When it came time for character creation I had gone back to a more original way of deciding who would be playing what.
They were allowed to roll two sets of 7 numbers derived at 4 D6 dropping the lowest. The order of the rolls was the order of the stats: Str, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, Cha, Com (yes, I play with comeliness). Normally I would have let the players arrange whichever set of 7 they like in whatever order they want. Not this time.
We ended with with people at the table playing things that are a bit outside their baliwick but I think in the long run will result in a better game for everyone.
Our group looks like:
Gnomish Barbarian
Gnomish Druid to Demeter (actually the father of the above barbarian)
Half Orc Cleric to Athena
Half Orc Fighter (actually the younger brother of the above cleric)
Grey Elven Wizard (with a strength of 4 and a constitution of 6!)
High Elven Fighter/Wizard (with a mighty 5 hit points)
Wood Elven Thief.
The druid is ostensibly the party leader for now but the group knows that this is temporary and can change should they find the need or want to.
Also, we got rid of personal initiative and went back to the roots - Roll D6, highest group reacts first. The initiative round is broken down into: Flee, Missile Fire (and positioning), Long/2 Handed Weapons (and positioning), Melee Weapons/Spells (and positioning). This also meant I went back to what I had used for years - if you're a wizard or cleric, make sure no one has a bead on you or you will not be casting any spells.
Cash rolled was sort of light and some of the party members had to balance what they could buy, a few of them settling on a single weapon or downgrading armor where need be.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
New Campaign - Background
For this campaign I went back to my roots and one of the first areas of my world that I had ever worked on or settled. Very old school and greyhawk in flavor as belied what was relevant to me at that time. I have revisited this area a few times since then and felt that it was time to return here for this group.
The "set up" and common knowledge follows:
It is the spring months of the year 182 of the 30th age (as the elves measure the passage of time).
The land you are in was once referred to as the Duchy of Argos, part of the greater and unified kingdom of Daro. However the heart of Argos was the area known as Woodhelven, a separate and self governed land of the elves who had lived here since before recorded time. The barbarian kingdoms that made up this land were unified generations ago under the banner of Daro and those that lived here assumed they were part of the great kingdom.
During the goblin wars which lasted well over 25 years the throne of Daro sent less and less aid to the southernmost Duchy and demanded more taxes and tribute from the war torn nobility until the Duke of Argos had the king’s exchequers thrown out, the ambassador from Daro put to the sword, and declared himself King Argos the 1st. From there he aligned with the Speaker of the Sun, the high ruler of Woodhelven, and asked for the elves' aid in driving the goblin tribes back.
Other barons, counts, and lords also declared themsleves free of Daro and followed suit, elevating themselves and adopting titles to match. This fracturing of the feudal system caused enough internal strife that the goblin forces actual took over and occupied for some time the towns of Ferron, Shakun, Brewersbridge, and even the larger city of Timberton.
It was through a combination of magic, sword, and many tens of thousands of men and elves that the goblins were driven back and their stranglehold broken. The goblin tribes had been united under a mysterious Lord Hammer and it was his influence and direction that had given the goblins such insight and capability. Lord Hammer’s undoing was eventually the assumption of his identity, and a sorcerer of great skill known as Fendinthalis was pivotal to his demise.
Without their binding general, the goblin tribes have been less cohesive and the rangers and spellswords from Woodhelven have aided the beleaguered men and women of Argos in sending the greenskins back to the cracks in the earth from where they came.
Representatives from Daro have come south again and again, in some attempts to reintroduce King Argos and the other lords back under the imperial banner but their efforts have been rebuffed. The people of Argos are proud in their accomplishments and even with the hardships they have endured, see no reason to return to a distant crown.
The elves of Woodhelven are happy too to be out from under the rule of a distant human king and have taken to governing their own lands as they see fit.
Most of the towns that the goblins had occupied are once again in the hands of the original people who had lived there and were forced to flee over fifteen years ago. There has been much work to set things right and the times have been lean. Prices are still very high and finished goods are outside of most people’s price range.
There are talks though. The traderoads to the western lands of Pervia are filled with stories of the K’Darial kobold marauders waylaying travelers and taking their heads and skins. Duuk Sarathian Goblins are still seen everywhere, emerging from the Endless Forest and causing havoc in trios and gangs from stealing chickens to burning families out of house and home.
But closer to home are the bandits; rough men and women who have lived so long in the wild scraping by that they have forgotten lawfulness and decency and will stop a group of travelers to take their coins, clothes, and shoes. This lawlessness has gone on for some time and some of the local lords have felt that their mustered militia and home guards are ill equipped to handle the situation. So the call has gone out for the first time in over a score of years for adventurers stout and true to be commissioned and charged with reining in some of the chaos that exists outside the palisade walls of our cities.
The "set up" and common knowledge follows:
It is the spring months of the year 182 of the 30th age (as the elves measure the passage of time).
The land you are in was once referred to as the Duchy of Argos, part of the greater and unified kingdom of Daro. However the heart of Argos was the area known as Woodhelven, a separate and self governed land of the elves who had lived here since before recorded time. The barbarian kingdoms that made up this land were unified generations ago under the banner of Daro and those that lived here assumed they were part of the great kingdom.
During the goblin wars which lasted well over 25 years the throne of Daro sent less and less aid to the southernmost Duchy and demanded more taxes and tribute from the war torn nobility until the Duke of Argos had the king’s exchequers thrown out, the ambassador from Daro put to the sword, and declared himself King Argos the 1st. From there he aligned with the Speaker of the Sun, the high ruler of Woodhelven, and asked for the elves' aid in driving the goblin tribes back.
Other barons, counts, and lords also declared themsleves free of Daro and followed suit, elevating themselves and adopting titles to match. This fracturing of the feudal system caused enough internal strife that the goblin forces actual took over and occupied for some time the towns of Ferron, Shakun, Brewersbridge, and even the larger city of Timberton.
It was through a combination of magic, sword, and many tens of thousands of men and elves that the goblins were driven back and their stranglehold broken. The goblin tribes had been united under a mysterious Lord Hammer and it was his influence and direction that had given the goblins such insight and capability. Lord Hammer’s undoing was eventually the assumption of his identity, and a sorcerer of great skill known as Fendinthalis was pivotal to his demise.
Without their binding general, the goblin tribes have been less cohesive and the rangers and spellswords from Woodhelven have aided the beleaguered men and women of Argos in sending the greenskins back to the cracks in the earth from where they came.
Representatives from Daro have come south again and again, in some attempts to reintroduce King Argos and the other lords back under the imperial banner but their efforts have been rebuffed. The people of Argos are proud in their accomplishments and even with the hardships they have endured, see no reason to return to a distant crown.
The elves of Woodhelven are happy too to be out from under the rule of a distant human king and have taken to governing their own lands as they see fit.
Most of the towns that the goblins had occupied are once again in the hands of the original people who had lived there and were forced to flee over fifteen years ago. There has been much work to set things right and the times have been lean. Prices are still very high and finished goods are outside of most people’s price range.
There are talks though. The traderoads to the western lands of Pervia are filled with stories of the K’Darial kobold marauders waylaying travelers and taking their heads and skins. Duuk Sarathian Goblins are still seen everywhere, emerging from the Endless Forest and causing havoc in trios and gangs from stealing chickens to burning families out of house and home.
But closer to home are the bandits; rough men and women who have lived so long in the wild scraping by that they have forgotten lawfulness and decency and will stop a group of travelers to take their coins, clothes, and shoes. This lawlessness has gone on for some time and some of the local lords have felt that their mustered militia and home guards are ill equipped to handle the situation. So the call has gone out for the first time in over a score of years for adventurers stout and true to be commissioned and charged with reining in some of the chaos that exists outside the palisade walls of our cities.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Meet 164, Adv 13, 4/14/12
This wasn't the plan nor the way that I or anyone at the table expected it to go, but we had a practical TPK and at the end of it, it spelled the end of the campaign.
The group's biggest problem and something I had to remind even the experienced players around the table was that they never think of fleeing as an option. Ever. One of the players was talking about how it wasn't balanced for the group and seemed over powered. And it was. They were surprised by the BBG and in the surprise round, got 4 characters knocked down or killed.
It's the first thing they should think about - do we stay or flee. Monsters with Int's of 7 make that call every encounter - why shouldn't the group?
On a brighter note, we all rolled up new 1st level characters and will be back to playing again 1st week of May.
Write up follows:
Roughly 100’ from the battle site with the giant worm and the carrion crawlers the party had holed themselves up and waited carefully while Detheron cut his way into the caterpillar like creatures and successfully extracted the paralytic glands. Once done, he then carefully filled three vials with the contact poison and the group divvied them up. From there he attempted to do some surgery on the worm but was interrupted by Mebali (who was on watch) comment that “he heard something.”
Norris shot off a bolt of light and it revealed a 9 count of Grylians. Angry Grylians. Of which 8 of them shot their elongated bows atus. Mebali went down, shot. Then Norris was hit, and then Aleron was shot – the ranger plugged in the skull and slain instantly. Draugmor was hit and the Grylians tore into the group with arrows.
Most of us quickly struggled to get bows back in line and we shuffled around, doing our best to protect the group that had been knocked down. Smokey and Jerrig made great gains in holding the line but it was Finrod and Detheron who saved the day by using a combination Ride the Wind and Gust of Wind spell – the combination sending the back 2/3rds of the Grylians flying away with clattering bashes and smashes against the wall.
From there it was only a few solid hits and the last of the Grylians were taken care of. We looked over the party and healing was dispensed. But for Aleron there was nothing we could do as the ranger had been slain. From here we were getting unsure of what to do next. We were getting deeper in the cave and there was no ready or easy way out. We divided up Aleron’s belongings and then set off once again.
After a short walk we came upon a larger junction with 4 possible ways to go. And in the middle was a large oversized, left boot. Justlying there. It was obviously giant sized but it was there all by itself. We detected magic and found none and then eventually decided to cross the chamber spread out and wary.
It was while we were crossing that Detheron happened to turn around and spotted a large concentration of magic at the extreme range of his spell. As he was trying to say what it was – it closed. Fast. Charging. Gullin.
Over 6000 lbs., 12’ tall, 15’ wide, 25’ long, it plowed into the back of the party with decimating effect. Mebali, Finrod, Norris, and Draugmor were all knocked down – kicked, crushed, and gored. Norris managed to back pedal away, the bard scrambling barely upright and out of the way. The razorback crushed Mebali to paste, killing him. Arrows and swords came out and they bounced off the beast’s hide for the most part. We were screaming orders and trying to make room as Gullin continued to ravage the group.
And then Norris was able to read off the disintegrate spell. And the razorback rolled “1” on its save.
It’s entire left leg up to and including the shoulder and part of its chest turned to dust and the razorback was screaming. Blood was fountaining everywhere. Guyus was horribly battered and his summoned war steed was badly hurt as well. Smokey went toe to toe with the razorback but it was obvious that the bear was not in the same class. The paladin’s horse was dismissed and we watched as Gullin staggered, his combat effectiveness hampered and his speed almost brought to naught.
A few of us ran around the beast back in the direction we had come from but Guyus was not to retreat. He continued to hold his ground and entice the razorback to follow him as he backed up. Only Gwyn stayed local, shooting poisoned bolts into Gullin at every chance. Shields were being splintered at every turn.
And then the paladin died as Gullin gored the paladin inthe chest. Smokey tried to end the fight but the mighty bear was eventually killed and Gullin was woozing horribly, almost dead and gallons of blood allover the floor. But it bent its head down and ATE Guyus’ magical sword. And the wound on his chest stopped bleeding. He did not regrow his leg, but he was no longer in any danger of dying from blood loss.
We called Draugmor and Gwyn closer and Detheron transformed himself into a horse, the dwarf climbing up. Meanwhile Gullin bent down and ate Guyus’ magical mace – and healed even more damage. And its red eyes bored into us and we knew it was time to run.
Jerrig and Detheron in horse form (with Gwyn on his back) were in the lead, followed by Norris, Finrod, and Draugmor. We had a lead on Gullin who was laboring to keep up the pace. But it was obvious that Detheron and Jerrig would be running in the dark shortly as they outpaced the rest of the group but Norris shot a blast of light at Detheron’s ass and illuminated it as they charged off.
It was obvious after a few minutes that although we were initially faster than Gullin we did not have the stamina to keep up the running for any extended length of time. It was Finrod who began falling back, the elf unable to keep up the head long charge for so long. In fact the gap between Finrod and Detheron was over 60’ and growing and we could hear Gullin getting closer and closer.
Jerrig, Detheron, and Gwyn blew through the Carrion crawler room so quickly that they did not know the party was even closing. The decision was made to run south, back towards the pit. Finrod, fearing he was not going to make it cried out a levitate spell and jumped, rising to the ceiling and pressing himself flat – just as Gullin ran under him and failed to see him there.
Norris hit the carrion crawler room and jumped over the one crawler that was there, clearing the tentacles by over a foot and a half. He too ran to the south head down and watching the distant bouncing glow of Detheron’s enchantedly lit horse’s ass. He tossed the bluish ice gem behind him as he ran, hoping it would slow Gullin down.
Draugmor not knowing what happened to Finrod and knowing he was the last in line now to Gullin, also jumped over the carrion crawlers as he hit them but instead dodged to the right down the corridor we did not go down, rolled himself down the slight incline and then buried himself to the left and stayed quiet in hopes that Gullin would miss him.
The razorback ran left – following the sound of hoofbeats and the smell of the party.
Detheron slowed down and the tiger did as well as they approached the pit. Gwyn ran towards the edge and used his last flask of oil to cover the ground. Meanwhile Norris finally ran up, exhausted. We had little time left. He took out Thurin’s spell book, thumbed to the page marked “Rope trick” and read it right from the book – burning the spell away but opening up an enchanted pocket 5’ in the air that needed to be climbed by the rope. The bard scrambled up and motioned for Detheron and Gwyn to hurry.
The druid looked at Jerrig; there was no way for the tiger to get in. He climbed up and they called for Gwyn to hurry. The dwarf ran back was able to grab the rope but Gullin was upon him. The razorback hit the dwarf so hard he was torn from the pocket dimension and sent back towards the pit. Gullin hit him again and sent him to the edge and then it was one last push and the dwarf fell down 90’ and hit the rocks below with a deafening slam.
