Meet 67, Adv 8, 5/23/09

You can't please everyone. That's just the truth of it.

One of the players at the table, also happens to be the party leader, had chimed in at the end of the last meeting that he was "done" with Dargan's and we should just leave it up and go elsewhere. The other members were not as inclined but as they didn't want to rankle the player's feathers they were willing to be led elsewhere.

This was fine by me because plans had already been put in place to get the party back into Dargan's one more time. One of the members had a unique and definitive necklace which was joined to another one sympathetically - and that creature was in constant communication with Vanir - the BBEG mage who mopped the floor with the party once before. So teleporting them in to the cave once again was always on my list - I just whickered it forward a bit.

What was new to the group was that I was going to split them up - but do it in a way where they would not have to sit out and watch the other players play - I was going to give them alternative characters to play. Other adventurers that the Red Clouds had duped into going into Dargan's for them and mapping it out.

Long term goal? There are some stories I think the party would really enjoy being a part of and the opportunity to do it while playing something other than what they traditionally have played would be a chance for some of the players to exercise their creative talents. This is going to be an interesting time down here and the party will fiond themselves part of a "traditional old school" dungeon crawl very soon if I have anything to do with it. :)

Write up follows:

The party spent about 3 days in Cymbarton selling what wares we could and turning our hard earned treasures into coin. It was then that we discussed what was to happen next? Back to Dargan’s? Home? Someplace else? There was a split on the feelings about going back and Karis was rather against it, saying that we had done well and we should go someplace else.

Detheron had a different opinion and wanted to go to Principia to confront Vanir once and for all – getting the unicorn head and resolving his geas. We talked about the matter for a time and settled on going to Principia at long last. As for our treasures, there was no way we were going to cart it all around and it was going to be time to put is somewhere.

Dumethian of the Adventurer’s Guild was willing to vault it for us for a 10% fee which rankled the half-ogre but as the rest of the party told him, no one would be screwing with it and it was a good idea to park it here. During all this Detheron kept feeling fuzzy in the head like something was just outside his vision, bothering him to some level – but he couldn’t see it or place it.

So we each made our way up to the guildmaster and left him large sums of our cash, returning to the common room and our hearty lunch of stew, peppers, and bread once the task was completed. As we continued to discuss the issues at hand and our upcoming journey, Detheron’s sensation of being bothered grew and it even started to affect the other members at the table.

And then a latent alarm spell on the guild hall began sounding off. Some sort of mounting power was gathering about the room and the party fanned out concerned with what was going on. A well placed detect magic spell identified some sort of gathering field around the party – centering on Detheron! The group thought fast and with weapons drawn opted to run TO the druid who was being lifted aloft on some unseen wind.

Dumethian ran out of the guild office with a wand of dispelling and as the power of whatever spell reached a crescendo around us, he fired it into the miasmic cloud as the party teleported away and out of the common room. The dispelling rocked the teleport spell we were in and we tried to link up but the party fell apart into Karis and Coruth’tae together dropping a bit early out of the portal and then Detheron and Gwyn being pulled further along.

As for the half-ogre and the mage, they hit the ground from a 5’ drop and rolled to a stop – underground and at the base of what was once the stair out of Wodenvarelse in Dargan’s Folley! There were half a dozen dead gnolls in the area, a five count of slain human adventurers, and some sort of pitched battle going on around them.

From the ruined pile of collapsed stone came a cry of, “Get the hell down!” and arrows began flying out, scoring definitive hits against the gnolls mounted on shocker lizards some 30’ off the ground on the dwarven columns. Another voice began shouting out arcanic words and a streak of growing fire raced away towards the charging hyena men. Thinking fast, Coruth’tae whipped his Staff of Power forward and added his own Fireball to the mix – the two of them concussing under the gnoll mass together and parboiling all but two of the charging ground forces.

The party joined forces with the two humans in taking the last of the gnolls down and then there was stock taken of the area. The rubble was apparently once the stairs OUT of Wodenvarelse – now shattered and broken! As for the humans, they were part of a mercenary party hired from Dilabria by the Red Clouds to “investigate this cave system and then report their findings upon getting out”. A 7 count were hired but only these two had survived: Spax a mage and Thad an archer. Upon attempting to escape from the gnolls they were assaulted by the mass of them and the dark dwarf with them turned part of the stairs to mud. This in turn ripped the rest of them down.

Spax and Thad were competent and were obviously long lived friends as evidenced by their easy camaraderie. They had no idea about adventuring party or charter or this place being under the Sundered Chain’s rites – they were each offered 75 crowns now, 75 upon completion, and 50% of whatever they might find while down here. They were to get to the next level up and there would be a teleportal opened in the room with Thor’s statue to get them out but it would only open once after 24 hours – and that time had passed. Karis and Coruth’tae opted to join up with these two who were stuck down here – especially after they let it known that they can get out through the city below called Byfortvile – there were three other exits from the cavern and one of them would lead back to the surface!

But as it was now they needed a place to hole up and stop fighting gnolls, and restudy spells – especially Coruth’tae who was not “combat ready”. Karis led us to the 1st street and the Engineer’s area as it was rune locked and should not be a problem – impressing Spax and Thad in producing the rune key. We entered, sealed the door, and studied for the next 2-3 hours.

Meanwhile, Detheron and Gwyn were carried a bit further in the portal and were deposited in a very dark cave with spider webs and a horrid reek – two figures in the small space a halfling and a young blond haired fighter – both of them surprised to see the druid and dwarf drop from nothing above – but both ready to face a three count of giant 7’ spiders and a large leering humanoid ettercap with a silver chain just like the one Detheron had around its neck!

The combat ensued and Gwyn fired crossbows swiftly while Detheron bolstered the fighter’s strength with spells. The halfling ran forward and hid in the shadows, staying still and quiet while the fighter slammed into the lead spiders with a controlled and skillful assault of sword and shield. The spiders were falling fast and the Ettercap was struck next, the monstrous creature gibbering as it attempted to grapple with the party. Detheron slammed it with a Neutralize Poison spell which took care of its virulent toxins and then the halfling burst from hiding and struck the creature unknowing from the side with dagger and short sword – finishing the beast swiftly.

Introductions were made, the halfling was Dargis and the young fighter was Arnog. They had been hired 5 days ago from the Red Clouds while in Ironshire to the south to come and investigate this cave – each being paid 75 crowns now and 75 upon completion. But they had been harried by gnolls and worse and during the struggle the party found themselves in these caves they had taken to calling the Spiderhaunts – the other 4 members of their party falling from exhaustion and poison over the majority of the week. Only Dargis and Arnog were left and they were very tired – getting maybe 3 hours sleep over the last 36. They had missed out on the portal to get out as it had most likely come over 4 days ago. All they wanted to do was rest and then work their way to the stairs and get free.

Detheron and Gwyn offered to keep watch while the two tired acquaintances got some sleep, knowing that they would all make their way out together and find out what happened to Karis and Coruth’tae.

As for the other two and their new friends Spax and Thad, spells were restudied and the group was ready to try their hand at getting to the level down. Supposedly the other two had learned of where they had to go but were loathe to cross the Chasm as it was guarded. Karis informed them of the way behind and the new group decided it was perfect – everyone hoping to get there without issue and meet up with Detheron and Gwyn.

We led Spax and Thad through the back alleys and to the sloping corridor where we picked our way along – noting that the place was VERY quiet and seemingly abandoned. According to the two new friends, the gnolls were not very plentiful and there seemed to be a lack of non-combatants. Karis felt that Sakath had been losing some members of his clan and they were most likely abandoning the area, heading for the “safety” of the next level, Byfortvile. We made our way across the area unmolested and at the main concourse we spied a pair of guards still outside Sakath’s chamber. Skipping up one full street we kept to the shadows and moved quickly and quietly across the floor until we made it to the Great Hall.

From here we hugged the wall and traveled west until the hall was curving northward – and we came upon another Runelocked door! There was a brief discussion on the matter and we decided to check it out. It was some sort of examination chamber dominated by a glass and brass circular container frosted and pitted with age.

We spread out and learned that the dwarves had learned about the original inhabitants of the city below, an abyssal race in decline called Outsiders – 12’ tall, cyclopean, lizard like with vestigial wings and long tails. Their presence was few and scattered even when the dwarves stumbled upon them and since then they have declined even further. Supposedly possessing some power of magic and shadows we were happy for the knowledge. Inside the container was one of the creatures – captured by the dwarves of Wodenvarelse almost 2 centuries ago. A lever was sticking outside the device and the party re-established their NO LEVER pulling rule – which we know bothered the ghost of Zoltan to no end.

After learning what we could we closed the door behind us and returned to the Great Hall to make our way further to the back and eventually the passage down.

And that’s where the game ended.

Meet 66, Adv 8, 5/9/09

Want to apologize for the long delay in posting this one - been a screwed up May!

So the party was falling for the most base of all allures - the unfinished plundering of the treasure room. The chatter around the table had always been that they were never rich and when they amassed and scrimped maybe a thousand crowns to their name they were feeling well off. Now here it was they had hauled out tens of thousands of crowns of merchandise and coins and they were STILL feeling poor even though some of their sheets were showing in excess of five or six thousand gold pieces per at their disposal.

And that's just what I wanted. Sure. Go back down. Try again. The gnolls were not "ready" for them but their continued presence down in the Folley had NOT gone unnoticed and Sakath, the gnoll leader, although a coward, was not stupid. It didn't take much to deduce where the party was heading each time and some steps were put in place to be ready for the group's presence.

