Town Adventuring - sometimes drudgery, sometimes exciting. This one was exciting. The party had some plans, followed them through, reacted well, and got the job done. Then they were into uncharted territory as they have now a strong dislike/suspicion of the goblin who has been sending them on missions. There are roughly 2 more encounters planned that rely on the facilitator and then the party moves off the goblin city and onto the rest of the adventure - but now they have a problem with the "quest giver" (someone joked that he had an exclamation point over his head ala EQ2 or WOW).
It's things like this that I like as a DM - when the party takes my loosely guided rail cart and nudges it onto a side track and spur that I didn't expect. If I wanted a static linear game I would go back to MMORPGs - I WANT the party to mix it up, take different roads, and not follow every crumb I hand out.
On another note - I have made the long dormant and wanted to decision to go back to 2nd edition thieving skills. It's been bugging me for over a year - having them under the umbrella of skills/crafts as 3.5 and I never liked it. Pick Pockets, Open Locks, Find/Remove traps, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Climb Walls, Read Languages - it's all there. It comes at a good time since Zoltan is coming back and one of the new Mike's I'm grabbing to play wants to try something thiefy as well.
Write up follows:
It was decided not to climb the Ironbeard Stalagmite and we talked long and hard about what we wanted and what was our course of action. End all be all, we wanted the goblins to play us straight and tell us which way to go, guiding us to the right caves and eventual road out of here. And that meant being Grix’s messenger-boys and doing what he wanted – not to go site seeing and poke around. So we opted to go back to the Rocking Table and get some watery beer and shut-eye.
We awoke the next day and after some time were summoned to the goblin Burghermeister Grix once again. The repulsive goblin had a singular mission for us – transport the offering crate from his office across Byfortevile to the bridge and give it to an Ogre guard there named Malador. The crate was filled with silver and gold, tribute from King Yikzarch to be given to Thane Kashtir.
Grix was rather blasé about the fact that once the party left his office, they were fair game and should take pains now to avoid notice and theft of the box and its contents. Our job was to deliver it and get it done, returning to him and informing the goblin functionary of anything Malador had to say.
We weighed the box, had to mass 80 lbs. One of us could carry it but it would weigh and slow them down. The chest was sizeable, but could be carried by 2 as there was a handle on each end. More plans were tossed about and we settled on Coruth’tae making the chest look like a bedraggled gnoll. Arnog and Damien picked up the chest and the grey elf altered the illusion so that it appeared they were grabbing the gnoll under the armpits. It was then given some touches such as a muzzled snout, bound hands behind its back, and its feet shackled together as well.
We were going to have Gwyn walk first with his crossbow at the ready, Arnog and Damien following behind with the illusioned chest between them, then Coruth’tae walking slow to maintain concentration on the image and adjust it if need be, then Detheron and his new tiger following afterwards, Heimdall’s Bulwark out and ready.
We nodded to Grix and informed him we’d be back soon and Gwyn opened the office door.
The party was noticed immediately by the wandering goblins but once it was observed that we had a gnoll with us, the greenskins went back to whatever they were doing. We made it outside the Manorhouse and stopped in the street just off to the side, debating on what we were to do next.
The group had to go to the bridge and we could take Goblin Row to the Statue of Odin and then veer south, staying on the crowded main path. There was much discussion about this as it was potentially very dangerous and could attract too much attention. We went over many different plans until we were zeroing in on taking the longer way around vie the Aquifier and Ironbeard Stalagmite, a much further walk but less issues for us to concern ourselves about.
However our presence in the streets of Goblin Row were not ignored and in time a group of goblinoid mercenaries came up and started to berate the party. The observing goblins were watching and getting a bit egged on by the mercenaries continuous bashing against the group, wanting them to drop the gnoll and they’ll bring it to Kashtir for questioning (the excuse we gave). It was getting to a head and we were worrying that we would have to resort to weapon play (which was a big no no against goblins according to Grix) when Coruth’tae changed his illusion slightly. Over the head of the gnoll captive, he made the disembodied head of King Yikzarch’s head of security/main throat slitter, “Gangrene” appear and give the goblins bothering us a stern warning to get the fuck out of here or face his anger.
It was not the most subtle illusion, nor was it entirely “accurate”, but it did diffuse the situation and the goblin mercenaries wandered away with some trash talking and face saving comments. Not wanting to attract anymore attention we opted to go to the right and take the long way around as it had been discussed.
At the end of Goblin Row was the hissing, steaming, clanking goliath of the gnomish Aquifier, a number of goblins and the like outside awaiting the chance to trade/barter/purchase any of the salt there. We made it past the queue without making a row although the ogre, Ann, from the Raging Horn, recognized us and wanted to know if we were coming back as we said we were going to. Detheron spoke with the simple Ogre for a bit and we made it on our way without further incident.
We circled Ironbeard Stalagmite and stayed close to the spire of rock, not daring to walk past the alleyways behind Goblin Row. From here it was a toss up, go through the main thoroughfare and a short trip down the main road to the bridge, or go by the Vermin Farm and the Boatbuilders and come up to the bridge from the west.
The party didn’t want to wander that close to the wharf and not knowing the area well enough, opted to cut through the intersection and head south down the main road past Punishment Wall to the Bridge. Most of the roadway was fairly empty, a smattering of goblins wandering about, doing whatever it is they did. It was when we entered the actual intersection that a single figure stepped out from the roadway ahead.
A male drow, perhaps 6’ tall, clad in tight fitting elven chain of some heavily carbonized metal, a pair of curved sickle-like daggers in a pair of hip sheaths, and very calm with both of his hands in his pockets stepped from the corner ahead of us and just stood there – blocking our way. We slowed and came to a stop, Gwyn at the closest maybe a dozen strides shy. We asked him to move, he said nothing at first and then told us to drop the “gnoll” and back away. He’ll take care of it. The party tried to convince him otherwise but he was not going for it.
Coruth’tae told the two fighters to “put down the gnoll” and whispered that we should only pretend to put it down, to actually stand up and try to act casual – as he was going to hopefully mask the drop with an illusion of the gnoll on the ground. It was not working out and the drow told us that we were testing his patience. Damien squinted and felt outward, detecting the distinctive “evil” taste of the drow talking to us as well 3 others nearby – two more “drowish level” evils on the roof’s of the flanking building above us, and one more generic on at the opposite corner near the drow male.
Quickly whispering to us his feelings, the party steeled themselves for the attack which came suddenly and swiftly. Two drow females emerged from the roves some 25’ feet up, each one of them pointing a hand crossbow at the party. One of them, the one on the right, clad in red leather and sneering, pointed at Coruth’tae engulfing him in a sudden globe of darkness while she shot at the fighters, her bolt hitting but the poison failing to take affect. Meanwhile the other drop female shot at Detheron, hitting the druid and dropping him to sudden venom induced sleep.
From around the corner came a snaggle toothed goblin sporting a crossbow who ran out from his hiding spot so fast that he tripped and smashed himself in the head on the building’s corner, stunning himself briefly. The last drow, the male pulled his hands out of his pockets and with a single arching overhanded motion let both of his dagger flail across the intervening space and smack into Arnog – the vemoned blades dropping him to sleep.
Coruth’tae backed out of the globe. The drow sorceress on the roof pointed at the chest and levitated it out of Damien’s grasp until it was level with the roof line. The red clad drowess slid a whip off her belt to snag the chest. Gwyn poisoned one of his bolts with wyvern venom. The grey elf let fly a bolt of lightning so that it would streak across the two roofs and hit both drows. The sorceress was lightly affected as she skipped out of the way, maintaining her levitation. The bolt skewed through the chest, the stone box crackling apart and exploding, sending flaming bags of gold and silver to rain out of the sky, pelting the unconscious Arnog. The lightning ended at the other drow female but her innate magic resistance kicked in and the lightning faded away.
Damien charged the lone drow male, throwing his armor class to the wind and trying to smite the warrior, dismayed to find the knives he had thrown shimmer and reappear back in his sheaths. The two exchanged blows, the paladin unable to strike a solid blow. The red clad drowess shot Coruth’tae, the bolt slapping against his shield spell and fading. Gwyn took aim and fired at the sorceress, scoring her deep in the leg. She slipped back, stumbled, and fell off the building, hitting the ground with a thud and succumbing to the venom that was pushed into her arteries.
The other drowess on the roof gave a command to her “brother” to “go, cut our losses” as she ran away overhead and was gone from sight. The drow fighter stayed long enough to knife Damien twice, a new dosage of poison hitting him and sending him into a slumber, before melting into the shadows and running away.
Gwyn went and got the groaning goblin, trussing him up quickly and smacking him with the scimitar until he passed out (making sure NOT to kill him as the battle had attracted some 30-40 goblin onlookers who would report if we broke taboo and knifed a goblin). Coruth’tae snagged a ring of the drow sorceress’ finger but hesitated to put it on as it was barbed along the inside. We waited for our companions to wake up from their slumber and then took stock of what we had. The drow had not stolen the money, but they did destroy the box. Damian and Detheron took off their cloaks and split the money between the two fabrics, tying it into a pair of crude sacks.
From there we opted to crowd close together and not waste any time getting to the bridge. We walked the main road, Gwyn carrying the unconscious goblin, the party looking huddled and worried. About halfway down the main crowded street we noticed the two drow just standing on the side of the road, watching us. We gave them a birth as we passed, unnerving smiles following us.
At the foot of the bridge we had only a short time to wait before one of the ogre guards came over. He demanded the payment even though we told him we wanted Malador. There was some yelling and the ogre went to hit Coruth’tae, the mage’s armor holding. So the ogre used his club, and although rippling around the mage’s enchantment, did not strike him. Thinking something was wrong with his weapon, the ogre smacked himself in the head and knocked himself clean out.
Another Ogre came to investigate, stripped the fallen one of his money pouch, and upon hearing from us on what to do, went off to go get Malador for us. The ogre in question came up and asked for the chest. We didn’t have the chest, but we DO have the money. Malador was adamant that he was SUPPOSED to get a chest and a chest was SUPPOSED to go Kashtir who would eventually give it back to him and he would bring it back here for Yikarch’s people to get it. No chest means that Malador could NOT do his job!
The party was looking around when Detheron used a number of stone shape spells and made a crude stone box out of the floor which the group then dumped the money into it and slapped a simple cover on it. Malador looked it over and took it with him, trudging across the huge bridge to the distant city of the Outsiders.
From there we went back to Grix’s office, unconscious goblin in tow, and were shocked to find the red leather wearing drow female sitting there! Damien tried to draw his sword but was restrained by Detheron. She was there complaining that bunch of surfacers had attacked her in the street unprovoked, i.e. – us. We got into some heated words and eventually Coruth’tae was speaking to her in her own language (after a quick trip in the hall to cast an ESP spell) trying to get her to slip up (mentally) on where her and the male drow were staying. He couldn’t find it, but he did stumble upon the fact that she had come to Grix BEFORE the robbery and was going to cut the goblin Burghermeister in for 10% if he would tip the drow off on the day that “box” was going to be delivered to Malador.
He verified this by reading Grix’s mind. The drow had no malice other than sowing chaos and have been playing the Duergar and the goblins off one another for years. Grix occasionally takes advantage of his position but honestly figured the group could take care of themselves and the defeat would snub the drow who have treated him like he was stupid over the years.
Some final threats were slung, we left the unconscious goblin in Grix’s hands, and then the group left the office and went back into public. We were not going to stay in the Rocking Table anymore, feeling that the drow would pay a visit on us during the night. There was also much talk about NOT working for Grix anymore – but the discussions ran hot about it. We needed Yikzarch’s blessing and help to get out of Byfortevile and the goblin king had assigned us to Grix. But Grix played us sort of false.
We settled on a few tentative measures – we would not go back to Grix now, instead go to Jarul of the Split Skulls and see if we can use our notoriety with the goblin filchers to get them to help us out. If/When we do go back to Grix, we would be tough and let the goblin know that we caught onto his bull, and by doing so no let him think he can get away with it again. And finally, if the opportunity comes for us to get out of here, don’t dicker about it – just get it done.
We went off to the Split Skulls area, the warehouse near the eastern docks and spoke with Jarul who was happy to hear from us. We told him what happened and he commiserated with us, but did say that he was not surprised. Grix is a fairly influential goblin and stealing is something goblins do well – even if it is against each other. Having a different take on it, the fact that we beat the drow and even killed one, speaks better volumes to Grix that having a party of powerful adventurers on his side is a damned good thing.
He will keep his eyes and ears opened for us and will let us know what we can do and how we can get off Byfortevile. He did tell us a few things we did not know. There are OTHER colonies of humanoid cities on the other side of the Underground Sea: Gnomes, Duergar, Drow, even a sort of cosmopolitan one with surfacers and other types all together. But since the Duergar run the boats and crossing the bridge is most likely suicide, we would need someone or something on the inside to get us out of here. As for the drow female, her name is Yasmina and she’s been around here for a few years, there are 4 in her cabal: her, a female sorceress, a quiet drow female with a penchant for grays and blacks, and a male.
From there we went to the Raging Horn and got a room from Ann where we tried to explain to him if anyone comes looking for us and they are drow, we are not here. We bedded down in a room that was used apparently for drying fish maybe a half hour before we rented it, relaxed as much as we could, and called it a day.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Meet 73, Adv 8, 8/22/09
After over a month of looking and interviewing, we replaced one person at the table, the new player coming in as a paladin and starting at 4th level. This brings our compliment of players to 4 around the table, with one observer for now. Of the 4 we've had poor attendance from Gwyn the dwarf, which makes the group problematic at best and underpowered in regards to role playing.
There is room for 1 more, maybe 2, and I have some more interviews next week which will get us back up to speed and strength. Looking around at the group we are thief light. A cleric or wizard wouldn't hurt either (no offense to Detheron or Coruth'tae!).
Bringing a new player in is always a jarring experience - whoever it is starts at a disadvantage in regards to level, camaraderie, knowledge of house rules, and play style. I had remembered reading in a few places a sort of "rules" or "guides" on player etiquette at the game table - pretty sure it was in some Dragon magazine or Blog somewhere. I'll have to go look it up and tweak it so that it better conforms with our group.
I am sure it will all work out and know that all will be richer for the diversity brought to the table. :)
I figure the group has 3 more meetings (give or take) in Byfortevile before I slap them into some dungeon crawling fun. Which will be good because it will give everyone a chance (new and old) to do a last bit of "towning", try to gel a bit as a group, and then get right to spelunking the dim and dank darkness of the world below on their way to the distant surface and Dragonhole above.
That reminds me - I really need to draw out Dragonhole one day soon. Chuckle - typical DM.
Write up follows:
We rested up, feeling good about ourselves and our situation. We figured that our part in the bar brawl was not our fault and that we should keep trying to be in King Yikzarch’s good graces for as long as we could.
We spent much of the morning eating lightly from our food stores, honing our weapons, and going over our belongings while awaiting word from either Undertaker Solon or Burghermeister Grix. It wasn’t more than a few hours before we had a knock at the door and we met a young human male named Damian sent to us from King Yikzarch.
Damian had been smuggled out of the Vault of Madness, a large citadel on the center island of some importance to both Kashtir Bristlestone as well as the Outsiders. It seems that Damian was a paladin of Baldur and had been portalled there almost 2 months ago by Vanir and some other mage clad in fire. He had attempted to stop the two men from burning an Orphanage in Dragonhole, the young children that were being consumed had their souls sucked into glass spheres that Vanir was holding. He spent 2 months under the yoke and lash of the demonics and had been freed almost 5 days ago by Duergar seeking to weaken Kashtir’s position with the Outsiders and hopefully be replaced by an Underthane.
Seeing our paths conjoined for the time being we opened ourselves up to the paladin and then all went to see Grix together. The goblin Burghermeister had heard about our bar brawl and noted that we accorded ourselves well during it; also following his prohibition on unnecessary slaying.
There were a number of battered goblins in Grix’ office and we learned of our next mission. The goblins here were part of a gang called the Split Skulls, a group of 20 or so toughs that work the docks as longshoremen, filching goods and cargo from those boats and skiffs loyal to Kashtir. The operated out of a warehouse along the eastern docks near the Spider Paddocks and had proven themselves to be quite lucrative to the goblins of Byfortvile.
There have been a number of gnolls over the last few weeks migrating down here since Sakath’s power was broken in Wodenvarelse above. Two days ago a band of 8 took it in their heads to tangle with the Split Skull goblins – and beat them senseless. The leader, Jarul, was captured by the gnolls and the rest of the gang was beaten to an inch of their life and sent running.
Grix wants the party to go to the warehouse and “visibly and publicly teach those gnolls that Byfortvile is a GOBLIN city and not their playground.” We took the mission and went off to check out the situation.
The warehouse in question was the last in the line, maybe 30’ from the water’s edge, three stories tall, perhaps a hundred and fifty feet wide by seventy feet deep. There was one sliding double door for loading and unloading, two other main doors, and one smaller back door. We talked about a number of plans discarding them one after the other, until it was decided we just go up to the place, make an ass load of noise, and then call them out – fighting in the street.
Gwyn readied a crossbow bolt with his Wyvern venom, Detheron called on Frey to fill Arnog with holy strength, and Coruth’tae cast a shield spell around himself. Damian and Arnog put a couple of barrels in front of one of the doors to slow down anyone attempting to come out. And then Coruth’tae cast a glamour that made it sound like a dozen goblins were shouting their heads off for Flitch (the gnoll leader we were told, who also had a cat) to come out. The main doors slid opened and gnolls started pouring out into the street, half of them clad in armor and wielding morningstars, the other bare-chested (no cat so far).
Coruth’tae used his Staff of Power and sent a Fireball streaming into the building blowing the gnolls about and knocking a few of them down, but most of them were able to block or roll away from the bulk of the fire. Detheron called on Frey’s will and a horde of a thousand rats boiled out of cracks, holes, and from down the street massing in front of the druid and ready to charge forward into the packed gnolls. Gwyn swapped from his crossbow and precious poisoned bolt to his regular bow and fired at the unarmored gnoll.
Only to see his arrow knocked out of the air. A second shot followed and the gnoll snatched it with his fingertips and broke it with one hand. Fuck.
And the door behind us shook and banged as someone on the other side tried to push it opened, the barrels slowing him/them down briefly. We stayed together and got ourselves ready as the other door exploded opened and out stepped two more unarmored gnolls, one of them his fur dyed orange and striped in black. And then a growl echoed as a 300 lb tiger stepped out and snarled at us.
Detheron sent his swarm against the 6 count of gnolls and let his concentration wane, the maddened rodents impeding and biting and crawling wildly over the gnolls. Gwyn took up his crossbow and fired it at what we identified as Flitch – only to see his precious poisoned bolt sent away with a palm blow from the preternaturally fast monkish gnoll. The dwarf then growled and said, “No more missile weapons I guess, it’s sword work time.” He and Arnog stepped forward and took the fight to Flitch and the other monkish gnoll there.
