Meet 81, Adv 5, 4/13/19

The group had a very successful trip back into the dungeon this go round. Focus driven - slime room and leave. There was LOTS of real world figuring it out and I had them up from the table for almost 20 minutes showing me EXACTLY what they were doing.

So it's a win, but they are again loosing more than gaining - no treasure, material and items being used up, armor and weapons breaking down - and right now no treasure yet to replenish what they are spending. They need a longer trip in and that is the focus of their next foray - to get the Brass Chime to summon the steps no matter what time of day.

Write up follows:

It was 7:35 when we arrived at the Entrance to the Terror Dungeon where we were met with the chronicler Kara and the 2 guards. We made sure our name was entered and was assured that another adventuring group, Fishers and Farmers, had gone in earlier today and by our estimation were at Entrance 2.

After the doors were opened we went down with care, Dizzy and Sybil in the front, Connal and Hjalgrim following, then Peris and Percy, and finally Negan and Gryg taking up the rear. At the main entrance room we could see the slowburn torch on the eat wall was getting low and we heard NO noises from any of the doors. We went back over the map Darius had given us and were aiming for a storage room past the hall with the floating table in it where supposedly the slime in question was located.

We proceeded with care, Gryg once again propping up lengths of wood on the doors behind us to hopefully alert us of anyone’s presence following. When we arrived at the room with the zombies, bodies, and couches, it was obvious that something had happened here as the door was blocked by a large dead body with many blunt force marks about its head. Beyond and further into the room more bodies were strewn about.

We went in with care, Dizzy calling on Sif to assure him that no undead barred our way. Of the 16 odd bodies in here, more than half were dragged off the couches and left upon the floor. The vermin in the room were loud but gave us a wide berth. We continued past, Percy lighting a candle with Tyr’s light and in due time, made our way further into the Dungeon.

The short hall with the slowburn torch was next and then eventually the room with the floating table. We slowed down here and looked around the corner. Where once there had been a single ogre keeping guard, now there was nothing. Sybil thought she heard the door at the far end of the hallway close and that spurred the group on to press on.

At the door to the trophy room, Dizzy and Sybil let the group know the door was not trapped – but was LOCKED and from the inside! Listening revealed only faint breathing and nothing else. In wait? For us? Sybil, Dizzy, Connal and Hjalgrim made their way further down the hall, Peris and Percy staying near the corner, and Negan and Gryg remaining in the room with the floating table for now.

Peris cast a “stick” spell on an arrow and placed that on the door to the trophy room, a last ditch chance to alert us should something try to come out. At the end of the hall Dizzy listened and could hear fair shuffling beyond. He took a rope and tied it from that door back 16’ down the hall to another door handle, effectively stopping both doors from opening. As for the room with the slime, with slow measured care, Connal shifted that door about ¼ open and we were able to see. It was 20’x20’, and there was a line of salt on the floor past the swing of the door from wall to wall, blocking off the entrance corner of the chamber. Lumpy greenish slime shot through with sickly red veins was affixed on the floors, lower walls, and stone shelves of the room.

If Sybil drew too close to the slime, it seemed to rise out of itself and send fingers slowly questing towards her before retracting if she moved away. Taking her allotment of salt, she reached further into the room and drew a second longer arcing line of salt, cordoning off more of the entrance section from the slime.

From there, she drew out her metal tongs and a glass flask. Using a few drops of pig’s blood in the vial as a lure, she placed it near the slime, stretching into the room while Connal stood behind her ready to pull her back if need be. The slime stretch out towards the vial and then entered. When she had a small amount within, she turned her tongs, rolling the slime over the metal and spinning off a small section from the larger amount. Her tongs were beginning to smoke and she pulled the vial back until it was between both of the salt lines. She then turned the tongs over entirely and placed the vial on the floor mouth end down, hoping it would trap the slime within.

Instead it spilled out slowly and made a puddle on the floor about 8’ in diameter. Her tongs no longer useful, she tossed them into the room and the group then thought about how they were going to lay Hjalgrim backwards into the slime puddle.

Upon further thinking it through, they realized it would bring them TOO close to the larger slimes inside the room which were agitated by our presence. Connal tried tossing salt at it and it seemed to make the slime grow frenetic as tendril shot out violently almost 3’ before the slime seemed to slough a bit off the wall and then try to climb the surface again.

At this point a new plan was hatched. Taking one of the older K’Morat javelins, Connal dripped some pig’s blood on it and then dipped it into the slime on the floor while Percy helped Hjalgrim remove his armor, gambeson, and underwear to reveal the “Crackling” afflicted area. As the slime was growing on the javelin he brought it close to Hjalgrim’s back and PUSHED. The pain was terrible and Hjalgrim arced in agony as the slime hit the Crackled area, spread out, and was absorbed – turning to speckled dust.

His back? Still afflicted but less.

Peris moved closer to the group and now realizing they were too far back, Negan and Gryg moved up to the corner near the closed trophy room and watched alternately the party and Hjalgrim and the hall they had come from.

Reintroducing more pig’s blood to the javelin Connal carefully gathered another larger dosing of slime from the puddle on the floor. He did note that a large patch (some 3’ around) had broken off from the rest of the slime in the room and was crawling up the wall at a tangential angle, bypassing the salt on the floor and oozing slowly towards the hallway. Problem for later.

The second dosing of slime was brought to Hjalgrim and PUSHED again. And AGAIN the dwarven cavalier bucked in pain but the slime MOSTLY turned to dust, his skin flaked off to normal, and then it was over! With slime on his back, Percy shoved the lit torch against it, burning the patch away and singing the dwarf a bit – but the Crackling was now gone. Some healing was cast, taking care of the most obvious wounds followed up by a folded length of bandage wrapped about the cavalier’s midsection.

Hjalgrim was just…touched. He was so thankful to the group and appreciative that everyone felt just a bit better.

And it was at this point that Negan and Gryg both realized that there was an odd click or something coming from the hall they had come from…and the light from the candles was now gone. Plus, the smell of rotten eggs was growing stronger and the two of them were suddenly unsure. Gryg looked forward, creeping up and saw two ogre sized shield bearing figures coming closer from the opposite hall of the table room.

Company, and now. As the dwarven ranger came back, the half-ogre cleric called on Odin to produce flame in his hand. A ball of fire the size of a volleyball appeared in his palm and began to spark blue fire and he whipped it away and deep into the room.

And the dungeon seemed to implode. Air rushed TOWARDS the room and then LIT, and then a concussive blast raced AWAY from the room along with a wall of fire. At the last moment Negan slammed his large shield down between Gryg and the fire, hugging the dwarf close and the wall of fire hit the corner and blew the two of them off their feet and back. The shield absorbed most of the blow, crackling apart and raining burning brands everywhere while his armor snapped upon impact and caught flame.

The fire continued down, most of its impetus stolen but it was still enough to drop Peris on his ass and burn the form of the elven sorcerer. As the group was trying to figure out what was going on, from the table room we heard an Ogrish voice shout out, “GET THEM!” followed by pounding feet. From the trophy room, the door tore open and two ogres each with 14# mattocks strode into the hallway and laid into Negan who was still on the floor and struggling to his feet. Gryg fired his crossbow and Sybil let bullet fly. Percy and Hjalgrim quickly started relacing the chainmail hauberk back in place while Dizzy tried to get down the hall to heal Negan as the Half-ogre finally rose to his feet and met clubs with great sword.

From around the corner we could see the upended floating table being used as a barrier as the ogres behind it maneuvered it into the hall and prepared to rush down. Peris let fly two magic missiles and Connal enticed a large swath of Slime onto his javelin by literally stabbing himself in the leg and then shoving it at the wall patch of slime.

Negan took another smash to the head and Gryg dodged blows from the furious ogre while more sling bullets and magic missiles when flying. Dizzy managed to get a much needed heal on Negan who was staggering down to single digit hit points and then we heard voices at the END of the hall trying to rip open the door that we had tied shut!

Connal charged down the hall and told the group to DUCK and everyone did, including the ogre Negan was fighting, and the green slime coated javelin flew out and slammed point first into the table being used as a barrier – transferring slime to it!

Hjalgrim finally dressed charged down the hall spear and shield at the ready and took front line with Negan. The cavalier plied weapons hard on the ogre already weakened by bullets and bolts, driving his spear up under its ribcage after 30 solid seconds of furious combat, killing the monstrous foe. Bless spells hit the party and our blows fell with more accuracy as we struggled.

With the ogre line slipping down one and Negan doing terrible damage to the other one, the three ogres in the back, one dropped the table on its face (burying the slime beneath it) and with its own two handed sword, two more of them marched forward to do battle while the last lifted its crossbow and fired, shooting into our tightly packed group. The last poorly armed ogre fell as the battle line closed to the two armored ones and the fight was a chaotic mess. From the closed door behind us we could hear goblin voices chanting, dozens and dozens of them as the door thrashed and bounced and the rope began to fray

Gryg lost a shot at one point, driving it into Hjalgrim’s back, mortally wounding the cavalier who redoubled his efforts against the ogre before him. Negan was once again horribly wounded and was beginning to bleed terribly as his hit point total plummeted. Using the rest of Connal’s rope we went back to the roped off door and tied a second length again between the two doors, giving us another precious handful of minutes.

