The kids had another get together where they had decided to face off on the tougher goblins that had first chased them out, hoping their two hirelings would even out the battle. It was another rout and they ran away. They HAD run across an adventuring party earlier that was down on their luck and they hoped to go back and entice THOSE three to come with them. And they did!
But it was the goblin guards with the Ogre backup and the group had to face off against the single ogre and prevail.
I will also say that after watching Corg almost die and William almost die, they took it more serious. Going so far to agreeing amongst themselves to pay the hired fighter more for the work he does.
Write up follows:
Charlotte snuck down the corridor with care, sticking to the dark patches while her three companions waited back up the passage. At the corner, she peered around to the right and looked into the dimly lit chamber. It was a goblin guard post and there were 6 of the greenskins there. Two were positioned near a trio of barrels, chatting quietly, three others were near a large table, and a sixth was by a fire pit where a haunch of deer meat was cooking slowly. It seemed there were at least two other passages out of here across the chamber.
Satisfied, Charlotte returned and let the group know what they saw. At this point, William organized the group into action. Charlotte and Loq were to take up the back of the party, with bow and sling at the ready. William and Corg were to be in the front, and at his call, we would fire and charge in as one.
The first part went off, but after that it went pear shaped quickly. The goblins were very ready for us and three of them raced towards us, spears out. Two of the goblins dumped the table over and drew themselves behind under cover to hurl spears.
Arrows and sling stones went wild, hitting nothing. And then the goblins crashed into out two fighters. And Corg was stabbed in the shoulder for 6 hp, dropping him to two. Loq withdrew one of his precious elixirs in order to bring Corg back up, while the two fighters swung again and again at the goblins. Getting nowhere.
And then William took a shot to the body, bleeding almost to death. Followed by another spear slash, this one laying his left cheek open from ear to nose, and dropping him to 0. Followed by Corg getting stabbed in the gut this time, the fighter going to -1.
Loq gave Charlotte an elixir to administer to William (bringing him to 2!) and he used his 2nd to last one to stabilize Corg (back at 1!). It was time to leave…again. Charlotte hurled the torch into the closest goblin’s face and then bodily dragged William back and away while Loq did the same for Corg.
The goblins chose to cast derisive comments at our fleeing forms, laughing at us as we ran away from this same group a goblins…a 2nd time now.
Once outside the cave we travelled upslope until we made it to the tree line and finally relaxed. Loq used his LAST elixir to bring Corg to 3 hp while the party bandaged up what hurts we had. We were chased out again. Not acceptable. It was perhaps quarter to 11 and we were not going to call it quits. We needed help.
The group came up with the idea to go back and find that party that had been assaulted by the mountain lion and was spending the day out here to eventually find their missing companion, Larson. Perhaps they would come back with us?
So we set out (wounded, but game) to head half way back to the keep and find the group. Luck was with us as they were still at their encampment. The leader, a burly fighter named Jakes, heard our tale and agreed to help us to “fight this room full of goblins and no place further” for a full share of the treasures found IF we were then to come with him and his two companion (a wizard named Sparks, and a cleric named Darrel) to find their missing thief friend (eaten by a mountain lion??) named Larson.
We agreed to the terms. Darrel used some of his elixirs (and we paid him for it) to heal our two fighters and then we began the long trek BACK to the Caves of Chaos. We filled our three new companions in on what we’ve done so far and how we hoped to do better this time.
Sparks and Charlotte would start with bow fire, and then the three main fighters would run in and if possible, two fighters on 1 goblin. Loq and Darrel would act as support fighters with their war hammers and be close enough to use elixirs should the situation call for it. Everyone agreed it was a good plan and we proceeded down the cave entrance and then the passage in question.
We listened, Sparks able to speak goblins, the wizard informing us that 4 of them were sitting at the table now and eating, laughing about chasing us off earlier, and should they offer any of the food they have to Kronk? Kronk sounded like a leader type but not one the goblins were interested in dealing with.
Not wanting to push our luck or wait any longer, we gathered in position and made ready. The two bow users fired, hitting the closest goblin who was perched on the water barrels and he fell back, screaming and dead. The rest of us moved into position and the battle lines were drawn. The closest goblin was hit hard; his head and left should cloven from his body, while Loq and William took on the next one, hacking him to bits. Three goblins down.
Jakes hit the table with all his might and shoved it backwards against the wall, trapping the two goblins there. Leaving just one. Darrel and Loq ran towards him, warhammers flailing in an effort to keep him at bay.
Of the two goblins pinned, one of them shoved the table back getting a bit of breathing room, while the other was kicking the back wall and hoisting a bag, screaming “Kronk! Kronk! We need you!”
And from behind the thick stone, we heard a deep voice answer, “What?!”
Another warhammer flew, this one missing the single goblin, while Corg and William engaged the one that had pushed the table. Charlotte and Sparks held their arrows until the back of the cave slid up and out stepped a 700 lb, 9 and ½ foot tall, green and brown skinned monstrous Ogre! It was wearing the flayed skin and fur of a brown bear like a shirt, and it held two large branches like clubs, clapping them together.
The lone goblin tossed the Ogre the bag and then pointed at the party. “Help!” it yelled. The Ogre, Kronk, weighed the bag with one hand, tossed it behind him into his lair, and nodded. His club smashed the table aside as he strode further into the room.
Charlotte fired, her arrow hitting the ogre in the forehead! And he plucked the arrow free and snapped it with two fingers. Sparks was waving his hands in mystic passes and readying a spell while Darren and Loq finally finished off their goblin with a pair of blows. The clerics retreated behind Jakes and William while Corg wasted the lone goblin on his side. This left Kronk the Ogre and 1 goblin cowering behind the upset table.
As the Ogre drew up to the party Sparks’ spell finished and he sent an arcane bolt 3’ long blasting straight from the ether before him to splatter into Kronk’s chest. The Ogre staggered back, the eldritch bolt would have killed a strong man. It only seemed to anger the ogre.
And then he was amongst the group.
The party swung and hacked and chopped but the Ogre was made of tougher stuff than the goblin, their blows turned aside or even just ignored. As for Kronk, he battered his club on Jakes, dimpling the fighter’s shield, denting his armor, and causing his head to ring. A nasty pair of bashing drove the fighter to his knees and the group was stunned to see Jakes barely getting back to his feet.
Arrows flew, swords slashed, and Kronk grew weaker and weaker until at long last, the ogre fell over dead. As for the final goblin, the party shot him as he turned to run, the greenskin going down with a squeal and gurgling rattle.
We listened for anyone who might have heard the fight and was coming to investigate, but we seemed to have lucked out. Charlotte and the two clerics went into the Ogre’s lair and looked around while William and the rest of the group stripped the goblins and ogre of anything important, and made ready to leave. Jakes was incredulous at the fact that there was an OGRE there, a bit more than goblin we had mentioned. We did admit that we did not know of the ogre until this moment and was just as surprised as he.
As for treasures, there were tons. The ogre’s lair was filled with bags or various coins, cheeses, brandy. We also took every spear there was to sell; knowing the smith @ the Keep would give us a gold piece for each. There were also arrows, some scrolls, and even a potion. Deciding we have pressed our luck long enough, we bagged up everything, and between the seven of us, managed to get every bit of treasure out.
We left the caves and began our walk back. Jacks suggested we go to the Keep to sell what we can and divide up the goods before going back with him and his group to the woods to find Larson’s lost body and deal with the mountain lion. The group agreed. It was a longer than normal walk back and the party was chatting back and forth about their new found riches and what they were hoping to do with it (horses and valet were mentioned but cooler heads prevailed and said we should not be so quick to spend what we have).
As we were passing the Greenscale River a flat bottomed fishing skiff (boat) with 6 people were on it and called out to ask how we were doing. We replied well and were then asked if we had come from the Caves. We said yes and then were asked if we had gotten any treasure. Some of us said yes and showed the bags but we were getting a bit worried at the questions. Then they finally asked who we were so they can meet us in town and toast to our success. William said his name and then cursed himself for making a terrible blunder…right about the same time that Charlotte gave up hers.
We went faster, leaving the fishing people behind, and the two friends felt they made a terrible mistake and would be on their guard tonight.
At the Keep we went to the Rusty Nail inn and settled down at a table near the back. A few of us went off to sell the spears to the smith while we sold off the cask of beer and the keg of brandy to the innkeep for a tidy profit. We then went through the hundreds of coins and realized we had over 800 gold pieces, 300 silver, and the same roughly in copper. It was crazy! We divided up the loot, each person getting over 100 gold crowns and other coins as well.
It was now 4:30 and once more ready, we were going to head off back with Jakes and his group to hunt down their missing man Larson and take care of the mountain lion once and for all.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Friday, February 20, 2015
Meet 74, Adv 4, 2/7/15
This was a big LARPing night. Every so often I like to do town adventure stuff. The world isn't a vacuum and the group's actions will have repercussions in it. However, it also helps to adopt a less combative time around the table and that was this night. Those not in the limelight I gave important people to play for me and let them take a stance adversely (in some way) to those adventuring.
We had a terrific time. And with others running the NPC show, sometimes they take the party and game in directions I didn't originally plan.
Write up follows:
Towards the end of breakfast we split up into 2 groups: Tranis, Curufin, Erd, and Encrinus were going to talk to the Sheriff about the evacuation while Flimflam and Marcus were going to meet with Lord Gelus Keyser. Geld was going to stay behind as he…she wasn’t feeling well.
So Flimflam and Marcus came to Lord Keyser’s manor house where they were looking for an audience. They besides seeing the Lord, they had the pleasure of sitting with Vicar Sans, 2nd in command with the Temple of Zeus, Steiner Whoreson, visiting priest of Apollo, and Mathias Stabler of the Northern Stables.
They spoke at length about what had gone on and learned that the Stablers really wanted the undead threat taken care of and the road to be kept open – since it represents the best and strongest possible incentive of trade this town has seen with the northwestern section of the kingdom in 20 years. The Temple of Zeus was a bit more concerned as they have been bankrolling the militia for Heatherfield and the men who have died from these undead need to be replaced and that takes time and coin.
It was here that the party let Lord Keyser know that they needed skilled men to help in the caverns below – and this was not going to be with local talent and militia men. But real mercenary types. Specifically, we wanted to go to the bandits that were currently waiting in Dairymeade and convince them to come back and help us in exchange for a full pardon.
It did not go over easily. There was much discussion before it was hesitantly agreed to. However, Castus and his men (and women!) would have to perform and then after the dwarven Hades priest was taken care of, they would be pardoned. However, the exile from Heatherfield would still stand. There was also the undercurrent that if they happened to die in the dungeon, that would be ok. Flimflam did not reply to this. The priest of Zeus also did NOT like the priest of Apollo – who was going to be joining the group on their adventure.
It was also mentioned that there was the search for a magic item to use against wights…and we had heard of a rich family who supposedly had possession of a sword of some renown called the Daystar of Zeus – owned by the Carayn Mechanthouse. Something we would follow up on.
As for Tranis and company, they spoke with the Sheriff’s men, learning that the evacuation of the 5 surrounding (4, the Thanach Estate was already emptied) homesteads was taking place. Which left it open for the group to go to the check out the Griffanus Estate and see if they could find some sign of where they might be or what might have happened.
As they approached the Estate they noted that the air was still, a haze was in the air, and there was nothing…nothing in the area. No one. It just felt…wrong. They did not want to use the gate, so they climbed over the wall…and also felt uncomfortable. Everything was bothering them, their senses were excited, it was just…ill feeling.
There was no birds. Not a blast of wind. Even distant voices and sounds were muted and faint. The party picked their way carefully towards the house, and each noise they made stood out. The door was partially ajar (3 inches), a wraparound porch 4’ deep was 2 steps up. The windows were unshuttered but the party could not see anything directly inside.
No one wanted to step on the porch so they used a pole to force it open. The hinges were rusty and squealed, but we were able to see inside. Lots of dust, more than we would expect. Curufin gave the front door a check for anything odd, seeing nothing. Everything inside just seemed older, more worn, threadbare.
No one wanted to go in. At all. Erd made the attempt, but hesitated at the door, sword out and NOT going in. The decision was made next to encircle the place, looking in windows for anything. They found nothing else. Back at the front they talked and had the idea of leading a sheep (or something like that) in and the see what happened. Encrinus knew a local shepherd family and we followed the Halfling to go purchase a sheep.
They purchased one with a twisted leg for a fraction of a price and came back to the Griffanus home. The sheep grew quiet once on the property and we led it up to the front door. From here we coaxed it to step inside a few paces where it suddenly grew still and quiescent. Erd couldn’t do it, he turned away, feeling terrible. Tranis used the flat of his sword to spur the sheep into the house. It went in, standing there unmoving just inside the front door. Slowly groaning and standing there. The group asked Curufin to give the sheep a nudge. He did so, using his pole – giving it a poke.
And the sheep fell over and died.
We were stunned, looking at the dead sheep.
Erd wrote on the porch in chalk, “warning, do not enter,” and then the group left, returning to the Mane and Tail Tavern in Heatherfield.
We all met up together with Flimflam and Marcus where we shared what we learned and they did the same.
We wanted some people to stay behind and talk to Liscinia, as well as people to go to the Carayn Merchanthouse and try to borrow the sword if they have it. The others in the group would be going to Dairymeade to convince the bandits to come back. Tranis, Steiner, and Encrinus were staying – Flim, Marcus, Erd, Geld, and Curufin were tripping to Dairymeade.
The set off just after lunch and travelled all day, evening, and most of the night, arriving at the village just past the midnight hour. The gate guard informed the party that indeed the bandit group were here (not identified as bandits of course) and at the Laughing Cow Inn. They have been spending money like crazy as well as eating tons of cheese.
We went to the inn and made our way to the bandit leader, Castus Woodwalker and shared a beer and laugh with him. We then went with them to a quiet corner and talked about why we were here. Long and short of it? They didn’t like the deal. There was talk or just going to Gul or Argosility, or Sarscaty and just blending in and never being seen again. They felt that that might be a deadly thing. However, we did talk for a while and convinced them that we needed their help and ultimately, it would be good for them and us.
Castus agreed to helping out – but not all of his men would be going into the “dungeon”, the archers and lesser fighters would be waiting outside to support and watch for Castus and his people to get out. And they get a share of the treasure, and first 4 choices of anything “interesting” found. We agreed and after settling the deal with a handshake, went to turn in, knowing we would be leaving after we awoke tomorrow.
Meanwhile Tranis and his group went to talk to the Carayn family to see if the sword was available for “borrow”. The Carayn family are an old and noble family with landholdings and business interests everywhere. They have tons of money so cannot be bought. Devout followers of Zeus, they cannot be swayed either. The family has been here for 7 generations. The Patriarch Julian has a number of children and grandchild, however his eldest son, Roscoe, is next in line. The two of them have a loving relationship, but it is no mystery that the Patriarch was in failing health and would be dying soon.
They kept the party waiting for a bit until they met with them. We tried to explain why we were there but the Carayn’s didn’t understand. Tranis tried to explain about the demon monkeys but all they got from it was that they would not be upstaged and would get demon gorillas for their party next time. We then tried to explain faster but it was dwarf and necromancer and “McCallister! Get this pipe out of here it’s affecting my father’s emphysema”.
We eventually got around to the silvered sword and the Carayn’s were cagey as to its existence. It took some back and forth and got to the point that it’s a legacy. Everyone had heard of the story of the dead vampire some generations back – but the Carayn family hasn’t had anything like that except for money recently. That then led to possibly getting something in town named for the Carayn family. The group made it his business to let the Carayn’s valet, guardsmen, and help learn about the “undead horde” and that they would need the Daystar of Zeus. Just enough to cause some dissent as they left.
We then left to sit with Lord Keyser to ask about getting his help in this matter. Lord Gelus Kayser was loathe to help but agreed to having the name of the marketplace renamed the Carayn Marketplace. However, while drawing up the contract, he made it very verbose and purposely misspelled the Carayn name to Carrion, his scribe laughing as they did it.
They then returned to the Carayn family where Julian Carayn was pleased to hear about this (Roscoe not so much, threatening to burn the pages at one point). His scribes went to read the contract but they either missed or ignored the section where it was misspelled in regards to the family name. It was only when Julian himself gave it a look over that he noted the mistake. He corrected it quietly, silently pissed at Lord Keyser and his own scribes. Roscoe went to get the sword.
The deal was done, sword in Tranis’ hand (he felt it was a “good” fit to his hand) and we left, heading back to the tavern for now and then going to go talk to Liscinia about wooing her back into helping us.
Ok – all caught up! We are on tomorrow the 21st, so see you all then.
Reminder, write ups can be found @ http://vanadorn.blogspot.com/
We had a terrific time. And with others running the NPC show, sometimes they take the party and game in directions I didn't originally plan.
Write up follows:
Towards the end of breakfast we split up into 2 groups: Tranis, Curufin, Erd, and Encrinus were going to talk to the Sheriff about the evacuation while Flimflam and Marcus were going to meet with Lord Gelus Keyser. Geld was going to stay behind as he…she wasn’t feeling well.
