SESSION 9 (10/07/21)
Good characters in play since the evil guys are out of play until Day 120 (24/07/21). This session was a harrowing and tragic one...
Downtime Days 94-Day 105
Sixtus: Resting for 1 week after being knocked unconscious.
Merlon: 6 days of rest, sought out Barbanikos in Underland.
Maethedir: Resting for 1 week, after being knocked unconscious. Checked out the alchemy lab in Lord Steemham's dark dungeon.
Milton: Cruising, went with Merlon to see Barbanikos.
So we played out the Underland trip - Milton & Merlon went to show Barbanikos a strange platinum disc inlaid with gems, alongside a cryptic and disturbing map, which featured a sketch of this disc, found in Lord Steemham's personal belongings. Turns out it's pretty crook - ideas of going to check the place out vanished immediately upon Barbanikos' ramblings, but the greedy adventurer's wouldn't give up the disc for free. Milton suggested its weight in platinum which Barbanikos nearly pounced on, however, Merlon was suss on his eagerness. Advanced Gygaxonomics 1st Edition was consulted, and everyone's jaw dropped as the magician offered 6300GP straight up. Way too heavy to carry it, and Barbanikos wasn't going to look after it for them. So Milton & Merlon tied the chest to their horses and dragged it to the Moorhawk Exchange. A guard intervened, but upon word of Barbanikos, backed off without a word. The proprietor of the bank, Boglin Chanovsky, rubbed his hands eagerly as he arranged a "low fee" banking service for the considerable sum - 10% of the initial deposit per month, paid upfront. Merlon was disgusted, and insisted proper Merlonomics be consulted - Boglin agreed, and said that they could do a 30% fee instead. The players acquiesced, and after depositing their money, returned to Sunland...
Day 106 (10/07/2021)
Weather: Light drizzle
After kitting up with the Sunland loot, the party deliberates over what to do. The dwarvish problem has been something of a concern for them, but after the slog of the Steemham Crusades, they feel they won't offer much to the war effort, so they agree 'not much would be gained going there'. They decide to invoke recent meta-knowledge from their other characters and return to help the smurfs they heard were having kobold troubles 3 months ago. Setting out from Sunland, they make it to the quaint and homely hobbit village of Holbya, but something is amiss. Chief Galgalolf has severely degenerated - he is hooked up to a rudimentary hookah, constantly imbibing the smoke of the carcinoleaf - unable to stop for but a few words. The poglings are off their nut, just running rampant around the village shrieking and smoking from their pipes. Goldo comes out to greet them, and he's sketchy as, talking quickly, black bags under his eyes, dirty, claiming that they were going to have a party tonight so that Galgalolf can do one last 'Coming of the Dragon' before leaving this mortal coil. and thus handing Chiefdom to Goldo. Milton asks for some carcinoleaf, Goldo says he's on something better. He also offers Milton a swig of The Solution: Second Edition. It's pretty much oil. Milton passes his poison save, and spits it out immediately. Goldo takes a fat pull without issue. The tweaking hobbit shows Milton to his quarters, his concubines passed out on a luxurious bed, and reveals a footlocker with glowing blue mushrooms inside. Milton makes the connection, and tries to talk the hobbit out of taking the stuff - but he's so deep he takes offense, and takes a huge mouthful before entering some sort of trance. Sixtus comes in, Goldo calls him the 'Holy One', confesses he wants to be free. Sixtus holds him and casts Cure Disease - the hobbit hugs him and passes out, before being laid on his bed and sleeping. Talking to the locals, it turns out he's been awake for weeks, and has been sending hobbits, some who died or haven't returned, to the Ruins of Valoras east of here, after the players went all those months ago, to get the blue mushrooms growing within. Merlon has no clue what's going on. The party rests at the village, in one of the houses of the deceased hobbits, with Maethedir leaving some flowers outside the dwelling.
Day 107 (11/07/2021)
Weather: Light drizzle
The party checks out Goldo - he's in a coma. They head east, since memory tells them it's only a days walk to the ruins, and leave their horses at the village. They arrive without hiccup, the sight of the ancient place quite unchanged, and elect to rest outside for the night... The night passes without event.
Day 108 (12/07/2021)
Weather: Light drizzle
Lanterns are lit, torches ablaze, as the party of seven descends the stone stairs spiraling down the chasm and enter a hall with an archway and door to their right, two doors to their left, and one door at the end. Everyone gets behind a door, and tries to open it - some crack on the first go, others don't. The doorways to their left and right reveal corridors into darkness. The door at the end is busted open after a second attempt by Milton and Suthrimu. Immediately, the two are at knife point, and Milton is put into a headlock by a sickly looking man in black leather armour, and a grey skinned, cold, emotionless-faced elf with a broadsword and dagger. Milton spots another 6 in the cavernous room of glowing blue mushrooms.