Another ogre died and the one with the crossbow shot into our ranks as the table in front of him grew softer, and eventually succumbed to the slime which was consuming it – and then the dead ogres on the floor around it! Deciding it was time to leave, he turned and ran back around the corner while more magic missiles and sling bullets helped finish off the last ogre.

Hjalgrim was staggering, Negan had perhaps 1/10th of his health, goblin horde was breaking into the door at the hall’s end, and there was now a 12’ swath of green slime on the floor between us and the way out. Connal took Gryg’s hammer axe and smashed the green slime door down, pulling it away and bringing it to Negan who took aim and threw it into the middle of the 13’ puddle of slime. We then tossed two of our folded up bedrolls on top of the lime and using the entire thing like a bridge, the entire group ran and jumped their way across the mess until we arrived at the other side and then dodged into the trophy room. A well places ray of frost rolled the slime away from us as we ran in and then shut the door behind us.

Percy and Dizzy managed to pull the bolt out of Hjalgrim’s back and get him a healing. The cavalier was going to power through it but he was mortally wounded and would need some rest when this was all over. More healing was dispensed on Negan and the rest of the party and we took stock of our situation.

We didn’t want to stay. At all.

So after 5 minutes we cracked open the door and then ignoring the now 16’ puddle of slime in the hall and the door at the end of the hall the goblins were forcing open, we made a run for it, charging out of the room and back towards the now burned out room where the table once was. No ogre was here but we kept going. At the zombie room we could hear suddenly MUCH louder goblin voices in the hall behind us, indicative that they had forced the door open. We moved double time into the hall, through the zombie chamber, and then down the long hall.

We paused briefly at the door to the entrance room and once sure it was not filled with ANYONE, we made our way to the stairs and up fast until was arrived at the top and at 9:33 on Spiritmonth the 9th, emerged back out of the Terror Dungeon and safely once more in Bork Keep.

Meet 80, Adv 5, 4/6/19

The group spent this meeting following the clues which had them running back to Erylond and then again to Paxian and finally Bork Keep. The "solution" involves going into the Terror Dungeon and gives the party an opportunity to adjust the makeup accordingly and try the delve again. Their mission is focused on a particular locale and destination and then leave - but that remains to be seen if it'll be the play of it.

Write up follows:

It took us a few minutes to ready ourselves for the trip back to Erylond from Paxian, the bad news about Hjalgrim weighing heavily on the cavalier’s mind. The decision was to go back to the Wizard-Lord Shandrila, present her with the stoneware jug, and then ask her if she know of the Freyleaf Astringent and possibly a way to ameliorate its effects.

We decided that we would force march our way westward, trusting to the night, our strength of arms, and the purpose of our trip to keep us safe. We left Paxian through the main gate, passed through Slopover, and then made our way to the main Trade road where we espied one of King Seljack’s mounted knights sleeping on the side of the muddy roadbed using his horse’s stomach as a pillow.

By a quarter after 6 we were out of Canaslan and moving at a ground eating lope westward. This late in the day we say few travelers until almost 8 when a 3 cart caravan coming our direction on its way to Canaslan reported the road behind them was clear all the way to Erylond save for a Thorpe to the north of the road where some villagers were have a local festival. We both passed without issue and by quarter to 10, passed the merriment making village as we had expected.

We trouped on, growing more and more tired and weary as we travelled, the miles passing behind us until we eventually saw the lights of Eylond in the distance and we arrived at the East Gate by 11:15. The guards passed us in and we stayed along the main road along southwall until we managed to come to the Mages’ District on the east end of town. We went to the Tower of Winds, expecting to leave message that we’d like audience in the morning when we were informed that Wizard-Lord Shandrila is currently up and often stays awake for days at a time. Yes, she would see us now.

We dropped weapons and were made welcome once again at her study on the third floor where Shandrila met with us. We gave her the jug, she checked the seal, checked the contents, and declared herself happy with the matter. She asked as to Thimbles and his wares and then we turned to Hjalgrim and his affliction on his back. She looked it over and gave Hjalgrim a pitying look.

The “Crackling” is indeed fatal – faster is a multiple or concentrated dosage does get upon one’s skin. Freyleaf is not grown anywhere near here, instead it appears in an area between here and Asgard referred to as Freystag – a sort of pocket garden where the lord of nature grows wondrous things and tries them out to see if they can be incorporated here in Midgard. Freyleaf is harvested there (often without Lord Frey’s knowledge or consent) and then it is rendered down, dried, pulverized, and reconstituted under exacting parameters to become the Astringent – the entire process taking the better part of a half year.

As for cures, there is none – its job is to dry out spores, molds, slimes, and fungi – anything without a skin. We asked about gelatinous creatures and she said to a lesser degree – gelatinous creatures such as cubes have a membranous skin and is not the best. She did suggest that if a slime or ooze of sufficient mobility and virulence were placed upon the Crackling area, it should be enough to cease its spread and end the affliction – but this was educated conjecture at best.

Does she have any slime, or do we know anyone who does? The long answer? No, that sort of stuff is highly dangerous and typically needs a dark wet area to grow and thrive. A few crazy people in the past have tried to transport and sell it but the damage done was astronomical and 11 of the nearest 15 cities have such types of slimes and oozes declared as illegal to have, own, buy, or sell.

We thanked her and left, heading north to the Livestock district where we took a pair of room at workman’s tavern called the “Fox and Hen.” Ok, Does Thimbles have green slime? Trip back to Paxian. Terror Dungeon? Maybe it’s there, that’s a day to the east. The group remembered seeing some at a lake near the Base Camp in the Moratian Mountain passed Sorton – 6 SOLID days to the west. And no guarantee it was still there.

According to Shandrila, it was maybe 4 or 5 days of spreading Crackling as it works its way further across the person’s skin and then 5 or 6 days of terrible agony and it continues to consume them outside and works its way deeper into their body and then death. Hjalgrim thanked the group for their efforts and we decided to send some aviaries out tomorrow. One to Thimbles in Paxian to see if he had any and green slime and if so, get it ready for us. One to Connal @ Bork Keep and ask him to let us know if the group had found any green slime and where to go and get it – reply to us in Paxian if need be. And Hjalgrim wanted one to be sent back to Sorton to the Temple of Tyr there – because he was under the impression according to his vision at the time of his knighting that he had a “purpose” and was not supposed to be this close to death. The entire situation had shaken the cavalier and he was much more tractable and understanding to the group.

We slept and Dizzy might have gone out to ask his contact at the Stinky Cat if they had any avenues on where to get green slime from before coming back and the group getting to sleep. We decided not to eat hear and instead went further south to a restaurant called “Salted Toys” where we ate our full and were back on the road by 9ish going east to Paxian. Hjalgrim had sent off the 3 avians earlier and we hoped to arrive in Canaslan with some good news waiting.

It wasn’t.

He had none on hand and only a small number in the time in the past had he ever had an opportunity to get some. Of all the adventuring groups, only the Unseen Hand, run by a dwarf named Walt Grimbeard, ever had the green slime to sell, and it was a few small vials that he transported in enchanted glassware to withstand blows. How much? Thimbles had paid at one point as much as 20 crowns for a vial but its only if he has a market and buyer for it because it’s terribly dangerous to store and transport and illegal as hell.

Hjalgrim helped pay for Thimbles to write to Walt in Erylond (we assumed) if he would know WHERE to find green slime in the Terror Dungeon and if so, forward that info to the group there as soon as possible.

We then pressed on to Bork Keep – arriving there just after 8 PM that night. We got to meeting from the outriders, informed of what was required of us, and then met with the locals in the Keep and directed to the Visitor Halls where we saw our companions were actually in the Terror Dungeon at this time. We looked into the aviary where we received OUR note addressed to Connal and Thalin…wrote a missive to Pha-iyr Carom that we DID have King Seljack’s signature on the Letters of Credit and we got sidetracked in order to help a hurt companion.

We had an opportunity to then meet with Lord Corface Bork, learn about the group’s efforts so far, and then rested.

It was Spiritmonth the 9th in the morning when the Vanguards of Ragnarok were all together again. We all shared our experiences over the last 4 or 5 days with each other. The decision was that half the party head back to Erylond with the two Letters of Credit and the other half go into the Terror Dungeon armed with Darius’ map in order to find the room we suspected had the green slime in it. Avulstein was belligerent and commented often that he had survived death twice and for now was NOT going back into that fucking hellhole. He had some nasty words with Dizzy and Hjalgrim who called him out for not paying him back for the cavalier laying out HIS share of the Terror Dungeon Amulet.

We decided that Hjalgrim, Percy, Negan, Sybil, Gryg, Peris, Dizzy, and Connal would be going back into the Terror Dungeon for the third time after 7:30 this evening to take care of Hjalgrim’s back. We made some purchases, moved some equipment around, and after resting the day and adjusting our spells, were ready to go to the Terror Dungeon again.