Some of the gnolls mixed up with the rats broke away and tried to run elsewhere in the building, but one of them kicked his way free and raced toward Damian. The young paladin joined the battle and calling on Baldur wildly he channeled his own power into his sword and “smote” the gnoll full on, slaying the evil beast with a single stroke of his great sword.
Detheron called on Frey and tried to dominate the tiger, his will encaging the cat and forcing it to obey his wants, attacking Flitch! The gnoll was wroth and forced the tiger into submission with a brutal blow to the head, knocking the cat out for a few minutes. He then turned to the druid and said, “I’m going to KILL you!” and charged. Damn.
Arnog couldn’t stop him as he was still struggling with the other gnoll but Gwyn jumped in the way and scimitar ahead of him got a singular lucky shot against Flitch’s chest, bringing him to a stop. Coruth’tae made himself appear to be covered in lightning and pulling his dagger free also tried to intersperse himself between the gnoll and druid.
From inside the warehouse one of the gnolls tried to come out the window but Damian was there with sword and did brutal fight with the giggling beast. Others came at him from the other side, morning star crashing against his splint mail and he struggled to beat back the next gnoll.
Detheron yelled for Frey and a lion appeared in a flash, assaulting Flitch and raking the gnoll hard. Seeing Coruth’tae as the easiest target he went to attack the mage and was surprised to find his blows turned aside by the combined powers of the Shield spell and the Mage Armor! The gnoll was getting beaten badly and with a lucky blow Gwyn hacked into his chest and Flitch went down dead. Not believing it Arnog tried to whack off Flitch’s head but the gnoll was playing possum and kicked Arnog hard in the leg and ankle, hurting the young fighter.
Another gnoll came out of the warehouse and Detheron called on Frey once more, summoning a hippogriff to take out the new threat. The gnoll leader was slain at long last and seeing this the last few gnolls charged Detheron looking to take vengeance against him. Damian finally took down the last one he was fighting and tried to help as did Gwyn. Coruth’tae made it appear that entangling ropes were binding the two gnolls but only one of them fell for the illusion.
Gwyn tackled the “bound” gnoll and the dwarf and gnoll went over the side of the shore line where the gnoll sunk to the bottom and Gwyn was able to swim enough to keep from going under, holding onto the side wall for purchase. The last of the fight ended swiftly and we gathered ourselves together. Detheron was pretty badly hurt as Damian, Arnog, and Gwyn were also somewhat wounded. Healing was dispensed and the druid then cast a number of spells on the tiger, binding the animal to him.
We had amassed an audience and felt sure that our activities would be reported favorably. We looked over the warehouse, it was filled with some stolen cargo and three unconscious, badly hurt goblins. Detheron used the healing unguent we had and soothed the worst of the wounds, rousing the three from their stupor. One of them was Jarul and we talked about the gnolls, what happened, our actions, and Grix’s feeling of the Split Skull’s importance. He gave us a necklace of a dog’s skull that had been dipped in silver, sort of an important badge of office for the goblins.
Detheron had removed Flitch’s head and had it on his boar spear and we took our time getting ready to head back to Grix when a large, very large, goblin came up. Strong and wide, he was dragging a low flat-bottomed cart behind him. Other goblins gave him a wide respectful berth as he went to each gnoll, picked up the dead body and slung it on the cart.
Coruth’tae asked if he was Undertaker Solon (he was) and the goblin had little interest in talking with us. It took some conversation and convincing and eventually showing the soul sphere before he agreed that he knew about it. Would take us to see the “slimy man” when he was done with his duties. No we can’t see the slimy man now; no he won’t tell us where to go. He’ll find us later.
We went back to Grix with Jarul and the other goblins where we were thanked for our efforts. Grix would talk with the leader of the Split Skulls and come up with a fair reward for us for our efforts. Until then we were on our own until at least tomorrow. There was talk about climbing Ironbeard Stalagmite but we wanted to sit and talk about it first before making any such gesture.
There is room for 1 more, maybe 2, and I have some more interviews next week which will get us back up to speed and strength. Looking around at the group we are thief light. A cleric or wizard wouldn't hurt either (no offense to Detheron or Coruth'tae!).
Bringing a new player in is always a jarring experience - whoever it is starts at a disadvantage in regards to level, camaraderie, knowledge of house rules, and play style. I had remembered reading in a few places a sort of "rules" or "guides" on player etiquette at the game table - pretty sure it was in some Dragon magazine or Blog somewhere. I'll have to go look it up and tweak it so that it better conforms with our group.
I am sure it will all work out and know that all will be richer for the diversity brought to the table. :)
I figure the group has 3 more meetings (give or take) in Byfortevile before I slap them into some dungeon crawling fun. Which will be good because it will give everyone a chance (new and old) to do a last bit of "towning", try to gel a bit as a group, and then get right to spelunking the dim and dank darkness of the world below on their way to the distant surface and Dragonhole above.
That reminds me - I really need to draw out Dragonhole one day soon. Chuckle - typical DM.
Write up follows:
We rested up, feeling good about ourselves and our situation. We figured that our part in the bar brawl was not our fault and that we should keep trying to be in King Yikzarch’s good graces for as long as we could.
We spent much of the morning eating lightly from our food stores, honing our weapons, and going over our belongings while awaiting word from either Undertaker Solon or Burghermeister Grix. It wasn’t more than a few hours before we had a knock at the door and we met a young human male named Damian sent to us from King Yikzarch.
Damian had been smuggled out of the Vault of Madness, a large citadel on the center island of some importance to both Kashtir Bristlestone as well as the Outsiders. It seems that Damian was a paladin of Baldur and had been portalled there almost 2 months ago by Vanir and some other mage clad in fire. He had attempted to stop the two men from burning an Orphanage in Dragonhole, the young children that were being consumed had their souls sucked into glass spheres that Vanir was holding. He spent 2 months under the yoke and lash of the demonics and had been freed almost 5 days ago by Duergar seeking to weaken Kashtir’s position with the Outsiders and hopefully be replaced by an Underthane.
Seeing our paths conjoined for the time being we opened ourselves up to the paladin and then all went to see Grix together. The goblin Burghermeister had heard about our bar brawl and noted that we accorded ourselves well during it; also following his prohibition on unnecessary slaying.
There were a number of battered goblins in Grix’ office and we learned of our next mission. The goblins here were part of a gang called the Split Skulls, a group of 20 or so toughs that work the docks as longshoremen, filching goods and cargo from those boats and skiffs loyal to Kashtir. The operated out of a warehouse along the eastern docks near the Spider Paddocks and had proven themselves to be quite lucrative to the goblins of Byfortvile.
There have been a number of gnolls over the last few weeks migrating down here since Sakath’s power was broken in Wodenvarelse above. Two days ago a band of 8 took it in their heads to tangle with the Split Skull goblins – and beat them senseless. The leader, Jarul, was captured by the gnolls and the rest of the gang was beaten to an inch of their life and sent running.
Grix wants the party to go to the warehouse and “visibly and publicly teach those gnolls that Byfortvile is a GOBLIN city and not their playground.” We took the mission and went off to check out the situation.
The warehouse in question was the last in the line, maybe 30’ from the water’s edge, three stories tall, perhaps a hundred and fifty feet wide by seventy feet deep. There was one sliding double door for loading and unloading, two other main doors, and one smaller back door. We talked about a number of plans discarding them one after the other, until it was decided we just go up to the place, make an ass load of noise, and then call them out – fighting in the street.
Gwyn readied a crossbow bolt with his Wyvern venom, Detheron called on Frey to fill Arnog with holy strength, and Coruth’tae cast a shield spell around himself. Damian and Arnog put a couple of barrels in front of one of the doors to slow down anyone attempting to come out. And then Coruth’tae cast a glamour that made it sound like a dozen goblins were shouting their heads off for Flitch (the gnoll leader we were told, who also had a cat) to come out. The main doors slid opened and gnolls started pouring out into the street, half of them clad in armor and wielding morningstars, the other bare-chested (no cat so far).
Coruth’tae used his Staff of Power and sent a Fireball streaming into the building blowing the gnolls about and knocking a few of them down, but most of them were able to block or roll away from the bulk of the fire. Detheron called on Frey’s will and a horde of a thousand rats boiled out of cracks, holes, and from down the street massing in front of the druid and ready to charge forward into the packed gnolls. Gwyn swapped from his crossbow and precious poisoned bolt to his regular bow and fired at the unarmored gnoll.
Only to see his arrow knocked out of the air. A second shot followed and the gnoll snatched it with his fingertips and broke it with one hand. Fuck.
And the door behind us shook and banged as someone on the other side tried to push it opened, the barrels slowing him/them down briefly. We stayed together and got ourselves ready as the other door exploded opened and out stepped two more unarmored gnolls, one of them his fur dyed orange and striped in black. And then a growl echoed as a 300 lb tiger stepped out and snarled at us.
Detheron sent his swarm against the 6 count of gnolls and let his concentration wane, the maddened rodents impeding and biting and crawling wildly over the gnolls. Gwyn took up his crossbow and fired it at what we identified as Flitch – only to see his precious poisoned bolt sent away with a palm blow from the preternaturally fast monkish gnoll. The dwarf then growled and said, “No more missile weapons I guess, it’s sword work time.” He and Arnog stepped forward and took the fight to Flitch and the other monkish gnoll there.
Some of the gnolls mixed up with the rats broke away and tried to run elsewhere in the building, but one of them kicked his way free and raced toward Damian. The young paladin joined the battle and calling on Baldur wildly he channeled his own power into his sword and “smote” the gnoll full on, slaying the evil beast with a single stroke of his great sword.
Detheron called on Frey and tried to dominate the tiger, his will encaging the cat and forcing it to obey his wants, attacking Flitch! The gnoll was wroth and forced the tiger into submission with a brutal blow to the head, knocking the cat out for a few minutes. He then turned to the druid and said, “I’m going to KILL you!” and charged. Damn.
Arnog couldn’t stop him as he was still struggling with the other gnoll but Gwyn jumped in the way and scimitar ahead of him got a singular lucky shot against Flitch’s chest, bringing him to a stop. Coruth’tae made himself appear to be covered in lightning and pulling his dagger free also tried to intersperse himself between the gnoll and druid.
From inside the warehouse one of the gnolls tried to come out the window but Damian was there with sword and did brutal fight with the giggling beast. Others came at him from the other side, morning star crashing against his splint mail and he struggled to beat back the next gnoll.
Detheron yelled for Frey and a lion appeared in a flash, assaulting Flitch and raking the gnoll hard. Seeing Coruth’tae as the easiest target he went to attack the mage and was surprised to find his blows turned aside by the combined powers of the Shield spell and the Mage Armor! The gnoll was getting beaten badly and with a lucky blow Gwyn hacked into his chest and Flitch went down dead. Not believing it Arnog tried to whack off Flitch’s head but the gnoll was playing possum and kicked Arnog hard in the leg and ankle, hurting the young fighter.
Another gnoll came out of the warehouse and Detheron called on Frey once more, summoning a hippogriff to take out the new threat. The gnoll leader was slain at long last and seeing this the last few gnolls charged Detheron looking to take vengeance against him. Damian finally took down the last one he was fighting and tried to help as did Gwyn. Coruth’tae made it appear that entangling ropes were binding the two gnolls but only one of them fell for the illusion.
Gwyn tackled the “bound” gnoll and the dwarf and gnoll went over the side of the shore line where the gnoll sunk to the bottom and Gwyn was able to swim enough to keep from going under, holding onto the side wall for purchase. The last of the fight ended swiftly and we gathered ourselves together. Detheron was pretty badly hurt as Damian, Arnog, and Gwyn were also somewhat wounded. Healing was dispensed and the druid then cast a number of spells on the tiger, binding the animal to him.
We had amassed an audience and felt sure that our activities would be reported favorably. We looked over the warehouse, it was filled with some stolen cargo and three unconscious, badly hurt goblins. Detheron used the healing unguent we had and soothed the worst of the wounds, rousing the three from their stupor. One of them was Jarul and we talked about the gnolls, what happened, our actions, and Grix’s feeling of the Split Skull’s importance. He gave us a necklace of a dog’s skull that had been dipped in silver, sort of an important badge of office for the goblins.
Detheron had removed Flitch’s head and had it on his boar spear and we took our time getting ready to head back to Grix when a large, very large, goblin came up. Strong and wide, he was dragging a low flat-bottomed cart behind him. Other goblins gave him a wide respectful berth as he went to each gnoll, picked up the dead body and slung it on the cart.
Coruth’tae asked if he was Undertaker Solon (he was) and the goblin had little interest in talking with us. It took some conversation and convincing and eventually showing the soul sphere before he agreed that he knew about it. Would take us to see the “slimy man” when he was done with his duties. No we can’t see the slimy man now; no he won’t tell us where to go. He’ll find us later.
We went back to Grix with Jarul and the other goblins where we were thanked for our efforts. Grix would talk with the leader of the Split Skulls and come up with a fair reward for us for our efforts. Until then we were on our own until at least tomorrow. There was talk about climbing Ironbeard Stalagmite but we wanted to sit and talk about it first before making any such gesture.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Meet 72, Adv 8, 8/15/09
Officially the group is down to 3 players at the table (1 on self-imposed hiatus, unsure if ever coming back, 1 kicked out a month ago, and 1 I opted not to replace some time ago), coupled with the really crappy attendance this summer has not made for the smoothest game playing as of late.
So I took the DM liberty, hitched the party up to the railroad tracks, and locomotived them through the rough patch for a bit and 15 minutes of plot exposition and loose end tie up or cut off. I don't like to do that but didn't want to lose half a meeting on maintenance. I cut loose a pile of NPC's which made my life much easier and slid the group not exactly subtly, but seamlessly, into the next part of the adventure.
Town adventures. I like them. Some people don't, the player who was doing Karis hated them, and I feel that the player doing Gwyn doesn't give enough thought to them. But the others around the table do and did and it was nice to do some town things. Like shake down a local business. Deal with the local mid-level town functionary. Investigate a lead with a witch. Visit a new bar. Track down a townie. And my favorite - Bar Brawl.
Had one planned, knew it was coming, but Detheron the party's druid just pretty much bee-lined towards the upcoming and potential bar brawl so definitively that I thought for a minute he had looked at my notes and opted to start it himself. I let it play out organically and just sat back, rolling where it was needed to and let the fight wear itself out.
I forgot how much fun a D&D bar brawl was to have. I have to have them more often.
Write up follows:
The pastries as had been requested were made, poorly to be sure, but more than good enough for the goblin’s palate. We were accorded a place to stay as “guests” in the lower level of King Yikzarch’s castle where we cooled our heels and thought long and hard about what had befallen us and where we were to go next. The days passed and eventually the rest of our friends made their way down to Byfortvile, the ghostly purple and yellow flaming sun set above the tall tower in the center isle testament to how far from home the party was.
Both sets of adventurers met up in the goblin king’s domicile, much back clapping and congratulations abounding. We talked of what happened and where we had gone, things we had seen and choices we had made. Roxarn of the Red Clouds was reviled and there was talk about exacting revenge. But some things had changed and not for the better. Karis had taken the party’s predicament to heart and after thinking on his actions and choices, it was time for the half-ogre to come to grips with who he was: a beast, a tough, not a knight, and not worthy to lead the Sundered Chains any more. He opted to leave the group and lend his sword to the likes of Dargis, Spax and Thad – aiding to lead those the Red Clouds had duped and take his payment against them with bestial fury and flashing blade.
Arnog though decided otherwise and the young fighter with the good heart knew that there was something larger afoot than just what he had seen and he had come to respect Gwyn and Detheron. Seeing them left without a fighter at their disposal (a fact that the good dwarf would disagree with, chuckle) opted to stand by his new friends and aid them in their similar yet different course of action.
Eventually King Yikzarch gave the Sundered Chains audience and we learned that the goblin king was pleased at our courtesy and fawning. We were set free from his dungeons and offered the entirety of Byfortvile to explore at our want and disposal. The city itself was “neutral” ground, ostensibly under the goblin tribe’s control and governance but still at the sympathetic relationship and bound up with the Duergar and Thane Kashtir Bristlestone.
In order to utilize our skills and abilities, we were given to his Burgomaster Grix, to be used where our unfettered allegiances would best support the goblins’ cause. Coruth’tae spied on the King and Grix with care, using his ESP spell to the best of his benefit and verifying that unless we made ourselves a difficult burden, the goblins would play us true and honorable.
Our first task for the Burgomaster was to go to the end of Goblin Row, there we would find a gnomish machinery called the Aquifier. According to Grix, King Yikzarch was convinced that the gnomish foreman, Thurgis Ironsprocket, was skimming off the “salt tax” that was paid to the goblin monarch. We were sent to convince the gnomes to pay up and if necessary, rough them up if they didn’t see fit to pay.
We agreed and went on our way. The Aquifier was some giant gnomish clockwork machine perched near the end of Byfortevile, up against the great deluge of water that fell from the hole 400’ overhead. Fins ran into and around the falling water, tracking fresh water into sluices that were sent through the keep-sized machine where it was boiled and purified and then the salt was extracted and sold to the fisheries and other industries in the goblin and Duergar environs.
The party spent some time looking the place over, noting the many patrons lined up to buy the fresh salt, until Thurgis was sent to us. The gnome was taciturn and unwilling to agree that he had done anything wrong, stone-walling the party. Coruth’tae dropped a Hypnotism spell, affecting the gnome and a handful of the surrounding helpers, convincing them that it would be in everyone’s best interest in helping the king by giving up any salt tax held behind.
Thurgis, his attitude changed, went and got most of a bag of silver, giving it to the party and apologizing for what he called a “gross mistake in judgment”. The party minimized it and made friendly overtures with the gnome. Thurgis recommended the party get something to eat at the “Raging Horn” which was south of here in the warehouse district. We left and worked our way back to Grix, presenting the goblin burgomaster with our silver, Detheron commenting that “next time he should give us a more difficult task”.
Grix laughed and agreed. He split about 10% of the silver off and gave it to the party as their share of the job. He then split off 30% and swept it into another bag, saying that this portion was for Kashtir Bristlestone. King Yikzarch’s grandfather in an effort to keep the peace and maintain good trade as well as the boats plying the underground sea, had made a deal with the dwarven Thane in which 30% of all collected monies would be given to the duergar. It was unpleasant but the goblin’s felt unwilling to change the deal.
