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]   

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #34 - Horses and Hell

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 5/ Thief 5) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 4)

Date/Time

Harvester 8 morning to Harvester 24 morning

The two flying creatures get closer, and the party can see they are actually gargoyles. The pair split to attack the two visible party members (Goro and Solcha) from each flank. After a brief fight, one is knocked from the sky and the other turns back towards the ruined castle tower. The party now resumes it's approach, with just Ranzel invisible now.  There is no sign of activity in the sky or on the ground. so they all make their way into the courtyard. Ranzel follows horse-tracks and leads the party into a set of ruined stables. There they see three of their horses; Skeef's is missing. They are also confronted by a rough looking fellow with a leveled crossbow. This fellow claims the horses by right of abandonment, quoting ancient Tenh law. When asked where Skeef's horse has gone, the man answer with a sly look that it has gone on to a new owner. While the encounter almost comes to blows, the party decides in the end to buy back their remaining three horses and leave peacefully. 

Leaving the ruins, the party decides to head west to the capital, Nevond Nevend, to sell off their treasure and rest and retrain. The city of golden baked brick sits atop two hills overlooking the Zumker River. One hill is topped by the palace of Duke Ehyeh, the other by a cluster of temples. While the rest of the party scatters about their business, Goro heads for the temple of Heironeous. The half-orc feels unfairly constrained in his service to The Invincible on account of his race, and wished to advance further in the hierarchy. Unfortunately, the blue and silver robbed priests could not help him, so the half-orc decided direct appeal to his god was the only way forward. Heading to a deserted hill outside the city, he sacrificed magic items to Heironeous  and used his call lightning to expose himself to the power of his god. And from the swirly smoke that was left behind, a grizzled old mercenary appeared. It was soon clear this was the god, and Goro made his pitch. 

Heironeous, impressed by the devotion of the half orc, heard his plea. But would require a service in return. He tasked Goro to travel to the first level of Hell, Avernus. Rumors were about that his brother Hextor, Champion of Evil and Scourge of Battle, had sent his herald Chamazi to the Nine Hells, to reforge alliances with the Dukes of Hell or for some other equally nefarious purpose. Heironeous wished only for Goro to confirm the heralds' return. To make the passage to the outer planes, the god directs his cleric to find the keystone for the gate in the Hellgate tavern in Oxton, and indictes it could be found in the ruins of Nol-Daer. Which, it turns out, is the same ruins from which they'd just recovered their horses. 

Goro retuned to the city, and successfully enlisted his companions to help with the quest. So the party headed east once more for the ruins of Nol-Daer ... 

GAINS

None

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 gargoyle

LOSSES

none   

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #33 - The Barbarian King

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 4) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 4)

Date/Time

Harvester 6 evening to Harvester 8 morning

The party once more take up a bottleneck position to deal with the descending undead. When Goro's attempt to turn the skeletal hoard fails, they resort to a long session of smash and chop to fill the bottom of the stairs with bones. Then the Barbarian King himself emerges, and tries twice to use the scepter in his left hand to force party members to flee. But all hold firm, and the undead ruler charges in with the mighty two hand bronze sword. In a tightly fought combat, the party prevails and soon stand over the now dead again remains of the Barbarian King. Pausing for breath, they then loot the corpse of the begemmed iron crown, two handed sword, scepter and chainmail. From the tomb itself they loot a bronze cauldron of yellow gems and a quartet of potions. After fighting off one last band of zombies, they are ready to move on. 

Burdened now with treasure, the party decides it best to leave the rest of the caves and head back to the shrine. When they emerge from the grotto, they are pleasantly surprised to see that, even though it was late afternoon, the mists have not descended and the valley was bathed in late afternoon sun. They decide to check out the village on their way to see what had happened to the dour inhabitants. These they found all dead, looking as if they simplify had dropped on the spot. Under Goro's direction, the party gathers the bodies and strip the huts of wood to build a balefire for the fallen. They then return to the shrine at the valley entrance to rest for then night, then prepare themselves in the morning to finally leave the valley of the Barbarian King. 

