Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 64 - Darloch's Downfall

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 7 / Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 6 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 6) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 4)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 4)]

Date/Time

Planting 12 (mid-afternoon) to Planting 19 (mid-day) 

Sheef reaches over and carefully pulls aside the clever camouflage curtain. Behind it is a small alcove, and in it crouches what appears to be an old woman in a tattered and dirty dress. On questioning, she says she is a captive of Darloch, a former member of the Lord's household taken and held here for some unknown purpose. Smelling a rat, since the woman radiates intense evil to the paladin, Goro moves to cast a hold person spell so they can search her safely. The woman resists, snarls at the cleric, and whips a grotesque mace of rust and dirt and bone from under her skirts and strikes at Goro. Combat ensues, and the woman starts to throw spells about in return. But numbers start to show, and she pulls out a potion, drinks it and turns to gaseous form and attempts to drift away. The party chases their vaporous foe into the next room, where Goro uses dispel magic and returns to woman to corporal form. And then they kill her. Looting the body, they find potions, a wand and the mace, the later two radiating intense evil. They also find she is no woman at all, but some sort of goat-legged satyr. 

The room they are in is actually a vaulted tomb. At the centre is a stone crypt topped by the effigy of a woman, and sitting at the base is a small pool of water lined with green marble. The room is old, but the tomb in quite new. Inscribed on the front is an effigy to Moura, Lord Darlochs wife. The party pokes about a bit, but is more interested in the blank wall the gaseous form was headed towards. Solcha and Baqua find there a secret door, leading to steep stairs going down. 

The party descends to a room damp with moisture and graced with another pool, this one deep and seemingly bottomless at one end. A door off the chamber leads to an old and neglected shrine to Beory, where they are attacked by a pair of shadows. Moving down a corridor, they bypass a trapped false door and a locked door, focused on the door at then end of the passage. They fumble through this one, find on the other side a well appointed sitting room with wood panelling and shelves lined with books and trinkets. And sitting in an overstuffed reading chair is their target, Lord Darloch. Pale and wan with sunken eyes, he holds his sword across his knees and one hand strokes a massive opal sitting on a stand next to him. Few words are said and combat ensues. Darloch opens throwing bolts of necrotic cold, and Solcha replies with her own lightning bolt. Skeef and Baqua, attempt to sneak around behind Darloch but are observed. Instead, Baqua throws a sack over the gem and carries it out of range. A pair of zombies emerge from a  hidden alcove and attack the parties rear, but are soon taken out. Once more, numbers start to show and moments latter Lord Darloch falls to the blades of the party.

After a cursory search, they loot and decapitate the body and take the head and bagged gem away. Stopping to check the locked door (thanks to a key about Darloch's neck), they rescue three emaciated and haggard women, captives of Darloch, tortured and abused by him. 

Done with this dank dungeon, they party emerges into the equally dank and damp Gravemoor to journey back to Count Oldvain. There they offer Darloch's head as proof of his demise. The Count is disappointed he could not bring the rogue Lord to trial, but nonetheless thanks the party for their service. He offers eacha ring with his signet, informing them he will remember them to Duke Eyah at the imminent Mustering of the Host. 

With that, the party heads back on the road to Redspan for the next stage of their journey. 

GAINS

Two-Handed Sword +2

Chainmail +2

Potion of ????

Mace of Dark Focus

Wand of ????

Midnight Opal ????

Wedding ring [25gp]

5 x 250gp rings (gifts of Count Oldavan) 

KILLS/VICTORIES

Ach na Creig the Glaistig

2 Shadows

2 Zombies

Lord Darloch 

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 63 - A Ghast-ly Affair

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 7 / Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 6 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 6) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 4)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 4)]

Date/Time

Planting 12 (mid-morning) to Planting 12 (mid-afternoon) 

The party pushes forward into the passage, and the darkness plays havoc with their light sources which flicker much dimmer than usual. Suddenly Skeef disappears into a hidden trapdoor in the floor. They pry open the hinged lid, and are surprised to find nothing but an empty 20' deep pit. Figuring it must be a portal to some place their friend might need their help, the party all leap in one by one. Meanwhile, Skeef has found himself in a silenced 8'x8'x8 cube with a ghast for company. The monster does not attack right away, and Skeef used his cloak to alter form to look like a ghast. The creature then reaches gently forward, touching and paralyzing the the druid/thief. Then suddenly the rest of the party lands in the cube, making for very tight quarters indeed. A fight ensues, which very nearly sees all the party paralyzed and presumably food for the ghast. Only Solcha escapes the creatures touch, and succeeds in taking it down. As everyone's paralysis wears off, they discover they are in fact at the bottom of the original pit, hidden by an illusion and silence. A series of failed attempts to get out of said pit ends with Skeef turning into a gecko and hauling a rope up to the surface for everyone to climb. 

After a few rounds of healing (which to their dismay doesn't work well in this gloomy environment) the party moves on, following a twisting maze of stone-slabbed passages leading deep into the barrow. Twice they are ambushed by ghasts who seem to appear out of nowhere, and pay a price in paralyzation  and pain. The second ambush occurs just as they reach a great stone door, flanked by a pair of low alter stones and illuminated by a faint candle. The candle is newly lit, and once scrubed bare of dirt and growth, the two alters are found to be dedicated the Beary the Earth Mother. 

The door opens into another corridor, with two similar doors at the far end. Through one the party finds a small chamber lit by a pair of flickering touches. Low stone benches line the walls, and in the centre is a disturbed area of earth mixed with shattered and broken bone. Chanee immediately warns them that evil lurks in the room. Examination of the wall between the torches reveals that it is not stone, but a cleverly painted canvas sheet. Skeef is just about to pull it aside when the pile in the centre of the floor starts to stir, forming into a large humanoid shape made of clay, broken bone and rotting flesh. Battle ensures, and the creature is soon beaten back to a heap on the floor ... 

GAINS

None

KILLS/VICTORIES

7 ghasts

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 62 - The Gravemoor

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 7/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 6 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 6) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 4)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 4)]

Date/Time

Coldeven 23 (morning) to Planting 12 (mid-morning) 

After weeks in Nevond Nevnend shopping, training and resting, the party is once more ready to head out on adventure. There is a general feeling that it was time for a change, to explore beyond the borders of Tenh and see more of Oerth. Skeef reminds them all of one entry in the tome "Of Fabolous Relics and Artifacts etc etc" which speak of Daoud’s Wondrous Lanthorn and Iggwilv’s lost treasures hidden in the Yatil Mountains to the West. Knowing some of the story of that Witch Queen of Perranland, his thief side longs to loot this famous lost treasure. And it look little to persuade his comrades, so on a rainy early spring day they party leaves Nevond Nevnend, traveling to the merchant city Redspan on the Artonsamay River, where they could find water passage south and west towards their destination. 

Their first few days of travel were uneventful, until they reached the rolling downs to the south of the town of Stroun. There, they came upon a scene of recent battle on the slopes below a castle and village. Figures could be seen gathering up bodies and detritus from the fighting, and a dozen mounted warriors at the village edge watched the party approach. They hail the party and ride towards them, giving sign they mean no harm. The leader identifies himself as  Caerwyller, Count Marshal to his liege-lord Count Oldvan of the Heithwald. The party learned from him that there had been an uprising again the Count led by a rebel Lord Darloch; what they see on the field is the fallen of the final battle. Having also learned something of the party, Caerwyller asked that they accompany him to see the Count, as he may have need of the party's service. 