Jerrig turned and ran back down the corridor and away.
Draugmor was waiting quietly and then was hit by something cold that robbed his strength. Shadows. He pulled out his luck blade and ran back down the corridor, forced away from his friends and down a slope. Eventually it opened up to an area where the floor was lit with some yellowish/orange glow. He pulled out his bow and fire silver arrows at the undead (3) stopping two of them but was unable to destroy the last one as his strength was drained and Draugmor died, doomed to rise as a shadow himself.
Finrod was going to levitate down but heard Jerrig and Gullin getting closer so he hugged the ceiling and crab walked himself closer. As Gullin ran past he dropped down and ran off towards the pit. Once there he did not see his friends and called softly. Norris and Detheron motioned him to come up and they lowered the rope for him. He climbed up and they waited.
Gullin limped back towards the ice crystal, ate it, and released a Fire Giant from within. They talked and came towards the pit where the friends were in the enchanted place. The giant was talking about the dwarf and Gullin and what had happened but they eventually went away to go to where the razorback had seen the group.
Terrified – down to just Detheron, Norris, and Finrod–they stayed in the rope trick until enough time had passed and then snuck out, crossed the pit, and carefully made their shattered way under Finrod’s direction towards Clan Gullin, the gnollish enclave, where they would hole up and come to some grim realities of their situation.
And that is the end. Campaign over, party shattered, no way home.
The group's biggest problem and something I had to remind even the experienced players around the table was that they never think of fleeing as an option. Ever. One of the players was talking about how it wasn't balanced for the group and seemed over powered. And it was. They were surprised by the BBG and in the surprise round, got 4 characters knocked down or killed.
It's the first thing they should think about - do we stay or flee. Monsters with Int's of 7 make that call every encounter - why shouldn't the group?
On a brighter note, we all rolled up new 1st level characters and will be back to playing again 1st week of May.
Write up follows:
Roughly 100’ from the battle site with the giant worm and the carrion crawlers the party had holed themselves up and waited carefully while Detheron cut his way into the caterpillar like creatures and successfully extracted the paralytic glands. Once done, he then carefully filled three vials with the contact poison and the group divvied them up. From there he attempted to do some surgery on the worm but was interrupted by Mebali (who was on watch) comment that “he heard something.”
Norris shot off a bolt of light and it revealed a 9 count of Grylians. Angry Grylians. Of which 8 of them shot their elongated bows atus. Mebali went down, shot. Then Norris was hit, and then Aleron was shot – the ranger plugged in the skull and slain instantly. Draugmor was hit and the Grylians tore into the group with arrows.
Most of us quickly struggled to get bows back in line and we shuffled around, doing our best to protect the group that had been knocked down. Smokey and Jerrig made great gains in holding the line but it was Finrod and Detheron who saved the day by using a combination Ride the Wind and Gust of Wind spell – the combination sending the back 2/3rds of the Grylians flying away with clattering bashes and smashes against the wall.
From there it was only a few solid hits and the last of the Grylians were taken care of. We looked over the party and healing was dispensed. But for Aleron there was nothing we could do as the ranger had been slain. From here we were getting unsure of what to do next. We were getting deeper in the cave and there was no ready or easy way out. We divided up Aleron’s belongings and then set off once again.
After a short walk we came upon a larger junction with 4 possible ways to go. And in the middle was a large oversized, left boot. Justlying there. It was obviously giant sized but it was there all by itself. We detected magic and found none and then eventually decided to cross the chamber spread out and wary.
It was while we were crossing that Detheron happened to turn around and spotted a large concentration of magic at the extreme range of his spell. As he was trying to say what it was – it closed. Fast. Charging. Gullin.
Over 6000 lbs., 12’ tall, 15’ wide, 25’ long, it plowed into the back of the party with decimating effect. Mebali, Finrod, Norris, and Draugmor were all knocked down – kicked, crushed, and gored. Norris managed to back pedal away, the bard scrambling barely upright and out of the way. The razorback crushed Mebali to paste, killing him. Arrows and swords came out and they bounced off the beast’s hide for the most part. We were screaming orders and trying to make room as Gullin continued to ravage the group.
And then Norris was able to read off the disintegrate spell. And the razorback rolled “1” on its save.
It’s entire left leg up to and including the shoulder and part of its chest turned to dust and the razorback was screaming. Blood was fountaining everywhere. Guyus was horribly battered and his summoned war steed was badly hurt as well. Smokey went toe to toe with the razorback but it was obvious that the bear was not in the same class. The paladin’s horse was dismissed and we watched as Gullin staggered, his combat effectiveness hampered and his speed almost brought to naught.
A few of us ran around the beast back in the direction we had come from but Guyus was not to retreat. He continued to hold his ground and entice the razorback to follow him as he backed up. Only Gwyn stayed local, shooting poisoned bolts into Gullin at every chance. Shields were being splintered at every turn.
And then the paladin died as Gullin gored the paladin inthe chest. Smokey tried to end the fight but the mighty bear was eventually killed and Gullin was woozing horribly, almost dead and gallons of blood allover the floor. But it bent its head down and ATE Guyus’ magical sword. And the wound on his chest stopped bleeding. He did not regrow his leg, but he was no longer in any danger of dying from blood loss.
We called Draugmor and Gwyn closer and Detheron transformed himself into a horse, the dwarf climbing up. Meanwhile Gullin bent down and ate Guyus’ magical mace – and healed even more damage. And its red eyes bored into us and we knew it was time to run.
Jerrig and Detheron in horse form (with Gwyn on his back) were in the lead, followed by Norris, Finrod, and Draugmor. We had a lead on Gullin who was laboring to keep up the pace. But it was obvious that Detheron and Jerrig would be running in the dark shortly as they outpaced the rest of the group but Norris shot a blast of light at Detheron’s ass and illuminated it as they charged off.
It was obvious after a few minutes that although we were initially faster than Gullin we did not have the stamina to keep up the running for any extended length of time. It was Finrod who began falling back, the elf unable to keep up the head long charge for so long. In fact the gap between Finrod and Detheron was over 60’ and growing and we could hear Gullin getting closer and closer.
Jerrig, Detheron, and Gwyn blew through the Carrion crawler room so quickly that they did not know the party was even closing. The decision was made to run south, back towards the pit. Finrod, fearing he was not going to make it cried out a levitate spell and jumped, rising to the ceiling and pressing himself flat – just as Gullin ran under him and failed to see him there.
Norris hit the carrion crawler room and jumped over the one crawler that was there, clearing the tentacles by over a foot and a half. He too ran to the south head down and watching the distant bouncing glow of Detheron’s enchantedly lit horse’s ass. He tossed the bluish ice gem behind him as he ran, hoping it would slow Gullin down.
Draugmor not knowing what happened to Finrod and knowing he was the last in line now to Gullin, also jumped over the carrion crawlers as he hit them but instead dodged to the right down the corridor we did not go down, rolled himself down the slight incline and then buried himself to the left and stayed quiet in hopes that Gullin would miss him.
The razorback ran left – following the sound of hoofbeats and the smell of the party.
Detheron slowed down and the tiger did as well as they approached the pit. Gwyn ran towards the edge and used his last flask of oil to cover the ground. Meanwhile Norris finally ran up, exhausted. We had little time left. He took out Thurin’s spell book, thumbed to the page marked “Rope trick” and read it right from the book – burning the spell away but opening up an enchanted pocket 5’ in the air that needed to be climbed by the rope. The bard scrambled up and motioned for Detheron and Gwyn to hurry.
The druid looked at Jerrig; there was no way for the tiger to get in. He climbed up and they called for Gwyn to hurry. The dwarf ran back was able to grab the rope but Gullin was upon him. The razorback hit the dwarf so hard he was torn from the pocket dimension and sent back towards the pit. Gullin hit him again and sent him to the edge and then it was one last push and the dwarf fell down 90’ and hit the rocks below with a deafening slam.
Jerrig turned and ran back down the corridor and away.
Draugmor was waiting quietly and then was hit by something cold that robbed his strength. Shadows. He pulled out his luck blade and ran back down the corridor, forced away from his friends and down a slope. Eventually it opened up to an area where the floor was lit with some yellowish/orange glow. He pulled out his bow and fire silver arrows at the undead (3) stopping two of them but was unable to destroy the last one as his strength was drained and Draugmor died, doomed to rise as a shadow himself.
Finrod was going to levitate down but heard Jerrig and Gullin getting closer so he hugged the ceiling and crab walked himself closer. As Gullin ran past he dropped down and ran off towards the pit. Once there he did not see his friends and called softly. Norris and Detheron motioned him to come up and they lowered the rope for him. He climbed up and they waited.
Gullin limped back towards the ice crystal, ate it, and released a Fire Giant from within. They talked and came towards the pit where the friends were in the enchanted place. The giant was talking about the dwarf and Gullin and what had happened but they eventually went away to go to where the razorback had seen the group.
Terrified – down to just Detheron, Norris, and Finrod–they stayed in the rope trick until enough time had passed and then snuck out, crossed the pit, and carefully made their shattered way under Finrod’s direction towards Clan Gullin, the gnollish enclave, where they would hole up and come to some grim realities of their situation.
And that is the end. Campaign over, party shattered, no way home.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Meet 163, Adv 13, 3/24/12
Carrion Crawlers are those sort of monsters that it doesn't matter what level you are, if you get caught by the buggers you will be very unhappy. 8 attacks and poison to paralyze you. In this case the group had prepared as much as possible with Delay Poison and it helped.
Write up follows:
While the three friends were working in the pit below, our group was approached above by a 12 count of gnolls. Glaskar of Clan Gullin had come with a number of his people and one other in an effort to help us out. The last person was an elf named Finrod. He had come through a Tiger’s Eye gate many decades ago from somewhere near a town called Ferron. Once here his companions had been either killed or taken by the Grylians and he had been a mage slave for almost a century. During a raid on the Gullin caves his troupe had been killed and he had survived, barely, taken by Clan Gullin, nursed back to health, and folded in with the rest of the gnolls.
After Glaskar had come back and told of the Dritka he had met, Finrod had hoped to meet up with them and go with them on their trip eventually out of Freysteig wherever they would end up. We took him with us and Glaskar went on his way
We had some difficulty and comedy in our attempt to cross the pit. Finrod did have a floating disk spell which he used to ferry most of us across. And Detheron cast Jump on Jerrig to allow the cat to leap over the pit on its own, and Spider climb on Smokey to get the bear across. But the bear was very afraid of the unnatural traversing and Detheron was forced to hang on and push the bear from behind along the entire journey.
Once across we drew back into formation and Aleron held torch aloft, tracking as we went. Eventually our voices echoed back strangely and we came to a “T” intersection. The area was honeycombed with holes roughly 18” to 2’ in diameter, from the floor to maybe 3’ in height. There were almost 20 of them spaced about the widened area. We didn’t trust it. Detheron called to Frey to search for poison, discovering a burst of venomness inside the walls somewhere. Alright, we suspected it was something alive and inside the walls.
With great care Draugmor, Norris, and Guyus all crossed the room, protected by a Delay Poison spell. And then they came from the wall – almost a dozen carrion crawlers oozed out and approached the group. We took aim at a distance where able to and at other times marched right in with weapons swinging. We also got a chance to see Guyus’ new mace in action. It vibrated strangely in his grasp but when it connected – WOW! There was a blast of flame, a popping sound, and the target struck was sent crumpled across the chamber.
Aleron had a bad fumble where he pretty much shot Smokey in the gut. But it was shortly after the battle started that we had other issues. Two worms – each roughly 40’ long and pus-like in color came out and made to assault us. Their bite was acidic and they had a stinger on their back tail. Once again it was Guyus’s mace that made the day, sending worms flying about the chamber. Eventually the battle ended with one of the worms retreating and 3 of the carrion crawlers oozing back into the wall holes again.
We grabbed the back end of one worm and three of the crawlers and following Draugmor went down the hall another 100’ (taking the right fork) until we felt safe enough. It was here we dropped our quarry and turned to Detheron to see if our druid could harvest the paralytic poison from the monsters.
Write up follows:
While the three friends were working in the pit below, our group was approached above by a 12 count of gnolls. Glaskar of Clan Gullin had come with a number of his people and one other in an effort to help us out. The last person was an elf named Finrod. He had come through a Tiger’s Eye gate many decades ago from somewhere near a town called Ferron. Once here his companions had been either killed or taken by the Grylians and he had been a mage slave for almost a century. During a raid on the Gullin caves his troupe had been killed and he had survived, barely, taken by Clan Gullin, nursed back to health, and folded in with the rest of the gnolls.
After Glaskar had come back and told of the Dritka he had met, Finrod had hoped to meet up with them and go with them on their trip eventually out of Freysteig wherever they would end up. We took him with us and Glaskar went on his way
We had some difficulty and comedy in our attempt to cross the pit. Finrod did have a floating disk spell which he used to ferry most of us across. And Detheron cast Jump on Jerrig to allow the cat to leap over the pit on its own, and Spider climb on Smokey to get the bear across. But the bear was very afraid of the unnatural traversing and Detheron was forced to hang on and push the bear from behind along the entire journey.
Once across we drew back into formation and Aleron held torch aloft, tracking as we went. Eventually our voices echoed back strangely and we came to a “T” intersection. The area was honeycombed with holes roughly 18” to 2’ in diameter, from the floor to maybe 3’ in height. There were almost 20 of them spaced about the widened area. We didn’t trust it. Detheron called to Frey to search for poison, discovering a burst of venomness inside the walls somewhere. Alright, we suspected it was something alive and inside the walls.
With great care Draugmor, Norris, and Guyus all crossed the room, protected by a Delay Poison spell. And then they came from the wall – almost a dozen carrion crawlers oozed out and approached the group. We took aim at a distance where able to and at other times marched right in with weapons swinging. We also got a chance to see Guyus’ new mace in action. It vibrated strangely in his grasp but when it connected – WOW! There was a blast of flame, a popping sound, and the target struck was sent crumpled across the chamber.
Aleron had a bad fumble where he pretty much shot Smokey in the gut. But it was shortly after the battle started that we had other issues. Two worms – each roughly 40’ long and pus-like in color came out and made to assault us. Their bite was acidic and they had a stinger on their back tail. Once again it was Guyus’s mace that made the day, sending worms flying about the chamber. Eventually the battle ended with one of the worms retreating and 3 of the carrion crawlers oozing back into the wall holes again.