However, when they try to recover their horses, the animals did not respond to the summons. Ranzel finds tracks that suggest the horses did remain in the area until a few days ago, when human tracks appear which lead the horses away to the south-west.  The party follows these tracks most of the day, and near nightfall they come within sight of a ruined keep on an outlying foothill of the Griff Mountains. The tracks seems to lead up the the ruins, so Solcha casts invisibility on Skeef, and the druid/thief creeps up to reconnoiter. The fortress is comprised of a square keep and two large round towers. The walls were mostly intact, though tumbled down in a couple of locations. Skeef slinks into the courtyard, and notes two different types of flying creatures overhead; a hawk or bird, and something larger and humanoid flying higher above. He also notes a procession of humanoid forms coming down a wide set of stairs, probably from inside the keep itself. 

Skeef doesn't stick around, and returns to report what he saw to his companions. They decide to find a sheltered spot to rest for the night, and would then  decide what to do in the morning. Their sleep is interrupted by a pack of wolves, whom they avoid by climbing a tree and Skeef placates with his druid-ly ways. In the morning Solcha casts invisibility on Ranzel, and with the two invisible scouts a hundred yards ahead, they party climbs up towards the ruins. They'd made it about 400 yards from the keep when two humanoid flying forms appeared in the sky above, and starts to fly towards the party ...

GAINS

Chainmail +2

Bronze two handed sword +2

Scepter of Command

4 potions of ...

Iron Crown of the Barbarian King [10000gp]

30 yellow gems [3000gp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

22 skeletons

5 zombies

The Barbarian King

LOSSES

none  

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #32 - Deeper Delving

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 4) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 4)

Date/Time

Harvester 3 evening to Harvester 6 mid-day

After Goro's attempt to turn the approaching undead fails, the party sets themselves up to either side of the narrow passage in the wall and set about cutting down zombies. Quite successfully, and there is soon a pile of twice-dead bodies on the floor of the sunken room. That done, they turn now to search among the horrific frescos for secret doors. They find no secret doors, but do uncover four more areas of poor stonework under the plaster. Pushing their luck, they uncover two of them and start removing stonework. The first they enter leads into a tomb decorated with frescos of dark twisted forest and humans being strangled by tree monsters. Along the walls slump eight bodies, wrapped in winding sheet, and with long dark vines or roots growing out of them. At the end is a round depression filled with more clay jars, these much smaller than the norm. Before entering, the party lights one of the bodies on fire with oil, which activates it and three others. These attack, trying to strangle with their vines, but again thanks to clever tactical use of the narrow opening, these vine-zombies are slain. But the party suffers more injury themselves, so they decide it best to retreat, rest and recover.  

Making their way out of the tomb, they find night has fallen and the mist is thick about them. And rather than risk what may lurk within, they decide to camp in the entrance grotto for the night. But even here their sleep is interrupted by phantom warriors, so they retreat further back into the tomb. The rest of the night passes without interruption, and once the mist rises, the party heads back to the shrine at the valley entrance and settle in there for a few days. They are surprised find they do not heal as in the past, though everyone's life force is slowing returning.  

Now recovered, they head back to the tomb and the chamber of the plants. Entering the chamber fully, they find the ceramic jars all contain liquid; 5 a sweet, golden liquid, 3 a thick green syrup, 5 an acrid red liquid, and two (wrapped in birch bark), a pungent orange liquid. This disturbance of grave goods activates the last four vine-zombies, who are dispatched like the rest. 

Exploring the next chamber, the party finds a tomb of similar design/dimensions to the last. It's frescos depict animals and man-animal hybrids torturing faceless humans, and the room itself is stuffed full of mummified animal corpses. The air is heavy with spice and grave, and torches flicker with a strange green light. At the far end is a covered well, sealed with stucco and painted with a cat's eye. Ranzel pries off the lid, and the room explodes in a ball of fire. Once the smoke clears, examination of the well reveals it leads to another chamber full of wrapped bodies, both human and animal. Solcha uses her wand of magic detection which indicates an item of significant value in the lower chamber. A search uncovers a magical ring, which Skeef puts on. He suddenly feels a little feverish, but it seems to pass. 

