Meet 97, Adv 13, 8/24/24

One of my players at the table, the newest, had the opportunity to shine this meeting and I for one was very glad. He's generally a quiet guy but when he was given the chance to be front and center in this meeting and time, it was so rewarding for me as the DM to give him his time in the sun

Follows:

So the group took the long trek back up the stairs, spanning the gap once more with 2 of the desk tops, leading Knox and the other animals all the way to the 1st level again. Once up here we took Edgar’s words to heart and going through the tool box, Dizzy pulled out a chisel, some leather scraps, a small hammer, a wire bush, and a few drops of oil. He treated the 8 visible screw heads under the panel with some taps and lubricant, wired off the obvious rust, and then he proceeded to unscrew them one at a time. It was slow and laborious – the screws had not been moved for the last century plus. This was going to take some time.

Meanwhile we wanted to take a look at the boiler and steam engine. Connal went down the steps and then up and rungs and we looked over the machinery. The fire box was scraped free of remaining ash and would hold 60 to 80 lbs of wood. The boiler was pretty big; we guessed it was about 50 gallons. He came back over.

Dizzy had gotten the panel off one at a time, Shim and Wilhelm helped, they tilted it back and let years of dust and crud run out of it. A thin metal sheet manual slid out as well. We read it over and identified the controls. The 4 levers would retract and extend the gantry, the 2nd one would lower and raise it, the 3rd would slow down and speed up the engine, and the last would maximum and minimally apply the brakes. Each lever had 7 possible positions. The 3 buttons would raise the platform, turn the engine off or on, and lower the platform. The last two controls would adjust the platform’s pitch and yaw along all 4 axis.

We wanted to extend the gantry. No reason for Connal or anyone to make that 6’ plus jump. So Dizzy went down to the gantry and Wilhelm worked the controls extending it. It needed to be lifted and jogged forward in many places, the Randari Orcs did a number on it, but we managed to get it fully extended and maneuver the turn so it made the platform. A few of us went back to the office and brought back wooden slats from the kiosks and desks, and Dizzy proceeded to cut them so they would slot into place, giving us a proper bridge to cross.

Once on the lift Connal was still going to have to make a jump to the other side. The thought was that the dwarves would not have set it up like this, so on direction; the monk looked over the eastern side of the platform and found two handles sticking out over the side near the base. He pulled them and extended a 3’ wide platform! Nice. He kept lifting and sliding it out until it easily made it to the lift area. Ok – Now we are cooking.

As for the fire box, that we could do with a number of wooden items from the entrance hall. There was a pilot area that we found with a fill slot for oil. And finally the boiler itself was going to need water. We settled on Create water but there was nowhere that we could create it, keep it in one place, and then ferry it over there to fill it. Eventually Wilhelm suggested that he could animate the water – but would need 32 gallons of it at the minimum for the spell to work.

That was going to be 3 create water spells – and we’d still have to give in 2 water skins. The Lift Area was pretty big and if Wilhelm acted fast enough, he could gather the water before it spilled out and over the side of the pit. But we’d need another caster. Dizzy wrote a Create spell and when done, explained to Eoghan exactly what he had to do. So 2 of us cast the spell, and Connal tossed 2 water skins with the tops off into the growing and spreading pile and then before it could run out and off, Wilhelm called to Frey and…FOOHP! It all slammed together into a fat and wobbly 4 and a half foot tall man shaped amorphous water form.

He led it to the gantry and Connal went first with lots of wood, followed by the elemental and then Wilhelm. It crossed to the platform, then stepped down to the bridge, and then finally over to the lift machinery. He had the elemental pull itself up to the top of the fill pipe, and then coaxed it to relax and slowly fold itself up and fall/fill the pipe – until we had 32 gallons of water in the boiler. Job well done!

We filled the fire box with wood, large and smaller pieces, dosed it with some oil and wood shavings. Then Connal opened the pilot box, crumbled up some paper stuffed it in, and filled the spigot above it with oil. He then lit the pilot area until it sparked and stayed lit. Once we saw that tendrils of smoke and fire were getting to the fire box, he crossed out of the area, pulled the bridge back under the lift, crossed the gantry and we waited.

It was decided that Wilhelm would stay and operate the machinery, and Shim wrote out all the directions for him with some small corrections as noted by Dizzy. Once done the party waited until we could see the fire box was merrily burning from our side. The gnome hit the druid with an invisibility spell and admonished him that if he did anything aggressive, the spell would fail. So sitting down, Wilhelm took a deep breath and stabbed the start/stop button. There was a whine and a few chugs.. then nothing. Did it again, more whine, more chugs…and then the engine caught and began the thrub and bang. The party was on the platform fast, Wilhelm retracted the gantry, and then rose the engine up 1 rank, and lowered the brake. The platform dropped a few feet and then he stopped it. The smoke was getting thick across the way and looking up, Eoghan muttered that whatever chimney or flue was up there, was long blocked.

And we heard drums. Lots of drums from below. Wilhelm released more of the brake, and stabbed the down button again. The platform was dropping maybe a foot every 3 seconds and he deduced this was not going to be enough. So he pushed the engine up higher and there was a loud BANG – and fire shot out of the fire box and from the engine top but the machine sounded smoother and the platform dropped faster. He pushed the brake up from 5 to 2 and could see from the dial the platform was dropping maybe 1 foot and a half each second. The smoke was very thick across the way and was up to the 25’ ceiling, and now over the hole, and was slowly spreading to the dock area.

Fuck it. With Shim still talking to him in his head, he told them to get ready, Dizzy clenching his butt cheeks, and he shoved the engine speed up from 4 … to 1. And again there was another BANG and red fire was seen through the smoke. The boiler was whistling and the entire thing seemed to free fall. Speed was now 5 feet per second and the dial marking depth was spinning up. The group was hanging on and the lift lowered. Somewhere around the 2nd level and dropping they saw 6…10..14…17 figures looking like leather clad long haired fat dwarves with stone tomahawks racing up the stairs hooting and hollering. Shim let Wilhelm know and the druid was watching the dial with care. The smoke had now gotten into the lift control room and was making it difficult to see.

He slowly engaged the braking flywheel and watched the speed slow and slow as the marking for the 3rd floor crept up. He shuttered the engine down to the lowest speed as the platform hit the 3rd level and then stabbed the engine off as the strange dwarves hit the 1st floor area and began to fan out. They were leaping and chanting and hooting and hollering. At least 3 made it to the room and the invisible druid ran to the corner where one of them heard his move (didn’t see him), but took a chance and hurled a stone hatchet there. It quivered IN the wall (stone in stone?!?!) but missed Wilhelm who was crouched low and holding his mouth closed.

Meanwhile the group waited as Connal leapt off the platform and ran to the gantry on this level. It was much better than the 1st floor and he was able to extend it all the way for us to get off. We checked the area out – another loading area and then the hall narrowed a bit – at least 17 different sleeping pallets and rough beds were here – messy and disorganized. We could faintly hear water in the distance. Eoghan had the group ready but quiet – Shim was in touch with Wilhelm above.

The dwarf creatures were not dwarves that we were used to. 4 and a half feet tall, they were bald on the tops of their head, a ring of hair around their skull, easily a foot long and limp. Skin was reddish brown, shoulders stooped ,chest shallow, and had large distended bellies. Wearing leather armor stitched crudely together with bone pieces threaded through the shoulders, arms, and chest. They also spoke a language we did not come close to understanding. As they were slapping and pounding around, a new figure arrived on scene and he was commanding.

6 and a half feet tall, skin black as pitch from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head – only eyes and teeth were white. He had an open chested elk hide armor and sported a shield of wood and stretched leather with some turtle shells adorning the edges filled with stones. He too had a large flint knapped axe and looked around with some scowling and concern. The dwarves were deferential to the dark warrior who was pointing and gesturing. He did glance at Wilhelm’ invisible body and smirked but said nothing. The druid then slid down the slope out of the room to the main floor and stayed low in the corner of the lift area. The dark brother spoke loud to attract the hooting dwarves…and then took a deep breath…sucking in ALL of the smoke from everywhere…including the fire from the fire box at the lift machine.