We were told that we could get a room that would cater to our kind across the street at the “Rocking Table” and Grix would send for us when he would need us next. As a last, commenting on the glass sphere Coruth’tae had with Zoltan’s form in it, he had no idea about it or where it would have come from but an old goblin witch named B’lyris on the eastern side of town near the Spider Paddock would be a good place to go and ask.
The party split up, Coruth’tae going to find B’Lyris and the rest of the group (after acquiring a room at the Rocking Table) going to follow up at Thurgis and then the Raging Horn – the grey elf would meet up with them after his side trip.
Detheron led Gwyn and Arnog back to Thurgis at the Aquifier, making friends even more so with the gnome by presenting him with the 10% fee that Grix had given us, cementing good relations with the gnome. From there the party went to the Raging Horn, an ogre run and owned establishment that catered to hard working goblin fishers and salters. We were looked at strangely and an ogre named Ann (yes, he DARED us to make a comment on his name – Detheron declined to) took our order: either fish stew, rat stew, or fish and rat stew. It was thick and chunky and vile, but the group did choke it down along with what grog was available to drink. Then it was make conversation with the locals and share stories, making sure to get ourselves across as “friendly” and not let things the goblins would say disturb us (such as: when you are raiding the surface instead of killing a baker and stealing his breads and pastries, it would be better to bring him down to the underground and chop off a leg, keeping the baker alive to make more breadstuffs and now lamed unable to run away).
As for Coruth’tae, he went to find B’Lyris, her place looking like any other fisher warehouse, except there was a wizard mark upon it. He entered, made comment of the mark, and met B’Lyris. She was a wizened and wretched looking gobliness, wrinkled and crone-like. The two of them bantered a bit, Coruth’tae unsure of her skill and power and not wanting to tip his own hand to it. He presented the glass ball and she identified it as a soulsphere. Someone died under great stress and was captured within.
No she can’t make them, but there was someone who knew more of it; Undertaker Solon. Worked at the gravesite at the southern tip of Byfortevile near the bridge. The two of them parted not as friends but wary of each other and Coruth’tae went next to the grave area.
Three disgusting goblins were there, gates closed. Undertaker Solon was not in and they said they did not know when he’d be back, if at all. When pressed for a name, Coruth’tae gave “Gwynwyhvar” as the name and walked away. He illusioned himself as an Ogre and came back, trying again to find Undertaker Solon and was given the same info – not here, don’t know when he’ll be back. Go away. He grumbled and wandered toward the Raging Horn, changing his illusion to that of a goblin instead.
Upon arrival he entered and tried to sit with his friends where they had no idea who he was and had Ann toss the strange goblin out into the street. Sigh, poor illusionists. He dropped the glamour and came back in and the party reconnected – we shared what we had learned back and forth and decided to go to the Rocking Table and await either Grix or Solon contacting us.
At the Table we drank for a bit and chatted with locals, and there was a punching contest between two goblins. Detheron tried to get in on it and the Duergar taking bets was rude but took his 10 crowns. When the druid’s choice won and he tried to collect his share he was told that bets with surfacers was not honored and to buzz off. Words were exchanged, pushing ensued and the druid was sent stumbling back into a table of dark dwarves, spilling their drinks all over the place.
Oh….shit.
The bar brawl exploded. Dark dwarves pummeled Detheron with mugs and plates. Goblins ran across the bar, piling on an ogre who tried to sweep some of the dwarves off Detheron with a sturdy chair. The party tried to make some head way over there but other Duergar stepped in and accosted Gwyn and Arnog. A drow fighter calmly sipped her brew and made herself invisible. A gnollish warrior tried to attack Detheron but was terribly nervous. Some plate mailed fighter slammed sword wildly at a goblin that foolishly attacked him.
Food and bottles were thrown and chairs were hurled. Detheron tried to roll free but was having a difficult time. Coruth’tae was slapped with a Shocking Grasp spell. The Ogre trying to help us was knocked lower as goblins assaulted his feet and knees. Arnog took the Duergar he was fighting and grappling together, hoisted him off the ground and hurled him across the bar, knocking the gnoll down at the last moment. The drow female reappeared behind a goblin stabbing a Duergar and slit his throat, making a “silence” motion with her finger and lips at Detheron and then walked out of the bar. The plate mailed fighter killed the goblin he was fighting.
The bar brawl was getting out of hand, the gnoll tried to escape but when he got to the door, the drow was hiding there on the other side and stabbed him in the throat and chest, killing him and shutting the door silently. Great. Detheron finally able to cast a spell and reeling from all the punches he was receiving, called on Frey for aid and a god damned LION appeared, tearing one of the Duergar to shreds and causing the other ones to rethink their plans. One turned invisible and two of them grabbed the druid and tried to knock him out by slamming him repeatedly against the back wall. Gwyn picked up his beer, looked at the plate mailed fighter, toasted him and sat down.
Arnog climbed onto the table and dove into the fight, taking another Duergar down. Coruth’tae wended his way across the bar to a quiet area and sat near a goblin tough who was watching the fight with a wary eye. The bar owner came out calling for the watch and pointed a staff at the ogre on the ground and the goblins beating him up – the staff shooting out a blast of webbing and ending that pocket of struggle. Detheron called on Frey again and summoned another animal – this time a wild boar! The boar and the lion tore into two more dark dwarves and cleared more of the area around Detheron free. The grey elf giving the bar owner a piercing look and remembering the crappy way he was treated earlier strode right up to the goblin and cast Fear in his face. The goblin screamed and dropped his web staff, running away. Meanwhile the two goblins who had been having the punching contest so long ago, were STILL going at it – neither party willing to concede defeat.
At this point the ogre and goblin watch came in and those still fighting were knocked on the head and their fighting came to a stop. Coruth’tae gave the web staff to Detheron (7 charges – whoo hoo!) and when the bar keep came to him looking for it, it was “no where to be found.” We decided to go to our room, which was a 12 x 12 cell with a broken 5-drawer dresser with only 3 drawers, a clay decanter for water, and a dozen stuffed sacks with hair, dirt, and fungus to be used as beds. There was a lock but we felt that it was just for show and wouldn’t keep out a drunken field mouse. With that we laid down and went to sleep, ending the meeting there – 2 miles underground in a goblin run inn after participating in a bar brawl.
So I took the DM liberty, hitched the party up to the railroad tracks, and locomotived them through the rough patch for a bit and 15 minutes of plot exposition and loose end tie up or cut off. I don't like to do that but didn't want to lose half a meeting on maintenance. I cut loose a pile of NPC's which made my life much easier and slid the group not exactly subtly, but seamlessly, into the next part of the adventure.
Town adventures. I like them. Some people don't, the player who was doing Karis hated them, and I feel that the player doing Gwyn doesn't give enough thought to them. But the others around the table do and did and it was nice to do some town things. Like shake down a local business. Deal with the local mid-level town functionary. Investigate a lead with a witch. Visit a new bar. Track down a townie. And my favorite - Bar Brawl.
Had one planned, knew it was coming, but Detheron the party's druid just pretty much bee-lined towards the upcoming and potential bar brawl so definitively that I thought for a minute he had looked at my notes and opted to start it himself. I let it play out organically and just sat back, rolling where it was needed to and let the fight wear itself out.
I forgot how much fun a D&D bar brawl was to have. I have to have them more often.
Write up follows:
The pastries as had been requested were made, poorly to be sure, but more than good enough for the goblin’s palate. We were accorded a place to stay as “guests” in the lower level of King Yikzarch’s castle where we cooled our heels and thought long and hard about what had befallen us and where we were to go next. The days passed and eventually the rest of our friends made their way down to Byfortvile, the ghostly purple and yellow flaming sun set above the tall tower in the center isle testament to how far from home the party was.
Both sets of adventurers met up in the goblin king’s domicile, much back clapping and congratulations abounding. We talked of what happened and where we had gone, things we had seen and choices we had made. Roxarn of the Red Clouds was reviled and there was talk about exacting revenge. But some things had changed and not for the better. Karis had taken the party’s predicament to heart and after thinking on his actions and choices, it was time for the half-ogre to come to grips with who he was: a beast, a tough, not a knight, and not worthy to lead the Sundered Chains any more. He opted to leave the group and lend his sword to the likes of Dargis, Spax and Thad – aiding to lead those the Red Clouds had duped and take his payment against them with bestial fury and flashing blade.
Arnog though decided otherwise and the young fighter with the good heart knew that there was something larger afoot than just what he had seen and he had come to respect Gwyn and Detheron. Seeing them left without a fighter at their disposal (a fact that the good dwarf would disagree with, chuckle) opted to stand by his new friends and aid them in their similar yet different course of action.
Eventually King Yikzarch gave the Sundered Chains audience and we learned that the goblin king was pleased at our courtesy and fawning. We were set free from his dungeons and offered the entirety of Byfortvile to explore at our want and disposal. The city itself was “neutral” ground, ostensibly under the goblin tribe’s control and governance but still at the sympathetic relationship and bound up with the Duergar and Thane Kashtir Bristlestone.
In order to utilize our skills and abilities, we were given to his Burgomaster Grix, to be used where our unfettered allegiances would best support the goblins’ cause. Coruth’tae spied on the King and Grix with care, using his ESP spell to the best of his benefit and verifying that unless we made ourselves a difficult burden, the goblins would play us true and honorable.
Our first task for the Burgomaster was to go to the end of Goblin Row, there we would find a gnomish machinery called the Aquifier. According to Grix, King Yikzarch was convinced that the gnomish foreman, Thurgis Ironsprocket, was skimming off the “salt tax” that was paid to the goblin monarch. We were sent to convince the gnomes to pay up and if necessary, rough them up if they didn’t see fit to pay.
We agreed and went on our way. The Aquifier was some giant gnomish clockwork machine perched near the end of Byfortevile, up against the great deluge of water that fell from the hole 400’ overhead. Fins ran into and around the falling water, tracking fresh water into sluices that were sent through the keep-sized machine where it was boiled and purified and then the salt was extracted and sold to the fisheries and other industries in the goblin and Duergar environs.
The party spent some time looking the place over, noting the many patrons lined up to buy the fresh salt, until Thurgis was sent to us. The gnome was taciturn and unwilling to agree that he had done anything wrong, stone-walling the party. Coruth’tae dropped a Hypnotism spell, affecting the gnome and a handful of the surrounding helpers, convincing them that it would be in everyone’s best interest in helping the king by giving up any salt tax held behind.
Thurgis, his attitude changed, went and got most of a bag of silver, giving it to the party and apologizing for what he called a “gross mistake in judgment”. The party minimized it and made friendly overtures with the gnome. Thurgis recommended the party get something to eat at the “Raging Horn” which was south of here in the warehouse district. We left and worked our way back to Grix, presenting the goblin burgomaster with our silver, Detheron commenting that “next time he should give us a more difficult task”.
Grix laughed and agreed. He split about 10% of the silver off and gave it to the party as their share of the job. He then split off 30% and swept it into another bag, saying that this portion was for Kashtir Bristlestone. King Yikzarch’s grandfather in an effort to keep the peace and maintain good trade as well as the boats plying the underground sea, had made a deal with the dwarven Thane in which 30% of all collected monies would be given to the duergar. It was unpleasant but the goblin’s felt unwilling to change the deal.
We were told that we could get a room that would cater to our kind across the street at the “Rocking Table” and Grix would send for us when he would need us next. As a last, commenting on the glass sphere Coruth’tae had with Zoltan’s form in it, he had no idea about it or where it would have come from but an old goblin witch named B’lyris on the eastern side of town near the Spider Paddock would be a good place to go and ask.
The party split up, Coruth’tae going to find B’Lyris and the rest of the group (after acquiring a room at the Rocking Table) going to follow up at Thurgis and then the Raging Horn – the grey elf would meet up with them after his side trip.
Detheron led Gwyn and Arnog back to Thurgis at the Aquifier, making friends even more so with the gnome by presenting him with the 10% fee that Grix had given us, cementing good relations with the gnome. From there the party went to the Raging Horn, an ogre run and owned establishment that catered to hard working goblin fishers and salters. We were looked at strangely and an ogre named Ann (yes, he DARED us to make a comment on his name – Detheron declined to) took our order: either fish stew, rat stew, or fish and rat stew. It was thick and chunky and vile, but the group did choke it down along with what grog was available to drink. Then it was make conversation with the locals and share stories, making sure to get ourselves across as “friendly” and not let things the goblins would say disturb us (such as: when you are raiding the surface instead of killing a baker and stealing his breads and pastries, it would be better to bring him down to the underground and chop off a leg, keeping the baker alive to make more breadstuffs and now lamed unable to run away).
As for Coruth’tae, he went to find B’Lyris, her place looking like any other fisher warehouse, except there was a wizard mark upon it. He entered, made comment of the mark, and met B’Lyris. She was a wizened and wretched looking gobliness, wrinkled and crone-like. The two of them bantered a bit, Coruth’tae unsure of her skill and power and not wanting to tip his own hand to it. He presented the glass ball and she identified it as a soulsphere. Someone died under great stress and was captured within.
No she can’t make them, but there was someone who knew more of it; Undertaker Solon. Worked at the gravesite at the southern tip of Byfortevile near the bridge. The two of them parted not as friends but wary of each other and Coruth’tae went next to the grave area.
Three disgusting goblins were there, gates closed. Undertaker Solon was not in and they said they did not know when he’d be back, if at all. When pressed for a name, Coruth’tae gave “Gwynwyhvar” as the name and walked away. He illusioned himself as an Ogre and came back, trying again to find Undertaker Solon and was given the same info – not here, don’t know when he’ll be back. Go away. He grumbled and wandered toward the Raging Horn, changing his illusion to that of a goblin instead.
Upon arrival he entered and tried to sit with his friends where they had no idea who he was and had Ann toss the strange goblin out into the street. Sigh, poor illusionists. He dropped the glamour and came back in and the party reconnected – we shared what we had learned back and forth and decided to go to the Rocking Table and await either Grix or Solon contacting us.
At the Table we drank for a bit and chatted with locals, and there was a punching contest between two goblins. Detheron tried to get in on it and the Duergar taking bets was rude but took his 10 crowns. When the druid’s choice won and he tried to collect his share he was told that bets with surfacers was not honored and to buzz off. Words were exchanged, pushing ensued and the druid was sent stumbling back into a table of dark dwarves, spilling their drinks all over the place.
Oh….shit.
The bar brawl exploded. Dark dwarves pummeled Detheron with mugs and plates. Goblins ran across the bar, piling on an ogre who tried to sweep some of the dwarves off Detheron with a sturdy chair. The party tried to make some head way over there but other Duergar stepped in and accosted Gwyn and Arnog. A drow fighter calmly sipped her brew and made herself invisible. A gnollish warrior tried to attack Detheron but was terribly nervous. Some plate mailed fighter slammed sword wildly at a goblin that foolishly attacked him.
Food and bottles were thrown and chairs were hurled. Detheron tried to roll free but was having a difficult time. Coruth’tae was slapped with a Shocking Grasp spell. The Ogre trying to help us was knocked lower as goblins assaulted his feet and knees. Arnog took the Duergar he was fighting and grappling together, hoisted him off the ground and hurled him across the bar, knocking the gnoll down at the last moment. The drow female reappeared behind a goblin stabbing a Duergar and slit his throat, making a “silence” motion with her finger and lips at Detheron and then walked out of the bar. The plate mailed fighter killed the goblin he was fighting.
The bar brawl was getting out of hand, the gnoll tried to escape but when he got to the door, the drow was hiding there on the other side and stabbed him in the throat and chest, killing him and shutting the door silently. Great. Detheron finally able to cast a spell and reeling from all the punches he was receiving, called on Frey for aid and a god damned LION appeared, tearing one of the Duergar to shreds and causing the other ones to rethink their plans. One turned invisible and two of them grabbed the druid and tried to knock him out by slamming him repeatedly against the back wall. Gwyn picked up his beer, looked at the plate mailed fighter, toasted him and sat down.
Arnog climbed onto the table and dove into the fight, taking another Duergar down. Coruth’tae wended his way across the bar to a quiet area and sat near a goblin tough who was watching the fight with a wary eye. The bar owner came out calling for the watch and pointed a staff at the ogre on the ground and the goblins beating him up – the staff shooting out a blast of webbing and ending that pocket of struggle. Detheron called on Frey again and summoned another animal – this time a wild boar! The boar and the lion tore into two more dark dwarves and cleared more of the area around Detheron free. The grey elf giving the bar owner a piercing look and remembering the crappy way he was treated earlier strode right up to the goblin and cast Fear in his face. The goblin screamed and dropped his web staff, running away. Meanwhile the two goblins who had been having the punching contest so long ago, were STILL going at it – neither party willing to concede defeat.
At this point the ogre and goblin watch came in and those still fighting were knocked on the head and their fighting came to a stop. Coruth’tae gave the web staff to Detheron (7 charges – whoo hoo!) and when the bar keep came to him looking for it, it was “no where to be found.” We decided to go to our room, which was a 12 x 12 cell with a broken 5-drawer dresser with only 3 drawers, a clay decanter for water, and a dozen stuffed sacks with hair, dirt, and fungus to be used as beds. There was a lock but we felt that it was just for show and wouldn’t keep out a drunken field mouse. With that we laid down and went to sleep, ending the meeting there – 2 miles underground in a goblin run inn after participating in a bar brawl.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Meet 71, Adv 8, 7/25/09
In retrospect, the 2nd level of Dargan's Folley was too big, too sizeable. There was too much options for the party to wander about and I could have made it more focused and streamlined. I wanted to give them the opportunity to explore withour any rails and that was definitely the case. They uncovered things I never expected them too and did it with some ingenious methods. But it was a sprawling area that didn't lend itself to true old school exploration.
I was pleased though that they had a chance to face off against Shengdu. The wizard/smith was a favorite of mine and I wanted the party the chance to cross swords with him. They had come up with a way of getting the goblins with Shengdu out of the fight and for that the struggle against the gnoll's started off in their favor.
As of this point they were going down to Byfortevile which is also a sprawling area but there are rails attached to this level and the party will have many opportunities to have a city adventure in a dungeon atmosphere - and then there will be some old school spelunking which I know will make the group sit up and put on their "A" game.
They had been a bit scattered for some time, but I have noticed them gelling more and more as a group and feel confident that some good well rounded party fun was coming up ahead.
Write up follows:
The party of Detheron, Gwyn, Arnog, and Dargis caught some much needed sleep in the Temple to Odin, getting back Detheron’s spells after some prayer to Frey and them some light healing being dispensed. We discussed our options. We would have to go down to the next level, but only had some vague idea of where it was – and without further knowledge of what was down there, we were concerned that there would be days of wandering around to find another way out.
Then there was the smooth rocked wall in the northern portion of Wodenvarelse, festooned with the markings of the Lycos Suns above it. A Lyreth ward protected it but its effects were faint and muted. Should we go there? There was talk of a city below our feet, and some coin would go a long way to helping the party pay for whatever guides they would need.