Meet 79, Adv 5, 3/30/19

The original write up for this portion of the adventure was to have a random person in the party have the planted vial placed upon them. However, we've had some shifting at the table and the player running Hjalgrim is away from our group for the time being. I am not sure what his long term viability for the taciturn dwarven cavalier was to be, but I found him to be grating to the rest of the group. So since I have taken him for now as quasi-NPC/DM's character, having him be the recipient of the Crackling seemed best as it gives me a chance to role play a serious character change into his story - ie: he is GOING to die.

Something that he has been strangely unaware of until this day.

Write up follows:

We decided to stick around the Black District a bit longer and then made our way back to the Bawdy Wench Tavern. Once there Dizzy made a brief contact with the local guild personages there to get some information on King Seljack and Barb took a more prosaic approach and hit up the bartender with a hefty bribe.

Between the two of them they got some information and we discussed their findings. When King Seljack got the Sovereign Stone there were two other hirelings in the party – an assassin woman who joined him as his King’s Thief and personal bodyguard (we met her standing behind the king at the meeting today) and a wizard of some skill who was struck and cursed with a permanent invisibility. He’s taken to becoming King Seljack’s fixer and spymaster – but he has become strange over time and taken to not wearing clothes, personally spying on those he needs to instead of relying on spells.

He can become visible but only when he polymorphs himself into something else.

The Fox and the Henhouse is directly owned by King Seljack and the wizard has the place under surveillance should need be. The Bawdy Wench pays a stipend to King Seljack based upon volume of business and the king’s wizard tends to shy away from scrying unless need be. Just to be safe, we bounced from the 2nd floor to the 3rd, taking a room there. And we also learned that the wizard can easier scry on someone if he has a small token, personal, to them.

So we sat and ate and surreptitiously checked everyone over to see if anything was missing. It was later in the dinner that Thalin and Shim both noticed that one of Percy’s beard fetishes was missing a charm – something small and personal to him. Thalin escorted him upstairs to the 3rd floor where there seemed to be a serious number of plants in the hall – 2 on the right hall, 2 on the left, and 3 by the stairs. The majority of the plants were fichus, but the three by the steps were a transplanted juniper bush and 2 other smaller white dusted ground plants.

After getting Percy in the room, Thalin fired off a light spell on a coin wandered by the plants, gave it a piercing look, and then dropped the coin by the plant before walking away. When he turned back the juniper plant was gone and the window at the end of the hall had opened and someone was out there excited about his luck at finding a glowing magic coin.

Closing the door he informed Percy of the missing fetish and the dwarven priest was worried. Was he part of the King now watching the group? Should he stay behind? The thought was to be honest in our dealings and not give the King any reason to be concerned about us or our doings.

Meanwhile down in the Common Room, a guy came in with his friends, clutching a red glowing copper common and declaring it was a lucky magic coin and he needed to play darts again with that guy who beat him last week – triple stakes. The party left the Common Room and made their way upstairs where we saw two small white dusted ground clearance plants in pots outside our room.

As we were entering, Barb got pissy and moved the plant, pinching one of the leaves real hard to break it. The plant suddenly yowled in her hand, and BIT her, turning into a large tabby cat who then clawed the hell out of the barbarian before running down the hall and leaping out the window. The 2nd plant did the same, another cat. Inside the room Percy felt horrible for the cause of this and healed Barb of her injuries while we discussed the invisible wizard and then eventually fell asleep.

We awoke on the next day the 7th, knowing we were checking out today, where we were going to walk around town for a bit before meeting King Seljack for lunch @ 12. While touring the western ends of town, near a series of malters, we were stopped by a group of 5 green clad elven folk who were doing surveys. They were representative from Greenmourning, and the Emerald Queen Nylwire and they were wondering about the beers we had drunk and what flavors we liked. Greenmourning was looking to set up trade with Canaslan but wanted to send only what the people would want to drink and taste – not what the vendors were willing to purchase.

We answered as best as we could and then made our way to Castle Whitehall. The King had a meal set up for us and we ate and talked for a while, discussing our past adventures, killing kobolds, and things we had done and seen in our past. Eventually he decided the group was well meaning enough and wanted to have a better relation with Erylond and Pha-iyr Carom so signed off on the two letters of Credit and returned one to the party to take back to Erylond. We left on good terms and decided to head off to the Black District and get our required delivery package from Thimbles and the Canaslan Export Company.

There were 4 larger style companies in the district and Thimble’s organization seemed to be about the same as the others. He had 9 people working the warehouse and about a dozen shopping the wares. We went back to an office in the rear of the building where a human with leather pants and sword was waiting but Thimbles had him sit down and express this was all ok. As we were entering, it was noted that 2 people left the selling floor after watching our party, and headed out the door.

He is an acquirer and is always in the market for anything interesting that comes out of the Terror Dungeon or other places that he can turn a profit on. King Seljack has an intense hatred from below the board smuggling and thievery – as long as it’s known and he can get a piece of the action, he’s ok with the operations. The blood of the crested dracomen was in a stoneware jug, corked, covered, and wax sealed. We took property of it, signed off on the manifest that we had done so and then asked him to keep it here. He refused saying it was not his job but agreed to warehouse it for 30 bits until tomorrow.

We left, pushing our way through the crowded selling floor and eventually back to the open air. We went to the Bawdy Wench and was going to stay one more day, leaving on the morning. Arranging a room we went to the Common Room and ate a hearty lunch, listening to the minstrels ply the crowd. It was closer to 3:30/4 ish when there was some drunken brawl going on behind us. Barb thought she recognized one of the guys when he was shoved hard and hit Hjalgrim, bowling the cavalier forward.

He had his arm pressed tight against Hjalgrim’s back, partially inside the backpack and seemed to be fumbling about. As the group got up and it was about to get ugly, the man’s companion gave him a full on body check, smashing him into Hjalgrim’s back and then he pulled away, grimacing in pain and holding his hand cradled to his chest as the two of them made a mad dash for the exit.

We were going to follow when Hjalgrim started complaining about his back hurting and we quickly took a look. Something was broken in his backpack, the back of his backpack was dried and cracked looking, and his shirt was damp. We went up to the room and took a look. There was a spot on his back about 5” in diameter that looked like dried cracked flakey skin, the flesh below was angry and red. He was complaining that it hurt and a fast Cure spell fired into him..but nothing happened to the wound – it stayed.

We also tried a restoration, again no difference. Whatever happened, something broken against his back OR inside his backpack and the other guy was responsible for it. But why? We looked through his back pack and although a few things looked messed up, it was all still there. However, there was a broken small vial/ampule in there, the label affixed to broken glass read “Freyleaf Astringent”.

No one knew what that was and the back of the label showed that it came from the Canaslan Export company – Thimbles organization. Maybe he would know what was going on? As for Hjalgrim, we even tried putting on a layer of bear grease but it only caused the cracked looking skin to spread, giving the cavalier a bit more pain for his efforts.

It was almost 5 when we came back to the Black District and Thimbles business where we found his people pointing and shouting at each other and Thimbles angrily telling the group ,”no refunds – you paid for a full day.” He didn’t have much time to talk to the group, seems someone robbed his place earlier today and his staff were frantically pointing fingers.

Shit.

We asked if it was Freyleaf Astringent and he grew cold, telling us to come in and tell him everything. Turns out the Astringent was stolen earlier today, around the time we were in the shop. The belief was one of the “shoppers” planted it in one of our backpacks “Hjalgrim” with the assumption they would retrieve it later far from the Black District. During the altercation at the Bawdy Wench it broke and covered the thief’s hand and Hjalgrim’s back through the pack.

It is used to rapidly dry the flesh of various oozes, slimes, and molds in the preparation of crafting components and inks. And it is expensive – that little ampule was 900 nobles, money that Thimbles was out. He did know it was not supposed to get on anyone’s skin ever and if it does happen, the person will die in horrible agony in about 2 weeks – nothing to be done for it.

Hjalgrim asked, “So, I’m going to die?!” Yep – nothing for it. And you’re going to die in agonizing pain.

The group was stunned. Surely SOMEONE knew something that could be done? Thimbles didn’t know anyone but suggested the party try Erylond as they might have some luck there.

So we took the jug of blood and decided to brave the 7 to 8 hour trek to Erylond now, leaving Paxian @ 5:30 and won’t arrive back @ Erylond until maybe 2 in the morning.

Meet 78, Adv 5, 3/23/19

The Party had a chance to explore part of one of the Stolen Kingdoms, or Sovereign Lands; Canaslan. This is headed by a former mercenary Seljack of Madar, a fairly successful swordsman with 12 years of skill under his belt before he lucked out and had the Sovereign Stone on exiting the Terror Dungeon. His place is a "sellsword's haven" and the principle city is a former orcish trading city known as Paxian.

What's strange to the group, although the entire place stinks a bit of BO and beer, there ARE some redeeming qualities about the place that does sound attractive. For now.

