Gygax and Greyhawk Session #41 - Birds and the Bowels of the Earth

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5) 

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 4) w/ henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 1)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 5/ Thief 5) w/ henchman Caron (Half Elf  MU1)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) w/ henchman Koreyth the Master (Human Fighter 1) 

Date/Time

Patchwall 15 (mid-day) - Patchwall 15 (night)

The room proves to have once been a laboratory or wizards workshop. But nothing of interest remains, as it shows signs of having recently been searched and smashed. Sometime within the last month by a pair of humanoids, one small and one human-sized, according to Ranzels' read of the tracks in the dust. Moving on to the room on the opposite side of the  stairs, the party once more finds signs of a recent search of this a parlor or study. Papers are strewn about, most of which are the day to day minutia of managing a castle. But they do learn some useful info. First, there is enough to tell them that the castle had once belonged to a cadet branch of the atamans of Kutkuri, who over time fell from nobility into dark and sorcerous ways.  Second, amid the paper is reference to a secret entrance, somewhere outside the bounds of the castle itself. 

Filing this information for future use, the party heads to the uppermost floor of the keep. On one side they find a pair of small rooms with gapping holes in the walls and the wind whistling in; obvious battle damage from the fall of the castle 70 years before. To the other side is a room filled with bloodhawks, several of whom attack Ranzel as he opens the door, before Skeef charms and speaks with them. He learns not only that the raptors collect 'shiny rocks', but that they also see all from their keep-top lair. The hawks tell Skeef they sometime see a 'man-thing' take a large creature (sounds like a horse of similar) out behind the ruined castle. And after being gone for a while, just the man comes back. Filing that information away as hints to the secret entrance, the party leaves the birds in peace (but return that evening to loot their gems after the hawks have flown off on their nightly hunt.) 

The party descends to the ruined courtyard, heading to the western half of the ruins. As they enter however, they see a man leading a horse across the open space, and out through the gap in the north wall. Skeef, accepting an invisibility spell from Solcha, follows silently and unseen. The man follows a trail down the rugged rear of the hill, and disappears into the brush. When Skeef gets there, all he sees is a hole in the ground. Overhanding it from the branch of a large oak is a block and tackle, equipped with  a harness for holding a large animal. Skeef climbs down the hole, follows a narrow passage and climbs down several other ledges (each with a block and tackle) before coming to a larger chamber. Here he sees two small dwarf-like creatures; one obvious on guard ahead and the other in a separate chamber an the right. Scouting past the guard, Skeef finds another decent into a much larger chamber. He sees little, but hears the sounds of digging and stone breaking in the distance. 

Returning, the druid reports to the rest of the party. As a group, they decide to check out the rest of the above ground ruins and then return to camp for the night before taking their chances below. They fight another pair of gargoyles and loot some treasure before heading back to rest and recover. 

GAINS

707sp

16gp

10 gems (200gp, 50gp, 8x10gp)

Silver key

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 bloodhawks [captured]

2 gargoyles 

LOSSES

none

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #40 - Getting Down and Up

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5) 

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 4) w/ henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 1)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 5/ Thief 5) w/ henchman Caron (Half Elf  MU1)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) w/ henchman Koreyth the Master (Human Fighter 1) 

Date/Time

Patchwall 15 (morning) - Patchwall 15 (mid-day)

Approaching the ruins once more, Skeef speaks to a little sparrow, pumping it for information on the spined devils and where they may have come from. The bird is a bit vague, unsure of the difference between the gargoyles and the devils, but it suggests the devils came from somewhere near the ruins, but not in the ruins. The bird was also unable to find any obvious holes in the ground when Skeef sent it on a recce flight around the hill.   

Heading into the ruins, the party briefly flirts with the idea of exploring the square keep, but instead opt to hit the cellars and the magically locked door. First they have to get past the two guardian statues at the top of the stairs, for the one they'd destroyed a week ago was now back on its base. Once more they destroy a statue (losing Skeef's new rat in the process) and climb over it's base. Proceeding deeper, they knock the dance macabre door, and descend a narrow and winding staircase fill of old orc skeletons. This ends in another door, which Goro has difficultly opening. And when he does, it opens into a crypt filled with undead, waiting at the door and crowding all the room behind. A few attempts at turning and outwitting proved fruitless, and rather than fight an undead Gotterdammerung, they decide to check the square keep after all.  