It was when the stairs were compromised on the way out by a weak version of a Horn of Blasting that the DM in me was clapping for joy and grinning ear to ear because it was going to make my job on the going forward that much easier.

But that's not until the next write-up

Write up follows:

The following morning we went back into the depths of Dargan’s Folley, both of our new hirelings along for the trip. We had made this trip many times and within a short period of time we found ourselves back once again in the dungeon depths. There were no gnolls near the guard room this time and we picked our way carefully along the darkness until we came to the side roads. A trip through the alleys had us dodging a few gnoll patrols but it was easy for us to make our way to the city itself.

Coruth’tae provided us some cover with illusions as needed but what was surprising to us this time was the pair of guards in the hall. Not directly in front of the treasure vault but some 15 paces past it, they were in a state of semi-readiness and unless they were neutralized there was going to be no way for us to get past them. That meant that we would have to sneak us as close as possible and take them down.

The grey elf made an illusion of the hall in front of Karis and followed behind a few paces from the half ogre and our two hired swords. The remaining members of the group kept pace beyond and after a few minutes we were close enough to engage the gnolls – our subterfuge taking them both by surprise. Swords were plied and a brief cry was uttered, attracting two more gnolls who were coming up BEHIND the party. The battle was short, brutal, and bloody – but there was little doubt in our skill and it was over swiftly.

We opened the vault door with the runekey and dragged the fallen bodies in with us, not being able to do anything about the bloodstains on the floor.

Once inside we strung together what rugs, carpets, tapestries and busts we could, spreading out the wares amongst the group and readying ourselves for what we assumed to be a fast run back to the surface. Karis was loud that this would be our last trip in and we have done what we could, gathering the riches and we should be content with our haul. Coruth’tae used an ESP to “listen” through the doorway and encountered a 6 count of gnolls, 5 bothered and upset and one very animalistic and angry.

They were about the exit area and it was going to be a running fight for us to take them down and quickly. The door was opened and the party charged out, spells and weapons hacking and tearing through the gnolls. The “angry” one was the same priestly one that Coruth’tae had seen with Tasolde in the cell block – wearing Zoltan’s long missing portaling cloak. He fired spells at the party and the group returned in kind, the half ogre roaring for everyone to get out of here and now.

We charged down the hall and the priest used the cloak to portal away – his whereabouts unseen for now. The lumbering group charged for the exit and sloping corridor out of the gnolls portion of Wodenvarelse, a pair of gnolls blocking our way. There was no stopping as he hit them, a few giving chase now from down the main corridor. The “locked” door was thrown wide and rabid hyenas and feral gnolls armed with flail like bars hit the group on the flank but Bellomeade and Geezer tackled the new threat and blunted the monster’s effect.

Damage was beginning to pile up and the group wasted no time in carving an exit for themselves, one by one the party slithering up the sloping corridor to the other side of the dwarven city, gnolls howling behind us and giving chase. In the narrow confines their numbers were blunted and the closest ones were taken down without pause.

Up top on 3rd street we took stock of ourselves and fast healing was handed out – Detheron advising us to make as much haste as possible for down the distant corridor was heard echoing barks and cries of giggling gnolls. We shouldered our treasures and ran on past alleyways and roads, trusting to the dim lights Coruth’tae held aloft to guide us only a half dozen jogging paces ahead.

There were still pursuing gnolls but we had outdistanced many of them and after arriving at 1st street we made a break for the stairs out in the grand concourse – and there we learned that the Slavertongue gnolls were waiting for us. An 8 count of them were situated on the steps and had their heavy crossbows at the ready. The volley was swift and punishing, with Karis, Geezer, Bellomeade and Gwyn taking the brunt of the impact. Shields clanged and armor clattered as the shafts flew off and against the group.

We barely paused, intent on closing the distance as fast as possible. Arrows were fired in return and the party charged onward, taking more blows from the gnolls. We had to detour and take refuge behind the stately columns, hoping to avoid any more debilitating crossbow bolts. Spells were sent and Karis withdrew his Raven’s Horn and blew a loud blast.

The walls shook, the floor quaked, the sound was deafening. Cracks shot up through the columns, across the stairs, and rubble fell as the 90’ tall expanse of steps had the bottom 4 courses turned to gravel and the entire steps groaned as they settled lower. A few of the gnolls were battered by the fallen rock and trapped by the collapsing steps. The column some of the group was using as cover began to sway and torn from the vaulted ceiling above, sliding backwards.

The party charged the demoralized gnolls and the hyena-men broke, running and yipping and giggling in fear. We scrambled up the scree of ruined stonework and took to the steps without pause and the majestic column behind us collapsed to the group with a gong-like thunderous crash and tore tons of stone from the ceiling above. Our last view as we ascended was the gnolls scattering and shouting and rocks dropping from the roof like rain.

We emerged after two hours from the Folley covered in rock dust and filthy, but alive and with our riches in tow. We loaded the wagon and bid farewell to Goloriana eventually making good time to Ponyboro and Cymbarton beyond. We paid Geezer and Bello their share of the treasure, earning a very positive relationship with the guild, and spent the next 3 days pawning our found treasures and wares with the local shops.

Meet 65, Adv 8, 5/2/09

Normally it's nice to have an adventure start and end at a high point, a natural climax. This was not the case with the last go in/down as there has been a lack of focus from my group as of late. I know it's spring and the weather is nice and frankly even I sometimes have other things I'd like to do. However we do get together only a few hours for 3 weeks out of 4 and keeping focus at the table is a job for everyone - not just myself.

So in this regard the party has entered the new adventure unbeknownst to them - a little ditty I call "City of Desperation". And with some of the new things I have planned and in store for them, there should be some perked up heads, a slight sweating on the upper lip, and a frantic grab for the "lucky 20".

They went down, gathered the goodies for a 2nd time, and are hoping for a 3rd trip in.

I truly wish them well. :)

Write up follows:

We spent as little time as possible at Cymbarton, selling what wares we could for ready coin and small travel style gems and jewels. There were a few visits to local shops and guild halls where inks and papers, weaponry and reagents, and all manner of sagery was rifled through and gathered.

Fabambus took his cut of the treasure and pocketing one of the manastones for his share of the larger treasure, needing it to further his own research, left the party to their own devices and told them when he was better able to he’d look them up in the future and aid them in whatever adventures they would be on then. Karis asked the diminutive gnome for the key to Fengarth’s tower and he gave it over readily.

Now that we were down Flarg, Asgirda, and Fabambus, the party wanted to hire a couple of sword slingers to aid them on the return trip to Dargan’s Folley. Since time was an issue as they wanted to have a turn around on the morrow, they spent only a short time interviewing at the Adventurer’s Guild, hiring two low level veterans: Geezer, a 62-year old fighter of some reknown and sporting no less than 14 charters under his belt, and the other was his grand-nephew Bellomeade who was hoping to make his own mark in the world by following in his elder relative’s footsteps.

From here we turned ourselves back to Ponyboro where a meeting with Lord Artis Daernhorse had him willing to vault some of our riches for 5%. We loaded up on wares, foodstuffs, and dungeoneering equipment and made our way back overland to Dargan’s Folley.

Upon arrival 4 days later we were surprised to find the Red Clouds nowhere about. According to Goloriana, they pulled up tent stakes a week ago and left for other parts. She does not know where. As for her continued presence in this area, she was committing to 5 more days and then she was moving on. So we readied sacks, lanterns, swords, and will and worked our way back into Dargan’s Folley. The trip down to the stairs was uneventful and the passage under the vault was long and quiet.

At the stair’s bottom we came upon the area pretty much as we had seen it before. There were still gnolls near the opening along the northern wall as evidenced by glowing light sources over there, and somehow they had dragged the large metallic item out of the room and into the hall itself. It seemed like 3 or 4 gnolls were there. With our own light source muted we crept down the steps quietly to the floor of the Grand Concourse and then made our way southward to the 1st street.

We crawled along back alleys and watched our way with dim spell light and little else. A patrol rode by at 3rd street, a 4 count of gnolls on shocker lizards. We let them pass and moved on till we arrived at the back alley of 3rd street and came to the sloping corridor to get us past the Chasm. It was here that we espied some sort of burned goop in the hall, perhaps ankle deep and charred. We figured that the gnolls had burned one of the many gelatinous cubes that make up the area and from what we could tell, it happened only a short while ago – days at most.

We made our way down to the street level and looked around. Currently the place was empty but we assumed that was a temporary thing at best. As we made our way into the roadway though, the closed and chained apartment across the way had a cacophony of noises burst from it, howls and barks and growls unlike anything anyone had heard before. It lasted less than half a minute before ending abruptly and caused the party to freeze. No one else arrived or paid the noises any mind (that we could tell) and we picked our way past, heading for the treasure chamber.

There were 2 rune locked doors before the treasure vault and the party wanted to check them both out if possible. The first one was opened and reveled the grand interior (although emptied of furnishings) of what was most likely the original Thane of Wodenvarelse. We fanned out and looked around, searching for anything of interest. On the landing to the 2nd level there was a helmet of steel and decorated with hundreds of tiny white dragon scales, a mane of some thick hair falling out of the helm’s crest. The surface was pearlescent and the party watched as scenes played across the helm’s face:

A ghostly image of the dwarven city. Trade with the hill dwarves above. A fight with elves. Dragon attacks and repulsion. Fights with goblinoids and repulsion. City expanding. Mining down. Finding a city below coming UP. Dwarves fighting dwarves. Dwarves getting sick. Becoming grey dwarves, Duergar. City sealed with grey dwarves blow. LOTS of time passing. Eventual mining back down. Major fights, something shadowy. Fighting and magic. Something sinister in the dark. Dwarves sealing up the city and abandoning it. Ghostly dwarves remaining behind to wither away.