Write up follows:

Paxian was at one point a minor trading city in the Ympire of Rand over a century ago but had been sacked during the dwarven assault and remained either a veritable ghost town and shattered remnant of its former self. When the Sovereign Stone was found almost 13 years ago and the Mercenary Seljack of Madar was lucky enough to be found holding one, the next area around Bork Keep that was open encompassed the moldering city of Paxian and it’s barely 1,000 residents.

Paxian, now the crowning jewel of the Kingdom of Canaslan, houses a bit over 10,000 souls and is known for having one of the largest and most active black markets in the nearest two dozen leagues. The group walked their way up to the city, having to pass through a shanty town of slurry roads and broken lean-tos where the scent of despair and drudgery filled the air. The walls to the city showed long ago damage that was inexpertly repaired and there was a run off from the wall to a pool where the people living outside the city brought buckets and gourds to get something to drink.

The outer gates were long gone, the portcullis had been torn free, and as we passed through the breezeway, we could see other signs of disrepair. The Courtyard was cordoned off by a palisade of wooden slat fencing, piled stone, and other barriers, the main gate was an ox cart laden with long sheets of metal, spears and spikes, and lengths of undressed lumber. We could tell that we were inside a “kill box”, bracketed on all sides by crossbow wielders on the other side, while two guards stood at the gate, each with a kris-bladed broadsword and a halberd at the ready.

They wore a mix of brigandine and scalemail and had tabards on, red, with a large “X” inside a circle. We identified ourselves, Barb taking point on the discussion where we got a list of rules and generally accepted behaviors in Paxian and Canaslan at large. Freedom of speech important, freedom of religion important, freedom of love and sex important ONLY if both parties interested, murder or the like sentenced to immediate death. All rules were sacrosanct and violation of them would result in being beheaded and your head stuck on a spike outside Castle Whitehall.

Touching on Castle Whitehall, everything else in town seemed to be in poor condition and barely held together, ruts in the cobbles, poor drainage, questionable buildings – but King Seljack’s castle was…perfect. White alabaster marble walls, blue tower tops, 4 or 5 stories tall, minarets, flying buttresses, and a the huge flag of red with a the X and circle – in complete contrast to the rest of the town.

We were invited to stay at the Fox and Henhouse Inn and Tavern in White Shadow (upper class district near the castle) and made our way inside. The main market square was mostly empty, a few vendors selling some meat on a stick or some left over vegetables that were remaining on their carts. A towering large half-ogre in an over-sized trench coat was watching the group as they entered and looked around. He motioned them closer and then asked them if they wanted to take a shit.

What?

He opened the trench and showed he had a cup of wet rags tied on his right knee, a foul bag tied on his left knee, and between them on the floor was a brass chamber pot. Yep, a portable outhouse. Most of the businesses won’t let you use their facilities unless you were a paying customer and being caught crapping on the streets of Paxian was a punishable offence, so for a bit – there were a group of a dozen or so half-ogres who set up this business for citizens who needed to go.

Thalin went, dropping a bit for his troubles, and we talked to the half-ogre, named Eydis, for a bit, getting his take on the city. On an average day he makes about 150 bits (his share) but on Marketday he could clear over 300 bits in 8 or 9 hours. We asked him the best place to stay and where to go and he suggested the Bawdy Wench Tavern, take the western main street up and around to White Shadow and the Tavern was there.

As we walked the streets of Paxian we saw some signs of commerce and industry, but easily 1 in 3 or 4 buildings were being underutilized, leading us to understand that Paxian could continue to grow and had plenty of room to do so. There were chicken about, quiet a number of them. And we also noted many of the shops and businesses had something to do with the brewing of beer. Malters, mashers, strainers, fermenters, conditioners, and the like – there was an aroma of sugar in the air as well as hops and barley.

We arrived at the Bawdy Wench Tavern and after getting a place to sit in the Common Room, a pair of wenches took care of us, taking our writ of stipend from the GRSAG to cover our room and meal, but also introduced us to a variety of local beers: Paxian Brown, His Majesty’s Deep Lager, Two Cask Beer, even something called Pumpkin Head Beer that Dizzy enjoyed. No one wanted to try the brew referred to as Grimyrian Shadow which we understood came from a trading deal with the nearby Sovereign Kingdom where the fields of barley were fertilized with “god knows what” and came from “the undead kingdom – no thanks!!”.

We drank, ate, sampled some braised steak on a stick and crusty buttered rolls, and had a nice night. The thought was to get some information about the crates and their costs as made locally here from whoever would craft such things, getting a price and seeing if we could use that the help sell the idea of the Letter of Credit to King Seljack. A few of the wenches and bandy-boys did try to make a run at the group but we shut them down and they knew that there was going to be no business for them tonight.

We rested and awoke the next feeling pretty good. The rooms were in good repair and had numerous safeguards and measures in place to dissuade casual thievery. At breakfast we asked the locals where the best place was to see about boxes and were told to head to the east end of town to the carpenter’s district.

We went on our way and say a number of men (and women) working with a variety of saws and the like, stripping long boles of trees and getting useable lumber out of it. We questioned a few now and again, learning that there was crate maker who made for the King himself on the next block named Hongor. Hongor was a middle aged dwarf who was working with his 3 journeymen when we arrived.

Once pleasantries were dispensed we learned that the King had indeed commissioned 24 such crates almost 5 months ago, first time he had done so with the specifications that they were more than twice as sturdy as the normal shipping crates (5’x 3’x 3’). When tested they could withstand 800lbs of force and had a double cross buck system supporting the inside and out. Each crate was built to exacting specifications and took about 2 days each to make interspersed with normal business.

So it was a surprise when a bit over a month ago he requested 19 more of them and only a week ago Hongor and his people finished the order. He would not tell us what the King paid for them, but if we wanted a similar crate, it would cost us 80 nobles per crate, with a probably discount if we ordered multiples of them. We thanked Hongor and armed with that knowledge left the woodworking district and made out way back to White Shadow and eventually Castle Whitehall.

We had a better feel for how we were going to handle the King and the Letter of Credit and arrived at the line outside Castle Whitehall where some 2 dozen stood in line in front of us. The King was meeting with people from 8 to12 and then again from 1 to 4. We were assured we would NOT meet with the king before lunch but would be shortly afterwards as he was with each group some 15 to 30 minutes before moving to the next.

Eventually another Half ogre with a trench coat and chamber pot arrived and we took advantage of his presence and then a travelling meat seller arrived and we took advantage of that as well. Eventually the line snaked in again and then after some traders from Grimyria went ahead we had our chance to meet with King Seljack.

He was well protected in a throne room seated on a raised dais, surrounded by halberdiers and crossbowmen, a leather clad woman was positioned behind him as if a bodyguard, and there was a small cordoned off section where sycophants and courtiers stood in audience. Seljack was about 50, thinning greying brown hair, still a muscular build, bearded and having a few scars and laugh lines on his face. A simple but well used kris style longblade was near his throne and he seemed to have a smirk and smile of a man who was comfortable and just in his place in the world.

Within a few minutes he was apoplectic in his anger at Pha-iyr Carom and the Greater Rand Sellsword and Adventuring Guild. We talked about the missing crates, the ignominy of the GRSAG, Pha-iyr being a cowardly prick, and the group being sent here to face his ire while the half-elf hid back in Erylond.

We tried to present the Letter of Credit in a good light, Seljack noting with irony that the Duke himself had been dragged into this mess. It seemed that Seljack and Pha-iyr had a long standing hatred and rivalry dating back 15 years to before the Terror Dungeon ever opened and the half-elf black listing Seljack when the Adventuring Guild first opened its books. Since then it’s not gotten any better and this “fortuitous destruction of MY property” is just the latest icing on the cake.

He did talk about his trip into the Terror Dungeon, The Glyph Gate for the Sovereign Stone was found on the 7th level, and something about Vampire hair was a component to help enter the place. We paid attention to that (along with wandering Minotaurs on the 3rd level!!) and knew that this could be bullshit or very outdated information since it had been 13 years since Seljack ever wandered the Halls of the Terror Dungeon.

Eventually he sounded like he would agree to it and we should come back tomorrow at lunch, eat with him, and he’d sign the two Letters of Credit then. We left without issue (passing a few guys sharpening metal spikes to put on the walls) and were back in the streets, north of Castle Whitehall and it was almost 2 pm.

We decided to visit the Black District for now but NOT go to see Thimbles until tomorrow when we were ready to leave Paxian and return to Erylond. On the north end of town, taking us the size of a city block, we were surprised at how…open it was. No one bothered us, as long we kept to ourselves and our money was good, we were welcome. We did stop at a weaver who sold double sided clothes and a few of us got some for now, allowing only a short time to effect a quick change of appearance. Some boots with hollows in the heels wrapped us up and we did not where Thimbles location was, a warehouse with the signage “Canaslan Export Company” upon it.

It was almost 3 on Spiritmonth the 6th and we were deciding what to do next.

Meet 77, Adv 5, 3/9/19

At this point we are bouncing to the Surface Group to give them a chance to catch up in time as well flesh out the other part of this adventure. It will be 3 or 4 meetings on the surface than a catch up of both sets and a hopefully another trip into the Terror Dungeon for something. Oooo, Aaaaa.