Everyone is made to drop their weapons. Maethedir starts to cast Sleep at the doorway, Sixtus blocks vision of him from the others. I rule that vision is unobstructed here but in general this isn't viable. Actions declared, initiative is rolled - Milton is not waiting, and the grappling rules consulted - he turns the lock against the sickly man! Now Milton has a meat-shield in a headlock facing the cavern. As this happens, the elf stabs at Suthrimu, who was placing his weapon down, and does maximum damage! Suthrimu falls limp. 4 guys with scale armour, longswords, and shields take up an arc around the entrance, while a robed old man and broad shouldered one with uneven golden hair retreat to the back of the cave, the former readying darts, the other readying a composite longbow. Maethedir's sleep spell goes off - but only 2 people are affected! The players kindly remind me elves have a 90% chance to resist sleep, so really... Only the dude in the headlock goes to sleep. Milton drags the dead weight and puts his back to the cavern wall, left of the opening. Maethedir and Merlon charge in, Merlon wielding torch and sword. He dodges the elves longer weapon and nicks him for 1HP - the elf only had 1 HP and drops dead! Melee is engaged against the 4 thugs, Milton using the incel as his meat-shield. Sixtus steps into the melee, Brother Balor and Betanochin are still in the rear in the other room. Blows are exchanged, the two at the back firing into the crowd but mostly hitting their allies. Maethedir drops one of the men over Merlon's shoulder with a swift slice of the guisarme. There is a fatal moment - Merlon lands a blow, but it isn't enough - the thug retaliates. Merlon, who had lost 1HP previously, is dealt a heavy blow... Just enough to kill him instantly. Immediately after, the archer accidentally shoots his ally, who falls beside Merlon's body. Brother Balor fails morale and drops in despair. Milton throws the now waking thugs body after pulling a hand-axe out of his belt, but misses his attack. As the fight pushes into the room, Betanochin comes in swinging his sling and wipes out the old man with the useless darts! Milton employs the overbearing rules and tries to knock over his opponent, staggering him with a shoulder barge and then dropping down and grabbing his leg. Morale is checked. The enemies surrender. With cold and heavy hearts, the party lines them up and executes the remainder...
They are wondering what to do, and after looting the bodies, including Merlon's, as he stated in his will (his spell-book going to Maethedir), a strange ranger enters the scene. Bulruk Bushromper. This convenience is met with another downer - Brother Balor, at the death of his employer and lack of will to take up further contract, elects to humbly take his share of Merlon's treasure and leave for better prospects in the capital of Thropsford. He kindly restores Sixtus to full health. The party of seven is now one of five. It is agreed they should return to the surface and bury their fallen allies - talk of resurrecting Merlon comes up, but alas, elves cannot be resurrected by the faith of man. As they grab the bodies, a group of 8 kobolds comes into the room from a dark tunnel to the west. Combat ensues! Betanochin wipes out one of the gross little dog dudes with his sling, Milton cuts one down, and the creatures flee! Everyone eagerly brings up the breaking from melee rules, and Maethedir then decapitates one has it turns to run. The rest escape into the darkness.
The party returns to the surface and dig shallow graves for their fallen allies. Some simple words are said, it wasn't very moving and pretty awkward. Maethedir asks how heavy spell books are. Large, metal bound book has an encumbrance of 200GP. Suddenly, carrying the enemy spell caster's and Merlon's is an issue - the end result is Betanochin taking Merlon's, and Maethedir rigging up the other one with rope and hanging it from his belt. The party descends once more. Bulruk takes the lead, checking the ground for tracks - he puts his ear down to it. It does nothing, but he confers to the party that he has the trail. They follow natural mushroom tunnel around a bend and enter a room with a pile of debris and fecal matter in the middle. There are two doors on the wall ahead, and a passage to their right. The tracks lead to the passage, thus they follow, coming to a large room with a very ornate chandelier overhead, a huge, dilapidated, but quality, rug in the middle, and a fireplace with a hogshead on the mantelpiece. Bulruk checks under the rug - its a black pit down. There's a passage on the left wall as they entered, but he tracks lead to the wall ahead. Maethedir checks for secret doors - finds some handholds and grooves in the stone and it slides into a short passage with another wall at the end of it. A similar contraption is hidden in the recesses of this wall, and they crack it open, to reveal a small room with some pottery jars at the end of it, a broken crate against a wall, a door to their left and a passage straight ahead. Not only this, but there are 10 hobbits having smoko there. The players surprise them, but don't attack - these are Holbyan stock. The lost hobbits claim that they've seen no kobolds and have been here for 10 minutes, but admit being lost - Goldo sent them to get mushrooms. The party tells them how to get out and to wait for them above, they will go to Holbya together.