The Count Marshal leads the party up the slope to the castle, passing the peasants and men-at-arms gather bodies and debris  from the battle field. Goro pauses occasionally to offer solace and gather info. He learns this Lord Darlock was a bit of a hot head, know to be a good man to stand in line of battle with you but prone to tempers and vengeance. He seems to have started this uprising because the Count had arrested Darloch's wife Maura on accusation of witchcraft and burned her at the stake. When they reach the castle, Count Oldvan confirms this story and the party gets no sense that he is being insincere. The Count further tells them that Darloch survived and fled the battle; scouts tracked him to the depths of the Gravemoor, a flooded fen of ancient Flann barrow mounds. His men are both tired and fearful of crossing Beory by hunting down Darloch amid tombs under the goddesses protection. Knowing the party's special 'skills', the Count asks that they hunt down the fugitive and bring him justice, either dead or alive. After some discussion, the party agrees, with Goro's orcish ears perking up at the mention of Darloch's powerful heirloom two-handed sword. 

Count Oldvan provides a scout, Tayv, to lead them into the Gravemoor. They reach it late in the day; an unnaturally chill and misty bog with occasional broken barrows sinking into the muck. Their scout leads them into the mist, weaving from one dry patch of land to another. They camp for the night on a dry-ish hillock; strange lights appear in the twilight mists, but the party wisely ignores them. They continue their journey the next day, fighting off a wandering band of zombies before coming to the edge of a thick obscuring mist. Tayv points to the hill that rises in the distance above it, saying this is as far as he tracked Darloch. Their scout then retreats and leaves the party to their own devices. 

Pushing through the mist, they come to the base of the hill. It is surrounded by a still black pool of water, some 40-60 yards across. The top of the hill is crowned by an old barrow. As they stand there discussing what to do, a sword wielding figure bursts out of the water and attacks. They see immediately this is Darloch, who lands (and takes) several mightily blows (and drains giant beaver Skeef's constitution) before diving back into the pool. Solcha follows, but Darloch has moves too fast and she can see no more than a foot through the dark murky water. After a futile search for a secret entrance at the base of the hill, they climb to the top (assisted by Skeef in the form of a giant eagle) and enter the tomb through a pair of broken stone slabs. The entrance chamber is lined in stone slabs with a dirt floor. Cobwebs hang thick from a vaulted ceiling, and the chamber is overlooked by carved gargoyle-like figures along the top of the walls. As Baqua and Skeef check out the door at the far end of the room, one of the figures flies down to attack and is quickly slain. The thieves certify the door as trap-free, and Gorro pushes it open ... 

GAINS

None

KILLS/VICTORIES

7 zombies

1 lion-goyle

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 61 - Swords of Morandril Hath

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) with henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 2)
Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 3 / Thief 3)]

Date/Time

Readying 13 (mid morning) to Coldeven 23 (morning) 

The party returns to the fallen remains of the frost giant squire Hrorkir. There Goro casts speak with dead to ask the location of the Swords of Mornadril Hath. From beyond death the giant tells them the swords lay due east from where they stand. Skeef notes that this coincides with the wall carvings in the quaggoth lair, and suggests they return there to search for secret hiding places. He and Solcha did not find anything when they searched a few days before, but perhaps they missed it. Making their way past the frozen and now half eaten remains of their first battle in these ice caverns, Goro immediately finds that the frost giant's axe in the carving is moveable. He pulls it forward and a section of the ice wall moves, opening into another cavern. 

The chamber beyond is small, crowded with staglititles hanging down. And at the end is a human warrior, two swords raised ready to strike, But they see at once he is both terribly battered with wounds, and is frozen in a solid block of ulta-clear ice. They had finally found the resting place of Morandril Hath and his magical swords, Tangarar “Flamebrand” and Amroteth “The Shard of Frost”. Solcha immediately gets to work, melting ice with the Jewel of Nessus and then, once freed, the 'Flamebrand'. It takes some time, but eventually she melts enough to retrieve both swords, as well as the jeweled winged helm and gold arm rings that adorn the body. But at this point there is a rumbling sound and the chamber starts to shake. Everyone makes a run for the door, but Usborn and Skeef don't quite make it and are buried under the collapsing ceiling. The party is able to recover Skeef before he suffocates, but poor Usborn is crushed beyond recovery. Knowing they could never get her to civilization fast enough to be raised, Solcha and Baqua gently wrap the gnome's remains in a wolf fur and burry her back in the ice. 

Although their quest was now complete, the party was in no shape to risk the dangers of the trek home through the mountains just yet, So they settle in to rest once more to allow the spellcasters to recharge. They are interrupted twice, first by a a pair of frost giant wraiths who bring to paladin down to unconsciousness before being slain by the combined force of the party. The second interruption was more benign an ice toad that was just curious and let the party be.  

Next morning, the party finally emerges from the caves, relying on Solcha's magic in place of the rope bridges the giant Hrorkir had destroyed days before, They discover their mules dead, mostly eaten  and everything half buried in snow. They recover one sledge to haul the paladin, taking turns to pull it in place of the mules, But they leave the food relying on Goro to create food and water so they can move as quickly as possible. Their journey back to Nevond Nevnend is less stormy and less eventful than the journey in, although they barely avoid a huge warband of orcs returns from raiding the plains of Tenh, captives and loot in tow. 

Back in Nevond Nevnend, they settle in for rest, recovery and training and to think of where they will head next on their adventures ... 

GAINS

Sword+1, Flame Tongue (Tangarar “Flamebrand”)

Sword +3, Frost Brand (Amroteth “The Shard of Frost”)

Golden bracers/arm bands (10x 150gp)

Golden winged helmet with green gems (5000gp)

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 frost giant wraiths  

LOSSES

Usborn 

Chanee (temporarily) 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 60 - But Wait, Another Epic Battle ...

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) with henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 2)
Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 3 / Thief 3)]

Date/Time

Readying 13 (early morning) to Readying 13 (mid morning) 

Recovering from their fight with the frost giant, first thoughts turn to rest and new spells. So the party retraces steps to their hidey-hole. Only to find it has been taken over by quaggoth and the door is barred against them. But instead of unleashing unholy fury upon the furries, they instead head towards Hrorkir's room which they deem to be a safe and defensible place to rest. The rest passes without a major interruption, apart from Baqua vanquishing another ooze (and not losing her axe to it!). 

Now rested, the party heads down the sloping twisting passage beyond Hrorkir's bedchamber.  It eventually leads to a large cavern, surprisingly filled with steam and mist. As they cross it they move across a boundary from ice to stone. And then the mist parts, revealing a huge slug awaiting them. They mash the mollusk and search the chamber behind it, finding a hot spring and trails of crystalized slime. In another side chamber they find a large bronze cauldron simmering over another  hot spring. It is filled with water, bones and skin of some furred creature. There is also a pile of the same offal off to one side, obviously previously boiled and stripped of anything useful. A shelf holds a selection of salves, unguents and oils, inclining two Skeef notes are labeled as "smash" and "slippery". 