Write up follows:

We find ourselves going back 5 days in time, at the moment when the two groups diverged, half heading to Bork Keep, and the other still at Erylond and looking to get some work done for the Adventurer’s Guild.

It was Spirit Month the 4th around 9:30 when the party was ready to leave our room at the Flying Pegasus Inn and head off to the Greater Rand Sellsword and Adventurer’s Guild. We had a meeting with Pha-iyr Carom, the Guild’s facilitator who was going to give us a job to perform this early in our charter. It would give us some coin and allow us to show the Guild that we were happy to be promising members and able to help out.

Thalin, Merica, Barb, Dizzy, Hjalgrim, Percy, and Shimlagesh finished their breakfast and then made their way to their meeting. We arrived in a timely manner and two of the Guild’s Enforcers, a pair of Half-Ogre toughs, met us in the foyer and had a brief conversation with us. We divested ourselves of our weapons, chatted with them briefly, and then made our way to the lower library where Pha-iyr Carom was waiting for us along with another person.

An adult male Grey Elf was waiting there along with the Half-elven facilitator. Having that etheric thinness that many Grey Elves develop, the figure was wearing a set of Sorcerer Robes from the Arcane Academy and both him and Thalin expressed enthusiasm as seeing one another.

He was Paris, a nobleman elf from Tiloni, a major city on the northern portion of Rand, and at one point had been on of Thalin’s mentor’s during his time at the mage’s guild there before he decided there was more of an opportunity in potentially striking out on his own and joining up with other like-minded people in mercenary work.

Paris, along with other members of the Academy, had been getting Thalin’s missives for the last 2 years or so, about 1 a month, and following his trials and tribulations during that time. But, it was the seemingly increase in power and influence the one time apprentice had been amassing that was a source of conversation, and indeed envy for those who were still part of Tower life. How can a person in two years equal the skills, experience, and capabilities that a tower worked individual might have spent 2 or 3 decades achieving?

Paris had presented his arguments to the Tower council, including his own family who were on the board, and was told that he should not worry about such things and spend his decades with care building his path one small step at a time. This rankled the normally well balanced sorcerer who after 40 years of indoctrination, realized that perhaps Tower life was not the answer to the way of things. He was instead looking to show his skills and capabilities were beyond that of a neophyte magic user and was hoping to establish himself as a valid enchanter even with a Testing.

Most magics were beyond his skill so he took to performing longer rituals, powered by the blood and mana. Since he was lower level, he used blank requisition documents and presented them to the Local Magistrate for prisoners who were to be executed that day and used their dying to power some of the spells that were normally outside his purview. It did not go well – in fact it went poorly both times he attempted it.

Eventually he was called to Council where harsh words were bandied about and he left in anger and some disgrace. Already knowing where Thalin was and his own successes, he partook of the next caravan heading across the Randari plains in effort to arrive in Erylond and hopefully learn how Thalin was able to amass his skills and power in the face of the Tower’s teachings and learnings. And if possible, join the adventuring guild and the local Mage’s Guild.

Pha-iyr Carom had numerous documents supporting Paris’ skills and abilities, and was willing to have him meet the group – but his time with the group would be limited to his ability to learn to control his baser instincts and how to temper his time and maturity into working with the body as a whole. If his time with the party on this small mission went well, Pha-iyr Carom would green light his admission to the Guild and would pass on the approval to the Arcane Academy here to have his standing and rank transferred from Tiloni to Erylond. If he did NOT do well, then…it would suck to be him very quickly.

We talked for a bit and then came to what Pha-iyr Carom and the GRSAG wanted for us. We were to go to Canaslan, one of the Sovereign Kingdoms (actually the 2nd one) and meet with the King, Seljack of Madar in the capital city of Paxian. The story was that King Seljack had commissioned the GRSAG about 4 months ago for some Steel Wool (metallic wool found on subterranean sheep in the Terror Dungeon) from sanctioned adventurers – delivered after 3 months of gathering to Canaslan. He supplied 24 large wooden crates for the GRSAG to fill with the understanding that all crates, empty or full, were to be returned after 3 months.

A fire in the warehouse caused by an errant former member of the guild fireballing the area, resulted in 19 of the 24 crated being destroyed. So upon the completion of the contract, the GRSAG delivered 5 crates and three large bags of Steel Wool. Since then, there have been a month and a half of increasingly angry letters back and forth with King Seljack getting angrier and more belligerent each time. According to the letter of the Writ and the Esquire’s opinion – the Guild IS responsible for the crates. So, Pha-iyr is sending the party to Canaslan to meet with King Seljack and give him the letter of credit drawn against the Duke of Erylond’s own coffers for the full market value (and then some) for the 19 crates: 85 nobles per crate, for a total of 1,615 nobles.

There is no negotiating, the Letter is what it is – it’s the group’s job to make this offer and make it palatable. His signature needs to appear on each Letter and a copy of the Letter comes back here and the GRSAG will present it to the Duke at that time allowing the money to be withdrawn. We’re getting 3 crowns each for the job and the GRSAG will cover our room, meals, and lodging for 2 days.

While the paperwork is being drawn up we are told that Shandrilar, Wizard-Lord of the Tower of Winds, would like the group to pick up some material she had ordered from Paxian and Canaslan and is now ready – and we split up – Hjalgrim, Percy, Dizzy, and Barb head off to the Stinky Cat Inn (on Pha-iyr’s hint dropping to Dizzy of a potential avenue to meet with the local Thieves’ Guild) while Merica, Thalin, Shim, and Paris head off to the Magic User’s District to visit the Wizard-Lord in question.

The Magic User’s District is along the inner wall of the outer ring on the western side of Erylond. A sizable district, it is surrounded by a low 4’ wall with multiple gates. Six main towers and some 30 to 40 smaller structures make up the District and we follow direction to Shandrilar’s. It’s some 80’ tall, flying buttresses, fanciful carvings, and a spiraling blue and yellow color from base to roof. It has a fenced in area of 100’ square as its yard and we wait briefly to be allowed entrance. A palanquin is seen near the stables.

Once inside we find a dampening field that retards the magic a bit and then are led to meet with the Wizard-Lord in her dining area. She’s human, appearing to be in her 30’s, and is tall, almost 6’ and aloof. Her mannerisms seem aloof and after introductions are made she gives us her job. She requested a quart of Crested Dracomen from a gnomish “acquirer” named Thimbles, found in the Black District of Paxian. This type of blood takes some time to gather and once done, is potent for a few weeks before begins to spoil and she was just informed it was ready. She wants us to get it and bring it back. It’s already been paid for so all we need to do is just pick up the material and return without issue.

Sadly Paris had an abrupt way of speaking to the Wizard-Lord who vented her anger on the novice sorcerer who collapsed down screaming, his clothes whipping off his shoulders and lines and welts appearing on his skin. It lasted some 15 seconds where he then arose shaking and much cowed, convinced he had been tossed into Tartarus. She then repeated her requested and Paris answered much more contrite and willing to listen.

We took the job, she gave us 15 crowns (oh my god, she had NO idea what the job would actually be worth to do, overpaying the party who took the mission without saying a word) and we left going to meet the group back again at the Stinky Cat.

Meanwhile the other half of the group made their way further along the main thoroughfare, coming to the Stinky Cat Inn, a massive 3 story structure with its own stables and small smith house. The plethora of feral and semi-tamed cats littering the outside of the establishment gave credence to the place’s name. There was a large U shaped central bar, a decent sized minstrel stage on the right hand side, and a double wide set of stairs going up to the 2nd and third floor where and overhang balcony looked down to the main Common Room, large enough to seat 4 to 500 easily. Before entering, Dizzy did spot on the lintel of the main entrance and Guild Marking identifying the place as an Elysium: a safe place for all members to come and meet as well as a place where no crimes were to take place.

At the main bar Hjalgrim and Percy took center place attracting the tender over with long sweeps of his arms and a booming voice. Dizzy and Barb took a place furthest away along the left side at the end of the “U” where a tired wench in her 40’s took our order and Dizzy Canted to her a desire to “meet”. She didn’t reply but returned 2 beers to the pair of them and Dizzy was instructed to “drink up and quickly”.

At the bottom of his mug was a scratched message in CANT to “Sit at 3rd booth”. And to the area behind them were a series of booths privacy walled and poorly lit. Dizzy waved to Barb and left her at the bar before taking a seat at the booth in question with his beer. The Half-orc was enticed to join Hjalgrim at the bar leaving Dizzy on his own.

He sat for some time, watching the bar and seeing who might be the person in the Common Room he would peg as a contact for the Guild. Imagine his surprise when a portly, on the edge of obese, sweating man of late 30’s came from out of his blind spot and asked to sit with Dizzy “Just to rest a second”. He made lots of blowing noises and seemed to mop his forehead a bit before getting some information from Dizzy and Dizzy getting some from him. His name was Caetius and he asked Dizzy if he’s be willing to talk to a few of his Friends – since they have a different idea of what’s a good member and that he had been known to make harsher and less forgiving decisions in the past.