He then smiled to them all in the area and made some proclamations. They all looked over where the lift was and then down the pit. The dark warrior pointed that way and the dwarves all drew their hatchets, slapped their bellies like drums, and ran to the steps and then DOWN the pit – to find the lift…and whoever might have been on it. Shim got all this from a frantic Wilhelm who let the rest of the group know they need to get somewhere safe and now – 17 dwarves coming in fast. 4 minutes tops.

The dark brother then turned to where Wilhelm was crouched, sort of looking at or near him and began trying to talk to him. In many different languages. Eventually stumbling on Common. Wilhelm’s heart beat a bit faster at this and the dark brother smiled. “Come and let me see you. Why do you hide? Not very brave. Your noises have offended me and I have come to address you. Come out and speak with me!”

Wilhelm said nothing.

Eventually the dark warrior grew tired of it and said that he was going to see what was sent below and maybe their screams and noises would be a cure for his cowardice. Wilhelm was bothered and as the dark warrior went down the steps he went to the edge of the stairs, looked down, and then called on Frey for a Flaming sphere – and sent the 6’ bowling ball careening down the steps to hit the dark brother in the back, setting him on fire – just as his invisibility guttered out.

He turned and ran.

The rest of the party went down the hall past the nest area and the passage split here – we could keep going east but the passage came to stairs down – but there were no stairs there. It was a 20’ drop to water below. Fuck that. Going south was a short passage with a closed door on the right side and then a large open chamber. Door it was. And it was stuck closed – hard jammed in place – and would need to be forced. Eoghan threw his body at the door but it held in place. Need help!

Hearing echoes above, Shim aimed as high as he could and cast darkness on the pit stairs above –blocking 30’ of it. Then Connal grabbed the gnome and they ran down the corridor to the rest of the party as Dizzy was helping Eoghan force the door open. It was a 20’x20’ dwarven toilet. Stone benches and seats. Holes. Oh yeah. This was good. And we could hear the dwarves getting real close. Damn it – everyone into the bathroom!

Upstairs the black warrior was laughing as he breathed in and absorbed the fire. “Back stabber! You have no honor! How dare you!” He then spat the fire into his hand and HURLED it to the top – and Wilhelm could not get out of the way in time – and took 9 damage from his own returned fire. The black warrior was closing up the stairs and Shim was in his head yelling that the dwarves were coming. And he ran to the wall calling to Frey for aid…and melded into the stone wall, running in 3 good feet before stopping – cutting off communication with Shim and the sound outside the stone was very muted.

The black warrior was PISSED. “Coward! Where are you?! Attack ME, ME?!?! Hastez?!? From behind and then run and hide! I will remember your scent! I will remember you! I will teach you the error of your way , Coward! You can run! But I will find you in time!” Wilhelm checked his spell and knew he had 50 minutes time in the stone – and he didn’t want to miss a second of it.

The group poured into the lavatory but the door didn’t close right. So again, we had to throw 2 of us at the portal 4 times as the dwarves got VERY close, before it scraped finally and slammed shut – 15 seconds before the dwarves arrived. Eoghan and Connal were motioning everyone to be silent as the dwarves ran about all over the place.  They were excited and noisy. Shim let the group know he lost contact with Wilhelm and shared what he could of the meld spell and the fight with the black warrior.

Speaking of, we assumed it was him who arrived as we could hear another voice, different that the dwarves, deep and commanding. Instructing them to look about we imagined. Eventually we could hear many bodies grunting and some splashing, we guessed they were going over the lip and down the area where the stairs no longer were – maybe looking for us that way. Not knowing how long they’d be gone, Eoghan wanted us to remain here and not move at all and wait – not to miss a second of it.

Wilhelm stayed melded, counting off time as he waited. It was over 40 minutes and he was preparing for getting out and getting down the stairs to his friends. As for the rest of the party, after maybe 40 minutes, they could hear the strange dwarves coming back through the water and climbing back up with some effort. They were talking to each other and their voices carried for a while, but they did not hear the deeper voice of the leader person (dark warrior?). It sounded like some of them were staying behind and others their voices were fading as they made their way to the stairs in an effort to go up. Eoghan was able to guess 5 or so were staying behind, meaning 10 or more were heading up. To the druid eventually. And Shim could still not get him through the telepathic amulet.

At the 50th minute, Wilhelm unmolded from the stone and looked around. The dark warrior was not here. Being visible now he made his way slowly across the room to the pit but for some reason looked up – and beheld a spiked gargantuan Lolthian spider 25’ above on the ceiling and watching him with eager care. Damn it. Not wanting to get into any fight with it and still suffering from Hastez’ fire attack earlier, Wilhelm called to Frey and made himself invisible to animals. Which the spider certainly was.

It hissed and dropped to the ground racing to where he “was”, while he ran south to the gantry to hide underneath it. As it was flailing around, Shim finally was able to contact him and let him know that there were a number of those dwarves coming.

And they did. 12 of them. They looked at the spider and it looked at them – and the battle was joined. Hatchets flashed, bodies crumpled, blood flew. Wilhelm stayed hidden in the shadows below the loading platform. Eventually the spider was killed – but not before it killed 7 of the fat dwarves. The remaining 5 bound wounds, looked at the remains of their friends…and then fell on them laughing and snarling. Guts were torn open and hearts and livers ripped free and eaten.

Ropy entrails littered the floor and skulls were split open. Brains were scooped out and eaten with rabid glee. They smeared blood on their faces and skins, danced in the viscera, and stuffed themselves like gluttonous animals while Wilhelm stayed VERY quiet under the gantry. Eventually they grew bloated and weary. Leaving their companions behind, their guts distended and huge, they waddled north to find some place to sleep off their meal. Once they were gone he crawled out and looked over the abattoir of the place, shuddered, and then hit the stairs making his way down.

It was scary doing this alone. Every groan, every noise, every stray breeze had Wilhelm on edge. He made it to the gap in the stairs and used the desk boards to clear it, stacking it again on the other side. He kept going down and when getting to the 2nd level (DM: Rando Monster Check: 1 in 6. Dice result: 1! No shit!) he had to stop since 20 feet away in the loading area was a 12’ tall 3 ton wooly headed nimbus glowing white fire eyed tremendous…Buffalo.

It stared at Wilhelm who was rooted in fear. He had no chance to run down the steps before the buffalo would be upon him. It looked at him with a studied disdain. Concerned, Wilhelm called to Frey to allow him to talk to animals. And he could understand the Buffalo! It was waiting for this…man…to either run or attack it. Since man are simple creatures with fear and anger in their hearts. Then when Wilhelm spoke and Buffalo was surprised he could talk. To him, man is the one creature not connected to the great wheel and therefore not one of the first people and cannot talk to animals.

They spoke for a short while about cosmology and beliefs. Wilhelm was firm in his convictions and promised they were trying to find a way to open the portals and send them back to the Happy Hunting Grounds. He countered every man argument but asserting he was an elf – and they have a connection to nature. Buffalo was willing to give Wilhelm the benefit of the doubt and allowed him to pass. He did tell him that he was marked by the fires of Hastez, the Black Brother. His counterpart, Hastel, the Red Brother and him often try to assault Buffalo now and again.

If he wanted to survive the next encounter with the Black Brother, he should seek out the Inserrat – cold loving creatures who make their home in the waters of the 3rd level. Engage with them and they should be able to help Wilhelm out. He thanked Buffalo and moved on. Near the bottom of the stairs was a 6’ gap he could not cross so he had to use another spell, this time Spider Climb. Then he made it down to the 3rd floor and hid again at the gantry here. He could faintly see the 5 cannibalistic Dwarves and when Shim contacted him, he let them know he was here.

Eoghan and Connal were talking about opening the door out of the bathroom and bringing the fight to the dwarves. Firemonth the 6th, 10:35 PM, and we had been up for about 9 and a half hours.