At the end of it – there was a slowly spinning circular item made of polished steel. It showed three dwarves affixing metal orbs of red, blue, and yellow to the hooks on it. Then a red and black pulsing stone is placed at the bottom of the circle in a waiting box and the entire circle of steel glows with brilliant white light that eats away the darkness and the vision ends.

The group had no desire to take the helm and deduced that they had learned some of the history of Wodenvarelse in the revelation. Coruth’tae verified that according to elven lore, there was a massive dwarven/elven conflict lasting a few decades almost 5 ages ago (1500 years) and the scars of it still haven’t healed fully between the two races. As for the steel disk, no one had seen it or knew was it was – yet.

We left the Thane’s home, finding nothing else, Coruth’tae listening into the hall first with a well used ESP spell – no one was out there. We quickly went to the next rune locked door, a huge double 10’ tall and wide set of portals with the words Morgolian War College in dwarven over the lintel We used the Runekey an found the interior to be 4 or 5 stories tall, very sizeable, and some sort of arena in the center of it all. We didn’t want to get lost looking around the place so we backed away and Karis had the door closed behind us.

We approached the treasure vault and once sure we weren’t seen, the runelock was opened and we entered, shutting it behind us. Once inside we began loading treasures again into whatever sacks we had available. Coruth’tae spent time going over the tapestries and rugs, as well as the marble and basalt busts categorizing them by weight where able to. Just before we were ready to leave Detheron changed into a donkey and Coruth’tae called forth a Tenser’s Floating Disk. We loaded the extra goods onto both as well as took what we could and went back to the exit, noting that there was still lots of treasure still behind (statues, rugs, tapestries) – enough for another full load and then some. A final ESP spell showed the area was clear and the party went into the hall and moved fast as possible to the sloping corridor and up to the streets. From there it was along the back alleys and then the Grand Concourse.

A few of the gnolls glanced our way but in the pitch blackness and the long distance between their globe of light and us, we were invisible to them, and a few seconds later they returned to their tedium. An hour or so later, just about 6 PM, we emerged with another load of treasure and loaded it onto the wagons with claps and smiles and thumbs up.

Do we go back to Ponyboro now or return to the depths for the rest of the booty as well as finding the other treasure room that Dargan and the Phantom Blades had been plundering? The wagon was barely 1/3 loaded and the group decided to sleep under the stars tonight and return to dungeon tomorrow in the AM.

Addon, Adv 7, Sakath Letter

The party snuck into the chamber the current gnoll leader, Sakath, was using as a place of operations. It was a former dwarven throne room and through a series of fortunate lucks, the place was momentarily abandoned. Amongst what little was still here, the found a scroll case right next to the throne, inside which was a document regarding the gnoll's presence down here and perhaps a clue or two.

The letter they discovered follows (for intents and purposes, the letter is roughly 3 years old by the time the party reads it):


Sakath Slavertongue

The compact has not been met – so return home is denied. This is not a matter for discussion or bargaining anymore.

Frankly your tribe has been long suspected of being deserters during the Greatwar as there was not one report of any successes or battles where the Slavertongue Gnolls we present.

64,235 talons. As we discussed, don’t care if it’s gold, artifacts, raw goods, or anything – you don’t pay, you don’t cross the mountains.

In honor of your odd request, the Ogrelords are willing to help your tribe meet your requirements. Raven’s Perch Demesne is iron poor. If you can supply the goods as requested in the time frame allotted, then we will arrange payment of the Compact with your smith Shengdu’s work.

We have had little contact with Kashtir Bristlestone, finding the Duergar to be pompous, arrogant, and too crazed and chaotic for our liking. But he and his clanmates are willing to act as intermediaries between us and yourselves.

Do not tell him or his clanmates much if anything as we feel and fear that the Duergar’s allegiances and even their minds are captured by forces and beings most foul. Even the long departed dwarves who lived in the mines centuries ago had the foresight to flee the darker places of the world and keep their beards and brows out from whatever menaces lived in the black holes of the earth.

The Ogrelords are willing to open a portal between Raven’s Perch and the hall the Duergar call Wodenvarelse as it has been scryed and pictured many times. Your entire clan will be sent there to that spot for a period of four years. There are some indigenous slave races that infest the ancient dwarven tunnels, you are entitled to either impress them or slay them as you see fit.

We shall visit upon you once every nine months to check on you and your progress and catalog what you have accomplished. You will be responsible for whatever food, clothing, or tools you are going to need so you should make those arrangements first – but make no mistake, you will make good on the Compact or it will spell doom for not only your own clan, but your extended clan still on this side of Raven’s Perch.

Be here at Midsummer’s gathering with your clan and I will see to it that you are portaled to the dwarven mines. Do not dare to not be here.

Kiroc Ravensbane
Airmonth, 172, 30th Age

Meet 64, Adv 7, 4/25/09

After long last the party armed with the Runekey was able to find the Treasure Room. There are two of them - one of them untouched and virginal, the other partially plundered by Sir Dargan and then by Vanir/Djohrgahd and the Phantom Blades. There are other "D" rune doors scattered about this level, and each of them have something within the ancient dwarves wanted to preserve, guard, or protect.

The party snagged what they could (after a short and potentially deadly encounter with a modified Gorgon (the bull version, not the traditional medusa-kin)) and then dragged out a large pile of it to get to town.

I was very kind and had no claim jumpers bushwhack them and made sure that at least for now, all was good and smooth. Once word leaks out that they made a killing at the site, I am not so sure that future trips home will be as uneventful - but that's for another day.

Write up follows:

We arrived just outside the Throne room and waited, hearing the distant (very!) sound of gnolls and none of them nearby. Even the guard area outside Sakath’s Room was empty, the oil lamps still lit and a couple of ranseurs leaning against the wall.

We ran over there and entered after verifying the place was not inhabited, shutting the door slightly to disguise our presence. The ceiling was almost 100’ domed overhead, with a pair or heavy iron chandeliers providing lots of light for the chamber. A 2nd tier encircled the perimeter where a pair of steps went up, a low wall with numerous alcoves and niches every half dozen paces. In the back was a 4 tiered platform with a number of thrones on it, one of them obviously Sakath’s. We counted places for over a dozen guards but there were none here now.

Quickly we fanned out, some of us looking for secret doors or places, others for any sort of clues, others for treasure. We allowed ourselves 5 minutes no matter what and then we were going to back away from the chamber hopefully far in advance of any returning inquisitive hyena-men.

Although there were some items of note, no real treasures were to be found. We did uncover an important looking document in a strange hand in Sakath’s few items of interest and we took it, replacing the page with a rolled up normal piece of paper to make it appear like the room had been untouched. There was talk about scribing some expletive on the wall but it was decided that we should make NO show that we had ever been in here – nothing to give the gnolls a reason to be on alert or looking for us.

Leaving the throne room we went back to the hall and approached the 1st rune locked chamber. The doorway showed many old signs that it had been picked at earlier, but nothing had broken the seal. The party held their breath while Karis used the Runekey and the chamber opened.

A blast of stale air choked the hall along with a thin scree of dust, but when it cleared we beheld a deep chamber, perhaps 4 lengths wide, the ceiling a dwarven comfortable height of an inch or two over 5’. There were over a score of thick wooden and brass reinforced chests in here about the chamber, the back wall sporting a similar number of rolled up rugs and tapestries, the left wall home to over 30 statues and busts of dwarven art. But in the middle of the chamber was a squat stone figure of a bull…that opened its hellishly blue palefire eyes and snorted terribly loud, pawing the ground.

There was concern about going in to battle the creature/construct (we didn’t know what it was) due to the severely reduced ceiling height and the cluttered terrain because of the chests. Most of the group stayed gathered about the entrance unsure and vacillating. Coruth’tae fired off a lightning bolt, angling it so it rebounded off the ceiling to strike the strange creature. There was a loud sizzling crack and THOOM but when it ended the beast seemed unharmed. The elven mage and the gnome both stayed on either side of the doorway, outside of range and view while the party tried to coax the bull to approach them in the hall.

It was at that time that it snorted loudly and opened its mouth and breathed out a scintillating bluish field of smoking energy that slammed into the party, rocking them back on their feet. The creature’s breath stole some of the group’s life away and sapped their vigor, causing them to become crusted over briefly with a gritty/sandy coating. Fabambus shouted out, “GORGON!” upon seeing it and advised the party to either run or close immediately since it would continue to breathe on the group if possible until everyone was turned to stone.

Karis hunched low and ran in, Flarg following on his heels. Asgirda fired stonebiter arrows at the gorgon, wounding it, Gwyn shooting as well. Melee was engaged and the fight was brutal and terrible. Spells and blades made the day and the Gorgon fell in time with the party only taking a few more hits for their trouble. We then shut the door to the treasure room and the group began opening boxes.

There were 23 chests in total, filled with tens of thousands of gold and silver pieces as well as plates, mugs, cups, bracelets, necklaces, circlets, buckles, rings, combs, candle holders, stands, and holy symbols and jewelry. We broke out the bags and started filling them, our excitement almost physical as we decided how much we could possible haul out of here. The aid in the efforts, Detheron transformed himself into a mule and allowed even more sacks to be slung across his back. We were loaded down with no more room to carry ANYTHING, and we still hadn’t cleared out 1/3 of the chamber.