After introducing Dizzy to three others, a human woman named Varia with a cold attractiveness and an unsettling look in her eyes, a waifish young and thin boy barely 16 named Arritius, and a late 30’s Halfling named Syppon – Dizzy being entranced into playing a game of checkers.

The game was a ruse and Dizzy was questioned by the 3 of them who had different ideas they were looking for. Varia wanted loyalty and honesty, Arrituis wanted someone who could be part of a group, and Syppon wanted someone who wasn’t into it for the thrill but had more of a clearer view of the long term aspects of his decisions. After the conversation went on for a bit, Caetius returned and flat out said he didn’t like adventurers. They owe allegiances to the guilds and their groups first and the Thieves guild end up getting the short end of the shaft. Their guild has a deal with the mage’s quarter and it’s been working well for them.

Dizzy tried to sell them on his ability to act as an impartial outsider who can vouch for Thieves guild members if need be, plus his party has 5 different mages and sorcerers already in their ranks so it makes sense to tie their skills together. Caetius was unsure and was willing to revisit this later. Right now the group had a mission to Canaslan and Paxian and something to do for Shandrilar of the Tower of Winds and if that went well, he would take it as a provisional ok that Dizzy could be admitted on a trial basis.

At this point the entire group got back together and we shared all we had learned as well as advised Paris to tread more carefully in the future – a consensus he seemed to be more apt to do along with a few much needed flagons of Ale.

We left the following morning on Spiritmonth the 5th, heading east down the maid road out of the Tradegates. The land within 3 or 4 miles of Erlyond was all farms and the like, well traveled and used. However as we went further away the population diminished and we were walking in mostly unsettled territory. It took us the better part of the day until we came upon a singular strange phenomenon – the air before us shimmered as if from a heat mirage, but nothing was there.

As we passed through the temperature rose from upper 40’s to upper 50’s and the air took on the scent of beer and ale as well as the faint underfunk one gets amidst unwashed clothes. The straight lines of the fields took on a bit of a wave and seemed less clean and crisp. A few people we saw welcomed us to Canaslan, and from their stance, seemed a bit…inebriated.

It was closer to 5 when we spied a main road travelling north off the highway, heading about half a mile to a walled city with a singular white castle seen even from this distance. That had to be Paxian, and there we would eventually meet with King Seljack.

Meet 76, Adv 5, 3/2/19

We lost another person at the table this week and it was a blow for me personally being as I regard him as a good friend. I had no direct idea it was coming and for myself, I was ill prepared to learn that he was not coming back and saddened. It happens, sometimes in this hobby people's lives change and the ability to free up time diminishes, but my argument has always been that in a 168 hours, I am asking for 5, maybe 6 if you include drive time. It's not even close to breaking and not every week.

So this means I have to find another person to fill the seat which I hate doing. Luckily I had only done this 7 months earlier when we found Rik and at that time I had 3 other people who I had promised I would keep their information if something worked out.

One of the 3 was still available and we met him, he checked off the minimal amount of boxes I was looking for, and we offered him an invite which he was thrilled to get and will be here on the 9th to roll up his character and sit down with us.

As for the group, they finished a local exploration of Entrance 3 and decided to cut bait while they still had time on the clock. They really want to get the Chime of Exiting and are hoping to make that their direct destination the next trip in.

Write up follows:

The group spent a good amount of time looking over the remains of the trophy room, knocking the walls for secret doors and trying to get a feel for the chamber, meanwhile Avulstein was working on a raising the fleshy skeletal remains of the Ogre. Once the ritual was done it staggered to its feet and took a few instructions to get situated with its new place in life.

Once we were set we lit two more new torches and Sybil checked out the door back to hall. She heard nothing and we opened the door, torch light spilling out when she a gasp from down the hall and then breathing and running feet. She slammed it closed and let us know what was going on. We then waited a few minutes before she opened it again, the torches held away from the portal so her infravision could kick in.

Nothing was out here now and we risked some torch light along with the light already down the hall and then emerged with care. Something had disturbed the bloody area the ogre had been killed in and we came closer to further identify what happened. There were large bare footed bloody footprints running down the hall away from us to the north and along the wall a number of spears in the wall and gore of some taloned 3 fingered hand that was again, taller than us and larger than normal human sized.

We took a blanket and laid it across the blood to avoid trailing our own and Sybil, Connal, and Negan crossed the gore, Brading and Gryg stayed close, Darius and Avulstein (and the ogre skeleton!) watched the hall to the west to make sure nothing snuck up on us. There were three doors on the hall, two on the right, one on the left, and in the gloom it looked like there was a door at the end of the long hall.

The closest door had a number of gnaw marks on the bottom, and a few in the center and top of the door, as if something inside the room gnawed its way out long ago. It was in poor condition and looked like it had been forced many times in the past and then hammered back into place. A faintly wavering orange glow was coming from within the chamber seen through the cracks, but we couldn’t tell what it might be.

The next door, some dozen paces down the hall also looked like it had been forced in the past. The scent of rot, salt, and a vinegary smell. We assumed pantry and decided to move on for now. The last door was on the opposite side of the hall. We gave a listen and heard nothing. That left the main door at the end of the hall. It was closed an according to out torchlight, whoever ran here (whatever!?) hit the door, fumbled for the knob, left bloody hand prints on doing both, and then most likely stepped through.

We decided we didn’t want to do that at all. We scattered a few bags of caltrops just to make sure and then went back to the middle door. We took our time and Darius who was keeping track of it for us, let us know we had time to look at one door only and then we should get the hell out of here. The door was opened and there were stone shelves filled with rotting stuff upon it. In a semicircle pattern just inside the door was a large dumping of salt and the walls and floor has some sort of olive green and red veined slimy coating upon it. We assumed slug?

Either way – we wanted nothing to do with it for now. So we shut the door, reconvened together, and began our walk back to the entrance, supposedly about 2 hours plus before the entrance would move if Darius and Brading’s estimate was good.

Back through the table room, back through the zombie room, and back through the long hall we stopped at the door and could hear voices on the other side. The same deep masculine sounding voices speaking a language we didn’t know, and the feral piping sound of goblin voices. Shit. How many? At least half a dozen, maybe more.

Ok, we listened for a bit and were able to deduce the goblins were talking to the other figures who were guarding the room on supposed adventurers and one of them was named Hrabi. We didn’t think they were leaving any time soon so we hatched a plan – we would cast silence on the ogre skeleton, send him in to attack anything inside there, and then while distracted, we would charge up the stairs and get out before the crap hits the fan.

We all drew weapons and got ready, Brading cast silence and the Ogre went in we waited until we could hear ourselves again and then charged in. It was 20’ to the steps and as we hit them and started climbing, we had the chance to see a dozen goblins and three 8’ tall almost naked blue skinned figures shouting (silently) and pointing. We ran, calling for the dwarves to open the door while whatever was giving chase emerged from the silence spell in the gloom behind us, its roars were rippling the air and we could feel it buffeting the group as we charged the doors.

They were opened and we all ran inside, the amulets doing their job as we cycled through the lock and the doors were shut and chained once more.

We emerged again a bit after 1 in the morning and were met with Kara and the dwarven guards once more. They let us know the blue creatures were Quillians and if they roar long enough, people fighting them become flustered and confused during the combat, swinging wildly.  We went off to the Mess Hall where a round of beer and whatever foods were still available were eaten and discussed what happened and what our next objective was.

Besides going in and checking out Entrance One, the thought was to go back to Entrance Two and find out where the Glyph Gate to the Chime could be found. We knew enough that is was in that area. While discussing possibilities, Brading suggested just asking the two adventuring women we had met in the dungeon and the bar earlier today (Ketik and Abera) to at least eliminate some possibilities for us and offer to pay. We knew they were leaving tomorrow so we decided to switch to the Second Visitors Hall where they were staying and approach them in the AM.

We fell into an exhausted sleep and it was a bit after 8:30 that the two adventuring women woke us up with the sound of their packing. They apologized for their noises and we talked briefly about our 2nd trip in (still not a Foray) and what we had learned. We allowed the conversation to flow for a bit and shared our Ogre sized pipe with them along with some halfling’s weed while the party steered them around the conversation for a bit until we touched upon the Chime and how to get one.

At this point Negan excused himself to go to the bathroom and went outside to the lavatory where he called upon Odin to allow him to Read Mind – pushing his efforts through until he could settle on Ketik and then Abera who although the female fighter had been quiet, her thoughts were different and quite talkative, letting Negan know much about where they should go and what they should do. Meanwhile inside the Hall, we had offered a small pile of gold for some information on what to do from the 2nd Entrance and were told to go down the North Passage, the one with the archways – which Connal using his enchanted headband was able to verify was NOT a lie.

Eventually we thanked them enough and they left, we shared what we had learned and agreed that we should take a day to rest up and swap some spells around, then go back in tomorrow (around 3:30) to the 2nd Entrance and try to find the Glyph Gate. Negan did let us know that Abera had mentioned something about Brass bits so we were going to go to the Castellan and see if we can get some change for the time being.