With still no clue as to the location of Morandril Hath and his swords, the party retraces their steps to where lay the fallen Hrorkir. In a chamber beyond they find another wall carving, similar in style to one one observed at the isolated end of the quaggoth lair. These particular carvings depict two human figures talking to a big front giant; all three labeled with the names Mokron, Polistera and Ragvaldr the Frost King. The picture is then obscured by melt,  then shows battle between Flann tribes and the giants (with Mokron now as the only human on the giant side). The battle scene ends with the single combat between the Frost King and Morandril Hath in which both or slain. The final panel depicts the fallen combatants being carried into the caves under the glacier. Ragvaldr is carried to the left and placed upon his throne, and Mornadril to the right and is last seen standing in a heroic fighting pose. 

Chanee now starts to remind everyone about the clear ice sheet and the emergency hammer. The paladin really wants to break  the 'glass' and see what lies  lurking in the raging snow storm beyond. The party consents, thinking Mornadril Hath's resting place may lie beyond. The ice sheet cracks below the hammer, and then suddenly bursts out in a spray of shards. And into the tunnel steps a tall humanoid of frost and ice. It turns on the party who are shocked to find it punches with  a devastating blow. And regenerates. And is immune to normal attacks. After trying a few tricks, the party decides running is their only option. They make it to the waterfall, hoping to trick and push the creature into the raging foam. But although it pursues them, it does not pass beyond it's side of the bridge. The party fires arrows and magic at it, which forces the creature to retreat. Skeef uses heat metal to torment and degrade the creature, and eventually the party sallies forth to find it destroyed. The remnants are scraped and melted off the icy floor and flung into the river.

The party returns to the dead end corridor where the creature emerged. And now find nothing but a blank icy wall; there is no entrance to wherever it had come from. Goro uses his locate object to try pinpointing the swords Tangarar “Flamebrand” and Amroteth “The Shard of Frost”. But he has no luck; they are nowhere within range of his spell ...

GAINS

oil of impact

oil of slipperiness 

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Ice Ooze

Giant Slug

Ice Para-elemental 

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 59 - Frost Giant Fun

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) with henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 2)
Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 3 / Thief 3)]

Date/Time

Readying 12 (night) to Readying 13 (early morning) 

Solcha, assisted by the gnome and halfling,  gets to work melting an access tunnel through the ice and to the treasure below. In the room above, Skeef, Goro and Chanee stand guard, worried that the mage might return. No mage, but they are attacked by some weird ice ooze's which cost Goro his magic mace and Chanee his sword. Down below, Solcha breaks through the layer of ice and Usborn is lowered down with orders to grab the detected magic item and as much valuable loot (jewelry and gems) as quickly as she can. The gnome obeys, but is suddenly attacked in the confined space below by some unseen creature. She is hauled out on the edge of death, and the guards from above rush down and help defeat the invisible foe, which disappears once slain. 

They finish scooping up the valuables, leaving the coinage behind to perhaps recover later. They move on, pushing deeper into the dungeon. They pass a pair of stub-passages, one of which ends in a clear pane of ice which shows a raging snowstorm beyond. Next to it is a red box with a  red hammer labelled "In case of emergency, break glass". There was some temptation to do so; but cooler heads prevail. They next enter a chamber with staglatitles and stalagmites carved in the form of great maw through which they must pass. This leeds (uneventfully) to a large chamber with a throne at the far end. Along the walls hang sheets of thin ice as if frozen tapestries; in front of the throne is a rug of white wolf fur. And on the throne sits a frost giant. He does not challenge them, and on closer approach it is apparent he is dead. But his body is well persevered, with signs that some one or some thing has loving carried for the remains. The body clad in the armour and accoutrements shown in the ice carvings seen earlier, which suggests this is the Frost King. 

The party makes a cursory search around the throne and the body, but find nothing significant. They instead at this point decide to move on through a passage concealed behind the sheets of hanging ice. This immediately leads to a smaller, plainer chamber. And here they see a real live frost giant, sitting on a block of ice and sewing a wolf pelt. The giant (Hrorkir)  acknowledges them, and asks what they seek. He is pleased when they say they come to pay homage to the Frost King, and Goro also gently hints they come to recover an artifact of 'great evil' from the kings fallen foe, Morandril Hath. This further leads to questions about the magic user they encountered, Polistera. Through long conversation, the learn Hrorkir was Ragvaldr the Frost King's squire, blessed (cursed?) to live beyond his normal life to care for his fallen king. He refuses to discuss Morandril Hath, saying only that the human hero is entombed here as is only right for the slain foe of his king. They learn that Polistera (and his apprentice Mokron), had been instrumental in helping the frost giants attack the Flann. But also insists that while the apprentice remaned (and was slain) in the final battle as was the King, Polistera had disappeared long before then, after advising the King on how to fight the humans.  Amidst confused ramblings, the party figures out that Polistera had taken over the Frost King (as he had done so to Chanee), and it was really the mage who lead the giant invasion of Tenh. It also seems the dim-witted Hrorkir messed up his instructions of what to do should his King fall in battle; hence Polistera being trapped in the gem all these hundreds of years, tantalizingly close to his real body but unable to get to it until Chanee came along and released him.

With all this Hrorkir is thoroughly confused, and insists they all go speak to Mokron, who should be able to straighten them out.  He leads the puzzled party on with a great stride, through chambers not yet explored, until they get to a room with deep crevasses bisecting the floor. And in the centre of the room, there is a pillar made of a truncated stalagmite on which sits a blackened human skull. Hrorkir is talking to the skull, Hamlet to it's Yorick. The party hears no response, but there seems to actually be a conversation happening? But then suddenly Hrorkir jerks upright, and turns to the party with cold fury in his eyes. And with a roar raises his ice axe and charges. 

The giant lays about with his axe, which when it contacts does mighty damage. And then suddenly there are signs of spell casting from the skull. Something pushes Chanee into a crevasse, the skull disappears, and a small band of goblins suddenly appear out of thin air and attack. It looks grim for the party, so Goro hauls out one of the precious bronze plates he recovered from Avernus, and casts a swirling blade barrier around the giant and across where the skull was last seen.  Hrorkir, now in a berzerk bloody rage, hesitates; and then charges through the barrier to smite the defilers of his Kings' tomb; but alas the giant is cut down by the magical blades, and drops dead in front of the relived party ... 

GAINS

Banded Agate (10 gp) Blue Diamond (5000 gp) Carnelian (50 gp) Coral (100 gp) 2 x Eye Agate (10 gp) Freshwater Pearl (10 gp) Golden Yellow Topaz (500 gp) Hematite (10 gp) Lapis Lazuli (10 gp) Moonstone (50 gp) Moss Agate (10 gp) Peridot (50 gp Red-brown Spinel (100 gp) Star Ruby (1000 gp) Violet Garnet (500 gp) Zircon (50 gp) TOTAL 17 gems, 7470gp. 

Gold ring set with gems (3000 gp) Gold tiara set with gems (6000 gp) Ivory bracelet (500 gp) Jade bracelet (1500 gp) Jade earrings (1700 gp) Platinum brooch set with gems (4000 gp) Platinum ring set with gems (10000 gp) Silver pendant set with gems (1000 gp) Silver ring set with gems (6000 gp) gold pendant (1100 gp) gold tiara (1400 gp) silver and gold necklace (800 gp) silver and gold ring (200 gp) silver crown (500 gp) silver ring (700 gp) silver tiara (100 gp)  silver tiara (600 gp) TOTAL 17 jewelry 39100gp

4 giant arm rings [4x 250gp]

Potion of  Speed

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Ice Ooze

Invisible Stalker

7 goblins

Hrorkir, the Front Kings Squire 

Mokron the Apprentice (maybe?) 