Fabambus checked the hall after the door was opened and even though the sounds of gnolls were louder and more insistent nearby, none were in visible range and the party left the treasure vault and made their way back down the road, up the sloping passage, and through all the side and back alleys until we arrived at 1st street. From there we doused all light and walked as quietly as we could to the stairs and began the long walk back to the surface, leaving Wodenvarelse behind.

We came out up top and Goloriana met us where we divested ourselves of our treasures and loaded what we could into the wagon. Bag after bag was pulled free and stowed aboard. Then the party was attempting to tarp it down and deciding if we should head back now or later when we noticed that Roxarn of the Red Clouds and one of his companions coming up the hill from their encampment. He commented on our obvious emergence and from they were able to tell that we had a good haul. He was looking for an idea of what we found and how it was and Karis was very closed lipped about it – saying nothing. Roxarn eventually got the hint (his companion said nothing the entire time, merely looking at us all in turn) and said that we had 35 days until the site became open.

We hastened our loading and then left, riding out in a way to avoid the Red Cloud encampment, on watch for any attempts on us or our load. It wasn’t until over a day later that we felt safer and continued on our way to Ponyboro. We met with Lord Daernhorse and told him of our haul. The lord offered to turn some of our coin into notes along with the Cooperson and Wolverton family, each of them scribing a 2,000 crown bearer note in exchange for coinage.

From here we opted to ride on to Cymbarton where the sale of our wares and goods would fetch the best price as well as directly pay the Adventuring Guild their share of the treasures. We paid Flarg and Asgirda their cut and the bugbears laden down with gold and treasures began the walk back to Orihalcus with fond waves and “good lucks” at us.

We ended it here. At this point no one has enough to go up and there is some talk about speeding up our turn around to make it back to Dargan’s Folley for 1 if not 2 more trips down.

Meet 63, Adv 7, 4/18/09

When I designed the 2nd level of Dargan's Folley, it was in two obvious parts: a lightly patrolled side with all the goodies and wandering monsters and level 3-6 junk I like to put in there (who doesn't like owlbears?) - and a more militarized side with gnolls and goblins.

Gnolls to me are really decent monsters because they are generally lightly armored, tall and strong, and given the right makeup can be a cake walk or a tough nut. They don't have the collosal hit points of ogres and aren't as much of push overs as hobgoblins (which I rarely use - too many 1-3 HD monsters I always felt).

But I digress - knowing that some adventuring parties will spend WEEKS going over an area and glomming every stray copper common they run across behind stoves and under seats, the first part of this level was pretty well described. But it was mostly just stuff. Normal stuff. Things that were left behind a century and a half ago by departing dwarves, pawed over by wandering beasties, looted by goblins, then Dargan's people 50 years ago, and then the Phantom Blades (Vanir's adventuring group - BBG) 10 years ago, and then maybe 4 years ago again by the now transplanted gnolls.

There was not going to be much there. And any group would have to work to find it, what little was there, except for the troves (small) I hid behind runelocked doors.

So this was the 2nd time the party went to crawl around the "shops" and look about for little treasures. And I was able to spring an Otyugh on them (Fabambus aka Amityville Mike from Pole and Rope http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/ specially loved monster) as well as some cave fishers and a cat and mouse game with a Slithering Tracker until they realized that this was a bad idea and they should just find the runelocked doors instead.

And for that, I am very happy. Now for the parts of the adventure to hit them that I have been holding in abbeyance for the last 5 months or so. XP's will be rocketing up their character sheets real soon and real fast - or they'll be running away again. :) (cue Benny Hill's Yakkity Sax http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spz8_rpE0e0)

Write up follows:

There was talk about what to do next, where to go, and what places did we see the “D” runes in. It was eventually decided that we would go to the “sleeping wall” and try to work past the Lyreth ward there. So Karis used the runekey, opened the door…

And roughly a half dozen goblins who live in the area watched a doorway open that had never been breached before and our party walk out. They clamored around and their gravely voices attracted other goblins to come and see. How did we open it? Fabambus, speaking their language, flat out lied and told them it was already opened and they were here looking around for Sakath. Some of the goblins entered the Heimdall temple but when Karis walked out taking the runekey, the door reappeared and sealed a 4 count of the 30 or so goblins in the area inside.

Get it open! We couldn’t (lied). What are we going to do? Some of the goblins said they were going to get Shegdu the smith and others suggested to go to Sakath. The party thought quick and abandoning the idea of working their way into the Lyreth warded area for now, they said that Sakath was this way (towards the back of the area and back through the sloping corridor) and that the group should go tell him what happened.

About half a dozen goblins came with the group as they left the goblin area of Wodenvarelse behind and trudged up the sloping corridor, past the owlbear den, and into the street. And then Fabambus slapped a Sleep spell out and the goblins, except for 1, fell asleep. Flarg took down the lone goblin and then started hacking up the slumbering ones and the group debated what to do next.

It was voted on leaving the goblin and gnoll areas alone for some time and wander the “city” portion in an effort to find whatever runelocked doors were there and open them. We remembered that the guard post in the Grand Hall (where what had been deemed the salt shaker was) was Runelocked and there was a runelocked door in the back of it, as well as another guard post near there.

The smaller rune door opened, but only into the back alleys of the streets. But the other guard room opened up to show no salt shaker, but a glass container with another of those spellstones within, red, glowing, and shot through with black lines.

We then went down some of the streets we hadn’t been on before, looking for other runelocked areas. One of the places was very filthy and there was fresh garbage strewn all about it, a midden. The group wanted to avoid it and with good reason, except Fabambus and then Flarg both inexorably wanted to GO to the midden! Karis tried to stop them near the edge of the garbage pit. However the gnome and the bugbear looked at each other as if hearing something only they could sense, and chucked the half ogre into the pit!

Karis was not amused and was asking for help and the two friends were unsure WHY they had done that. But a tentacle came out of the garbage and looked at Karis through large purplish eyes and then something IN the muck began nibbling on his foot. Rope was tossed in and the party tried to pull him free but there was not a concentrated effort and the party was rather unfocused and Karis was now being eaten under the trash.

Just then Fodder was attacked by a large spider that had snuck out in the confusion from another shop and pressed fangs and poison into the wolfkin. Detheron was torn and Smokey ran to help out his friend. A giant 20’ boa was summoned and it landed on two of the spider that were approaching, 2 more still unmolested.

Karis drew sword and began hacking into the garbage and the upper half of an Otyugh emerged, the half ogre’s lacerated leg and foot dangling inside its toothy maw. Asgirda leapt into the garbage and tried hacking the Otyugh’s thick hide with her picks. It slammed its tentacles around. Bow fire was sent and Fabambus accidentally shot Karis in the leg!

Flarg jumped into the mess to help and the Otyugh was badly outmatched and tried to burrow deep down but Karis was furious and didn’t relent until the filthy creature was slain.

Meanwhile the last of the spiders was dispatched and Fodder was poisoned and in bad shape. Detheron was trying to heal his wolfkin and Karis was demanding his own healing, his leg barely held on and no feeling from his mid calf down. Then he took the jar on unguent and dumped 2/3rd of it over his torn up leg and the stress of it was so great the half ogre passed out.

The party tried to save the unguent but most of it had been spilt. And Karis’ leg was missing muscle, sinew, and tendon from the calf down – he was lame. They took out the precious Potion of Regeneration and poured it down his throat. His leg reknit properly and old scars and wounds faded away. He awoke but there was not much happiness as this little fiasco cost them an irreplaceable Potion of Regen and some 30 doses of healing unguent.

We wandered the area and felt at a loss, unsure if this was a good idea and perhaps we were doing something wrong. As we were going from shop to shop, Fabambus’ keen ears heard something following us, slithering. We could see nothing. What was it? We waited and looked and eventually the idea was hatched that if it was invisible, a downburst of rain would reveal it. Detheron called on a precipitation spell and we saw something, oilslick like and maybe 4’ oval and gliding away from the water.

The group shot over it but his nothing until someone thought to shoot the SLICK itself – and that resulted in hitting the creature which was the slick! Fabambus told us it was a slithering tracker and was some sort of semi-intelligent ooze that would follow us and try to kill us in our sleep. We had to kill it now! More shots were sent but it was fast and as it was dodging into a shop, Detheron hit it with a Faerie Fire Spell – allowing us to see it for the next hour.

We charged in and saw it going out the back door, the arrows still in it sliding out. Karis and Coruth’tae were on it’s back, pulling the door open, and saw it cutting left and then seemed to get VERY flat and moved slowly. Karis realized it was under a gelatinous cube and had the grey and him get back into the shop and shut the door swiftly.

They ran into the street and went up another alley, hoping to cut it off but they didn’t see it in the alley anymore. The party wanted to make sure it was dead and the opted to quickly check out the nearest 4 shops as the creature couldn’t have gotten too far. The 1st 3 shops were a bust but the 4th shop that was opened, Karis was hit by two cave fishers, their long muscular tongues pulling the mighty half ogre into the shop.

He pulled out his dagger and began hacking at one of the tongues, cutting it free. Some missile fire happened, and then Fabambus sent a stinking cloud into the shop and the two cave fishers were squirming and gasping in nauseous pain. Coruth’tae noticed a telltale glow coming from the front of the shop as the slithering tracker ran under the front door and tried to get away. He dodged into the street and using his wand of shadows, began spell blasting the ooze. It charged him trying to get him, but the mage’s armor spell deflected even a casual touch and a last spell blast tore it to shreds and the Slithering Tracker was finished.