So Flimflam and Marcus came to Lord Keyser’s manor house where they were looking for an audience. They besides seeing the Lord, they had the pleasure of sitting with Vicar Sans, 2nd in command with the Temple of Zeus, Steiner Whoreson, visiting priest of Apollo, and Mathias Stabler of the Northern Stables.
They spoke at length about what had gone on and learned that the Stablers really wanted the undead threat taken care of and the road to be kept open – since it represents the best and strongest possible incentive of trade this town has seen with the northwestern section of the kingdom in 20 years. The Temple of Zeus was a bit more concerned as they have been bankrolling the militia for Heatherfield and the men who have died from these undead need to be replaced and that takes time and coin.
It was here that the party let Lord Keyser know that they needed skilled men to help in the caverns below – and this was not going to be with local talent and militia men. But real mercenary types. Specifically, we wanted to go to the bandits that were currently waiting in Dairymeade and convince them to come back and help us in exchange for a full pardon.
It did not go over easily. There was much discussion before it was hesitantly agreed to. However, Castus and his men (and women!) would have to perform and then after the dwarven Hades priest was taken care of, they would be pardoned. However, the exile from Heatherfield would still stand. There was also the undercurrent that if they happened to die in the dungeon, that would be ok. Flimflam did not reply to this. The priest of Zeus also did NOT like the priest of Apollo – who was going to be joining the group on their adventure.
It was also mentioned that there was the search for a magic item to use against wights…and we had heard of a rich family who supposedly had possession of a sword of some renown called the Daystar of Zeus – owned by the Carayn Mechanthouse. Something we would follow up on.
As for Tranis and company, they spoke with the Sheriff’s men, learning that the evacuation of the 5 surrounding (4, the Thanach Estate was already emptied) homesteads was taking place. Which left it open for the group to go to the check out the Griffanus Estate and see if they could find some sign of where they might be or what might have happened.
As they approached the Estate they noted that the air was still, a haze was in the air, and there was nothing…nothing in the area. No one. It just felt…wrong. They did not want to use the gate, so they climbed over the wall…and also felt uncomfortable. Everything was bothering them, their senses were excited, it was just…ill feeling.
There was no birds. Not a blast of wind. Even distant voices and sounds were muted and faint. The party picked their way carefully towards the house, and each noise they made stood out. The door was partially ajar (3 inches), a wraparound porch 4’ deep was 2 steps up. The windows were unshuttered but the party could not see anything directly inside.
No one wanted to step on the porch so they used a pole to force it open. The hinges were rusty and squealed, but we were able to see inside. Lots of dust, more than we would expect. Curufin gave the front door a check for anything odd, seeing nothing. Everything inside just seemed older, more worn, threadbare.
No one wanted to go in. At all. Erd made the attempt, but hesitated at the door, sword out and NOT going in. The decision was made next to encircle the place, looking in windows for anything. They found nothing else. Back at the front they talked and had the idea of leading a sheep (or something like that) in and the see what happened. Encrinus knew a local shepherd family and we followed the Halfling to go purchase a sheep.
They purchased one with a twisted leg for a fraction of a price and came back to the Griffanus home. The sheep grew quiet once on the property and we led it up to the front door. From here we coaxed it to step inside a few paces where it suddenly grew still and quiescent. Erd couldn’t do it, he turned away, feeling terrible. Tranis used the flat of his sword to spur the sheep into the house. It went in, standing there unmoving just inside the front door. Slowly groaning and standing there. The group asked Curufin to give the sheep a nudge. He did so, using his pole – giving it a poke.
And the sheep fell over and died.
We were stunned, looking at the dead sheep.
Erd wrote on the porch in chalk, “warning, do not enter,” and then the group left, returning to the Mane and Tail Tavern in Heatherfield.
We all met up together with Flimflam and Marcus where we shared what we learned and they did the same.
We wanted some people to stay behind and talk to Liscinia, as well as people to go to the Carayn Merchanthouse and try to borrow the sword if they have it. The others in the group would be going to Dairymeade to convince the bandits to come back. Tranis, Steiner, and Encrinus were staying – Flim, Marcus, Erd, Geld, and Curufin were tripping to Dairymeade.
The set off just after lunch and travelled all day, evening, and most of the night, arriving at the village just past the midnight hour. The gate guard informed the party that indeed the bandit group were here (not identified as bandits of course) and at the Laughing Cow Inn. They have been spending money like crazy as well as eating tons of cheese.
We went to the inn and made our way to the bandit leader, Castus Woodwalker and shared a beer and laugh with him. We then went with them to a quiet corner and talked about why we were here. Long and short of it? They didn’t like the deal. There was talk or just going to Gul or Argosility, or Sarscaty and just blending in and never being seen again. They felt that that might be a deadly thing. However, we did talk for a while and convinced them that we needed their help and ultimately, it would be good for them and us.
Castus agreed to helping out – but not all of his men would be going into the “dungeon”, the archers and lesser fighters would be waiting outside to support and watch for Castus and his people to get out. And they get a share of the treasure, and first 4 choices of anything “interesting” found. We agreed and after settling the deal with a handshake, went to turn in, knowing we would be leaving after we awoke tomorrow.
Meanwhile Tranis and his group went to talk to the Carayn family to see if the sword was available for “borrow”. The Carayn family are an old and noble family with landholdings and business interests everywhere. They have tons of money so cannot be bought. Devout followers of Zeus, they cannot be swayed either. The family has been here for 7 generations. The Patriarch Julian has a number of children and grandchild, however his eldest son, Roscoe, is next in line. The two of them have a loving relationship, but it is no mystery that the Patriarch was in failing health and would be dying soon.
They kept the party waiting for a bit until they met with them. We tried to explain why we were there but the Carayn’s didn’t understand. Tranis tried to explain about the demon monkeys but all they got from it was that they would not be upstaged and would get demon gorillas for their party next time. We then tried to explain faster but it was dwarf and necromancer and “McCallister! Get this pipe out of here it’s affecting my father’s emphysema”.
We eventually got around to the silvered sword and the Carayn’s were cagey as to its existence. It took some back and forth and got to the point that it’s a legacy. Everyone had heard of the story of the dead vampire some generations back – but the Carayn family hasn’t had anything like that except for money recently. That then led to possibly getting something in town named for the Carayn family. The group made it his business to let the Carayn’s valet, guardsmen, and help learn about the “undead horde” and that they would need the Daystar of Zeus. Just enough to cause some dissent as they left.
We then left to sit with Lord Keyser to ask about getting his help in this matter. Lord Gelus Kayser was loathe to help but agreed to having the name of the marketplace renamed the Carayn Marketplace. However, while drawing up the contract, he made it very verbose and purposely misspelled the Carayn name to Carrion, his scribe laughing as they did it.
They then returned to the Carayn family where Julian Carayn was pleased to hear about this (Roscoe not so much, threatening to burn the pages at one point). His scribes went to read the contract but they either missed or ignored the section where it was misspelled in regards to the family name. It was only when Julian himself gave it a look over that he noted the mistake. He corrected it quietly, silently pissed at Lord Keyser and his own scribes. Roscoe went to get the sword.
The deal was done, sword in Tranis’ hand (he felt it was a “good” fit to his hand) and we left, heading back to the tavern for now and then going to go talk to Liscinia about wooing her back into helping us.
Ok – all caught up! We are on tomorrow the 21st, so see you all then.
Reminder, write ups can be found @ http://vanadorn.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Meet 73, Adv 4, 1/24/15
New characters once again.
We introduced 2 of the 3 new characters into the group this night and it did not go well. There is a wide range of player types at the table from the serious to the not-so and from the role player to the laid back - and it sort of clashed at this meeting.
We had some time after wards to discuss this as friends (over the next full week and countless emails) and seem to have resolved it, but we'll have to see how the new party gels over the next couple of sessions before I declare the issue resolved.
Write up follows:
The survivors crept their way off the Griffanus Estate, pausing near the actual house briefly. It was dark, no dogs, no smoke from the chimney, no…nothing. It was eerie, unsettling, and utterly spooky. No one dared to enter the house; instead we continued to bring our wounded and hurt to the gate off the property and to Crastori and Oona Thanach.
We spoke with the Thanach at length, getting them to understand that staying here might not be a good idea. In fact, it would be better to abandon the home now. So we had them gather up all their dogs, belongings, and field hands and follow the rest of the party to the town. Once there, many of the field hands went off to family (extended) while the Thanach family followed the group to the Temple of Demeter.
Some of the dogs would be taken in, as well as the children and Selene; the others would have to find other lodgings for now. In addition, this would only be for a week or so and then the temple would have to help the Thanach find someplace else to get shelter.
This then led to what happened to Pawn – and the group regaled the High Priestess with the halfling’s loss and the terror we had to face and fight under the Griffanus home. The only bit of succor we were given was that the higher order undead we might have faced that we destroyed, were most likely not going to be easily replaced. It seemed to be a small comfort to us and as a party we were feeling very outside of our element.
We had lost friends and comrades and had nothing to show for it except being even less capable for a return visit. And the dwarf? Still unseen and most likely more than ready for us.
We needed help. That’s the truth of it.
The High Priest informed us that the Halfling Echinus was hanging out today waiting to talk to Pawn as well as us – and had met up with two elves who had come with the interest in joining the party. Elves? Two of them? And looking for us? Our suspicion meter started pinging. We did not want to deal with this as of now, so snuck out to talk to the Sheriff.
We regaled the local constabulary about what we had seen and what was most likely against us. He was interest in clearing out the estates nearest the Griffanus, as well as finding his missing men. He would be working on clearing them out tomorrow (as well as going to talk to the Lord with the group) but said that he wanted to know that the group was going to stay on this matter and get it resolved. We promised we would try (nothing more) and left him for now, returning to the Temple to meet with the three new possible recruits waiting there.
It did not go well.
There was Curufin a wood elven thief from Woodhelven who did not seem to have most regard for the group. There was a mutilated high elven warrior who has been living with the barbarian tribes in the Beastly Hills named Erd who was questioning the leadership fortitude. And there was Encrinus the Halfling, slinger and confident to the point of pushy – already assuming he was a part of the party and was handling the introductions between the party and the two possible recruits.
It sort of drifted off center when there was talk of a provisional charter where the three potential newbies would act on the party’s behalf to “clear the estates” and maybe check out the Griffanus house. Things were tense and we managed to shelf the idea for now until the next day.
As for our plan? We need everyone to spend some time at the Hospice to heal up. We had to handle the loss of the hirelings as well as our own people. And we needed help – so hiring more locals might be the way to go – but it was more radical if we go back to Dairymeade and present it to the bandits and Master Freebard that we had sent there a week ago. Shortly speaking – come back and help us.
We introduced 2 of the 3 new characters into the group this night and it did not go well. There is a wide range of player types at the table from the serious to the not-so and from the role player to the laid back - and it sort of clashed at this meeting.
We had some time after wards to discuss this as friends (over the next full week and countless emails) and seem to have resolved it, but we'll have to see how the new party gels over the next couple of sessions before I declare the issue resolved.
Write up follows:
The survivors crept their way off the Griffanus Estate, pausing near the actual house briefly. It was dark, no dogs, no smoke from the chimney, no…nothing. It was eerie, unsettling, and utterly spooky. No one dared to enter the house; instead we continued to bring our wounded and hurt to the gate off the property and to Crastori and Oona Thanach.
We spoke with the Thanach at length, getting them to understand that staying here might not be a good idea. In fact, it would be better to abandon the home now. So we had them gather up all their dogs, belongings, and field hands and follow the rest of the party to the town. Once there, many of the field hands went off to family (extended) while the Thanach family followed the group to the Temple of Demeter.
Some of the dogs would be taken in, as well as the children and Selene; the others would have to find other lodgings for now. In addition, this would only be for a week or so and then the temple would have to help the Thanach find someplace else to get shelter.
This then led to what happened to Pawn – and the group regaled the High Priestess with the halfling’s loss and the terror we had to face and fight under the Griffanus home. The only bit of succor we were given was that the higher order undead we might have faced that we destroyed, were most likely not going to be easily replaced. It seemed to be a small comfort to us and as a party we were feeling very outside of our element.
We had lost friends and comrades and had nothing to show for it except being even less capable for a return visit. And the dwarf? Still unseen and most likely more than ready for us.
We needed help. That’s the truth of it.
The High Priest informed us that the Halfling Echinus was hanging out today waiting to talk to Pawn as well as us – and had met up with two elves who had come with the interest in joining the party. Elves? Two of them? And looking for us? Our suspicion meter started pinging. We did not want to deal with this as of now, so snuck out to talk to the Sheriff.
We regaled the local constabulary about what we had seen and what was most likely against us. He was interest in clearing out the estates nearest the Griffanus, as well as finding his missing men. He would be working on clearing them out tomorrow (as well as going to talk to the Lord with the group) but said that he wanted to know that the group was going to stay on this matter and get it resolved. We promised we would try (nothing more) and left him for now, returning to the Temple to meet with the three new possible recruits waiting there.
It did not go well.
There was Curufin a wood elven thief from Woodhelven who did not seem to have most regard for the group. There was a mutilated high elven warrior who has been living with the barbarian tribes in the Beastly Hills named Erd who was questioning the leadership fortitude. And there was Encrinus the Halfling, slinger and confident to the point of pushy – already assuming he was a part of the party and was handling the introductions between the party and the two possible recruits.
It sort of drifted off center when there was talk of a provisional charter where the three potential newbies would act on the party’s behalf to “clear the estates” and maybe check out the Griffanus house. Things were tense and we managed to shelf the idea for now until the next day.
As for our plan? We need everyone to spend some time at the Hospice to heal up. We had to handle the loss of the hirelings as well as our own people. And we needed help – so hiring more locals might be the way to go – but it was more radical if we go back to Dairymeade and present it to the bandits and Master Freebard that we had sent there a week ago. Shortly speaking – come back and help us.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Meet 3, Adv B2, 1/25/15 - Youth Group
My daughter and her friend had a get together after weeks of trying (and this one almost didn't happen). It was a shorter meeting (3 to 5:30) but they picked up right where they left off and played. It was obvious that both of them had read some of the B/X book as they had a keener grip on the rules, as well as possible enemies they were going to meet.
When it was over they wanted to know when they can have another meeting and if possible, would I let them have a marathon sleep over session. Some other time kids.
Write up follows:
The party made the decision to keep exploring onward, but did not want to risk losing the 20 spears they had found. Carrying them further in was not an option, so the group decided to take them out of the cave, and hide them in the brush and leaves there; this way if they were attacked or forced to run, they can still somehow get the weapons before returning to the Keep.
Upon completion, they talked about going to check out one of the corridors near the entrance first but instead opted to go back to the room they had just cleared and continue to the stairs there. It was here that Charlotte went first, inching her way up with care and checked for any traps that might be found – seeing none. At the top of the stairs, there was a landing of stone and then another flight of stairs went up and to the right. She motioned back and William, Loq, and Corg joined her up the steps before the entire party continued along their way.
The top of the 2nd flight showed a corridor that went on for 20’ before stopping at an iron banded door. There was some writing over the door that upon closing the group was able to read as: “Come in – We’d Like to Have You For Dinner”. It did not inspire the group with confidence. Neither did the pair of skulls hanging from spikes over the door’s lintel.
After some discussion, the party wanted to open the portal and see what was beyond. William volunteered to open the door, Corg standing in front of the fighter, his own shield and sword at the ready. Charlotte held the torch high and everyone agreed that if it seemed too much, they were going to bolt and run.
They counted to three and William turned the knob and hit the door with his shoulder. And it didn’t move. Barred from the other side. It did make a lot of noise and the group heard goblin voices within call out in their own language. Charlotte tried to answer they were friends but the foes on the other side didn’t seem to understand. Instead they slid the bar aside on their end and opened the door.
It was a large chamber, poorly lit, and housed maybe almost 20 goblinoid creatures. Signs of their habitation were everywhere (piles of clothes, food, other stinky mounds of god knows what). But these goblins were larger than the ones they had met earlier. Taller, beefier, they had shocks of orangey hair on the top of their head and under their armpits and from their shoulders. The smell was stronger, and they just looked dangerous.
The group wanted to leave. And now. William whipped out a flask of oil and smashed it to the ground just inside the door, sending the hobgoblins back a step…allowing Charlotte the chance to light it. The whoosh of flame sent everyone back, and gave the important time needed for the party to run back down the steps and away. William and Corg with their platemail fell behind, emerging from the cave last. The party grabbed the hidden spears and began the long walk back to the Keep.
At the gates they made their way and then to the bazaar where a weapon merchant was willing to buy the spears. There was some back and forth haggling but they settled on 1 gold piece each. We then went through all the funds we had earned and gave everyone one fourth – each member getting 5 gold, 5 silver, and 30 copper pieces. Loq and Corg wanted to know when the group was going back, everyone deciding on 2 days. We bid them a farewell and went off to tavern to relax, get a space in the common room, and discuss what would be next.
