Adventurers Present
Bilbo - hobbit
Mossmullet - dwarfley tempest cleric
Orsek - dwarfley barbarian wizard
Red - elfish rogue
SMASH - dwarfley life cleric
Turns out that Cheddarbend is being terrorized by an evil necromancer (name unknown), which the party only belatedly discovered (the townsfolk must have some aversion to discussing it). The town’s cows are being rustled and slaughtered, the townsfolk are disappearing one by one, and the lands laying to the west across the river are nothing more than necrotic, desolate wastelands. Those long-distressed western plains are known as the Tomblands, and the evil necromancer’s tower was only a half-day west. Somehow, the party gets sucked into undertaking a side quest to resolve this problem for the Cheddarbenders (who they weren’t especially fond of previously). But, whatever. Killing necromancers is rarely bad. Unless they’re Orsek. Then it’s a bit problematic.
So, the five set off across the Tomblands, taking in the lovely sights of ashy-gray plains, dead trees, stunted vegetation of other various types and the occasional herd of jackalopes. With nothing to hide behind and little to describe, the trip was super-quick and eventless.
Arriving at the tower, the party found a couple of zombie guards patrolling the tower’s main gate. The zombies were dispatched without any fuss, and the group went inside. They found a 30’ entry hall with arrow slits on each side. The rogues successfully snuck across without incident, but the armor-heavy dwarves awoke the towers defenders and took some arrows as they rushed through to the other side.
Emerging into the 50’ semi-circular chamber beyond, the group began the first of 3 battles with skeletons. They killed the skeletons, more came from a couple of side-rooms adjacent to the arrow slits. They killed that group, and more came down the stairs from up in the tower. They killed those skeletons as well. What remained were lots of bones, rusted weapons, and the lingering screams of thousands of dead babies.
Finally finding the (inevitable) secret door leading to the stairs leading down into the cellars, the party decided that down was better than up where necromancy towers are concerned. So, they went downward and found a series of laboratories and supply rooms with little of interest. Proceeding further down, they found a supply room with 20+ stirges. It took some effort (and getting wounded), but the party managed to eradicate them without dying. The door on the other side of the storeroom proved interesting, in that it was barred from the outside (the side the party was on).
Opening it up and finding a room full of trash and waste, they naturally decided to go on in. Brave SMASH led the way, and was immediately attacked by a trash-tentacle monster (TTM)! The TTM grabbed SMASH and pulled him prone, but he was quickly rescued by the party’s attacks upon that tentacle. The monster seemed quite dangerous, so Orsek broke out the BIG guns: he made his first Overcast, and burned a second-level spell slot to cast Finger of Death! The spell misfired, but Orsek was able to control and cancel the magical energies before anything really bad/fatal happened. Orsek decided to try again, burning another second-level slot while attempting Finger of Death again. This time, the spell went off, immediately slaying the TTM! Unfortunately, it also blasted Orsek into near-death unconsciousness. The clerics managed to save him, and the session ended there.
Coming up: into the necromancer’s tombs.
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 135 each
Exploration: 148 each
07 February 2016
To the Necromancer! [session 23]
Adventurers Present
Bilbo - hobbit
Mossmullet - dwarfley tempest cleric
Orsek - dwarfley barbarian wizard
Red - elfish rogue
SMASH - dwarfley life cleric
So last session Red got into a bit of trouble while "feasting" and the kindly church of Termas bailed him out. Well, there was one tiny condition: that he destroy the dread Orb that the local necromancer was using to terrify the populace. Apparently, some of the locals had noticed disturbances in the graveyard AND a bunch of livestock had suddenly come up ill (this last had nothing to do with Orsek's magical research, honest).
So, off to the Necromancer's tower we headed. The trip was pretty uneventful. Jackalopes were encountered; but we didn't mess with them, and they didn't mess with us. Did we fight some orcs? Maybe. Honestly, I can't remember. Upon reaching the tower, we did battle some zombies, who were promptly sent back to their graves.
The front door was unlocked, and we managed to sneak past the guards into the entry room of the tower. Where we were promptly set upon by those same guards. Skeleton guards. We fought those off, and the second wave that came as well.
Ignoring the stairs up, we searched for, and found the secret door to the basement. On the first basement level we found a pool of black slime, some store rooms and a magic lab. Orsek took a book from the lab, but there was little else of note here. We continued down.