The group reconvened and decided that this was dangerous and foolish. We should not be going shop to shop as we were risking death and worse. Fabambus said the dwarves had a love of symmetry and there might be two guard room on the other side of the Grand Hall and we should go there to look for “D” runes. So we crossed the Grand Concourse and sure enough, there were 2 guard posts there – but neither one was “D” runed. Hmm.

Since we had not looked down any of the southern streets except for the 3rd one, we looked on the 1st one for any runelocked doors, our stomachs growling and bodies growing weary. About half way down we found a shop that had been rune locked and a quick administration of the Runekey had us enter the former shop and work area of Wodenvarelse’s Master Engineer.

There were detailed drawings on yellowing parchment curling on the walls, tools, knives, weights, measures, styluses, and logs and books. Karis closed the door with the Runekey and the party decided that this was good a place as any to hole up, eat, and rest. They looked over the drawings and a few applications of a mending cantrip had them in better repair to take off the walls. Dwarven designs beyond anything anyone had ever seen before of tools and machinery. One of them was of a series of bridges and the group realized that it was the same bridges that cross the chasm down here.

After studying them, there was discovered a way to collapse the mighty spans – turning the statues at the front of each so they face each other would have the bridges fall. Good to know! We also looked over the other things in here and took a large pile of tomes, a 15 book set on engineering written in dwarvish and in good repair.

After sleeping and waking up feeling MUCH better, we prayed, studied, and readied ourselves for the next day, hoping to go and visit other shops down here with runekeys and eventually going back to the gnoll side to look around there. We left the engineer’s office and picked our way through the alleys to the next street. But we heard sounds. Gnoll voices. Lots of them. Walking about.

We doused the lantern and the party grew silent, waiting. The gnolls (maybe a dozen or more, along with the reek of their shocker lizards) were seemingly patrolling – something they had not done during any of our visits down here so far – at least on this side of the chasm. They were looking up the 2nd street, went to the Grand Concourse, and then down the 1st street – the one we had just vacated. They stopped at what we assumed was the engineer’s office and we heard casual knocking and noises – but then they stopped and moved on.

We listened and the patrol moved back to the Grand Concourse and eventually grew fainter…until there were lots of excited shouting and gnollish voices. What did they find? What was across the Concourse? Did we leave something there? At that point we remembered that Detheron had stone shaped the wall open at one of the Rune-locked areas, the one with the 10’ tall metal “thing” with the copper looking fan on top. From the excited gnoll voices, it was obvious they had discovered it. We couldn’t speak the language but we heard Sakath’s name a few times and the patrol was sending bodies back to the bridge and assumingly getting more.

Damn.

We deduced that some of the goblins had alerted the gnolls to what had happened concerning the runelocked door and who we were and some patrol was sent out to check other runelocked doors to see if they were opened. And the gnolls had indeed found it. And now the gnolls were coming to investigate and even Sakath was being called.

The party thought on what to do and how to go about it, as the number of gnolls arriving in the dark hall was getting more numerous and excited. And then the group said, “Say, the throne room must be empty. Let’s go check it out! The gnolls are mustering over here – it should be much easier for us to walk around.” There were lots of thumbs up on this and the group, area lit by Coruth’tae’s Light spell, ran off through back alleys and side roads until they came to the sloping corridor and stopped just short of the gnoll area.

Fabambus used an Invisibility spell, already under the effects of arun spell, and then fired off a Locate Object spell – and ran down the large road looking for Runekeys. Chuckle. The speedy gnome found one. Two. Three. And then he was at the end of the road, Sakath’s throne room on the left, a few bored gnolls standing there. He waited and saw only a couple of gnolls belting on leather and brigandine and running towards the main road. He smiled and came back to the group, revealing all he learned.

The party was psyched and wanted to go to Sakath’s Throne room as this would be the best opportunity to do so and avoid as much of a combat as possible. We ended it here, the group entering the street and heading towards the Throne Room.

Meet 62, Adv 7, 4/11/09

No DM wants to run a bloodbath. Some older school adventures are designed that way where you come to the table with sheets of replacement PC's, but the reality of it is that the players and the DM want some continuity.

This could have been a blood bath. Hell, it could STILL be one. This group has been hit or miss regarding covering their tracks and not attracting everyone in 10 square miles to their location and during the night I was rolling honestly, no fudging, looking for that first time when the wandering guards and locals come out of the woodwork and gathered theirselves about the party for an old-school whooping.

But the gnolls were not going to attack the party tonight and they dodged the bullet so to speak, getting away with a relatively innocuous series of encounters and then a defined gathering and acquiring of their end goal.

And for that I was deliriously happy for the party.

Write up follows:

Detheron used his staff to force the gnoll he was struggling with the stay on the ground while he called out to Frey to help him summon a globe of fire into his hands. While the sparks were flaring, Fodder and Smokey tore into the gnoll on the ground, causing the figure to giggle maniacally during the struggle. Raising his ball of fire up he slammed it down into the gnoll who caught it in his box of trash, setting the contents ablaze.

Before the rest of the party could enter the other gnoll kicked Fodder in the ribs and then stepped past the wolfkin to slam the back door closed and slide the bolt lock over. Coruth’tae and Gwyn moved aside and Asgirda brought her shoulder to bear, trying to batter down the back door. The struggle in the house was getting desperate as Fodder was hit with the box of flaming trash and the other gnoll was assaulting Detheron from behind.

Flarg charged to the back door and was blubbering and roaring in an effort to burst it down, rage filling the bugbear with terrible fury. The metal hasps were straining but held. For now. The rest of the group was concerned about the level of noise and were looking up and down the nearby alleys, seeing no gnolls approaching yet. Karis forced his bulk down the alley towards the main street to look out, the illusion Coruth’tae placed on him to appear like a gnoll himself still in place.

As the druid was having a serious problem within the house he called to Frey and a 140 lb prehistoric Dire Weasel appeared with a clap of smoke and tore into the gnoll choking Detheron from behind. And then the lock burst free and Flarg fell in, taking the gnoll at the door to the ground. Some noises were upstairs and Detheron wanted to silence them, whatever they might be. In the back alleys no one was coming or paying any mind to the party but down the main thoroughfare Karis noted a single gnoll approaching with a slow and tired gait.

The druid bounded to the main room of the house and took to the stairs, his animals following behind him and Flarg behind. Gwyn (still invisible) stayed in the back alley and Fabambus hid around the corner keeping himself out of sight. Coruth’tae entered the gnollish home and looked at the carnage, Asgirda mouthing the word, “Crap,” to him.

At the top of the stairs was a younger gnollish figure, female, and surprised at seeing Detheron charging towards her. She motioned to the other two gnolls (younger than her and male) to flee and tried to run herself but the druid’s boar spear slammed into her shoulder blades and she staggered to her knees. Fodder tore past her and chased down one of the gnoll boys into a side room. Smokey lumbered further in and slammed the other boy down but a lucky kick to the nose had the bear lose his grip and the boy ran past getting to the back window and yelling for help.

In the street the guard gnoll was getting closer and Karis pulled back into the alley to avoid being seen. A young gnoll child from a nearby house was coming into the street and talking to the guard in their own language – something was afoot in the house the party was in.

Flarg help Detheron take down the teenaged girl gnoll and Smokey tore the gnollish boy’s back open killing him. Karis stepped out of the alley walked right up to the gnoll guard and taking full advantage of the fact he was illusioned, stabbed the length of his great sword into the other’s chest. The young gnoll in the street was standing there stunned but Asgirda leapt through the window of the house and tackled the young gnoll, clamping a hand over his mouth and stifling his screams. The back of the house had another inquisitive gnoll child looking around back there and Detheron dropped a ball of fire on him – and then Flarg pushed his way through the window and dropped two stories onto the gnoll – killing it. The weasel was ordered out to the street to help “kill gnolls”.

It jumped out the broken window and attacked – KARIS! The half-ogre still illusioned had no idea where the weasel came from and had to fend off its attacks, letting the guard gnoll stagger away. Asgirda broke the boy’s neck and seeing the gnoll guard getting away swung the 75 lb gnoll child around three times and let it fly – slapping the guard in the legs and tripping him up.

The illusion now dropped from Karis, the half ogre, the dire weasel and Asgirda all made short work of the guard. It took the group only a few seconds to drag every now slain gnoll back into the house and reconvene. There were LOTS of heated words with Detheron who some of the party felt was too blood thirsty and took reckless. The druid maintained that he didn’t give a crap about gnolls and neither did Frey. It got very heated but it was decided that the party would talk about it at another time.

There was a waste culvert under the house and we pulled up the grate in the kitchen. The bodies were hacked apart and dumped down the hole while the group maintained a vigil. No other gnolls came to investigate but we heard them in the city, talking, giggling, moving about. We felt really exposed and wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible and to the “last” street northward following the goblins’ directions from earlier.

We picked our way across the main road and through a series of alleys until we got to another main road. From here we crossed to the other side and went through the back ways but after some walking (past what we assumed was the back door of a tannery) we deduced that the road here was the “northern” most road we needed to find the gnoll captain Tasolde on – he who had/has the golden holy symbol to Thor from the mausoleum that Zoltan had on him when he was slain.

Plans were discussed and some thoughts were given out, but it was Fabambus and Coruth’tae who put together their resources. The grey elf read one of the gnome’s “locate object” spells and still under the effects of a Run spell, dashed into the street and picked a direction at random – deciding on west. He ran on, feet a blur, getting closer to the main thoroughfare and what gnolls were out there, when the locate spell went off with a PING in his head. THERE! Behind a door, the last door on the right, just shy of the main street.