Meet 96, Adv 13, 8/3/24

Firemonth 6, about 2:50 AM. We checked over the entirety of the nurse’s office, cabinets, boxes, desks, drawers. The place had been pretty picked over before us and some damage from years earlier, but after a solid search, we were ready to move on. We could hear some falling water in the distance and followed the passage eastward. There was a sign indicating “apothecist & library” further to the east, of the passage north and down the stairs (towards the falling water), read “Bridge”. We opted to stay where we were and headed eastward.

The apothecist looked like some attacks had occurred in here, 2 large cabinets, 1 was dumped over, some other trash about. We made some attempts to enter, Connal was our point man. He went to the closed cabinet, opened the door, and a 2’ tall figure smelling of earth and wood, extra long fingers and hands, and moving VERY fast, burst from within and assaulted the monk, making the attempt to strangle him. Its fingers were needle sharp and it tore into the skin with ease as its oversized hands proceeded to attempt to kill Connal.

Eoghan fired off fast, arrow missing, and we all proceeded to miss with our attacks as it was just that fast, dodging and flashing about. But Shim’s magic missile blasted into it, and it HURT. So, it snarled, hissed, gasped and lunged off of Connal and went to kill Shim, burying the gnome to the ground as the two of them rolled over and over and over. All attempts to hit it were getting nowhere and Shim took a chance of blasting his wand of fire at point blank range at both of them, burning the Negashi (as it was crying out, along with “Cree! Cree! Cree!).

And then another one flew out of the mess of rubble to help out and Connal got in the way. More attacks followed and the one fighting Shim finally died. But the other one was stuck as it tore at the monk’s throat. Shim fired off another round of magic missiles and it tried to outrun them – it would have been fast enough, but Connal refused to let go! And it had to take the punishing blasts before it too blew apart and died. Hot damn. We healed up a bit and Wilhelm took some of the needle-like teeth for his necklace. We did find a strange new plant growing in the locker, some sort of nodding onion. We took some seeds and the bulbs and then moved on.

The passage diverted here, either west to some door and a massive hole in the hallway – or eastward up the stairs…where we could hear a faint noise. We called up there and then got a reply to come up and mind yourself. At the top of the stairs was a large library, burned with only busted shelves and remains of books, with another 2nd room to the west here of another library area.

It was here that an anthropomorphic humanoid crow came out wearing a top hat and a black waistcoat and pocket watch, munching on a chocolate chip cookie. Introduced himself as Edgar Narrymur, a compatriot of Telltail, also here from the Happy Hunting Grounds. He honestly did not believe Telltail as he is prone to lies and bullshit. But we talked for a while with the other aspect of this pantheon. Edgar had some idiosyncrasies but the most telling was that he did not feel the natural flow of time and could reach back and forth through it if need be – without losing his anchor here in the now. Cannot travel to – but can sample from a “then” if need be. Also suggested that if there was a way to run the lift, it would be with some manual maybe in the lift control room, inside the panels maybe? We’ll check it out!

Some things were cleared up, others were answered. But after an hour of talking, we had a better understanding of the milieu here and that at some point we’d have to get to the 4th level. We also learned of “waterbabies”, evil creatures living in standing water that would cry like an infant and then grab whoever investigated, drown them, and eat their bloated corpses. Lovely. This place was chosen by the ancient dwarves specifically because there it is a weak point here for the prime material plane and the astral plane. There is a chamber of crystals where these differences become manifest, not too far from the chamber of mushrooms – where they can go and get some food.

We were allowed to sleep here unbothered for now and eventually woke up at 1 PM. We studied and prayed, bid farewell to Edgar who had moved on, and figured we’d go back to the stairs area and then around to the crystal and mushroom caves to get some food as our stores were getting lower. The stairs down had us to a large area where the cistern above had cracked and given way.  A rain of water fell down from the ceiling 20’ up, to the floor, across the chamber, over the east side of the bridge, and then down the gap 60’ to the bottom. We could hear cries from there but between the fast-moving water and the warning of the waterbabies, we decided it was best to ignore it and head eastward.

There was a collapsed area here and we all tried to navigate the fallen rocks. Connal, Knox, Louie, and Quiver all took some tumbles going over and each of them were nursing sore legs and ankles, moving slower. From there we entered the crystal caves where long crystals of all sorts of colors grew from the ground. It was unearthly in its look and sound. And we felt like we were moving slowly. Shim was overwhelmed with the view of the angry Norns and the exploding mountain and passed out for a few hours. We all had some sort of odd sensation passing through, but Dizzy’s was the most dramatic. He had horns, vestigial wings, was more commanding, reddish eyes and ruddy skin, a demonic look about him, and an actual small globe of fire burning over his head. He also spoke more determinedly and without yielding.

We moved on to the byway of passages and then went north. There were some very tall mushrooms here, 11’ in height. So many many types. Wilhelm was pointing out what was the most likely safest to eat when a 5’ waddling toadstool with a dull pointed metal spear stepped before us and demanded that we leave after blowing a cloud of spores at us. With its ridiculously short legs, waddling feets, and stumpy arms, we were not inclined to do as it wanted. When it tried to shove Connal back with its spear point, the monastic blocked the clumsy blow and proceeded to murder the fuck out of the myconid without changing his expression. When it finally stopped moving, he looked around the chamber and made some noise about how he did not want to do that again, they would be gone soon after getting some food. If there were any other myconids in the area, they did NOT make their presence known.

We took some 40 or so pounds of edible fungi and then took our demonic and unconscious friends out of the area. Once free Dizzy returned to normal and what not, we retraced our steps back to the nurse’s office, the stairs, the meeting rooms, foreman’s office, and then lift area of level 2. We made our way up the stairs, over the gap and back to the 1st level before we went up the slope once more to the Lift Control room to see if there was something we missed when we were here earlier. Shim was now awake and it was about quarter to 5 on Firemonth the 6th.

Meet 95, Adv 13, 7/20/24

The party spilled back across this side of the Astral Plane, blasted through the barrier to Midgard, and ended up back on the 2nd floor of Donnegarten, once more inside the Foreman’s Office. We took some time to warm up and eventually get to our feet. The toadstool ring had rotted away and we took some time to figure out what was next. There seemed to be a time dilation, but we could not tell which direction it went in – so we shelved it for now. Healing was dispensed and Shim did a Prestidigitation – which got us clean – but the foul odor of the Abyss was not so easily dispelled from a gnomish cantrip.

It was a good 15 minutes before we felt good enough to move on. We went to the western hall and looked down – it seemed the ceiling had collapsed down some time ago, making a mound of rock almost 7’ high in the middle and difficult to cross. Connal went first, picking out the best and most stable areas to cross. Passage went west and then turned south, the fallen stones continuing along that way. The party worked their way over and around, moving with some care until they got past the obstacle and eventually the continuing hall. There was a side room and the smell of bleach was very strong on the east.

Before heading onward, It was Eoghan who went in to check out the bleach chamber. He was inside and looked around but there was a strange shimmer to the place so he tried to leave- and there was a membrane across the door frame! He got a torch lit and the membrane, which covered the entirety of the room, began to shrink! With him inside. He could not cut it and all attempts to damage it from the outside were failing. So instead we set up a direct line of fire with Shim from outside with his wand, scoring the corner of the shrinking ooze cube and then setting it ablaze. Running out of the burning fire, Eoghan rejoined the party and the group decided to leave this room alone.

The hall went on to another meeting room, also in shitty condition. There was an opening on the other side, and a single feather was here. We originally thought it was Odin’s ravens, now we assumed it was Telltail’s raven counterpart. The hall was moist and we felt that some water was not too far from here. The other side of the room had a set of stairs going up. Connal checked them out and after clearing it, we made our way up. There was a single railing on one side and the stairs were wet and slippery – something to think about if we needed to flee this way later.

At the top of the steps we could go left which was a storage area for large lengths of wood and rusty pipe works, or eastward. A sign here indicated “Nurse and Apothecist”. We went off that direction and the temperature seemed to drop. In the large nurse’s chamber was a single pulsating 3’ diameter blue crystal looking ooze. The moist ground around it was shot through with rimes of frost. We did not want to enter but settled on Shim hitting it with a ray of frost – to see if it would go dormant. Heat usually activates these oozes. So he took aim and fired a ray of frost.