After first fighting another pair of guardian statues (and once more destroying one and sneaking over it's now unoccupied base) the party explores a reception hall overlooking by balconies above, as well as kitchen and dinning room. They find little of note, except a pair of crossed staves hanging over a large fireplace. They take a set of stairs up to the next level,  and check out the first room on the right. This appears to be a laboratory or alchemical workshop, but exploration is stymied by the 5 robbed figures scattered against the walls. These drift towards the party, who retreat into the corridor to take the undead menaces out one by one. While Goro is hit in the combat (and feels something very not right in his heart and belly), the 5 figures are dispatched, leaving the room now open for exploration ...

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

5 Huecuva

LOSSES

none

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #39 - All Hell Breaks Loose

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 4) w/ henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 1)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 5/ Thief 5) w/ henchman Caron (Half Elf  MU1)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) w/ henchman Koreyth the Master (Human Fighter 1) 

Date/Time

Patchwall 4 (morning) - Patchwall 15 (morning) 

While Ranzel and Koreyth continued to recover from their injuries, the party restocks supplies and the magic users share and  transcribe some spells. The party also decide to recruit yet another henchman to supplement their skills. In particular they wanted a dwarf or gnome for underground skills, and Solcha is successful in taking into her employment the stout and skillful she-gnome Usborn. Solcha also uses the downtime to cast her new find familiar spell and attracts a weasel to her service. Skeef meanwhile attracts to himself a rat and a skunk for companionship, and purchases three dogs to help guard their wagon/camp.  

Once the injured are recovered and all the animals procured, the party head back towards the ruined keep. On the last night of their journey, cold and chill, the party is attacked out of the falling darkness. A pair of flying humanoid creatures approaches them from the south-east. Thinking first they were gargoyles, once the shapes got closer it was obvious they were diabolic. The two winged creatures with military forks dove to attack, one literally throwing itself at Goro and impaling him on the spines along the creature back, which then burst into flame as they hit. That one was killed quickly, but the second takes longer, scaring off half the party before being pinned to the ground, literally and figuratively. The creature would not give up, even though immobilized by spikes through it's wings and Goro's weight, so the party dispatched the helpless devil. But were then surprised to see another, different devil gate into their presence.  This one proves tougher, and it was a very close fight as the barbed devil unleashes all it's innate powers against it's foes. But the party prevails, and as the fallen bodies burst into oily flame, wonder what they had now gotten themselves into. 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Spined Devil

1 Barbed Devil 

LOSSES

none

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #38 - More Trouble with Trolls

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 5/ Thief 5) w/ trained bear Wojtek & henchman Caron (Half Elf  MU1)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) 

Date/Time

Brewfest-Godsday (early evening) to Patchwall 4 (morning)

Arriving back at their camp, the party finds all is well with the four guards and their recovering henchman. They settle in for an uneventful night, and then choose to stay around camp the next day to rest and heal a little more. That evening, just as dark is falling, they hear the noise of dogs or something similar to their south. Suddenly, three strange canines, each with two heads, burst out the scattered scrub and charge into camp. While victorious, the party looses one of their horses and are unimpressed to find the dog's bite was poisonous (though no one was affected). As the battle draws to a close, they note further movement out in the bushes. A brief pursuit and the party sees two trolls heading off into the night, in the direction of the ruined keep. They figure this is Xur and his buddy, out to hunt them down.  

Next morning, the party returns to the ruins under a grey drizzly sky. Along the way they find the remains of their horse carved up and meat taken. Their ultimate plan is to return to the cellars, but a side trip to the trolls on the second floor is the first stop. To deliver some fresh meat Skeef and Ranzel had hunted the day before, and to get what info they could on the keystone which the trolls seemed to know something about. Parley was initially tense but friendly, with meat exchanged for a 'stone-key' from the trolls; a crude key carved out of rock and painted copper. Unimpressed and looking for revenge, Skeef passes on a fire trapped box, and the party charges into the troll lair post-explosion. This does not go well for the party. Wojtek the bear goes down first, followed by Ranzel. Solcha escapes by luck after a particularly vicious claw/claw/bite brings her to near death. A total party kill is prevented by a combination of Goro's bravery and Solcha's magic missiles, backed up by the spells and torches of Skeef and Caron. The trolls are slain and burned,  Ranzel's wounds bandaged, and the room looted of a small treasure chest hidden in the fireplace. 