Was it locked? What was in there? Hiding near the shadows, he cast and ESP and scanned the room’s interior, centering on where the locate spell had identified the symbol to be. There was a mind there , contented and relaxed but had a singular dog like language he couldn’t understand. He spiraled out from there encountering 5 more similar minds (one of which was rather angry) and some what he assumed were goblin minds as well, one of them in pain and terror.

Dropping the ESP he cast a knock spell this time – pushing it into the chamber so the terminus of it would hit the door he was outside but would definitely hit other locks, hasps, and snaps in the chamber as well. Some confusion noises were heard within. Then he called forth a stronger illusion, making himself look like the same duergar (dark dwarf) we had fought when escaping the Folley last time.

And then he entered.

It was a interrogation chamber and there was a goblin on a table a cage of rats over his belly open and vermin squirming everywhere, 6 gnolls in here, 4 of them wearing leather jerkins, one with a brigandine breastplate, and the last one bare chested and scarred looking. They all were scrambling to pick up belts and cloaks and hold the goblin down and gather the rats and were surprised at seeing the dark dwarf enter. Coruth’tae pointed to brigandine wearing gnoll, specifically at the gold symbol around his neck and said in dwarvish, “That! Give it to me. Now!”

The gnoll (tasolde) balked and tried to argue against it but Coruth’tae repeated his demand and made himself seem more wroth. The gnoll grudgingly took it off and complained that “he was allowed to keep it, why take it now?” Coruth’tae told him nothing.

The bare chested gnoll swore to Fenris and tried to engage Coruth’tae in some conversation/explanation but Coruth’tae played his part without deviation, turning to leave without another word. He did note though, that Zoltan’s one time portaling cloak was here – and in the ownership of the bare-chested Fenris swearing gnoll.

Once in the street he turned to the left and ran as fast as he could, dropping the illusion, back to his friends down the back alley and triumphantly handed the amulet to Karis. Elapsed time: 7 minutes.

The group was VERY impressed.

We decided at that point to get the HELL out of here after we heard what went down, assuming that the ruse wouldn’t last forever. We picked our way from alley to alley and back to the back area of the gnoll area and then up the long curving sloping corridor back to the other side of Wodenvarelse and hid ourselves in the Temple of Odin to discuss what was to happen next.

We looked over the map and decided that we needed to get to the Hammer Room, which by all accounts was in the goblin area and most likely opposite from Sakath’s chamber, over 800’ north of what the gnoll’s had taken as their throne room. There was another sloping back corridor there but it was past an owlbear’s nest. There was no chance we were going to push past the Chasm at this time so the owlbear’s nest was the decision.

We geared up and made our way across the sepulcheral halls until we came to the area in question. The stink of ursine was very strong but we stayed with care until we passed the ruined shop (with at least 2 owlbears within who growled but did not approach the party) and entered the back alleyways. There was sign that a Gelatinous Cube had been through here recently but we went past and into the long sloping corridor. There was a 3’ burned mark on the wall of a stylized wolf’s head in profile and an arrow pointing down into the darkness – testament that the Phantom Blades and Vanir’s group had been here and marked the area.

The group formed up into single file and worked down the heavy slope some 150’ feet until it opened into a wide dwarven corridor 30’ tall and lit with phosphorous fungus from above. The reek of goblin and kobold was strong and their voices echoed strangely along with the clang of industry somewhere in the gloom. We knew that we would have to traverse the entirety of the dwarven road (with homes on both sides) to get to where the Hammer Room would be so we set off.

After only a short distance Gwyn stopped the group. He looked back in the hallway at where we had last walked and cautiously looked over the floor. After a few moments he announced that a 9’x9’ section of the floor was a good inch or two lower than the rest of the place and was, in his words, the first imperfection we had run across in the dwarven city. Fabambus came over to check it out and after a couple of seconds got a glassy look in his eyes and started to walk away the way we had come, Gwyn’s Lyreth Copper Wolf’s head medallion growing warm. A Lyreth Ward!

We broke the enchantment on the gnome and the party looked around. 9’ overhead was another wolf’s headed burn mark on the wall, an arrow pointing straight down. But the wall was featureless! It took some time but the party felt the wall was too smooth, too perfect. It was real (no illusion) but Detheron and Coruth’tae figured it might have been subject to one of the stone melding spells the druid does, the “stone” coming from the floor and spread over whatever doorway the Phantom Blades had hidden behind the wall long ago!

A work gang of goblins emerged and watched the party, wondering what they were doing. Fabambus spoke to them as if the party was supposed to be here and through some decent story spinning and name dropping, diffused the goblin’s interest (especially since they had been told to be alert for an ogre and a dwarf traveling together – and Gwyn was STILL invisible). Shengdu the smith was not too far from here. And the Hammer Room was at the end of the road we were on. We asked about the wall and were told that it was the “sleeping wall” because over the last couple of years whoever spent too long over here got sleepy and went home to nap. We thanked them and told them that we’d let Sakath know they were doing a good job and sent them on their way.

The group left the area for now and went on, looking at the doors on both sides with interest. One of them was runelocked but also sported numerous symbols of Heimdall upon its surface.

At the hall end we came to the great double doors to the Hammer room. It was chained and marked to be avoided as per Sakath Slobbertongue. A knock spell took care of the lock and Karis held the Symbol of Thor in his hand aloft and entered.

The room was huge, 100’ tall domed ceiling, two massive iron chandeliers with eternal candles lit, two levels and a wide open area before a raised 4 step dais where a dwarven throne sat with something resting on the seat bottom. Scores of smeared rusty areas marred the walls and floors about the chamber. And spinning slowly 6’ off the ground bathed in the light above was an 11’ tall golden war hammer.

It did not respond to the group that gathered inside the doorway and once the door was closed behind us Karis held the symbol before him and walked in slowly. It was perhaps 4 strides in before the hammer spun faster and began to rise higher and on the 5th it flew at Karis and arced over his head as if to strike but stopped 7’ over his form quivering in the presence of the ancient dwarven holy symbol. He walked in a bit more and it followed him, always staying outside of reach but moving around him as if to test for an opening.

Feeling brazen he walked backwards towards the door, the 11’ tall hammer following, which got the rest of the group VERY worried and cried out for him to STOP! The hammer didn’t follow Karis to the door but the group told him to stop screwing around. So Karis walked forward across the chamber, the hammer following always just 7’ over his head, until he climbed the dais to the throne and took the octognal stone disk from the chair, the front of it emblazoned with a bas relief of a dwarven “D” rune (two triangles facing one another). The metal of the crest was singularly strangely oily looking metal and the entire piece weighed a disturbing 25 lbs, easily 3 or 4 times what one would expect it to weigh.

Karis walked out, the symbol still held aloft until we all arrived at the door and emerged back to the main hall, our prize in hand. But what to do with it? Where to go first? Do we go to the wall with the Lyreth Rune somehow hidden behind it? Do we even know where the treasure room is? Is there more than one?

We opted to try it out on the first door which was the Temple to Heimdall. Karis wielded the runekey over the markings and the key SLAPPED forward against the door – a crackle of energy flowed, the scent of ozone filled the air, and the doorway just DISSOLVED.

The Heimdall temple had been undisturbed for over 150 years. Three long rows of stone pews, a 15’ tall statue of a dwarven artist’s view of Heimdall, a pulpit, holy water font, sealed mahogany closet. On the inside of the door was another “D” rune which Karis placed the runekey against and the door reappears with a crackle and resealed the room. Good – no inquiring goblins or gnolls to disturb us.

A search over the entire chamber with mundane and magical means showed the holy water font was unbroken and could be reused, the items in here were old but unspoiled, and the cabinet held a rack for 6 staffs of which 5 were empty and one was filled, and a singular 9” disk with Heimdall’s emblazon on one side and the words “Seal of Heimdall” on the other. Detheron noted the staff in the rack was an exact duplicate of the Staff of Heimdall he was holding and when he tried to remove the other one a magic mouth appeared warning that removal of the staffs can only be done by a high priest for recharging or by the replacement of a spent staff. So he took out long used and well worn Staff of Heimdall and put it in one of the open slots – and the other one popped out! The original one wouldn’t budge (magic mouth reappeared) but we had a new one fully charged! Sweet.

Karis took the Seal of Heimdall and when he grasped it he found he was able to read the dwarven script with ease (something he could not do normally) and he had an keen insight on a strange jar of unguent in the cabinet (healing salve, external use only, 5 hp healed per application, 45 possible uses in the jar), the Staff of Heimdall (25 charges, heals 20, wards for 2-5 minutes, of last stand for blanket heal 15’ radius and ward). Very nice.

We were packing up what we’ve found so far and deciding on what we were to do next, breaking for lunch and ending it here.

Meet 61, Adv 7, 3/28/09

It was nice to get back into the dungeon again. Level one still had some surprises for the group should they take the time to explore it, and the last bit of "treasure" was in a semi-sentient constructed cauldron that doubles as a trap should the group just let greed rule them.

Once it was done they had no reason to not go back to Wodenvarelse and begin to really find what they needed to, which meant the lost Symbol to Thor in the gnoll area and eventually using it, the Runekey from the hammer room. With the runekey in hand the group would not be barred from any of the sealed doors anymore, although I had to admit they did have a great work around using stoneshape spells. It would drain their magic and they couldn't explore too swiftly, but they were able to get into some areas of the dungeon "earlier" than I had originally expected.