And the crystal ooze shrunk down to half and blew up, sending blue crystal shards all over, piercing the gnome and dropping him 14 hp of damage.

Holy crap!

We healed him and got him up, and the crystal ooze was about half the size now when Connal rubbed his chin, took in the room, and said to the gnome, “I think you’re going to hit it again.”

“What the fuck?!”

We promised Shim that he’d be behind a shield that Connal would be holding, and the monk would be in front of the gnome also. So he took aim, and fired another ray of frost – and again the crystal ooze exploded. The shield got peppered but Shim was ok. We peered past again and the crystal ooze…was gone – just a single pulsating crystal. And once more, we hit with a final ray – and it just disappeared.

Meet 94, Adv 13, 7/6/24

I've been playing since 1981 and have been in more groups than I know what to do with. I have had some great DM's and some crappy ones. Some good games, some great games, and some terrible games. I've played at conventions, hobby shops, schools, college groups, meet ups, homes, and everywhere else you can imagine.

So I can tell you that one of the ubiquitous situations from original era D&D is the melding of two dissimilar groups for a game or two where they have a like goal and adventure. I've done 1-shots for this sort of stuff but never a chance to actually run it for any of my groups.

Until now.

My daughter's long term group is a bout 5th/6th level and going through the TOEE at this point. They have found the Thane of Zuggtmoy and at least once went into the Earth Node. But they have angered the fungal queen and she had summoned enough dark matter to portal them to her realm in the Abyss.

My other group is in an area where Jubilex (an aspect of) is the end boss - with small presence of Zuggtmoy, Lolth, and Graz'zt. So here I was with a chance to bring both groups together and have them fight a demon lord together. A chance to combine both groups for a joint adventure. It was a labor of love and ran late - but both groups really enjoyed it.

Follows:

The group slammed through the barrier out of Midgard and then after slewing through the Etheric Plane, sliced sideways until they hit the Astral. A brief turn of the Rainbow portal they were on and they found themselves parallelling a long vibrating silver spear radiating down 666 layers to the bottom of the Abyss, acting as some dimensional anchor. The party smashed through the edges of the Abyssal layers, catching glimpses of numbers and names along the way. It seemed our bridge melded with another, and another adventuring party was also falling on through, intermingled with ours. 222 layers down the portal shifted slightly and deposited the parties onto the edge of the plane, just near a wooden sign that read “222, Sh’d’kl’h. Mycorgi”

The mud brown sky had green clouds and a torrential rain of filth from it to the hellscape below. The reek was unworldly. 30 miles away a castle made of dozens of skyscraper sized yellow and brown mushrooms, surrounded by poisonous puffball mushrooms. 2 miles or so from here was the remains of another smaller missing top castle, at an angle and mounded with lots of piled dirt and plants. Both parties were dumped at the edge of the Abyssal plane, under a 30’ diameter red and purple mushroom near an outcropping of rocks. A narrow path seemed to be cut in the edge of the stone. The air was moist, warm, and smelled of decay.

Shim rolled to his feet dizzyingly sick, and looked around. Besides our group, there were 6 others, adventurers by their look. 2 of their party – another gnome named Pestle, and a half-ogre in poor fitting platemail named Furd, were also awake. They had come from someplace called Greyhawk and were in a Temple investigating some elemental evil when a Zuggtmoy portal opened around them and they ended up here. Shim shared our recent past and especially the Abyssal/Juiblex issue we had at the Strongohld of Donnegarten. Right now no magic was working, and there were some giant brains on legs, Obliviox, also known as Intellect Devourers looking for a chance to get a quick meal.

We decided to work together and Furd was dragging the party members through the cleft in the stone to the other side away from the Obliviox. A partially eaten man, more fungus than person, named Xanthor was here and gave the two gnomes a top down view of the plane. He and his group came here some time ago at the behest of someone called Beshaba, hoping to take down the Lady of Decay, but she had killed them all and he was stuck here as a warning to others.

They could get away, and would need to open another planar bridge. No one can do it. Ok, ok. Can go to the palace and jump in one when either her or Juiblex open one – sounds stupidly dangerous. Last option was to go to the former castle, Mycorgi (the broken one 2 miles from here). The Mechanism to open one would still be there, they just have to turn it on. Enough dark matter would speed it up. And once it was going on, it would alert Zuggtmoy who would come running to check it out. Kill her, or at least cut off her head? That would power the Bridge up real fast.

Ok, we had a mission and a heading. Both parties were awakened and we had quite the list: Gnomish Sorcerer Shimlagesh, Dwarven Cleric/Thief Dizzy, Human Monastic Connal and his mule, Knox, Human Ranger Eoghan and his dog Quiver and Lathandar touched Rabbit Jessie, Elven Druid Wilhelm and his giant lynx and 2 cats Jack and Louie. We also had the Gnomish Wizard Pestle and her familiar the pseudo dragon Paprika, the Half Ogre Paladin Furd, the Human Wizard Sir Albert and his familiar the fire mephit Zephyr, the Elven Monastic Arcadia, and the Human Cleric Ophelia. Away from the edge of the Abyss, our spells and magics were at full and we proceeded the long and slow slog through the foul and verdant fields of Shedaklah.

We shared our stories and tales as we walked on, eyes peeled, picking our way across the blasted landscape. Eoghan and Wilhelm led the charge as we traveled on. About a third of the way to the Castle Mycorgi, the sky began to open up with a feculent downpour of…filth. Just filth. We needed to get out of the scummy rain and the ranger led us to a stony outcropping where part of some outlook tower had fallen partially over. Leaning at a solid 30 degrees, we managed to squeeze our way inside and wring the worst of the sickening liquid out of our clothes.

Set of stairs went up to the 2nd floor and a few of us checked it out. More than 3 or 4 and the tower would list too far over, so most of us stayed on the lower floor while a couple of us went up and looked the place over. The 2nd floor was a repeat of the 1st, but a green glow was coming from the floor above. So Connal and a few others risked going higher. A figure was sitting on an iron chair, silver diadem on his head, bony hand holding a faintly cracked glowing green sphere. Had numerous brown moldy patches covering itself and the iron chair. Getting too close, and the mold seemed to grow and get big, sucking warmth away from whoever came up there. Detect magic let us know the diadem was magic, and the gem – only a little bit.

We tossed around a few ideas and settled on Connal getting Protection from Elements spell. Allowed him to ignore the growing cold. So the monk then ran up there and proceeded to try and remove the crown – but his warmth was STILL feeding the mold which began to spread REALLY fast. The party then ran for the stairs and down as Connal ripped the head from the body and booked it. It took a bit but the mold did stop growing and we took a better look at the diadem. It was a Diadem of Mindfulness. Effectively a tool for a wizard to speed up their studying, improve their listening, and can glow like a candle for a few hours.

There was some back and forth on keeping it or not with Dizzy getting into Sir Albert’s face on the matter which put a bad taste in the other group’s mouth. With the weather clearing, Wilhelm let the group know we can risk taking the trip out now. So we left the broken tower and returned to Shedaklah, heading towards Mycorgi. We came next upon some Shriekers, Wilhelm and Eoghan stopping us. The noisome fungi would bring everything in the area down upon us. And the area had some 12’ wingspan Abyssal bats that were occasionally flapping about.

We thought to go around the Shriekers but it seemed they had been planted around Mycorgi, acting as an early warning beacon. Good news was it wasn’t that thick of a barrier – 50’ or so? Solution was to cast silence 15’ radius on an item and everyone crowd around, walking through the field to the other side and not set anything off. We stayed low and together. At some point we came upon a few dead adventurers here, most covered in corpse fungi and really juicy. One was still pretty clean – sporting a red and green celtic designed vest. We dragged her out and after Ophelia was checking on the magical vest, declared it was a Vestment of Brigid, magic bit of clothing from an alternate healing goddess that would empower any cleric’s healing spells.

At this point another conversation was touched off to maybe hand this out, but Sir Albert fired off Dizzy’s words from earlier about we aren’t doing that now and we should just pouch the items. Bad blood was stewing. Eoghan wanted us to move on, so we did.