We grabbed the back end of one worm and three of the crawlers and following Draugmor went down the hall another 100’ (taking the right fork) until we felt safe enough. It was here we dropped our quarry and turned to Detheron to see if our druid could harvest the paralytic poison from the monsters.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Meet 162, Adv 13, 3/17/12
All characters like to find artifacts. However I also know that most DM's don't like them in the game since they do tend to skew things crazily. Either the bad guy has them and the group kills him and takes it, or the bad guys wipes the party out because they are too stupid to run.
So here it is, artifact in the game and available for them if they want to keep it. The problem is that now that they have it, it's too dangerous to just leave it somewhere and letting the bad guys take it.
We'll see how it plays out for them going forward. Write up follows:
It was decided that we were pretty much shot, our reserves were non-existent, and as a group we needed to hole up somewhere and rest. Problem was there wasn’t any place we had passed so far to do that, and from what we had deduced by talking to the gnoll Glaskar, there wasn’t any such place near here.
So instead we decided that Roper was a fairly known and large threat – we would rest perhaps 50 paces from the monster’s corpse, relying on the fact that its presence would deter casual wanderers. This placed us sort of mid-way between the pool and the Roper and with luck, we could relax and get some sleep.
Detheron cast Log of Everburning on a pile of wood and we lit two torches – placing one 30’ up corridor and 30’ down corridor from where we were camping out. Mebali, Draugmor, Guyus, and Norris all took watches, the party opting on two at a time. Eventually we ate a dinner of cold rations and we drained some water from our skin. Just before sun”out” Detheron made to cast create water so we could refill our skins – but the spring disappeared almost immediately and we heard 3 or 4 distinct musical notes ring out from the direction of the pool – echoing towards us.
We froze and waited silently, it did not repeat. Norris said a water spirit or elemental might live in the pool and we should avoid any sort of water effects while down here. He then cast Invisibility sphere on the party (and animals!), we all took camp sites on the edges of the corridor (leaving the center open) and fell asleep. Norris took first watch, then Mebali, Aleron, and eventually Draugmor.
It was during this time that we had some visitors. Two cockatrices – one male, one female, came down the hall from the direction of the pool. They seemed puzzled by the torches and gave them a wide berth. Eventually the male used his serpentine tail to drag it away, down the hall, where eventually we heard a distant “hiss” of it extinguishing (most likely the pool). They came back and took the 2nd, making the corridor darker by that much more – leaving only one.
Daring, Draugmor lit another stick of wood and left it in the area of the former and when the cockatrices came back – they were hopping and hissing and disturbed. They stayed in the distance, just outside of light range, silent for 10 minutes before coming back to the torch. This time they took the new one, and the last one – plunging the hall into pitch blackness and Druagmor waited. They did come back and went onward in the direction of the piercers – where he was satisfied to hear the sounds of “dropping” stones and angry cockatrice hissings.
It wasn’t until after Guyus woke up that we had our next issue – out of the darkness came a chilling cold sensation that crawled across the party. Guyus hissed “undead!” and willed his connection to Odin to flare brightly – driving the shadow away. Lights were lit and we swung what we could to force the undead menaces away, their touch not only chilling but also draining our strength! At one point Gwyn even lit his underwear on fire and was swinging it wildly about, dropping burning embers everywhere before accidentally engulfing his own head. It was when the last shadows were being finally destroyed that our battle sounds recalled the 2 cockatrices and we gave the stone turning a short battle from the distance. Flare spells, arrows, crossbow bolts, and even Guyus daring to run up and intercept the charging cockatrices until the battle ended.
We hadn’t gotten enough sleep as a party and only a few of us were going to get spells back. Eventually we had Detheron’s sun”on” notification and we broke our fast, struck camp, and marched on.
As a group we came back to the “pond” room and decided to leave it alone – heading instead down the eastern corridor and onward. It meandered a bit and eventually opened to a large pit. It was 30’ across, the ceiling showed some damage, and the floor was crumbling at the end. Do we cross? How? The bottom was unseen. We dropped a rock and guessed at over 50 feet. It was decided that a light spell from the wand down the pit would work – and it was instead about 90’ deep – the floor was all broken rock and uneven. Gwyn let us know that the collapse of the floor was less than 10 years old and more than 1. From what we could tell – at the bottom of the pit was a 4’ metallic looking handle.
It was decided that we would go down – Draugmor, Norris, and Guyus being the people in question. One by one they went down the silk rope we had bound together and anchored with Smokey until they made the floor. Then it was careful navigation across the broken expanse until they arrived at the handle – it went down into the rubble and was well over 5” thick. While checking the area out carefully before daring to touch it, we did spot something faintly bluish and glittering under the broken stone.
We moved the pieces aside one at a time, the last three larger ones the most difficult to maneuver. It was taking so long that Detheron, from 90’ up, was constantly calling down for us to “forget about it and let’s go”. The group refused. Eventually they did reveal a crystal – 18” in diameter or so, and shaped like a 20 sided die. There was something inside, bluish and distorted through the facets. Norris told us that it would be something that a powerful minion/follower of Thrym might have used for imprisoning purposes. And it would be VERY difficult to open. We took it with us.
As for the handle – Guyus was the one to dare to take it. He reached out, gripped the handle, and pulled – and it broke free of the stone and was now a 4’ long footman’s mace that he held – and as he held it – it felt “good” in his hand. It was perfectly balanced, had 5 flanges, and swung with a serious practiced ease. When Draugmor tried to hold it though it fell immediately to the ground and he could not lift or budge it! Guyus took it again and it felt wonderful.
We took the mace and the crystal and called up to Detheron that we should work on getting the group across the pit to the other side. Almost 3 hours after sun “on”.
So here it is, artifact in the game and available for them if they want to keep it. The problem is that now that they have it, it's too dangerous to just leave it somewhere and letting the bad guys take it.
We'll see how it plays out for them going forward. Write up follows:
It was decided that we were pretty much shot, our reserves were non-existent, and as a group we needed to hole up somewhere and rest. Problem was there wasn’t any place we had passed so far to do that, and from what we had deduced by talking to the gnoll Glaskar, there wasn’t any such place near here.
So instead we decided that Roper was a fairly known and large threat – we would rest perhaps 50 paces from the monster’s corpse, relying on the fact that its presence would deter casual wanderers. This placed us sort of mid-way between the pool and the Roper and with luck, we could relax and get some sleep.
Detheron cast Log of Everburning on a pile of wood and we lit two torches – placing one 30’ up corridor and 30’ down corridor from where we were camping out. Mebali, Draugmor, Guyus, and Norris all took watches, the party opting on two at a time. Eventually we ate a dinner of cold rations and we drained some water from our skin. Just before sun”out” Detheron made to cast create water so we could refill our skins – but the spring disappeared almost immediately and we heard 3 or 4 distinct musical notes ring out from the direction of the pool – echoing towards us.
We froze and waited silently, it did not repeat. Norris said a water spirit or elemental might live in the pool and we should avoid any sort of water effects while down here. He then cast Invisibility sphere on the party (and animals!), we all took camp sites on the edges of the corridor (leaving the center open) and fell asleep. Norris took first watch, then Mebali, Aleron, and eventually Draugmor.
It was during this time that we had some visitors. Two cockatrices – one male, one female, came down the hall from the direction of the pool. They seemed puzzled by the torches and gave them a wide berth. Eventually the male used his serpentine tail to drag it away, down the hall, where eventually we heard a distant “hiss” of it extinguishing (most likely the pool). They came back and took the 2nd, making the corridor darker by that much more – leaving only one.
Daring, Draugmor lit another stick of wood and left it in the area of the former and when the cockatrices came back – they were hopping and hissing and disturbed. They stayed in the distance, just outside of light range, silent for 10 minutes before coming back to the torch. This time they took the new one, and the last one – plunging the hall into pitch blackness and Druagmor waited. They did come back and went onward in the direction of the piercers – where he was satisfied to hear the sounds of “dropping” stones and angry cockatrice hissings.
It wasn’t until after Guyus woke up that we had our next issue – out of the darkness came a chilling cold sensation that crawled across the party. Guyus hissed “undead!” and willed his connection to Odin to flare brightly – driving the shadow away. Lights were lit and we swung what we could to force the undead menaces away, their touch not only chilling but also draining our strength! At one point Gwyn even lit his underwear on fire and was swinging it wildly about, dropping burning embers everywhere before accidentally engulfing his own head. It was when the last shadows were being finally destroyed that our battle sounds recalled the 2 cockatrices and we gave the stone turning a short battle from the distance. Flare spells, arrows, crossbow bolts, and even Guyus daring to run up and intercept the charging cockatrices until the battle ended.
We hadn’t gotten enough sleep as a party and only a few of us were going to get spells back. Eventually we had Detheron’s sun”on” notification and we broke our fast, struck camp, and marched on.
As a group we came back to the “pond” room and decided to leave it alone – heading instead down the eastern corridor and onward. It meandered a bit and eventually opened to a large pit. It was 30’ across, the ceiling showed some damage, and the floor was crumbling at the end. Do we cross? How? The bottom was unseen. We dropped a rock and guessed at over 50 feet. It was decided that a light spell from the wand down the pit would work – and it was instead about 90’ deep – the floor was all broken rock and uneven. Gwyn let us know that the collapse of the floor was less than 10 years old and more than 1. From what we could tell – at the bottom of the pit was a 4’ metallic looking handle.
It was decided that we would go down – Draugmor, Norris, and Guyus being the people in question. One by one they went down the silk rope we had bound together and anchored with Smokey until they made the floor. Then it was careful navigation across the broken expanse until they arrived at the handle – it went down into the rubble and was well over 5” thick. While checking the area out carefully before daring to touch it, we did spot something faintly bluish and glittering under the broken stone.
We moved the pieces aside one at a time, the last three larger ones the most difficult to maneuver. It was taking so long that Detheron, from 90’ up, was constantly calling down for us to “forget about it and let’s go”. The group refused. Eventually they did reveal a crystal – 18” in diameter or so, and shaped like a 20 sided die. There was something inside, bluish and distorted through the facets. Norris told us that it would be something that a powerful minion/follower of Thrym might have used for imprisoning purposes. And it would be VERY difficult to open. We took it with us.
As for the handle – Guyus was the one to dare to take it. He reached out, gripped the handle, and pulled – and it broke free of the stone and was now a 4’ long footman’s mace that he held – and as he held it – it felt “good” in his hand. It was perfectly balanced, had 5 flanges, and swung with a serious practiced ease. When Draugmor tried to hold it though it fell immediately to the ground and he could not lift or budge it! Guyus took it again and it felt wonderful.
We took the mace and the crystal and called up to Detheron that we should work on getting the group across the pit to the other side. Almost 3 hours after sun “on”.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Meet 161, Adv 13, 3/10/12
Wandering Monsters have been the mainstay in Gullin Caves and the party has has some pretty unlucky rolls. Like the Roper. I had no idea it was there, I had the yellow mold in the mist on the floor, and the piercers are in the area - but they made so much noise that I rolled a wandering check and blammo - Roper. So the roper had "always" been there - moving slightly - it was Schroedigar's Roper - neither there nor not there until they ran into it.
From both sides of the screen - we are having a blast.
Write up follows:
As a group we decided to walk northward. Cautiously we traversed the misty chamber until our lead members trod on something soft that released a cloud of yellowish spores into the air. Gwyn, Aleron, and Guyus all ran forward, choking and coughing but relatively unharmed while Smokey and Jerrig fell over dead from the spores.
Detheron called to Guyus to help somehow and the paladin dared to go back into the spores, grab Smokey, and pull/roll/tug the massive ursine closer to the edge of the next corridor. A quick prayer by the paladin brought Smoky back to life which relieved the rest of the party. The group was very nervous about coming across the opening to help when the stalactites from the ceiling suddenly began to let go and fall amongst the three on the other side. Piercers!
One of them brained the barely conscious bear, killing him again and the others were raining on the paladin, dwarf, and ranger. Getting hurt and trying to avoid being killed, they ran ahead, shields overhead as they fled from the spores, the dead bear, and the falling piercers. They disappeared around a turn in the corridor and was gone from sight.
And they ran right into a roper.
9 feet tall, 7’ diameter at the base, 6 tentacles went flailing out and they slapped about the group – sucking strength from some of the party (Aleron and Gwyn) and wrapping around the ranger’s leg. Aleron fell over and was tugged closer to the monster’s gnashing teeth. The group tried to sever the limb and the ranger was brought to the roper’s mouth.
Meanwhile Draugmor was picking his way through the chamber; feeling ahead to make sure that there was no other yellow mold on the floor, circling around to the far right of the clearing.
Guyus hacked at the limb, cutting it free from the ranger and swinging Aleron over to avoid getting bit. The roper gnawed at the paladin’s armor, crunching some of the steel plates. Meanwhile Gwyn’s strength was growing weaker as the roper kept whipping at him. They plied blows at the roper’s limbs, cutting another tentacle free.
Once across the chamber, Draugmor motioned for the rest of the group to join him, the druid anxious to get to the bear that was bleeding out on the other side of the chamber, the tiger Jerrig slain with piercers in his body.
Gwyn was able to slam some of the wyvern poison into the roper, the terrible stuff causing the monster to twitch and writhe and snarl as it coursed through its body. It bit at Gwyn’s scimitar, swallowing it whole. Gwyn suffered more strength drain, bringing him down to a 4 strength. Aleron plied dagger from a distance and Guyus went toe to toe with the beast, keeping it at bay as the poison finished it off.
Detheron called to Frey and halted Smokey’s death while Draugmor and Norris went ahead to the sound of the battle.
The Roper Gave one final tug and Gwyn was inside the beast’s mouth as it crunched down, killing the dwarf. Aleron hacked at its base with his dagger, his blows weak but still effective. Guyus was bathed in roper spittle and the excretions from its tentacles but the paladin refused to give up, sword slamming again and again. Finally with a gurgle it stopped moving, fell down to its base, and died.
We fished out the dwarf and healing was applied. Gwyn drew a gasping breath and was breath but still knocked out for some time. We grouped up again and doled out what healing we could. It was bad.