Part of having a good time on my side of the screen is looking for those times when the party surprises you. I am looking forward to seeing how they handle this area and surprise me because this plan they are could be rather deadly should they decide to swing swords and batter their way through.

Subtlety is the key. But then again, maybe they will surprise me. :)

Write up follows:

There was some serious discussion on how to assault the large mass of spiders and the leader (assuming it is one) inside the far chamber, eventually the party decided it would be best to go in with Flaming Sphere’s rolling and mop up whatever still lives afterwards. But they had been talking aloud for so long that their voices carried down the hall and the closest arachnids entered the hall to find out who was making the noises.

Detheron sent the sphere bouncing away and it toasted the closest spiders and rolled into the room where he had it begin to bounce about the walls. High pitched screams and odd crinkling chitterling noises emerged and we expected to follow in shortly afterwards, but there was a “WHUMPH” of outrushing air and a 9’ tall, silver necklace wearing, hairy spider phazed into the room with us and slammed fangs and serrated legs against the party. We struggled briefly until it phazed out after assaulting us.

We spread out, each person taking a section of wall to press their back against. Gwyn sent shafts down the hall to the burning room, striking a few spiders daring to step out and approach us. The Phaze spider did not reappear but both Detheron and Fabambus used their location magic (animals and minerals (silver) to zero in on the large arachnid, finding it in the hall we came down and around the corner. A direct assault was ruled out but Coruth’tae used one of his Spectral illusions to fool the spider into attacking an illusion of Karis, and when it stepped free the group assaulted it, taking it down swiftly.

Detheron looked over the silver necklace the spider was wearing and after learning it was magical, put it on and tried to command local spiders. Nothing happened. So he had them slain for insubordination. Chuckle.

We had now cleared out the area (after getting a handful of gold and silver for our troubles) but after talking about possibly going down to level 2 or finishing up the last unexplored section on this level, once again we opted to stay and clear it out. We worked our way back to where the map room was and this time went north through the corridor, ending up in a chamber with 2 other exits and 6 cupboards along the north wall.

We carefully looked them over (nothing jumped out but we expected it to)and after glancing down the two closed doors to wherever they went we opted to go east where the corridor opened to a sloping chamber with a harp lying on its side, strings broken, and a brass gong dropped from its chains on the floor. An odd stain ran down the room from the upper slope to the back wall. We spent some time here trying to figure it out but decided it was not harmful, Fabambus and Coruth’tae looking further along.

There was another chamber with some spiders in it, and a low worn container with some sort of piping in it along the back wall. Whatever was in it had long ago emptied or dried up and the spiders were easily scattered. The party followed and the group pressed on.

The next hall led down stairs to a strange chamber where every pieces of furnishing in here had been smashed into pieces no larger than a man’s hand. Shelves had been torn free, counters crushed, everything. No rhyme or reason. We stayed on the outside of the room, Fabambus giving the place a wary eye. He looked carefully over the chamber, paying more mind to the ceiling as he noticed that the stonework up there didn’t match the rest of the area. And as he watched the ceiling seemed to “crawl” towards the party’s position. “Time to go,” the gnome said and beat retreat from what he identified as some sort of Lurker.

We worked our way back to the room with the cupboards and took the other option, Coruth’tae using his map to tell us that there wasn’t much left to find. There was a room with barrels in it, lots of them and the sound of a rat’s warren within. Some quick spell work took care of them and we searched the area onward, finding nothing.

The last chamber was different than anything else so far. There was a large massive cauldron set in a circle of stones in the middle of the room, some 3 1/2’ tall and 4’ in diameter. Looking in we found it was ¼ filled with gold plate ware, goblets, and utensils. There was concern on sticking our hands in so we dumped it on its side and some of the items within fell out, along with 3 skeletal arms and hands, all severed at about mid point in the forearm.

Hmm.

We started tossing things inside, but it was the dead rat we tossed in that caused the mouth of the cauldron to SLAP closed with serrated teeth like projections. Trap! Very nice. We finished dumping the dwarven made bric-a-brac out and while going through the items one by one, we were a bit stunned to see the cauldron slowly grow legs, right itself, and settle back into the fire pit area again. I believe the party then decided there and then that they were going to take this with them when they finally left.

We checked the last door and noted that it led to the same area with the moving ceiling so that meant that we were done and our efforts were complete concerning level one. We rested for the night and the next day Fabambus placed a run spell once again on Gwyn and himself and then the group worked their way to the south eastern halls, the fane of Thor, and down the grand stairs almost a mile plus of walking to the 2nd level of Dargan’s Folley referred to as Wodenvarelse.

Once here we wanted to go towards the “northern” areas and eventually the same places where Zoltan had died near the owl bear area, in hopes that we could use the side corridor there and get to the Hammer room and try to find the gnoll who has the holy symbol to Thor or if not, eventually just chance getting into the room itself.

On the way we noted some sort of conversation of goblins and kobolds down a side corridor and the group got audacious. Fabambus took Karis only and the two of them entered the side hall and went up to the goblins as if they had all the right in the world to be down here.

Through some very light stumbling and serious bluffing, they made it seem that they were travelers from Byfortevile, a city below this one, run by something called Outsiders, and they were up here looking for a gnoll who had just gotten a promotion. There was lots of talk and the group learned that the gnolls were on alert from a “Bamph-mage” who came in named “V” and talked to Sakath and the Duergar (dark dwarves) to watch for a surface dwarf and an ogre who would be entering the area.

Some sort of alarm had been erected over the bridge area if either of those two approached and the gnolls had a bounty to take them (and their companions) if at all possible.

Goblins had been left alone up to 4 years ago until the gnolls and Sakath had come in here and began mining the old dwarven iron deposits, making lots and LOTS of axes, morningstars, helms, and shields. How many the gnome asked? The goblin thought and answered, enough of an army. We were told that the new gnoll captain who killed the surface man some months ago has an apartment on the southern area beyond the chasm – that is gnoll country. The northern part is goblin and kobold and the gnolls patrol it a bit up there and it is run by a nasty gnoll smith-wizard named Shengdu. The southern part isn’t really patrolled. The dark dwarves live in Byfortevile and Sakath answers to them.

We thanked them and went on our way, the party racing towards what had been the temple of Odin to get away from prying eyes and ears and to discuss what we had learned. From here it was a trip to the southernmost sloping passage and down the ancient cramped hall to the gnoll city.

We didn’t like it. The main road was 20’ wide and the area was lit by phosphorous fungus eerily green. We decided to go down the alley ways but the group didn’t have a real destination in mind. We snuck across to a side alley and picked our way carefully down. Karis led the way and kept the party quiet and moving along, avoiding what few gnoll signs he saw. We side stepped down a long alley choked with trash and while avoiding some children we were going towards the other main road when a back door opened up and Detheron was face to face with a surprised gnoll. He shoved it back into the house and slammed the door closed, trying to hold it. The alley was tight and the group couldn’t get there fast enough and then the druid shoved the door wide opened and dropped the gnoll inside to his rear, staff leading the way and Fodder and Smokey at his back.

But there was another gnoll in here and both of them were wroth at Detheron’s intrusion.

And we ended it here.

Meet 60, Adv 7, 3/21/09

I had to refamiliarize myself with Dargan's Folley as the adventure had not been run to what course I had originally expected the party to get to the first time around, and 4 months in game had passed.

Most of the window dressings remained the same, but the underlying movers and shakers on the 2nd level I had tweaked accordingly from the original way I had written it out mostly because the party had made it down there, made their presence known, attracted the attention of Sakath the gnoll lord, made a nuisance of themselves to what Duergar (dark dwarves) do commerce here, and both acquired one of the important keys to get the treasure and lost said key of the treasure!

It was nice to force speed through the party through the shop/train/equip/travel stage and under normal circumstances I don't do that - I would hate it as a player to be railroaded so obviously - however the consensus around the table was that they wanted to get back to adventuring and to make it happen it required a hand and some time dilation.

There wasn't much left of Level 1 to explore, two small sections. One was spider heavy with a weaker phaze spider as the boss and the other just had some goofy stuff in it I wanted to make them think about (some of it is red herrings, others are odd beasties, others are just strange junk).

During this meeting they blew through over half of what they hadn't explored and even though the leader Karis was not happy about it, the other 3-4 party members were enjoying it. And that's what matters.

Write up follows:

During the remainder of the winter the party took care of what odds and ends were necessary. Selling off treasures to wanting vendors and buying new equipment, getting our existing gear repaired. There were small visits to friends and family and most importantly a longing look at deeds long undone and places under the ground for us to return to.

We discussed hiring people to come with us and went through our needs and whatnot. Some names were brought up and others discarded. But we settled at long last on two more to come with us: Flarg and Asgirda from the Drywood Clan of bugbears that we had befriended. Both were tough and resilient fighters, capable of handling their own needs and we had journeyed with them before. The usual deal of 25 crowns up front, 1 full share each, and 25 crowns for funerary rites should the unthinkable happen.

As it came closer to the days for us to leave we found ourselves summoned to sit with Sir Walter Slaine. Originally the 3 remaining founding members of the Sundered Chains were requested for (Karis, Gwynwyhver, and Detheron) but the other two were called for at longer length for discussion purposes. The year and a day long bondsmanship was coming to an end and Sir Walter wanted to keep the Sundered Chains at and near Orihalcus. He offered to make them vassals for revolving 1 year contracts, the cost eventually settled on would be: room and rent (at our existing locale), stablery/feed/shoding of our steeds and mounts, 50 crowns every month (for food).