We arrived at the shores of Mycorgi next. The castle was missing the top floor and the entire eastern end of it was a mass of overgrown vines, dirt, and fungi. There was a 60’ moat around it, blocking the place off from easy access, a yellow effluvient river of whatever there. A bridge led to the front gate but it fell down some time ago. A barge was on the eastern side, a heavy chain going from one shore to the castle itself, running through a huge metal o ring at the top of the barge. Ok, we could get about half the party across on the barge at a time, Connal polling and Furd pulling the chain. There was a constant mist on the water’s surface which didn’t make it any easier.

So we half loaded up and started to pull our way over. Through the mist, a good 15’ from the other shore, there was a mass bound to the chain by webs, and thick robes of mycelium. We had to stop the barging and while looking the mass over, heard the odd “bloop” noise from around the barge. And it was picking up in volume and occurrence. Something in the moat was approaching us. The decision was to head back across to the other shore and pull ourselves out. The blooping stopped and the strange eddies and swirling water calmed down.

Wanting to cross and not risking flight, we went through our retinue of things before Pestle pulled out a potion of Sweetwater. Taking the lid off, she dumped it into the moat and it radiated out, clearing up the entire length of the fetid water – and liquefying and killing the fungal zombies at the bottom of it. The entire plane seemed to shake and shudder at the presence of the clean water and Eoghan let us know that the area around Zuggtmoy’s castle seemed to have an uprising of dirt, filth, and other floor detritus. We cross the moat again, getting to the mass and cutting it free. It was a thief at some point, desiccated and more husk than anything. We went over him and found a set of Baldur’s Gate Second Story Bracers (has a set of adamantine thieves tools inside the length of them as well as bonuses to climbing and opening locks and disabling devices). We pocketed them and made our way to the entrance.

We avoided the large central chamber and looked over other rooms in the castle. We found kudzu clippings and seeds, a container of vinegar, a workman’s sized spool of spun copper, a crate of 80 lbs of silicate shards for glassmaking, and a pail with 2 lbs of dried yeast. At some point we spotted some fungal trees with a figure trapped within. Rubbery lengths came out and we had to beat them away before we could risk cutting the figure in mail down. Dragging him back it was a fighter with bronze style mail. We looked him over and he had a magic leather girdle on. Ophelia came through again and identified it as a Girdle of Horus, an item that would make a fighter move faster when loaded down as well as increase the amount of weight he could carry.

Heading off to the main room, we had a chance to look it over – 200’ square, no ceiling, there was broken copper rune work all over the place. 5 distinct large gaps ranging from 9” wide to 8’. We went back for the copper wire…and the crate of silicate shards. The wizards and priests all worked to relink up the copper runes across their gaps until finally the last one was pinned and crimped in place.

Which caused a sparking build of power to suddenly flare up and 50’ over the party’s head along the 50’ diameter rune circle, the start of a Rosencrantz Bridge flared into being. We had about 30 minutes before it would reach full mass, without an influx of dark matter, but…according to Eoghan, at the Shedaklah palace in the distance, lights were flaring from the sky and there was a rumbling under the ground and then…

Zuggtmoy burst out of the soil and earth here.

20’ tall and vaguely humanoid, she is covered in growths of fungi and draped in thick ropes of mycelium and lichen. 2 25’ long pale sickly blue pseudopods hung from her shoulders and twitched on the floor. 8 6’ tall Myconids exploded from the ground following over 30 smaller 2’ tall ones. They arranged themselves around her as she pointed at the party and screamed out in frustration at them.

And then the battle was joined.

The party raced forward and we did our best to hit Zuggtmoy right off. A crate of thrown glass shards and a gust of wind seemed like a good start but a mistoss and then an alter reality changed the outcome. Magic missiles and cones of cold followed. Shim summoned a monster, got a zombie that came from Orcus’ lair, refused to help him, and was then returned. Smaller myconids fell to the group as we paced around the battlefield. Zuggtmoy ignored some blows and took reduced damage from others.

Summoned gnolls came from deeper in the Abyss, loyal to Yeenoghu and Sir Albert and his Fellblade helped them focus on attacking the queen of fungi. Wilhelm’s cats ran interference for the druid and quiver and Jessie did the same for the ranger. We poured on the fire but Zuggtmoy was ignoring all but the strongest of attacks. It was a Prayer spell from Dizzy that gave the group a leg up, and then Furd drank his potion of Heroism, and his attacks became more sure and deadly.

As we fought her and her multitude of minions, it was decided to trim them down and then concentrate on the Queen of Decay. With so many people around her she was hard pressed to pick a single target out and kill it. When the time came to hit her in the head, she rocked back from the blow and the wizards all told the party to focus their attacks there. Connal went jumping up, a dagger of sharpness slashing at her neck area while Furd with a fly spell did his best to just hit her face and neck.

We poured on more attacks and she rocked back with all of them, overwhelmed by the fury we were delivering until a lucky blow severed her head from the rest of her which fell to the ground in a spray of corruption. Her head dropped and most of her essence swarmed towards her castle. The release of her dark matter fueled the Rosencrantz bridge above which quickly flared bright and wide. We had less than 5 minutes.

Her death also alerted Jubilex, who took on the form of a 100 foot tall oozing mass of slimy kaiju, shaking the plane as it swarmed towards us to kill us all.

In the mass of her ruined body, a heavy bronze tablet covered in Abyssal appeared. According to Sir Albert, it was an Infernam Tablet, a hellish artifact of great power that bestows protections to whoever holds it against any demonic or abyssal creature – something that would be fantastic for them in their quest against the Temple and eventually Iuz. As for the rest of the group, Dizzy commented that this item, this powerful artifact item – was NOT part of the Major Eddas, and would most likely be useful in powering the Desmondian Diamond.

We quickly split up the treasure – the group taking the Tablet, the Vestment of Brigid, and the Baldur’s Gate Second Story Bracers – giving the other party the Diadem of Mindfulness, the Girdle of Horus, and the Phoenix Feather. Jubliex grew very close as the Bridge fired to life and the party…both parties were planarly shifted out of the Abyss and back to whatever Prime Material Plane they originated from.

In another world, in another dimension though, the fight against Zuggtmoy went decidedly different with much more death and destruction against the 2 groups before they did each best her. But, that was somewhere…somewhen else.

Meet 93, Adv 13, 6/22/24

Firemonth the 4th. 3:30 PM. We were in the Stronghold of Donnegarten, and we were looking over the gauges in the Lift Control Room. There were a number of levers and dials and buttons, but the gauges seemed to give us a heads up on the lift and its position. The thought was next to jump across the space and go to the lift alcove to look over the boiler and the like.

So we went down the large set of stairs, making our way along the inner perimeter of the pit until we arrived at a set of metal ladder rungs heading up to the lift alcove. It was here that part of the party had climbed up to the lift alcove to check out the machinery. The boiler was cold and some of the cowling had been damaged from the Randari attack 140 years earlier, but the gear works were still partially greased and seemed whole. The boiler itself was a 40 gallon tank and the fire pit below could hold maybe 40 to 60 lbs of wood stuff. It was dark and spooky and at some point, those 60 odd feet down the metal rungs noticed a translucent looking soap bubble, maybe 3’ wide, slowly floating its way up. We made quite a bit of noise and somewhere very far below, we heard drums. They began and proceeded incessantly for a good 10 minutes before stopping. Nothing seemed to happen, but we were on high alert.

As the call came to get down, Shim, who was last, felt something feather light snag the back of his neck – and then he was lifted up and off the ladder! A Gargantuan spider, with quite a number of sharp edges and spikes on its 8 limbs, had hit the gnome with a web and was hoisting him up. A struggle ensued and Wilhelm hit Connal with a Spider Climb spell, allowing the monk to run up the vertical wall and try to get there. Shim was being roped closer and the spider was not letting go. Arrows and spells fired off and then Connal joined the fight.