Inside the roper we grabbed Gwyn’s scimitar and under its first stomach was a handful of gemstones that we took. Norris took two of its tentacles to use as scourging whips and we were unsure of what to do next. Draugmor scouted ahead and let us know that that for the next 5 minutes down past the roper, the corridor was empty.
Norris opted to go back to where we had left both stretchers filled with wood and get our belongings. Picking his way past the piercers easily (those that had fallen, Mebali had stabbed their undersides until they stopped moving) and around where the yellow mold was – but did see that our cache of wood was now looked over by 9 crudely armed and armored gnolls! The hyena-like men barked to the bard in their own language – and Norris understood gnoll!
He spoke to them, they were from Clan Gullin and their leader was named Glaskar. They wanted the wood and Norris was trying to let them know it was our wood. They were friendly and referred to Norris as Dritka – so they traded out 100 lbs of wood and two stretchers for the bard’s broad sword. He gave it up to Glaskar and the gnolls were happy with the trade.
They then spent some time talking about the cave and we learned some things – there are two ropers, displacer beasts are aplenty, Gullin is what makes the gouges in the stone and is big, Clan Gullin lives off the main chamber and their lair is warded by yellow mold, there is a lair of ice toads, something lives in the darkness along the western corridor and the gnolls give it a large gulf, Gullin really dislikes Grylians, and before we get to Gullin there is an area of the ground that is lit from below and if you touch it it will burn you.
We thanked Glaskar and left with our wood and Norris told the party of what we had learned. As a group we were knackered and needed to rest, but to our estimation there was still at least 5-6 hours until sun”out”. Eventually Gwyn was awakened and between him (strength of 4 down 14 and suffering from a near death experience), Aleron (strength of 13 down 6), and Smokey (suffering from a near death experience) we were pretty messed up. The ranger and dwarf couldn’t handle their own gear it was too heavy for them and a lesser restoration was cast on Gwyn to return some of his strength (2-3 points).
With slow steps and great care we followed Draugmor’s lead down past the roper, following the winding corridor for 15 minutes until it opened into a grotto. Some stalactites and stalagmites, nothing really past 2-3 feet in length. In the center of the ceiling was a 7’ long stalactite, hanging straight down over a 6’ diameter round subterranean pool. Every minute a single drop fell from the tip and into the pool. There were two other ways out of the grotto, on the east and west.
The party debated the pool for a few minutes. Guyus assured us it wasn’t evil, and Detheron cast a spell to let us know the pool was magical. Alright…weird. Draugmor dared to get closer and looked down with the lantern – at the bottom of the pool was a skeletal hand sticking out of the rocks at the bottom, and it was holding a black cloth wrapped bundle maybe 3’ in length and cylindrical ay perhaps 10”. The pool was also over 5’ deep.
We talked about what to do next for a bit and decided we were NOT going to screw with the pool. Leave it and move on.
From both sides of the screen - we are having a blast.
Write up follows:
As a group we decided to walk northward. Cautiously we traversed the misty chamber until our lead members trod on something soft that released a cloud of yellowish spores into the air. Gwyn, Aleron, and Guyus all ran forward, choking and coughing but relatively unharmed while Smokey and Jerrig fell over dead from the spores.
Detheron called to Guyus to help somehow and the paladin dared to go back into the spores, grab Smokey, and pull/roll/tug the massive ursine closer to the edge of the next corridor. A quick prayer by the paladin brought Smoky back to life which relieved the rest of the party. The group was very nervous about coming across the opening to help when the stalactites from the ceiling suddenly began to let go and fall amongst the three on the other side. Piercers!
One of them brained the barely conscious bear, killing him again and the others were raining on the paladin, dwarf, and ranger. Getting hurt and trying to avoid being killed, they ran ahead, shields overhead as they fled from the spores, the dead bear, and the falling piercers. They disappeared around a turn in the corridor and was gone from sight.
And they ran right into a roper.
9 feet tall, 7’ diameter at the base, 6 tentacles went flailing out and they slapped about the group – sucking strength from some of the party (Aleron and Gwyn) and wrapping around the ranger’s leg. Aleron fell over and was tugged closer to the monster’s gnashing teeth. The group tried to sever the limb and the ranger was brought to the roper’s mouth.
Meanwhile Draugmor was picking his way through the chamber; feeling ahead to make sure that there was no other yellow mold on the floor, circling around to the far right of the clearing.
Guyus hacked at the limb, cutting it free from the ranger and swinging Aleron over to avoid getting bit. The roper gnawed at the paladin’s armor, crunching some of the steel plates. Meanwhile Gwyn’s strength was growing weaker as the roper kept whipping at him. They plied blows at the roper’s limbs, cutting another tentacle free.
Once across the chamber, Draugmor motioned for the rest of the group to join him, the druid anxious to get to the bear that was bleeding out on the other side of the chamber, the tiger Jerrig slain with piercers in his body.
Gwyn was able to slam some of the wyvern poison into the roper, the terrible stuff causing the monster to twitch and writhe and snarl as it coursed through its body. It bit at Gwyn’s scimitar, swallowing it whole. Gwyn suffered more strength drain, bringing him down to a 4 strength. Aleron plied dagger from a distance and Guyus went toe to toe with the beast, keeping it at bay as the poison finished it off.
Detheron called to Frey and halted Smokey’s death while Draugmor and Norris went ahead to the sound of the battle.
The Roper Gave one final tug and Gwyn was inside the beast’s mouth as it crunched down, killing the dwarf. Aleron hacked at its base with his dagger, his blows weak but still effective. Guyus was bathed in roper spittle and the excretions from its tentacles but the paladin refused to give up, sword slamming again and again. Finally with a gurgle it stopped moving, fell down to its base, and died.
We fished out the dwarf and healing was applied. Gwyn drew a gasping breath and was breath but still knocked out for some time. We grouped up again and doled out what healing we could. It was bad.
Inside the roper we grabbed Gwyn’s scimitar and under its first stomach was a handful of gemstones that we took. Norris took two of its tentacles to use as scourging whips and we were unsure of what to do next. Draugmor scouted ahead and let us know that that for the next 5 minutes down past the roper, the corridor was empty.
Norris opted to go back to where we had left both stretchers filled with wood and get our belongings. Picking his way past the piercers easily (those that had fallen, Mebali had stabbed their undersides until they stopped moving) and around where the yellow mold was – but did see that our cache of wood was now looked over by 9 crudely armed and armored gnolls! The hyena-like men barked to the bard in their own language – and Norris understood gnoll!
He spoke to them, they were from Clan Gullin and their leader was named Glaskar. They wanted the wood and Norris was trying to let them know it was our wood. They were friendly and referred to Norris as Dritka – so they traded out 100 lbs of wood and two stretchers for the bard’s broad sword. He gave it up to Glaskar and the gnolls were happy with the trade.
They then spent some time talking about the cave and we learned some things – there are two ropers, displacer beasts are aplenty, Gullin is what makes the gouges in the stone and is big, Clan Gullin lives off the main chamber and their lair is warded by yellow mold, there is a lair of ice toads, something lives in the darkness along the western corridor and the gnolls give it a large gulf, Gullin really dislikes Grylians, and before we get to Gullin there is an area of the ground that is lit from below and if you touch it it will burn you.
We thanked Glaskar and left with our wood and Norris told the party of what we had learned. As a group we were knackered and needed to rest, but to our estimation there was still at least 5-6 hours until sun”out”. Eventually Gwyn was awakened and between him (strength of 4 down 14 and suffering from a near death experience), Aleron (strength of 13 down 6), and Smokey (suffering from a near death experience) we were pretty messed up. The ranger and dwarf couldn’t handle their own gear it was too heavy for them and a lesser restoration was cast on Gwyn to return some of his strength (2-3 points).
With slow steps and great care we followed Draugmor’s lead down past the roper, following the winding corridor for 15 minutes until it opened into a grotto. Some stalactites and stalagmites, nothing really past 2-3 feet in length. In the center of the ceiling was a 7’ long stalactite, hanging straight down over a 6’ diameter round subterranean pool. Every minute a single drop fell from the tip and into the pool. There were two other ways out of the grotto, on the east and west.
The party debated the pool for a few minutes. Guyus assured us it wasn’t evil, and Detheron cast a spell to let us know the pool was magical. Alright…weird. Draugmor dared to get closer and looked down with the lantern – at the bottom of the pool was a skeletal hand sticking out of the rocks at the bottom, and it was holding a black cloth wrapped bundle maybe 3’ in length and cylindrical ay perhaps 10”. The pool was also over 5’ deep.
We talked about what to do next for a bit and decided we were NOT going to screw with the pool. Leave it and move on.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Meet 160, Adv 13, 3/3/12
Got a chance to use displacer beasts against the party for the first time, and I have to say, being forced to miss 50% of the time regardless if the target is "hit" really dragged the battle out. The group watched their hit points fly away and as a party had to struggle against the beasts. I had the druid try to faerie fire the beasts and for the life of me, I had to rule on whether it stops their displacement - I opted for no. Hate to arbitrarily go against the party, but it was the decision made and I'll make sure it is kept like that for now on.
Write up follows:
After getting back to sleep we rested, with Draugmor eventually taking over most of the watch. Many hours passed and then Detheron woke up suddenly, shaking, as the power of Frey flowed through him and we knew that it was “sun on” for a new day. We broke our fast and prayed until it was time to break our camp and march onward.
We decided to take apart the sled that had served us well and cannibalize it, spreading out the food and wood and reshuffling the use of the travois to stretchers so that we can carry much of our draggble gear. Guyus even summoned his war steed and we placed almost 90 lbs of foodstuffs on it. Detheron then cast Greater magic fang on Smokey and even asked Frey for a detect snares and pits spell.
From there we drew ourselves into marching order, relying on the fact that the corridors seemed wide, we walked three abreast, with Aleron acting as scout. It wasn’t much of a walk before the ranger felt something ahead of us. He asked for silence. We heard nothing, but he was still convinced something was there. Gwyn had the party douse the lanterns and the dwarf peered ahead with his darksight – and saw at least two wavering heat signatures of 10’ long broad chested cats at the limit of sight. Crouched low on either side of the wall and creeping closer.
He instructed us what was coming, and Draugmor used his Illumination wand, firing off a bolt of light to hit the wall roughly where the cats were on the left – revealing THREE dark shadowy 600 lb Bengalese tigers – each one with a 15’ pair of whip like tentacles coming from their shoulders. The party fired their bows and crossbows – and we were dismayed to find 3 of the 4 bolts just flat out missed the beasts; passing through their forms. Damn it.
The beasts surged forward, leaping on the group and barreling into the party. And then we realized that we were in trouble. Unlike normal cats/tigers, these beasts just weren’t there for most of the blows, our swords and blows passing to the right, left, and over the beasts. An attempt was made to hit them with Faerie Fire but it did not fix their position in place.
Smokey was biting wildly but the taste of blood made the bear berserk, the grizzly picking up the closest beast and whipping it sideways into the melee. We tried to give the bear some room but Smokey tripped, bashed his head on the ground, and was knocked out. One beast was down but we were having a rough time with the last two, especially with every other blow just missing. Hit points were fading and then finally the death blows were given and the displacer beasts collapsed.
However, the fighting was so long and loud that we attracted the attention of some 8’ tall ice toads! They froze the air and ground around them and fell into the party. Their bites and cold aura were having a small effect on the party, their impact lessened due to Detheron raising the temperature in the area around him by over 70 degree higher. The ice toads tried to turn back and escape but the group fell upon them and finished them off as well.
We waited, nothing new was coming. So taking Thurin’s advice we dissected the ice toads for their “cold sack” gland behind their throats and we did learn that Displacer Beast brains, if devoured early upon the animal’s death, can potentially either gift the devourer with special skills, make him ill, or kill him. Mebali wanted to eat a brain, and Thurin did as well, with Guyus opting for the third. Most of the group thought this was god damned stupid.
But we hacked out the brains (thanks Detheron!) and Guyus went first – choking it down and gaining permanent Constitution! Mebali went next, got very sick, but gained a level! And then Thurin went – and dropped dead! No save, no do over, just dead! Holy crap!!
We spent almost an hour stripping the elf of his belongings, dividing up his gear, and then taking him out to the exterior of the cave and burying him as far down in the snow as we could. From there we went back into the caves and consulted the map, knowing we had to go north east (for many miles!) to come to the other cave exit.
We once more walked carefully, passing where we had just been until we arrived at long last to a larger area of the cave. It was almost 60’ oval, with 5 other potential exits from the chamber ranging in a spoke arcing north and east from due west. West was a downward slope, North west and north were featureless, and east and north east had a slight breeze blowing down it that came to the chamber we were in.
We opted for east first, walking a short distance in until we noted that the breeze that blew towards up was vaguely damp, as the smell of the cave. Detheron ordered us out and back to the main chamber where we decided on North east this time. After a short walk we noticed patches of mold growing on the wall, patches that seemed to grow more numerous and larger as we progressed down. This also bothered the party and we went back to the main chamber.
Feeling silly now but forcing ourselves to make a choice, we opted for north and kept walking. After over 120 paces we saw the floor of the chamber was slowly being covered with a cool mist or haze. It displaced easily as we walked over it, but it was still disconcerting. Telling us to continue no matter what, we eventually came to an expanded section of the cavern where the ground mist was the thickest. A crack was along the northern wall, almost 6’ tall and a good two inches thick at its center. It was from here that cool air was coming in and was making a mist on the floor that spread out across the chamber. We noted at least two other ways out of this chamber and discussed our options.
Write up follows:
After getting back to sleep we rested, with Draugmor eventually taking over most of the watch. Many hours passed and then Detheron woke up suddenly, shaking, as the power of Frey flowed through him and we knew that it was “sun on” for a new day. We broke our fast and prayed until it was time to break our camp and march onward.
We decided to take apart the sled that had served us well and cannibalize it, spreading out the food and wood and reshuffling the use of the travois to stretchers so that we can carry much of our draggble gear. Guyus even summoned his war steed and we placed almost 90 lbs of foodstuffs on it. Detheron then cast Greater magic fang on Smokey and even asked Frey for a detect snares and pits spell.