With the hobbits gone, the party takes the passage into a dome like room, with tunnels to their left and straight ahead. They go left, passing a door on their left and coming to a door ahead. They bust them both open at once. The one ahead leads into a tunnel with a green gaseous substance floating around, the one to their left hooks around left again and also goes into a small room with a door straight ahead. They presume that the passage continues back to where the hobbits were so they take the door to their right into a room with a larger, metal bound door ahead. The wall beside it has, crudely carved into the stone, a message in the hobbit tongue 'It took 5 hours!'. There's a tunnel to the left that the players shun and open the door head - it slides into a cavity, and there is a metal cage-like contraption with a lever against one of it's walls inside. They enter, and pull the lever. The cage drops fast, but then sputters and jumps a bit as old mechanisms take control, and it descends slowly, but consistently. About 10 minutes pass, and it drops the last few feet, jarring everyone. It doesn't go any lower. They open the door into a dark and rough-hewn chamber, with one tunnel ahead. They enter a similar, empty room with another tunnel ahead and continue - this time, the chamber they enter has a large metal bound door ahead and another passage to their right. The door is inspected, but nothing is yielded - except that it is locked. Rather than try to bash it down and disturb whatever lurks down here, they take the tunnel. It is pretty long - at one point they pass by a side passage to the right, but continue. They are 2 abreast. The lantern light reflects off a wall ahead, as the tunnel makes a sharp bend right. From this bend, catching the party unawares ( even with Bulruk's enhanced ranger senses), are two huge spiders with thick bristly hides and meaty legs. The spiders leap to Bulruk and Sixtus in the front, but miss their blows. Actions are declared and initiative rolled. Sixtus and Bulruk both get bitten, taking little damage and making their poison saving throws. Sixtus clubs one in the abdomen, caving its exoskeleton in, causing a green goo to leak out. Maethedir slices down the depression formed by the blow and the creature drops into death spasms and twitches. The other spider cops a crossbow bolt from Milton, and is cut down by the party, but not without biting Bulruk again... And he fails his poison saving throw. With his minute to live (I started a timer) Maethedir finally remembers he found 3 potions somewhere ages ago, and never got them identified. In desperation, Bulruk imbibes one... I roll for a random potion, roll the effect time, and as his life force is sapping away, he sputters and gills develop on his neck. He has about 20 seconds left, and downs another one - it takes about the same time to go off. I read the name of the potion and thought it was going to save him - Potion of Invulnerability - nope, in his final moments, he felt a great sense of strength and protection, as if no ordinary blow could smite him... Then he died.
The party decides to leave this forsaken place. They drag the body back to the elevator, crank the lever, and... Nothing. Now they are stressed. Everyone is thinking of what to do. They close the door and pull the lever, noticing a clicking sound with precise intervals coming from somewhere above them. There is talk of climbing up, or further exploring the place for another way out, or possibly waiting for it in case it is on a timer. During this, they hear something big shuffling around outside. It comes right outside the door and starts talking out loud, wondering why the door is shut. Maethedir calls out in a very sterotypical ghost voice that they are spirits and will curse the creature. There is a pause, then it lets out a Homer Simpson scream before they hear heady footfalls thundering away from the place. They talk for a while longer... When the elevator creaks and starts to rise. Everyone takes a formation, grateful but also worried about what this means.
The elevator halts at the door. There is a voice in orcish calling it stuff, Maethedir tries the spirit trick again, doesn't work. Milton cracks the door open just a bit, and Sixtus is looking at a piggish orc that starts squealing, they briefly glance a decent mob of them outside. The door is slammed shut. Milton readies his crossbow, while more talking goes on. Sixtus opens the door and Milton impales one with a bolt - it steps into the door and is killed by someone in the party. Other orcs rips the door open and the fight is on! The party cuts down the front rank of the orcs. The second rank backs up defensively before fleeing. There is 15 electrum on the dead orcs. The party heads down a tunnel to their right and is back at the room with the chandelier on the first floor. They safely make their way to the surface, noticing on the way that the long swords of the evil adventuring party were taken. The hobbits come out from a copse and meet them, saying they noticed a group of orcs go inside. Not wanting to spend any longer at this horrid place, everyone heads for Holbya. As they left at about lunch time, they camp on the way - the night passing without event.
Day 109 (13/07/2021)
Weather: Light fog
The party has a quick breakfast before safely arriving back at Holbya around lunch. They enter the abode of Goldo. Some hobbits, including Galgalolf, are around his bed. The atmosphere is tense, and the party finds out that had Goldo passed away.
With heavy hearts, the remaining players rest at Holbya before returning to Sunland the next day (14/07/2021), the weight of their fallen comrades heavy on their shoulders. Sixtus donated 100gp and 135sp to the Sunland Restoration Fund (net amount, 106.75GP - note for training cost purposes).
Character Role & Alignment Performance Ratings
Sixtus: (E)xcellent - A selfless front-liner, unaccommodating of evil and injustice. Questionable out of character statements...
Maethedir: (E)xcellent - Always of a tactical mind not only martially but magically. No hesitation in employing spells at critical moments. Strapping spell book to belt with rope just to carry it was hilarious and fitting a greedy magician.
Milton:: (E)xcellent - A true warrior coming into his own with each adventure, showing courage and remaining stalwart in dire times.
Treasure
Merlon's spellbook and funds
115GP
15EP
Evil magic-user spell-book
Experience Points
Sixtus: 2750| +1295 + 278
Maethedir: 650 + 671 + 696 + 1576 + 1295 + 278
Milton: 2000| + 1295 + 278
Betanochin Wormington: ?? + 139
Observation
These characters are out play until Day 111 (15/07/2021)
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