Charlotte worked on making fire arrows over the remainder of this day and the next, while William frequented the bar, bazaar, and shops – spending copper and silver in hopes of learning anything new. His persistence paid off when he learned that some mage had lost a magic wand somewhere in the environs of the Caves and was willing to pay 200 gold crowns for its return.
So it was the next morning after breakfast we met up with Loq and Corg, paying them for their service to come, and then we set off.
It was over halfway back to the caves of Chaos that we came upon a group of four men by the side of the road, scratched up and tired. They said they had been pursued during the night by a crazed mountain lion that followed them from a woodcutter’s cottage throughout everywhere they tried to sleep that night. They had even lost one of their members, a thief named Larson. We wished them well and said that if they wanted to meet up in the future and join forces, the party would be interested.
The rest of the walk involved the group talking about the strangeness of the mountain lion associated with the same strangeness of the vulture they had seen earlier. William guessed that the evil rituals in the area might be affecting the animals – slowly making them crazier and less able to be approached.
We came back to the ravine and the caves, seeing little changed if anything. We snuck back to the original cave we had already explored a few times, lit a torch, and entered with care. The only thing that was obviously different was the abundance of spider webs along the forward and left choice passages. Not trusting them, Charlotte opted to burn the left corridor free of webs first – the line of fire dancing away, dropping smaller crispy spider bodies everywhere.
She then turned to the forward passage to do the same, but her torch and fire startled a large spider the size of a small dog out of the webs above her, that fell to the ground and startled her, allowing it get close enough where it tried to bite her. She scrambled back, just avoiding its fangs as it made the attempt to bite. She swung her torch and hit the spider. Full on solid hit, knocked it to the ground, and set its hairy back on fire.
The spider made to run away back down the corridor when William’s sword arced out, splitting its abdomen wide open and severed two of its legs. Green ichor splattered all over the fighter as the spider rolled over dead. Loq supplied him with a towel where he wiped most of the thick portions off his face. The group then wanted to head off to the right and go back to the goblins that had originally chased the first two friends out of the cave 3 or 4 days ago.
When it was over they wanted to know when they can have another meeting and if possible, would I let them have a marathon sleep over session. Some other time kids.
Write up follows:
The party made the decision to keep exploring onward, but did not want to risk losing the 20 spears they had found. Carrying them further in was not an option, so the group decided to take them out of the cave, and hide them in the brush and leaves there; this way if they were attacked or forced to run, they can still somehow get the weapons before returning to the Keep.
Upon completion, they talked about going to check out one of the corridors near the entrance first but instead opted to go back to the room they had just cleared and continue to the stairs there. It was here that Charlotte went first, inching her way up with care and checked for any traps that might be found – seeing none. At the top of the stairs, there was a landing of stone and then another flight of stairs went up and to the right. She motioned back and William, Loq, and Corg joined her up the steps before the entire party continued along their way.
The top of the 2nd flight showed a corridor that went on for 20’ before stopping at an iron banded door. There was some writing over the door that upon closing the group was able to read as: “Come in – We’d Like to Have You For Dinner”. It did not inspire the group with confidence. Neither did the pair of skulls hanging from spikes over the door’s lintel.
After some discussion, the party wanted to open the portal and see what was beyond. William volunteered to open the door, Corg standing in front of the fighter, his own shield and sword at the ready. Charlotte held the torch high and everyone agreed that if it seemed too much, they were going to bolt and run.
They counted to three and William turned the knob and hit the door with his shoulder. And it didn’t move. Barred from the other side. It did make a lot of noise and the group heard goblin voices within call out in their own language. Charlotte tried to answer they were friends but the foes on the other side didn’t seem to understand. Instead they slid the bar aside on their end and opened the door.
It was a large chamber, poorly lit, and housed maybe almost 20 goblinoid creatures. Signs of their habitation were everywhere (piles of clothes, food, other stinky mounds of god knows what). But these goblins were larger than the ones they had met earlier. Taller, beefier, they had shocks of orangey hair on the top of their head and under their armpits and from their shoulders. The smell was stronger, and they just looked dangerous.
The group wanted to leave. And now. William whipped out a flask of oil and smashed it to the ground just inside the door, sending the hobgoblins back a step…allowing Charlotte the chance to light it. The whoosh of flame sent everyone back, and gave the important time needed for the party to run back down the steps and away. William and Corg with their platemail fell behind, emerging from the cave last. The party grabbed the hidden spears and began the long walk back to the Keep.
At the gates they made their way and then to the bazaar where a weapon merchant was willing to buy the spears. There was some back and forth haggling but they settled on 1 gold piece each. We then went through all the funds we had earned and gave everyone one fourth – each member getting 5 gold, 5 silver, and 30 copper pieces. Loq and Corg wanted to know when the group was going back, everyone deciding on 2 days. We bid them a farewell and went off to tavern to relax, get a space in the common room, and discuss what would be next.
Charlotte worked on making fire arrows over the remainder of this day and the next, while William frequented the bar, bazaar, and shops – spending copper and silver in hopes of learning anything new. His persistence paid off when he learned that some mage had lost a magic wand somewhere in the environs of the Caves and was willing to pay 200 gold crowns for its return.
So it was the next morning after breakfast we met up with Loq and Corg, paying them for their service to come, and then we set off.
It was over halfway back to the caves of Chaos that we came upon a group of four men by the side of the road, scratched up and tired. They said they had been pursued during the night by a crazed mountain lion that followed them from a woodcutter’s cottage throughout everywhere they tried to sleep that night. They had even lost one of their members, a thief named Larson. We wished them well and said that if they wanted to meet up in the future and join forces, the party would be interested.
The rest of the walk involved the group talking about the strangeness of the mountain lion associated with the same strangeness of the vulture they had seen earlier. William guessed that the evil rituals in the area might be affecting the animals – slowly making them crazier and less able to be approached.
We came back to the ravine and the caves, seeing little changed if anything. We snuck back to the original cave we had already explored a few times, lit a torch, and entered with care. The only thing that was obviously different was the abundance of spider webs along the forward and left choice passages. Not trusting them, Charlotte opted to burn the left corridor free of webs first – the line of fire dancing away, dropping smaller crispy spider bodies everywhere.
She then turned to the forward passage to do the same, but her torch and fire startled a large spider the size of a small dog out of the webs above her, that fell to the ground and startled her, allowing it get close enough where it tried to bite her. She scrambled back, just avoiding its fangs as it made the attempt to bite. She swung her torch and hit the spider. Full on solid hit, knocked it to the ground, and set its hairy back on fire.
The spider made to run away back down the corridor when William’s sword arced out, splitting its abdomen wide open and severed two of its legs. Green ichor splattered all over the fighter as the spider rolled over dead. Loq supplied him with a towel where he wiped most of the thick portions off his face. The group then wanted to head off to the right and go back to the goblins that had originally chased the first two friends out of the cave 3 or 4 days ago.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Meet 72, Adv 4, 1/17/15
It was this meeting that the fecal matter hit the oscillation device. Through a number of bad decisions and split party - a few over zealous wandering monsters coming in, and just poor luck, we managed to carve out a possible TPK.
The group also met their first level draining undead - wights. Two at first, they killed them but the wights managed to kill off two of the party - which meant they will rise as wights.
Upon escaping to the surface it was just stunned and exhausted expressions amongst the players and a feeling of despair.
Write up follows:
Using the light of the wheel we noted that the side corridor preceded some 12 paces and then turned at a crisp 45 degree angle to the right. No signs or marking anywhere. Zeta and Tranis worked their lit up wheel forward to the turn, the party pacing behind with care, and looked onward, seeing another 10-12 paces and then another 45 degree to the right. The corridor was also showing more sign of work, the walls becoming smoother, the ceiling and floor more square edged.
At the next corner, the changes to the passage continued until there were no longer any features or signs; the entire place looking almost like it was poured into place. The passage only went 7 paces or so before turning to the left.
Once more Zeta and Tranis made their way to the front, peering around to see what was beyond here. The passage went 10’ and then opened to some chamber at least as large as our light source went and then beyond there. There were either paintings or ink drawings on the walls, starting just before the entrance of the room. From what we could tell they were of Hades and in some he was standing with the other Olympians, in others he was working with his adherents.
We rolled the wheel back and Zeta gave the chamber a good look with his infravision, surprised to see it was warming up from the current 65 through the entrance area all the way to 100 or so at the far end of his mission. There was nothing else in the room. From there we brought the wheel back to illuminate the area and tested waving our hands and arms past the entrance. There was an odd tingling sensation to be sure, but that was it.
Upon finally stepping into the room that we felt a sort of increase in temperate, maybe a handful of degrees. And when we left, we cooled off again over time. Through a variety of trials and errors, we discovered that the further one went into the chamber, the ultimately higher the temperature reached.
We could not see enough of the room so the decision was made to unrope the wheel and send it rolling into the room. The light spell on it should illuminate more of the chamber and let us not get screwed over or caught up in anything we weren’t ready for. So we pushed the wheel in, it rolled almost 25’ and then fell over. The chamber was almost 50’ long and there was another exit on the far side that made a turn to the right, some sort of slope leading down and away.
Zeta was once again picked to check the area out, eventually getting across the chamber with exaggerated care. It grew very hot, 100 plus. He doused his entire waterskin across his body to keep the metal buckles and braces from possibly burning his skin as we as to provide some relief. From what he could see the corridor sloped 20 degrees for 12 or so paces and then turned to the right where the corridor fed into a set of stairs going down.
We talked about our options at length, deciding at long last on two things: 1) we wanted to get the wheel back so we walked into the hot room and rolled it back to the entrance. 2) Zeta could check further but he must bring someone and that person shouldn’t be wearing metal armor. Auri volunteered and the two of them drew weapons and made their way across the room. It did indeed grow warm and then hot, the two of using only their infravision to provide any sight as they walked. The rest of the party watched as they disappeared into the dark and were gone, everyone readying weapons and gear.
Zeta and Auri made their way to the stairs, made sure there was no issue, and began walking down slowly. According to their infravision, the corridor went down steps before coming to another left hand turn with another sloping set of corridor going down. They proceeded with care, moving quietly and surely.
And then something flared near Auri from both walls, momentarily spoiling their heat vision. It came from a pair of Hades’ painted faces, two glyphs, briefly illuminating the stairs. And revealed at the limit of Zeta’s vision (who was the rearmost of the two), an eight count of skeletal figures coming out of a secret room from the “heat room” and heading their way. Seven of them armed with spears and a few shields raced towards the two friends, while the last one withdrew a sling and hurled a caltrop bag at the entrance where the rest of the group was.
Shit. Auri and Zeta swapped positions ready to assault the onrushing undead. The rest of the group backed up, not wanting to get assaulted by the undead in the room (that they still could not see). They did let the wagon wheel light roll forward and fall upon the caltrops, briefly making a bridge over them should the party need to assault forward.
The undead were held back on the stairs by a mix of Auri and Zeta’s skill, noting that one of them was fighting very skilled, dodging blows left and right. Zeta let fly an arcing bottle of holy wine but it was intercepted and laid down with care.
And then Auri killed one of the skeletons. And it exploded.
Sonovacrap.
The blast was like a hammer blow, but the broken bits of bones and raining pelvis pieces only affected the two living friends. The undead were unfazed, instead only continuing their press forward. Tactics needed to be changed. Auri swapped to a spear and began thrusting backwards to the back row of skellies instead, her spear all but useless on their lack of fleshy forms.
The slinging skellie hurled a flask of oil at the rest of the group who was huddled around the corner, unsure still of what they were fighting. But they did hear another secret door open up and another 8 skellies fill the room. A 2nd slinger joined the first and some spear users blocked the way. Liscinia made her way to the front with her tower shield and the party was lining up to bring the rain of blunt arrows down on the skeletons.
But then Funis and others in the back of the party heard running feet…and ghouls came around the corner to attack our rear.
Funis went down in a spray of blood, paralyzed by the ghouls’ attack, and out rear main fighter was out of the fight.
The group was split in two, and one of our groups was now assaulted on both sides. Crossbow bolts and arrows peppered the ghouls while Pawn was brought up front to turn the skeletons arranged against us there. Marcus and Pecheri tried to get behind Liscinia and her tower shield, only barely getting into place when a THIRD secret door opened and 8 more skeletons came out! Now three slingers against the main group and 5 other skellies, while Auri and Zeta were being forced down the stairs by the combined strength and assault of the skeletons there.
For long agonized minutes it was a slog against the press of undead with our spear, sword, and spells; most everyone running out of whatever resources they had. However it became unsustainable after Liscinia and Marcus were forced to give ground against the advancing undead from the skeleton room, forced back around the corner after one of the slingers hurled a hot coal into the oil soaked floor and the blast sent everyone scurrying back.
Auri and Zeta had no choice, the press of undead was too much against them, so they turned and RAN further into the dark and down the slopes and steps until they were deep deep under the ground. Where their infravision picked up a door. A door that Zeta opened, they both charged into the room beyond, and Zeta slammed closed. Where Auri fumbled for a locking bar and slid it home.
Two friends alone in the dark, undead spears and bodies bashing at the door beyond. And they just realized they had been poisoned from the door. Zeta fell over choking on his own blood while Auri stumbled to her knees and fought off the toxic effects. She managed to get a candle lit and tried to administer to Zeta…but the proud half-elf, confused and yet still making his way in the world, died in her arms.
And with the door opening, it triggered an alarm spell which summoned MORE undead from further in the complex. And this time it was 4 ghoul looking creatures, except two of them had an air of confidence about them. We reshuffled our line in order to hold them off, and Flimflam cast Magic Fang on Whosea for the upcoming fight. Marcus whipped out Whipztar’s grimoire and reading from the enchanted tome called out “EMPTY” where the room with skeletons that were attacking our flank…just emptied. The wheel disappeared, the bodies disappeared, it all went empty.
And the undead hit our back line again. It wasn’t just ghouls, it was something more. As evidenced when weapons just bounced off their hide. As evidenced by the disdain it had for the party. As evidenced by the life draining ability it had. We had to break free and go, and go now. Ghouls were dropping more of the party. Marcus lost a level, Sanford lost a level, Pawn lost a level and DIED by a Wight! Then Sanford was torn apart and Scripinius our linkboy was drained by a Wight and DIED! Quintus was killed. Whosea was drained and then…Funis and his paralysis wore off.
The Light footman with his enchanted mace waded into the back of the Wight’s, slamming at them at the same time that Flimflam and his enchanted cudgel and Whosea and his enchanted…teeth hit the front. It took magic weapons to take them down, along with a flurry of disrupt undead and magic missiles we punched a hole through and the party decided to run. Liscinia and Funis held the rear as the party hoisted our paralyzed brethren (Geld and Caeteccius) and we charged out of here.
We reached the bridge and were crossing when we heard our pursuers coming back after us again. So Liscinia and Funis dragged first one wagon base bridge back over the pit and let it fall…and then the second. The last thing the two hirelings saw were a host of skellies on the other side…and our one time companion and Halfling priest Pawn standing there – the priest having blood all over his form, and black eyes staring with undead malevolence and confidence at us retreating. And still the party ran on.
And now in the wagon room we had four zombies to contend with! Fuck! Marcus pulled out his book again and consulting Whipztar’s tome, selected FLIP – turning the busted wagon up and over and ONTOP of three of the zombies! Nice! They were pinned which allowed Funis to do battle with it long enough for the group to get past and away and then keeping up the rear.
We climbed wearily up the slope, through the incense room, and into the store room. From here we navigated the slope up, Tranis using rope all the way back down to help us pull ourselves up. And the wandering monster gods were against us even more as one, two, three of the pale and bloated carrion crawlers crept into the Hades room and tried to attack our ranger.
Flasks of oil held two of them back and one of them made it through as a torch was hurled and others came up to help. It caught on fire and tried to attack us but Flim, Whosea, Liscinia, Tranis, and Marcus all held it off and slayed it while we made our way to the front and escaped at long last into the evening cool air of the Griffanus Estate…with half our members gone or missing or dead.
We lost Scripinus, Quintis, Sanford, Pawn to wights and other undead. Zeta and Auri are unaccounted for, chased further into the dungeon by a host of pursuing skeletons (Of those two, Zeta has dies from Poison and Auri is weak and in a single room without exit, used as some sort of flensing chamber where the local necromancer take flesh from the body).
Escaping to the night air, low on spells or empty, with two of our members paralyzed and some of us level drained by the wights: Flimflam, Whosea, Tranis, Marcus, Pecheri, Geld, Vestanus, Funis, Liscinia, and Caeteccius.
The group also met their first level draining undead - wights. Two at first, they killed them but the wights managed to kill off two of the party - which meant they will rise as wights.
Upon escaping to the surface it was just stunned and exhausted expressions amongst the players and a feeling of despair.
Write up follows:
Using the light of the wheel we noted that the side corridor preceded some 12 paces and then turned at a crisp 45 degree angle to the right. No signs or marking anywhere. Zeta and Tranis worked their lit up wheel forward to the turn, the party pacing behind with care, and looked onward, seeing another 10-12 paces and then another 45 degree to the right. The corridor was also showing more sign of work, the walls becoming smoother, the ceiling and floor more square edged.