Looking for trouble, we pushed past the first door we saw. It was old and broken; not even closed all the way. Inside was another store room, but this one held a nasty surprise: a nest of stirges. Having faced these little scourges before, we knew just what to do and dispatched the blood-bats forthwith. The storeroom had one other door in it. And it was barred on this side, as if keeping something locked behind it.
It is said that discretion is the better part of valor. It has never been said that we are valorous. We unbarred the door and entered to find a pile of rubbish. Two tentacles sprang forth and attacked us. The battle was joined!
It should be noted here that in his magical studies, Orsek has unlocked the mysteries of several high-level spells. Mysteries and spells that he has no business knowing or trying to cast. And now back to the battle...
It wasn't going particularly well. Our attacks seemed to be only momentary setbacks to the hungry beast (of which we still had only seen two tentacles). So Orsek decided to cast Finger of Death on the thing. Unleashing this kind of power could have unexpected (and disastrous) results for our lowly wizard. But in this case, the result was ... nothing. No Finger of Death, no catastrophic failure, no warp in the space-time continuum, nothing. So, naturally, he tried again the first chance he got.
This time it worked! The beast was slain. Alas, the backlash from the powerful magicks reduced Orsek to death also.
Alas, poor Orsek! We knew him - a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.
Or something like that. As it turns out, upon further inspection by the clerics, Orsek was only "mostly dead." Which, as you no doubt know, means he was also slightly alive. Our two miracle-workers brought him fully back to the land of the living (and delving).
(Our session was a bit shorter than usual; we ended right there, without any of the usual settling in for the night.)
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 135 each
Exploration: 148 each
Bilbo - hobbit
Mossmullet - dwarfley tempest cleric
Orsek - dwarfley barbarian wizard
Red - elfish rogue
SMASH - dwarfley life cleric
So last session Red got into a bit of trouble while "feasting" and the kindly church of Termas bailed him out. Well, there was one tiny condition: that he destroy the dread Orb that the local necromancer was using to terrify the populace. Apparently, some of the locals had noticed disturbances in the graveyard AND a bunch of livestock had suddenly come up ill (this last had nothing to do with Orsek's magical research, honest).
So, off to the Necromancer's tower we headed. The trip was pretty uneventful. Jackalopes were encountered; but we didn't mess with them, and they didn't mess with us. Did we fight some orcs? Maybe. Honestly, I can't remember. Upon reaching the tower, we did battle some zombies, who were promptly sent back to their graves.
The front door was unlocked, and we managed to sneak past the guards into the entry room of the tower. Where we were promptly set upon by those same guards. Skeleton guards. We fought those off, and the second wave that came as well.
Ignoring the stairs up, we searched for, and found the secret door to the basement. On the first basement level we found a pool of black slime, some store rooms and a magic lab. Orsek took a book from the lab, but there was little else of note here. We continued down.
Looking for trouble, we pushed past the first door we saw. It was old and broken; not even closed all the way. Inside was another store room, but this one held a nasty surprise: a nest of stirges. Having faced these little scourges before, we knew just what to do and dispatched the blood-bats forthwith. The storeroom had one other door in it. And it was barred on this side, as if keeping something locked behind it.
It is said that discretion is the better part of valor. It has never been said that we are valorous. We unbarred the door and entered to find a pile of rubbish. Two tentacles sprang forth and attacked us. The battle was joined!
It should be noted here that in his magical studies, Orsek has unlocked the mysteries of several high-level spells. Mysteries and spells that he has no business knowing or trying to cast. And now back to the battle...
It wasn't going particularly well. Our attacks seemed to be only momentary setbacks to the hungry beast (of which we still had only seen two tentacles). So Orsek decided to cast Finger of Death on the thing. Unleashing this kind of power could have unexpected (and disastrous) results for our lowly wizard. But in this case, the result was ... nothing. No Finger of Death, no catastrophic failure, no warp in the space-time continuum, nothing. So, naturally, he tried again the first chance he got.
This time it worked! The beast was slain. Alas, the backlash from the powerful magicks reduced Orsek to death also.
Alas, poor Orsek! We knew him - a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.
Or something like that. As it turns out, upon further inspection by the clerics, Orsek was only "mostly dead." Which, as you no doubt know, means he was also slightly alive. Our two miracle-workers brought him fully back to the land of the living (and delving).
