. Mike and Big Dog might be brought back with a True Resurrection spell, though Dugger and Chris K. may not be as easy, considering how they died.

Some Other Comments

Rob Davenport

"For the record, we weren't the "Evil" team per se. No one told me other than we were the Unther team and that country is under the rule of Tiamat after she freed the country from the ravages and oppression of the even worse rule of the god-king Gilgeam and thus many were justifiably thankful to her. Personally my character was Lawful Neutral - in service to Jarha (Mark's character), in a kind of Divine Seeker role (if I'd known of that prestige class in the FR campaign book and we'd been allowed to use them, that's what he would've been - that's how I modeled him anyway). I honestly don't remember Chris's or Rachel's characters names.

A few hours of perspective and I can say it was a good game - definitely made us think about how to overcome our initial handicap. And I suppose we should've been more defensive when first meeting but we kind of figured we'd be on the same team. Mark and Chris did really well in getting over the loss of the magic items. I think it would've been similar if it had been your side so deprived of magic - the spellcasters weren't as dependent on magic for protection at this level - well, could provide their own.

Different, but a good game. At least some characters survived, unlike the exploding starship game! :)"

Jeff Rees - The GM

"I want to thank everyone for playing. It had a very rough start (I'll take the blame for that, I should have structured the meeting in a better way) but I thought it turned out quite well. Any game that uses Miracle just to lower a creature's defenses for one round must be good!

I hope everyone had fun. The goal was keep everyone evolved and to let each character shine at some point. That was a tough task when running a one-shot with 9 players. If nothing else, it was interesting to see the game at that high a level (damn scary....).