At the next corner, the changes to the passage continued until there were no longer any features or signs; the entire place looking almost like it was poured into place. The passage only went 7 paces or so before turning to the left.
Once more Zeta and Tranis made their way to the front, peering around to see what was beyond here. The passage went 10’ and then opened to some chamber at least as large as our light source went and then beyond there. There were either paintings or ink drawings on the walls, starting just before the entrance of the room. From what we could tell they were of Hades and in some he was standing with the other Olympians, in others he was working with his adherents.
We rolled the wheel back and Zeta gave the chamber a good look with his infravision, surprised to see it was warming up from the current 65 through the entrance area all the way to 100 or so at the far end of his mission. There was nothing else in the room. From there we brought the wheel back to illuminate the area and tested waving our hands and arms past the entrance. There was an odd tingling sensation to be sure, but that was it.
Upon finally stepping into the room that we felt a sort of increase in temperate, maybe a handful of degrees. And when we left, we cooled off again over time. Through a variety of trials and errors, we discovered that the further one went into the chamber, the ultimately higher the temperature reached.
We could not see enough of the room so the decision was made to unrope the wheel and send it rolling into the room. The light spell on it should illuminate more of the chamber and let us not get screwed over or caught up in anything we weren’t ready for. So we pushed the wheel in, it rolled almost 25’ and then fell over. The chamber was almost 50’ long and there was another exit on the far side that made a turn to the right, some sort of slope leading down and away.
Zeta was once again picked to check the area out, eventually getting across the chamber with exaggerated care. It grew very hot, 100 plus. He doused his entire waterskin across his body to keep the metal buckles and braces from possibly burning his skin as we as to provide some relief. From what he could see the corridor sloped 20 degrees for 12 or so paces and then turned to the right where the corridor fed into a set of stairs going down.
We talked about our options at length, deciding at long last on two things: 1) we wanted to get the wheel back so we walked into the hot room and rolled it back to the entrance. 2) Zeta could check further but he must bring someone and that person shouldn’t be wearing metal armor. Auri volunteered and the two of them drew weapons and made their way across the room. It did indeed grow warm and then hot, the two of using only their infravision to provide any sight as they walked. The rest of the party watched as they disappeared into the dark and were gone, everyone readying weapons and gear.
Zeta and Auri made their way to the stairs, made sure there was no issue, and began walking down slowly. According to their infravision, the corridor went down steps before coming to another left hand turn with another sloping set of corridor going down. They proceeded with care, moving quietly and surely.
And then something flared near Auri from both walls, momentarily spoiling their heat vision. It came from a pair of Hades’ painted faces, two glyphs, briefly illuminating the stairs. And revealed at the limit of Zeta’s vision (who was the rearmost of the two), an eight count of skeletal figures coming out of a secret room from the “heat room” and heading their way. Seven of them armed with spears and a few shields raced towards the two friends, while the last one withdrew a sling and hurled a caltrop bag at the entrance where the rest of the group was.
Shit. Auri and Zeta swapped positions ready to assault the onrushing undead. The rest of the group backed up, not wanting to get assaulted by the undead in the room (that they still could not see). They did let the wagon wheel light roll forward and fall upon the caltrops, briefly making a bridge over them should the party need to assault forward.
The undead were held back on the stairs by a mix of Auri and Zeta’s skill, noting that one of them was fighting very skilled, dodging blows left and right. Zeta let fly an arcing bottle of holy wine but it was intercepted and laid down with care.
And then Auri killed one of the skeletons. And it exploded.
Sonovacrap.
The blast was like a hammer blow, but the broken bits of bones and raining pelvis pieces only affected the two living friends. The undead were unfazed, instead only continuing their press forward. Tactics needed to be changed. Auri swapped to a spear and began thrusting backwards to the back row of skellies instead, her spear all but useless on their lack of fleshy forms.
The slinging skellie hurled a flask of oil at the rest of the group who was huddled around the corner, unsure still of what they were fighting. But they did hear another secret door open up and another 8 skellies fill the room. A 2nd slinger joined the first and some spear users blocked the way. Liscinia made her way to the front with her tower shield and the party was lining up to bring the rain of blunt arrows down on the skeletons.
But then Funis and others in the back of the party heard running feet…and ghouls came around the corner to attack our rear.
Funis went down in a spray of blood, paralyzed by the ghouls’ attack, and out rear main fighter was out of the fight.
The group was split in two, and one of our groups was now assaulted on both sides. Crossbow bolts and arrows peppered the ghouls while Pawn was brought up front to turn the skeletons arranged against us there. Marcus and Pecheri tried to get behind Liscinia and her tower shield, only barely getting into place when a THIRD secret door opened and 8 more skeletons came out! Now three slingers against the main group and 5 other skellies, while Auri and Zeta were being forced down the stairs by the combined strength and assault of the skeletons there.
For long agonized minutes it was a slog against the press of undead with our spear, sword, and spells; most everyone running out of whatever resources they had. However it became unsustainable after Liscinia and Marcus were forced to give ground against the advancing undead from the skeleton room, forced back around the corner after one of the slingers hurled a hot coal into the oil soaked floor and the blast sent everyone scurrying back.
Auri and Zeta had no choice, the press of undead was too much against them, so they turned and RAN further into the dark and down the slopes and steps until they were deep deep under the ground. Where their infravision picked up a door. A door that Zeta opened, they both charged into the room beyond, and Zeta slammed closed. Where Auri fumbled for a locking bar and slid it home.
Two friends alone in the dark, undead spears and bodies bashing at the door beyond. And they just realized they had been poisoned from the door. Zeta fell over choking on his own blood while Auri stumbled to her knees and fought off the toxic effects. She managed to get a candle lit and tried to administer to Zeta…but the proud half-elf, confused and yet still making his way in the world, died in her arms.
And with the door opening, it triggered an alarm spell which summoned MORE undead from further in the complex. And this time it was 4 ghoul looking creatures, except two of them had an air of confidence about them. We reshuffled our line in order to hold them off, and Flimflam cast Magic Fang on Whosea for the upcoming fight. Marcus whipped out Whipztar’s grimoire and reading from the enchanted tome called out “EMPTY” where the room with skeletons that were attacking our flank…just emptied. The wheel disappeared, the bodies disappeared, it all went empty.
And the undead hit our back line again. It wasn’t just ghouls, it was something more. As evidenced when weapons just bounced off their hide. As evidenced by the disdain it had for the party. As evidenced by the life draining ability it had. We had to break free and go, and go now. Ghouls were dropping more of the party. Marcus lost a level, Sanford lost a level, Pawn lost a level and DIED by a Wight! Then Sanford was torn apart and Scripinius our linkboy was drained by a Wight and DIED! Quintus was killed. Whosea was drained and then…Funis and his paralysis wore off.
The Light footman with his enchanted mace waded into the back of the Wight’s, slamming at them at the same time that Flimflam and his enchanted cudgel and Whosea and his enchanted…teeth hit the front. It took magic weapons to take them down, along with a flurry of disrupt undead and magic missiles we punched a hole through and the party decided to run. Liscinia and Funis held the rear as the party hoisted our paralyzed brethren (Geld and Caeteccius) and we charged out of here.
We reached the bridge and were crossing when we heard our pursuers coming back after us again. So Liscinia and Funis dragged first one wagon base bridge back over the pit and let it fall…and then the second. The last thing the two hirelings saw were a host of skellies on the other side…and our one time companion and Halfling priest Pawn standing there – the priest having blood all over his form, and black eyes staring with undead malevolence and confidence at us retreating. And still the party ran on.
And now in the wagon room we had four zombies to contend with! Fuck! Marcus pulled out his book again and consulting Whipztar’s tome, selected FLIP – turning the busted wagon up and over and ONTOP of three of the zombies! Nice! They were pinned which allowed Funis to do battle with it long enough for the group to get past and away and then keeping up the rear.
We climbed wearily up the slope, through the incense room, and into the store room. From here we navigated the slope up, Tranis using rope all the way back down to help us pull ourselves up. And the wandering monster gods were against us even more as one, two, three of the pale and bloated carrion crawlers crept into the Hades room and tried to attack our ranger.
Flasks of oil held two of them back and one of them made it through as a torch was hurled and others came up to help. It caught on fire and tried to attack us but Flim, Whosea, Liscinia, Tranis, and Marcus all held it off and slayed it while we made our way to the front and escaped at long last into the evening cool air of the Griffanus Estate…with half our members gone or missing or dead.
We lost Scripinus, Quintis, Sanford, Pawn to wights and other undead. Zeta and Auri are unaccounted for, chased further into the dungeon by a host of pursuing skeletons (Of those two, Zeta has dies from Poison and Auri is weak and in a single room without exit, used as some sort of flensing chamber where the local necromancer take flesh from the body).
Escaping to the night air, low on spells or empty, with two of our members paralyzed and some of us level drained by the wights: Flimflam, Whosea, Tranis, Marcus, Pecheri, Geld, Vestanus, Funis, Liscinia, and Caeteccius.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Meet 71, Adv 4, 1/10/15
Talking undead.
Whenever it happens, no matter the group, it always freaks the group out. Mindless undead, snapping teeth, rotting bodies - they can take - but put a voice to that and it raises the "what the fuck is that" level to those that face it.
I have had ghouls talk and spectres merely moan. Whatever the situation, it always manages to drive the party to distraction.
Write up follows:
The group had discussed leaving getting to a split decision on pressing on “one more room” and cutting now, with a few more votes landing on staying and see what else we could find. So we spent more time binding cuts and applying splints, while Flimflam redispensed healing berries to those who needed it. Eventually we were prepared and new lights were lit before we set off once more.
We decided not to take the southern corridor that led to some cramped passage with the sounds of zombies behind it, instead going north and east. The ground was sloped here, perhaps 15 degrees, and went beyond the limit of our lights, although Zeta informed us that according to his infravision, there was nothing “living” down there to concern us. So he went first, picking his way with care, but his spear rang off the wall and he clattered noisily…which drew the attention of a trio of deathdogs from somewhere further along the corridor.
Our scout beat a hasty retreat ahead of the multi-headed canines, just in time for Pecheri to blow two of them up with a pair of detonation arrows…wounding the third terribly in the process. A short volley finished it off and we considered ourselves lucky to have avoided a possibly deadly situation.
Once more Zeta went down the hall until his torchlight revealed…3 humanoid figures hunched over the death dogs and eating the carcasses raw. And one of them said, in discernible Common, “Douse the light.”
Fuck.
Our scout kept them talking and focused on the dead deathdogs, imitating that he was a necromancer’s apprentice to someone they supplied as Karstimis. After stuffing their face they shouldered one of the carcasses and allowed Zeta to retreat while they pressed on back the way they came.
The party waited and discussed…talking undead? Pawn suggested possibly they might be wights? Holy crap…seriously? The long and short of it…based upon what they had said, they might be heading back to the necromancer, which we assumed was the dwarf. And should follow them. Right…follow them.
Terrific.
So we picked our way back down the slope (bloody stains, no undead or deathdogs) and took the turn to the left, following it a bit further until we arrived at a large chamber. There was a set of stairs going up on the right wall, and along the north, 9’ above the ground, was a corridor heading in that direction. No ladder was visible. There were small natural alcove where candles had once burned (although 2 were still there), giving some minor light. Dog shit and old bones abounded.
We looked and noted that there were bloody drips and stains heading towards the corridor 9’ above the ground, leading us to understand the undead had gone that direction. We wanted to follow, but not risk any problems. We checked the base of the floor under the passage and noted fallen rock there. Lots of it. None larger than 25#. But there were enough pieces there to identify that whatever it was was at one point in time a statue of a pony. Broken now, but at one time, life sized.
Zeta opted to climb and check it out, inching his way up the wall until he arrived at the top. More blood stains here, a corridor heading straight and sloping upward before turning to the left. That and lots of horizontal scratches on the walls between 2 and 4 feet in height.
No one trusted it.
So we positioned ourselves along the base and room, weapons out and watching with care. Zeta went along, testing the ground until he arrived at the slop and went up a few feet. The corridor continued along at 30 degree angles and then turned to the left – not a 90 degree turn, but a curve to the corridor. Right. Fucking trap. He was out of here.
It was when he turned around though that there was s button on the ground, right in the center of the corridor. It wasn’t there before, but it was not. 6” diameter, iron looking, shiny, sticking up 3” tops. Right. Not going to touch the damned thing.
And then Auri who was at the base of the passage with Quintus, saw a button there as well. Quintus wanted to touch it – I mean they made it, and it’s a button, it must be touched! No one would let him. And Zeta’s button seemed to glow red when he tried to step around it, making him even more concerned.
But it was Caeteccius who saw another button, this one at the base of the steps on the eastern wall, and not knowing about the other two, said, “That’s peculiar,” and touched it.
Zeta heard something groan up the passage and he turned the run back to the deathdog room (stomping on the button along the way) as there was an unholy racket suddenly sounding behind him. Auri and Quintus’ button suddenly glowed red and they did NOT push it. BUT they saw Zeta JUMP out of the passage, getting hit from behind and then rolled over by a 9’ wide, 4’ diameter, pointed ended cylinder that crashed with a terrible racket and then rolled to a stop at the other side.
They dragged Zeta out of the way (down to a single hit point) and then heard heavy noises on the stairs. Coming down was a crude approximation of a 5’ tall figure with reversed hooks for hands hanging out of its arms. The statue was of solid stone and trundled along the path the stone had crushed, dragging the hooks on the floor as if it would be picking up anything. Then it went to Auri’s button and pressed it with his head. And then faded away.
Ok, now what the fuck? We suspected it went to the dwarf which was going to make someone wonder where it came from and why it was triggered. Also, what about the wights? Other deathdogs? Now what the hell? We suspected that the statue came from the stairs and NOT from the passage above us. So when it was done and had to come back here again, it would take the stairs. So if we take the stairs we could be on our way to the necro/dwarf.
We looked. At the top of the steps was another dwarven looking hook handed statues. We checked it out, steps went up, crossed 20’ or so of ground, and then went down again on the other side. Simple. Two more dwarven statues up there on that side. Ok. Went to check further and the top step clicked when it was stepped on. Fuck. Brought up broken rock to mimic Zeta’s weight and pulled him off, step rose again. But nothing happened. We spent 20 minutes discussing it and decided to take the stone step apart.
It was a bit heavy, so we flipped it up and onto the landing in order to see what mechanism was under the step in the first place. Spring loaded pressure sensitive pistons and a 4 setting rotating place marker. Ok, but WHAT does it do? We spent 15 minutes trying to figure it out, but didn’t know what it all meant. So we decided to shelve it for now, allowing Zeta to pick his way across the 20’ expanse to the other side. So there went our scout, stepped one foot over the edge of the landing…triggered a pit…a fell 20’ to the bottom.
Hurt badly, he twisted his back and lay there for a few seconds…and 4 spears thrust out of the walls at the 3’ height and skewered the air where he would have been if he was standing. Holy crap! And then the cover closed.
The group spent no time in getting together a plan to bring Zeta free. A light spell was placed on a rock, two spikes were readied, and finally a chunk of the removed stair itself was lifted up – and when the trap was triggered, they filled it with light and then disabled the trap mechanism by jamming it open. Rope was tossed down to Zeta who was hoisted up and more goodberries were eaten…and then the party backed away as the trap mechanism was smoking and giving forth little bits of flame. We waited at the bottom of the stairs until the damage seemed to stop (Zeta was healed) and then crept up to check the area out again.
The pit was 9’ wide by 8’ long, taking up just under half the surface of the 20’ corridor. Quintus was sure there would be another pit on the other half of the corridor and no one disagreed with our sorcerer. But how could we cross now?
That’s when the party decided to go back to the wagons where the Matriarch/Patriarch once were and using their tools, disassemble enough of the wagon’s base planking to create a bridge of sorts to cross the open pit and the assumed next one. Before we did anything though, we distrusted the one remaining dwarven statue on this side, so the party used some poles and crowbars…and tilted it over until it fell 20’ to smash at the base below.
From there it was easy to span the first pit, where the group then did the same with the second (after verifying it did exist…and breaking it). Which led us to discuss how to avoid pit traps in the future. We needed some sort of weight heavy enough to trigger it, but nothing that would get any of us hurt.
What resulted was taking off one of the solid wagon wheels from the wagons (80# plus), string rope through the axle hole, make a sling of rope longer than the radius of the wheel, and use Zeta’s pole as a guide holding it upright over the wheel while the party trundles it forward. Finally a light spell was centered on the wheel and we were ready.
We crossed the bridge, went down the next stairs, but our noises had attracted a 6 count of skeletons who came up to assault the party. And Pawn turned them! Which was a surprise because some of the party members were convinced that Pawn was conning the group and really had no clerical powers at all. 5 of the skeletons ran back down the corridor and to the left and the remaining one was finished off with a four count of attacks. From here we decided to use our “wheel plan” and go follow the skeletons in the direction they had run off to and either kill them, or if not, hopefully find the necromancer/Hades priest there.