LOSSES

Surprisingly, none 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 58 - Paladin Possessed!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) with henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 2)

Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 3 / Thief 3)]

Date/Time

Readying 12 (morning) to Readying 12 (night) 

Fully healed, the party moves out and continues exploration on the far sid eof the waterfall. The first chamber they come to is hidden in inky blackness. Chanee concentrates on the room and determines evil lurks therein; and immediately offers to enter the black to investigate.  With a safety rope around his waist, the paladian enters and the party shortly hears him bump into something. Chanee returns in a few moments holding a massive star sapphire, and immediately urges the party onward.  Said party, however, is suspicious. The paladin is being very vocal and pushy and somewhat abrasive; all much at odds with his usual character. He also offers no details of where he is leading them and why. A series of more probing questions and spells (both protective and inquisitive) convinces the party their champion of law and good has been possessed by some evil spirit. 

The party convinces/coerces Chanee into returning to their rest area so the spellcasters can rest and learn new spells. The "paladin" reluctantly agrees. But in the middle of his watch, he used a vial of Nolzur's Wonderous Pigment to make a death pit. And pushes his watch-partner Usborn  into  said pit. Erijay, half-awake, is able to save the gnome with featherfall, but Chanee throws open the door and runs. He is out of sight before the rest of the party can be awakened. But upon pursuit they run into him coming back to them.The apologetic adventurer blurts out a story of being possessed by a malign spirit when he picked up the great gem. It took over his body and compelled him to seek a nearby room, and there enter a secret below-floor chamber where the body of a man lay floating in mid-air over top of a hoard of treasure. And the spirit them left his body and brought this floating man back to life! And, now back in control of his own body, Chanee ran. At this point, they hear from just down the corridor a crashing sound as if a cavern was collapsing. 

Expecting trouble from whoever or whatever this man is, the party retreats to a defensive choke point. After a few minutes they hear the faint fall of footsteps coming towards them; and they see a middle aged man, dressed in loose clothes of yellow and black, standing at the turn in the corridor. And they immediately open hostilities. Spells are slung, and all of the party except Chanee find themselves trapped behind a web spell. The paladin tries to hack down the figure, but magical defensives protect him. And before the rest of the party can burn through the web, the man casts a spell and flees in haste. Once freed, the party tries to pursue, but with a head start the man is nowhere to be found. They do find, however, another  way across the raging underground stream; a natural stone arch bridge, guarded by more quaggoth. And they also find someone or something has removed their pinions and rope at the entrance, leaving them effectively trapped in the ice caves. 

Undeterred, Chanee leads them back to the room where the body was found. What was once a hidden  staircase leading down to the chamber with the body and treasure, is now a pile of ice collapsed from the ceiling above. Using another vial of Nolzur's Wonderous Pigment, Usborn designs an angled mine shaft to penetrate though the rubble and into the secret room. It was as  Chanee described, minus the body. The room was empty but for the end of the now blocked stairs hanging in mid-air, and a scattering of treasure at the  room some 20-30' away. However, when the party starts to emerge from the tunnel, they find there is actually a block of perfectly clear ice floating in the mid-air, and there is another layer of perfectly clear ice between them and the treasure ... 

GAINS

Star Sapphire [5000gp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

None

LOSSES

All trust in Channe 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 57 - Battle Royale

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) with henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 2)

Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 3 / Thief 3)]

Date/Time

Readying 11 (morning) to Readying 12 (morning) 

... The party initially holds back and lets the barrage of ice fall around them. They also try various feints to draw their white furry attackers out into the open, but to no avail. Eventually the two holy warriors, Chanee and Goro, have had enough and charge up the icy skope and into melee with the front rank,  quickly seeing there are many more behind the front line. The rest of the party supports with magic at first, but they themselves are surprised with a pair of much larger yeti charge out of any unguarded tunnel and into their flank. These are shortly followed by more of the smaller creatures. This eventually pushes the party back to back on the icy slope fighting front and back, with the most battered and bleeding party members protected in he center.  In the end the party prevails, slaying all their opponents. But their own blood flows freely as well. 

Stepping over bodies, they enter the lair of the slain quaggoth. The large cavern is a mess of fur, feces, bone and flees. However the walls are of interest; frozen in the ice are gems and coins,  the treasure of the tribe. Sorcha begins to melt the ice with her Nessus flame, assisted by Goro and the gnome/halfling duo.  At the far western end of the cavern the party finds a crude images of giants fighting humans. At the center  is a larger and somewhat better image of the Frost King swinging his huge axe at a human holding a twin pair of swords. On the king's helmet shines a huge gem. Secret doors are searched for, and Skeef pokes at the gem, but nothing is found.  

The party moves on into another chamber where a trickle of water emerges from a crack in the ice floor. They follow it into another chamber, this one half rock and half ice. The water gathers in a very small pool, overlooked by the statute of frost giant. The pool actually contains what looks like clay or pigment.  Experimenting, the party finds that the pigment can be used to paint the image of an object, which them becomes real. Greedily, they start to scoop out the contents of the pool, which  causes the statue to animate. They smash it to rubble after a short combat. 

Moving on, they follow a winding passage to a smaller chamber, lit by diffuse sunlight from above. A circle of large icicles hang below the rim of the shaft leading up. Finding nothing else of interest, the party continues on down the passage. They hear the sounds of rushing water ahead and see that the tunnel passes under a raging waterfall.  A pair of giant ice toads block their way, but Skeef is able to befriend them and redirect the amphibians to the feast of quaggoth in the battle cavern. The toads also warn there are more quaggoth waiting in ambush ahead. Pushing on, the party encounters the ambush and makes short work of slaying them, opening the way forward. But, now much injured and low on spells,  they decide to retreat to the magic pigment cavern to rest. Using some of the pigment, they build a solid door across the single opening and settle in to sleep and rest. Thanks to the new door, their rest is not unduly disturbed, and in the morning everyone accepts the bounty of healing spells from the cleric and druid. 

GAINS

7 vials of Nolzur's Wonderous Pigment 

396 pp, 

1058 sp, 

17 Gems [2 x Aquamarine (500 gp) Blue Star Sapphire (1000 gp) 2x Carnelian (50 gp) Deep Blue Spinel (500 gp) Deep Green Spinel (100 gp) 2 x Jade (100 gp) Onyx (50 gp)  2x Rhodochrosite (10 gp)  2x Rose Quartz (50 gp) Sardonyx (50 gp) Star Rose Quartz (50 gp) Tourmaline (100 gp) [Total value = 3270 gp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

19 Quaggoth 

2 Yeti

1 Stone Guardian  

LOSSES

None

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 56 - Across Vale and Under Glacier

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) with henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 2)

Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 3 / Thief 3)]

Date/Time

Readying 9 (mid-day) to Readying 11 (morning) 

... In the distance ahead of the party lay the frozen expanse of the lake, flanked to the east by forest and then snow drifts, and to the west by the steep avalanche slope. After Skeef spends some time speaking with a tree to learn a little more about the valley, they head into the pine wood. The plan is to keep close to the lakeshore and then, when they emerge from the other side, decide  which route to take towards the glacier. Passing through the trees, they encounter ghostly forms of frost giants which puts fear into Chanee and Baqua. But the figures disappear as soon as they reach the party, causing no irreparable harm. 