From there we drew ourselves into marching order, relying on the fact that the corridors seemed wide, we walked three abreast, with Aleron acting as scout. It wasn’t much of a walk before the ranger felt something ahead of us. He asked for silence. We heard nothing, but he was still convinced something was there. Gwyn had the party douse the lanterns and the dwarf peered ahead with his darksight – and saw at least two wavering heat signatures of 10’ long broad chested cats at the limit of sight. Crouched low on either side of the wall and creeping closer.
He instructed us what was coming, and Draugmor used his Illumination wand, firing off a bolt of light to hit the wall roughly where the cats were on the left – revealing THREE dark shadowy 600 lb Bengalese tigers – each one with a 15’ pair of whip like tentacles coming from their shoulders. The party fired their bows and crossbows – and we were dismayed to find 3 of the 4 bolts just flat out missed the beasts; passing through their forms. Damn it.
The beasts surged forward, leaping on the group and barreling into the party. And then we realized that we were in trouble. Unlike normal cats/tigers, these beasts just weren’t there for most of the blows, our swords and blows passing to the right, left, and over the beasts. An attempt was made to hit them with Faerie Fire but it did not fix their position in place.
Smokey was biting wildly but the taste of blood made the bear berserk, the grizzly picking up the closest beast and whipping it sideways into the melee. We tried to give the bear some room but Smokey tripped, bashed his head on the ground, and was knocked out. One beast was down but we were having a rough time with the last two, especially with every other blow just missing. Hit points were fading and then finally the death blows were given and the displacer beasts collapsed.
However, the fighting was so long and loud that we attracted the attention of some 8’ tall ice toads! They froze the air and ground around them and fell into the party. Their bites and cold aura were having a small effect on the party, their impact lessened due to Detheron raising the temperature in the area around him by over 70 degree higher. The ice toads tried to turn back and escape but the group fell upon them and finished them off as well.
We waited, nothing new was coming. So taking Thurin’s advice we dissected the ice toads for their “cold sack” gland behind their throats and we did learn that Displacer Beast brains, if devoured early upon the animal’s death, can potentially either gift the devourer with special skills, make him ill, or kill him. Mebali wanted to eat a brain, and Thurin did as well, with Guyus opting for the third. Most of the group thought this was god damned stupid.
But we hacked out the brains (thanks Detheron!) and Guyus went first – choking it down and gaining permanent Constitution! Mebali went next, got very sick, but gained a level! And then Thurin went – and dropped dead! No save, no do over, just dead! Holy crap!!
We spent almost an hour stripping the elf of his belongings, dividing up his gear, and then taking him out to the exterior of the cave and burying him as far down in the snow as we could. From there we went back into the caves and consulted the map, knowing we had to go north east (for many miles!) to come to the other cave exit.
We once more walked carefully, passing where we had just been until we arrived at long last to a larger area of the cave. It was almost 60’ oval, with 5 other potential exits from the chamber ranging in a spoke arcing north and east from due west. West was a downward slope, North west and north were featureless, and east and north east had a slight breeze blowing down it that came to the chamber we were in.
We opted for east first, walking a short distance in until we noted that the breeze that blew towards up was vaguely damp, as the smell of the cave. Detheron ordered us out and back to the main chamber where we decided on North east this time. After a short walk we noticed patches of mold growing on the wall, patches that seemed to grow more numerous and larger as we progressed down. This also bothered the party and we went back to the main chamber.
Feeling silly now but forcing ourselves to make a choice, we opted for north and kept walking. After over 120 paces we saw the floor of the chamber was slowly being covered with a cool mist or haze. It displaced easily as we walked over it, but it was still disconcerting. Telling us to continue no matter what, we eventually came to an expanded section of the cavern where the ground mist was the thickest. A crack was along the northern wall, almost 6’ tall and a good two inches thick at its center. It was from here that cool air was coming in and was making a mist on the floor that spread out across the chamber. We noted at least two other ways out of this chamber and discussed our options.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Meet 159, Adv 13, 2/25/12
Wandering Monsters.
Could have had a TPK when I rolled up "giants" on the outdoor wandering table, 3 Frost Giants. Luckily the reaction roll was a pair of 6's so the giants were apt to be friendly to the group and the party let the dwarf talk to them.
They did make it to the cave and it is here that they are going to go "spelunking". I wish them well, because the cavern could be fucking dangerous!
Write up follows:
Could have had a TPK when I rolled up "giants" on the outdoor wandering table, 3 Frost Giants. Luckily the reaction roll was a pair of 6's so the giants were apt to be friendly to the group and the party let the dwarf talk to them.
They did make it to the cave and it is here that they are going to go "spelunking". I wish them well, because the cavern could be fucking dangerous!
Write up follows:
The party spent some time going over the Deed of Yngvi, opting on a course of action. We would go to the caves as marked to the northwest of Njor and hope that it joins up with the other caves northeast of that, beyond Snorri’s Pipe. There is a body of water there labeled Freyslik that we assume is mentioned in the Deed as the shore and the runemaker.
We spent the rest of the night going through the place, raiding the larder for supplies and foods, eventually loading not only the sled, but all 4 travois with gear and provisions. In addition we hollowed out a section of the outer tower wall and magically skinned it with a couple of stone shape spells, allowing us a possible way to reenter the citadel should we need to in the future.
We awoke just before the sun rise on the 8th day and after breaking our fast and praying, we left about an hour after the sun turned on. It was snowing, adding cold powder to the world and the visibility was no better than a third of a mile. Detheron had prepared the party with a variety of endurance spells to keep us warm and we arranged the party so that both Smokey and Jerrig were trailblazing with the party trudging behind. In addition, Norris has using his bardic powers to make the entire party invisible.
The hours passed until we noticed that the party was being shadowed. We had been walking for about 4-5 hours and whatever was following us, was following the displaced snow, as well as the disembodied sled and travois tracking behind us. We stopped, arranged ourselves in a better layout to face whatever was coming, and took our time with weapons and prep.
What was coming was almost a dozen white and black, 450 lb, Siberian tigers. And they were stalking the group. They slowed at a couple hundred feet away and crept closer, dividing into 3 groups and encircling the sled and party. We stayed quiet and hoped that our scent and lack of visibility would confuse them. And then the groups sprung.
Detheron called out a charm animal spell and Thurin attempted a charm monster – taking 2 of the tigers out of the mix. Then it was bounding leaps and Gwyn and Guyus (on his steed) took the next brunt of the attacks, getting mauled pretty badly during the exchange.
The tigers charged forward at the rapidly “appearing” party but the presence of the two charmed ones intercepted two others. Smokey beat the hell out of one of them but our own Jerrig was battered badly and we lost him. Guyus was getting pretty chewed up before we dropped enough of the tigers that one managed to escape, the others broken. Detheron adopted the charmed tiger as “Jerrig 3” (the one he had assigned the suffix “2” had also died during the melee) and we passed out healing. Some of the meat was taken but mostly we allowed our three animal companions to eat until full.
We marched onward for another 3 hours of so. The land had changed into hills, some of them cresting to almost 600 feet and a decent slope of 30 degrees. We heard a voice calling us and coming around the bend of one of the hills were 3 frost giants. They had some tigers and a bear with them and they spoke to Gwyn, the giants conversing in dwarvish. They were on their way back to Hanin (on the map) to meet with the Grylians there and trade some food and skins.
We had some conversation with them and learned that although Dritka are occasionally sent out, it is not common. They referred to Detheron as “Freytouched” and were friendly enough assuming that we too were from Hanin. Gwyn was able to convince them that we needed to get to some “big caves” in the area and the giants led us over the hills northward to what they referred to as the “Gullincaves”.
We arrived about 2 hours after sunout and bid the frost giants farewell. The caves were massive – 20’ wide, 15’ tall. Bones, lots of bones, were outside and the cave seemed warmer than the air around it. We entered, travelling over 300 feet in and down as the corridor sloped until we felt warmer. From here we set up camp and rested for the night.
During Mebali’s watch he awoke Draugmore and pointed to the ceiling, saying something was moving. Sure enough, one of the stalactites was moving oh so slowly across the surface, getting closer to the group. In fact, it was almost over Thurin. The decision was made to “wake everyone up” and Thurin was grabbed by the legs and yanked across the floor – moments before the strange stone-like thing crashed down.
Was it for real? It was a piercer, a mollusk-like dungeon creature that drops from the ceiling and impales unsuspecting creatures below. We knocked it back over twice when it tried to upright itself and then “killed it” by stabbing at the underside where there was no stone covering. At this point Thurin was going to cast Rope trick and was going to hide up there to rest the remainder of the night.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Meet 158, Adv 13, 2/4/12
Gang or group fighting is reminiscent of most original fantasy and for this meeting the party was on the receiving end of it. Attacked by hordes of goblins or kobolds is expected now and again, but these were Grylians - a hybrid tiger/humanoid creature I had used years ago. Standing almost 7' tall, 300 lbs, no movement penalty in snow, 15 AC, +3 strength, +7 to Initiative, 5+5 hit dice, 3 natural weapons or two attacks with a prepared one, and capable of using the Grylian long bow that packs a punch similar to a crossbow. The group was being dropped left and right but managed to prevail at the end.
Write up follows:
Thurin positioned Pop (still invisibly) near the base of the spiral stairs going higher into the citadel, about 15’ from the dead Frost Giant, relying on the familiar to let him know if anyone came closer to investigate. Meanwhile Draugmor and Guyus continued their checking out of the main floor chambers. From the “barracks” room there was another doorway, which opened to reveal a combination washing room as well as barracks for another 10 Grylians. There was an alcove in the left side of the chamber which had a larger “sleeping” area, 4 or 5 fur blankets deep. The reek of urine and Grylian was very strong from it.
Draugmor wanted to check it out and see if there was anything there for it, but was fearful or repercussions or traps or anything. He spent a long time checking it out before daring to even move the first sleeping fur.
Meanwhile, Pop informed Thurin that there were Grylians coming closer and sure enough, the Frost giant’s head lolled to the side. Thurin let the rest of the group know and Aleron loaded up his Grylian long bow while the mage and dwarf readied their own long range weapons.
Detheron had come into the room with Guyus and the thief and after a short Detection, revealed no magic in the area. We did notice though that his spell had the room suddenly radiating warmth – and the warmth stayed. The druid informed us of “something” coming on the stairs and the party went back to the hall together.
Guyus was able to feel 3 sources of evil and they were just on the other side of the giant and the curve of the stairs. We drew up into battle formation and then crept forward slowly, anticipating the battle to come.
And then we were shot in the back. Grylian arrows flew across the foyer from the MAIN DOOR, where we were not looking, skewing Detheron and knocking the druid down, and also bouncing off Thurin’s ensorcelled clothing and mage armor.
And then the front facing Grylians fired at the group, dropping Gwyn from the impact of the bow, the shaft penetrating his throat. The next two leaped into the group, closing to melee range with Guyus and Draugmor. More arrows were shot and this time Aleron was struck, the ranger reeling from the impact. Guyus summoned his war steed and had it try to kick the Grylian grappling with him free but it failed, kicking Guyus instead.
A 6th Grylian tore into the fight, wielding a large tooth like a dagger. It leapt into Aleron, buried the knife in the ranger’s chest, and dropped him to the ground and 0 hp. Smokey was directed into the fight and the bear went toe to toe with the tooth wielding Grylian, wounding him deeply. To keep the party from getting shot from behind, Detheron called on Frey to fill the hall with a fog cloud, dropping visibility to nothing. Thurin moved to the side and his around the corner.
The battle slowly turned as most of us were able to stand up and fight the Grylians back. The leader type leapt away from the fight and down the stairs to the basement while the one on the stairs retreated back up. We waited, no one else jumped out to attack, so the party rested and bound up their wounds. The arrow in Gwyn’s neck was removed and Aleron was revived with some of the last healing we had. According to Detheron more than half the party was below half hit points and we had no healing of any note remaining.
As for the Grylian down the stairs, attempts to stick our nose past the steps resulted in arrows shot up at us. Guyus played chicken for a bit and a light spell covered stone was thrown down there, followed by his steed – but it resulted in nothing except for his horse falling over and the light stone being taken and brought elsewhere.
Pop was guarding the stairs and told us often that the stairs smells of Grylian and the weasel was convinced it was at the stairs top. We checked out the rest of the floor, finding nothing. We kept an ear out for Norris and Mebali who did return with the sled and our firewood. The group decided to hole up here, in the citadel. We would use the armory room and bar the door.
It was a fretful night but we awoke the next day and ventured out. The Grylians were nowhere around and we looked about, finding prints in the snow showing that they had left during the night (4-8 of them by our count). The citadel also didn’t seem as cold today.
From here we explored the structure for the next 6 hours from basement to 3rd floor. We found a torture room, stores, barracks that would allow 25 Grylians to sleep, a shrine to Thrym with something missing (according to the giant/dwarven runes, something that was called a “Thrymian Engine” – some sort of relic that would be housed here), larder, kitchen, workshop, a few hidey-holes, Njor’s chambers, a records room, and a few other points of interest. We did discover a map of Freysteig denoting cities, Snorri’s Pipe, a river (called the Gullinflow), a lake, and 3 or 4 locations that had the same symbology as Njor’s Citadel on the map – making us think there might be 3 other citadels out there.
One of the last things we found was writing called the Deed of Yngvi:
On the lee of Snorri’s Pipe
She was borne to
Sleeping Giantess with
Flaxen hair of gold.
She called aloud
To that who was her Grandfather
The Morninglord did answer
Clear as the Gjallar’s call.
She wrestled Gylfang
And wounded she was.
But with the belt of Gullin
She smote him down.
The maker of Runes
Met Yngvi at the shore
And took her there
To where Heimdall waited.
With proof of her deed
Bifrost did open
Beyond where Sutur’s scion
Wait for Ragnarok.
By the deed of Yngvi
The Rainbow bridge
Holds prism firm and open
To all who blow the trumpet.
Write up follows:
Thurin positioned Pop (still invisibly) near the base of the spiral stairs going higher into the citadel, about 15’ from the dead Frost Giant, relying on the familiar to let him know if anyone came closer to investigate. Meanwhile Draugmor and Guyus continued their checking out of the main floor chambers. From the “barracks” room there was another doorway, which opened to reveal a combination washing room as well as barracks for another 10 Grylians. There was an alcove in the left side of the chamber which had a larger “sleeping” area, 4 or 5 fur blankets deep. The reek of urine and Grylian was very strong from it.
