Adventurer's Present
Bilbo, a hobbit
Orsek, a dwarfley barbarian wizard
SMASH, a dwarfley cleric of root cellars
We awoke in the dank cave and set out to discover our way out of it. Not wanting to brave the waters again, and not finding any secret passages, we headed up the stairs we did find, only to find they ended at the bottom of the 60 foot deep pit which we had discovered at the end of the catacombs the day before.
We discussed many crazy plans, but finally settled on SMASH, er, smashing a hole in the grate at the top of the pit with his Phantom Shovel and Bilbo climbing the walls and tying on a rope for everyone to climb up. This plan would have worked just fine, except Bilbo was mauled by giant rats upon reaching the top of the pit. The rats messed him up pretty good, but he was able to shimmy down the rope to (what he thought was) relative safety a few feet down from the rats. Alas, one clever rat found it's way down the rope and viciously attacked him, knocking him senseless and all the way down the pit. A well-timed Grease spell from Orsek caused the rats to tumble from the grate to their ultimate demise. The spell-casters survived the rat-and-hobbit rain, revived Bilbo, and we continued on our way. But not before Orsek replaced his animated Flaming Dead Rat companion...
Our trip out of the castle was largely uneventful. We found the cemetery; the graves were all disturbed - some from within, some from without - which was disturbing. We fought some vampire bats in the small mausoleum, and SMASH recovered an ancient shield with powerful protections against undead, which he now carries (his previous magic shield will bestowed upon Mossmullet when that dwarfley priest returns).
Wanting to test out the new shield, SMASH brashly called out for any nearby zombies. But his calls were only answered by more giant rats, which proved to be surprisingly tough foes. But we did eventually defeat them and live to delve another day.
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 170 each
Exploration: 55 each
Plus, we all gained 17 or 34 experience for clearing the Ruins, depending how many sessions the character participated in
02 October 2016
29 September 2016
A Found Map
Here is the map of White Plume Mountain that the adventurers found in the ruins of Castle Mukos:
Perhaps it's not as complete as they thought...
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| [click to embiggen] |
06 August 2016
The Ruins of Castle Mukos [session 28]
Adventurer's Present
Bilbo, a hobbit
Mossmullet, a dwarfley cleric of winter's bite
Orsek, a dwarfley barbarian wizard
In the steamy shadow of White Plume Mountain, our (reduced) group of heroes began their initial circuit of the environs around that dread dungeon. Setting out from the relative safety of the Dead Gnoll's Eyesocket, they soon located a ruined castle on the eastern slopes of the mountain. They decided to enter the castle through one of the tumble-down walls toward one end of the jagged ruin. Almost immediately, they were set upon by groups of zombies which seemed to inhabit the place. After defeating those, they located a ghast hiding in some of the rubble of one of the half-crumbled tower. He put up a spirited fight, but proved no match for the questing heroes.
Upon closely examining the tower's central support pillar, the group found a secret stairwell leading down into some catacombs. They naturally had to tour this underground wonderland, to see what could be seen. They found a smashed up wizard’s library. All the books were ruined, but they found a hidden MAP OF THE INTERIOR DUNGEON OF WHITE PLUME MOUNTAIN! SCORE!!! They also fought off about a dozen ghouls, some rats, a swarm of bats, and other attractions of the catacombs. That accomplished, they rested up from their busy day before going even farther down the stairs to some deep caverns.
The next day's exploration of the natural caverns brought the team to a large well room, guarded by some sort of self-acting suit of armor. After bashing this bellicose plate armor into dust, they scouted the depths of the well water with Bilbo's shadow. They found some underwater passages leading to additional caverns. What followed was a risky, and ultimately unsuccessful, plan to swim to those alluring depths. After nearly drowning Mossmullet and Bilbo, they conceded defeat and began to return to the surface. Luckily, an alert hobbit spotted an oddity of the walls in the stairwell, and closer inspection revealed a secret door. Inside was a chest of gold, and one of the previously shadow-scouted caverns. A slight reworking of the prior plan resulted in underwater success! The group made it to the larger submerged cavern, where they again fought off a swarm of vampire bats.
That was enough adventuring for another day, so the exhausted group took another nap. When they awaken, they'll have to finish cleaning out the ruined castle and its subterranean menagerie of undead and uglies. Then they can get on with clearing out the environs of White Plume Mountain.