At some point the spider and Shim fell to the platform and the group proceeded to finish it off. There were a number of coarse wiry bovine hairs in its joints and we took some, giving them to Wilhelm who said they were from some long haired cow or a buffalo. Meanwhile the soap bubble looking thing had hit the platform’s underside and was crawling around it, its trail leaving a faint hissing behind as it cleaned the area with its slimy exterior. We made our way off the platform and to the ladder, climbing back down again. The decision was made to head back to the control room and rest as it was already after 5.

We ate and drank, Connal letting the party know we had about 5 days of food and water still left. Dividing up into watch, the party turned in and got some rest. Most of the night was without issue until late..or early…when Eoghan and Wilhelm were on watch. All the animals began looking to the east, ears perked, looking excitedly. Eoghan was using the Dog Amulet to talk to whoever it was, assuming it was a dog of some sort. And what came to the area was an anthropomorphic bipedal coyote-man.

Introduced himself as Telltail, and it was a joy to meet people. Real people. Sweet maker, actual people. It’s been a long time. We talked to the pacing 5’ tall strange man and gathered he had been here a long time. Seems that the Donnegarten dwarves had been ripping tears through to a variety of other planes and shunting them forward somewhere in time. The entire thing was anchored in place by a massive overpowered dimensional anchor holding it in place 666 layers down through the Abyss and locked at the bottom. Deals were made, souls were paid. Telltail was not there for the origin of it.

He came from someplace called the Happy Hunting Grounds and it was supposedly the 21st rip in the Astral plane and some of the avatar aspects fell…here. Before anything could happen though, the orcish Randari came and assaulted Gorokian dwarves. Shutting the machine down and then taking the rest of the dwarves to task before closing shop and leaving. With the rip closed, the aspects could not get home so they’ve been here. Along with other denizens trapped here.

Denizens from the Abyss. Like Lolthian Garaganutan spiders. Zuggtmoy myconids, and Jubilexian slimes and oozes. The group was going to need help if they wanted to get below. The area was flooded and the gates were there. Jubilex or a minion of his was there. They could get help! Help, yes! A great hero to help them, like Hiawatha. There are 2 brothers here, the Red Brother and the Black Brother – alerted by noise, they beat their drums and go on the hunt. They haven’t hunted man in some time. To impress them, and get their help – the group should find Buffalo (they could hear the capital “B” in its name) below…and defeat him. Eat his liver, THAT would impress the brothers and get their help against the Abyssal denizens below.

We thanked Telltail and he left, and the rest of the party woke up and we shared what we had learned. The group had some more information and after eating breakfast, headed off to the lift area again to continue our way down. With a keener eye, we watched carefully as we travelled along. The stone stairs were about 5’ wide and circled the entire interior perimeter of the lift area. Assorted garbage and rubble were on the steps as we proceeded downward. About one and a third cycles around, we came to an area where two of the steps had been broken away – leaving a gap there 28” across, and 24” down. The jump wasn’t arduous, but getting Knox across was going to be a challenge. We went through a short lift of options and remembered the main entrance area up top had many desks. We could go back up there and get 2 of the desk tops, place them diagonally on the steps and gap, and it would act as a ramp for the mule.

Eventually 2 of us ran back up to the office and grabbing two of the thickest and strongest lengths of desktop, came back to the lift and then down it, each sporting a 65# hunk of wood, 2 plus feet deep and about 5’ wide. We made up a ramp, Connal went to the other side and braced it, and the party made their way over with only a little slipping. Knox was eventually led across (hooray carrots!) and we continued on our way.

The next barrier was about 2 cycles down. There was a mass of broken debris here, a mine cart and some 12’ lengths of heavy wooden and metal scaffolding and braces. It had fallen here and got jammed against the corner and the stairs. It was going to need to be removed to get us by. Connal scaled carefully to the other side and using one of the saws we had gotten, he proceeded to cut away what pieces he could, while Dizzy did the same on the higher side. It was difficult and dizzy’s saw became dull and then the handle broke. But eventually we were able to tilt the entire thing over the side, but not before casting Silence on the cart so it would NOT make an unholy racket at the bottom.

We continued on down the spiral until we came at last to the 2nd floor down. There was a similar looking loading area here and we decided to check the area out. There was some moisture in the air and we wandered eastward. Passage spilt after some distance – south or more east. South has a sign that said Foreman and Meeting Room, East a sign that said “Bridge”. We went south. Many mushrooms and fungi on the walls. We were kicking up dust (spores?) as we went and then came to an opening. Some sort of larger office here, most of it had been crushed and thrown about. There were 5 of the same gargantuan spiders we had faced upstairs here. But they had been broken and smashed, 9 to 10 feet tall and something had beaten them up. We could see the same buffalo hair was caught in all of their joints and spikes as well.

While we were searching the room over, Shim noticed that the number of fungi were growing rapidly in the corners of the room. And when he tried to mention it to the group, he was dismayed to see they were all knocked out – staring sightlessly upward! Then the air split open and a rainbow cyclone tore through space and time around the party, dropping them down into a Rosencrantz Bridge and speeding them on their way into the Astral Plane.

Meet 92, Adv 13, 6/15/24

After the long night filled with visions and visits from the Major Eddas, we awoke the next day on Firemonth the 4th full of energy and excitement. Breaking our fast and praying, we climbed back up the mountain again to the entrance of Donnegarten and spent some time looking over the way in. There was a single screw in wheel set in the center of the double door, about 3’ wide and had 5 spokes radiating from the center out. We searched the local area for a possible chimney or air intake and found none.

The decision was made to soak the screw with oil to open it later and we brainstormed a few ideas before just trying to open the thing. It dogged out about half an inch and then froze in place. More oil and work and even Dizzy and Connal working hard with a crowbar couldn’t get more than another quarter inch in the thing. We looped the rope through the spokes radiating out to the wheel itself and tied the free end to Knox the mule and everyone tried to pull the wheel. The rope snapped and the tail end of it hit Knox in the rump, making the mule bray and then run off.

Damn it, shit.

Connal and Dizzy gave chase, and then eventually the rest of the group joined in. The mountain was no place for the mule to run and it took some time to catch up to him and calm it down. Then with more apples lead it back through the mountain until we were at the door again. Retying everything to the mule and making sure nothing was lost, we went back to the wheel again. Wilhelm had the idea with more oil to coat the central screw shaft again and then cast heat metal on it – making the shaft expand slightly and in doing so, break the rusting hold that had been stimying us to date. We worked the wheel and unlocked the door – allowing us to open Donnegarten for the first time in over 140 years.

There was a small amount of air exchange as foul stale air blew out and fresh air rushed in. There was a large entrance area here with a number of old burn and bash marks. The ceiling, 20’ tall, had caved in a few places and there were maybe 30 plus dwarven skeletons on the floor in places. Some had broken bones, others had flatbow bolts in their chest cavity. Two other passages were out of this chamber, one east the other south. Wilhelm had done a Detect snares and pits spell and Dizzy checked the place out.

Signs pointed to stables and pens south and admissions and lift east. There were some counterweights holding the doors open now and we decided to work a series of levers to keep the doors open. Three worked, 1 did not – making the right door fully openable, and the left door partial. We looked over much of the area and the call was made to head south to the stables and pens first. It was about 10:40 when we started going down the hall. More signs of orcish assault and dead dwarves. The ceiling had risen to 25’ tall and curtain webbing and dust was heavy. An old wagon had been dumped on its side here as a break but had been burned and the dwarven bodies beyond showed that they had been overrun. Wilhelm let us know that a section up ahead had a weak ceiling and we should be careful and quiet going past it.

The hall opened to a large chamber with 6 lesser chambers heading off, each acting as a pen section for a variety of animals. A central cartwright area with a 3’ step down took up the central section. The scaffolding and metal runner glides had been pretty beaten up, but we figured to check out the pens first. Starting with the northeast one, the original wood and bar pen door had been torn out and hauled away, busted old wood and metal bars everywhere. It seemed to be a horse or pony pen area based on the size of each stall and the accoutrements found around it. From there the next major pen was more for goats and we did find a small pit area under one of the stalls.