Meet 75, Adv 5, 2/9/19

The group got MUCH further along this time and have gone on to explore a bit beyond the 3rd entrance. The goal, according to them, is not to spend a few days down here, but to map out a bit and then leave before the 8 hour limit and then to the same for the other areas as well. THEN they'll go further in for a more defined foray.

Write up follows:

The base of the door had a layer at least half of foot of greenish filth corroding the bottom of it, and we know our torch light had driven some mice and rats in the hall ahead of us and under the door. The sweet stink of rot was pretty heady as we finally opened the door and took a look in.

The floor was pretty rank with a trough of some sort of decaying flesh shoved against both the left and right sides of the corridor, leaving about 5-6’ of clear walking space that was covered by a thin layer of ooze. The walls seemed damp and the smell of decay and rot was pretty strong. Looking ahead it was 15 or so feet of passage before it opened to a larger room. We could just make out a closed wooden box and the edge of a couch but little else. The far end of the room had a glow to it as if lit from a corridor nearby but we couldn’t tell for sure.

Brading fired up a light spell for us and with some tossing, we managed to send the stone with the spell upon it across the chamber. The room had 5 very large couches and 4 covered wet wooden boxes. Each couch had 3 or 4 dead naked bodies upon them. The bodies were placed on the couches in sitting positions and each one showed feeding from the knees down from the vermin that inhabit the area. There was another corridor all the way across the room that led to the east but we’d have to enter and no one was comfortable about it.

Plus, with the treacherous floor, we were going to be forced to move very slowly to avoid falling. If the room was all zombies, no one wanted to enter as we’d be slaughtered. So the decision was to have Negan ask Odin for a blessing and let us know if there were any undead in the area.

Four.

Four of the dead bodies, all on different couches, were tied to the negative plane. We all backed up into the hall and Darius let fly his sling, hitting the furthest Zombie and then hitting it again. The figure stood up and began to walk towards us, and then within 10 seconds, the other 3 did the same. Sybil shot off her own rock and the two of them took turns peppering the slow shambling undead with shot and stone. Brading was ready to turn them but we kept picking at them.

A strange thing, each time a zombie took some serious damage, it turned to one of the other dead bodies in the room and took a bite of the flesh, fixing the wounds they had taken from the group. We changed our tactics to finish off each zombie that was stopping to eat others to prevent them from healing. Two of the zombies were very close, each of them tearing a bit of couch apart to hold in front of them like a shield as they were almost at the door.

One made it through and the last one still moving in the room was killed. Brading, Negan, and Connal hit and struck the closest zombie who threw its couch cushion away and then grabbed Connal who was right in front of him. He lifted the monk off the ground and was staggering back into the room when Darius brained the zombie and tore the top of its head off with a well slung bullet.

Combat over we took stock of ourselves and after some light healing we entered the room. The couches, bodies, boxes, walls – everything was damp. The stink was growing on us as we no longer felt like retching. Sybil touched the boxes and assured us they were pretty rancid and water logged, but sound. After talking about it a bit and making sure the next corridor was clear (at least 20 paces, slow burn torch on the south wall, and it opened to some larger chamber beyond) the Halfling and monk made an attempt to open the closest box.

Pushing didn’t work, spear tips didn’t work, poles didn’t work. The top was pretty tight on and water logged swollen. Finally Connal moved Sybil aside and used a crowbar to force the top open. A blast of gritty dust spewed out, coating the monk and the surrounding area. He waited a moment for them to disperse before he was able to look inside. The cover and most of the top of the box had some sickly looking green mushrooms growing in it and the majority of the box had what seemed to be various body parts: arms, legs, hands, torsos, it was disgusting.

Gryg and Avulstein were concerned about the mushrooms and suggested they might be harmful. It was then that that all the exposed bits of cloth on Connal’s body started to rot, fast. Brading called forth a create water spell and the monk quickly took off his armor and washed himself and his backpack in the spring while the cover was replaced and the group moved away from the mess. Spore Rot Mushrooms if agitated release spores that devour cloth quickly and spread the fungus to new areas. Once he was sure he was cleaned, the straps on his backpack were repaired, he had to discard his worn out rotted clothing and put on new ones, and some of his other cloth items were now garbage.

We lit new torches and travelled off to the east, walking the corridor with care. The passage eventually opened to a 30’ square room with a table in the center about 10’ diameter, a door on the north wall, a tapestry on the south wall, and a passage continuing to the east. Sybil gave the group the green light but stopped us as she looked at the table.

Four candles were burning on it, melted upright and stuck on the surface. And the table was levitating in the air. Floating there without legs or support. We went in and looked around. The tapestry on the wall was 20’ wide, 5’ tall, and showed three women drinking wine and eating grapes in a room that looked like this one, sitting at a table. While we discussing what to do, we heard the distant sound of something moving from where we had come from and coming closer.

The group hid, weapons out, while some figures came closer and stopped just at the corner of the last room. We could faintly hear some noises and using Brading’s mirror on a stick, they were able to see two bugbear looking figures, only VERY thin and emaciated, looking down in our direction. One of them took a rock and tossed it and waited. We watched it hit the floor and bounce. Then they did it again. Again, we were quiet.

It was when we saw them bend down and go to pick up one of the wooden boxes that might have spore rot in it that Connal opened his mouth with a fake deep voice and yelled, “That’s enough!!” What followed was a conversation where the two coming thought we were Zakthar’s men and they were investigating possible “’Venturers” who came in the “Fucking Quillian’s didn’t do their job.” We made as if they never came this far and most likely left. Then the two of them volunteered to “reset the damned zombies if you don’t want to” and we said we’d take care of it.

Supposedly there’ll be a meeting in a few hours near the “old alchemy lab” to discuss what everyone found and then they left and we waited until we heard doors closing.

Brading and Avulstein confided in the group the figures seemed undead but were self-willed and aware – which could be ghouls, ghasts, wights, or the like. Fucking wonderful. Not wanting to go BACK that way now, we decided to finish investigating here and then moving on. The table, we tested it out. It could be moved and raised and lowered but required a bit of force to do so. And if the candle was extinguished, that side of the table fell to the ground.

Sybil was checking out the north door when she noted a strange odor, got light headed and passed out. Then Avulstein checked out the door and again, strange odor and knocked out. While all this was going on, Gryg had checked around the corner down the short corridor and it was a long hall, at least as long as his infravision, but there was a small stool some 20 odd feet down on the left side, with something hot and cooling sitting next to it.

Shit.

We were waking up Sybil and Avulstein and checked out the stool. It was a larger than normal 3 legged stool, and there was a hunk of what seemed to be well eaten cow bone there and a slightly larger than normal clay pipe still warm with a dying bit of halfling’s weed within. Something was here, not even 10 minutes ago, in this hall, guarding, and probably heard us screwing around in the table room.

Then we heard a distant door open up down the hall and we ran back to the table room, weapon at the ready and shaking as we heard 1, 2, 4, 5 LARGE figures coming down and muttering in a strange language that Negan and Brading identified as Ogre. 5 Ogres? Run. Run now.

We ran back to the zombie room just ahead of the approaching Ogres, raced to the other door, and filed in, pulling it shut and bracing it closed while Gryg and Sybil ran down the long hall to the other door and stopped to hear MORE voices in the “exit” chamber, male, deep, confident, and talking in a tongue no one could recognize. There were at least THREE of them in there. Shit shit shit.

We heard the ogres come into the zombie chamber and talk. One of them reported hearing adventurers to another ogre names Zakthar who was happy to hear about it and we’d “see who they were soon enough if they were still around”. They looked over the mess and spent ten minutes doing something in the room where they were “resetting the zombies, going to take 10 minutes.” The lone Ogre was to stay on guard, and report to Zakthar about the group if they came back.

We waited until all was quiet, had to light 2 more torches, and then another 10 minutes just to be sure. We then opened the door and looked in. The bodies were back on the couches and the room looked as it did before. Se we once again starting with Darius and Sybil, started slinging rocks into the room to see which dead bodies get up. And there were 4 of them again, different ones from before, and they shuffled towards us slowly while the three of them and Gryg’s blunt bolts and Brading’s hurled axes whittled the undead down until the last were killed again.

We took the bodies and put them BACK on the couches and made our way towards the table room again. It was here that a wind started blowing towards us, gathering in strength until it was whistling through the air for a bit before eventually slowing down and growing still again. Gryg was able to scent burning halfling’s weed on the breeze, leading us to suspect the pipe smoking ogre was back at the stool.

It was with great care that we inched forward and Sybil snuck up to look around the corner – one ogre, 9’ tall, sitting on a stool, smoking a pipe, and casually eating a large cow bone rib.

We discussed plans and settled on a Silence spell from Brading on a coin and then a Bless spell from Negan and then the party race around the corner and waste the bastard as fast as we can while Brading runs PAST the Ogre to make sure that no noise carried down the hall.

Three, Two, One.

Gryg hit the corner first and fired his crossbow, striking the Ogre who reared up followed by Negan and Connal charging up and Brading shooting past. Negan’s sword slammed 2’ of metal into the Ogre’s chest who was silently screaming while Connal delivered punishing blows and Brading sliced his battleaxe. Then Darius and Sybil shot bullets with devastating force. Total assault – 16 seconds.

