Gygax & Greyhawk Session #1 - On a Wing and a Mountainside

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 1)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 1 / Magic User 1)
Skeff Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 1 / Thief 1) 
Gorro (Half Orc Cleric 1 / Fighter 1) 

Date/Time

Planting 1; Early to late morning 

Four adventurers, traveling separately along the uplands of Tenh in the shadow of the Griff Mountains, are snatched just past sunrise by rocs and deposited in their nest high on a mountain peak. Below them a valley splits the side of the mountain, with a chain of lakes, valleys, wood and bog. A small river flows down the valley and meanders across the surrounding uplands, ending in a small lake on the edge of an escarpment. On an island in the lake something glitters, and from the high vantage point of the roc's nest, the river and lake look like a serpents body and head stretched over the land.

Joining forces, the adventurers gather loot from the nest (including a crumpled copper sheet with a cryptic note about the Serpents Eye and the island in the lake) and make their way to a ledge far below. A series of further ledges lead toward the first snow and ice covered valley. Along the way a strange humanoid creature of stone tumbles down the slope to waylay them, but is summarily dispatched on the narrow path where fighting is only possible in single file.

The first valley is filled with ice and snow. Ranzel notes tracks of a great cat, which they wisely avoid. The party crosses the lake ice and descends the cliff face next to a frigid waterfall, and into the next mist filled valley. Crossing an ice bridge over the river, they explore an empty side-valley before making there way towards an erupting geyser hidden in the next arm of the valley. There they encounter a winged humanoid creature with grey features lounging in the steaming pool below the geyser.  It first tries to entice them into the pool. After banter, the party instead agrees, in return for information on the valley, to compete a quest on the snittering creature's behalf. They are to kill his rival on the other side of the valley, a task the creature has been given by his (undisclosed) master. 

Following the creature's directions, the party re-crosses the ice bridge and heads down the opposite side of the valley and alongside the lake. A rockslide narrows the path, and suddenly a rock slab tips and drops Ranzel and Skeffs dog Hobo into the freezing lake. A foul undead creature rises out of the water and attacks. It is quickly dispatched and the shivering duo recovered from the waters ...

GAINS

50gp

Jeweled helmet [600gp]

Silver dagger [20gp]

Gold armbands [3 x 30gp] 

Vial of holy water

Potion of healing [200xp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Vilstrak

1 Lacedon

LOSSES

none