But if we did go after the treasure (assuming there was some), the goblins were in the area – and there was still Shengdu, the gnollish wizard/smith that was up there. It was he and his cronies that beat Arnog and Dargis’ group the first time – although they had been caught unawares. Treasure first – or take out the gnolls? The group was thinking about the gnolls and we decided we should check it out before making a decision either way. So we readied our lanterns, checked our weapons, and opened the temple – walking out into the halls and started to walk north.
Right into a patrol of 4 armed and armored gnolls leading a 6 count of feral and sorry looking goblins.
Crap.
Parley went back and forth until it was decided that this was getting us nowhere. Detheron yelled to the goblins that any who fought for us against the gnolls would be freed! And then the battle ensued. Some of the gnolls assaulted the goblins first, while a few of them tried to make it to the group. Bolts flew and swords were plied but it was a foregone conclusion that the gnolls were out classed and within a few minutes they were defeated (with two of the goblins dead for their efforts). Arnog took out three of the gnolls single handedly and sniped to Gwyn, “Sometime to do the job right you need to use a sword, not a bow!” Chuckle. The remaining 4 goblins snagged what clothes and armor they could from the gnolls, equipping themselves better and crowding around the party in an effort to have them continue “liberating the others still under the cruel yoke of Shengdu”.
Through some answer time we learned a bit of what had happened. Sakath had been slain by some giant with a two handed sword and a host of fire mages (it sounded like Karis – but NOT Coruth’tae). Most of the Slavertongue clan then lost heart and moved to the city below called Byfortevile. Only Shengdu remained and some two dozen of his supporters. The goblins have been pretty much starved and forced to work in the mines. A few goblins have turned coat and support Shengdu and for that they are much better fed and taken care of.
We rethought our plan and decided that we would go after Shengdu and do it swiftly – getting the drop on him before he noticed the patrol that was out did not come back. Following the goblins we made our way across Third Street, into the Grand Concourse, across the Chasm, and along the north wall to the Northern road – leading to the goblin area, the Hammer room, and the smithy.
Dargis went ahead, scouting, the halfling returning to tell us that 3 greenskins in brigandine armor and armed with lengths of chain with a flail ball on the end were guarding one of the main side roads down Northern Road – and that the sounds of hammering and smith work were very loud there. As for sneaking up, the place was lit with phosphorous fungus and it would be difficult for the party to get close enough for a rush.
We talked about plans and Gwyn made the call that he would get as close as possible and using his long bow – try to take out the goblins one at a time – hopefully fast enough before they could get an alarm off. Dargis opted to go with him, ready to use his sling should Gwyn miss. The rest of the group waited at the end of Northern road at the Grand Concourse and stayed quiet in the dim dim otherworldly light.
The dwarf and halfling moved silently, staying in the shadows against the wall, creeping up to 45’ from the closest goblin. Feeling they had gone far enough, Gwyn took aim on the furthest one (65’) and fired – burying an arrow in the goblins chest and killing it. As it fell he shot at the next closest, winging the goblin but that was all. As he was grumbling and loading up a last arrow, Dargis let an enchanted sling stone fly and it cracked the 2nd goblin in the skill – slaying it with a loud THWOCK! The third one was drawing a breath to shout out an alarm when Gwyn took a hail Mary shot and bulls eye – killed the third goblin guard dead!
The group was impressed (Gwyn sniping to Arnog, “See – sometimes a sword is NOT the best tool.” Chuckle.) and we fell upon the dead goblins swiftly – our group of 4 taking what equipment they could from the dead brethren and upgrading themselves once more. Dargis snuck ahead, down the sloping corridor and spied in, getting a lay of the forge room and multiple anvils before sneaking back and scratching out a quick diagram in the dust.
6 gnolls, all unarmored wearing forge aprons – none of them identifiable as Shengdu. 15 goblins, all in weak and poor condition clad in homespun shifts and using small tools and tongs. The gnolls looked more robust and deep of chest than any of the others we had ever faced before.
We discussed swiftly a plan of action in which Arnog would charge in and break left – the 4 goblins following him, taking down the closest gnoll there. Gwyn would follow and doing as best as possible, either crossbow or arrow down the gnolls on the right. Dargis would lend support where able to and Detheron would be looking for whichever one was Shengdu and take him out. Before entering, Detheron cast: Protection from Fire on Arnog and again on himself (giving both of them 72 points of fire protection!) and then we charged in.
Arnog and his goblin supporters slammed into the 1st gnoll with surprise and fury – tearing the hyena man’s flesh open in half a dozen places and causing him to howl and wail. Meanwhile Gwyn sidled around the corner and shot one gnoll down and then a second, causing both of them to yelp in pain. Arnog was shouting that all the goblins would be free if they either helped us or they did nothing. Detheron called on Frey and a flaming scimitar burst from his hand. Dargis danced in and took up position near the main forge with the enchanted shovel, dug out a titanic amount of burning coals, and hurled them at one of the gnolls – setting the hyena man on fire.
After this the battle grew more frantic as the gnolls were no longer startled and the goblins (not counting our 4) all dropped to the ground and cowered. Wielding forge hammers they strode forward bashing and snarling. Gwyn was surrounded by two, trading to scimitar without delay while Dargis was forced back, the nimble halfling barely able to draw sword and dagger in time to fend off the gnoll’s angered blows. Arnog dispatched the wounded gnoll and the 4 goblin warriors with us charged one of the untouched ones. But it was the last gnoll who glanced at Detheron and pointed at the druid – causing the flaming scimitar to burst into fire and course all over our friend of Frey. Shengdu!
Dargis was taking some nasty blows and Gwyn was carving the two gnolls back – his superior skill out classing their brawler tactics with ease. Arnog accosted Shengdu but the gnollish wizard smith was much stronger than our cocky fighter expected and the gnoll lifted Arnog up off the ground and CHARGED with him into the forge bed! Shengdu was laughing while he did it and unbeknownst to him, Arnog was protected by Detheron’s spell – the protection beginning to wither away from the blast of the fiery forge. One of the goblin warriors was brained by the far gnoll but the other three redoubled their efforts.
Detheron ran to Dargis’ aid, his flaming scimitar scoring fire along the gnoll’s unprotected side while the thief stabbed as fast and as often as he could. Gwyn took down one of the gnolls and turned his attention to the other. Shengdu called upon his skills once more and caused the forge to radiate a blast of fire – eating more of Arnog’s protection away and causing all those near the forge bed to jump away burned. Arnog was fighting from a prone position under the gnoll wizard and couldn’t get a solid blow against him – his situation becoming desperate.
Dargis’ gnoll finally was slain and Detheron ran into the forge to help (trusting his own Protection from Fire), his scimitar leading the way. He struck Shengdu but the gnoll wizard had some sort of fire shield up and the druid was hurt for his efforts! Meanwhile Arnog and Detheron had their protections slowly whittled away as the massive heat from the forge kept eating at them. Our 3 count of goblins were keeping the far gnoll busy, their picks and hammers slowly beating against their foe’s flesh. Gwyn forced the one gnoll he was fighting back but while using his forge hammer – smashed it against the dwarf’s arm with critical force – bruising him down to his bone! (critical hit weapon arm, -4 on all to hits for the next 1d6 hours). Gwyn doggedly fought on.
Shengdu cast Flare at Detheron, blinding the druid while Arnog forced the gnoll wizard up and off him, sword hacking wildly about as he tried to slain the laughing beast. Gwyn slammed the length of his curved sword into the gnoll’s chest and tore it our sideways, killing him at long last. He picked up his crossbow and cradling it against his chest, loaded up a bolt – waiting for an opportunity to fire into the forge and not hit his companions (he was shouting at them to get the hell out of the forge.)
Dargis took up position nearer the door, just in case, and it was much needed as Shengdu took some punishing blows from Arnog as tried to run. Gwyn fired at the gnoll, crossbow bolt sticking out of his shoulder. He stumbled but cleared the forge bed and tried to run across the floor. Dargis intercepted him and with a leap and stab – buried both his weapons into Shengdu’s chin and took the gnoll down at long last.
The last gnoll was slain and we took stock of ourselves. The goblins were cheering us as liberators and the 15 in here (plus our original 3) stripped the gnolls of their weapons and aprons, dressing themselves in the same finery. A key was found on Shengdu’s neck which we took, and we talked with the goblins – telling them they had a right to live free and to take the rest of the gnolls down.
There was a storeroom across the way where we followed some of the goblins into. It was filled with finished iron wares – testament to the works the gnolls had been doing. Almost 6000 iron bars 2’ long, half a thousand axes, a thousand morning stars, a thousand bucklers, half a thousand breast and back plates. Enough gear to outfit an army. The goblins came in here in ones and twos and grabbed helms and bucklers and weapons and went off to assault other gnolls where they found them; dragging their slain former masters into the forge room where they were desecrated and dumped on the flames.
In the back of the store room was Shengdu’s private area which had some notes on what had been made, a sizeable amount of coin, his spell book (almost a dozen fire oriented spells), and some 46 tourmalines of green and blue hue which Gwyn informed us were worth maybe 30 to 40 crowns a piece! Nice haul.
From here we wanted to look at the smooth faced wall the Lycos Suns had marked and figured that we go in, get what treasures we could, and leave the rest for the goblins. At the area we had Dargis use the enchanted shovel to hack a hole in the wall and we tossed a lit torch in to look around. It was not occupied but large. Almost 30 chests were in here, most of them empty, but the ones that were still here had some 6000 in crowns and 6000 in nobles. There were some rugs and tapestries and some busts and statues.
But in the middle of the room was a silver stand, 3’ tall with some slots along the side and covered in some neatly blocked off dwarven script. It was a crystal ball stand, but no crystal ball was here. It radiated some magic for which we were very thankful. The two slots according to the writing, held two books that had some foul sorcery demonic in nature but could be used to defeat enemies should the need arise and those who used it were true and not easily tainted.
The 2 books were the Necordius Fenrir Codex. And the Thakulis Convergence Grimoire. We had heard a few times before of the Nec Fen Codex – it was something to do with Sir Dargan Cooperson 50 years ago, and something to do with the Phantom Blades/Lycos Suns, and something to do with the glass globes and why we had been captured in the first place. And both books were no longer here.
We took what gold we could and left the silver for the goblins. Our packs bulging and our hearts light, we bid our farewell to the goblins and set out towards what had been described to us as the way down. The back of the Grand Concourse where we had originally run from the Spiderhaunt caverns, there was a left fork that we followed, coming up some battle scene and a note from Coruth’tae, telling us that him and Karis were here along with some people they had found down here and were heading towards Byfortevile below – and that we should meet up soon. So we shouldered our packs and headed down into the cavernous darkness and adventure below.
I was pleased though that they had a chance to face off against Shengdu. The wizard/smith was a favorite of mine and I wanted the party the chance to cross swords with him. They had come up with a way of getting the goblins with Shengdu out of the fight and for that the struggle against the gnoll's started off in their favor.
As of this point they were going down to Byfortevile which is also a sprawling area but there are rails attached to this level and the party will have many opportunities to have a city adventure in a dungeon atmosphere - and then there will be some old school spelunking which I know will make the group sit up and put on their "A" game.
They had been a bit scattered for some time, but I have noticed them gelling more and more as a group and feel confident that some good well rounded party fun was coming up ahead.
Write up follows:
The party of Detheron, Gwyn, Arnog, and Dargis caught some much needed sleep in the Temple to Odin, getting back Detheron’s spells after some prayer to Frey and them some light healing being dispensed. We discussed our options. We would have to go down to the next level, but only had some vague idea of where it was – and without further knowledge of what was down there, we were concerned that there would be days of wandering around to find another way out.
Then there was the smooth rocked wall in the northern portion of Wodenvarelse, festooned with the markings of the Lycos Suns above it. A Lyreth ward protected it but its effects were faint and muted. Should we go there? There was talk of a city below our feet, and some coin would go a long way to helping the party pay for whatever guides they would need.
But if we did go after the treasure (assuming there was some), the goblins were in the area – and there was still Shengdu, the gnollish wizard/smith that was up there. It was he and his cronies that beat Arnog and Dargis’ group the first time – although they had been caught unawares. Treasure first – or take out the gnolls? The group was thinking about the gnolls and we decided we should check it out before making a decision either way. So we readied our lanterns, checked our weapons, and opened the temple – walking out into the halls and started to walk north.
Right into a patrol of 4 armed and armored gnolls leading a 6 count of feral and sorry looking goblins.
Crap.
Parley went back and forth until it was decided that this was getting us nowhere. Detheron yelled to the goblins that any who fought for us against the gnolls would be freed! And then the battle ensued. Some of the gnolls assaulted the goblins first, while a few of them tried to make it to the group. Bolts flew and swords were plied but it was a foregone conclusion that the gnolls were out classed and within a few minutes they were defeated (with two of the goblins dead for their efforts). Arnog took out three of the gnolls single handedly and sniped to Gwyn, “Sometime to do the job right you need to use a sword, not a bow!” Chuckle. The remaining 4 goblins snagged what clothes and armor they could from the gnolls, equipping themselves better and crowding around the party in an effort to have them continue “liberating the others still under the cruel yoke of Shengdu”.
Through some answer time we learned a bit of what had happened. Sakath had been slain by some giant with a two handed sword and a host of fire mages (it sounded like Karis – but NOT Coruth’tae). Most of the Slavertongue clan then lost heart and moved to the city below called Byfortevile. Only Shengdu remained and some two dozen of his supporters. The goblins have been pretty much starved and forced to work in the mines. A few goblins have turned coat and support Shengdu and for that they are much better fed and taken care of.
We rethought our plan and decided that we would go after Shengdu and do it swiftly – getting the drop on him before he noticed the patrol that was out did not come back. Following the goblins we made our way across Third Street, into the Grand Concourse, across the Chasm, and along the north wall to the Northern road – leading to the goblin area, the Hammer room, and the smithy.
Dargis went ahead, scouting, the halfling returning to tell us that 3 greenskins in brigandine armor and armed with lengths of chain with a flail ball on the end were guarding one of the main side roads down Northern Road – and that the sounds of hammering and smith work were very loud there. As for sneaking up, the place was lit with phosphorous fungus and it would be difficult for the party to get close enough for a rush.
We talked about plans and Gwyn made the call that he would get as close as possible and using his long bow – try to take out the goblins one at a time – hopefully fast enough before they could get an alarm off. Dargis opted to go with him, ready to use his sling should Gwyn miss. The rest of the group waited at the end of Northern road at the Grand Concourse and stayed quiet in the dim dim otherworldly light.
The dwarf and halfling moved silently, staying in the shadows against the wall, creeping up to 45’ from the closest goblin. Feeling they had gone far enough, Gwyn took aim on the furthest one (65’) and fired – burying an arrow in the goblins chest and killing it. As it fell he shot at the next closest, winging the goblin but that was all. As he was grumbling and loading up a last arrow, Dargis let an enchanted sling stone fly and it cracked the 2nd goblin in the skill – slaying it with a loud THWOCK! The third one was drawing a breath to shout out an alarm when Gwyn took a hail Mary shot and bulls eye – killed the third goblin guard dead!
The group was impressed (Gwyn sniping to Arnog, “See – sometimes a sword is NOT the best tool.” Chuckle.) and we fell upon the dead goblins swiftly – our group of 4 taking what equipment they could from the dead brethren and upgrading themselves once more. Dargis snuck ahead, down the sloping corridor and spied in, getting a lay of the forge room and multiple anvils before sneaking back and scratching out a quick diagram in the dust.
6 gnolls, all unarmored wearing forge aprons – none of them identifiable as Shengdu. 15 goblins, all in weak and poor condition clad in homespun shifts and using small tools and tongs. The gnolls looked more robust and deep of chest than any of the others we had ever faced before.
We discussed swiftly a plan of action in which Arnog would charge in and break left – the 4 goblins following him, taking down the closest gnoll there. Gwyn would follow and doing as best as possible, either crossbow or arrow down the gnolls on the right. Dargis would lend support where able to and Detheron would be looking for whichever one was Shengdu and take him out. Before entering, Detheron cast: Protection from Fire on Arnog and again on himself (giving both of them 72 points of fire protection!) and then we charged in.
Arnog and his goblin supporters slammed into the 1st gnoll with surprise and fury – tearing the hyena man’s flesh open in half a dozen places and causing him to howl and wail. Meanwhile Gwyn sidled around the corner and shot one gnoll down and then a second, causing both of them to yelp in pain. Arnog was shouting that all the goblins would be free if they either helped us or they did nothing. Detheron called on Frey and a flaming scimitar burst from his hand. Dargis danced in and took up position near the main forge with the enchanted shovel, dug out a titanic amount of burning coals, and hurled them at one of the gnolls – setting the hyena man on fire.
After this the battle grew more frantic as the gnolls were no longer startled and the goblins (not counting our 4) all dropped to the ground and cowered. Wielding forge hammers they strode forward bashing and snarling. Gwyn was surrounded by two, trading to scimitar without delay while Dargis was forced back, the nimble halfling barely able to draw sword and dagger in time to fend off the gnoll’s angered blows. Arnog dispatched the wounded gnoll and the 4 goblin warriors with us charged one of the untouched ones. But it was the last gnoll who glanced at Detheron and pointed at the druid – causing the flaming scimitar to burst into fire and course all over our friend of Frey. Shengdu!
Dargis was taking some nasty blows and Gwyn was carving the two gnolls back – his superior skill out classing their brawler tactics with ease. Arnog accosted Shengdu but the gnollish wizard smith was much stronger than our cocky fighter expected and the gnoll lifted Arnog up off the ground and CHARGED with him into the forge bed! Shengdu was laughing while he did it and unbeknownst to him, Arnog was protected by Detheron’s spell – the protection beginning to wither away from the blast of the fiery forge. One of the goblin warriors was brained by the far gnoll but the other three redoubled their efforts.
Detheron ran to Dargis’ aid, his flaming scimitar scoring fire along the gnoll’s unprotected side while the thief stabbed as fast and as often as he could. Gwyn took down one of the gnolls and turned his attention to the other. Shengdu called upon his skills once more and caused the forge to radiate a blast of fire – eating more of Arnog’s protection away and causing all those near the forge bed to jump away burned. Arnog was fighting from a prone position under the gnoll wizard and couldn’t get a solid blow against him – his situation becoming desperate.