After a short time searching for secret doors into the main keep using Solcha's now superfluous knock spells, the party drags their battered bodies back to camp and then elect to travel back to Nevond Nevnend so Ranzel and Koreyth the Master can finish recovery and the party can re-equip for another expedition to the ruined keep. 

GAINS

40pp

188gp

37ep

23sp

31cp

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Trolls 

3 Death Dogs

LOSSES

Ranzel (Unconscious)

Wojtek (dead)

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #37 - Around and Down

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 5/ Thief 5) w/ trained bear Wojtek & henchman Caron (Half Elf  MU1)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) 

Date/Time

Brewfest-Godsday (early afternoon) to Brewfest-Godsday (early evening)

As the party examines the fallen hobgoblin, three more of the shambling creatures appear around the corner. These too are dispatched. Examination of the corpses show no signs of trauma apart from the sickly yellow pallor and drool. Pushing forward, the party turns the corner and spots a vine climbing up the  wall at the turn of the corridor, reaching towards a ragged opening in the roof. It seems to make no obvious threatening moves, so Goro pushes on the see what is around the corner. There is nothing there except a passage blocked by rubble. But a flower on the vine releases a cloud of dust into the half-orc's face, and Goro is hypnotically drawn into the plant, which send fine tendrils into his brain. The rest of the party leaps to the rescue; Skeef slips the ring of free action off the cleric's hand, allowing Solcha with her necklace of adaptation to safely enter the danger zone and try to pull him free. In the end, the party kills the plant by driving swords into it's bulbous root. Goro is a little more dense than usual, showing signs of mental decay.  Digging around the plant, they uncover a body with a bone scroll case and a potion bottle. 

On the way back down the corridor, they encounter another of the vines growing out of the fallen hobgoblin. This they dispatch quickly, and then drag all the bodies to the courtyard and burn them next to the troll-fire. Returning to the keep, they head for the main foyer and make for the stairs leading down. This triggers the flanking two-headed statues to animate and fight. One is destroyed, and the party figures out that they will only animate if you pass between them. So they scramble over the now empty statue base and head downstairs. 

The stairs descend quite a ways before coming to a T-intersection. Exit into the intersection is flanked by wolf headed statues, which they find do not animate. Along the corridor are a series of alcoves with troll skulls nailed to the back wall. These all glow a sickly green colour when approached, only to fade to darkness when left alone. Tinkering with the well at one end of the passage causes the closest troll skull to speak, reciting the following lines:

"Beneath the keep, a place to scry,

Where devils sing their songs, then die.

As deep cold wells keep waters fresh,

So keep she all her wickedness."

Further empty rooms are explored, and a strange door carved with  a dance macabre is encountered. It is both physically and magically locked, so Solcha opens it with her knock spell. It leads to another steeply descending stairs, this one covered in dozens of orcish skeletons, long dead. Feeling now they may be pushing their luck after a long and arduous day, they party decides to retreat back to camp to rest and refit ... 

GAINS

Magic User Scroll - 4 spells (Invisibility, Continual Light, Clairvoyance, Stone Shape) 

Potion of Healing 

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 Yellow Musk Zombies

2 Yellow Musk Creeper

Caryatid Column 

LOSSES

Some of Goro's brains 

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #36 - Trolls and Other Things

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 5/ Thief 5) w/ trained bear Wotjek & henchman Caron (Half Elf  MU1)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) 

Date/Time

Brewfest-Godsday mid-morning to Brewfest-Godsday early afternoon 

The party returns to the still silent ruins, and enters through the same postern door. Checking out the first unexplored opening to the right, they find a door. This leads into the base of the east tower, where a cantilevered staircase rises high into the darkness. This they discover is inhabited by three gargoyles. Two fly down to attack, while the third rushes up into the darkness above. The two combatants are dispatched, and without pause the party chases the third. It leads them to the top of the three story tower, and they see it descend into the courtyard below, out of reach and quickly out of sight. 