There was a cotter pin that had been set in the eye bolt, but we bent the flanges down and pulled it out before opening it up. Small area, 5’ x 5’. Two dwarven skeletons down here, thinner boned – most likely teenaged. 9 tally marks were scratched on the wall. One of them had a yellowed note in its grasp. We pulled it out and read it. Seems it was a recounting of one of the younger dwarves of the attack and his last days. We closed it up and kept looking. The next 4 pens were originally homes to griffins, hippogriffs, goats, and horses again. We did find another floor trap in the other goat area, but it was empty. At this point we went to the sunken cartwright area and looked around. More dwarven remains and lots of broken and poor condition tools (hammers, pliers, tongs, saws, and the like). We managed to put together two toolboxes filled with whatever was useful that we could find, lashing one to the mule and Dizzy taking the other one. In addition, we took a number of the 6’ metal bars from the pens and stacked them near the entrance.

It was about 1 PM when we returned to the entrance area and decided leaving it open was an invitation that we did not need. So we closed the door (after working the counterweights again) and then shoved it closed and turned the locking wheel on this end until it was closed once more. From here we went east down the hall to Admissions and the Lifts.

More broken areas and dead dwarves. A few here in platemail, but the metal had fist sized holes in it, blasted through both sides. The next hall has a portcullis blocking it, but it had been rent aside. Some kiosks in here smashed up along with guide ropes. Two doors here north and west wall. Both torn open. A few nooses made of cables hanging from a crossbeam from above dwarven skeletons piled beneath it. There were two passages on the far east end of the room – east north and east south. Signs pointed to offices and lifts. We looked over the area with slow care. The two rooms were armories once upon a time, now empty the interior covered in dust and webs. More busted rocks and ceiling areas in bad shape. We did find a single raven feather on top of a broken kiosk which Dizzy took as a sign from Odin that we were in the right place.

We went down the east, north passage. The hall was wide (again, 20’), and very unstable. A few of us stumbled as walking but made it to the admissions offices. A few metal plaques were here, desk signs that Dizzy took. Some more garbage, more signs of orcish assault and dwarven destruction. It was almost 3 PM at this point when we went back to the main hall and then the east south passage to the Lifts.

Along the way we heard a scrabbling sound and something running off ahead. Eoghan was sure it was a canine of some sort, but it did not answer him. The curtain webbing seemed to come to an end here for some reason. Beyond here was a large chamber with a 40’ square pit on the east side going down into the gloom. A set of stone steps ran along the perimeter going down into the dark. A massive dwarven made two fork chain lift was here, the bulk of it recessed into the far eastern alcove beyond the pit. The metal gantry and loading platform looked pretty wrecked and battered but was on the south wall. A sloped area went up to the west to the lift control area. There were some canine prints in the dust going to the pit and down the stairs. Eoghan called out but no answer.

We made a decision to check out the lift control room and there was a single dwarf here next to a simple wood and steel stool. The left side of his skull had been caved in. A control panel with a number of dials and gauges that were all choked with dust and there were 4 levers, 3 buttons, and two 1’ wide thumb driven wheels were on the board. Eoghan wanted to touch them, and he was begged not to. As for Dizzy and Wilhelm, they looked over the pit and lift to the alcove to the machine and the thought was the machinery was most likely steam driven but the boiler that we could see was cold.

It was about 3:15 at this point and Wilhelm’s torch had only been lit for 20 minutes and we were discussing making the jump to the alcove and working on the machine or something else for now.

Meet 91, Adv 13, 6/8/24

We took sight of the area and could see 5 decent peaks north and east of here. We knew 1 of them was the home to Donnegarten and Eoghan took an educated guess to discount the two peaks on the edge, leading us to the valley between the 3rd and 4th mountain – each a bit between 5 and 6 thousand feet in height. The foothills before it were sizable, some of the mounds reaching over 800 feet up. And we set off. The pace was slow and measured, Wilhelm and Eoghan taking us along whatever deer paths we could find. The wind was a constant, running at 25 to 30 mph and as we got closer to the peaks, they acted as a windbreak, forcing more of the breeze across us. Through the valley here we could see at least 3 more peaks.

The decision was made to camp on the other side of the valley crest and it was a bit after 6 when Eoghan managed to scout out an area that was a bit of a hollow from a water wash. We gathered wood, boughs, and other items before settling in for a camp and a meal. We split up the watches (Wilhelm, Connal, Dizzy, and Shim – with Eoghan being excepted for now) and rest well in the night, using the hollow as a fire break and keeping the coals banked low. We awoke the next day Firemonth the 2nd and spent a few hours writing scrolls and studying and praying.

Eoghan had walked about taking sites of the nearby peaks and the land about us. It was another cloudless summer day with no hint of rain (5 days so far). We discussed places to go and we figured on east for now. Dizzy did an augury and confirmed that seemed to be the best choice. So all geared up again and Knox’s (the mule’s) load a bit lighter, headed off to the east, crossing the valley floor and heading off to the next rise between peaks. It was rough go and the terrain was not forgiving but we arrived up and over and looked into the next valley area when Shim who was starting north and east started blubbering and pointing.

“The Mountain,” he muttered repeatedly. “It’s the mountain.”

The mountain that he had been seeing for months now since we acquired the Desmondian Diamond and he had been blasted with two visions that haunt him every day – one being the Norns and their work – and the other being a particular mountain peak exploding and the subsequent blast and climate change kills most everyone. “Alright,” Eoghan laughed, “That’s our destination.”

We walked north and east, taking almost an hour to get to the southwest base of the wooded peak. It was about 5,000 feet tall and had a snow cap from about 3,500 feet up, the forest line getting to just under 3,000 feet. There were no markings or signs that this was the peak and only Shim’s haunted vision let us know that of the 13 or 14 mountains in the area, that this was the right one.

It was about 11 and we hoped to at least narrow down our possible search area. So Dizzy once again called to Sif and did another augury – asking if it was better or worse if the group searches the south half of the mountain. And we got a yes. Ok. Eoghan and Wilhelm did some talking and discussing about possible time to search the mountain and how high up we’d need to go. The group was of the consensus the dwarves would not have an entrance at base of the thing, and the snow line seemed too high. We decided to search off the area between 3 and 4 thousand feet in height where it went from tree line to scrub. It should take us the entire day to search that entire area on the south slope so we went up.

Dizzy had the hardest time with the climb so he and Shim rode Knox to that area and then once up there we dismounted and had Eoghan help us draw into a line. And from there we started looking for anything. Door, chimney, any worked area. The place was supposedly closed and sealed 144 years ago, so there was going to be almost nothing for signs (DC 20), but we looked. After a few hours, Eoghan had us searching the eastern slopes on the south side of the mountain.

Dizzy and Wilhelm encountered a couple of wild Hippogriffs who had torn a family of rabbits apart and were eating them. We didn’t want to alert them to us so they kept motioning to Connal who was watching them some couple hundred feet away. He got Shim and then they used the amulet of telepathy to communicate with the other 2 at what they found. Then he blasted a call telepathically to Eoghan who was ranging in front and silently pissed off at Dizzy for being so fucking slow that he should come back.

We all convened again back with the other 2 and decided that 2 hippogriffs, while maybe good enough for us to encounter, was not necessary for now. Wilhelm let us know they had a 4 mile square hunting area and we just needed to make them move on. The group used a summon monster spell and a giant rat appeared. We sent it into the woods and the hippogriffs attacked it, killing it, and then they got pissed off at their meal and squawked a bit and flew off.

Returning to our search we did spot (Eoghan and Dizzy) a few blocks of an older dwarven mountain switchback road which fueled our excitement that we were on the right track. No sign of the opening so we went to the western slope at this height and looked around. By 6 PM we had to admit defeat and went down the slope a bit to the tree line before we came upon an area to rest for the night. Camp was set up and we arranged watch (Wilhelm, Connal, Eoghan, and Shim). The Aurora Borealis emerged this evening, a ribbon of green and yellow and blue light dancing across the sky. The majesty was enough to silence most of the normal animal sounds and fill the party (those on watch) with wonder. The tobacco that Wilhelm had smoked earlier had relaxed him and he passed the watch baton on to the next and the next.