(Our session was a bit shorter than usual; we ended right there, without any of the usual settling in for the night.)
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 135 each
Exploration: 148 each
An Updated Map
 |
| [click to embiggen] |
Sorry the art is so crude. And that i forgot which font i had originally used for the labels...
06 February 2016
A Spooky Tower
 |
| [art originally by dyson logos - my apologies for mangling it] |
16 January 2016
The Hills Have Orcs (and murderous bunnies) [session 22]
Adventurers Present
The well-armed and armored band of warriors were never particularly likely to be defeated by a clutch of angry bunnies, horns notwithstanding. That said, the furry furies acquitted themselves rather well; the inflicted some serious damage upon both of the more-poorly-armored party members (now where did that Red get off to this time?), using their antlers to repeatedly gore both Orsek and Bilbo into a rather serious state. Luckily, the dwarfs & co. finished them off before anything truly tragic could occur. But the group was left wondering what they might possibly put upon the headstone of a friend who succumbed to the jack-rabbit juggernauts.
The hares killed, skinned and dressed, and the party refreshed by a short rest, they again took to the road toward Cheddarbend. Though the weather was mild and the babbling river pleasant enough, this day’s sojourn through the hilly badlands around Cheddarbend was not to be an easy one. At every turn, their travels were interrupted by a series of unhappy encounters.
First there was the noisy, marching company of orcs, stomping and singing loudly as they trod the riverbank. Our heroes laid in wait for them, taking shelter among the rocks and springing out only once the foolish humanoids stepped into their ambush. The belated Red's arrows felled a brace. Bilbo stabbed one nicely. The dwarfs slew the rest of the dozen using their respective magics: Thunderwave, Burning Hands and Guiding Bolt. Luckily, none of the shouting savages even struck a blow before their demise.
Later, in a somewhat worrisome turn of events, a second group of jackalopes appeared to disrupt the travellers' lunchtime meal (of jackalope, incidentally), and immediately attacked. Perhaps they were disgruntled relatives of those bunnies who'd died outside the temple? Perhaps they were simply enraged by the party's choice of lunchmeat? They didn’t specify, but rather leaped (and bounded) into battle. Alas, they did little damage to the adventurers on this occasion. And so the travellers returned to the path.
The afternoon's encounters were both repeats of the morning's hazards, but with notable differences. The party was strolling along the river's shore when they rounded a corner and came face-to-face with an even larger company of orcs - this one half again as large as the last! There was little time to wonder about this surfeit of savage pig-men which apparently roam the hills in large bands, because battle was immediately engaged. As luck would have it (thanks, Bilbo!), the party stole the initiative and launched their attacks first. Again, they managed to make their attacks count: Bilbo threw oil, Red shot an arrow (though none of the enemy were felled this time), and the dwarfs again resorted to magic: Shatter, Burning Hands and Guiding Bolt. After the party’s attack, two-thirds of the savage humanoids lay dead, and the remaining six were badly scorched. Six singed orcs, as it turns out, are no joke! They charged and laid about them, three of them ganging up upon and severely wounding poor Red. The bloody rogue disengaged and killed one with his bow, whereupon his teammates came to his rescue: Orsek rendering Red invisible, and Mossmullet killing another with his mace before challenging the third to do battle with him. The orc obliged, dealing the dwarf a damaging blow with his orcine great axe. But the dwarfley cleric's patron deity Varga retaliated for hurting her priest, electrocuting the swine for his trouble. Meanwhile, SMASH engaged and slew another orc, while Bilbo stabbed his attacker with his magic Frost-blade. Orsek hacked the last one to death with his great axe. While the party surely prevailed and escaped serious injury, even that brief taste of combats made clear that if the hobbit's luck hadn't given them the jump upon the orc-men, this encounter might well have led to the death of some or all of our heroes.
Last but…well, yes, also least, of the days travails was a final encounter with a third clutch of horned hares! The weary and wary adventurers this time took the path of least resistance, and carefully skirted the jackalope-pack. In what some of the party (Mossmullet, if no one else) felt was a definite relief, this third sighting of jackalopes did not seem inclined toward immediate homicide, laying to rest the fears of the more celestial-minded of the group that they might possibly have offended some great Rabbit-god in the sky by killing and eating his minions. Whatever the reason, the hares kept their tempers and the party passed without trouble.