Draugmor wanted to check it out and see if there was anything there for it, but was fearful or repercussions or traps or anything. He spent a long time checking it out before daring to even move the first sleeping fur.
Meanwhile, Pop informed Thurin that there were Grylians coming closer and sure enough, the Frost giant’s head lolled to the side. Thurin let the rest of the group know and Aleron loaded up his Grylian long bow while the mage and dwarf readied their own long range weapons.
Detheron had come into the room with Guyus and the thief and after a short Detection, revealed no magic in the area. We did notice though that his spell had the room suddenly radiating warmth – and the warmth stayed. The druid informed us of “something” coming on the stairs and the party went back to the hall together.
Guyus was able to feel 3 sources of evil and they were just on the other side of the giant and the curve of the stairs. We drew up into battle formation and then crept forward slowly, anticipating the battle to come.
And then we were shot in the back. Grylian arrows flew across the foyer from the MAIN DOOR, where we were not looking, skewing Detheron and knocking the druid down, and also bouncing off Thurin’s ensorcelled clothing and mage armor.
And then the front facing Grylians fired at the group, dropping Gwyn from the impact of the bow, the shaft penetrating his throat. The next two leaped into the group, closing to melee range with Guyus and Draugmor. More arrows were shot and this time Aleron was struck, the ranger reeling from the impact. Guyus summoned his war steed and had it try to kick the Grylian grappling with him free but it failed, kicking Guyus instead.
A 6th Grylian tore into the fight, wielding a large tooth like a dagger. It leapt into Aleron, buried the knife in the ranger’s chest, and dropped him to the ground and 0 hp. Smokey was directed into the fight and the bear went toe to toe with the tooth wielding Grylian, wounding him deeply. To keep the party from getting shot from behind, Detheron called on Frey to fill the hall with a fog cloud, dropping visibility to nothing. Thurin moved to the side and his around the corner.
The battle slowly turned as most of us were able to stand up and fight the Grylians back. The leader type leapt away from the fight and down the stairs to the basement while the one on the stairs retreated back up. We waited, no one else jumped out to attack, so the party rested and bound up their wounds. The arrow in Gwyn’s neck was removed and Aleron was revived with some of the last healing we had. According to Detheron more than half the party was below half hit points and we had no healing of any note remaining.
As for the Grylian down the stairs, attempts to stick our nose past the steps resulted in arrows shot up at us. Guyus played chicken for a bit and a light spell covered stone was thrown down there, followed by his steed – but it resulted in nothing except for his horse falling over and the light stone being taken and brought elsewhere.
Pop was guarding the stairs and told us often that the stairs smells of Grylian and the weasel was convinced it was at the stairs top. We checked out the rest of the floor, finding nothing. We kept an ear out for Norris and Mebali who did return with the sled and our firewood. The group decided to hole up here, in the citadel. We would use the armory room and bar the door.
It was a fretful night but we awoke the next day and ventured out. The Grylians were nowhere around and we looked about, finding prints in the snow showing that they had left during the night (4-8 of them by our count). The citadel also didn’t seem as cold today.
From here we explored the structure for the next 6 hours from basement to 3rd floor. We found a torture room, stores, barracks that would allow 25 Grylians to sleep, a shrine to Thrym with something missing (according to the giant/dwarven runes, something that was called a “Thrymian Engine” – some sort of relic that would be housed here), larder, kitchen, workshop, a few hidey-holes, Njor’s chambers, a records room, and a few other points of interest. We did discover a map of Freysteig denoting cities, Snorri’s Pipe, a river (called the Gullinflow), a lake, and 3 or 4 locations that had the same symbology as Njor’s Citadel on the map – making us think there might be 3 other citadels out there.
One of the last things we found was writing called the Deed of Yngvi:
On the lee of Snorri’s Pipe
She was borne to
Sleeping Giantess with
Flaxen hair of gold.
She called aloud
To that who was her Grandfather
The Morninglord did answer
Clear as the Gjallar’s call.
She wrestled Gylfang
And wounded she was.
But with the belt of Gullin
She smote him down.
The maker of Runes
Met Yngvi at the shore
And took her there
To where Heimdall waited.
With proof of her deed
Bifrost did open
Beyond where Sutur’s scion
Wait for Ragnarok.
By the deed of Yngvi
The Rainbow bridge
Holds prism firm and open
To all who blow the trumpet.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Meet 157, Adv 13, 1/28/12
Taking out the big guys.
It was a two meeting hunt and destroy mission but the group did take out the Frost Giant eventually. It required all their skills and a goodly bit of luck to make it happen, but they did prevail. Giants, Dragons, and the ilk are special to me when the characters face them mostly because it should be something memorable. It's not something that should be measured like a tally mark (ie orcs, kobolds, etc...) but something that they group remembers and notes as a poignant perioed in their progression as characters.
Write up follows:
We gathered together and healing was dispensed, bringing most of us back to full or a close as we could get it. From there we approached the walls of Njor citadel, Guyus feeling ahead for any sensations of evil – encountering none.
The outer walls were 30’ tall and the main gateway was closed with a dropped portcullis of heavy wooden bars, the double doors beyond still open. There was a huge courtyard of slicked icy snow pounded flat and featureless. No one walked around the expanse of ground but we assumed that through the many arrow slits in the citadel itself our approach to the walls was watched with care.
We stayed near the side of the gateway, staying out from under the overhang of the barbican above, very away of the fanciful carved nooks and hollows above were actually disguised murder holes. We wanted to get in but to do it swiftly before the frost giant could regroup or the Grylians could find us. Norris called upon his bardic skill and sung up a charm making the entire group invisible.
While we were talking about how to get in exactly Guyus felt the approach of two evil creatures walking above. We stayed quiet and the paladin informed the party that they were in the barbican above. We needed to make them move. He summoned his war steed and there was excited noise from the Grylians above. Something was dumped down the holes and it splattered on the animal as Guyus sent it racing away from the citadel. Some of the liquid also hit his leg greave and he heard it hiss.
We watched the war steed run for a bit until it seemed lamed from the liquid eating at its hind quarters. Then some arrows were shot at it and we heard the giant on top of the citadel 80’ up shout his frustration. Guyus made his steed fade away as it was staggering and just before the thrown boulder smashed into where it was once standing.
The Grylians and Njor talked for a bit and we deduced that they were wondering what happened to us (we were invisible). The portcullis was raised about 12’ and locked in place. And we waited. Njor and the Grylians on the roof disappeared from view and the two in the barbican remained there. Our plan was for Draugmor to climb the wall in one place and the rest of us would sneak in through the open portcullis. If possible, lock the gate open.
We crept in slow, the party all holding hand to shoulder while the elven thief scaled the wall. One by one we all made it past the open bars and around to the courtyard. The yard was very slick, the packed snow making footing treacherous. We stayed at a slow pace as we wound about. The call was made to probably follow the inner wall and make the long circuitous way to the citadel entrance itself.
Meanwhile, Draugmor made it to the parapet top without issue, looked right toward the barbican and saw the two Grylians there. However, near the stairs top here was another one. He froze. When an opportunity came he tried to make it to the stairs and down to the courtyard but came to close to the Grylian who whirled and slashed the air, nicking the thief’s ear and causing him to bleed. Draugmor took the steps at two at a time, leaving a trail of blood drops behind him. He leapt from the steps off the side and hurled a handful of blood away from him. Then he used his cloak pressed hard to the side of his skull and doubled back to the wall near the stairs.
The Grylian was hissing in its language loudly and excitedly and it attracted Njor back to the top of the citadel. He hurled a rock at the area the Grylian commented about and it churned up ice while a few arrows were shot about – nothing hitting anywhere near Draugmor who had gotten away from the area.
The giant jumped from the citadel top, the snow catching him and breaking his fall. He strode to the area while three more Grylians came from the citadel’s door and others were massing along the parapet walls. The group was inside the walls but frozen and invisible, not trusting out ability to not be seen. We needed to do something and do it fast.
And then Detheron decided for us. He pointed up to the sky and called another one of his ready lightning bolts from the clouds above. It arced down and blasted into Njor with the fury of Frey. The giant roared in fury, his voice shaking the snow. Thurin shouted out a hold person spell and froze three of the Grylians near the citadel entrance. The party snapped forward, bows firing as we took advantage of our invisibility and surprise on the unsuspected giants and Grylians.
It did not last long and the Grylians unheld began to take the stairs hard and race towards us. Njor, his beard smoking, grew wroth at Detheron and made to strike him. Another hold person went out and stopped another swath of the Grylians. A called lighting obliterated another Grylian and Njor was forced to back up. The frost giant called out a shout and erected a wall of ice between the group and him. Detheron was shot with an errant arrow and fell down in pain. He had his tiger, Jerrig, drag him to safety behind the wall while the rest of us tried to get to the giant and not get pegged anymore from the Grylians.
Unable to see for sure Detheron called another one of his dwindling supply of lightning bolts from above, slamming it down where he thought the giant was. He missed a direct shot but did manage to burst a large section of the wall. Njor shoved the teetering ice wall forward and it fell about the party. A large piece was hurled at the group and finally Draugmor and Guyus got within melee range. The thief tried a poisoned dagger at the giant’s back but missed horrible getting buffeted in the process. Guyus charged by leaping onto his summoned steed and plowing into the giant. Njor gave one more blow at the party and then ran for the citadel itself, once more in retreat (this time down to ¼ hit points!!!). We tried to slow him down but were unable to as he made it through the door and fled again.
Furious now we polished off the last of the held Grylians out here and stayed behind the wall for cover while more healing was dispensed. A new plan was hatched in which Detheron was going to make a huge fog cloud to block the courtyard and we would sneak upon the door of the citadel. Once inside we would take the fight to the giant and finish him once and for all. Not anticipating much left arranged against us, Mebali (still invisible) and Norris was told to return to the Dritka wood and return with the sled ASAP and get back here before sunset.
The fog cloud was summoned and Aleron and Smokey made their way first towards the citadel door, the bear’s strength to be used to smash the door open. A long corridor was there, leading to a foyer or some sort. Murder holes were on both sides of the corridor. Guyus let us know there was only “evil” on the right side.
Using his Illumination wand, Draugmor fired a sunflare through the murderholes on that side and blinded whoever was in there. And then we charged in. Coming out of the right hand side were three dazzled Grylians and Aleron plowed into them, sword and dagger working end over end. Njor appeared from the stairs and hurled a boulder at the group, slamming into the lead of the party. The three Grylians ganged up on the ranger, ripping through his chainmail and trying to tear his helmet off. He was bleeding freely from dozens of scratches and was becoming overwhelmed.
Detheron hurled a flaming sphere across the room and it blew up against Njor, the Frost giant screaming horribly as he was burned. Smokey waded in and then arrows and crossbow bolts were shot and the giant fell over with slow ponderance before dying on the stairs. Aleron was saved from the chaotic melee and the battle came to an end.
Once more healing was handed out from our diminishing stores and we checked out the area. The room on the right was an armory with bows, stone axes, and many of the obsidian javelin sized arrows as well as a barrel of arrow heads.
We also looked over some of the floor and discovered a barracks with sleeping area for 10 Grylians and a cloakroom. We were going to check out a fourth chamber before ending it for the night.
It was a two meeting hunt and destroy mission but the group did take out the Frost Giant eventually. It required all their skills and a goodly bit of luck to make it happen, but they did prevail. Giants, Dragons, and the ilk are special to me when the characters face them mostly because it should be something memorable. It's not something that should be measured like a tally mark (ie orcs, kobolds, etc...) but something that they group remembers and notes as a poignant perioed in their progression as characters.
Write up follows:
We gathered together and healing was dispensed, bringing most of us back to full or a close as we could get it. From there we approached the walls of Njor citadel, Guyus feeling ahead for any sensations of evil – encountering none.
The outer walls were 30’ tall and the main gateway was closed with a dropped portcullis of heavy wooden bars, the double doors beyond still open. There was a huge courtyard of slicked icy snow pounded flat and featureless. No one walked around the expanse of ground but we assumed that through the many arrow slits in the citadel itself our approach to the walls was watched with care.
We stayed near the side of the gateway, staying out from under the overhang of the barbican above, very away of the fanciful carved nooks and hollows above were actually disguised murder holes. We wanted to get in but to do it swiftly before the frost giant could regroup or the Grylians could find us. Norris called upon his bardic skill and sung up a charm making the entire group invisible.
While we were talking about how to get in exactly Guyus felt the approach of two evil creatures walking above. We stayed quiet and the paladin informed the party that they were in the barbican above. We needed to make them move. He summoned his war steed and there was excited noise from the Grylians above. Something was dumped down the holes and it splattered on the animal as Guyus sent it racing away from the citadel. Some of the liquid also hit his leg greave and he heard it hiss.
We watched the war steed run for a bit until it seemed lamed from the liquid eating at its hind quarters. Then some arrows were shot at it and we heard the giant on top of the citadel 80’ up shout his frustration. Guyus made his steed fade away as it was staggering and just before the thrown boulder smashed into where it was once standing.
The Grylians and Njor talked for a bit and we deduced that they were wondering what happened to us (we were invisible). The portcullis was raised about 12’ and locked in place. And we waited. Njor and the Grylians on the roof disappeared from view and the two in the barbican remained there. Our plan was for Draugmor to climb the wall in one place and the rest of us would sneak in through the open portcullis. If possible, lock the gate open.
We crept in slow, the party all holding hand to shoulder while the elven thief scaled the wall. One by one we all made it past the open bars and around to the courtyard. The yard was very slick, the packed snow making footing treacherous. We stayed at a slow pace as we wound about. The call was made to probably follow the inner wall and make the long circuitous way to the citadel entrance itself.
Meanwhile, Draugmor made it to the parapet top without issue, looked right toward the barbican and saw the two Grylians there. However, near the stairs top here was another one. He froze. When an opportunity came he tried to make it to the stairs and down to the courtyard but came to close to the Grylian who whirled and slashed the air, nicking the thief’s ear and causing him to bleed. Draugmor took the steps at two at a time, leaving a trail of blood drops behind him. He leapt from the steps off the side and hurled a handful of blood away from him. Then he used his cloak pressed hard to the side of his skull and doubled back to the wall near the stairs.