Dargis’ gnoll finally was slain and Detheron ran into the forge to help (trusting his own Protection from Fire), his scimitar leading the way. He struck Shengdu but the gnoll wizard had some sort of fire shield up and the druid was hurt for his efforts! Meanwhile Arnog and Detheron had their protections slowly whittled away as the massive heat from the forge kept eating at them. Our 3 count of goblins were keeping the far gnoll busy, their picks and hammers slowly beating against their foe’s flesh. Gwyn forced the one gnoll he was fighting back but while using his forge hammer – smashed it against the dwarf’s arm with critical force – bruising him down to his bone! (critical hit weapon arm, -4 on all to hits for the next 1d6 hours). Gwyn doggedly fought on.
Shengdu cast Flare at Detheron, blinding the druid while Arnog forced the gnoll wizard up and off him, sword hacking wildly about as he tried to slain the laughing beast. Gwyn slammed the length of his curved sword into the gnoll’s chest and tore it our sideways, killing him at long last. He picked up his crossbow and cradling it against his chest, loaded up a bolt – waiting for an opportunity to fire into the forge and not hit his companions (he was shouting at them to get the hell out of the forge.)
Dargis took up position nearer the door, just in case, and it was much needed as Shengdu took some punishing blows from Arnog as tried to run. Gwyn fired at the gnoll, crossbow bolt sticking out of his shoulder. He stumbled but cleared the forge bed and tried to run across the floor. Dargis intercepted him and with a leap and stab – buried both his weapons into Shengdu’s chin and took the gnoll down at long last.
The last gnoll was slain and we took stock of ourselves. The goblins were cheering us as liberators and the 15 in here (plus our original 3) stripped the gnolls of their weapons and aprons, dressing themselves in the same finery. A key was found on Shengdu’s neck which we took, and we talked with the goblins – telling them they had a right to live free and to take the rest of the gnolls down.
There was a storeroom across the way where we followed some of the goblins into. It was filled with finished iron wares – testament to the works the gnolls had been doing. Almost 6000 iron bars 2’ long, half a thousand axes, a thousand morning stars, a thousand bucklers, half a thousand breast and back plates. Enough gear to outfit an army. The goblins came in here in ones and twos and grabbed helms and bucklers and weapons and went off to assault other gnolls where they found them; dragging their slain former masters into the forge room where they were desecrated and dumped on the flames.
In the back of the store room was Shengdu’s private area which had some notes on what had been made, a sizeable amount of coin, his spell book (almost a dozen fire oriented spells), and some 46 tourmalines of green and blue hue which Gwyn informed us were worth maybe 30 to 40 crowns a piece! Nice haul.
From here we wanted to look at the smooth faced wall the Lycos Suns had marked and figured that we go in, get what treasures we could, and leave the rest for the goblins. At the area we had Dargis use the enchanted shovel to hack a hole in the wall and we tossed a lit torch in to look around. It was not occupied but large. Almost 30 chests were in here, most of them empty, but the ones that were still here had some 6000 in crowns and 6000 in nobles. There were some rugs and tapestries and some busts and statues.
But in the middle of the room was a silver stand, 3’ tall with some slots along the side and covered in some neatly blocked off dwarven script. It was a crystal ball stand, but no crystal ball was here. It radiated some magic for which we were very thankful. The two slots according to the writing, held two books that had some foul sorcery demonic in nature but could be used to defeat enemies should the need arise and those who used it were true and not easily tainted.
The 2 books were the Necordius Fenrir Codex. And the Thakulis Convergence Grimoire. We had heard a few times before of the Nec Fen Codex – it was something to do with Sir Dargan Cooperson 50 years ago, and something to do with the Phantom Blades/Lycos Suns, and something to do with the glass globes and why we had been captured in the first place. And both books were no longer here.
We took what gold we could and left the silver for the goblins. Our packs bulging and our hearts light, we bid our farewell to the goblins and set out towards what had been described to us as the way down. The back of the Grand Concourse where we had originally run from the Spiderhaunt caverns, there was a left fork that we followed, coming up some battle scene and a note from Coruth’tae, telling us that him and Karis were here along with some people they had found down here and were heading towards Byfortevile below – and that we should meet up soon. So we shouldered our packs and headed down into the cavernous darkness and adventure below.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Meet 70, Adv 8, 7/18/09
Ah Summer...many times over the last 27 years I have had campaigns begin to go lack-luster in the latter spring and then by the summer it is a chore to get people together. We took many weeks off for trips, 4th of July, and the like - but this was our first meeting back and I was unlucky to have only 2 players at the table this time.
I was not going to cancel. No more, not again. From now on, we play no matter how few show up.
So we did! It meant I had to handle every NPC as well as 4 PC's (the two normal and the 2 alternates), but it was well worth it and I was not disappointed in the two players (Detheron/Thad and Coruth'tae/Arnog) and their devotion.
The Red Clouds as an adventuring group averages around 9th level and are the "big cheese" as far as adventuring groups are concerned in area. They have had it good for so long, that they sort of expect everyone else to roll over and play dead for them.
I like the idea of adventuring groups in competition with one another. Honestly, an adventuring party is a bunch of sword swinging toughs and hooligans that band together out of greed and personal survival and go plundering tombs and halls and caves - killing whatever is in their path and steal what they can find.
Frankly being a professional adventurer is not a career to be proud of!
So it takes a certain amount of moral fortitude to be better than just a ruffian and rake and keep your word and be a better person than the scum around you.
I think the group has been doing just that and doing it well.
Write up follows:
The party (Detheron, Gwyn, Arnog, and Dargis) all rested in the old dwarven barracks on the upper level of Dargan’s Folley, replenishing much needed spells in Detheron’s case, and some welcome rest for the other party members. After an uneventful night, we awoke much better off and decided to see what we could do about opening the door to the surface.
The door was closed, the locking wheel turned fast. All attempts to open it resulted in just the wheel turning slightly and resisting any other attempts. Frustrated and not wanting to resort to spells, Arnog rapped on the thick iron door with the hilt of his sword. After some time, the same cadence of knocking was repeated from the other side! He tried it again, using a different pattern, and it was returned.
It was then that something was dragged across the door from the other side, metallic sounding and rasping, and then the wheel was turned and bright sunlight filtered down and a voice called out, “Hello down there! Come on up into the light!”
Arnog emerged first, finding himself at the bottom of the 15’ pit that housed the metal door, looking at the upper lip where 7 members of the Red Clouds were perched, weapons out and ready, Roxarn looking down with some surprise. He bid Arnog welcome and was thankful for the fighter’s safe emergence (sounded very depreciating). Then as the other members emerged there was some surprises and concern, and what was Detheron and co doing here? Where was Karis? Gwyn had poisoned two bolts with Type D poison and the party knew they were at a disadvantage but when Roxarn was getting angered, the party reacted and bolts went flying from both sides. Gwyn was struck three times but he managed to plant one swiftly into Roxarn (who ripped it out before the poison had a chance to affect him.
Then one of the members swung a covered cloak around and the party all beheld the severed head of a medusa and time stopped – frozen – turned to stone.
Detheron was awakened first, in a bit 4’ deep and turning to flesh slowly, a rope of entangling around his form and Maulis (the Red Cloud’s mage) using a charm to change him back. Roxarn watched and kept up a banter. Wanted the charms that Detheron and Gwyn had and as the druid turned normal, had Maulis pull it off his neck. The mage and Roxarn did not see eye to eye but the weaker man did defer to the leader. Was going to leave Detheron and Gwyn here until they could ascertain where Karis was and then make a decision on how to proceed. As for Arnog and Dargis, was going to get what info he could from them and either let them go or kill them – hadn’t decided.
One of the red cloud members came over with a large bladed shovel and excavated a larger extension on the pit Detheron was lying in, and one by one – the other party members were returned to flesh. Gwyn and Detheron had their medallions taken, Gwyn’s was placed outside the pit somewhere (along with his crossbow), and Maulis kept the druid’s. When the opportunity arose, Maulis was willing to “hold his actions” should the party attempt to escape, assuming Detheron would lead him to a place with “magical books and tomes” since that was what the mage was looking for (most likely Fengarth’s Tower). As the party was left behind, Maulis conveniently let his Lyreth medallion fall by Detheron.
There were no horses here, closest civilization was 4 days away mounted, and there were 7 members of the Red Clouds and 12 porters/hirelings – outside our skill. Plus they had the medusa head and we were unsure of our ability to even get near it or take it away. Dargis worked his way out of the entangling rope first and climbed up the pit side to look out. We were some spear throw from the corner of the Caer Dargan and opposite of that was the guard with the shovel and a bow, candle light illuminating him. Gwyn’s crossbow (and assuming the medallion) was on a pile of gear about 6 feet away.
We all were freed from the ropes after a time and a plan was hatched. Detheron cast Longstrider on himself and Strength on Arnog. Then a badger was summoned and the beast assaulted the guard from the opposite direction of the party. The fighter leapt out of the pit and ran as fast as he could to tackle the guard full on, grappling him with his arms around his throat. Dargis and Gwyn followed, slower but doggedly running.
The struggle was short and brutal but the guard could not free Arnog’s stronger grip and was bent lower and lower. And then the two shorted members arrived and with daggers and scimitar flashing slammed into the Red Cloud man, drawing blood and causing him to frantically squirm and struggle – Arnog was relentless. Meanwhile Detheron grabbed the other medallion, Gwyn’s crossbow, and the 5 large bundles of adventuring gear the Red Clouds had amassed, holding them all waveringly and then trying to make his way back towards the Folley.
The guard was slain and the party ran toward the Folley (after Dargis took the shovel, they stole his arrows, and slit his sword belt free!), Arnog taking the lion’s share of the gear from the staggering druid. We ran as fast as we could for the Folley Entrance when a sentry spotted us and shouted and alarm. Detheron pressed onward while Arnog detoured and taking arrows shot in his direction tackled the guard, broadsword leading the way. The blows were fast and furious and the sentry went down with a scream and wail. Turning swiftly, he rejoined the party at the Folley Entrance, Detheron already used both of the Lyreth medallions to break the wards and allow us entrance.
Once inside the door was yanked shut and using the taken sword we snatched of the guard, it was jammed into the wheel of the door and bent, forcing it closed. Then Dargis and Arnog used the enchanted shovel and collapsed some of the ceiling to slow the Red Clouds down. From there we relaxed briefly and went through what we had found – lots of gear, foods, and adventuring equipment. We split it up as well as some magical earring and a bracelet we had taken without knowing and then decided we would go back to the 2nd level and try to find another way out from there.
We passed through the shrine to Thor, where we knew that Maulin was able to teleport people into. So we trashed the chamber, moving furnishings around, dragging in more crud from other rooms, and even toppling the statue – anything to potentially ruin a teleport into there. From here we went to the stairs down and began the long walk – closing the gates behind us as we went.
Once at the bottom (verifying our rope was still there), Detheron warded both Dargis and himself against lightning, while Gwyn and Arnog took the glyph’s blasts and scampered down the ropes – the doughty fighters hurt but not slain. Once safely at the bottom we went to the Temple of Odin, shut and spiked the doors, and dropped off to much needed rest.
Meanwhile, the other group consisting of Karis, Coruth’tae, Spax, and Thad walked down the sloping corridor for some while until they arrived at the tremendous underground vast cavern that was Byfortvile. The description was:
You can feel the vastness of the cavern ahead of you a dozen steps before you emerge from the tunnel’s widening mouth. A lightening to the air, an easing to the atmosphere, a sense of echoing and vast spaces beyond your steps.
The cave you’ve been walking through has widened here to over 50’ in length and the roof has peeled back to a bit past 20’, but the expanse of this opening is nothing compared to the glorious sight that you behold this far under the open sky.
The cavern bursts open and wide to a tremendous hollow miles upon miles in width and depth, with the glittering roof hanging dome-like close to a thousand feet over head. There is an island of rock that slopes gently away with a leaning city upon it until its borders end at a tremendous underground sea. The water is fed from an opening in the ceiling where a cascade thunders down like a river to the churning black surface.
An arching stone bridge reaches across the waters to an even larger city beyond. Sitting on an outcropping of stone over a mile deep and wide, it sports strangely carved structures of gargantuan size and dotted with tall spires of colossal stalagmites. Four hundred dizzying feet above the tallest of the buildings is a 90’ diameter ball of yellow and purple writhing flames like some otherworldly sun; steaming and hissing as tendrils of purple arcana corresculate from the iron spikes of the tower below to the burning sphere of illuminating gas.
Dimly beyond the city and the underground sea you can see large colorful plains of stone and towering fungi leading up to hills on one side, a smoking red glowing fumaroles, venting vapors and a ragged iron gray shelf of jagged vertical cliffs on the other.
It is a wondrous sight to behold above ground, but over 2 miles below the surface of the world, it borders tenuously on fantastic.
We entered carefully and a few duergar mounted of 12’ spiders rode up, nonplussed at our presence. Some conversation followed about keeping ourselves off the Outsider’s island until we’ve been given a marking from some vault and that if we wanted to wander off of Byfortvile, we would need a boat ride. It was suggested we go and bid our respects to King Yikzarch, king of the goblins, who had some sort of palace to the right down an area referred to as Goblin Row.
We opted to keep ourselves out of trouble and wandered there. We saw goblins, duergar, gnolls, gnomes, ogres, a couple of humans, what might have been a hobgoblin, and a smattering of drow. The goblin section of the city was dirty but still a city and when Coruth’tae made the mistake of buying a tray of salted fish, every other goblin merchant crowded forward to sell us anything/everything else they could.
We picked our way through the press and went ot King Yikzarch’s palace. A number of goblins were on guard and once we presented ourselves we were asked to wait while one of them ran in to announce us. Once inside we went to Yikzarch’s chamber which was fairly cramped, the king sporting a score of guards, a half dozen visitors, a ten count of servants wandering about, and a single very dangerous greenskinned goblin standing at Yikzarch’s back half in the shadows.
We tried to bluff our reasons for being down here and somehow it was mentioned we were surfacers looking to sell pastries to the citizens of Byfortvile. Yikzarch wanted one. We didn’t have any, they were in the wagon. Then go get me one. It’s very far and will be stale when it gets here. Then make me one. We don’t have the tools to do it. Then go to my kitchen now and make one for me!
Crud.
We followed the guards and the shadowy goblin who identified himself as Gangrene – the King’s personal “problem solver”. We were taken to the kitchen and were told that if we didn’t make Yikzarch a pastry, there would be no escape for us from this building. It was then that Thad turned to Coruth’tae and asked, “So, do you know how to cook?” We ended it here.
I was not going to cancel. No more, not again. From now on, we play no matter how few show up.
So we did! It meant I had to handle every NPC as well as 4 PC's (the two normal and the 2 alternates), but it was well worth it and I was not disappointed in the two players (Detheron/Thad and Coruth'tae/Arnog) and their devotion.
The Red Clouds as an adventuring group averages around 9th level and are the "big cheese" as far as adventuring groups are concerned in area. They have had it good for so long, that they sort of expect everyone else to roll over and play dead for them.
I like the idea of adventuring groups in competition with one another. Honestly, an adventuring party is a bunch of sword swinging toughs and hooligans that band together out of greed and personal survival and go plundering tombs and halls and caves - killing whatever is in their path and steal what they can find.
Frankly being a professional adventurer is not a career to be proud of!
So it takes a certain amount of moral fortitude to be better than just a ruffian and rake and keep your word and be a better person than the scum around you.
I think the group has been doing just that and doing it well.
Write up follows:
The party (Detheron, Gwyn, Arnog, and Dargis) all rested in the old dwarven barracks on the upper level of Dargan’s Folley, replenishing much needed spells in Detheron’s case, and some welcome rest for the other party members. After an uneventful night, we awoke much better off and decided to see what we could do about opening the door to the surface.
The door was closed, the locking wheel turned fast. All attempts to open it resulted in just the wheel turning slightly and resisting any other attempts. Frustrated and not wanting to resort to spells, Arnog rapped on the thick iron door with the hilt of his sword. After some time, the same cadence of knocking was repeated from the other side! He tried it again, using a different pattern, and it was returned.
It was then that something was dragged across the door from the other side, metallic sounding and rasping, and then the wheel was turned and bright sunlight filtered down and a voice called out, “Hello down there! Come on up into the light!”
Arnog emerged first, finding himself at the bottom of the 15’ pit that housed the metal door, looking at the upper lip where 7 members of the Red Clouds were perched, weapons out and ready, Roxarn looking down with some surprise. He bid Arnog welcome and was thankful for the fighter’s safe emergence (sounded very depreciating). Then as the other members emerged there was some surprises and concern, and what was Detheron and co doing here? Where was Karis? Gwyn had poisoned two bolts with Type D poison and the party knew they were at a disadvantage but when Roxarn was getting angered, the party reacted and bolts went flying from both sides. Gwyn was struck three times but he managed to plant one swiftly into Roxarn (who ripped it out before the poison had a chance to affect him.
Then one of the members swung a covered cloak around and the party all beheld the severed head of a medusa and time stopped – frozen – turned to stone.
Detheron was awakened first, in a bit 4’ deep and turning to flesh slowly, a rope of entangling around his form and Maulis (the Red Cloud’s mage) using a charm to change him back. Roxarn watched and kept up a banter. Wanted the charms that Detheron and Gwyn had and as the druid turned normal, had Maulis pull it off his neck. The mage and Roxarn did not see eye to eye but the weaker man did defer to the leader. Was going to leave Detheron and Gwyn here until they could ascertain where Karis was and then make a decision on how to proceed. As for Arnog and Dargis, was going to get what info he could from them and either let them go or kill them – hadn’t decided.
One of the red cloud members came over with a large bladed shovel and excavated a larger extension on the pit Detheron was lying in, and one by one – the other party members were returned to flesh. Gwyn and Detheron had their medallions taken, Gwyn’s was placed outside the pit somewhere (along with his crossbow), and Maulis kept the druid’s. When the opportunity arose, Maulis was willing to “hold his actions” should the party attempt to escape, assuming Detheron would lead him to a place with “magical books and tomes” since that was what the mage was looking for (most likely Fengarth’s Tower). As the party was left behind, Maulis conveniently let his Lyreth medallion fall by Detheron.
There were no horses here, closest civilization was 4 days away mounted, and there were 7 members of the Red Clouds and 12 porters/hirelings – outside our skill. Plus they had the medusa head and we were unsure of our ability to even get near it or take it away. Dargis worked his way out of the entangling rope first and climbed up the pit side to look out. We were some spear throw from the corner of the Caer Dargan and opposite of that was the guard with the shovel and a bow, candle light illuminating him. Gwyn’s crossbow (and assuming the medallion) was on a pile of gear about 6 feet away.
We all were freed from the ropes after a time and a plan was hatched. Detheron cast Longstrider on himself and Strength on Arnog. Then a badger was summoned and the beast assaulted the guard from the opposite direction of the party. The fighter leapt out of the pit and ran as fast as he could to tackle the guard full on, grappling him with his arms around his throat. Dargis and Gwyn followed, slower but doggedly running.