Leaving the wood, they choose to make the slow trudge across the snow drifts, angling toward the smoke/steam they observe rising from the wooded slopes to the east. Along the way they pass one of the tall rock spires on this side of the valley, and are startled to hear a woman's blood-curdling scream coming from that direction. Suspecting a trap, but unable to ignore a possible damsel in distress, Chanee leads them around the rock outcropping. Skeef and Baqua take the lead, trying the approach stealthily. But down from the slope above charge a pair of grotesque creatures the size of a stag but with a strange mix of animal features. Including mouths of jagged bone ridges, one of which bites Skeef. The rest of the party now engages with a range of magic and muscle, and the two creatures are slain. Chanee makes some monster jerky, while the rest of the party searches. They find scattered about the valley floor a range of bones - goat, dwarf and some type of robust humanoid.   They also find a scattering of gems amid the dwarf bones, plus the shattered remains of a wagon containing copper ingots as well as a hidden bag of coin. 

It being late in the day, and since jerky making is still in progress, the party camps here for the night before headed on towards the rising steam the next day, They they find a hot mineral spring, a pool of milky white about 5' across. The search the area and find nothing of note except a parboiled dwarf head in the pool.

Moving on towards the glacier, the party approaches the stream and waterfall that plunges out from under the ice sheet. Reaching a point where they can look down into the stream bed, they see a pair of winter wolves feasting on some prey. With Skeef speaking to them and Chanee reluctantly feeding them jerky, the canines do not attempt to add party member to their meal. The druid pumps them for information, and also convinces them to not eat their donkeys; it is immediately obvious the pack animals cannot enter the dungeon with the party as the only obvious entrance is the ranging stream. The wolves, currently with bellies full, agree. But Goro also casts a pair of glyphs of warding on the area they stake the donkeys just to be sure.

To enter the dungeon dry-shod, Solcha flies into the ice tunnel, setting spikes and running rope until she reaches dry passages to the east and west. The party follows using the rope to work along the side of the ice tunnel, and then turn into the east passage. They descend over a sharp 15' drop to a chamber of smooth ice, which breaks under their feet with a loud echoing crack. From here they come to another drop into a room filled with beams of sunlight entering from above, reflecting colour off a haze of ice crystal dancing in the air. Making their way down the drop (Goro quite quickly and painfully), they enter the cavern and have to choose which of the myriad exits to explore. They head for the one to the immediate right, and as they approach, they see a group of white furred humanoids appear on the edge of that rise, ready to pummel the party with chucks of ice ... 

GAINS

2 x Azurite (10 gp), Chrysoprase (50 gp), 2 x Golden Yellow Topaz (500 gp), Red-brown Spinel (100 gp), Sardonyx (50 gp), Turquoise (10 gp), Zircon (50 gp) [1280gp TOTAL]

100gp

80sp

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Leucrotta 

LOSSES

None

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 55 - Through Winter Snow, Up Mountains Steep

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) with henchman Usborn (Gnome Fighter 2/Illusionist 2)
Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 3 / Thief 3)]

Date/Time

Fireseek 5, 577 (morning) to Readying 9, 577 (mid-day)

The party re-groups in Nevond Nevnend to drown their frustration and plan for new adventures. Solcha told the party that while she was carrying out her scholarly work in their absence, she spared a few moments to study the tome "Of Fabulous Relics and Artifacts ... etc etc" and came across several tales of noteworthy magical swords that might be of interest. In particular the party was intrigued by the story of Monandril Hath, the Golden Atman and hero of the Flan from before the time of the great migrations of the Oeridians and Suloise. Morandril was noted to carry  twin swords Tangarar “Flamebrand” and Amroteth “The Shard of Frost”. The legends say that when the frost giant jarls invaded deep into the plains of Tenh during the Winter of the White Wolves, Morandril first lead the Host to defeat the invaders and then entered the mountains alone to find and fight the Frost King in the Vale of Ice. The power of the frost giants was broken for a century, but Morandril never returned and it is said he paid for the victory with his life, and remains still in that frozen vale.

The thought of recovering these two legendary swords of elemental power seemed a worthwhile endeavor, so the party starts gathering cold weather gear, and mules and sledges for the long journey into the Griff Mountains at the height of winter. They consult the sage Gylpi Evell, who as able to confirm the tale and give ancient directions to this Vale of Ice where the lair of the Frost King lay buried beneath glacial ice. They also consult a dwarf by the name of Zorak, a miner, merchant and occasional traveller in this part of the Griffs. He tells them they would find few friendly faces apart from perhaps a few of his people working the old copper mines. This part of the Griffs is filled with mostly giants and monsters and dangerous winter conditions. 

The party is somewhat surprised when Solcha's henchman Usborn reports for duty with a companion; one they recognize as the surly halfling server at the "Hellgate" tavern in Oxton. It would seem the two had hit it off during the long days Usborn spent in the seedy establishment waiting by the gate for the party to return from Hell. The party somewhat warily welcomes the halfling, figuring more help was good, especially since Goro could not join them right away due to duties at the temple. The cleric would follow them shortly.  

Beginning their journey under snowy skies, the party had first to traverse the high plains along the border between the Duchy and the Bandit Kingdoms, a place where few lived. During their several days travel, their most reliable companion was bad weather. On their first night they also inadvertently set up camp atop the winter den of some giant poisonous snakes. A short combat ensures before Skeef was able to use his druid skills to calm the snakes and end the bloodshed. But not before  Baqua has fallen to a poison bite. The halfling's body, already frozen stiff, is tossed atop one of the sledges in the hopes that Goro would arrive quick enough to cure poison.  

After a second encounter with a gorgon hiding in a small herd of escaped cattle, they enter the mountains proper. Keeping the Zumber River on their left, the party plunges into the snow drifts and ice for many days of slow and cold climbing. On one day Skeef triggers a sudden avalanche, and is saved only by Solcha's quick featherfall that keeps him from being buried alive. On a blustery blizzardy day, Usborn ends up snow blind and must ride the sledge for a few days as she recovers. Another day brings an encounter with playful giant otters, who tumble their mule (but thankfully not their sledge of supplies) into the river. The mule is saved by a combination of the party's strength and help from the now chastised otters. 

After more than two weeks of mountain travel, they reach the point where the sage had told them their  trail must leave the riverside. Climbing alongside a smaller stream and up a steep valley, another couple of days brings them to a headwall. Climbing up the mountain face deposits  them in a long and narrow hanging valley. Solcha used her fly  spell to climb above the snow covered pine forest that blocks their view to get a lay of the land. Apart from scattered patches of pine forest, a large frozen lake dominates the upper end of the valley some 5-6 miles away. Above the lake hangs a glacier where they assume the lost lair of the Frost King is located.  The valley to the west is dominated by steep slopes and overhanging snow, while to the east the valley wall is less steep but a series of rocky spurs hems in the valley floor. Solcha also notes two areas where smoke or perhaps steam (for Gylpi Evell had told them of hot spring the in Vale) rise into the air. One close but on the opposite side of the outlet stream that tumbles down the center of the valley; the other on the east side of the valley close to the glaciers edge. 