The Grylian was hissing in its language loudly and excitedly and it attracted Njor back to the top of the citadel. He hurled a rock at the area the Grylian commented about and it churned up ice while a few arrows were shot about – nothing hitting anywhere near Draugmor who had gotten away from the area.
The giant jumped from the citadel top, the snow catching him and breaking his fall. He strode to the area while three more Grylians came from the citadel’s door and others were massing along the parapet walls. The group was inside the walls but frozen and invisible, not trusting out ability to not be seen. We needed to do something and do it fast.
And then Detheron decided for us. He pointed up to the sky and called another one of his ready lightning bolts from the clouds above. It arced down and blasted into Njor with the fury of Frey. The giant roared in fury, his voice shaking the snow. Thurin shouted out a hold person spell and froze three of the Grylians near the citadel entrance. The party snapped forward, bows firing as we took advantage of our invisibility and surprise on the unsuspected giants and Grylians.
It did not last long and the Grylians unheld began to take the stairs hard and race towards us. Njor, his beard smoking, grew wroth at Detheron and made to strike him. Another hold person went out and stopped another swath of the Grylians. A called lighting obliterated another Grylian and Njor was forced to back up. The frost giant called out a shout and erected a wall of ice between the group and him. Detheron was shot with an errant arrow and fell down in pain. He had his tiger, Jerrig, drag him to safety behind the wall while the rest of us tried to get to the giant and not get pegged anymore from the Grylians.
Unable to see for sure Detheron called another one of his dwindling supply of lightning bolts from above, slamming it down where he thought the giant was. He missed a direct shot but did manage to burst a large section of the wall. Njor shoved the teetering ice wall forward and it fell about the party. A large piece was hurled at the group and finally Draugmor and Guyus got within melee range. The thief tried a poisoned dagger at the giant’s back but missed horrible getting buffeted in the process. Guyus charged by leaping onto his summoned steed and plowing into the giant. Njor gave one more blow at the party and then ran for the citadel itself, once more in retreat (this time down to ¼ hit points!!!). We tried to slow him down but were unable to as he made it through the door and fled again.
Furious now we polished off the last of the held Grylians out here and stayed behind the wall for cover while more healing was dispensed. A new plan was hatched in which Detheron was going to make a huge fog cloud to block the courtyard and we would sneak upon the door of the citadel. Once inside we would take the fight to the giant and finish him once and for all. Not anticipating much left arranged against us, Mebali (still invisible) and Norris was told to return to the Dritka wood and return with the sled ASAP and get back here before sunset.
The fog cloud was summoned and Aleron and Smokey made their way first towards the citadel door, the bear’s strength to be used to smash the door open. A long corridor was there, leading to a foyer or some sort. Murder holes were on both sides of the corridor. Guyus let us know there was only “evil” on the right side.
Using his Illumination wand, Draugmor fired a sunflare through the murderholes on that side and blinded whoever was in there. And then we charged in. Coming out of the right hand side were three dazzled Grylians and Aleron plowed into them, sword and dagger working end over end. Njor appeared from the stairs and hurled a boulder at the group, slamming into the lead of the party. The three Grylians ganged up on the ranger, ripping through his chainmail and trying to tear his helmet off. He was bleeding freely from dozens of scratches and was becoming overwhelmed.
Detheron hurled a flaming sphere across the room and it blew up against Njor, the Frost giant screaming horribly as he was burned. Smokey waded in and then arrows and crossbow bolts were shot and the giant fell over with slow ponderance before dying on the stairs. Aleron was saved from the chaotic melee and the battle came to an end.
Once more healing was handed out from our diminishing stores and we checked out the area. The room on the right was an armory with bows, stone axes, and many of the obsidian javelin sized arrows as well as a barrel of arrow heads.
We also looked over some of the floor and discovered a barracks with sleeping area for 10 Grylians and a cloakroom. We were going to check out a fourth chamber before ending it for the night.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Meet 156, Adv 13, 1/21/12
This was the party's first encounter with a giant - something which I think is just to the north of their ability to handle. It was a singular frost giant and he had a 4 count of archers with him to help him out. Plus the battle started with very few of us in melee range. As expected the conflict did not go well for the group - the giant able to dish out tremendous damage.
He did turn a retreat at half damage and stayed behind his walls while the group debated their next action.
Write up follows:
When it came time to leave, the party had some concerns and before you knew it, the decision was made to stay in Caroon with the Dritka for the next unforeseen number of days. During that time we had Mebali work on a sled for us to drag as well as a number of travois for us to drag behind us. The weather stayed cold with little new snow, but the wind was an almost constant.
A small expedition of us went back towards the original battle site, dismayed to find only bloody snow and no sign of the Grylians that we had fought there. We were very close to Njor citadel and decided to leave the area for now to avoid alerting them to our presence.
As for wood, we had made many trips to the Dritka Woods with the locals where we found not only more than enough wood for our needs, but a curious situation regarding the local animals. We thought about hunting and a few rabbits just came up to us – and stayed there as we killed them. This happened well over a dozen times until even a deer or two showed up. Very odd!
At that point Norris went venturing deeper into the wood where he had the sudden desire to drop to his knees and become food for a tiger. What the hell? He shook himself free of the effect and ran back to us where we all gathered what we could and headed back to Caroon.
It wasn’t until Detheron and Smokey had chanced into the woods later that the same thing happened – except with a Speak with Animal spell going, Detheron was able to hear all the deer and rabbit talk about “How it’s just my time to die, you know? I should just go to this bear here and let him kill me.” After the bear had gorged himself on the local we gathered up the bodies and headed back to the stone township.
Mebali worked on the sled while Draugmore and Norris made a decent fire pit and smoke house – smoking as much of the meat as he could on drying racks so we would have meat to last us for a while. Detheron did chance a trip into the wood where he was able to use his spells to find the tiger and befriend it.
We continued to avoid trading for sex with the more than willing Dritka.
It was after 3 days or so that we considered us ready and left Caroon, sled behind us being pulled by Smokey. It took about 5 hours to return to the spot and from there we marched onward to the woods and crept closer to the citadel.
Decisions were made and we left the sled and traveled as a group towards the citadel. There was a snow falling and Detheron called to Frey for a call lightning spell, tacking them on one after another in readiness for when we arrived there.
There were 4 Grylians manning the giant walls of the citadel and at about 150’ away, a 15’ tall frost giant strode out. He identified himself as Njor, and wanted to remind the group to back to the Dritka area. Ne noted who we were and our belongings and quickly surmised we were to ones who killed the Grylians. We were told that this was going to be passed on or had been passed on to other Grylians who took their anger out on Dritka in some nearby city.
Conversation broke down fast and the frost giant made the snow under Gwyn shake, lift him up, and like a wave, bring the dwarf towards him in a rippling mountain of snow. The Grylians on the wall fired their uncanny long bows at us and Aleron returned fire. Guyus mounted up on his horse and chased after the flying Gwyn. And then Detheron made the lightning bolts crash down from the sky, one after another. Grylians on the wall were charred and burned while the rest of the party ran forward.
Spells flared and the giant’s mighty axe was devastating as it hew both Guyus and Gwyn. The two fighters returned as best they could. Norris and Thurin both called upon some magic missile spells and stood over Detheron with all their doubles to protect the druid as he stroked the citadel with Frey borne bolts of lightning.
It was dicey for Gwyn and Guyus until Smokey the 12’ tall grizzly finally arrived at the battle line. The bear and the giant hit each other like titans the giant getting the lesser end of the exchange. Eventually the frost giant turned and ran back towards the citadel where the last Grylian on the wall released the portcullis and the rough bars crashed down.
He did turn a retreat at half damage and stayed behind his walls while the group debated their next action.
Write up follows:
When it came time to leave, the party had some concerns and before you knew it, the decision was made to stay in Caroon with the Dritka for the next unforeseen number of days. During that time we had Mebali work on a sled for us to drag as well as a number of travois for us to drag behind us. The weather stayed cold with little new snow, but the wind was an almost constant.
A small expedition of us went back towards the original battle site, dismayed to find only bloody snow and no sign of the Grylians that we had fought there. We were very close to Njor citadel and decided to leave the area for now to avoid alerting them to our presence.
As for wood, we had made many trips to the Dritka Woods with the locals where we found not only more than enough wood for our needs, but a curious situation regarding the local animals. We thought about hunting and a few rabbits just came up to us – and stayed there as we killed them. This happened well over a dozen times until even a deer or two showed up. Very odd!
At that point Norris went venturing deeper into the wood where he had the sudden desire to drop to his knees and become food for a tiger. What the hell? He shook himself free of the effect and ran back to us where we all gathered what we could and headed back to Caroon.
It wasn’t until Detheron and Smokey had chanced into the woods later that the same thing happened – except with a Speak with Animal spell going, Detheron was able to hear all the deer and rabbit talk about “How it’s just my time to die, you know? I should just go to this bear here and let him kill me.” After the bear had gorged himself on the local we gathered up the bodies and headed back to the stone township.
Mebali worked on the sled while Draugmore and Norris made a decent fire pit and smoke house – smoking as much of the meat as he could on drying racks so we would have meat to last us for a while. Detheron did chance a trip into the wood where he was able to use his spells to find the tiger and befriend it.
We continued to avoid trading for sex with the more than willing Dritka.
It was after 3 days or so that we considered us ready and left Caroon, sled behind us being pulled by Smokey. It took about 5 hours to return to the spot and from there we marched onward to the woods and crept closer to the citadel.
Decisions were made and we left the sled and traveled as a group towards the citadel. There was a snow falling and Detheron called to Frey for a call lightning spell, tacking them on one after another in readiness for when we arrived there.
There were 4 Grylians manning the giant walls of the citadel and at about 150’ away, a 15’ tall frost giant strode out. He identified himself as Njor, and wanted to remind the group to back to the Dritka area. Ne noted who we were and our belongings and quickly surmised we were to ones who killed the Grylians. We were told that this was going to be passed on or had been passed on to other Grylians who took their anger out on Dritka in some nearby city.
Conversation broke down fast and the frost giant made the snow under Gwyn shake, lift him up, and like a wave, bring the dwarf towards him in a rippling mountain of snow. The Grylians on the wall fired their uncanny long bows at us and Aleron returned fire. Guyus mounted up on his horse and chased after the flying Gwyn. And then Detheron made the lightning bolts crash down from the sky, one after another. Grylians on the wall were charred and burned while the rest of the party ran forward.
Spells flared and the giant’s mighty axe was devastating as it hew both Guyus and Gwyn. The two fighters returned as best they could. Norris and Thurin both called upon some magic missile spells and stood over Detheron with all their doubles to protect the druid as he stroked the citadel with Frey borne bolts of lightning.
It was dicey for Gwyn and Guyus until Smokey the 12’ tall grizzly finally arrived at the battle line. The bear and the giant hit each other like titans the giant getting the lesser end of the exchange. Eventually the frost giant turned and ran back towards the citadel where the last Grylian on the wall released the portcullis and the rough bars crashed down.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Meet 155, Adv 13, 1/14/12
Pocket Dimensions
In my younger days I had lots of them - small areas of the astral plane that were carved out with little worldlets - they can be terribly easy - or terribly dangerous. As I got older something happened and I stopped using them for some reason.
When I first made Fengarth's Tower I had a tiger's eye gate in there that went to a little pocket world that I had run a party of adventurers through many years ago. I figured it'd be nice to have a run through the Grylian landscape once again. But the group never encountered it - until recently.
So here we are - in the world of the Tigermen, Frey, Giants, Dritka, Gylfang, Sutur, Snorri's Pipe, threatening volcanos, wooly mammoths, and a chance to race across the Bifrost and make their way home.
Write up follows:
Guyus had his hands out to lift the huge tiger’s eye gem from the bureau but when he touched it he found himself elsewhere. He was knee deep in snow, a pale sun shining far overhead in a steel grey cloudy sky. About a quarter mile away on a low rise stood an oversized citadel, the walled keep adjoined by a massive 30’ wall that stretched to the west for miles until lost in the haze of distance. To his south was a mighty forest of hundred foot tall pines.
An eight count of running figures clan in scraped and raw skins and hides were running through the deep snow, breath steaming about them as they tried to outdistance the four count of pursuers that followed. Their predators were unlike anything he had seen before. Over 7’ in height, closer to 300 lbs, they were clad in crudely made leather jerkins that covered their alternating black and white fur striped bodies. Elongated limbs had them making a bounding motion as they leapt rather than plowed through the snow. And each of the 4 tiger-men had a 5 and a half foot long bow that seemed almost impossible to use to say nothing of drawing.
The running tigermen noticed Guyus and conferred swiftly amongst themselves, three of them breaking off and one of them continuing the charge towards the fleeing humanoids. One of three slowed, drew its long bow and let fly an oversized shaft at the paladin. It struck his shield with a resounding force, the obsidian head shattered and left a dimpled pattern in the surface. A second shaft did the same and then the other 2 that had thrown the AC to the wind leapt and tackled Guyus. They were strong, heavy, and attacked not unlike wild animals with scratching and clawing and tearing. One of them attempted to rip his helm free but failed.
With a bend of his will, Guyus summoned his paladinial war steed who immediately reared back and let fly with its rear hooves, barreling one of the tigermen off of him and allowing him to get to his feet and mount up.
More arrows flew, one of them hitting him (but not knocking him from his saddle) while the grounded one attempted to pull him free with rips and tears at his leg. Guyus kicked his steed in the flank and made some distance while more shafts littered the landscape. One of the pursued human went down with a truncheon to the head and net around his midsection and the tigerman with them continued his assault.
Guyus lined up his war steed and attempted to lance one of the tigermen who dove out of the way just in time and missed the sharp point and the flashing hooves. Two more arrows struck the paladin and he shook off the impact, laying hands on himself to remove the sting of the wounds.
He whirled around and charged the tigerman again, this time succeeding in his strike, the lancehead shattered on impact but the tigerman went down horrible wounded. More arrows flew but they were targeting his steed more and more so with a flex of his will, he released it from being here and the horse faded away. The tigerman amongst the humans knocked a second one down and was still in pursuit of the others.