At some point Connal did sense a large figure skulking about. So he put on his cloak with the frightful visage, giving him a wraith-like look. And then looked out. It was a hill giant, solitary and wandering about. It took a few seconds to spot the monastic and then got terrified. It threw a big rock (20 lbs!) at the monk; cracking him in the chest and rocking him back (14 pts damage). He didn’t say a thing, continued to watch the giant who then freaked out, failed his morale check, and fled. Everything after that was normal – Aurora Borealis continued to shine until a couple hours before dawn.

We shared experiences, studied, wrote spells, and prayed. And then a heal was given to Connal and we went back over our plan. Eoghan wanted us to go back to one of the areas we had been through yesterday and check it again. So we reclimbed the area and started to look again. And sure enough, we managed to find a place where an overhang of rock above a scree of stones showed a doorway (or the top of it beyond). We discussed things to do and spells at our finger tips but it was decided that raw strength and shovel was going to be the watchward of the day.

Wilhelm stripped off his clothes again and transformed into a bear. It was touch and go but he got the gist of it and he, Connal, and Dizzy tackled the 22 tons of fallen stones. It was fast in the beginning but slowed down as the hours went on. Eventually they got too tired to dig on after 3 hours and we broke for lunch. A lesser restoration gave 2 of them their energy back and the 3 of them went back to the door, eventually clearing enough of it free for us to open it.

It was a double stone door, 10’ wide and 12’ tall. There was a metal core of the door as well as the frame and lintel so stone shape was not going to work. A single large rusted and gritted locking wheel was in the center. Shim blasted it with a prestidigitation cleaning some of it but that was it. It was almost 4:30 and we did not want to tackle any more tonight so we took our tools and tired bodies back down to the camp we had made yesterday and camped again.

We ate, drank, smoked, and had a good evening. Connal let us know we had 6 days of food and water left after this point. We set up watches and rested again. Watch set up was the same as the night before and once again, the sky was awash in colors. The bleed from the rainbow bridge was a ribbon running across the firmament. It was majestic. The world was quiet, watching. And on Connal’s watch, a man appeared behind him and asked to share his fire. He was in his late 30’s red brown hair, grizzled warrior type. Connal was concerned, wondering if it was an aspect of the Major Eddas. It was when he let his cloak fall aside and showed his missing hand that he muttered, “Tyr”, and the figure only grimaced a grin.

They shared some smoke, the vapors giving Connal a racing spin and a calm clarity he had never had before. “This is an important place,” the man (Tyr) said. “It was here that the first falling stones spelled the death of many to come. And it is here that we have some to see you once more.”

We?

3 women stepped out of the gloom. A younger woman with the rosy cheeks of a maiden just hit womanhood, clutching a spindle of thread. An older woman was next, the younger one’s mother. She was clad less gaily and her figure was more pear shaped, but she was still a striking woman. She had a set of knitting needles. And last was an older woman, the mother again (and grandmother) of the other 2, some arthritis on her swollen knuckles but a keen eye and a sharp set of cutting shears.

They were the Norns (or an aspect thereof) and Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld spoke with Connal and then the rest of the group (awakening them from a deep slumber). They explained the nature of the skein and that they do not write the future. At all, they merely record it, and they can only record what has happened. No one can see the future – except the all father, and for 1 instance – Shimlagesh.

This location is a nexus point – something important happened here which had them record the massacre of 2 persons in 5 during the Randari War. They rewound the skein to show the rich tapestry of it and then post this situation and how the tapestry was weaker and less dense, less whole; it took many years before it grew rich and thick again and still not as full as it was before. But now if the mountain explodes and Fimbulwinter comes, the tapestry would shatter unless some 9 threads in 10 were cut. And most of the coloring after that would be the brown and grey representation of the dwarven empires.

We needed to find a way to prevent that from happening. And this place, Donnegarten, once again features heavily in deciding the future of Rand.

There was much conversation following and we learned much but eventually weariness overtook us and we turned in again for the night, resting well and awakening on Firemonth the 4th, ready to go back up the mountain and find our way – plumb the long forgotten secrets of Donnegarten.

Meet 90, Adv 13, 5/25/24

With a shift in our plans, we solidified the party as Eoghan, Wilhelm, Dizzy, Shimlagesh, and Connal. With a trek overland we were going to need some mule as well as food stuffs and water. It was maybe 3 days to get there as well as exploring the area to find the long-lost Complex. During the weeks there was an impromptu trip to Ironcamp to get Wilhelm an animal, meet with Dizzy’s family and spend some time with them. Darius had gone off to Stivil and was meeting with Baron Skuddrid. Shim had gone up to the provinces to spend time there, and Connal was taking care of things in town.

The Abbess Cala had asked Connal to intercede with the Patron Guilly MacBorren. There was a new edict coming from the Duke that was putting a limitation on followers of the Ecclesiastic Guild having a dual charter with the Greater Rand Sellsword and Adventuring Guild. There was an influx of cash from the Gorokian Dwarves with had spent some money with the Baron to take over a crumbling ex temple and turn it into a Mission for lost and wayward dwarves. They had asked for some law changes and even Master Bjorn Durkenlurk of Grsag had been swayed by a donation to let it happen.

As for any priests that needed training, they were welcome to come to Tilani and train there, the Gorokian Empire would happily pick up the bill. The universe of priests and monks who this applied to was 27, and even after it passed and the Ecclesiastic council confirmed they would not be enforcing it, still at least 8 members renounced their charter with the Erylond Chapter to avoid any possible problems.

As we were approaching the D day to leave, Dizzy managed to get a piece of lodestone to one of the Wizard Towers and then had it enchanted with a Continual Light spell. We were at home on the 29th and going through our readiness when a trio contingent from the Gorokian Collective arrived and wanted to talk with us. We kept them out of the house and in the garden deflected their inquiries. They wanted to know where we were going, the Terror Dungeon needs to have its depths plumbed, treasures await, and it looks like you are gearing up for a foray. We managed to avoid committing to what we were doing and they left knowing we were up to something but not sure where.

We did some looking around and there was a new statue down the block on the side of a house, pointing right to our place. We paid some local kids to throw rocks at it and knock it off. Successful, and figuring the dwarves had put it there to watch us, we deflected conversation with the neighbors and went home.

Leaving was going to be delicate and we made sure to leave early and out a different gate. We had a new mule and ladened it down with foodstuffs, water, and supplies. We made good time that first day (apples worked on getting the Mule to follow and listen – in fact Connal had the best rapport with it) and we came to Paxian @ day’s end. We went up to White Shadow and found a nice place to stay, sleeping well and feeling good. We left the next day by 9:30 and decided to not head through Canaslan and risk going by Wendover, but to instead head west again and then go north- relying on Dizzy’s notes of Donnegarten’s locale as well as Eoghan’s direction sense.

The land slowly rose and fell, grasslands led to scrub lead to forested sections here and there. A group of wolves had picked up our scent (or the mule’s) and Wilhelm shape changed into a raven to awkwardly learn to fly and investigate. He returned to let us know that 10 of them were to our east a few hundred yards away and were pacing with us. And they were worgs – not wolves. We kept weapons out and moved on and eventually as we had hoped, the worgs decided we were not worth the trouble and ran off to other locales.

We found a place to rest and set up camp, sharing the land with a tribe of wandering orcs from the Four Steel Clan. They were taking a young hunter out on his Adulting Hunt and offered to share the fire with us. We talked and drank, the orc’s did not speak common but there were enough of us who spoke orcish so the meeting and camping was well received on all ends.

The next day we wished them well and moved on, heading north some more. A bit before noon on Firemonth the 1st, we came to a large river and then proceeded to find a place to cross it. Connal had learned to move swiftly over poor surfaces so was able to run across the water to the other side, checking depths as he did so. It was not a good place here so Wilhelm once again took Raven form and flew off west, a few miles down the river found a place for us to ford across. We went there and by 1:30, most of us had forded the 3 to 4’ deep section of the river; Shim carried across by Connal; and Dizzy tied to the mule’s back to prevent falling in and drowning. We were in the foothills of the mountains here and Eoghan was doing some sighting to judge which way was the best to go and which peak looked the most promising.