The struggle was short and brutal but the guard could not free Arnog’s stronger grip and was bent lower and lower. And then the two shorted members arrived and with daggers and scimitar flashing slammed into the Red Cloud man, drawing blood and causing him to frantically squirm and struggle – Arnog was relentless. Meanwhile Detheron grabbed the other medallion, Gwyn’s crossbow, and the 5 large bundles of adventuring gear the Red Clouds had amassed, holding them all waveringly and then trying to make his way back towards the Folley.
The guard was slain and the party ran toward the Folley (after Dargis took the shovel, they stole his arrows, and slit his sword belt free!), Arnog taking the lion’s share of the gear from the staggering druid. We ran as fast as we could for the Folley Entrance when a sentry spotted us and shouted and alarm. Detheron pressed onward while Arnog detoured and taking arrows shot in his direction tackled the guard, broadsword leading the way. The blows were fast and furious and the sentry went down with a scream and wail. Turning swiftly, he rejoined the party at the Folley Entrance, Detheron already used both of the Lyreth medallions to break the wards and allow us entrance.
Once inside the door was yanked shut and using the taken sword we snatched of the guard, it was jammed into the wheel of the door and bent, forcing it closed. Then Dargis and Arnog used the enchanted shovel and collapsed some of the ceiling to slow the Red Clouds down. From there we relaxed briefly and went through what we had found – lots of gear, foods, and adventuring equipment. We split it up as well as some magical earring and a bracelet we had taken without knowing and then decided we would go back to the 2nd level and try to find another way out from there.
We passed through the shrine to Thor, where we knew that Maulin was able to teleport people into. So we trashed the chamber, moving furnishings around, dragging in more crud from other rooms, and even toppling the statue – anything to potentially ruin a teleport into there. From here we went to the stairs down and began the long walk – closing the gates behind us as we went.
Once at the bottom (verifying our rope was still there), Detheron warded both Dargis and himself against lightning, while Gwyn and Arnog took the glyph’s blasts and scampered down the ropes – the doughty fighters hurt but not slain. Once safely at the bottom we went to the Temple of Odin, shut and spiked the doors, and dropped off to much needed rest.
Meanwhile, the other group consisting of Karis, Coruth’tae, Spax, and Thad walked down the sloping corridor for some while until they arrived at the tremendous underground vast cavern that was Byfortvile. The description was:
You can feel the vastness of the cavern ahead of you a dozen steps before you emerge from the tunnel’s widening mouth. A lightening to the air, an easing to the atmosphere, a sense of echoing and vast spaces beyond your steps.
The cave you’ve been walking through has widened here to over 50’ in length and the roof has peeled back to a bit past 20’, but the expanse of this opening is nothing compared to the glorious sight that you behold this far under the open sky.
The cavern bursts open and wide to a tremendous hollow miles upon miles in width and depth, with the glittering roof hanging dome-like close to a thousand feet over head. There is an island of rock that slopes gently away with a leaning city upon it until its borders end at a tremendous underground sea. The water is fed from an opening in the ceiling where a cascade thunders down like a river to the churning black surface.
An arching stone bridge reaches across the waters to an even larger city beyond. Sitting on an outcropping of stone over a mile deep and wide, it sports strangely carved structures of gargantuan size and dotted with tall spires of colossal stalagmites. Four hundred dizzying feet above the tallest of the buildings is a 90’ diameter ball of yellow and purple writhing flames like some otherworldly sun; steaming and hissing as tendrils of purple arcana corresculate from the iron spikes of the tower below to the burning sphere of illuminating gas.
Dimly beyond the city and the underground sea you can see large colorful plains of stone and towering fungi leading up to hills on one side, a smoking red glowing fumaroles, venting vapors and a ragged iron gray shelf of jagged vertical cliffs on the other.
It is a wondrous sight to behold above ground, but over 2 miles below the surface of the world, it borders tenuously on fantastic.
We entered carefully and a few duergar mounted of 12’ spiders rode up, nonplussed at our presence. Some conversation followed about keeping ourselves off the Outsider’s island until we’ve been given a marking from some vault and that if we wanted to wander off of Byfortvile, we would need a boat ride. It was suggested we go and bid our respects to King Yikzarch, king of the goblins, who had some sort of palace to the right down an area referred to as Goblin Row.
We opted to keep ourselves out of trouble and wandered there. We saw goblins, duergar, gnolls, gnomes, ogres, a couple of humans, what might have been a hobgoblin, and a smattering of drow. The goblin section of the city was dirty but still a city and when Coruth’tae made the mistake of buying a tray of salted fish, every other goblin merchant crowded forward to sell us anything/everything else they could.
We picked our way through the press and went ot King Yikzarch’s palace. A number of goblins were on guard and once we presented ourselves we were asked to wait while one of them ran in to announce us. Once inside we went to Yikzarch’s chamber which was fairly cramped, the king sporting a score of guards, a half dozen visitors, a ten count of servants wandering about, and a single very dangerous greenskinned goblin standing at Yikzarch’s back half in the shadows.
We tried to bluff our reasons for being down here and somehow it was mentioned we were surfacers looking to sell pastries to the citizens of Byfortvile. Yikzarch wanted one. We didn’t have any, they were in the wagon. Then go get me one. It’s very far and will be stale when it gets here. Then make me one. We don’t have the tools to do it. Then go to my kitchen now and make one for me!
Crud.
We followed the guards and the shadowy goblin who identified himself as Gangrene – the King’s personal “problem solver”. We were taken to the kitchen and were told that if we didn’t make Yikzarch a pastry, there would be no escape for us from this building. It was then that Thad turned to Coruth’tae and asked, “So, do you know how to cook?” We ended it here.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Meet 69, Adv 8, 6/13/09
One of the issues about splitting the groups is the habit of Meta-gaming - importing knowledge into one character group that they couldn't have because they weren't part of the other group.
There was a long pause by the halfling thief when he realized that the mound of statues he was looking at was the same mound of statues his alter ego had passed 6-7 hours earlier in game time - going the other way. The 2nd group has no idea that he 1st group is down here - nor do they know that that said group is on the way down to the 3rd level. So it was with some gritting of teeth that the halfling led the 2nd party towards the collapsed stairs.
Now, the stairs were destroyed, but I assumed that one of the parties would attempt to get out no matter what (and truth be told, there was a set of armor in the Dwarven area that had the ability to impart flight - which could have had someone ferrying people from bottom to top - the party never found it). The glyphs were decided on afterwards in response to the "battle" the dark dwarves and gnolls were having with Adventuring group "one", but were avoidable should the party get creative and interesting (which they did).
It's going to be give and take for a bit on Detheron, Gwyn, Arnog, and Dargis to see what happens on the way "out". And I am interested in seeing how they handle this wrinkle.
Write up follows:
Karis, Coruth’tae, Spax, and Thad discussed what was the next direction to take, with the half-ogre and the elven illusionist discussing at length the possibility of going back to the goblin area and trying to get into the “Lyreth warded” area with the smooth wall – convinced that it would have some sort of treasure room behind it. The thought was that if we were going to go down to the city below, we would need some sort of coin to help us barter our way through and along.
However both Spax and Thad wanted to only get out of here and get to the surface to give Roxarn and company a good thumping. Plus they had not had a good encounter with the goblins before and there was all the possibility that the greenskins would not be nice. So we opted to work our way down before waiting too much longer.
We left Sakath’s throne room and walked our way unmolested across the ancient dwarven halls until we arrived at long last by the far west area of the city. It was here that the ceiling sloped down and the floor became uneven. There was a mounding of statues here, almost 30 of them. They were 20 feet tall and some had been brought here on their bases, others off. They were tangled amongst one another with no reason or rhyme. What were they doing here? How did they get here and why? No explanation was forthcoming so we pressed on.
Beyond the statues the hallway “T”ed – the left most fork showing MUCH greater amount of traffic. We traveled that way, the cavern much rougher hewn than the dwarven tunnels and chambers we had been in before. In a short time we heard the sound of gnoll voices up ahead, quite a few of them. As we had the phosphorous fungus above to light our way we saw the widened area at the same time that the gnolls guarding it saw us.
There were a half dozen 5’ tall walls erected across the sides of the corridor that would funnel whoever was coming through the area down the center of the cavern. A dozen gnolls were guarding the area, clad in leather breastplates with rough hewn chain sleeves. There was something on the ceiling 25’ above, massive, but in the gloom it was nothing more than a large shape.
Some parlaying occurred with the gnolls ordering us surface dwellers to go home. Spax, the only one with the ability to speak gnoll, spoke for the party, trying to barter for passage. One of the gnolls was very mouthy and insisted on 100 crowns a piece to pass. Obviously extortion, Spax offered that same amount to not kill them all. Thad stepped further back and drew his bow while the mouthy gnoll came around the wall and said something about “skewering your damned mouth closed”, his ranseur flickering in the dull light.
A 3 count of gnolls yipped and barked and ran off while others started to clamber over the wall and run forward. A few of them sent missile weapons flying and Spax was struck. Karis tried to step in front of the charging gnoll but it snuck past and stabbed the mage in the shoulder. Spax then cursed out a flame spell and a 15’ fan of fires coursed all over the gnoll’s face and chest, setting him fully ablaze as he howled; the mage walking calmly after him with the fire still coursing out of his hands.
Eventually when the fire guttered out, the other gnolls were stunned and not wanting to risk angering the mage or his friends said that it was a misunderstanding and of course the party can pass. Spax gave a retort that all he wanted to do was walk by and the gnolls gave passage (after they disabled the giant hammer trap on the ceiling).
Beyond here we took care, knowing that 3 of the gnolls had run on ahead. There was a sloping to the corridor ahead of us and a depression that was slick beneath our feet, small hillocks of stone sticking out of the inch of oil coating the ground.
And there in front of us were 3 gigantic 9’ tall spiders. Mounted on top of them were three Duergar armed with crossbows. And standing just behind them were the 3 gnolls, pointing at the party and nodding their head. The groups looked at one another and then one of the dwarves said, “They look close enough to Vanir’s description. Take them down.”
At that instant Karis charged forward across the oily pool, Thad ran backwards, and both Spax and Coruth’tae readied spells in an effort to strike the dwarves first. But the Duergar brought their crossbows to bear and when they fired them, there was a thick sparking as the bolts left the weapons and the quarrels were aflame. Coruth’tae abandoned his spell and ran for one of the small hillocks of stone while Spax ignored the rushing missiles and ground out the final words of a Fireball. It streaked away towards the dwarves and then burst – and the flaming missiles, they hit the oil.
The concussive blast immolated the gnolls, burning them badly and slaying one outright – the others broke ranks and fled screaming. The dwarves were protected from most of the blast by their mounts, who suffered horribly. But the oil ignited and Coruth’tae scrambled onto a hillock, choking in the fires and Spax was howling as he flapped the oil soaked and burned trailing end of his robes all over the place trying to get clear of the flames.
Thad fired but the arrows went wildly, not striking anything. Karis stood his ground as one of the Duergar and spiders charged at him, weapon flashing. The melee was short and brutal and he was bit but the terrible arachnid. Spax tried to jump clear of the flames but failed and landed face first in the burning oil, the fire choking in his lungs as he rolled free and slumped into semi-consciousness. Coruth’tae tried to jump from burning hillock to burning hillock but was forced to go slowly, the illusionist getting hurt in the process. Thad fired arrow after arrow, eventually killing one of the spiders and then finishing up one of the dwarves.
One of the dark dwarves hit Karis with an enfeeblement spell and then he was plastered with a Vampiric Touch, the half-ogre growing weaker. But he was already beyond normal human and his great sword took down the last of the dwarves and Thad’s bolts wiped out the last spider. Coruth’tae used his Declarig wand of healing on Spax and himself a few times and when the oil fire burned out we crossed the hot stones and healed up Karis a bit too.
We looked over the dark dwarves and their area. They seemed to have some knowledge of us and eventually we came across a letter penned almost 7 months or so ago by Vanir, describing the party and advising someone called Kashtir to take us down. We readied our selves, gathered our belongings and made our way towards the wide corridor that sloped downward into the depths of the earth and the 3rd level referred to as Byfortvile.
Meanwhile Detheron, Gwyn, Arnog, and Dargis made their way out of the gloom of the Spiderhaunt caves and back into the main portion of Dargan’s Folley after passing a pile of 20’ tall dwarven statues that had been knocked over and mounded near the back of a sloping corridor. The place seemed quiet, unlike the last time either pair had been through here. There was talk about going through the goblin portion of the caves but it was thought it would bring us too close to Shengdu the gnollish wizard-smith and the 4 adventurers just wanted to get out.
Instead it was thought we would look over at the Chasm and see if we could fight our way across the guards positioned there. It wasn’t until we got close that we learned there were NO gnolls keeping guard. None. Where were they? What happened? We cautiously picked our way over the bridge and made our way across the grand hall until we came to the shattered stairs.
A battle had taken place here. Two Duergar, half a dozen humans, a dozen gnolls, 4 shocker lizards, and the stairs out destroyed. We looked them over and it was a pitched fight – but most likely some of the humans had won as there was fortified area in the rubble. Where they went we did not know. Arnog and Dargis denied that any of the fallen humans were friends of theirs, which meant that if they were adventurers, most likely the Red Clouds had sent them in as well. Both pairs wanted to confront Roxarn and the only way that was going to happen was to get out.
Dargis was given the ability to climb like a spider from Detheron and the wiry halfling, with the entire party’s length of rope (90’) and a grappling hook prepared, started shimmying his way up the wall. The spell was only going to last 6 minutes so he had to move fast. He made it to the top – the opening 15’ by 10’ in the ceiling, broken stairs leading on into the darkness.
He was going to just fling the grapple through the hole and settle it on the steps when he threw it through though a 4 count of wards fired off and he pulled his hand free just before getting burned! Glyphs! 4 of them – each set at the corners of the hole. Sliding down the rope he rejoined the group and we discussed options.
The glyphs didn’t mind the rope poking through, but did fire when someone went through. And they were electric in nature. Gwyn opted to go first, drinking his Tempestskin potion and climbing the rope. At the top he steeled himself and pulled himself through the opening – all 4 glyphs firing into the dwarf. His armor deflected some of the energy but the potion coursing through him took care of the rest. He was safe.
Arnog opted to go next, the young fighter getting a resistance spell from Detheron. He climbed the rope until he got to the top and then gritting his teeth pulled himself past the opening. The glyphs went off again and he was protected – but the rope had been burned TWICE before and the hemp fibers parted and the brave Arnog fell. Gwyn tried to grab for him but he was too slow and he watched the blond haired man fall into the darkness.
From below they heard the scream getting louder and Arnog crashed down the 90’ to the shattered stone on the ground where the brave young man was dashed into unconsciousness, his body hurt and bones bruised and broken – but miraculously alive!
Detheron asked Dargis if he cared about his friend and the halfling was unsure what that meant. It was only when the druid mentioned that the thief had a rather cavalier attitude about all his other slain friends down here, wanting to pick through them and their belongings time and again. The halfling smiled, said he liked Arnog, but did cut his money belt and slipped it into his own pouch.
Detheron was silent as he left the battered Arnog there and spider climbed himself, but not before casting a resistance on himself and on the halfling – then he went up the wall with the rope in tow where Gwyn was waiting nervously above, unaware of what happened below. They used a bit of chain to space out between the bottom of the grapple and the top of the rope – allowing the glyphs to fire their energy directly into the chain instead.
Meanwhile Arnog awoke and the tired fighter (who was lightly healed by Detheron before the druid had ascended before) waited with his friend until the rope came back down. Dargis went first and Arnog last and at the top of the hole the halfling “returned” the fighter’s pouch (which garnered some more snide comments from the dwarf about the reliability and trustworthiness of Halflings).
The group made their way tiredly up the stairs until they arrived at the top, and from there they went on to the entrance room of the Stronghold level. At the top of the stairs they went to the great door and tried to open it – but the metal wheel refused to budge. They each took turns but it seemed locked or stuck.
Detheron said he could open it but as his spells were all exhausted and the party was likewise, we opted to rest back in one of the barracks rooms and try our luck on the morrow.
There was a long pause by the halfling thief when he realized that the mound of statues he was looking at was the same mound of statues his alter ego had passed 6-7 hours earlier in game time - going the other way. The 2nd group has no idea that he 1st group is down here - nor do they know that that said group is on the way down to the 3rd level. So it was with some gritting of teeth that the halfling led the 2nd party towards the collapsed stairs.
Now, the stairs were destroyed, but I assumed that one of the parties would attempt to get out no matter what (and truth be told, there was a set of armor in the Dwarven area that had the ability to impart flight - which could have had someone ferrying people from bottom to top - the party never found it). The glyphs were decided on afterwards in response to the "battle" the dark dwarves and gnolls were having with Adventuring group "one", but were avoidable should the party get creative and interesting (which they did).
It's going to be give and take for a bit on Detheron, Gwyn, Arnog, and Dargis to see what happens on the way "out". And I am interested in seeing how they handle this wrinkle.
Write up follows:
Karis, Coruth’tae, Spax, and Thad discussed what was the next direction to take, with the half-ogre and the elven illusionist discussing at length the possibility of going back to the goblin area and trying to get into the “Lyreth warded” area with the smooth wall – convinced that it would have some sort of treasure room behind it. The thought was that if we were going to go down to the city below, we would need some sort of coin to help us barter our way through and along.
However both Spax and Thad wanted to only get out of here and get to the surface to give Roxarn and company a good thumping. Plus they had not had a good encounter with the goblins before and there was all the possibility that the greenskins would not be nice. So we opted to work our way down before waiting too much longer.
We left Sakath’s throne room and walked our way unmolested across the ancient dwarven halls until we arrived at long last by the far west area of the city. It was here that the ceiling sloped down and the floor became uneven. There was a mounding of statues here, almost 30 of them. They were 20 feet tall and some had been brought here on their bases, others off. They were tangled amongst one another with no reason or rhyme. What were they doing here? How did they get here and why? No explanation was forthcoming so we pressed on.
Beyond the statues the hallway “T”ed – the left most fork showing MUCH greater amount of traffic. We traveled that way, the cavern much rougher hewn than the dwarven tunnels and chambers we had been in before. In a short time we heard the sound of gnoll voices up ahead, quite a few of them. As we had the phosphorous fungus above to light our way we saw the widened area at the same time that the gnolls guarding it saw us.
There were a half dozen 5’ tall walls erected across the sides of the corridor that would funnel whoever was coming through the area down the center of the cavern. A dozen gnolls were guarding the area, clad in leather breastplates with rough hewn chain sleeves. There was something on the ceiling 25’ above, massive, but in the gloom it was nothing more than a large shape.