Whenever it happens, no matter the group, it always freaks the group out. Mindless undead, snapping teeth, rotting bodies - they can take - but put a voice to that and it raises the "what the fuck is that" level to those that face it.
I have had ghouls talk and spectres merely moan. Whatever the situation, it always manages to drive the party to distraction.
Write up follows:
The group had discussed leaving getting to a split decision on pressing on “one more room” and cutting now, with a few more votes landing on staying and see what else we could find. So we spent more time binding cuts and applying splints, while Flimflam redispensed healing berries to those who needed it. Eventually we were prepared and new lights were lit before we set off once more.
We decided not to take the southern corridor that led to some cramped passage with the sounds of zombies behind it, instead going north and east. The ground was sloped here, perhaps 15 degrees, and went beyond the limit of our lights, although Zeta informed us that according to his infravision, there was nothing “living” down there to concern us. So he went first, picking his way with care, but his spear rang off the wall and he clattered noisily…which drew the attention of a trio of deathdogs from somewhere further along the corridor.
Our scout beat a hasty retreat ahead of the multi-headed canines, just in time for Pecheri to blow two of them up with a pair of detonation arrows…wounding the third terribly in the process. A short volley finished it off and we considered ourselves lucky to have avoided a possibly deadly situation.
Once more Zeta went down the hall until his torchlight revealed…3 humanoid figures hunched over the death dogs and eating the carcasses raw. And one of them said, in discernible Common, “Douse the light.”
Fuck.
Our scout kept them talking and focused on the dead deathdogs, imitating that he was a necromancer’s apprentice to someone they supplied as Karstimis. After stuffing their face they shouldered one of the carcasses and allowed Zeta to retreat while they pressed on back the way they came.
The party waited and discussed…talking undead? Pawn suggested possibly they might be wights? Holy crap…seriously? The long and short of it…based upon what they had said, they might be heading back to the necromancer, which we assumed was the dwarf. And should follow them. Right…follow them.
Terrific.
So we picked our way back down the slope (bloody stains, no undead or deathdogs) and took the turn to the left, following it a bit further until we arrived at a large chamber. There was a set of stairs going up on the right wall, and along the north, 9’ above the ground, was a corridor heading in that direction. No ladder was visible. There were small natural alcove where candles had once burned (although 2 were still there), giving some minor light. Dog shit and old bones abounded.
We looked and noted that there were bloody drips and stains heading towards the corridor 9’ above the ground, leading us to understand the undead had gone that direction. We wanted to follow, but not risk any problems. We checked the base of the floor under the passage and noted fallen rock there. Lots of it. None larger than 25#. But there were enough pieces there to identify that whatever it was was at one point in time a statue of a pony. Broken now, but at one time, life sized.
Zeta opted to climb and check it out, inching his way up the wall until he arrived at the top. More blood stains here, a corridor heading straight and sloping upward before turning to the left. That and lots of horizontal scratches on the walls between 2 and 4 feet in height.
No one trusted it.
So we positioned ourselves along the base and room, weapons out and watching with care. Zeta went along, testing the ground until he arrived at the slop and went up a few feet. The corridor continued along at 30 degree angles and then turned to the left – not a 90 degree turn, but a curve to the corridor. Right. Fucking trap. He was out of here.
It was when he turned around though that there was s button on the ground, right in the center of the corridor. It wasn’t there before, but it was not. 6” diameter, iron looking, shiny, sticking up 3” tops. Right. Not going to touch the damned thing.
And then Auri who was at the base of the passage with Quintus, saw a button there as well. Quintus wanted to touch it – I mean they made it, and it’s a button, it must be touched! No one would let him. And Zeta’s button seemed to glow red when he tried to step around it, making him even more concerned.
But it was Caeteccius who saw another button, this one at the base of the steps on the eastern wall, and not knowing about the other two, said, “That’s peculiar,” and touched it.
Zeta heard something groan up the passage and he turned the run back to the deathdog room (stomping on the button along the way) as there was an unholy racket suddenly sounding behind him. Auri and Quintus’ button suddenly glowed red and they did NOT push it. BUT they saw Zeta JUMP out of the passage, getting hit from behind and then rolled over by a 9’ wide, 4’ diameter, pointed ended cylinder that crashed with a terrible racket and then rolled to a stop at the other side.
They dragged Zeta out of the way (down to a single hit point) and then heard heavy noises on the stairs. Coming down was a crude approximation of a 5’ tall figure with reversed hooks for hands hanging out of its arms. The statue was of solid stone and trundled along the path the stone had crushed, dragging the hooks on the floor as if it would be picking up anything. Then it went to Auri’s button and pressed it with his head. And then faded away.
Ok, now what the fuck? We suspected it went to the dwarf which was going to make someone wonder where it came from and why it was triggered. Also, what about the wights? Other deathdogs? Now what the hell? We suspected that the statue came from the stairs and NOT from the passage above us. So when it was done and had to come back here again, it would take the stairs. So if we take the stairs we could be on our way to the necro/dwarf.
We looked. At the top of the steps was another dwarven looking hook handed statues. We checked it out, steps went up, crossed 20’ or so of ground, and then went down again on the other side. Simple. Two more dwarven statues up there on that side. Ok. Went to check further and the top step clicked when it was stepped on. Fuck. Brought up broken rock to mimic Zeta’s weight and pulled him off, step rose again. But nothing happened. We spent 20 minutes discussing it and decided to take the stone step apart.
It was a bit heavy, so we flipped it up and onto the landing in order to see what mechanism was under the step in the first place. Spring loaded pressure sensitive pistons and a 4 setting rotating place marker. Ok, but WHAT does it do? We spent 15 minutes trying to figure it out, but didn’t know what it all meant. So we decided to shelve it for now, allowing Zeta to pick his way across the 20’ expanse to the other side. So there went our scout, stepped one foot over the edge of the landing…triggered a pit…a fell 20’ to the bottom.
Hurt badly, he twisted his back and lay there for a few seconds…and 4 spears thrust out of the walls at the 3’ height and skewered the air where he would have been if he was standing. Holy crap! And then the cover closed.
The group spent no time in getting together a plan to bring Zeta free. A light spell was placed on a rock, two spikes were readied, and finally a chunk of the removed stair itself was lifted up – and when the trap was triggered, they filled it with light and then disabled the trap mechanism by jamming it open. Rope was tossed down to Zeta who was hoisted up and more goodberries were eaten…and then the party backed away as the trap mechanism was smoking and giving forth little bits of flame. We waited at the bottom of the stairs until the damage seemed to stop (Zeta was healed) and then crept up to check the area out again.
The pit was 9’ wide by 8’ long, taking up just under half the surface of the 20’ corridor. Quintus was sure there would be another pit on the other half of the corridor and no one disagreed with our sorcerer. But how could we cross now?
That’s when the party decided to go back to the wagons where the Matriarch/Patriarch once were and using their tools, disassemble enough of the wagon’s base planking to create a bridge of sorts to cross the open pit and the assumed next one. Before we did anything though, we distrusted the one remaining dwarven statue on this side, so the party used some poles and crowbars…and tilted it over until it fell 20’ to smash at the base below.
From there it was easy to span the first pit, where the group then did the same with the second (after verifying it did exist…and breaking it). Which led us to discuss how to avoid pit traps in the future. We needed some sort of weight heavy enough to trigger it, but nothing that would get any of us hurt.
What resulted was taking off one of the solid wagon wheels from the wagons (80# plus), string rope through the axle hole, make a sling of rope longer than the radius of the wheel, and use Zeta’s pole as a guide holding it upright over the wheel while the party trundles it forward. Finally a light spell was centered on the wheel and we were ready.
We crossed the bridge, went down the next stairs, but our noises had attracted a 6 count of skeletons who came up to assault the party. And Pawn turned them! Which was a surprise because some of the party members were convinced that Pawn was conning the group and really had no clerical powers at all. 5 of the skeletons ran back down the corridor and to the left and the remaining one was finished off with a four count of attacks. From here we decided to use our “wheel plan” and go follow the skeletons in the direction they had run off to and either kill them, or if not, hopefully find the necromancer/Hades priest there.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Meet 70, Adv 4, 1/3/15
The party ran into a single ghoul tonight. It was mixed in with the zombies and did not to attract attention to itself as they all crept closer until it was withing touch distance. And then it struck, fast, sure, and direct. And in two rounds it had taken our the two strongest attackers in our front line.
Ghouls are soft targets and don't have tons of hit points, but for low level undead the 3 attacks per round and paralyzation can spell the difference between a long fight with zombies...and a possible TPK.
Write up follows:
We once more drew into marching order and proceeded with care towards the south east corner of the room, here, a set of stairs wound their way down, curving to the right and left as the brought the group even further beneath the earth. Zeta and Tranis used every skill at their disposal to make sure that the trip down was without issue and no unseen traps or pitfalls were waiting for us. It meant we were travelling slowly, but it made the party feel much safer for the trek.
At the bottom of the steps, the corridor ran straight for 40 feet and then jogged to the right briefly. About halfway down, there was a strange rippling in the ceiling as if it was wending cloth – odd folds and ripples like water or strained silk. In addition, the ceiling itself was sliced from one end to the other across the passage and dropped 4 inches in a perfect cloven line. No one trusted it.
We used poles, spears, and eventually physically getting close to check it out – learning that the stone was not seamed and neither was any sign of tool marks. Where the hell did it come from and why was it left like this? No one knew.
Past here at the end of the straight run of the corridor was…a bolt. A 12” long, 1” wide carriage bolt, the type used in a wagon or cart along the axle, was just lying there. Where did it come from…and why was it there?!? The group decided to toss pieces of the broken shield (from upstairs) at it to see…and although they knocked it aside a few times, it behaved as only a bolt should and nothing untoward happened. We added it to our belongings and then moved on.
The corridor beyond the turn was to the limit of the torch range and beyond, and sloped downward at 20 degrees, making the traversing of it potentially difficult for our less sure-footed party members. There was also a growing scent in the air, moist and redolent of old flesh and rot. The slope was checked with care, a second torch moved along to get a better sense of the size of the corridor. It went maybe thirty feet and then turned to the left. There was a wetness on the back wall and ceiling that trickled very slowly down to the floor and made a slightly scummy greenish pool of god knows what was growing on the surface of that water at the corridor’s end.
No one wanted to touch it.
However, the trip down the slope was going to be difficult for too many party members and we wanted to make it safer – and make sure no one would touch or hit the water. So we wanted to use rope to help everyone get down. But there was nothing to tie the rope to, so the party knew they were going to have to hammer in spikes. One at the top, one at the bottom – and then tie rope to each one – making a railing of sorts to help the group make the trip from top to bottom. So they split the spikes, 4 went down to the bottom (3 to keep watch, 1 to hammer), and the rest of the group was to stay up top and listen as one of member drove in the other spike.
And then they hammered. They tried to synchronize their blows and were mostly successful – but the echoes did run through the subterranean system and eventually after tying the rope to the top and bottom, the group heard the distant sound of shuffling feet coming from back the way we had originally come. Zombies – and many of them.
We all drew ourselves back up slope and drew up into fighting order, maximizing our impact with spear users as well as bow guys. We had our cloistered priest, Pawn, up near the front in order for a sudden turning and the group waited near the bottom of the stairs, allowing for a sizable field of fire and melee. And they came. Zombies – 8 of them.
Arrows fell on the undead in a rippling wave right after the Halfling priest tried calling out to Demeter to turn them away (failed). The zombies ignored the effects and closed until they were in range of our spears – which slammed into the wave with sure and practiced ease. And then it was axe and sword play – with once more Caeteccius leading the way with his debilitating war axe. The zombies did not progress any further down the hall and those that were there, although striking at the party repeatedly (whittling hit points away), were held in place and slain outright one after the other. Until at long last (12 solid minutes!), the final zombie hit the ground and stayed down.
We bound our hurts and healing was dispensed. From here we went back to the slope and made our way down into the dark, using the rope railing we made and keeping ourselves far and free from the filthy water, we proceeded with care down the hall (thirty feet or so) until it opened to a room. However, just at the entrance of this chamber (larger than our torch light could illuminate), the ceiling and walls had that same rippling sort of wended wet silk, twisted watery look to them – as if the rock itself had been twisted out of shape in the past.
The chamber had two other ways out (North West and South west on the south wall), dimly seem in the gloom. But the room was taken up by two wagons that had dumped over and partially torn to shreds. Four skeletal oxen were still in the rotted leather traces at the yoke of each wagon and there was a mass of broken wood, canvas, boxes, barrels, and charnel. We didn’t see any bodies (besides the oxen) but given the sheer amount of destruction and potential cover in the chamber, it wasn’t that surprising.
Zeta opted to check out the room first, picking his way quietly along the southern wall, watching carefully at every shadow, nook, noise, and outcropping. It was when he was more than half way towards the southeastern wall that he espied some movement on the other side of the wagon and a number of figures (bloody, rotting, and dead) stood up. It seemed to be some merchant family and their guards (who were at one point riding in the wagon) gathering themselves up and getting ready to assault the group.
Two of the zombies bend down and grabbed broken sticks (to use as clubs) and some wreckage of wagons (to use as shields) – but them stayed in one place and banged them together rhythmically for some reason. Making noise. Continuously. To attract more fucking undead. Damn it.
The rest of them surged forward, the Patriarch (heavy set older male in his 60’s) and the one we labelled the Matriarch (portly woman also in her early 60’s) holding back for some reason, meaning 4 of them assaulted the party. Pawn stood his ground between Auri and Caeteccius, calling on Demeter to help him to turn the undead from assaulting us.
The prayer didn’t have any noticeable effect, although Pawn did say that he felt some resistance (as if the place was blessed by Hades for some reason). What did happen next though was one of the undead tore through Auri with multiple strikes and bite, paralyzing our strongest fighter and dropping her to the ground. This made the battle open for one of the zombies to grab Pawn and HURL him behind and OVER the wagon – where he hit with a crunch and then fell over in pain.
Fuck – ghouls, and smart zombies. And here came the Patriarch. We fired bolts and arrows, a well-placed shot striking the Matriarch and knocking her on her ass. One of the zombies was smashed hard and sent reeling backwards against the side of the wagon, back broken – unmoving. Nice!
And then Caeteccius, our next strongest and debilitating fighter, was rent by the ghoul and paralyzed. Two minutes; our two strongest assaulting members paralyzed.
We shifted all our blows, stabs, shots, and spells to the ghoul next, finally dropping him in place. Pawn managed to roll into a ball of pain, turn his attention to the two noise making undead – and turn them. Failing. Which made the two zombies turn their attention to the wounded Halfling – without armor.
And we then heard the sound of howling coming from down the northeast corridor. Lots of howling – and getting closer. Just great.
The party redoubled their efforts to bring the battle to the zombies, satisfied with the ghoul down that it would get easier. Spells were sent flying (a real showing of Quintus and his magic missiles), our target split between the Patriarch and Matriarch next. Pawn rolled into the corner of one of the wagons and a summon monster spell shot out next, supplying some cover for our priest. As 2 two-headed dogs charged into the room. Fuck me, Death Dogs.
Flimflam quailed at their site – blessed animals of Hades – two devastating bites that can crush steel and the foulness of their saliva and teeth can cause leprosy. Ok, new threat – everyone target the Death Dogs.
Pawn ran for the southeastern corridor, one of the death dogs hot on his trail, we don’t know if he made it because his screams faded away over distance and the death dog came back around to snarl at the group.
And then the Matriarch placed her hand on the first zombie we killed. Black energy filled it – and it stood the fuck up again! Fully animated and ready to attack the damned party. And the Matriarch was now looking towards the fallen ghoul next. Ok, NEW new threat – everyone target the Matriarch again!
We stabbed and thrust and surged forward. Funis made his way towards the front and more arrows were shot, Pecheri taking a chance on using one of his precious detonation arrows against an intervening zombie. But the Matriarch fell 4 feet shy of the ghoul and we redoubled out attacks on the rest of the group. A crossbow bolt knocked a death dog down and two spear blasts took out the Patriarch next.
But out hit points were fading and the number of painful wounds were climbing as fatigue took its toll on the group. Eventually the number of useful spells dwindled and we were hard pressed in the 15th minute of combat to finally drop the last zombie with a crushing blow by the mace wielding Funis. The battle ended and we heard silence.
Our quarry HAD to know we were here, and he had to be marshalling his forces to slow us down or finish us should we press on. What do we do? Leave? Stay? It was already around 12 and half of the party was down. We were going to need a day at least in the hospice and even then, although our hurts would feel better, the scars would remain. As for treasure? We found a single barrel of zinc ore. 70 odd pounds of it.
We opted to leave after binding our wounds and were going to break the news to the rest of the group (hirelings and henchmen) as to our plan and what was to follow next.
Ghouls are soft targets and don't have tons of hit points, but for low level undead the 3 attacks per round and paralyzation can spell the difference between a long fight with zombies...and a possible TPK.