Cheddarbend! What to say about this rustic hamlet in the hills? That it's curios merchant is crooked and opportunistic? That he’s also no sharp wit at evaluating gems? That it boasts not only a temple to Varga Queen of Winter, but also to beloved Termas Tunneller? That Jimmy "The Beetle" lends gold by the thousands to stray elves and hobbits he’s just met? Well, yes. All those things and more.
Or, we could simply stick to the game mechanics: all of the five adventures turned the profits from plundering the Temple of Greed into enough experience to reach FIFTH LEVEL!!!!
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 115 each
[and everyone got goo-gobs of xp from trading gold for feasts, pledging gold to their patrons, and using gold for magical research]
Bilbo - hobbit
Mossmullet - dwarfley tempest cleric
Orsek - dwarfley barbarian wizard
Red - elfish rogue (for most of the session)
SMASH - dwarfley life cleric
Awakening inside the Temple of Greed, the stalwart adventurers gathered their (gold-heavy) belongings and headed outside to a beautiful morning of sunshine and jackalopes. As before, the clearing outside the temple was filled with a dozen of the grazing little beasts. Unlike before, the critters scattered and fled at the approach of the party. Perhaps feeling a bit peckish, SMASH opted for killing one of the antlered rodents before it got clear. Surprisingly, this maddened the jackalopes into an all-out assault upon the party; they wheeled in place and charged as one!
Mossmullet - dwarfley tempest cleric
Orsek - dwarfley barbarian wizard
Red - elfish rogue (for most of the session)
SMASH - dwarfley life cleric
Awakening inside the Temple of Greed, the stalwart adventurers gathered their (gold-heavy) belongings and headed outside to a beautiful morning of sunshine and jackalopes. As before, the clearing outside the temple was filled with a dozen of the grazing little beasts. Unlike before, the critters scattered and fled at the approach of the party. Perhaps feeling a bit peckish, SMASH opted for killing one of the antlered rodents before it got clear. Surprisingly, this maddened the jackalopes into an all-out assault upon the party; they wheeled in place and charged as one!
The well-armed and armored band of warriors were never particularly likely to be defeated by a clutch of angry bunnies, horns notwithstanding. That said, the furry furies acquitted themselves rather well; the inflicted some serious damage upon both of the more-poorly-armored party members (now where did that Red get off to this time?), using their antlers to repeatedly gore both Orsek and Bilbo into a rather serious state. Luckily, the dwarfs & co. finished them off before anything truly tragic could occur. But the group was left wondering what they might possibly put upon the headstone of a friend who succumbed to the jack-rabbit juggernauts.
The hares killed, skinned and dressed, and the party refreshed by a short rest, they again took to the road toward Cheddarbend. Though the weather was mild and the babbling river pleasant enough, this day’s sojourn through the hilly badlands around Cheddarbend was not to be an easy one. At every turn, their travels were interrupted by a series of unhappy encounters.
First there was the noisy, marching company of orcs, stomping and singing loudly as they trod the riverbank. Our heroes laid in wait for them, taking shelter among the rocks and springing out only once the foolish humanoids stepped into their ambush. The belated Red's arrows felled a brace. Bilbo stabbed one nicely. The dwarfs slew the rest of the dozen using their respective magics: Thunderwave, Burning Hands and Guiding Bolt. Luckily, none of the shouting savages even struck a blow before their demise.
Later, in a somewhat worrisome turn of events, a second group of jackalopes appeared to disrupt the travellers' lunchtime meal (of jackalope, incidentally), and immediately attacked. Perhaps they were disgruntled relatives of those bunnies who'd died outside the temple? Perhaps they were simply enraged by the party's choice of lunchmeat? They didn’t specify, but rather leaped (and bounded) into battle. Alas, they did little damage to the adventurers on this occasion. And so the travellers returned to the path.