Some parlaying occurred with the gnolls ordering us surface dwellers to go home. Spax, the only one with the ability to speak gnoll, spoke for the party, trying to barter for passage. One of the gnolls was very mouthy and insisted on 100 crowns a piece to pass. Obviously extortion, Spax offered that same amount to not kill them all. Thad stepped further back and drew his bow while the mouthy gnoll came around the wall and said something about “skewering your damned mouth closed”, his ranseur flickering in the dull light.
A 3 count of gnolls yipped and barked and ran off while others started to clamber over the wall and run forward. A few of them sent missile weapons flying and Spax was struck. Karis tried to step in front of the charging gnoll but it snuck past and stabbed the mage in the shoulder. Spax then cursed out a flame spell and a 15’ fan of fires coursed all over the gnoll’s face and chest, setting him fully ablaze as he howled; the mage walking calmly after him with the fire still coursing out of his hands.
Eventually when the fire guttered out, the other gnolls were stunned and not wanting to risk angering the mage or his friends said that it was a misunderstanding and of course the party can pass. Spax gave a retort that all he wanted to do was walk by and the gnolls gave passage (after they disabled the giant hammer trap on the ceiling).
Beyond here we took care, knowing that 3 of the gnolls had run on ahead. There was a sloping to the corridor ahead of us and a depression that was slick beneath our feet, small hillocks of stone sticking out of the inch of oil coating the ground.
And there in front of us were 3 gigantic 9’ tall spiders. Mounted on top of them were three Duergar armed with crossbows. And standing just behind them were the 3 gnolls, pointing at the party and nodding their head. The groups looked at one another and then one of the dwarves said, “They look close enough to Vanir’s description. Take them down.”
At that instant Karis charged forward across the oily pool, Thad ran backwards, and both Spax and Coruth’tae readied spells in an effort to strike the dwarves first. But the Duergar brought their crossbows to bear and when they fired them, there was a thick sparking as the bolts left the weapons and the quarrels were aflame. Coruth’tae abandoned his spell and ran for one of the small hillocks of stone while Spax ignored the rushing missiles and ground out the final words of a Fireball. It streaked away towards the dwarves and then burst – and the flaming missiles, they hit the oil.
The concussive blast immolated the gnolls, burning them badly and slaying one outright – the others broke ranks and fled screaming. The dwarves were protected from most of the blast by their mounts, who suffered horribly. But the oil ignited and Coruth’tae scrambled onto a hillock, choking in the fires and Spax was howling as he flapped the oil soaked and burned trailing end of his robes all over the place trying to get clear of the flames.
Thad fired but the arrows went wildly, not striking anything. Karis stood his ground as one of the Duergar and spiders charged at him, weapon flashing. The melee was short and brutal and he was bit but the terrible arachnid. Spax tried to jump clear of the flames but failed and landed face first in the burning oil, the fire choking in his lungs as he rolled free and slumped into semi-consciousness. Coruth’tae tried to jump from burning hillock to burning hillock but was forced to go slowly, the illusionist getting hurt in the process. Thad fired arrow after arrow, eventually killing one of the spiders and then finishing up one of the dwarves.
One of the dark dwarves hit Karis with an enfeeblement spell and then he was plastered with a Vampiric Touch, the half-ogre growing weaker. But he was already beyond normal human and his great sword took down the last of the dwarves and Thad’s bolts wiped out the last spider. Coruth’tae used his Declarig wand of healing on Spax and himself a few times and when the oil fire burned out we crossed the hot stones and healed up Karis a bit too.
We looked over the dark dwarves and their area. They seemed to have some knowledge of us and eventually we came across a letter penned almost 7 months or so ago by Vanir, describing the party and advising someone called Kashtir to take us down. We readied our selves, gathered our belongings and made our way towards the wide corridor that sloped downward into the depths of the earth and the 3rd level referred to as Byfortvile.
Meanwhile Detheron, Gwyn, Arnog, and Dargis made their way out of the gloom of the Spiderhaunt caves and back into the main portion of Dargan’s Folley after passing a pile of 20’ tall dwarven statues that had been knocked over and mounded near the back of a sloping corridor. The place seemed quiet, unlike the last time either pair had been through here. There was talk about going through the goblin portion of the caves but it was thought it would bring us too close to Shengdu the gnollish wizard-smith and the 4 adventurers just wanted to get out.
Instead it was thought we would look over at the Chasm and see if we could fight our way across the guards positioned there. It wasn’t until we got close that we learned there were NO gnolls keeping guard. None. Where were they? What happened? We cautiously picked our way over the bridge and made our way across the grand hall until we came to the shattered stairs.
A battle had taken place here. Two Duergar, half a dozen humans, a dozen gnolls, 4 shocker lizards, and the stairs out destroyed. We looked them over and it was a pitched fight – but most likely some of the humans had won as there was fortified area in the rubble. Where they went we did not know. Arnog and Dargis denied that any of the fallen humans were friends of theirs, which meant that if they were adventurers, most likely the Red Clouds had sent them in as well. Both pairs wanted to confront Roxarn and the only way that was going to happen was to get out.
Dargis was given the ability to climb like a spider from Detheron and the wiry halfling, with the entire party’s length of rope (90’) and a grappling hook prepared, started shimmying his way up the wall. The spell was only going to last 6 minutes so he had to move fast. He made it to the top – the opening 15’ by 10’ in the ceiling, broken stairs leading on into the darkness.
He was going to just fling the grapple through the hole and settle it on the steps when he threw it through though a 4 count of wards fired off and he pulled his hand free just before getting burned! Glyphs! 4 of them – each set at the corners of the hole. Sliding down the rope he rejoined the group and we discussed options.
The glyphs didn’t mind the rope poking through, but did fire when someone went through. And they were electric in nature. Gwyn opted to go first, drinking his Tempestskin potion and climbing the rope. At the top he steeled himself and pulled himself through the opening – all 4 glyphs firing into the dwarf. His armor deflected some of the energy but the potion coursing through him took care of the rest. He was safe.
Arnog opted to go next, the young fighter getting a resistance spell from Detheron. He climbed the rope until he got to the top and then gritting his teeth pulled himself past the opening. The glyphs went off again and he was protected – but the rope had been burned TWICE before and the hemp fibers parted and the brave Arnog fell. Gwyn tried to grab for him but he was too slow and he watched the blond haired man fall into the darkness.
From below they heard the scream getting louder and Arnog crashed down the 90’ to the shattered stone on the ground where the brave young man was dashed into unconsciousness, his body hurt and bones bruised and broken – but miraculously alive!
Detheron asked Dargis if he cared about his friend and the halfling was unsure what that meant. It was only when the druid mentioned that the thief had a rather cavalier attitude about all his other slain friends down here, wanting to pick through them and their belongings time and again. The halfling smiled, said he liked Arnog, but did cut his money belt and slipped it into his own pouch.
Detheron was silent as he left the battered Arnog there and spider climbed himself, but not before casting a resistance on himself and on the halfling – then he went up the wall with the rope in tow where Gwyn was waiting nervously above, unaware of what happened below. They used a bit of chain to space out between the bottom of the grapple and the top of the rope – allowing the glyphs to fire their energy directly into the chain instead.
Meanwhile Arnog awoke and the tired fighter (who was lightly healed by Detheron before the druid had ascended before) waited with his friend until the rope came back down. Dargis went first and Arnog last and at the top of the hole the halfling “returned” the fighter’s pouch (which garnered some more snide comments from the dwarf about the reliability and trustworthiness of Halflings).
The group made their way tiredly up the stairs until they arrived at the top, and from there they went on to the entrance room of the Stronghold level. At the top of the stairs they went to the great door and tried to open it – but the metal wheel refused to budge. They each took turns but it seemed locked or stuck.
Detheron said he could open it but as his spells were all exhausted and the party was likewise, we opted to rest back in one of the barracks rooms and try our luck on the morrow.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Meet 68, Adv 8, 6/6/09
I know I mentioned earlier that I write up the dungeons/adventures some time before the group gets to it. So sometimes there are things that appear to be easy, and other things that appear hard - and some things that make no sense.
But I always paint my adventures with broad strokes so that should I need to adjust/add/change anything in the details I can do so without worry or concern. And that is what I did here.
When written I did not plan on the groups to be split up. I did not plan on alternative characters. I did not plan on they being in two places in the same level but also a good 7 hours apart from one another. So when one group was wandering OUT of the Spiderhaunt caverns - after losing 3 of their friends within as had been tossed out - it made sense they would find the same 3 "friends" left behind. Which is where the fallen cleric and Gustav the paladin came from.
It was a nice interlude and a fun bit of role playing and I would like to say I had it all planned but I was DMing on the spot and in reaction to the party's interests and their actions.
The same went for taking Sakath down and ending his reign. There was something planned for a showdown with the ruined gnoll lord and the party at some point in the future in Byfortvile on Level 3 - but I like as a DM to be very fluid and have my players make up the game and what transpires instead of me having a list of encounters that occur one after the other.
As for the end game surprise of finding some evidence that Zoltan was not entirely dead - that thread and their interests in bringing him back is up to the players to pursue - not me!
Write up follows:
Detheron and Gwyn watched over their two new companions in the dark and gloomy interior of what had been dubbed the Spiderhaunt caves. The two friends talked about what had happened and where they had to go next. It was thought that Karis and Coruth’tae must be down here as well but obviously they “dropped” out of the Teleportal earlier so might not even be in the Folley and could be outside. The two friends were going to wait for Dargis and Arnog to awaken and then strike off back towards the entrance of Wodenvarelse and eventually the surface.
The lantern was filled with oil and Detheron kept it hooded and low so as not to attract the attention of any other spiders into the area we were hiding in. The hours passed and then after some time the two new companions awoke. The party went through their food stuffs and Dargis and Gwyn did not hit it off – the halfling asking the dwarf for some food (he had, just wanted to take Gwyn’s). Eventually it was discussed on options. Since Detheron and Gwyn had no idea where they were it was decided that we would use the inexact memories of Dargis and Arnog to lead us out.
Lanterns were refilled, weapons readied, and with some trepidation we began walking. The caves were fairly wide, some seven or eight feet, and stretched over 12’ tall in places. But they were heavy with stalactites and stalagmites, as well as layer and layer of old and new webbings. Eventually the corridor came to a sloping T and Dargis the halfling deduced that he and Arnog had come from the right – and in that direction we travelled.
As time went on the halfling recognized a bend in the cavern up ahead, the same place where a large spider had chased the group and Arnog had wounded before they were able to escape. He crept forward slowly and peered around; sure enough just at the limit of his infravision range he could make out the 7 legged figure of the 6’ tall spider. He motioned Gwyn forward and the dwarf took careful aim, letting his first bolt fly, following it up with a rapid second one – and the spider was dispatched as simply as that.
We scavenged the bolts and went on our way, Dargis and Arnog chatting a bit about their friends and what had happened. During the fight with Shengdu, the gnollish wizard they had lost one of their members and during the flight had lost another – so it was 5 of them that had come to this cave system and only the two of them were left – the other 3 having fallen during the days they had been in the environs.
As they travelled they came to an area where the cavern split and Dargis informed the group they had to go right. In fact it was here that they had lost their friend the cleric who ran down the wrong corridor and was trapped in a cul-de-sac – a 9’ behemoth spider killing him there. We approached the place as it had been described and sure enough saw the corpse covered in 3 or 4 layers of webbing as well as some 50 or so smaller spiders some the size of a fist. It was deduced that he had some healing scrolls on him and the party wanted to get them without risking an assault from the smaller spiders.
Eventually Detheron (opting NOT to set them all ablaze with a helpful bit of advice from Gwyn to use a Flaming Sphere) settled on summoning an insect swarm – concentrating on spiders as his default critter. And it happened, spiders came from everywhere at his beck and call, growing ever larger and larger until he had thousands of them, a living carpet stretching six long strides ahead of him. The swarm summoning also encompassed the spiders that were over the fallen cleric and Dargis went and checked his fallen friend’s belongings. He pocketed the money pouch and food sack but the backpack with torches, clothes, oil, and two healing scrolls (cure light and cure critical) were shared and eventually the group went on.
Detheron at first had the spiders walking on the floor ahead of them but Dargis who was leading was a bit creeped out, so instead the druid had the swarm split, run up both walls, and then cover the ceiling and pushing them as far ahead as he could. It was surreal to be walking behind this crawling ceiling carpet that kept raining little spiders out of the boiling mass only to recrawl up the walls and rejoin the mass but we moved onward.
Eventually the keen eared halfling heard the tell tale scritch sound of the Giant Spiders up ahead – the same 9’ tall nasty ones that had plagued them since they entered here. The poison was paralytic and the beasts were very powerful so it was decided that Gwyn would have to stand toe to toe with Arnog to keep the spiders off Detheron and Dargis. The dwarf moaned but did agree. A bolt was loaded and fired and the two giant spiders ran at the group.
At that moment Detheron had his insect swarm drop from the ceiling and cover the two giant versions, biting and attacking them. One of them was very maddened and couldn’t make its way forward it was so distracted, the other plowed along and was brought up short some 10’ from the party as it suffered under the hundreds of smaller spiders assaulting it. The druid had the swarm move back slightly and Gwyn and Arnog attacked – but the dwarf was hit and bit! And the poison filled his veins and he found himself slowing down as his muscles locked – paralyzed!
Arnog went into high gear and plied his blade heavily upon the spider’s carapace, taking a number of smaller bites on his own for his efforts. Even Dargis let sling stones fly and Detheron struggled to keep the swarm under control. The first big spider collapsed as Arnog threw his efforts wildly into the attack and sheared off two of its limbs before plunging his sword fully into the hairy beast’s face and killed it.
The second spider went down with the same acumen and the battle was won. Needing to cast a spell, the druid sent the spider swarm as far away from them as possible, back the way they had come, letting the enchantment fade of its own recognizance. Detheron neutralized the poison in Gwyn’s blood and the dwarf bemoaned that’s why he doesn’t front line fight. We laughed together and after tending to wounds and gear set onward.
Another split cavern had us lead to the right following Dargis’ guidance and we moved on, eyes peeled for any other 8-legged threats. The cave was growing more rank and there was a widened area ahead which made the halfling and young fighter both nod together and mutter, “Oh yeah.”
The wide area was a “Y” intersection and in the center was a pit some 25’ deep, oval shaped and maybe 15’ wide. The party’s 2nd in command, a paladin Gustav, had been leading the group through here almost 3 days ago and fell into the pit as they were being chased by a number of the 9’ tall giant spiders. They had also lost their ranger who was paralyzed trying to get Gustav out of the pit; the poor soul was trussed up and dragged down the right fork here which was the source of the heavy spidery smell. Both Dargis and Arnog and the Cleric Kazaz (who they had already seen a few hours ago and divested him of his healing scrolls) had ran out of fear and shame, the haunting calls of their paladinal friend Gustav echoing behind them from the depths of the pit as gigantic spiders filled the clearing.
Dargis crawled forward and looked in, seeing the banded mail figure of their friend very dead at the pit’s bottom. We looked down, it was obvious he had been fed from as the flesh, what little we could see, was desiccated and thin. But the halfling had his gaze on Gustav’s heirloom longblade, a silvered 40” blade of ensorcelled metal that had supposedly been in Gustav’s family for 4 generations. It was decided he would chance going down there and getting it.
Gwyn tied his rope to the halfling and bracing himself slowly lowered the thief into the 25’ deep pit. As he got a bit over half way down the still armor clad for of Gustav sprang to life and leapt for the dangling halfling, missing him by inches! Gustav had been reduced to a slavering ghoul, leaping and jumping to grab his former friends and companions. As Dargis was pulled free the rest of the group looked down, wondering what they could do to take out the ghoul 25’ beneath their feet and not get hurt doing so.
During the brief discussion while Detheron was throwing rocks at the former paladin, Gustav grabbed his shield from the ground and flung it upward like a discus – catching the druid full in the throat and making it impossible for him to even talk as he staggered back coughing and choking.
Arnog was opting to go down and do combat with the thing, tying the free end of the rope Dargis had let go to his own midsection, drawing his broadsword free. Meanwhile the halfling went around the other side of the pit and kept the ghoul’s attention firmly fixed on himself with thrown rocks. Gwyn braced himself and with a flying lead, the young fighter jumped into the pit, throwing his weight behind his shield and sword and slamming full force into the unsuspecting ghoul.
Gustav was smashed to the ground, the impact would have killed a lesser being, but the undead was filled with otherworldly strength and fought the brave Arnog off of him. The battle ensued with Arnog taking a few scratches during the fight – enough to fill his limbs with the cold paralytic touch of the ghoul’s pestilence. The two fighters went back and forth – and then the click-clack sound of spiders coming down the hall from the area we called “spider central” was heard.
Gwyn cut himself free from Arnog’s life line and drew his scimitar, racing to head off the two spiders as they burst into the central cavern. His blows were short and brutal and he dodged the bites and stabs the spiders tossed his way with relative ease. Meanwhile Dargis grabbed Arnog’s sliding life line and the young fighter finished the ghoul off with a decapitating sweep of his own blade. As all the fights came to an end we salvaged what we could from Gustav (including his silvered heirloom sword) and set off – opting NOT to go and find out what had happened to the last member of the other adventuring crew – just wanting to be free of the Spiderhaunt caves.
It was almost 2 hours of slow walking later before we emerged from the caves at long last and looked out at the wide hall that led elsewhere into Dargan’s Folley.
Meanwhile the other group with Karis, Coruth’tae, Spax, and Thad (the mage and archer that had hooked up with the half ogre and grey elf) was going to leave the chamber with the “outsider” in the former dwarven examination room when the discussion turned to vengeance. It seems that both sides had wanted to take their blades to Sakath and his gnolls and with the severe lack of forces the onetime gnollish chieftain had at his talons it was decided that now would be better than later to ply sword and spell against the gnoll.
We worked our way back into the Grand Hall and travelling east, took the main side road south – the almost 300’ length leading to Sakath’s throne room. There were the two side roads on each side and the group made their way to the first one, hoping to sneak down the back alleys and get to the two guard gnolls outside Sakath’s. But there were two gnolls walking patrol here and sneaking past them was not going to be easy.
Spax summoned a wall of fog to obscure their activities from the guards further down the corridor, the dense vapors also muting what sounds they would make a bit. Karis hid just inside the wispy barrier his great sword at the ready. Thad and Coruth’tae pulled out their bows and stayed behind the corner while Spax called to the two walking gnoll guards in their own language to come here and give them a hand.
The gnolls bought the ruse and wandered back and when they were about 20’ shy of the main road, magic missiles and arrows peppered them without mercy. One of the gnolls went down fast and the other was badly wounded but Karis’ brutal assault finished him off swiftly. We waited and listened – our attack had gone unnoticed. Taking what loot we could from the gnolls we ran into the alleyways and picked our way southward to Sakath’s.