Write up follows:
We once more drew into marching order and proceeded with care towards the south east corner of the room, here, a set of stairs wound their way down, curving to the right and left as the brought the group even further beneath the earth. Zeta and Tranis used every skill at their disposal to make sure that the trip down was without issue and no unseen traps or pitfalls were waiting for us. It meant we were travelling slowly, but it made the party feel much safer for the trek.
At the bottom of the steps, the corridor ran straight for 40 feet and then jogged to the right briefly. About halfway down, there was a strange rippling in the ceiling as if it was wending cloth – odd folds and ripples like water or strained silk. In addition, the ceiling itself was sliced from one end to the other across the passage and dropped 4 inches in a perfect cloven line. No one trusted it.
We used poles, spears, and eventually physically getting close to check it out – learning that the stone was not seamed and neither was any sign of tool marks. Where the hell did it come from and why was it left like this? No one knew.
Past here at the end of the straight run of the corridor was…a bolt. A 12” long, 1” wide carriage bolt, the type used in a wagon or cart along the axle, was just lying there. Where did it come from…and why was it there?!? The group decided to toss pieces of the broken shield (from upstairs) at it to see…and although they knocked it aside a few times, it behaved as only a bolt should and nothing untoward happened. We added it to our belongings and then moved on.
The corridor beyond the turn was to the limit of the torch range and beyond, and sloped downward at 20 degrees, making the traversing of it potentially difficult for our less sure-footed party members. There was also a growing scent in the air, moist and redolent of old flesh and rot. The slope was checked with care, a second torch moved along to get a better sense of the size of the corridor. It went maybe thirty feet and then turned to the left. There was a wetness on the back wall and ceiling that trickled very slowly down to the floor and made a slightly scummy greenish pool of god knows what was growing on the surface of that water at the corridor’s end.
No one wanted to touch it.
However, the trip down the slope was going to be difficult for too many party members and we wanted to make it safer – and make sure no one would touch or hit the water. So we wanted to use rope to help everyone get down. But there was nothing to tie the rope to, so the party knew they were going to have to hammer in spikes. One at the top, one at the bottom – and then tie rope to each one – making a railing of sorts to help the group make the trip from top to bottom. So they split the spikes, 4 went down to the bottom (3 to keep watch, 1 to hammer), and the rest of the group was to stay up top and listen as one of member drove in the other spike.
And then they hammered. They tried to synchronize their blows and were mostly successful – but the echoes did run through the subterranean system and eventually after tying the rope to the top and bottom, the group heard the distant sound of shuffling feet coming from back the way we had originally come. Zombies – and many of them.
We all drew ourselves back up slope and drew up into fighting order, maximizing our impact with spear users as well as bow guys. We had our cloistered priest, Pawn, up near the front in order for a sudden turning and the group waited near the bottom of the stairs, allowing for a sizable field of fire and melee. And they came. Zombies – 8 of them.
Arrows fell on the undead in a rippling wave right after the Halfling priest tried calling out to Demeter to turn them away (failed). The zombies ignored the effects and closed until they were in range of our spears – which slammed into the wave with sure and practiced ease. And then it was axe and sword play – with once more Caeteccius leading the way with his debilitating war axe. The zombies did not progress any further down the hall and those that were there, although striking at the party repeatedly (whittling hit points away), were held in place and slain outright one after the other. Until at long last (12 solid minutes!), the final zombie hit the ground and stayed down.
We bound our hurts and healing was dispensed. From here we went back to the slope and made our way down into the dark, using the rope railing we made and keeping ourselves far and free from the filthy water, we proceeded with care down the hall (thirty feet or so) until it opened to a room. However, just at the entrance of this chamber (larger than our torch light could illuminate), the ceiling and walls had that same rippling sort of wended wet silk, twisted watery look to them – as if the rock itself had been twisted out of shape in the past.
The chamber had two other ways out (North West and South west on the south wall), dimly seem in the gloom. But the room was taken up by two wagons that had dumped over and partially torn to shreds. Four skeletal oxen were still in the rotted leather traces at the yoke of each wagon and there was a mass of broken wood, canvas, boxes, barrels, and charnel. We didn’t see any bodies (besides the oxen) but given the sheer amount of destruction and potential cover in the chamber, it wasn’t that surprising.
Zeta opted to check out the room first, picking his way quietly along the southern wall, watching carefully at every shadow, nook, noise, and outcropping. It was when he was more than half way towards the southeastern wall that he espied some movement on the other side of the wagon and a number of figures (bloody, rotting, and dead) stood up. It seemed to be some merchant family and their guards (who were at one point riding in the wagon) gathering themselves up and getting ready to assault the group.
Two of the zombies bend down and grabbed broken sticks (to use as clubs) and some wreckage of wagons (to use as shields) – but them stayed in one place and banged them together rhythmically for some reason. Making noise. Continuously. To attract more fucking undead. Damn it.
The rest of them surged forward, the Patriarch (heavy set older male in his 60’s) and the one we labelled the Matriarch (portly woman also in her early 60’s) holding back for some reason, meaning 4 of them assaulted the party. Pawn stood his ground between Auri and Caeteccius, calling on Demeter to help him to turn the undead from assaulting us.
The prayer didn’t have any noticeable effect, although Pawn did say that he felt some resistance (as if the place was blessed by Hades for some reason). What did happen next though was one of the undead tore through Auri with multiple strikes and bite, paralyzing our strongest fighter and dropping her to the ground. This made the battle open for one of the zombies to grab Pawn and HURL him behind and OVER the wagon – where he hit with a crunch and then fell over in pain.
Fuck – ghouls, and smart zombies. And here came the Patriarch. We fired bolts and arrows, a well-placed shot striking the Matriarch and knocking her on her ass. One of the zombies was smashed hard and sent reeling backwards against the side of the wagon, back broken – unmoving. Nice!
And then Caeteccius, our next strongest and debilitating fighter, was rent by the ghoul and paralyzed. Two minutes; our two strongest assaulting members paralyzed.
We shifted all our blows, stabs, shots, and spells to the ghoul next, finally dropping him in place. Pawn managed to roll into a ball of pain, turn his attention to the two noise making undead – and turn them. Failing. Which made the two zombies turn their attention to the wounded Halfling – without armor.
And we then heard the sound of howling coming from down the northeast corridor. Lots of howling – and getting closer. Just great.
The party redoubled their efforts to bring the battle to the zombies, satisfied with the ghoul down that it would get easier. Spells were sent flying (a real showing of Quintus and his magic missiles), our target split between the Patriarch and Matriarch next. Pawn rolled into the corner of one of the wagons and a summon monster spell shot out next, supplying some cover for our priest. As 2 two-headed dogs charged into the room. Fuck me, Death Dogs.
Flimflam quailed at their site – blessed animals of Hades – two devastating bites that can crush steel and the foulness of their saliva and teeth can cause leprosy. Ok, new threat – everyone target the Death Dogs.
Pawn ran for the southeastern corridor, one of the death dogs hot on his trail, we don’t know if he made it because his screams faded away over distance and the death dog came back around to snarl at the group.
And then the Matriarch placed her hand on the first zombie we killed. Black energy filled it – and it stood the fuck up again! Fully animated and ready to attack the damned party. And the Matriarch was now looking towards the fallen ghoul next. Ok, NEW new threat – everyone target the Matriarch again!
We stabbed and thrust and surged forward. Funis made his way towards the front and more arrows were shot, Pecheri taking a chance on using one of his precious detonation arrows against an intervening zombie. But the Matriarch fell 4 feet shy of the ghoul and we redoubled out attacks on the rest of the group. A crossbow bolt knocked a death dog down and two spear blasts took out the Patriarch next.
But out hit points were fading and the number of painful wounds were climbing as fatigue took its toll on the group. Eventually the number of useful spells dwindled and we were hard pressed in the 15th minute of combat to finally drop the last zombie with a crushing blow by the mace wielding Funis. The battle ended and we heard silence.
Our quarry HAD to know we were here, and he had to be marshalling his forces to slow us down or finish us should we press on. What do we do? Leave? Stay? It was already around 12 and half of the party was down. We were going to need a day at least in the hospice and even then, although our hurts would feel better, the scars would remain. As for treasure? We found a single barrel of zinc ore. 70 odd pounds of it.
We opted to leave after binding our wounds and were going to break the news to the rest of the group (hirelings and henchmen) as to our plan and what was to follow next.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Meet 2, Adv B2, 12/30/14 - Youth Group
This was the second meeting for my daughter and her friend and this time they encountered some enemies. And it went with two retreats at first. Getting back to town to heal up, they hired two locals (Fighter and Cleric - each 1st level) to come with them and they went in this time ready and able.
When the game ended, they wanted to play again (I said we'll see in a few days), and gifted each of them with their own printed PDF copy of the original D&D (B/X) Basic book and a set of dice.
Write up follows:
The two friends inched forward, wary and watchful. It was after some 20 steps that they heard a voice from the darkness ahead call out, “Grag! Dash Pu?” Charlotte looked at William and shrugged. They tried to talk to the figure who eventually emerged – a goblin. Clad in Leather, sporting a spear with numerous fetishes, greasy black hair and reeking of old sweatsocks and rotting bananas. It didn’t speak their language, nor they it’s. But Charlotte and William kept their weapons put away and tried to pantomime that they wanted to back away and leave.
A second goblin emerged from the darkness, this one with a bow and arrow. It kept it pointed at the two friends who managed to back away and fade back to the entrance of the cave. They waited, sure they had not been followed, and then breathed a sigh of relief.
Ok, left passage was not an option; how about the right?
So they went that direction next. The corridor proceeded for 20 paces until it ended at a “T”, with a faint glow coming from the right. William went first, scouting it out, hearing goblin voices and at least three of them. He returned and the two of them had a short and fevered discussion about what to do. They opted to come out fast and shoot and attack, hoping to bring some surprise on the goblins that might be there. So they counted to 3, and then charged.
Charlotte fired, her arrow blasting the closest goblin in the chest and knocking him back, but not killing him (it seemed his leather jerkin stopped the bolt). William was right behind the arrow, sword leading the way, and he and the goblin traded blows back and forth, the fighter unable to hit the squirming greenskin.
There were 4 other goblins here, three around a table playing a game, the last one at a stool eating some dried meat. The three there were scrabbling for spears while the last one drew his belt knife and closed to combat. Charlotte’s next arrow went wide and William couldn’t get a solid blow in. But the goblin slammed its spear through the joint of his armor at the shoulder and did 5 points of damage. And then the knife guy hit him behind the leg for another 2. And like that – our fighter was down to 1.
And none of the goblins were even hurt.
Charlotte screamed and shoved the two goblins, giving William a chance to twist away and run out towards the entrance. The goblins closest were yelling and giving chase and the archer/thief did her best to dance backwards and load an arrow. She dodged a VERY close blow and fired – dropping a cloth yard shaft into the lead goblin’s face and killing him. The next goblin was crying at his fallen brethren’s side and Charlotte joined William outside and the two of them ran away from the caves.
Total time inside? Less than 45 minutes.
The trip back had William losing blood and growing weaker. They hitched a ride on a hay cart and once they got to the Keep went right to the Hospice. Our fighter was treated and told he would have to stay for 2 days solid to heal up. Once he was settled in the two friends talked about their options. Charlotte wanted to make up some fire arrows and they both agreed they needed to hire some help.
What kind? Well, a Cleric would be nice (even if they didn’t have any healing yet – they would in time), and another fighter since relying on William alone was asking for a problem. They didn’t make any money so far but would pool what they had left (71 gold) and hope that would be enough to hire some people long enough to get further in and find some treasure.
So they interviewed what clerics were available first – and there were two. A heavy set priest of Gluttony named Renee (looking for a full share and 14 gold per day) and a devout thinner follower of St. Francis named Loq (looking for a full share and 7 gold per day). The interview left them unenamored with Renee and they would take Loq.
The next day they interviewed three fighters. There was Corg (multi-skilled in all weapons, friendly, clad in platemail and shield), Nicqui (chainmail wearing and spear wielding warrioress who spoke at length about anything that caught her attention) and Durgan (tall, imposing, plate armored and sporting a singular 15# two handed sword). Corg and Nicqui both wanted 5 gold per day and Durgan was looking for 7 – and all of them wanted a full share. They talked about the possibilities and in the interest of saving some money, they decided not to go with Durgan and took Corg.
So the 3rd day they met their two new friends, paid them, and set off for the Caves once more. This time they arrived there at 9:30, lit a torch, and entered with care. The goblin that had been killed by Charlotte’s arrow was not visible (but the fresh bones on the floor led them to believe that the goblins ate their dead). They were not going to go back towards where they had been chased out of, instead going BACK to the left where the two goblins had been before.
So they drew up, pulled weapons, and with Loq holding the torch, the 4 of them jogged down the hall. In almost no time they came upon a guard room with at least 4 goblins visible. And Charlotte let her arrow fly. After the shaft hit, Corg and William went next and hit the lead goblins hard. In just under a minute two of the goblins had fallen and another one emerged from the gloom, arrow at the ready. It shot at the group, shaft blocked by Corg’s shield.
William suffered a nasty spear stab and then Corg received one. Loq withdrew a soaking healing elixir and hurled it upon William, healing half of his damage. William wounded another goblin at this point and then Corg killed a third. For his trouble, Corg was also wounded, but it only seemed to aggravate the warrior. Charlotte’s arrow failed to kill the wounded goblin, but William’s follow up attack did, and the fourth fell.
Corg charged the last goblin, the archer, preventing him from firing again; but his approach revealed a 6th unseen goblin – and this one also had a bow. Loq ran into the room, standing behind Corg, and used another elixir on him, healing him a bit too. William ran in and attacked, dropping the 5th goblin.
And then it was a free for all on the final goblin and the battle was over.
There was a set of stairs in the back of this room leading further into the cave, but for now we wanted to clean up where we were so far. Charlotte bade us to be quiet for a bit and the thief was confident that no one else was coming and we could gather up what riches we might find here.
Letting our breathing ease we spent some time looting the bodies and seeing what was here. There was a cask of water, some chairs and a table. We found 120 copper and 20 silver pieces. But the big score was 20 spears. On their own, not so wonderful – but given what they had found so far, worth at least 20 gold if we could get them back to sell them. So we were going to leave them here for now, explore a bit further, and then on our way out – take them with us.
When the game ended, they wanted to play again (I said we'll see in a few days), and gifted each of them with their own printed PDF copy of the original D&D (B/X) Basic book and a set of dice.
Write up follows:
The two friends inched forward, wary and watchful. It was after some 20 steps that they heard a voice from the darkness ahead call out, “Grag! Dash Pu?” Charlotte looked at William and shrugged. They tried to talk to the figure who eventually emerged – a goblin. Clad in Leather, sporting a spear with numerous fetishes, greasy black hair and reeking of old sweatsocks and rotting bananas. It didn’t speak their language, nor they it’s. But Charlotte and William kept their weapons put away and tried to pantomime that they wanted to back away and leave.
A second goblin emerged from the darkness, this one with a bow and arrow. It kept it pointed at the two friends who managed to back away and fade back to the entrance of the cave. They waited, sure they had not been followed, and then breathed a sigh of relief.
Ok, left passage was not an option; how about the right?
So they went that direction next. The corridor proceeded for 20 paces until it ended at a “T”, with a faint glow coming from the right. William went first, scouting it out, hearing goblin voices and at least three of them. He returned and the two of them had a short and fevered discussion about what to do. They opted to come out fast and shoot and attack, hoping to bring some surprise on the goblins that might be there. So they counted to 3, and then charged.
Charlotte fired, her arrow blasting the closest goblin in the chest and knocking him back, but not killing him (it seemed his leather jerkin stopped the bolt). William was right behind the arrow, sword leading the way, and he and the goblin traded blows back and forth, the fighter unable to hit the squirming greenskin.
There were 4 other goblins here, three around a table playing a game, the last one at a stool eating some dried meat. The three there were scrabbling for spears while the last one drew his belt knife and closed to combat. Charlotte’s next arrow went wide and William couldn’t get a solid blow in. But the goblin slammed its spear through the joint of his armor at the shoulder and did 5 points of damage. And then the knife guy hit him behind the leg for another 2. And like that – our fighter was down to 1.
And none of the goblins were even hurt.
Charlotte screamed and shoved the two goblins, giving William a chance to twist away and run out towards the entrance. The goblins closest were yelling and giving chase and the archer/thief did her best to dance backwards and load an arrow. She dodged a VERY close blow and fired – dropping a cloth yard shaft into the lead goblin’s face and killing him. The next goblin was crying at his fallen brethren’s side and Charlotte joined William outside and the two of them ran away from the caves.
Total time inside? Less than 45 minutes.
The trip back had William losing blood and growing weaker. They hitched a ride on a hay cart and once they got to the Keep went right to the Hospice. Our fighter was treated and told he would have to stay for 2 days solid to heal up. Once he was settled in the two friends talked about their options. Charlotte wanted to make up some fire arrows and they both agreed they needed to hire some help.