The afternoon's encounters were both repeats of the morning's hazards, but with notable differences. The party was strolling along the river's shore when they rounded a corner and came face-to-face with an even larger company of orcs - this one half again as large as the last! There was little time to wonder about this surfeit of savage pig-men which apparently roam the hills in large bands, because battle was immediately engaged. As luck would have it (thanks, Bilbo!), the party stole the initiative and launched their attacks first. Again, they managed to make their attacks count: Bilbo threw oil, Red shot an arrow (though none of the enemy were felled this time), and the dwarfs again resorted to magic: Shatter, Burning Hands and Guiding Bolt. After the party’s attack, two-thirds of the savage humanoids lay dead, and the remaining six were badly scorched. Six singed orcs, as it turns out, are no joke! They charged and laid about them, three of them ganging up upon and severely wounding poor Red. The bloody rogue disengaged and killed one with his bow, whereupon his teammates came to his rescue: Orsek rendering Red invisible, and Mossmullet killing another with his mace before challenging the third to do battle with him. The orc obliged, dealing the dwarf a damaging blow with his orcine great axe. But the dwarfley cleric's patron deity Varga retaliated for hurting her priest, electrocuting the swine for his trouble. Meanwhile, SMASH engaged and slew another orc, while Bilbo stabbed his attacker with his magic Frost-blade. Orsek hacked the last one to death with his great axe. While the party surely prevailed and escaped serious injury, even that brief taste of combats made clear that if the hobbit's luck hadn't given them the jump upon the orc-men, this encounter might well have led to the death of some or all of our heroes.
Last but…well, yes, also least, of the days travails was a final encounter with a third clutch of horned hares! The weary and wary adventurers this time took the path of least resistance, and carefully skirted the jackalope-pack. In what some of the party (Mossmullet, if no one else) felt was a definite relief, this third sighting of jackalopes did not seem inclined toward immediate homicide, laying to rest the fears of the more celestial-minded of the group that they might possibly have offended some great Rabbit-god in the sky by killing and eating his minions. Whatever the reason, the hares kept their tempers and the party passed without trouble.
Cheddarbend! What to say about this rustic hamlet in the hills? That it's curios merchant is crooked and opportunistic? That he’s also no sharp wit at evaluating gems? That it boasts not only a temple to Varga Queen of Winter, but also to beloved Termas Tunneller? That Jimmy "The Beetle" lends gold by the thousands to stray elves and hobbits he’s just met? Well, yes. All those things and more.
Or, we could simply stick to the game mechanics: all of the five adventures turned the profits from plundering the Temple of Greed into enough experience to reach FIFTH LEVEL!!!!
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 115 each
[and everyone got goo-gobs of xp from trading gold for feasts, pledging gold to their patrons, and using gold for magical research]
02 January 2016
Roadside Assistance [session 21]
Adventurers Present
Bilbo - hobbit
Mossmullet - dwarfley tempest cleric
Orsek Ungart - dwarfley barbarian wizard
Red - elfish rogue (well, for most of the time)
Red - elfish rogue (well, for most of the time)
SMASH - dwarfley life cleric
After a restful night of sleeping deep in the tombs of the undead, our party emerged into the bright and dewy morning from the depths of Varga's hidden shrine-hole. They had barely finished extracting themselves from their evening's burrow, when they were set upon by a small herd of centaurian road-agents. A brief discussion played out, as the party considered what and how they might talk their way out of the proposed road-tax the centaurs were apparently levying upon them, but it quickly became clear that certain hot-headed members of the adventurers didn't have the patience for such dissembling. With a resounding strike of his greataxe, Orsek hacked into one of the larcenous centaurs. The ensuing battle was quite lopsided in effect: two of the five centaurs fell to SMASH's Command to surrender, while the other three quickly discovered the peril of dwarves and hobbits. Orsek flew into a rage and suffered almost all of the centaurs attacks, while Mossmullet bushwhacked a couple of the aggressors with an inspired Thunderwave. The stalwart Bilbo employed his frying pan to good (but limited) effect as well, before dousing one of the hybrid highwaymen with oil. Orsek's ensuing Burning Hands lit that centaur on fire, and it eventually burned to death. Mossmullet managed to bash in the skull of one centaur, but it turned out to be one of SMASH's surrendered pair, so the contribution was questionable. Both Orsek and SMASH attempted to mount and grapple the strangle man-horse creatures, but neither was sufficiently acrobatic (or maybe tall...?) to succeed. The encounter abruptly ended when the centaur leader called a retreat, and the surviving three centaurs wheeled and galloped away. Unwilling to let bygones be bygones, SMASH unleashed a devastating Guiding Bolt upon the fleeing equinoid leader, blowing a hole of radiant fury clean through his cowardly back. Thus ended the lesson: deadly danger comes in short packages!