Coruth’tae used him illusions to make Spax appear gnollish and the mage went into the hall to chat with the two guard gnolls – getting some information before coming back to the party. Sakath WAS in his throne room and there were over a dozen other gnolls in there with him. The group wanted to bust in there with full surprise but we needed to take the guards out swiftly. So the elf moved his glamour and made Karis appear to be the same gnoll Spax just was. The half ogre went into the hall, walked right up to the guards who thought he was back and friendly, and then jammed his sword into one of them with complete surprise – the party taking down the second one.
We readied our spells and skills and it was decided that Spax would fireball Sakath, with Coruth’tae following suit. Thad was to shoot the gnoll leader if he still lived and Karis would run into the chamber and finish the job should need be. The half-ogre called on Tyr to bless the party and both Spax and Coruth’tae cast Shield on themselves just in case. Thad drank his potion of Keen-eye and readied his bow. And then the door was torn open and we took in the chamber with a single roving eye.
100’ tall. Two metal chandeliers 50’ over head. A raised walkway encircling the chamber. Guards everywhere. Sakath surrounded by 4 of his finest. At the base of the raised dais was the feral priestly gnoll of Fenris still sporting Zoltan’s cloak and arguing with the gnoll leader. Everyone looked up with shocked expressions at the doors opened. Before anyone could do anything Thad pulled one of his magical arrows free and shot the Fenrir Priest. The missile flew unerringly and slammed the burly gnoll square in the chest – a critical shot resulting in immediate death! One arrow and the mighty gnoll was slain! And then Spax shouted out “In Vas Flam Grav Por!” and sent a streaking Fireball to race at Sakath’s feet, Coruth’tae arcing his Staff of Power forward and releasing one of his own precious charges – a second Fireball racing after the first.
The concussive blast of the first roaring fire was blown further out by the second one and the fiery wind scoured across the chamber immolating most of the nearby gnolls instantly. Sakath ducked behind his throne at the last moment, dragging one of his guards on top of him to absorb most of the blast. A few other gnolls were lucky to fall behind walls and stairs but over 10 of the filthy creatures died in the immediate blast.
Karis threw his armor class to the wind and charged across the length of the room, Sakath burned and angered, pulling his scepter mace free and met the knight in combat. Sword met bludgeon and the two fighters tore into one another with a crazed abandon. Other guards leapt out to try and save Sakath, scoring blows against Karis’ side but the mighty half ogre ignored them.
Only a four count of guards were left as Karis killed Sakath and Thad shot unerringly from the doorway. Spax smiled and said, “Well, my job is done. Whistle if you need any more help” and then walked to the side and drew out a pipe – lighting it and offering one to a shocked Coruth’tae. The mage took aim and let one his lightning bolts streak out, taking a couple more gnolls down before smiling and joining Spax for a smoke. Thad tossed a couple of comments at his friend but pulled his own sword free and assaulted the last gnoll racing for the door.
Karis struggled against the last two, their ranseurs picking a few wounds on his mighty form but nothing to cause any real harm. Thad was holding his own as well. The two mages kept some depreciating comments up, offering to stand up and help should it need be for the mighty “front line fighters” but Thad jokingly told them to sit down and rest themselves. The fight wound down and the last of the gnolls was slain. Combat done – Sakath and his closest guards were killed.
We looked over the chamber, there was little that survived the two fireballs and the lightning bolt. Karis grabbed Sakath’s scepter as a trophy but it what was discovered on the Fenrir priest’s person that made the party take notice. There was a leaded glass ball – soot covered and dinged a bit from the combat – but inside was the small and ghostly vision of Zoltan – trapped and slowly beating on the walls of the sphere, his features in some sort of agony.
Was he alive? What was this? The two mages deduced that his soul must be in here – captured by some rites or ritual unknown to them. If he was in the sphere – what did it mean? And how did the Fenrir gnoll get it? Coruth’tae took the sphere and said that if Zoltan was in there – he must be set free – either to move on to Valhalla or if possible – to be resurrected.
But I always paint my adventures with broad strokes so that should I need to adjust/add/change anything in the details I can do so without worry or concern. And that is what I did here.
When written I did not plan on the groups to be split up. I did not plan on alternative characters. I did not plan on they being in two places in the same level but also a good 7 hours apart from one another. So when one group was wandering OUT of the Spiderhaunt caverns - after losing 3 of their friends within as had been tossed out - it made sense they would find the same 3 "friends" left behind. Which is where the fallen cleric and Gustav the paladin came from.
It was a nice interlude and a fun bit of role playing and I would like to say I had it all planned but I was DMing on the spot and in reaction to the party's interests and their actions.
The same went for taking Sakath down and ending his reign. There was something planned for a showdown with the ruined gnoll lord and the party at some point in the future in Byfortvile on Level 3 - but I like as a DM to be very fluid and have my players make up the game and what transpires instead of me having a list of encounters that occur one after the other.
As for the end game surprise of finding some evidence that Zoltan was not entirely dead - that thread and their interests in bringing him back is up to the players to pursue - not me!
Write up follows:
Detheron and Gwyn watched over their two new companions in the dark and gloomy interior of what had been dubbed the Spiderhaunt caves. The two friends talked about what had happened and where they had to go next. It was thought that Karis and Coruth’tae must be down here as well but obviously they “dropped” out of the Teleportal earlier so might not even be in the Folley and could be outside. The two friends were going to wait for Dargis and Arnog to awaken and then strike off back towards the entrance of Wodenvarelse and eventually the surface.
The lantern was filled with oil and Detheron kept it hooded and low so as not to attract the attention of any other spiders into the area we were hiding in. The hours passed and then after some time the two new companions awoke. The party went through their food stuffs and Dargis and Gwyn did not hit it off – the halfling asking the dwarf for some food (he had, just wanted to take Gwyn’s). Eventually it was discussed on options. Since Detheron and Gwyn had no idea where they were it was decided that we would use the inexact memories of Dargis and Arnog to lead us out.
Lanterns were refilled, weapons readied, and with some trepidation we began walking. The caves were fairly wide, some seven or eight feet, and stretched over 12’ tall in places. But they were heavy with stalactites and stalagmites, as well as layer and layer of old and new webbings. Eventually the corridor came to a sloping T and Dargis the halfling deduced that he and Arnog had come from the right – and in that direction we travelled.
As time went on the halfling recognized a bend in the cavern up ahead, the same place where a large spider had chased the group and Arnog had wounded before they were able to escape. He crept forward slowly and peered around; sure enough just at the limit of his infravision range he could make out the 7 legged figure of the 6’ tall spider. He motioned Gwyn forward and the dwarf took careful aim, letting his first bolt fly, following it up with a rapid second one – and the spider was dispatched as simply as that.
We scavenged the bolts and went on our way, Dargis and Arnog chatting a bit about their friends and what had happened. During the fight with Shengdu, the gnollish wizard they had lost one of their members and during the flight had lost another – so it was 5 of them that had come to this cave system and only the two of them were left – the other 3 having fallen during the days they had been in the environs.
As they travelled they came to an area where the cavern split and Dargis informed the group they had to go right. In fact it was here that they had lost their friend the cleric who ran down the wrong corridor and was trapped in a cul-de-sac – a 9’ behemoth spider killing him there. We approached the place as it had been described and sure enough saw the corpse covered in 3 or 4 layers of webbing as well as some 50 or so smaller spiders some the size of a fist. It was deduced that he had some healing scrolls on him and the party wanted to get them without risking an assault from the smaller spiders.
Eventually Detheron (opting NOT to set them all ablaze with a helpful bit of advice from Gwyn to use a Flaming Sphere) settled on summoning an insect swarm – concentrating on spiders as his default critter. And it happened, spiders came from everywhere at his beck and call, growing ever larger and larger until he had thousands of them, a living carpet stretching six long strides ahead of him. The swarm summoning also encompassed the spiders that were over the fallen cleric and Dargis went and checked his fallen friend’s belongings. He pocketed the money pouch and food sack but the backpack with torches, clothes, oil, and two healing scrolls (cure light and cure critical) were shared and eventually the group went on.
Detheron at first had the spiders walking on the floor ahead of them but Dargis who was leading was a bit creeped out, so instead the druid had the swarm split, run up both walls, and then cover the ceiling and pushing them as far ahead as he could. It was surreal to be walking behind this crawling ceiling carpet that kept raining little spiders out of the boiling mass only to recrawl up the walls and rejoin the mass but we moved onward.
Eventually the keen eared halfling heard the tell tale scritch sound of the Giant Spiders up ahead – the same 9’ tall nasty ones that had plagued them since they entered here. The poison was paralytic and the beasts were very powerful so it was decided that Gwyn would have to stand toe to toe with Arnog to keep the spiders off Detheron and Dargis. The dwarf moaned but did agree. A bolt was loaded and fired and the two giant spiders ran at the group.
At that moment Detheron had his insect swarm drop from the ceiling and cover the two giant versions, biting and attacking them. One of them was very maddened and couldn’t make its way forward it was so distracted, the other plowed along and was brought up short some 10’ from the party as it suffered under the hundreds of smaller spiders assaulting it. The druid had the swarm move back slightly and Gwyn and Arnog attacked – but the dwarf was hit and bit! And the poison filled his veins and he found himself slowing down as his muscles locked – paralyzed!
Arnog went into high gear and plied his blade heavily upon the spider’s carapace, taking a number of smaller bites on his own for his efforts. Even Dargis let sling stones fly and Detheron struggled to keep the swarm under control. The first big spider collapsed as Arnog threw his efforts wildly into the attack and sheared off two of its limbs before plunging his sword fully into the hairy beast’s face and killed it.
The second spider went down with the same acumen and the battle was won. Needing to cast a spell, the druid sent the spider swarm as far away from them as possible, back the way they had come, letting the enchantment fade of its own recognizance. Detheron neutralized the poison in Gwyn’s blood and the dwarf bemoaned that’s why he doesn’t front line fight. We laughed together and after tending to wounds and gear set onward.
Another split cavern had us lead to the right following Dargis’ guidance and we moved on, eyes peeled for any other 8-legged threats. The cave was growing more rank and there was a widened area ahead which made the halfling and young fighter both nod together and mutter, “Oh yeah.”
The wide area was a “Y” intersection and in the center was a pit some 25’ deep, oval shaped and maybe 15’ wide. The party’s 2nd in command, a paladin Gustav, had been leading the group through here almost 3 days ago and fell into the pit as they were being chased by a number of the 9’ tall giant spiders. They had also lost their ranger who was paralyzed trying to get Gustav out of the pit; the poor soul was trussed up and dragged down the right fork here which was the source of the heavy spidery smell. Both Dargis and Arnog and the Cleric Kazaz (who they had already seen a few hours ago and divested him of his healing scrolls) had ran out of fear and shame, the haunting calls of their paladinal friend Gustav echoing behind them from the depths of the pit as gigantic spiders filled the clearing.
Dargis crawled forward and looked in, seeing the banded mail figure of their friend very dead at the pit’s bottom. We looked down, it was obvious he had been fed from as the flesh, what little we could see, was desiccated and thin. But the halfling had his gaze on Gustav’s heirloom longblade, a silvered 40” blade of ensorcelled metal that had supposedly been in Gustav’s family for 4 generations. It was decided he would chance going down there and getting it.
Gwyn tied his rope to the halfling and bracing himself slowly lowered the thief into the 25’ deep pit. As he got a bit over half way down the still armor clad for of Gustav sprang to life and leapt for the dangling halfling, missing him by inches! Gustav had been reduced to a slavering ghoul, leaping and jumping to grab his former friends and companions. As Dargis was pulled free the rest of the group looked down, wondering what they could do to take out the ghoul 25’ beneath their feet and not get hurt doing so.
During the brief discussion while Detheron was throwing rocks at the former paladin, Gustav grabbed his shield from the ground and flung it upward like a discus – catching the druid full in the throat and making it impossible for him to even talk as he staggered back coughing and choking.
Arnog was opting to go down and do combat with the thing, tying the free end of the rope Dargis had let go to his own midsection, drawing his broadsword free. Meanwhile the halfling went around the other side of the pit and kept the ghoul’s attention firmly fixed on himself with thrown rocks. Gwyn braced himself and with a flying lead, the young fighter jumped into the pit, throwing his weight behind his shield and sword and slamming full force into the unsuspecting ghoul.
Gustav was smashed to the ground, the impact would have killed a lesser being, but the undead was filled with otherworldly strength and fought the brave Arnog off of him. The battle ensued with Arnog taking a few scratches during the fight – enough to fill his limbs with the cold paralytic touch of the ghoul’s pestilence. The two fighters went back and forth – and then the click-clack sound of spiders coming down the hall from the area we called “spider central” was heard.
Gwyn cut himself free from Arnog’s life line and drew his scimitar, racing to head off the two spiders as they burst into the central cavern. His blows were short and brutal and he dodged the bites and stabs the spiders tossed his way with relative ease. Meanwhile Dargis grabbed Arnog’s sliding life line and the young fighter finished the ghoul off with a decapitating sweep of his own blade. As all the fights came to an end we salvaged what we could from Gustav (including his silvered heirloom sword) and set off – opting NOT to go and find out what had happened to the last member of the other adventuring crew – just wanting to be free of the Spiderhaunt caves.
It was almost 2 hours of slow walking later before we emerged from the caves at long last and looked out at the wide hall that led elsewhere into Dargan’s Folley.
Meanwhile the other group with Karis, Coruth’tae, Spax, and Thad (the mage and archer that had hooked up with the half ogre and grey elf) was going to leave the chamber with the “outsider” in the former dwarven examination room when the discussion turned to vengeance. It seems that both sides had wanted to take their blades to Sakath and his gnolls and with the severe lack of forces the onetime gnollish chieftain had at his talons it was decided that now would be better than later to ply sword and spell against the gnoll.
We worked our way back into the Grand Hall and travelling east, took the main side road south – the almost 300’ length leading to Sakath’s throne room. There were the two side roads on each side and the group made their way to the first one, hoping to sneak down the back alleys and get to the two guard gnolls outside Sakath’s. But there were two gnolls walking patrol here and sneaking past them was not going to be easy.
Spax summoned a wall of fog to obscure their activities from the guards further down the corridor, the dense vapors also muting what sounds they would make a bit. Karis hid just inside the wispy barrier his great sword at the ready. Thad and Coruth’tae pulled out their bows and stayed behind the corner while Spax called to the two walking gnoll guards in their own language to come here and give them a hand.
The gnolls bought the ruse and wandered back and when they were about 20’ shy of the main road, magic missiles and arrows peppered them without mercy. One of the gnolls went down fast and the other was badly wounded but Karis’ brutal assault finished him off swiftly. We waited and listened – our attack had gone unnoticed. Taking what loot we could from the gnolls we ran into the alleyways and picked our way southward to Sakath’s.
Coruth’tae used him illusions to make Spax appear gnollish and the mage went into the hall to chat with the two guard gnolls – getting some information before coming back to the party. Sakath WAS in his throne room and there were over a dozen other gnolls in there with him. The group wanted to bust in there with full surprise but we needed to take the guards out swiftly. So the elf moved his glamour and made Karis appear to be the same gnoll Spax just was. The half ogre went into the hall, walked right up to the guards who thought he was back and friendly, and then jammed his sword into one of them with complete surprise – the party taking down the second one.
We readied our spells and skills and it was decided that Spax would fireball Sakath, with Coruth’tae following suit. Thad was to shoot the gnoll leader if he still lived and Karis would run into the chamber and finish the job should need be. The half-ogre called on Tyr to bless the party and both Spax and Coruth’tae cast Shield on themselves just in case. Thad drank his potion of Keen-eye and readied his bow. And then the door was torn open and we took in the chamber with a single roving eye.
100’ tall. Two metal chandeliers 50’ over head. A raised walkway encircling the chamber. Guards everywhere. Sakath surrounded by 4 of his finest. At the base of the raised dais was the feral priestly gnoll of Fenris still sporting Zoltan’s cloak and arguing with the gnoll leader. Everyone looked up with shocked expressions at the doors opened. Before anyone could do anything Thad pulled one of his magical arrows free and shot the Fenrir Priest. The missile flew unerringly and slammed the burly gnoll square in the chest – a critical shot resulting in immediate death! One arrow and the mighty gnoll was slain! And then Spax shouted out “In Vas Flam Grav Por!” and sent a streaking Fireball to race at Sakath’s feet, Coruth’tae arcing his Staff of Power forward and releasing one of his own precious charges – a second Fireball racing after the first.
The concussive blast of the first roaring fire was blown further out by the second one and the fiery wind scoured across the chamber immolating most of the nearby gnolls instantly. Sakath ducked behind his throne at the last moment, dragging one of his guards on top of him to absorb most of the blast. A few other gnolls were lucky to fall behind walls and stairs but over 10 of the filthy creatures died in the immediate blast.
Karis threw his armor class to the wind and charged across the length of the room, Sakath burned and angered, pulling his scepter mace free and met the knight in combat. Sword met bludgeon and the two fighters tore into one another with a crazed abandon. Other guards leapt out to try and save Sakath, scoring blows against Karis’ side but the mighty half ogre ignored them.
Only a four count of guards were left as Karis killed Sakath and Thad shot unerringly from the doorway. Spax smiled and said, “Well, my job is done. Whistle if you need any more help” and then walked to the side and drew out a pipe – lighting it and offering one to a shocked Coruth’tae. The mage took aim and let one his lightning bolts streak out, taking a couple more gnolls down before smiling and joining Spax for a smoke. Thad tossed a couple of comments at his friend but pulled his own sword free and assaulted the last gnoll racing for the door.
Karis struggled against the last two, their ranseurs picking a few wounds on his mighty form but nothing to cause any real harm. Thad was holding his own as well. The two mages kept some depreciating comments up, offering to stand up and help should it need be for the mighty “front line fighters” but Thad jokingly told them to sit down and rest themselves. The fight wound down and the last of the gnolls was slain. Combat done – Sakath and his closest guards were killed.
We looked over the chamber, there was little that survived the two fireballs and the lightning bolt. Karis grabbed Sakath’s scepter as a trophy but it what was discovered on the Fenrir priest’s person that made the party take notice. There was a leaded glass ball – soot covered and dinged a bit from the combat – but inside was the small and ghostly vision of Zoltan – trapped and slowly beating on the walls of the sphere, his features in some sort of agony.
Was he alive? What was this? The two mages deduced that his soul must be in here – captured by some rites or ritual unknown to them. If he was in the sphere – what did it mean? And how did the Fenrir gnoll get it? Coruth’tae took the sphere and said that if Zoltan was in there – he must be set free – either to move on to Valhalla or if possible – to be resurrected.
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