The elf lands and the party proceeds on foot. Passing through the pine woods, they encounter a trio of winter wolves. The creatures, obviously hungry and ill tempered, let them pass unmolested. Skeef's guess is the party did not look to be the easy picking the wolves desire. After several hours moving slowly through the woods, they party emerges into the open and could better see their destination ... 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 gorgon

3 giant poisonous snakes [defeated] 

LOSSES

Baqua 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 54 - A Disastrous Success

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Svagola (Human Fighter 4)]

Date/Time
Needfest 577 Earthday (afternoon) - Fireseek 4

The party ignores the sigil for now and instead focuses on taking care of the trio of cultists behind the locked portcullis next door. The first step is to hide their captive in the armoire. Then they truss  up Chanee as a fake 'prisoner', while the the other three don the cultists robes. They bluff their way through the portcullis, and then suddenly turn on the cultists. This does not go as planned, for very shortly all four have been ensorcelled by hold and/or fear. Now they are all bound and gagged, and their equipment taken from them. And are then unceremoniously pushed one by one onto a similar sigal in this room.

They end up teleported to another non-descript cult room, and are quickly lead through a series of chambers lined with books and filled with cultists frantically searching through them. Their captors lead them to a final room where two obviously high priests (Corvan of the Lightless Dark and Tarabus of the Ebony Dark)  sit at a table scanning more ancient tomes. After some mocking interrogation, Corvan makes an interesting offer. The party's freedom in return for Goro's help in performing a ritual that will shut the gate to Hell in the shattered alter stone; the  ritual must be performed by a good cleric.  Corvan points out having uncontrolled and chaotic arrival of diabolic denizens is no better for their cult than it is for the surrounding countryside. When asked, he does tell the party that the temple was not always here but that the above ground 'cube' has a life of it's own, moving on it's own volition to sites of great evil and taking the cult with it. They are relatively new to the snow covered slope, and the alter split after their arrival, a result of some terrible rumbling and quaking from under the mountain.  

In return for a contract of safe release and return of their stuff (minus what they stole form the cult), Goro agrees to help. After a night of prayer, the cleric blesses some holy oil and following the cultists instructions, successfully closes the gate. After a few tense moments, the party is led outside to the snowy mountainside, their weapons and gear are all left in  pile at the edge of the clearing. Annoyed and disappointed , they gather their things, recover horses from the nearby farmstead, and begin the cold and blustery trek back to Nevond Nevnend. Their  annoyance is only increased when on their last day before entering the plains of Tenh, a trio of griffins from the mountain crags attack and carry off a pair of their horses. But they get back to civilization in one piece, and report the success of their task to the the High Priest at the temple of Heironeous, the Glorious Sonnen Tarrikastier.

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 cultists of Moloch

LOSSES

none

 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 53- The Paladin and the Cultist

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Svagola (Human Fighter 4)]

Date/Time
Needfest 577 Earthday (midday) - Needfest 577 Earthday (afternoon)

The party returns to the main chamber containing the split alter stone. They find a new pair of lemure have emerge from the gash and pushed the stuffed tapestries aside. Skeef uses his cloak to change self into the form of a cultist, thinking he might control the devils. But no luck and the party slays them instead. They go looking for other clues and ways to deal with the alter. Passing through the rest of the long gallery with the horrific paintings, they encounter more lemures. In the process of killing these, Goro look too closely at the paintings and is forced to run off into the unexplored darkness in fear. The rest of the party follows, and after finding Goro they backtrack to figure out where they are, and then continue on with their exploration. 

After a series of mundane rooms, they come to one suite of rooms with a quartet of cultists cowering behind barricades. In the ensuing melee and spell slinging, three are dispatched to Moloch and the last, the one in charge, is captured. Questioning is at first ineffective, until Chanee gives the captured cultist a hug and replaces threats with comfort and understanding. This confuses the captive, who becomes more cooperative. They learn little however, except that they have probably already dispatched about half the cultists but the leaders are still extent. Most interesting is that the lemures are not being summoned at the cults behest or control. 

After looting the remaining rooms in the suite (including an iron box that Skeef cannot open and the captive cultist is forced to carry), the party passes through another horrifically illustrated long gallery.  Off of this they find two more suites of more opulent rooms. Access to each is barred by a locked portcullis. The first Skeef in unable to open, and the party is driven off by the spell slinging cultists within. The second the druid/thief is able to unlock. Beyond the party finds a dark chapel with an alter and idol of Moloch. There they battle another trio of cultists and slay them without mercy. The room beyond is a vestry with a chair, armoire and a strange sigel on the floor. Skeef opens the armoire, finding a trio of fine velvet cultist robes and a lurking lemure which must be dispatched. In the armoire's locked drawer the thief finds nothing. But about that sigel ...

GAINS

51gp

12 gems (3x300gp, 3x75gp, 3x750gp, 3x250gp) 

Unopened iron chest 

Captured Cultist 

KILLS/VICTORIES

7 cultists of Moloch (1 captured)

10 lemures

LOSSES

none

 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 52- The Black Chapel

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 3)

[Svagola (Human Fighter 4)]

Date/Time
Needfest 577 Sunday - Needfest 577 Earthday

Fully recovered from the excursion to Avernus, Goro is surprised to find himself summoned once more to the Temple of Heironeous, and in the middle of the Needfest celebrations no less! Brought before the High Priest, the Glorious Sonnen Tarrikastier,  he is told the faith once more needs his service. The last few caravans carrying platinum from the mines above Calbut have reported attacks by strange blob-like humanoids. A priest of Heironeous travelling with the most recent group identified them as lemures.  The High Priest heavily hints that the timing with the party's recent return from Avernus is uncanny, and he 'suggests'  it would be in the party's best interest to follow up and deal with whatever is causing the incursions. 

The party agrees and make ready to trudge through the deep mountain snows to the site of the attacks. Arriving after several days of travel, they leave their horses at a nearby farm and climb the pine covered slopes in the direction from which the lemures have come. After a few hours they approach a clearing; at the centre stands a square black structure about 100' across. And halfway between them and the structure stands a figure, back turned to them. The party approaches cautiously and hails the figure. It is a woman of one of the northern barbarian tribes by her dress, holding a red-rune engraved sword in her hand. But she is friendly, and they learn she too is on the trail of devils. Or to be precise, her sword Hellrazer is leading her on this path. They are also a bit startled when the sword itself speaks to them, urging them in hollow tones into the solid black stone building. And so the two join the party on their quest. 

Inside the building they find that is it dedicated to Moloch, arch-duke and viceroy of the seventh level of hell (Malbolge), ruling in the name of Baalzebul Lord of Lies. There is also evidence that postulates must shave their bodies  before entering the viceroy's service. There is a stairway descending steep and deep below the surface, leading to a corridor of statues. These are of bald humans dressed in grey robes. On each base is a sigal that Skeef understands to be the names of the figures on the plinth. Two plinths are empty, tagged with the sigal for 'self'. Their exploitation is interrupted by a pair of robed figures armed with scourges, who attack but are successfully defeated. 

Further exploration leads to a massive ceremonial chamber hung with banners of black and red. At the centre is round black stone, split down the middle as if by great force. As they examine the stone, 4 lemures pour forth from the split and attack the party. When these are defeated by sword and holy water the party tears down some banner and stuffs them in the crack before moving on.  A side passage leads to a long narrow gallery painted with frescoes of diabolic torture ranging from banal flagellation  to truly horrific and unspeakable deeds. This causes the paladin to break, and Chanee runs in fear from the awful images. 