There was a matter of how to alert the party that they are needed should they be out on an adventure and Sir Walter had an answer for that. Adeptus Bjorn had procured signet rings for the party and would give them to the Sundered Chains to wear – each ring enspelled with a single beacon style spell. If Sir Walter needed the party, the rings would impart a one time message to them upon his enacting of the enchantment, alerting them of their need.

The party agreed to this last piece but only on a 100 crown per man fee on the assumption that being if they are not at Orihalcus, then they are on an adventure and would have to depart in the midst of it. All parties accepted this matter and on Plantmonth the 5th, 175 of the 30th age, the Sundered Chains accepted vassalage to Sir Walter and had their former bondsmanship pact ended.

We geared up that night and said our goodbyes to town the following day – our new wagon, 4 horse team, and mounts already waiting for us. Upon arrival at Ponyboro a trip to Vermyzier’s had the bulk of our adventuring gear already prepared for us and we set off toward Deep Lake and then southwest for 2 days to the monolith. We camped at its base and then traveled west for a single day until we came to the former grove of the Circle of Thorns.

It wasn’t until we were attempting to scale the great hill to Caer Dargan that we realized something was amiss. A number of small tents, campfires, and a wagon and half a dozen mounts were up there! As we rode closer a bear of a man with unruly orange hair and a maul across his shoulders stepped forward and asked, “Are you the Sundered Chains? I am Roulix of the Red Clouds. We’ve been anxious to speak with you!”

Turns out there were 5 members of a 7 person adventuring group here, identified as the Red Clouds and they wanted to see us and get our measure. They were doing research on Dargan’s Folley and were even looking for books to purchase, knowing enough about it to identify Mulholland (the man who sold us the 3rd volume in Cymbarton) and wanted to know if we had the books and would be willing to sell it to them. Karis told them that the site was STILL ours and Roulix informed us that it was true – but only for another 39 days – and then no one owned it.

Karis then threatened the other leader and words were exchanged but no blows were delivered and we went on to the Caer itself, giving them a backwards glance.

Goloriana was happy to see us and told us we were late. We apologized and learned that this group had been here for a week, and 2 of the members had left some time ago. One of them was a druid. Lovely. There was ANOTHER group that had visited here before this group, 4 of them and swarthy. Goloriana had to engage them and chase them off.

She agreed to watch our wagon and mounts and assured us that nothing would happen to it while she was here.

It was about 4:15 on Plantmonth the 10th at this point and decided to go on in and visit. We broke out the gear and split up what we could on everyone (Asgirda and Flarg taking their own burdens as well) before taking a trip down into the Stronghold level. Coruth’tae placed an illusion over the entrance area so that if the druid was nearby, it couldn’t see us use the Lyreth medallions to open the ward. Fabambus used a scroll of Run on himself and Gwyn, giving the gnome and dwarf a much needed boost in speed for a number of hours should they need it.

And then down we went. Lantern was lit and we reentered the long gone entrance hall. From here we discussed our options and the party put it to a vote – to finish clearing out the Stronghold level before going down to the 2nd level and the dwarven city. We went back towards where the map room was on the Southwest portion of the level and from here drew weapons and readied ourselves. We went down the hall further and further, passing a set of stairs on the left, until we came to a door.

The reek of vermin and filth was strong, cloying on the back of our throats. The floor was in horrible shape and coated heavily with droppings and the sounds of squealing rats was getting louder. Karis snuck up and using his infravision looked in, spying several hundred rats as well as a 3 count of the over-sized hairless osquips. We talked when he returned and we came to the conclusion that we did NOT have to go in there and could give this place a bye for now.

We went instead to the side corridor and set of stairs and went down slowly, Fabambus and Coruth’tae looking around carefully – the two of them discovering a secret door near the base of the stairs where the corridor “T”’ed. Karis opened it and out spilled bones. Lots of them. Enough for almost 30 humans. Who put them in there and why?

Detheron looked them over with more care, the druid realizing that most of them had torturous damage to their joints – and that every one was here for decades. Vanir and the ritual? Or was it Dargan? We filed it away and cleaned the hall, eventually deciding on going to the right.

Corridor meandered for a bit and then ended up down a set of stairs to a door that was torn and eaten along the bottom. A quick look and listened revealed the place was clear but Detheron called on Frey to help him find any animals nearby, specifically spiders, and got a 4 count of pings some distance away but not in the next chamber. We entered and found what was once a dwarven barracks.

Most of what was still in here was useless but there were a couple of items that we did take, a weaponsmith’s kit and a thin vial of Keenedge Oil. Beyond here was another door and a larger amount of spider webbings barring our way. We picked past and went on, Karis and Flarg leading the pack, the bugbear brawler lighting what webs were ahead of us. We came to another chamber, this one time a set of cells but most of them rusted away to nothing. 4 large spiders the size of dogs skittered forward.

Karis went to engage them head on but his blows were too slow for the speedy arachnids and two of them leapt upon him, one on his chest, the other on his head and shoulders. Detheron dropped a Flaming Sphere on Karis’ front, burning the one on his chest free and another too close. Gwyn and Flarg smacked the one on Karis’ helm aside. The large spiders were made short work of and we cleaned our weapons and checked out the room, finding nothing of interest.

With nowhere else to go we back tracked to the closet area with the skeletal figures and went left this time, Gwyn advising us that the strange fungus was in there in the coal bin and it was very active with fire. Fabambus informed us it was most likely brown mold and any heat source would set it to growing and engulfing its food – ie, us. We went in and doused the lantern, making our way beyond the coal bin to the other side of the forge room and looked at our options.

We could take a corridor right or there was a door on the left, the party opted for the open corridor. It was long, some 30 paces, and there were odd smeary black patches here and there. It lead to a door and after checking it for traps and deciding it was clear, Karis pushed it open. Whatever the room was used for at one time was unclear but something had been using it not too long ago. Old blankets, simple tin buckets, smears that might have been food, goblin markings here and there.

The half ogre entered and slipped a bit on something slimy in the door frame, he ignored it until the gnome was telling him to check his boots. He looked and sure enough, the leather soles were smoking! He shucked out of them fast and dropped them and the boots were slowly dissolved into a thin puddle of green slime. Using flame we burned the slime and then carefully looked over the room while Karis made impromptu footwear out of old sacks and thongs.

The blankets revealed nothing and what furnishings were in here were also nondescript. There was a single door out of here and it led to a short 10 pace hall with another doorway. Gwyn went forward to check it out but stepped on a hidden plate and the ground opened beneath him, dropping him 20’ straight down and by BLIND luck not landing on any of the spikes sticking out of the pit’s bottom!

Asgirda and Karis used the climbing harness to get Gwyn out of the pit while Detheron used Spider climb to get around the pit and check out the door – finding it to be a closet with a lever to lock the pit open of closed – he left it opened.

We back tracked to the forge room and went down the door there. A set of stairs went down and then the corridor detoured to the left and wandered a bit. Coruth’tae informed us that we were coming to a dead end area according to the map he was making. Eventually the corridor “T’ed” left and right, left went nine paces to a door, right went 5 paces to a blank wall.

The party had misgivings about it but Karis went toward the door, mentioning that Fabambus should follow him to check out the door but he never got there as he stepped on a pressure plate and the party watched the door carefully. But the trap came from the BLANK wall behind as 6 slots opened up and spears were hurled down the corridor. Every one of them hit Karis dead on. One of them blew through his armor plate and pierced his lung!

The knight went down in agony, too filled with pain to summon up even a simple spell. He ground his teeth and enacted his healing ring, but he could still feel his life force ebbing away. Detheron dropped low and crawled up to Karis, struggling to stabilize him but with the shaft of wood and iron in his lung, there was nothing he could do. Gwyn came forward and using his scimitar hacked off the back of the spear from Karis’ chest as Detheron pulled the other end through. The half ogre blacked out briefly. Now able to see the wound, he poured the power of Frey into his healing and the deadly wound was closed.

Fabambus went to the door to verify it was a trap, and in there he found a lever to neutralize the danger. Once it was done the party pulled Karis back into the hall and stayed with him till he woke us. Meanwhile the 6 holes in the wall closed and we could hear shifting wood and metal – it was reset.

Coruth’tae went back to the closet, avoiding the pressure plate area, and removed the trap’s safety, coming back to the group.

Once all were better we were getting hungry and tired, but wanted to move on to one more chamber. We pressed on after back tracking a bit, until we arrived at another barracks long abandoned. It had signs that it had once been used by goblins or kobolds but not too recently. We ate and decided that we would go on for a bit longer.

The door from here led to a short corridor and then to the left and right, the left opening to a small closet like room with a 3’ wide, 1’ tall @ 4’ mark clear stone window looking beyond (former dwarven bolt hole), the right going a short while to a set of stair leading down and a plethora of spider webbings.

We opted to go to the spider webs and Flarg was on burn the web duty. Beyond it was a door and a room that a pair of long ancient tables, a basin, and hundreds of squirming spiders and larger dog style sized ones. The group decided to seriously assault the arachnids and taking most of the 8-legged menaces on the first assault with sleep spells and direct damage. It was over fast and beyond here was another corridor that lead to a room with a door torn off its hinges.

Detheron called on Frey and got a number of feelings of spiders beyond that doorway and one REALLY large return.

We ended it here, debating on the merits of assaulting the “queen” spider and its minions or just leaving it behind and going somewhere else.