Ogre dead.

He was dead long before he hit the floor and the group was thrilled. We checked him over, getting what we could off of him while Avulstein suspected we only had a few seconds of silence left down the hall. We all retreated as he placed his hands on the Ogre and cast Strip Flesh – covering the room in gore and leaving a skeletonized Ogre behind.

Darius, Connal, and Avulstein were discussing the merits of doing this now, possibly raising the Ogre, and getting the hell out of the hall when Sybil and Gryg checked out the closest door in the hall. Untrapped and open, it revealed itself to be a long trashed trophy room with signs of adventurer’s stay in the past. We decided it would do for now as we dragged the body in, we all entered, and then shut the door, pushing the iron shanks at the top and bottom of the door into the drilled holes and sealing the room closed for now.

Meet 74, Adv 5, 1/26/19

Finally! The group had the chance to enter the Terror Dungeon Twice. The first time they met with a decimated group emerging and then triggered the "wandering monster" summoner. Which resulted in three rolls. And to the groups point of view, it was 4 fire beetles, two giant toads, and beholder.

Again - to the group's point of view - I'm not saying anything about what I rolled.

Anyway they ran for it and had the shortest time in a dungeon I've ever had the pleasure to DM except for maybe a half hour on my daughter and wife's ill fated treck into the Caves of Chaos long ago.

They went back in some time later and so far it's much better

Write up follows:

After enjoying a meal, we were summoned to the central keep to meet with Lord Corface Bork, a 60’s year old human male with the shakes and some sort of musculature disease. With him were 5 others: His Chancellor Kent Ra’al, a 50’s year old squint eyed human male, His Herald Thester Clantik, an adult aged spindly simpering dwarven male, His Castellan a youngish half-elven cautious looking male named Helmut Thranglerod, the Keep’s Curate, a late adult dwarvish male with a kind face named Ampar Earthwise, and the Keep’s Runesmith, Rogar Giantbane a fatalistic adult male dwarf with a number of permanent inkstains on his finger tips.

We talked to the group for a while, presented our paperwork, talked about other adventurers, the sovereign kingdoms around Bork Keep, various rules in the dungeon and out, and finally how the runestones will work for us on getting in and out of the dungeon. It was almost an hour of deep conversation before we purchased a 7 count of Runestones and committed ourselves to entering the Terror Dungeon on the morrow.

We wanted to wait until after the exit steps had moved so timed our entrance for 11:40 or later. We presented ourselves to the official on duty who took our names and group and had the two guard dwarves open the heavy iron doors. The entrance a 10’ circular hole in the ground where we could see broken stone and dark runes surrounding the entrance where the steps descended into the gloom.

We entered and the 4th step down the runes on the rock lit up in time with our rune stone and each person who entered could feel a crackling run up their skin as they descended. The temperature was a mid 50’s or higher. The steps turned to the left, spiraling down at least three times before a glow from below showed some sort of light ahead. A faint vinegary smell was in the air as we finally came to the first room. A chiseled “2” was on the wall here and a torch was sitting in a sconce on the south wall.

Room was 40’ square and discarded torch stubs, bits of armor, busted shields, general garbage littered the floor, testament of past adventurers who had come through here. A number of chalk marks were on the wall outside the steps going up, many of them times settling around 11:00 to 11:35 and again from 7:10 to 7:40. Some had been crossed off, most of the outliers, leaving the group to understand other adventurers had marked the time IN and OUT at the steps in the past.

Two open passages on the north and south wall, east side of the room went off into the dark, and two archways on the same walls on the west side of the room. North archway looked like an ogre’s open mouth along with fangs, South arch looked like ragged spears and knives.

Some chalk writing about frostmen and another about having a torch available. Marking near the torch showed 23 crosshatchings as if someone was keeping count. While we were going through everything we heard heavy footsteps coming closer from the south passage. Retreating to the steps we drew weapons and drew ready – to see 2 human females in various stages of disrepair, one laden with three large sacks and the other carrying a 3rd person, human male, on her back in a fireman’s carry.

On seeing each other the two women gave a groan of satisfaction and identified themselves as Ketick and Abera. The 3rd was their leader, Nelborg, and they had fallen in something called “The Pit Room” on the 2nd level where they tumbled down to the 4th level and had to fight their way out. They lost 3 of their party (the paladin to holding off an invading giant ant army) and were hoping to get Nelborg raised from the dead and then debate on going back in again.

We gathered from their conversation that they were higher level than us and after they left we talked about our options.

The decision was to take the corridor they had come from first, map for a bit, and see what happens next. So with Sybil walking point, we went south, ignored the side passage that went off to the east and ended at a “T” and continued on to the a turn to the west and then a door with a pull handle. Giving it a once over for traps, we opened the door to see the skeletal remains of an ogre sized creature with 2 sets of arms, blood stains and smears everywhere.

We debated long about what to do as we inched in closer and closer until an unseen wind blossomed over the skeleton and then gale forces tore about the room and the bones began clacking and shifting. We turned to run as a peal of thunder sounded and a voice shouted “RUN! RUN FOOLS! YOUR DOOM IS UPON YOU!” as lighting shot through the figure and sparks flew. We slammed the door behind us and hit the stairs as the dungeon shook and quaked about and the noise echoed everywhere.

And then we heard it, buzzing loud, deep, and menacing coming closer. From the south passage 4 Fire Beetles came around the corner as two of our party stood in their way, the 4’ glowing large mandible bugs trying to get past. From the north passage under the Ogre’s Teeth arch came 2 ¾ ton 8’ tall giant toads hopping into the room and looking around. We were going to turn and run when coming behind the beetles was a 4’ diameter floating green and blue chitonous covered large mouthed levitating slavering beast with a huge central eye and almost a dozen tendrils on its head each with ANOTHER eye.

“BEHOLDER!!!” the group shouted and turned to run. The Fire beetles made a grab at us but we charged away, spiraling up and shouting above to “OPEN THE FUCKING DOORS!! NOW !!”

The two huge metal portals groaned under the weight and then were pulled aside as we scrambled out of the Terror Dungeon and the dwarves let the chains fall slack as the passage closed behind us. The officiate looked at his log and said, “41 minutes.”

What?

“You, your party. Was in the Terror Dungeon for a total of 41 minutes”. We had some words with him and he commented that we were “loitering” when Avulstein lost his patience and the group left to go to the messhall and get a drink and rethink what the hell they were going to do all the while muttering, “a Beholder! An Odin-damned fucking BEHOLDER?!”

First order, get drunk. Second order, do NOT go in that set of steps at all for the rest of the day.

At the messhall Ketick was there and surprised to see us (yes, even THEY were doing their own first order of getting a drink). We told her of what happened, she mentioned the Ogre skeleton room was designed to alert any wandering monsters in the area and the secret was to not dilly dally, just go through it.

We went to Castellan after some drink and purchased MORE oil and MORE torches. From there we went to the butcher who was working on some animals and had a pig strung up, and allowed us to fill a flask with its still warm blood. We then went back to the visitor’s hall and rested.

By 7 we were ready to try again. We reequipped, made sure we had all we needed , and made our way back to the entrance. This time a new officiate was there, a farm girl named Kara who was working here for Lord Bork because she had her letters. Darius and she struck up a conversation before the group went back to the steps and once more, made our way back to the Terror Dungeon.

This time the steps took us down and there was a haze to the air. An earthy smell hit us as emerged to a room with 4 doors, one on each wall. More detritus on the floor, more chalk times. A note about a pressure plate trap, another about healing potions from Nythis. Door on the east was marked “To the fountain” and below it someone wrote “better if you have the Horn”. Torch lit on east wall had runes of prayer to Loki and the Norns about it and a pyramid of stones was below it as if an offering. The door to the north had some faint humanoid voices, door to the south smelt faintly acrid.

Ok, different set up. We lit a few torches and went east to the fountain first. Sybil led the way as we went to the corner, turned north, and could see some light from an opening to the right in the hall. We checked out the rest of the hall that turned back to the west and ended at a door with a turn handle. Sybil gave it a solid once over and let us know the door was trapped for sure – probably multiple times. We opted to ignore it and go back to the opening which ended in a 30’x30’ room with two torches and a fountain.

Showed lizard like creatures happily playing and a stylized Yggdassil tree where water was trickling out of 9 openings. A silver cup on a small chain was attached to the fountain and along the base were older style runes carved into the surface. We made a rubbing of the runes and then spent some time deciphering them. “The Skein of the Norns have brought you here at this time to drink. May Loki bless you as you drink and may Helmut fudge the dice rolls in your favor.”

We opted NOT to drink at this time, assuming it was magical and there was a mention of a Horn, like a drinking Horn? That would be better.

So we went back to the main room and took the west door . The ceiling was just about 10’ tall and there were smears on the ceiling, finger tip smears running the long way south. The passage had a jog to the left as we went down and as we progressed , Sybil let us know the smell ahead of us was taking on a faint rotting odor. There was a door here, closed, and after Sybil let us know it was not trapped we readied our weapons and got set to open it.