Collecting the now bashful paladin, the party pushes on, entering what appears to be a small office. An opened lock lies on the table, and the walls are covered in shelves of identical leather bound books. Skeef takes several down and find they are full of names and nothing more. The books range from brand new to old and brittle. Suddenly a robed figure rushes out of an adjacent shadowy room, but the attacking figure is soon slain. They recover a key from the body. Examination of two adjacent rooms uncover one filled with spare robes, both old and new. The other is filled with a variety of objects, neatly stacked, and giving the uncomfortable sense of having been taken from victims ... 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 cultists of Moloch

4 lemures

LOSSES

none

 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 51- Back to the Prime

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 6)

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) 
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) 

[Chanee (Human Paladin 3)]

Date/Time

????? - Needfest Sunday

Leaving the Sundered Tower behind them, the party begins to retrace their steps as much as possible, descending from the wind-swept barren crags down onto the first of the funeral plains. As they begin the trek towards the next mountain range, a half dozen flying forms are seen overhead. These slowly descend, circling the party, who in turn gather close together in case of protection need. The creatures prove to be more erinyes. But they are not inclined to immediate violence. A lust for respite and Skeef's devilish new cloak draws a deal out of the horrid things; safely guide the party to the gate in return for all the respite the party still holds by then. Contract made, the she-devils once more go aloft and lead the party on.

Striking further across the plain, they soon observe in the distance a sight not there on their first crossing. A massive stone gate on the horizon, like that marking entrance to a vast graveyard. Standing to either side are a pair of tall figures, and as the party watches the gate opens and a multitude pours forth. Their erinye guides tell them it is a company of bearded devils and a pair of ice devils; obviously some captain of Hell from the lowers layers is bringing his forces to drill and train on the plains of Avernus. The party wisely has their scouts lead them away from danger, even though it adds more exhausting time to their trek. 

Climbing over another wind blasted ridge, the expedition drops onto another grave-filled plain. In the distance they see what appears to be a vast number of slain creatures, thousands of them, scattered and piled among the tombs. They choose to not investigate, but again go around. And after more exhausting climbs over crag and canyon, the party approaches the three gates. Here the erinye take their payment, and in accordance with the bargain struck, take leave of the party. Approaching the gates, three shadows slip out around the stone edifice and attack. But these are  slain quickly, and the keystone  inserted in the center gate.

The party pass through and find themselves back in the Hellgate tavern. At mid-day, and their appearance causes something of a shock to the patrons. But the party nonchalantly walk out the door, followed by the Usborn the gnome , who has been watching for them all these days. She is accompanied by a new face, the paladin Chanee, who has made the gnomes acquaintance and whom Usborn (conditionally) invited to join the party. The party agrees, and after a couple days rest and recovering in Oxton, all head through the drifting snow to Nevnend Nevond. There, Goro makes contact with his god and fulfills the terms of his quest, and now finds himself filled the the capability for more divine favor. Goro. Skeef and Ranzel all take advantage of the good graces of the priests of Heironeous to heal their Hell-induced hurts. 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 shadows

LOSSES

none

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #50 - The Long Way Out

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 6) 

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) 
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) 

Date/Time

??

After much discussion, the decision is made to get out of the Tower and out of Hell as quickly and efficiently as possible. They decide to return the way they came, back though the stone office and across the cavernous chamber with the giant skeleton. To aid their escape, Solcha casts haste and the party is able to get across the chamber before the titan can intercept. Unfortunately, they soon run into a problem. The secret door through which they'd entered is gone. It can not be found by any means. That means a hasted dash back through the skeleton chamber and back up the balcony. It looks like they're taking the longer exploration route after all. 

Now they run into another problem; they have run out of red candles. This makes passing through the two red gem arches on their escape route hazardous. In the end all four are affected; Skeef ages, Solcha shrinks, and Ranzel and Goro are transformed into imps.  Though now a somewhat more divisive party, they continue on together. Pushing along the long corridor, they have a quick peak into the circular chamber to find the cinnamon-skinned she-devil has been joined by Chamazi. The two seem to  silently 'converse', until Chamazi finally stands and then disappears. 

Pushing on past the end of the corridor, they party emerges through a black gem archway onto a wind sweapt mountain range, apparently somewhere in Avernus. However as they look around, the 'image' flickers and fades every so often. In fact,they realize they are in another large, illusion cloaked chamber. Working their way around the walls when the illusion allows, they trace out the dimensions and discover a single door and a narrow dug tunnel. Ranzel-Imp decides to check out the tunnel, but as he bends to crawl in, a screech comes from the sky above and a trio of erinye devils plummet towards them. As the remaining three party members battle the erinye (dropping one from the sky in the process), Ranzel-Imp finds himself in a long corridor. He also finds a short dead end passage. Since it leads back towards the room where his comrades battle, the imp searches and finds a secret door. This allows the battered three to escape the clutches of the flying she-devils. 

Turning north, they soon come to a dead end. Solcha, however, is able to find a secret door, and they cautiously enter the chamber beyond. In front of them is a vast pool of blood, overlooked by a the statue of a goat-headed devil holding a large staff or something similar. As they  watch a figure appears at the bottom of a broad set of stairs leading up to the pool. The figure climbs the stairs, and upon reaching the top it's neck opens as if slashed by an invisible knife and gouts of blood pour forth. The blood gathers into grooves that feed it into the waiting pool. After this, the body dissolves into fine ash that floats away on currents in the vast room. This continues to happen  every few minutes, and the party decides to just get out of this horror chamber. But first Goro-Imp has to check the statue. The staff is actually a glaive with a rose-gold blade and shaft of dark ebonwood. He also notes writing, in High Infernal, at the base of the statue; the phrase "Drink of my Blood". Goro-Imp snatches the glaive with no ill effect. At Ranzel-Imps urging, both imps do drink the blood, and are each 'rewarded' with a red candle of Astaroth. 

Exiting the blood chamber, the party enters a small stone office. They loot a protection scroll, a red candle and three pages (which seem to be magic) from a book of brass plates on the desk. Leaving though the only other door, they enter another colossal chamber. There is no time to look around however as with a scream three harpies dive on them from the darkness above. This fight is over relatively quickly thanks to the two imps and their poison stings, although it was marred by the harpies defecating on and coating the party in foul acided harpy dung. Ranzel-Imp flies up to the peaked ceiling and loots the harpies perchs, recovering in one some respite and another Jewel of Nessus. 

Their last challenge is a trapped door where Skeef loses vision in one eye. And they then find themselves back at the great sloping passage leading down from the surface ruins. Before leaving, however, the two imps are forced back through the nearby red-black archway to turn them back to good old Goro and Ranzel. Solcha likewise does the same to regain her height; but Skeef cannot shake off his grey hairs and added years ... 

GAINS

3 red candles of Astaroth

107 Grave Wafers [respite] 

Knightfall (glaive +5) 

Scroll of Protection from Undead 

Scroll/brass plates - ???

Jewel of Nessus 

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 erinye

3 dire harpies  

LOSSES

Skeefs' eye

Goro and Ranzel's dignity 

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #49 - Chamazi

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 6) 

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) 
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) 

Date/Time

??

As the party pauses for breath and looks around them, they note the only exit from the small balcony is a stone door, on which is carved a slightly opened stone mouth. As the rumble of the skeleton and chain continues below, the mouth animates and, pursing it's lips, releases a gust of wind and blows all four off the balcony to the danger below. A combination of magic, thief skill, potion and luck has all four scrambling back up before the skeleton could strike again. They try multiple ways to appease the mouth as it continues to buffet and lash them, and in the end it subsides only when Goro and Ranzel force the door open. 