After looting their slain foes, the happy heroes resumed their morning stroll up the East bank of the river. No further adventures or encounters offered themselves that day. At least, not until they reached the first of the foothills surrounding Cheddarbend near dusk. That was when the travelers noticed a path leading up away from the river into the hills. Hoping to find some sort of place to shelter overnight, the group followed the path to a large clearing infested with...jackalopes! Imported directly from South Dakota, these odd little antlered prairie hares bounded around outside a large golden door in the side of a hill. After cautiously approaching the mutant bunnies while shouting insults and threats, the group found that the furry beasts offered no immediate danger.
Examining the golden doorway, the words "The Temple of Greed" were discovered written upon the lintel, along with "Danger - Do Not Enter" hastily scrawled on the door. It took Bilbo successfully picking two separate locks to get the party inside the hillside burrow that was the temple, where upon the party found a 40' passageway with a gem & gold encrusted ceiling. The far side had a doorway with a puzzle-lock word game to solve, the answer to which was "avarice". Entering inside, they were confronted by a stark choice: two doors to take, and a warning to the effect that Greed was always the RIGHT choice to make. Taking the RIGHT door, the four dungeoneers avoided the grisly fate of probably immediate death; on their way out they found a deceased skeleton on the other side of the LEFT doorway, apparently poisoned to death by a trap. The group then solved the puzzle of the three statutes, making a, "secret" door appear and open. In the process, they also solved a ten-button electrified door puzzle and found an altar stone which liquefied any sacrifice which included all of a supplicant's gold pieces (granting the supplicant an equal number of experience in return).
Before venturing through the hidden door, the group encountered Red, who was apparently loitering in the temple in anticipation of the party showing up (OK, this is a sorry rationalization of one player joining the fun late). The bolstered group entered a trapped altar room next. They all benefited from the innate luck of hobbits, when their smallest member solved a multi-pronged trap by simply getting down and rolling over the most obvious portion of it! The rest followed suit, and nobody died. Finding a great golden altar, the greedy group tried dragging it back out of the temple but got no farther than the trapped hallway before the illusory nature of the altar revealed itself: it was merely made of stone. It did, however, cause another hidden doorway to open, letting the explorers into the final trapped hallway of the temple. Twenty feet into this seventy-foot long hallway, they found a coin slot and a warning that implied that they must pay a toll of over a thousand gold pieces to bypass the trap. Exhibiting perhaps even a tad more greed than the designers of the temple expected, the thieving party pried up the tile of the coin slot and recovered over 3,000 gold pieces! They also unknowingly broke the disarming mechanism for the 30' long, 30' deep pit-trap which immediately followed. That all could have ended badly, for a lesser group of temple-delvers. But not this lot! They tied a rope around their small hobbit and sent him forward. The pit trap opened and sent the hobbit plunging toward a pool of liquefied gold at the bottom of the pit, but the strong dwarves (and an elf) held firm and didn't let the hobbit drown in molten gold. Finessing the trap open again, the group extracted their dangling scout back from the brink. They then concocted a plan to use pitons and ropes to safely climb across the side walls of the trap. Slowly but surely, the entire pack of plunderers made it safely across to the far side of the trap. Where they were all greatly rewarded by a large room just chalk full of gold pieces! The final haul of all this loot was almost 15,000 gp!
Exhausted by a very long day of adventuring, and by the very idea of getting that much wealth all in one place, the enriched group settled down for a good long rest. With Cheddarbend only another day's journey, and White Plume Mountain not far beyond, the group looks forward to spending their newfound wealth upon prayer, research, and carousing, with the prospect of 5th level almost within their grasp!
Party Experience Gained
After looting their slain foes, the happy heroes resumed their morning stroll up the East bank of the river. No further adventures or encounters offered themselves that day. At least, not until they reached the first of the foothills surrounding Cheddarbend near dusk. That was when the travelers noticed a path leading up away from the river into the hills. Hoping to find some sort of place to shelter overnight, the group followed the path to a large clearing infested with...jackalopes! Imported directly from South Dakota, these odd little antlered prairie hares bounded around outside a large golden door in the side of a hill. After cautiously approaching the mutant bunnies while shouting insults and threats, the group found that the furry beasts offered no immediate danger.