What kind? Well, a Cleric would be nice (even if they didn’t have any healing yet – they would in time), and another fighter since relying on William alone was asking for a problem. They didn’t make any money so far but would pool what they had left (71 gold) and hope that would be enough to hire some people long enough to get further in and find some treasure.
So they interviewed what clerics were available first – and there were two. A heavy set priest of Gluttony named Renee (looking for a full share and 14 gold per day) and a devout thinner follower of St. Francis named Loq (looking for a full share and 7 gold per day). The interview left them unenamored with Renee and they would take Loq.
The next day they interviewed three fighters. There was Corg (multi-skilled in all weapons, friendly, clad in platemail and shield), Nicqui (chainmail wearing and spear wielding warrioress who spoke at length about anything that caught her attention) and Durgan (tall, imposing, plate armored and sporting a singular 15# two handed sword). Corg and Nicqui both wanted 5 gold per day and Durgan was looking for 7 – and all of them wanted a full share. They talked about the possibilities and in the interest of saving some money, they decided not to go with Durgan and took Corg.
So the 3rd day they met their two new friends, paid them, and set off for the Caves once more. This time they arrived there at 9:30, lit a torch, and entered with care. The goblin that had been killed by Charlotte’s arrow was not visible (but the fresh bones on the floor led them to believe that the goblins ate their dead). They were not going to go back towards where they had been chased out of, instead going BACK to the left where the two goblins had been before.
So they drew up, pulled weapons, and with Loq holding the torch, the 4 of them jogged down the hall. In almost no time they came upon a guard room with at least 4 goblins visible. And Charlotte let her arrow fly. After the shaft hit, Corg and William went next and hit the lead goblins hard. In just under a minute two of the goblins had fallen and another one emerged from the gloom, arrow at the ready. It shot at the group, shaft blocked by Corg’s shield.
William suffered a nasty spear stab and then Corg received one. Loq withdrew a soaking healing elixir and hurled it upon William, healing half of his damage. William wounded another goblin at this point and then Corg killed a third. For his trouble, Corg was also wounded, but it only seemed to aggravate the warrior. Charlotte’s arrow failed to kill the wounded goblin, but William’s follow up attack did, and the fourth fell.
Corg charged the last goblin, the archer, preventing him from firing again; but his approach revealed a 6th unseen goblin – and this one also had a bow. Loq ran into the room, standing behind Corg, and used another elixir on him, healing him a bit too. William ran in and attacked, dropping the 5th goblin.
And then it was a free for all on the final goblin and the battle was over.
There was a set of stairs in the back of this room leading further into the cave, but for now we wanted to clean up where we were so far. Charlotte bade us to be quiet for a bit and the thief was confident that no one else was coming and we could gather up what riches we might find here.
Letting our breathing ease we spent some time looting the bodies and seeing what was here. There was a cask of water, some chairs and a table. We found 120 copper and 20 silver pieces. But the big score was 20 spears. On their own, not so wonderful – but given what they had found so far, worth at least 20 gold if we could get them back to sell them. So we were going to leave them here for now, explore a bit further, and then on our way out – take them with us.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Meet 1, Adv B2, 12/28/14 - Youth Group
Due to the Christmas break and vacation, I had given the go ahead to my daughter and her friend to sit down and try out D&D if they wanted to. My daughter had participated over the last 2-3 years on and off here and there for a half dozen of so sit ins. But this was her first time as a "real campaign" so to speak. Normally I run B4 - The Lost City as my go to welcome to D&D adventure (knowing it cold and having run it countless times), but I went back to the real beginning and busted out B2- The Keep on the Borderlands for the two of them.
I did my typical slow explanation of the game and rules, sticking to B/X as written for now, and stressed that we can try this out and that if they wanted to, we can continue. There was no forced continue if they didn't want to. So they each rolled up characters, my daughter a thief, her friends a fighter. Scores were good (I did roll 4, drop 1) but far from fantastic. The thief suffers from a 6 Charisma and only has a 12 Dexterity (was nice to see her play something she WANTED to and to use the dice scores as they were - not what was optimal), while the fighter does have a 15 strength (his highest score) and an 8 Dexterity. What was nice is they each rolled max number for hit points and the money wasn't too bad (120 for the thief, 110 for the fighter).
And then, after and hour plus of rules and rolling and learning how to play...we started. And it was wonderful to watch two young people (12 y/o each of them) get swept away by the history that had gone on before and where they came from. Both of them are big fans of history and mythology, so I transported the duchy of Karameikos to Northern France/Germania and re-wrote our history from roughly 750 AD onward.
At the time just when his parents were coming to pick him up we had to stop and I asked if they had a good time and wanted to play some more. And they both wanted to play again tomorrow. I laughed and told them in 2 days we can do it again.
I think I introduced someone else to a life-long hobby today.
Write up follows:
The end of the Roman Empire brought with it the Dark Ages, with the only point of light remaining in the Western World being the Brightness that was Constantinople. As the 8th century came to an end, the mightiest of the Gauls, Goths, Celts, and Druids banded together to craft the strongest spell-prayer they could to break the walls of this unending city. In a time when the world believed in magic, even though the Roman system of science had driven back the march of ignorance.
But in this case, at this time, in another Earth, the Weave of magic and science were two sides of the same thing – and in this instance – with the void left from where science once stood in these Dark times – the spell of magic rushed in and exploded.
The land shook from India to Portugal. The Nile flooded, the Pyramids crumbled, Italy was torn asunder, Greece fell into the sea. Cliffs broke, forests burned, and the world of men was sent reeling. And in the wild lands between the broken states and cities, monsters and beast from legend filled the darkness of the forest primeval. Dragons flew through Romanian Mountains, Goblins prowled the forests of Germania, Orcs crested Hadrian’s Wall and burned along the banks of the Thames.
Man was plunged into barbarism but did not let their light snuff out. They banded together as one, crafting new kingdoms and new provinces. They held the line against kobolds and minotaurs. Holy men bent knee to Christ and Yahweh and Zeus and Pan, calling on miracles and benedictions from unseen forces on high. Wizards learned from the space between the stars and through sheer force of will how to bend the fabric of reality and reshape the prime material to their want. Dwarves came from the Carpathian and Pyrenees to help the world of men. Elves emerged from the dark eternal forests of Rus and Britannia. Halflings ranged from the quiet lands along the Spanish coasts and the deserts of Palestine. All goodly races banded together to hold the line against the Chaos of the emerging Wild.
Here in Charlemekios, in the land that in our world would be considered Northern France, the Duke had waged a holy war against the goblin forces; ending almost 2 decades of constant bloodshed. New lands had been annexed and for the last decade, the lands of men have waged an uneasy truce against the monstrous hordes that once dominated the country. Baron Guilfoil had been established in this the last bastion and keep on the Border, charged with not only keeping the land safe and patrolled, but to find out where the goblinoid stronghold might be and have it destroyed.
Every peasant, yeoman, and local had heard of the stories of various kingsmen and rangers who dared the Wild to find this font of evil. But it was 2 seasons ago that they finally came back with knowledge and proof. Three miles east and north of the Border Keep, was a cleft in the very stone as if carved by a giant’s hand hundreds of feet wide and over 500 feet long. A ravine where all manner of goblin, orc, and kobold made their home amidst the bones and cast off detritus of their kind. Some dozen caves or less dotted the ravine in various places, each one a black maw where the dark creatures made their home.
And they needed to be rooted out.
Since the spring thaw the Baron has been sending out his riders and pages to every Thorpe, village, hamlet, and farmstead in a 20 mile radius. Asking of anyone who wanted a chance as riches and glory to come to the Border Keep and plumb the darkness of the Caves in the Wild.
Charlotte’s family owned a small farm (10 acres) of scrub land and berries along the banks of the river Bibiche where her mother was a neurotic mess and her father a one time locksmith. They had come out to this area in the hopes of resettlement and the knowledge of getting a stipend from the crown for homesteading. To Charlotte, who was just now 18, it was tedium, horrible, and overall numbing. A skilled archer and possessing her father’s nimble hands, she agreed to go to the Border Keep to try her hand at riches and glory. Her father gave his blessing (and his locksmithing tools); her mother gave shrill cries and admonishments.
William Bill’s family were farriers, a skill that helped give William his strength and size, but he was a bit clumsy and prone to moving before looking. Being the third son he spent his time cleaning stalls and shoveling crap, dreaming of something better elsewhere. So when the call came and he learned that Charlotte, his friend, was thinking of going to the Keep, William jumped at the chance. Sporting his grandfather’s sword and a piecemeal purchased set of platemail armor, he left home with his family’s well wishes in his ears and the two friends set off for the Keep.
They arrived together, the Keep standing on a plateau 60’ over the surround land, a single easily defensible road leading to the main gates. The two friends made their appearance known and purchased a variety of supplied they suspected they would need in the journey to the Caves. Eventually the Castellan called the two friends to come to Baron.
In his early 50’s and sporting a salty beard hanging to his chest, he was a warrior that was in the decline of his days and going to pot. He greeted Bill and Charlotte by name (which surprised the two friends) and spoke about the Caves of Chaos. There were many wanna-be adventurers who had answered his call and they have been tramping into the Wild for almost a month now. Many have not returned. Some have come back with riches, some have come back missing fingers and babbling about the horrors they had seen.
The two friends spoke to the Baron at length, asking many questions before thanking him for his audience and heading to the Inn for a last dinner and conversation. They opted not to hire any of the locals, not for this the first trip out. The Baron had let them know that the rangers who have gone before reported that the caves closer to the entrance of the ravine were populated with more goblins and orcs than the deeper caves where more dangerous denizens were rumored to live. So they would go to a closer cave, look around, and if it was beyond their skill, they would return to the Keep and hire some of the locals and potential adventurers to go with them on the morrow.
They had worked out a deal where the Baron would take care of their lodging and meals for the rest of the day and tomorrow’s morning…and their Hospice stay should it be required. That evening they spent it at the Inn and listened in on a number of the potential rumors the locals were talking about. Much of it was a garbled mess but the two friends were able to glean tow bits of wisdom: 1) the various monstrous tribes of humanoids that make up the Caves generally stick to their own cave by their own kind. And 2) there are some cultists that might make their homes in the caves, and because of that and the evil influences – any altars they might run across would be considered bad and full of trouble.
The next morning they set off, checking with the gate guards on when and if the Keep’s gates would be shut (the gates shut at 9 PM and open at 6 AM) – making note of it and allowing themselves at least 2 hours to walk back. The trip there was without peril. The only notable thing was the lack of fauna in the area. Even the typical birds were few and far between, their distant song more sad than merry in the audible isolation.
It was after some walking and when the foot trail turned to the north that the duo began looking in earnest to the western edge of the track and discovered the mounded earth and thickets as described by the huntsmen who had come this way before.
They pushed through and spied the deep ravine that was the source of the greenskin scourge and the house of the Caves of Chaos. Outside of a lonely vulture giving them a stink-eye from a lower branch of a distant tree, they saw nothing else. But the two of them felt as if they were watched and the prickling on their neck was that of something evil in the air.
They looked around for the caves closest to the entrance of the ravine, picking two of them –one on the north wall (but some 20’ upslope), one on the south (at the ravine’s floor). From there they discussed the merits of each and went back and forth until they settled on the south one as the better choice (it boiled down to – if they had to run and flee, it was going to be ultimately safer if they did not have to slide and fall down some 15’-20’ from the entrance).
Charlotte went first, William close behind, both of them with weapons out as they made the walk with care towards the entrance. The ground was covered in a fine layer of ground up bone, bits of filth, and the tell-tale stink of sweat socks and overripe bananas that spoke of goblins. This was the right cave, at least for now.
With her bow drawn, Charlotte crept up to the cave mouth and peered in. It was perhaps 12’ wide, 10’ tall, and opened up to a triangular shaped chamber almost 20’ within. Through the dank gloom she could make out 3 possible paths but there were no guards here. She backed away and told William of her findings.
He lit a torch and held it with his shield hand, sword drawn. He took the lead and the two of them crept in. The cave floor had dozens of bones, much of them human. Almost all of them were split and the marrow gnawed out and sucked clean. Toothy marks covered the dull ivory white which had the two of them retching slightly at the thought of their fellow man eaten.
Once inside there were three choices, right, straight, and left. William shone the torch down all three – the 20’ sparkling of light revealing only more passage as it went. It was the left most passage, with waving sheaves of webbing hanging from the ceiling a few feet down, that beckoned the most to them, so they squared their shoulders, regripped their weapons, and ventured on in that direction…waiting for whatever was in the darkness ahead.
I did my typical slow explanation of the game and rules, sticking to B/X as written for now, and stressed that we can try this out and that if they wanted to, we can continue. There was no forced continue if they didn't want to. So they each rolled up characters, my daughter a thief, her friends a fighter. Scores were good (I did roll 4, drop 1) but far from fantastic. The thief suffers from a 6 Charisma and only has a 12 Dexterity (was nice to see her play something she WANTED to and to use the dice scores as they were - not what was optimal), while the fighter does have a 15 strength (his highest score) and an 8 Dexterity. What was nice is they each rolled max number for hit points and the money wasn't too bad (120 for the thief, 110 for the fighter).
And then, after and hour plus of rules and rolling and learning how to play...we started. And it was wonderful to watch two young people (12 y/o each of them) get swept away by the history that had gone on before and where they came from. Both of them are big fans of history and mythology, so I transported the duchy of Karameikos to Northern France/Germania and re-wrote our history from roughly 750 AD onward.
At the time just when his parents were coming to pick him up we had to stop and I asked if they had a good time and wanted to play some more. And they both wanted to play again tomorrow. I laughed and told them in 2 days we can do it again.
I think I introduced someone else to a life-long hobby today.
Write up follows:
The end of the Roman Empire brought with it the Dark Ages, with the only point of light remaining in the Western World being the Brightness that was Constantinople. As the 8th century came to an end, the mightiest of the Gauls, Goths, Celts, and Druids banded together to craft the strongest spell-prayer they could to break the walls of this unending city. In a time when the world believed in magic, even though the Roman system of science had driven back the march of ignorance.
But in this case, at this time, in another Earth, the Weave of magic and science were two sides of the same thing – and in this instance – with the void left from where science once stood in these Dark times – the spell of magic rushed in and exploded.
The land shook from India to Portugal. The Nile flooded, the Pyramids crumbled, Italy was torn asunder, Greece fell into the sea. Cliffs broke, forests burned, and the world of men was sent reeling. And in the wild lands between the broken states and cities, monsters and beast from legend filled the darkness of the forest primeval. Dragons flew through Romanian Mountains, Goblins prowled the forests of Germania, Orcs crested Hadrian’s Wall and burned along the banks of the Thames.
Man was plunged into barbarism but did not let their light snuff out. They banded together as one, crafting new kingdoms and new provinces. They held the line against kobolds and minotaurs. Holy men bent knee to Christ and Yahweh and Zeus and Pan, calling on miracles and benedictions from unseen forces on high. Wizards learned from the space between the stars and through sheer force of will how to bend the fabric of reality and reshape the prime material to their want. Dwarves came from the Carpathian and Pyrenees to help the world of men. Elves emerged from the dark eternal forests of Rus and Britannia. Halflings ranged from the quiet lands along the Spanish coasts and the deserts of Palestine. All goodly races banded together to hold the line against the Chaos of the emerging Wild.
Here in Charlemekios, in the land that in our world would be considered Northern France, the Duke had waged a holy war against the goblin forces; ending almost 2 decades of constant bloodshed. New lands had been annexed and for the last decade, the lands of men have waged an uneasy truce against the monstrous hordes that once dominated the country. Baron Guilfoil had been established in this the last bastion and keep on the Border, charged with not only keeping the land safe and patrolled, but to find out where the goblinoid stronghold might be and have it destroyed.
Every peasant, yeoman, and local had heard of the stories of various kingsmen and rangers who dared the Wild to find this font of evil. But it was 2 seasons ago that they finally came back with knowledge and proof. Three miles east and north of the Border Keep, was a cleft in the very stone as if carved by a giant’s hand hundreds of feet wide and over 500 feet long. A ravine where all manner of goblin, orc, and kobold made their home amidst the bones and cast off detritus of their kind. Some dozen caves or less dotted the ravine in various places, each one a black maw where the dark creatures made their home.
And they needed to be rooted out.
Since the spring thaw the Baron has been sending out his riders and pages to every Thorpe, village, hamlet, and farmstead in a 20 mile radius. Asking of anyone who wanted a chance as riches and glory to come to the Border Keep and plumb the darkness of the Caves in the Wild.
Charlotte’s family owned a small farm (10 acres) of scrub land and berries along the banks of the river Bibiche where her mother was a neurotic mess and her father a one time locksmith. They had come out to this area in the hopes of resettlement and the knowledge of getting a stipend from the crown for homesteading. To Charlotte, who was just now 18, it was tedium, horrible, and overall numbing. A skilled archer and possessing her father’s nimble hands, she agreed to go to the Border Keep to try her hand at riches and glory. Her father gave his blessing (and his locksmithing tools); her mother gave shrill cries and admonishments.