And then Draugmor appeared, the king’s thief needing a moment to get his bearings on the situation. Only one of the tigermen actually saw him and he flashed his knife in his hand with a flick of his wrist to get at the ready. Guyus plied Eagletalon to the already wounded tigerman and with a yowling cry it fell over dead at last. More arrows flew, the paladin getting hurt in the process and forced to call upon Odin once more to bolster him with a healing.
Draugmor met the leaping tigerman with flashing blade and the two of them traded blows back and forth, the elf getting badly mauled in the process. A third human was clubbed and then the tigerman saw Guyus as a threat and drew his own bow to add to the assault.
Once more the war steed was summoned and Guyus leapt upon, lance at the ready where we speared the next tigerman in the process, his war horse trampling over the furred foe. At this point Mebali and the unconscious Norris appeared where the wheelwright laid the bard in the snow and drew his broad sword to help Draugmor in the combat. The number of arrows flying was dropping but again, they were aimed at Guyus’ steed, the tigermen wanting to take the war horse out of the picture.
The tigerman fighting Draugmor and Mebali slid left and battered at Norris, dropping the bard even closer to 0 hp before defending himself from the two fighters. Realizing the war steed was badly wounded now, Guyus ordered it away again and brought Eagletalon about to take upon the closest tigerman. The two of them traded back and forth until the tigerman was spilling blood in the snow and the paladin had a new series of wounds upon himself.
Detheron arrived at this time, the druid taking stock in the massive battle and the strange landscape. The tigerman mauled Mebali, his claws ripping into the wheelwright mercilessly. Draugmor lunged and his enchanted blade hit the tigerman – and then the luckblade flared and the blow instead flowed upward and struck the tigerman full in the throat – angled upward and killed it instantly. Huzzah!
Daring to call his steed a last time Guyus rode towards the last standing tigerman and dismounted to slam blade at the beastman while Mebali engaged from behind. Gwyn appeared next, stumbling over the unconscious Norris. Detheron called upon Frey for a healing and the strangest thing happened – the snow around him in a 10’ radius burst melted instantly, air warmed up, and his spell fired off with more surety than he was used to seeing.
With most of the party here now the last tigerman fell and healing was dispensed. We noticed that only Detheron’s spells acted this way upon the landscape. The humans that had been knocked out were strange, primitive, and had the faintest of elven traits about them. Very little of what they said was understandable – Dritka, Grylians, Great Mother, Afraid, Come. The rest was pantomime and grunts of some sort.
We got them to relax and understood we would follow them to the Great Mother. Norris felt that we were either in Niflheim or somewhere around it – the realm of Hel and of constant winter. Aleron hacked off two of the tigermen’s hands and Guyus took of the entire fallen one on the back of his horse and we set off, leaving nothing behind except bodies (taking even the bows and arrows).
We did note while walking that neither the tigermen nor the humans we were with had any metal upon them, neither did they have any sign of skills beyond what would be considered crude stone and leatherworking at best. It was 4-5 hours in the snow before we arrived at a stone town built around a longer heorot or longhouse. 9 buildings in total, one with symbology to Frey and the other 7 simple affairs. Skins were stretched across openings like doors. The humanoids with us called out and a number of similar humanoids emerged.
A brief description pantomime was done explaining who we were in their own language. Then there was some covering of the left eye when commenting on Aleron and showed the hacking of hands and the word Grylian mentioned a few times. Aleron withdrew the severed hands and the tribe shied away. So the ranger went off into the snow away from the town, buried them there and we returned.
Happy now we were escorted into the heorot where we were to meet the Great Mother. She was old, older than old, ancient even. All that was visible was her head and hands. Her hair was gossamer thin and white, her skin like translucent parchment. She was elvish and she listened to the tribe talk to her in their language and then struggled to speak to us. Her words were difficult, a mix of common and elvish.
She told that she was over 1500 years old and had always lived here. The tiger people were called Grylians and this place was an island on the Sea of Boiling Ice that was called Freysteig – or Frey’s Land. It was at one point long ago a retreat for Frey and his Jotunwife Berohr. The filled it with things that they loved and came here for a time to be happy. But with the approaching Ragnarok and other Asgardian duties they stopped coming and Freysteig was left on its own. Over time something referred to as Snorri’s Pipe went out and Freysteig drifted from under Asgard across the Sea of Boiling Ice, coming close to Niflheim.
People from all over can get here, usually through some sort of gemstone gate. How to leave? She does not know. There is a citadel (we saw it) called Njor Citadel. Njor is the grandson of Berohr and we surmise is a giant (Frost giant). The citadel should show us how to find the gate out.
We also learned that time moves differently here. Fengarth actually came here a number of times – but she said he came last over a thousand years ago – and we know that Fengarth had died/disappeared some 55 years prior. Lastly, the people here were called Dritka, a catchall terminology used to describe and humanoid that was not a tigerman or Grylian.
Why tiger? According to the Great Mother, Frey had love of many animals but the tiger was the one that Berohr and he liked so they made the Grylians in the image of one of their followers called Gylfang, Lord of Freysteig. The Dritka had lost most of their skills and technology over time: metalworking, husbandry, textiles, reading, writing, and even complex language.
We stayed and traded with the Dritka that night, and started a fire for them – something none of them had ever seen before. The sun did not set – it just went out. When it did the temperature dropped to -40 and the sky was unlike anything they had seen – a dozen starts in the sky and nothing else. Detheron was still able to call upon Frey but the effort of night casting made him weak and dizzy so we decided that we would do our best to avoid night travel.
We slept and awoke the next day refreshed and well rested. The Dritka filled our packs with foodstuff and we filled our skins with water. We bid our farewell and were going to head back towards Njor Citadel to learn how best to leave.
In my younger days I had lots of them - small areas of the astral plane that were carved out with little worldlets - they can be terribly easy - or terribly dangerous. As I got older something happened and I stopped using them for some reason.
When I first made Fengarth's Tower I had a tiger's eye gate in there that went to a little pocket world that I had run a party of adventurers through many years ago. I figured it'd be nice to have a run through the Grylian landscape once again. But the group never encountered it - until recently.
So here we are - in the world of the Tigermen, Frey, Giants, Dritka, Gylfang, Sutur, Snorri's Pipe, threatening volcanos, wooly mammoths, and a chance to race across the Bifrost and make their way home.
Write up follows:
Guyus had his hands out to lift the huge tiger’s eye gem from the bureau but when he touched it he found himself elsewhere. He was knee deep in snow, a pale sun shining far overhead in a steel grey cloudy sky. About a quarter mile away on a low rise stood an oversized citadel, the walled keep adjoined by a massive 30’ wall that stretched to the west for miles until lost in the haze of distance. To his south was a mighty forest of hundred foot tall pines.
An eight count of running figures clan in scraped and raw skins and hides were running through the deep snow, breath steaming about them as they tried to outdistance the four count of pursuers that followed. Their predators were unlike anything he had seen before. Over 7’ in height, closer to 300 lbs, they were clad in crudely made leather jerkins that covered their alternating black and white fur striped bodies. Elongated limbs had them making a bounding motion as they leapt rather than plowed through the snow. And each of the 4 tiger-men had a 5 and a half foot long bow that seemed almost impossible to use to say nothing of drawing.
The running tigermen noticed Guyus and conferred swiftly amongst themselves, three of them breaking off and one of them continuing the charge towards the fleeing humanoids. One of three slowed, drew its long bow and let fly an oversized shaft at the paladin. It struck his shield with a resounding force, the obsidian head shattered and left a dimpled pattern in the surface. A second shaft did the same and then the other 2 that had thrown the AC to the wind leapt and tackled Guyus. They were strong, heavy, and attacked not unlike wild animals with scratching and clawing and tearing. One of them attempted to rip his helm free but failed.
With a bend of his will, Guyus summoned his paladinial war steed who immediately reared back and let fly with its rear hooves, barreling one of the tigermen off of him and allowing him to get to his feet and mount up.
More arrows flew, one of them hitting him (but not knocking him from his saddle) while the grounded one attempted to pull him free with rips and tears at his leg. Guyus kicked his steed in the flank and made some distance while more shafts littered the landscape. One of the pursued human went down with a truncheon to the head and net around his midsection and the tigerman with them continued his assault.
Guyus lined up his war steed and attempted to lance one of the tigermen who dove out of the way just in time and missed the sharp point and the flashing hooves. Two more arrows struck the paladin and he shook off the impact, laying hands on himself to remove the sting of the wounds.
He whirled around and charged the tigerman again, this time succeeding in his strike, the lancehead shattered on impact but the tigerman went down horrible wounded. More arrows flew but they were targeting his steed more and more so with a flex of his will, he released it from being here and the horse faded away. The tigerman amongst the humans knocked a second one down and was still in pursuit of the others.
And then Draugmor appeared, the king’s thief needing a moment to get his bearings on the situation. Only one of the tigermen actually saw him and he flashed his knife in his hand with a flick of his wrist to get at the ready. Guyus plied Eagletalon to the already wounded tigerman and with a yowling cry it fell over dead at last. More arrows flew, the paladin getting hurt in the process and forced to call upon Odin once more to bolster him with a healing.
Draugmor met the leaping tigerman with flashing blade and the two of them traded blows back and forth, the elf getting badly mauled in the process. A third human was clubbed and then the tigerman saw Guyus as a threat and drew his own bow to add to the assault.
Once more the war steed was summoned and Guyus leapt upon, lance at the ready where we speared the next tigerman in the process, his war horse trampling over the furred foe. At this point Mebali and the unconscious Norris appeared where the wheelwright laid the bard in the snow and drew his broad sword to help Draugmor in the combat. The number of arrows flying was dropping but again, they were aimed at Guyus’ steed, the tigermen wanting to take the war horse out of the picture.
The tigerman fighting Draugmor and Mebali slid left and battered at Norris, dropping the bard even closer to 0 hp before defending himself from the two fighters. Realizing the war steed was badly wounded now, Guyus ordered it away again and brought Eagletalon about to take upon the closest tigerman. The two of them traded back and forth until the tigerman was spilling blood in the snow and the paladin had a new series of wounds upon himself.
Detheron arrived at this time, the druid taking stock in the massive battle and the strange landscape. The tigerman mauled Mebali, his claws ripping into the wheelwright mercilessly. Draugmor lunged and his enchanted blade hit the tigerman – and then the luckblade flared and the blow instead flowed upward and struck the tigerman full in the throat – angled upward and killed it instantly. Huzzah!
Daring to call his steed a last time Guyus rode towards the last standing tigerman and dismounted to slam blade at the beastman while Mebali engaged from behind. Gwyn appeared next, stumbling over the unconscious Norris. Detheron called upon Frey for a healing and the strangest thing happened – the snow around him in a 10’ radius burst melted instantly, air warmed up, and his spell fired off with more surety than he was used to seeing.
With most of the party here now the last tigerman fell and healing was dispensed. We noticed that only Detheron’s spells acted this way upon the landscape. The humans that had been knocked out were strange, primitive, and had the faintest of elven traits about them. Very little of what they said was understandable – Dritka, Grylians, Great Mother, Afraid, Come. The rest was pantomime and grunts of some sort.
We got them to relax and understood we would follow them to the Great Mother. Norris felt that we were either in Niflheim or somewhere around it – the realm of Hel and of constant winter. Aleron hacked off two of the tigermen’s hands and Guyus took of the entire fallen one on the back of his horse and we set off, leaving nothing behind except bodies (taking even the bows and arrows).
We did note while walking that neither the tigermen nor the humans we were with had any metal upon them, neither did they have any sign of skills beyond what would be considered crude stone and leatherworking at best. It was 4-5 hours in the snow before we arrived at a stone town built around a longer heorot or longhouse. 9 buildings in total, one with symbology to Frey and the other 7 simple affairs. Skins were stretched across openings like doors. The humanoids with us called out and a number of similar humanoids emerged.
A brief description pantomime was done explaining who we were in their own language. Then there was some covering of the left eye when commenting on Aleron and showed the hacking of hands and the word Grylian mentioned a few times. Aleron withdrew the severed hands and the tribe shied away. So the ranger went off into the snow away from the town, buried them there and we returned.
Happy now we were escorted into the heorot where we were to meet the Great Mother. She was old, older than old, ancient even. All that was visible was her head and hands. Her hair was gossamer thin and white, her skin like translucent parchment. She was elvish and she listened to the tribe talk to her in their language and then struggled to speak to us. Her words were difficult, a mix of common and elvish.
She told that she was over 1500 years old and had always lived here. The tiger people were called Grylians and this place was an island on the Sea of Boiling Ice that was called Freysteig – or Frey’s Land. It was at one point long ago a retreat for Frey and his Jotunwife Berohr. The filled it with things that they loved and came here for a time to be happy. But with the approaching Ragnarok and other Asgardian duties they stopped coming and Freysteig was left on its own. Over time something referred to as Snorri’s Pipe went out and Freysteig drifted from under Asgard across the Sea of Boiling Ice, coming close to Niflheim.
People from all over can get here, usually through some sort of gemstone gate. How to leave? She does not know. There is a citadel (we saw it) called Njor Citadel. Njor is the grandson of Berohr and we surmise is a giant (Frost giant). The citadel should show us how to find the gate out.
We also learned that time moves differently here. Fengarth actually came here a number of times – but she said he came last over a thousand years ago – and we know that Fengarth had died/disappeared some 55 years prior. Lastly, the people here were called Dritka, a catchall terminology used to describe and humanoid that was not a tigerman or Grylian.
Why tiger? According to the Great Mother, Frey had love of many animals but the tiger was the one that Berohr and he liked so they made the Grylians in the image of one of their followers called Gylfang, Lord of Freysteig. The Dritka had lost most of their skills and technology over time: metalworking, husbandry, textiles, reading, writing, and even complex language.
We stayed and traded with the Dritka that night, and started a fire for them – something none of them had ever seen before. The sun did not set – it just went out. When it did the temperature dropped to -40 and the sky was unlike anything they had seen – a dozen starts in the sky and nothing else. Detheron was still able to call upon Frey but the effort of night casting made him weak and dizzy so we decided that we would do our best to avoid night travel.
We slept and awoke the next day refreshed and well rested. The Dritka filled our packs with foodstuff and we filled our skins with water. We bid our farewell and were going to head back towards Njor Citadel to learn how best to leave.
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