Beyond the door is a bleak, cold, stone office, smeared with ash. There are four stone bookcases inset in the walls, and a stone desk. On one shelf is a potion, which Ranzel tests and finds is a potion of levitation. Looking around, they note that on the desk and above each bookcase is a smaller version of the mouth on the door. Skeef starts to search the desk, at which point all 5 mouths in the room speak: "What is our number? The druid/thief responds "six", to include the one on the door. This results in a hidden drawer opening on the desk. Inside is a black candle of Astaroth, and a strange brittle leather pouch containing respite (whisper and myth) plus a strange medallion marked with a blazing fireball. 

As Skeef examines the desk, he looks closer at the mouth carved upon it and notes that there is some sort of pale pink fleshy material caught in its teeth. It looks like the medallion of myth he'd just discovered, so one is fed to the mouth.  The mouth animates and devours the medallion, then two of the bookcases that Solcha suspected hid secret doors (west and south) begin the sink into the floor. The south one reveals a passageway extending into darkness, while to the west it uncovers a small alcove. In the alcove the party recovers a pair of purple candles, a red candle, a magic user spell scroll, a heavy velvet cloak (devils mantle) and a gem glowing with a strange pink-red light (jewel of nessus). The gem is hot and cannot be safely handled by anyone but Solcha with her ring of fire resistance, but it casts a generous amount of illumination in contrast their their own feeble torch. 

Heading now into the winding southern passage, they use one of their candles to pass through a red gem gate. At one point they pass an alcove on the right, with an indentation about 5' above the ground in the shape of a humanoid face. Goro figure this may be some way to secretly view interior rooms, and may help them with their goal of safely locating the Herald of Hextor. So he sticks his face in; and promptly disappears. Troubled, but unable to do anything right now for their missing companion, the other three continue on. They come to another alcove, and this time Ranzel risks a look. At first the ranger is gagged by a tongue thrust down his  throat, but is then able to see through the carved eyeholes. He observes a circular room decorated with silk pillows and cushions, gold and polished wood, perfused censors, and a large brass hookah. He also sees someone sitting at the hookah; a beautiful woman with cinnamon brown skin and dressed in a diaphanous black gown. And with a forked tail and small bat wings at her shoulder. 

Razel pulls himself away, and finds the tongue has taken his voice. Sharing pantomime and hand gestures, the three decide to go back to the first alcove and follow Goro though. And all find themselves standing back at the red gem gate they first passed though to enter this corridor.  Using another red candle, they bypass the gate again to continue exploring along this perimeter passage. They come to another alcove, and again Ranzel risks the mask. This time he observes a largely featureless room. Pressing on, they reach a point where the passage ends and opens into another large space. There is also another alcove to the left, and this one Goro tries. This time he feels something crawl into this ears and wriggle past his brain before gaining a view. This time he sees their target; a huge pit fiend marked on the forehead with Hextor's symbol. This must be Chamazi. He is with another figure, a slight man in black and red, with wings of a house-fly sprouting from his shoulders and tiny pointed horns on his head. To two do not speak, but seem to be in some sort of communication. After some time they seem to make an agreement, and Chamzai gets up and leaves the room. 

At this point Goro emerges from the mask, having lost his hearing. The cleric is satisfied he has what he needs to appease Heironeous, and wants to get out of this literal hell-hole post haste. Solcha supports him, but Skeef and Ranzel think it may be worth pushing on and taking their chances for the opportunity at great riches and magical treasures that must lie somewhere in the tower ...

GAINS

2 purple candles of Astaroth

1 red candle of Astaroth

1 black candle of Astaroth 

12 rings of Whisper [respite]

5 medallions of Myth [respite]

Fireball trinket

Scroll - 1 MU Spell

Devils Mantle

Jewel of Nessus 

Potion of Levitation 

KILLS/VICTORIES

none 

LOSSES

Ranzels tongue

Goros hearing 

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #48 - The Sundered Tower

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 6) 

Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 5) 
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) 

Date/Time

??

The rakshasa caravan winds its way across the sephrcural plains before climbing back into the craggy hills. One of the stench kine slips on a talus slope, and nearly tumbles everyone down to a rocky doom. Descending once more onto a barren plain dotted with burial mounds, a fireball erupts from a crevasse in the cracked ground, engulfing the party and their hosts in flame. And then come zombies;  a minor hoard of the undead crawl out from among the mounds and shuffles to intercept. Emir Takasha mildly suggests that, in return for the traders hospitality,  the party take care of them. They take up the offer. but Goro is distressed to find Heironeous cannot answer his call in the Lower Plains, and the party has to fight them the old fashioned way.  This results in a tougher than expected battle, and eventually the Emir ends it with a well placed fireball and a not-comforting, grimalkin grin. 

Turning down the Emir's offer of over-priced healing, the caravan traverses the plains and climb again into the hills. After some indeterminate time, the caravan halts, and the Emir draws the party's attention to a collection of craggy spires in the near distance. At first it looks like nothing but rock, but slowly it evolves into the form of a blasted and tumbled collection of Gothic towers overlooking the plains below. This, the Emir says as he and his people prepare to move on, is the Sundered Tower. 

Taking leave of the rakshasa, the party climbs a rough path up to the ruins. Passing into the courtyard, they fond nothing but tumbled and blasted stone, and a single archway leading down into darkness. Ranzel checks the drifting ash and dust, and notes several human-like creatures have passed this way recently, within the last week. Entering the archway, the party descends a wide hallway sloping gently down, until it ends at a door and corridor. They find their magical lights do not work, and even a simple torch throws but little light in the all encompassing darkness. They open the door and are beset by three shadows, who are dispatched. In the room they find a terrible grey alter overlooked by a diabolic goat-headed figure. Three candle sockets shows signs of black wax, and an archway to the west is marked by a keystone with a red gem. On a stone table nearby is a bowl with a strange glowing ember, and a collection of black and red candles in the drawers below. 

Goro passes through the archway, and is immediately shrunk in size and strength. The opposite side of the archway is marked with a black gem, and when Goro comes back through, he returns to normal but receives a cold wound deep in his body in the process. Meanwhile, Ranzel has placed three of the black candles on the alter and lit them. This moves the alter aside, revealing a room beyond. As the three candles quickly vanish, the party rushes through the opening just as it begins to close off the opening once more. This next room is filled with drifts of fine ash. On one wall is a mural of a robed figure holding a lit candle to an archway. In one corner is a stone chest, inside which they find an absolution charm with the visage of a pit fiend and the name "Broggmoth". Passing to another ash-filled room, they observed cloven hoof prints passing through a red-gem arch. Lighting one of their red candles they hold it up to the arch, which causes the gem to turn black. Passing through, everyone feels a cold wound just as |Goro did. 

On the other side is a vast chamber lost in darkness. A tumble of stone lies to the left, so they start to work along the walls in that direction. Along the way they find a few bones which they recognize as finger and toe bones; but each is the size of a human femur.  Suddenly comes the sound of massive chains shifting on stone, then a rending sound. Moments later, a huge skeleton, 40' high, looms out of the darkness. Swinging the chains, it attacks. The party, knowing this thing could be their doom, opt to flee. Spying a balcony to their left, Skeef climbs up the wall and Ranzel tosses his grapple and rope. Although several of the party are smashed by massive blows from the chain, they all get to the balcony safely. It seems the giant cannot or will not attack  them here ... 

GAINS

4 black candles of Astaroth

2 red candles of Astaroth

Absolution charm (13 hrs) 

KILLS/VICTORIES

10 zombies

3 shadows 

LOSSES

none