Backtracking one level, the party heads onto the second level of the ruined keep. They explore a corridor of statue-filled alcoves, including one of a troll painted copper. Ranzel makes a trollish-joke, and is rewarded by a low snickering rumble from beyond the door behind them.  This opens a dialog between the ranger and at least one, and supposedly many more, trolls. Speaking through just a crack in the open door, the party agrees to get them some 'bloody meat' for the troll(s) are hungry. They'd sent one of their number (Gurgo) to get food, but he hasn't returned. In payment, the spokes-troll (named Xur) promise to tell them what he knows about the key-stone. Xur also mentions something about a horned man 'down below' who may know about it too. 

While this is going on, most of the rest of the party pushes further down the corridor, looking for a way to outflank the troll room. They find a way, but are attacked by two dozen skeletons that animate from the jumbled remains of many men on the floor. Fight finished, the party (egged on by the famished Xur again), head back to the main level and push along the corridor around the base of the east tower. They encounter there a strange zombie-like hobgoblin, staggering and drooling a yellow ichor. This they dispatch withe ease and prepare to continue on their way ...

GAINS

25gp

368sp

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Gargoyles

25 Skeletons

1 Yellow Zombie Thingy

LOSSES

None

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #35 - Hired Help

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 5/ Thief 5) w/ trained bear Wotjek & henchman Caron (Half Elf  MU1)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) w/ henchman Koreyth the Master (Human Fighter 1) 

Date/Time

Harvester 24 morning to Brewfest-Godsday

Before leaving Nevond Nevnend, the parry decide to hire a few guards to keep an eye on their backs while on adventure. They also opt to recruit some henchman to help flesh our their ranks when partaking in said adventures.  The party as a whole takes on four heavy footmen and purchase a wagon and pair of draft horses (for the piles of treasure, of course). These footmen are tasked with guarding the wagon and any camp the party may set up in the wilderness. For their pay [5gp/month each] they will do no adventuring or otherwise get involved in anything but defense.  For assistance in the dungeons, Goro hires a short, stocky and strong fighter by the name of 'Koreyth the Master' and Skeef takes on 'Caron', a half elf magic user. Each are offered 200gp up front payment and a promise of a 1/2 share of non-magical treasure. Goro, leaning on his naturally suspicious orc-ish heritage, secretly casts know alignment on their new hires. Koreyth is a respectable chaotic good, but Caron is a worrying neutral evil. All agree the magic user needs watching. 

With a now expanded expeditionary force, the party strikes east towards the ruined castle. The five days of travel are uneventful except for a persistent drizzle over the last few days, and they arrive unmolested at their destination. After a nights rest in a grove of trees a respectable distance from the castle, they leave the guards and wagon behind and head towards the ruins. Skeef and Ranzel, invisible thanks to Solcha's elvish sorcery, take the lead some hundred yards ahead of the rest of the party.  They enter then ruins without any challenge, and the invisible pair head for a small postern door just inside the main gate. This leads into a gently sloping corridor with a wet floor. They disturb a rat who is lurking inside a pair of boots next to a door leading off the corridor; said rat disappears into a whole in the wall as they press on. When the postern door closes, they are plunged into darkness, so Skeef must lead the ranger by the hand. They explore a little further, noting several other passages and making their way to the area behind the main doors into the keep, which they'd noted as securely barred from the courtyard. Stairs were found going down, and a further passage leading north flanked by strange two-headed statues was noted. There was also a portcullis that showed sign of having been manually wrenched apart by something of great strength. 

The unseen duo retreat to meet the main body, and then all return to the corridor. As they do, a snarling troll covered in flecks of copper paint comes around the corner. After a half hearted attempt at parley, swords are drawn and battle begins. The troll is dispatched with little trouble, but the party is too slow in dealing with it's regenerating parts. The troll springs back to life and strikes down Koreyth before the party can once more 'slay' it. This time they chop it out into the courtyard and set the remains alight. 

Koreyth is thankfully still alive, but will need time to recover from his wounds. The party brings the henchman back to the guards and the camp, and then head back ounce more to the ruins. 

GAINS

None

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 troll

LOSSES

Koreyth [unconscious]