Examining the golden doorway, the words "The Temple of Greed" were discovered written upon the lintel, along with "Danger - Do Not Enter" hastily scrawled on the door. It took Bilbo successfully picking two separate locks to get the party inside the hillside burrow that was the temple, where upon the party found a 40' passageway with a gem & gold encrusted ceiling. The far side had a doorway with a puzzle-lock word game to solve, the answer to which was "avarice". Entering inside, they were confronted by a stark choice: two doors to take, and a warning to the effect that Greed was always the RIGHT choice to make. Taking the RIGHT door, the four dungeoneers avoided the grisly fate of probably immediate death; on their way out they found a deceased skeleton on the other side of the LEFT doorway, apparently poisoned to death by a trap. The group then solved the puzzle of the three statutes, making a, "secret" door appear and open. In the process, they also solved a ten-button electrified door puzzle and found an altar stone which liquefied any sacrifice which included all of a supplicant's gold pieces (granting the supplicant an equal number of experience in return).
Before venturing through the hidden door, the group encountered Red, who was apparently loitering in the temple in anticipation of the party showing up (OK, this is a sorry rationalization of one player joining the fun late). The bolstered group entered a trapped altar room next. They all benefited from the innate luck of hobbits, when their smallest member solved a multi-pronged trap by simply getting down and rolling over the most obvious portion of it! The rest followed suit, and nobody died. Finding a great golden altar, the greedy group tried dragging it back out of the temple but got no farther than the trapped hallway before the illusory nature of the altar revealed itself: it was merely made of stone. It did, however, cause another hidden doorway to open, letting the explorers into the final trapped hallway of the temple. Twenty feet into this seventy-foot long hallway, they found a coin slot and a warning that implied that they must pay a toll of over a thousand gold pieces to bypass the trap. Exhibiting perhaps even a tad more greed than the designers of the temple expected, the thieving party pried up the tile of the coin slot and recovered over 3,000 gold pieces! They also unknowingly broke the disarming mechanism for the 30' long, 30' deep pit-trap which immediately followed. That all could have ended badly, for a lesser group of temple-delvers. But not this lot! They tied a rope around their small hobbit and sent him forward. The pit trap opened and sent the hobbit plunging toward a pool of liquefied gold at the bottom of the pit, but the strong dwarves (and an elf) held firm and didn't let the hobbit drown in molten gold. Finessing the trap open again, the group extracted their dangling scout back from the brink. They then concocted a plan to use pitons and ropes to safely climb across the side walls of the trap. Slowly but surely, the entire pack of plunderers made it safely across to the far side of the trap. Where they were all greatly rewarded by a large room just chalk full of gold pieces! The final haul of all this loot was almost 15,000 gp!
Exhausted by a very long day of adventuring, and by the very idea of getting that much wealth all in one place, the enriched group settled down for a good long rest. With Cheddarbend only another day's journey, and White Plume Mountain not far beyond, the group looks forward to spending their newfound wealth upon prayer, research, and carousing, with the prospect of 5th level almost within their grasp!
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 143 each
Exploration: 132 each
[Red and SMASH also got some experience for offering gold to the god of greed]
15 November 2015
(Almost) Burning Down the House [session 20]
Adventurers Present
Bilbo - hobbit
Mossmullet - dwarfley tempest cleric
Orsek Ungart - dwarfley barbarian wizard
SMASH - dwarfley life cleric
Something bad almost happened to Brambleham. Something unforeseen and unexpected. Something wild and dangerous…an inebriated hobbit.
Having reached the safety and security of civilization in the form of the town of Brambleham, our intrepid adventurers took a week to pursue various forms of rest, relaxation and rejuvenation. The first order of business was to cash in the various treasures recovered from Quasqueton, selling off the strange and varied objects to those with the interest and gold to acquire them. The party’s efforts in the monster-infested caverns and forests of the southlands finally rendered up a fortune substantial enough to make clear that the entire endeavor was worthwhile: nearly 9,000 gp to split up amongst the four remaining adventurers. (The others must all have gotten lost in the woods?)Once obtained, all that gold quickly started burning a hole through the purses and pockets of the victorious party members, leading to all sorts of unprecedented activities for the group. The sedate dwarfley clerics were the least exciting. On the outskirts of Brambleham along the road to Deeyin Deel, Mossmullet erected a substantial roadside shrine to his fierce goddess Varga. Cousin SMASH tunneled beneath that shrine, creating a similarly substantial underground shrine to his beloved deity Temas Tunneller.