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 1503 each
Exploration: 253 each
Bilbo, a hobbit
Mossmullet, a dwarfley cleric of winter's bite
Orsek, a dwarfley barbarian wizard
In the steamy shadow of White Plume Mountain, our (reduced) group of heroes began their initial circuit of the environs around that dread dungeon. Setting out from the relative safety of the Dead Gnoll's Eyesocket, they soon located a ruined castle on the eastern slopes of the mountain. They decided to enter the castle through one of the tumble-down walls toward one end of the jagged ruin. Almost immediately, they were set upon by groups of zombies which seemed to inhabit the place. After defeating those, they located a ghast hiding in some of the rubble of one of the half-crumbled tower. He put up a spirited fight, but proved no match for the questing heroes.
Upon closely examining the tower's central support pillar, the group found a secret stairwell leading down into some catacombs. They naturally had to tour this underground wonderland, to see what could be seen. They found a smashed up wizard’s library. All the books were ruined, but they found a hidden MAP OF THE INTERIOR DUNGEON OF WHITE PLUME MOUNTAIN! SCORE!!! They also fought off about a dozen ghouls, some rats, a swarm of bats, and other attractions of the catacombs. That accomplished, they rested up from their busy day before going even farther down the stairs to some deep caverns.
The next day's exploration of the natural caverns brought the team to a large well room, guarded by some sort of self-acting suit of armor. After bashing this bellicose plate armor into dust, they scouted the depths of the well water with Bilbo's shadow. They found some underwater passages leading to additional caverns. What followed was a risky, and ultimately unsuccessful, plan to swim to those alluring depths. After nearly drowning Mossmullet and Bilbo, they conceded defeat and began to return to the surface. Luckily, an alert hobbit spotted an oddity of the walls in the stairwell, and closer inspection revealed a secret door. Inside was a chest of gold, and one of the previously shadow-scouted caverns. A slight reworking of the prior plan resulted in underwater success! The group made it to the larger submerged cavern, where they again fought off a swarm of vampire bats.
That was enough adventuring for another day, so the exhausted group took another nap. When they awaken, they'll have to finish cleaning out the ruined castle and its subterranean menagerie of undead and uglies. Then they can get on with clearing out the environs of White Plume Mountain.
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 1503 each
Exploration: 253 each
The Ruins of Castle Mukos
Here is what the adventurers see when they finally make it to what's left of Castle Mukos.
Not very exciting, I know...
Notes from Far Away [session 28]
Adventurer's Present
Bilbo, a hobbit
Mossmullet, a dwarfley cleric of winter's bite
Orsek, a dwarfley barbarian wizard
The adventurers choose to explore the surroundings of White Plume Mountain, and so set forth from the Dead Gnoll’s Eye Socket in a clockwise fashion.
As they are walking down the river bank, they are attacked by a mound of vegetation. The monster loses an arm on Mossmullet’s shield, but then Mossmullet is knocked unconscious and almost killed (he was down to his last Death Save). But he survives with some lucky rolls and some help from Bilbo. They pursue the shambling monster, and Mossmullet kills it with his mace.
The adventurers make it to the ruins of Castle Mukos. They bash down a door in the side of the ex-castle and attract a swarm of 12 large rats. They oil-fire combo the first half of the rats, then 3 more are killed by Mossmullet. Bilbo uses a single ricocheting rock to kill the rest. Orsek animates a dead burning rat. They then go to the courtyard and find a group of twelve zombies, who are killed easily via the miracle of crits and elbow grease. They go into a tower and encounter more zombies. These are also killed.
Exploring the tower, they find a secret door that leads to a nasty ghast. They dispatch the foul undead, and continue their exploration. They kill bats in an underground library, then go down through another secret door to find a ladder heading down into the darkest depths. The flaming rat is thrown down the pit to light their way. Heading down, they find an offshoot passage with many intersections. These crypts are filled with ghouls, which our doughty adventurers dispatch. The crypts lead to a strange occult room with a pit in the middle of it. Before getting to investigate this fully, they are ambushed by more ghouls. These too are dispatched post haste. The pit is blocked with a sturdy grate. Whatever could be down there?
This question and others will wait till later, as our weary adventurers decide this is a good enough place to rest for the evening. They set the puppet Charly out with strict instructions to wake them if anything should come down the passage and curl up for some Z's.
[We actually continued playing, but our intrepid reporter figured this was a good place to stop taking notes - it got pretty late...]