William Bill’s family were farriers, a skill that helped give William his strength and size, but he was a bit clumsy and prone to moving before looking. Being the third son he spent his time cleaning stalls and shoveling crap, dreaming of something better elsewhere. So when the call came and he learned that Charlotte, his friend, was thinking of going to the Keep, William jumped at the chance. Sporting his grandfather’s sword and a piecemeal purchased set of platemail armor, he left home with his family’s well wishes in his ears and the two friends set off for the Keep.
They arrived together, the Keep standing on a plateau 60’ over the surround land, a single easily defensible road leading to the main gates. The two friends made their appearance known and purchased a variety of supplied they suspected they would need in the journey to the Caves. Eventually the Castellan called the two friends to come to Baron.
In his early 50’s and sporting a salty beard hanging to his chest, he was a warrior that was in the decline of his days and going to pot. He greeted Bill and Charlotte by name (which surprised the two friends) and spoke about the Caves of Chaos. There were many wanna-be adventurers who had answered his call and they have been tramping into the Wild for almost a month now. Many have not returned. Some have come back with riches, some have come back missing fingers and babbling about the horrors they had seen.
The two friends spoke to the Baron at length, asking many questions before thanking him for his audience and heading to the Inn for a last dinner and conversation. They opted not to hire any of the locals, not for this the first trip out. The Baron had let them know that the rangers who have gone before reported that the caves closer to the entrance of the ravine were populated with more goblins and orcs than the deeper caves where more dangerous denizens were rumored to live. So they would go to a closer cave, look around, and if it was beyond their skill, they would return to the Keep and hire some of the locals and potential adventurers to go with them on the morrow.
They had worked out a deal where the Baron would take care of their lodging and meals for the rest of the day and tomorrow’s morning…and their Hospice stay should it be required. That evening they spent it at the Inn and listened in on a number of the potential rumors the locals were talking about. Much of it was a garbled mess but the two friends were able to glean tow bits of wisdom: 1) the various monstrous tribes of humanoids that make up the Caves generally stick to their own cave by their own kind. And 2) there are some cultists that might make their homes in the caves, and because of that and the evil influences – any altars they might run across would be considered bad and full of trouble.
The next morning they set off, checking with the gate guards on when and if the Keep’s gates would be shut (the gates shut at 9 PM and open at 6 AM) – making note of it and allowing themselves at least 2 hours to walk back. The trip there was without peril. The only notable thing was the lack of fauna in the area. Even the typical birds were few and far between, their distant song more sad than merry in the audible isolation.
It was after some walking and when the foot trail turned to the north that the duo began looking in earnest to the western edge of the track and discovered the mounded earth and thickets as described by the huntsmen who had come this way before.
They pushed through and spied the deep ravine that was the source of the greenskin scourge and the house of the Caves of Chaos. Outside of a lonely vulture giving them a stink-eye from a lower branch of a distant tree, they saw nothing else. But the two of them felt as if they were watched and the prickling on their neck was that of something evil in the air.
They looked around for the caves closest to the entrance of the ravine, picking two of them –one on the north wall (but some 20’ upslope), one on the south (at the ravine’s floor). From there they discussed the merits of each and went back and forth until they settled on the south one as the better choice (it boiled down to – if they had to run and flee, it was going to be ultimately safer if they did not have to slide and fall down some 15’-20’ from the entrance).
Charlotte went first, William close behind, both of them with weapons out as they made the walk with care towards the entrance. The ground was covered in a fine layer of ground up bone, bits of filth, and the tell-tale stink of sweat socks and overripe bananas that spoke of goblins. This was the right cave, at least for now.
With her bow drawn, Charlotte crept up to the cave mouth and peered in. It was perhaps 12’ wide, 10’ tall, and opened up to a triangular shaped chamber almost 20’ within. Through the dank gloom she could make out 3 possible paths but there were no guards here. She backed away and told William of her findings.
He lit a torch and held it with his shield hand, sword drawn. He took the lead and the two of them crept in. The cave floor had dozens of bones, much of them human. Almost all of them were split and the marrow gnawed out and sucked clean. Toothy marks covered the dull ivory white which had the two of them retching slightly at the thought of their fellow man eaten.
Once inside there were three choices, right, straight, and left. William shone the torch down all three – the 20’ sparkling of light revealing only more passage as it went. It was the left most passage, with waving sheaves of webbing hanging from the ceiling a few feet down, that beckoned the most to them, so they squared their shoulders, regripped their weapons, and ventured on in that direction…waiting for whatever was in the darkness ahead.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Meet 69, Adv 4, 12/6/14
After racing in the last time and trying to catch the fleeing foe, they realized that the underground lair was larger and better warded than we expected it to be. So the party had pulled themselves back, spent 2-3 days healing and preparing better for the trip, and then re-entered - loaded for bear (so to speak).
And that meant hirelings.
With SIX bodies brought along (porter, linkboy, shieldbearer, cloistered priest, light footman, and heavy footman), they had a much denser party with multiple layers and the ability to have 2 facings should they get attacked from behind. Which (to their credit), did happen.
It's early in the trip so far, but we'll see how the rest of this goes. As typical, we are taking off a few weeks in Dec for the holidays and will reconvene with the campaign play on Jan 3rd.
Write up follows:
The party slept well, Flimflam and Zeta @ the Thanach estate, and the rest of the group @ the Mane & Tale Inn in Heatherfield. 6 AM on Watermonth the 25th came and the two respective groups began their morning preparations. One by one our hirelings and helpers arrived, eager and ready to join the group on their foray into the (now understood to be) dwarven/Hades blessed underground lair/fortress. We paid everyone for the upcoming day’s efforts and then went through the massive pile of supplies in place, dividing them out as need be as well as coming up with an acceptable marching order that would protect both sides of the line and those in the middle. Lanterns and torches were put in place and as a group we all ate breakfast.
We talked about what we would be possibly facing and each person’s place in the march as well as their job. Prayers were made and swords and spears sharpened. Only Encrinus, the Halfling slinger that was interested in joining us, was informed that we could not afford his skills. He was dismayed but in the same pique of confidence and overwhelming personality we had seen earlier, indicated that he would hang out with the Thanach’s for an hour or two should the group change their mind and call on his services.
It was after 8:30 when we left the home and approached the eastern wall leading to the Griffanus homestead. There was no guard there, neither was there any sign that anyone was on the estate. We could hear nothing from the barn; see no smoke from the chimney. It was eerily silent. The group was ill interested in using the gate, so we walked towards the far corner, clambered over the wall, and then picked our way along the perimeter of the property sticking to the trees until we came upon the grotto once again.
It took us some time (being it was after 9 now) but we arrived at our destination and proceeded to search for the enspelled entrance – eventually discovering it and causing it to once again become visible. We drew up into marching order, Flimflam handed out dozens of prepared goodberries, torch and lantern were lit, and we proceeded to make our way into the warm darkness below.
There was no obvious difference down the main steps, across the sloping floor, and down the second set of steps leading to the pentagram room. Here we noticed nothing different in the 3 days we had been gone earlier. Equipped now with a better idea on how to cross the bloody path, our leader informed us all to intone Hades’ name once before crossing to avoid the glamour’s affects – and he was correct. From here we went east towards the former storage room (that we had set on fire) and not towards the strange 12’ long crawlers down the northern passage.
The fire that had been here had burned itself out, the couch was a blackened skeleton, the cushions gone, the rug charred remains, even the barrels and millstone were ruined. We looked around only briefly and went now further in, this time to unmapped areas. We ventured north, assuming that this passage would join up @ some point with the other passage, on guard and wary for any of the crawlers.
What we did find were signs of passage. Bloody smears on the floor, there a discarded bit of clothing, here a show, there a broken doll, here a handprint of blood. We suspected the Griffanus’ had been taken by our quarry and brought down here, and from the growing signs of punishment and horror we were passing, it was very against their will and they were either gravely wounded of maybe even dead.
The corridor ended its northeastern heading and then turned sharply to the south, a set of steps leading down from here. At the base of the stairs we could see more bloody rags and signs of violence. Before travelling down, Zeta espied a busted trip wire, curled along the top step and held in place (At one time) by eye-hooks and an anchor along the eastern side of the stair. The wire had run out and down the steps, but whatever trap it had once been was now triggered and no longer an issue.
We walked down slowly, eyes peeled and ready for anything. At the base of the steps the corridor continued 15 paces or so and then turned left to some open space. But it was along the back wall that we saw a mounted crossbow platform – the bolt long gone. Ah, this was the trap that had been sprung. Based upon the angle, it was obvious that the bolt would have tagged anyone in the front.
We heard shuffling steps in the next room and decided to funnel the foes towards us where we could get a solid volley or two in first. So we positioned all of our archers on the steps so they could all fire and had Liscinia and Funis guarding the back ranks. Caeteccius and Auri were our heavy hitters in the front – and then we called to our foes.
They came around – spear wielding skeletons and slower but deadly looking zombies. Eight and three respectively they were – but the zombies were fresh – very fresh. We deduced they were at one time the very militia guards that had been stationed @ the Griffanus estate not a day earlier! And one of them had a heavy crossbow in its chest/gut – evidence of being a victim to the trap Zeta had seen.
The zombies fought with some skill, but had ponderous slowness to their movement. It was also strange to see them fight with spear and shield, something that Pawn, our cloistered priest said was not normal. Arrows had almost no affect on the zombies OR the skeletons, so we switched over to blunt tipped bolts and shafts, getting some results. Our volleys were sure, but the amount of damage done was little at best – and then the first of the skeletons hit our line.
Blows were thrust and met shields and armor with some small affect. But it was Caeteccius and his 20# war axe that cleared the way, felling TWO of the skeletons in the first 11 seconds of combat, his warlike blows driving the enemy back enough to clear the ground before us.
We then had the archers concentrate their fire on the skellies while the melee workers hit the zombies in force. And it was here that we learned the sad truth about the undead before us – the zombies were somehow enhanced. They fought with skill and knowledge, broke shields if need be, had sound tactics in assaulting the group, and were ducetly hard to kill, requiring at least twice the effort one would expect to drop them.
Because of this the battle lasted MUCH longer than we expected and we had to cycle people from the front ranks out and get new fighters at the fore. And the fight attracted MORE zombies – 4 of them, who came from behind us in an effort to close to battle. Our battle lines held in both places and then Pawn called out to Demeter and turned the undead facing the back of us – sending all 4 of them running away in terror.
Freed up once more, we were able to send a final flurry of strikes against the frontal enemy and took the last of the heroic-style zombies down. We then spent 20 to 30 minutes binding wounds, healing, prying the crossbow off the wall (damaging it in the process, but we did get it off) and checking out the next chamber that the zombies and skeletons had come from. It was a bit filthy and there was the smell of brimstone incense, indicative that the raising ceremony on the guards had been done here.
As to the rest of the Griffanus family? Bloody smears leading out of this room and towards another set of winding stairs leading further down let us know that as of yesterday (maybe) they had been alive and led in this direction.
And that meant hirelings.
With SIX bodies brought along (porter, linkboy, shieldbearer, cloistered priest, light footman, and heavy footman), they had a much denser party with multiple layers and the ability to have 2 facings should they get attacked from behind. Which (to their credit), did happen.
It's early in the trip so far, but we'll see how the rest of this goes. As typical, we are taking off a few weeks in Dec for the holidays and will reconvene with the campaign play on Jan 3rd.
Write up follows:
The party slept well, Flimflam and Zeta @ the Thanach estate, and the rest of the group @ the Mane & Tale Inn in Heatherfield. 6 AM on Watermonth the 25th came and the two respective groups began their morning preparations. One by one our hirelings and helpers arrived, eager and ready to join the group on their foray into the (now understood to be) dwarven/Hades blessed underground lair/fortress. We paid everyone for the upcoming day’s efforts and then went through the massive pile of supplies in place, dividing them out as need be as well as coming up with an acceptable marching order that would protect both sides of the line and those in the middle. Lanterns and torches were put in place and as a group we all ate breakfast.
We talked about what we would be possibly facing and each person’s place in the march as well as their job. Prayers were made and swords and spears sharpened. Only Encrinus, the Halfling slinger that was interested in joining us, was informed that we could not afford his skills. He was dismayed but in the same pique of confidence and overwhelming personality we had seen earlier, indicated that he would hang out with the Thanach’s for an hour or two should the group change their mind and call on his services.
It was after 8:30 when we left the home and approached the eastern wall leading to the Griffanus homestead. There was no guard there, neither was there any sign that anyone was on the estate. We could hear nothing from the barn; see no smoke from the chimney. It was eerily silent. The group was ill interested in using the gate, so we walked towards the far corner, clambered over the wall, and then picked our way along the perimeter of the property sticking to the trees until we came upon the grotto once again.
It took us some time (being it was after 9 now) but we arrived at our destination and proceeded to search for the enspelled entrance – eventually discovering it and causing it to once again become visible. We drew up into marching order, Flimflam handed out dozens of prepared goodberries, torch and lantern were lit, and we proceeded to make our way into the warm darkness below.
There was no obvious difference down the main steps, across the sloping floor, and down the second set of steps leading to the pentagram room. Here we noticed nothing different in the 3 days we had been gone earlier. Equipped now with a better idea on how to cross the bloody path, our leader informed us all to intone Hades’ name once before crossing to avoid the glamour’s affects – and he was correct. From here we went east towards the former storage room (that we had set on fire) and not towards the strange 12’ long crawlers down the northern passage.
The fire that had been here had burned itself out, the couch was a blackened skeleton, the cushions gone, the rug charred remains, even the barrels and millstone were ruined. We looked around only briefly and went now further in, this time to unmapped areas. We ventured north, assuming that this passage would join up @ some point with the other passage, on guard and wary for any of the crawlers.
What we did find were signs of passage. Bloody smears on the floor, there a discarded bit of clothing, here a show, there a broken doll, here a handprint of blood. We suspected the Griffanus’ had been taken by our quarry and brought down here, and from the growing signs of punishment and horror we were passing, it was very against their will and they were either gravely wounded of maybe even dead.
The corridor ended its northeastern heading and then turned sharply to the south, a set of steps leading down from here. At the base of the stairs we could see more bloody rags and signs of violence. Before travelling down, Zeta espied a busted trip wire, curled along the top step and held in place (At one time) by eye-hooks and an anchor along the eastern side of the stair. The wire had run out and down the steps, but whatever trap it had once been was now triggered and no longer an issue.
We walked down slowly, eyes peeled and ready for anything. At the base of the steps the corridor continued 15 paces or so and then turned left to some open space. But it was along the back wall that we saw a mounted crossbow platform – the bolt long gone. Ah, this was the trap that had been sprung. Based upon the angle, it was obvious that the bolt would have tagged anyone in the front.
We heard shuffling steps in the next room and decided to funnel the foes towards us where we could get a solid volley or two in first. So we positioned all of our archers on the steps so they could all fire and had Liscinia and Funis guarding the back ranks. Caeteccius and Auri were our heavy hitters in the front – and then we called to our foes.
They came around – spear wielding skeletons and slower but deadly looking zombies. Eight and three respectively they were – but the zombies were fresh – very fresh. We deduced they were at one time the very militia guards that had been stationed @ the Griffanus estate not a day earlier! And one of them had a heavy crossbow in its chest/gut – evidence of being a victim to the trap Zeta had seen.
The zombies fought with some skill, but had ponderous slowness to their movement. It was also strange to see them fight with spear and shield, something that Pawn, our cloistered priest said was not normal. Arrows had almost no affect on the zombies OR the skeletons, so we switched over to blunt tipped bolts and shafts, getting some results. Our volleys were sure, but the amount of damage done was little at best – and then the first of the skeletons hit our line.
Blows were thrust and met shields and armor with some small affect. But it was Caeteccius and his 20# war axe that cleared the way, felling TWO of the skeletons in the first 11 seconds of combat, his warlike blows driving the enemy back enough to clear the ground before us.
We then had the archers concentrate their fire on the skellies while the melee workers hit the zombies in force. And it was here that we learned the sad truth about the undead before us – the zombies were somehow enhanced. They fought with skill and knowledge, broke shields if need be, had sound tactics in assaulting the group, and were ducetly hard to kill, requiring at least twice the effort one would expect to drop them.
Because of this the battle lasted MUCH longer than we expected and we had to cycle people from the front ranks out and get new fighters at the fore. And the fight attracted MORE zombies – 4 of them, who came from behind us in an effort to close to battle. Our battle lines held in both places and then Pawn called out to Demeter and turned the undead facing the back of us – sending all 4 of them running away in terror.
Freed up once more, we were able to send a final flurry of strikes against the frontal enemy and took the last of the heroic-style zombies down. We then spent 20 to 30 minutes binding wounds, healing, prying the crossbow off the wall (damaging it in the process, but we did get it off) and checking out the next chamber that the zombies and skeletons had come from. It was a bit filthy and there was the smell of brimstone incense, indicative that the raising ceremony on the guards had been done here.
As to the rest of the Griffanus family? Bloody smears leading out of this room and towards another set of winding stairs leading further down let us know that as of yesterday (maybe) they had been alive and led in this direction.
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