Orsek the necromancer’s activities were more interesting. Buying up some of the more dubious reading materials in town, he began a course of wizardly research into the darker mysteries of the multiverse in his quest for knowledge. His arcane inquiries did not go unnoticed, for sending out metaphysical tendrils of magical might into the cosmos brought about an unintended result: he gave demon prince Orcus a psychic noogie. The demonic “god” of undeath decided not to exact immediate retribution upon the offending magician, but slyly warned him that the price of a future favor might be requested of the dwarf, and that such a request had best not be ignored.
All of the more cerebral endeavors of the dwarves having been concluded, the heroes set about painting the town. SMASH caroused a little bit, practicing moderation and good common sense. Mossmullet drank a bit more, but no letters home were called for. Orsek really tied one on, but perhaps thanks to his dwarfley constitution, no ill effects were invoked other than overindulging and spending too much gold. And then there was the hobbit. Bilbo ate and drank all that was offered to him for most of the week, if his pub tab was any indication. Outpartying all three dwarves combined, Bilbo wandered from establishment to establishment with reckless abandon. Which perhaps explains why he almost burned the town down. Luckily (being a hobbit after all) he managed to put out the literal and figurative fires he caused before any major disasters befell the sleepy hamlet. Still his actions were noted and the word is out on Bilbo. The locals are apt to be wary and suspicious of any further activities of the puny partier.
The only other activity of note was that Orsek and Bilbo built a greatroom and kitchen, attached to the roadside shrines. They also bought a sturdy locking chest to store their valuables. Which all the party contributed some gold and valuables to, before heading out North toward their next adventure – White Plume Mountain! Mossmullet, apparently overcome with godliness after erecting a shrine to his goddess, asked her for the favor of guiding divination about their chances in the bowels of that fearsome peak and whether the stout adventurers were up to the task. She answered that the road was long, and would harden them to their mission along the way.
The group being both plucky and bellicose, they were undeterred by such half-hearted endorsements. They bought up some provisions and set out along the east side of the river up to Chedderbend and White Plume Mountain. They walked a full day before spotting an odd Stonehenge-like mounded circle of obelisks in which to possibly camp. A thorough investigation of the spot revealed a man-sized tunnel hidden underneath one of the many tumbled rocks and boulders. The party trod the rough-hewn stairs deep into the earthen mound, until they came upon a moldy crypt. Inside were three sarcophagi, wherein were interred Roderick, his brother Broderick, and their father Hoderick (who was not to be disturbed). They curious group nonetheless opened the first sarcophagus, thereby awaking all three of the undead monsters from their restless slumber. The first two corpses were easily dispatched, being nothing more than well-armed skeletons. But the father proved something more fierce and evil. Exuding some ancient type of evil, waves of crackling black energy draped the angry crypt lord as he attacked the living pests. This frightful fiend proved too powerful to be injured by regular weaponry. Luckily, both Bilbo and Mossmullet had thought to “silver” their favored bludgeons back at Brambleham, so the party was far from disarmed. SMASH invoked the feared Shovel of Termas, which floated over to join the attack upon the awakened horror. Orsek threw Chromatic Orbs, wounding the fiend with his wizardry. Although the crypt lord’s very touch drained some of the life force from hapless Mossmullet, the adventurers eventually prevailed over the undead. Their reward came later on, in the form of hundreds of gold pieces and a translucent blue short sword of Frost. These treasures were hidden further on in the dungeon, secreted behind a massive boulder which took all the group’s strength to roll out of the way. Also located was a small shrine dedicated to Varga herself, who was apparently a favorite of the recently re-departed. Who knew? Mossmullet made amends for his transgressions against fellow followers of his fearsome goddess, sacrificing a day’s rations at the shrine. And then the party slept the sleep of the living, in a tomb recently claimed only by the (un)dead.
Party Experience Gained
Combat: 54 each
Exploration: 37 each
[they also gained between 50 and 2500 experience each by spending money on feasts, shrines, kitchens and magical research]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)