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 1503 each
Exploration: 253 each
Bilbo, a hobbit
Mossmullet, a dwarfley cleric of winter's bite
Orsek, a dwarfley barbarian wizard
The adventurers choose to explore the surroundings of White Plume Mountain, and so set forth from the Dead Gnoll’s Eye Socket in a clockwise fashion.
As they are walking down the river bank, they are attacked by a mound of vegetation. The monster loses an arm on Mossmullet’s shield, but then Mossmullet is knocked unconscious and almost killed (he was down to his last Death Save). But he survives with some lucky rolls and some help from Bilbo. They pursue the shambling monster, and Mossmullet kills it with his mace.
The adventurers make it to the ruins of Castle Mukos. They bash down a door in the side of the ex-castle and attract a swarm of 12 large rats. They oil-fire combo the first half of the rats, then 3 more are killed by Mossmullet. Bilbo uses a single ricocheting rock to kill the rest. Orsek animates a dead burning rat. They then go to the courtyard and find a group of twelve zombies, who are killed easily via the miracle of crits and elbow grease. They go into a tower and encounter more zombies. These are also killed.
Exploring the tower, they find a secret door that leads to a nasty ghast. They dispatch the foul undead, and continue their exploration. They kill bats in an underground library, then go down through another secret door to find a ladder heading down into the darkest depths. The flaming rat is thrown down the pit to light their way. Heading down, they find an offshoot passage with many intersections. These crypts are filled with ghouls, which our doughty adventurers dispatch. The crypts lead to a strange occult room with a pit in the middle of it. Before getting to investigate this fully, they are ambushed by more ghouls. These too are dispatched post haste. The pit is blocked with a sturdy grate. Whatever could be down there?
This question and others will wait till later, as our weary adventurers decide this is a good enough place to rest for the evening. They set the puppet Charly out with strict instructions to wake them if anything should come down the passage and curl up for some Z's.
[We actually continued playing, but our intrepid reporter figured this was a good place to stop taking notes - it got pretty late...]
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 1503 each
Exploration: 253 each
02 July 2016
Rumors of White Plume Mountain
After doing some reading and asking around, here's what our brave adventurers found out about White Plume Mountain:
- Beware the depths.
- All the mushrooms are edible.
- The Dead Gnoll's Eye Socket is safe.
- No one has ever escaped from the Mountain.
- The mushrooms are poisonous.
- The derro are watching everyone.
- Mind control is real.
- There is a gem that grants wishes.
- The boiling bubble bursts boldly.
- The tiny men are everywhere.
A Short, Sharp Shock [session 27]
Adventurer's Present
Bilbo, a hobbit
Mossmullet, a dwarfley cleric of winter's bite
Orsek, a dwarfley barbarian wizard
SMASH, a dwarfley cleric of root cellars
This round of adventuring was a rather abbreviated and goal-driven undertaking. The party simply walked up and away from their captured campsite North of Cheddarbend up to the southern edge of White Plume Mountain. Their journey cannot be said to have been uneventful, but it didn't take more than a day of game time, nor more than an hour or two of real time.
The first encounter (other than some briefly-sighted jackalopes which ran for cover) of the day was a giant of some sort. Approximately 20' tall, slovenly, and armed with a tree trunk, he seemed vaguely inclined to pass the time talking with the dwarfs of the group when they approached him on the road. The hobbit (and maybe the ghost of some past elfish rogue?) hid in the bushes. Well, the hobbit was still cursed with invisibility, soooo… not really hiding so much as standing. The parley went fairly well until the giant turned his thoughts to his rumbly tumbly, and mentioned his willingness to make due with dwarf-meat. Then, of course, it was ON!
Orsek cast a Grease spell upon the oversized oaf, causing him to slip and fall when Bilbo utilized his enhanced Jump, which Orsek previously cast upon the invisihobbit while the giant was babbling. Bilbo's sudden landing upon the giant's shoulder, and the sack he had slung over that shoulder, caused him to shift about and lose balance. In a bit of bad luck, the Greased ground gave Smash and Mossmullet the slip as well; they miserably failed at dodging the falling giant, and he inflicted heavy damage. (Grin!) Despite being grounded, the giant managed to smack Orsek with his tree-club while the other dwarfs crawled out from under him. Bilbo helpfully searched the giant's sack for the rest of the battle, ultimately finding nothing of real interest.
The battle continued, with Smash invoking his deity's aid to causing binding roots to grasp the giant. He attempted to gain his feet, but failed to do so immediately. Mossmullet surveyed the skies, and noted that conditions were ripe for Varga's aid to take the form of Called Lightning to come down from the stormy skies. Three bolts of lightning, and some root-damage later, the giant died a large death. The heroes bandaged their wounds, then resumed their march.
The next and last encounter was with what must have been the least competent war-band of orcs in the land. They utterly failed to inflict any real damage upon the party. Six orcs and a wolf assumed an attack formation and came at the adventurers, but a Digging from Smash opened a pit beneath three of the orcs, and only one was able to jump to safety. The other two fell down, and never could get up again. They died rather easily, and the magical pit proved to be their grave. The other creatures succumbed to a thunderous Blitzkrieg by Mossmullet, and a sharp pointy from the hobbit.
Before taking their night's rest in the safety of the Dead Gnoll's Eyesocket (really just a cave, luckily marked with the dwarfley rune for "Safety"), the group reviewed the rumors and knowledge they'd gleaned from various sources. Also, Smash had the inspiration to ask again for his hamsterish lord's help, and managed to Remove the Curse of the Invisibility amulet from poor Bilbo. The amulet crumbled to dust under the Hamster God's eye, and Bilbo returned to normal visibility. Then, it was off to sleep. For tomorrow, White Plume Mountain, with all of its sketchy and barely-known environs, awaits!
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 208 each
Bilbo, a hobbit
Mossmullet, a dwarfley cleric of winter's bite
Orsek, a dwarfley barbarian wizard
SMASH, a dwarfley cleric of root cellars
This round of adventuring was a rather abbreviated and goal-driven undertaking. The party simply walked up and away from their captured campsite North of Cheddarbend up to the southern edge of White Plume Mountain. Their journey cannot be said to have been uneventful, but it didn't take more than a day of game time, nor more than an hour or two of real time.
The first encounter (other than some briefly-sighted jackalopes which ran for cover) of the day was a giant of some sort. Approximately 20' tall, slovenly, and armed with a tree trunk, he seemed vaguely inclined to pass the time talking with the dwarfs of the group when they approached him on the road. The hobbit (and maybe the ghost of some past elfish rogue?) hid in the bushes. Well, the hobbit was still cursed with invisibility, soooo… not really hiding so much as standing. The parley went fairly well until the giant turned his thoughts to his rumbly tumbly, and mentioned his willingness to make due with dwarf-meat. Then, of course, it was ON!
Orsek cast a Grease spell upon the oversized oaf, causing him to slip and fall when Bilbo utilized his enhanced Jump, which Orsek previously cast upon the invisihobbit while the giant was babbling. Bilbo's sudden landing upon the giant's shoulder, and the sack he had slung over that shoulder, caused him to shift about and lose balance. In a bit of bad luck, the Greased ground gave Smash and Mossmullet the slip as well; they miserably failed at dodging the falling giant, and he inflicted heavy damage. (Grin!) Despite being grounded, the giant managed to smack Orsek with his tree-club while the other dwarfs crawled out from under him. Bilbo helpfully searched the giant's sack for the rest of the battle, ultimately finding nothing of real interest.
The battle continued, with Smash invoking his deity's aid to causing binding roots to grasp the giant. He attempted to gain his feet, but failed to do so immediately. Mossmullet surveyed the skies, and noted that conditions were ripe for Varga's aid to take the form of Called Lightning to come down from the stormy skies. Three bolts of lightning, and some root-damage later, the giant died a large death. The heroes bandaged their wounds, then resumed their march.
The next and last encounter was with what must have been the least competent war-band of orcs in the land. They utterly failed to inflict any real damage upon the party. Six orcs and a wolf assumed an attack formation and came at the adventurers, but a Digging from Smash opened a pit beneath three of the orcs, and only one was able to jump to safety. The other two fell down, and never could get up again. They died rather easily, and the magical pit proved to be their grave. The other creatures succumbed to a thunderous Blitzkrieg by Mossmullet, and a sharp pointy from the hobbit.
Before taking their night's rest in the safety of the Dead Gnoll's Eyesocket (really just a cave, luckily marked with the dwarfley rune for "Safety"), the group reviewed the rumors and knowledge they'd gleaned from various sources. Also, Smash had the inspiration to ask again for his hamsterish lord's help, and managed to Remove the Curse of the Invisibility amulet from poor Bilbo. The amulet crumbled to dust under the Hamster God's eye, and Bilbo returned to normal visibility. Then, it was off to sleep. For tomorrow, White Plume Mountain, with all of its sketchy and barely-known environs, awaits!
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 208 each
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