Proceeding around the round chamber, they uncover the last two loose stone walls. The first opens into a crude chamber of jumbled human bones, obviously the final resting place of lesser men and slaves. The fourth opening leads into a narrow staircase, leading down. The walls shows more scenes of brutal conquest, pillage, blood sacrifice and orgies. It leads into a chamber filled with grave goods left for use in the afterlife; food, tools, household items. Beyond is a larger chamber with a beaten earth floor, unlike the others in this tomb  which so far have been of fitted stone. At the end of the chamber is a pair of stone doors sealed with red ochre clay. Goro and Ranzel break the seal and pry open the doors, which lead to a short staircase going up and a pair of wooden doors. The doors are decorated with a faded painting of what can only be the Barbarian King; a muscular bearded man wearing an iron crown, and holding a scepter and a sword. After the thief checks for traps, Goro and Ranzel pull open these doors as well. From the inside comes the sound of something stirring and a rattling of bones. As the party retreats down the stairs to a better tactical position, they hear a hollow, dead voice echo from the chamber: "WHO DARES DISTURB MY REST; PREPARE NOW TO MAKE YOUR ETERNAL REST WITHIN THESE WALLS"...   

GAINS

Ring of Protection +1

5 jars of sweet, golden liquid

3 jars of thick green syrup

5 jars of an acrid red liquid

2 jars (wrapped in birch bark) of a pungent orange liquid

KILLS/VICTORIES

14 Zombies

8 Vine Zombies

LOSSES

none 

Gygax and Greyhawk Session #31 - Lootable Tombs

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 4) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 4)

Date/Time

Harvester 3 mid-day to Harvester 3 evening

The party decides to leave the bear statues for now, and search more of the cave complex for clues. After examining a bat-filled shaft, they opt to not temp fate at an intersection guarded by a trio of bear statues. But looking at their map, they see a possible way around and loop back in that direction. They find more passages branching off, and another burial chamber with offerings on the floor and blackened bodies in the alcoves. These they bypass and find at the other end of the cave a chamber of fitted stone, the first seem thus far. Inside is an open sarcophagus with a wrapped body, and with a bronze cauldron of gold dust at the foot. Taking care to not actually disturb anything just yet, the party sets up a rope and grapple so they can go out in the hallway and pull the body up from a distance. 

This works fine, except it summons black shadows form the corpses in the cave, and shortly after the wrapped and mummified corpse they'd disturbed also arrived. A furious fight is begun, with the shadows draining strength to go along with the already drained life force from which most suffer. Though a close run thing, in the end the party is victorious. They loot the burial chamber of it's grave goods and the cauldron of gold dust, and liberate a magical ring and cloak along with some gems and jewelry from the mummy. 

Two of the gems were in the mummy's eyes, which made the party think of the eyeless statue they'd recently left. So they head back in that direction, and Solcha bravely places the gems in the barbarian statues eyes. And the wall it is on immediately slides open, revealing a narrow 4' wide and high crawlspace. This leads into a corridor of more regular dimensions, and after bypassing a pit trap there, they come to another tomb. A body, dressed in armor of shinning bronze and with a bronze axe and shield, lay on a bier at the end of the room.  This they haul to the floor using the rope and grappling hook trick, and are pleased to see that it does not animate and attack them. Closer examination reveals that much of the accouterments are a sham. The armor and axe are just soft copper, and the clothing and furs cheap pastiche. The shield and gold jewelry are at least real. 

Searching behind the brier for a secret door, the party finds instead a poorly constructed wall covered in plaster. They are able to disassemble the stones easily, and pass through into a circular chamber. Murals cover the walls, showing scenes of the worm, the eagle, the wolf and the bear. All are unpleasant to see, focused on gore and death and blood. The centre of the room is a sunken floor with alcoves along the walls. In these the party finds more grave offerings. They also find the goods match with the animal totem of the opposite wall: ash and dirt for the worm, crushed rodents for the eagle, lamb skulls for the wolf, and human bone for the bear. 

Deciding the time had come to retreat, rest and heal, the party prepares to leave. But Skeef, keeping watch at the entrance, calls a warning. A large group of zombies are approaching ....

GAINS

3 gems (350gp each)

630gp gold dust

300gp worth of grave goods

Jewelry (300gp) 

Cloak +1

Ring of Fire Resistance

Shield +1  

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 Shadows

1 Mummy 

LOSSES

none 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #30 - The Wight Stuff

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 4) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 4)

Date/Time

Harvester 2 mid-day to Harvester 3 mid-afternoon 

By-passing the statue and the tablets, the party turns left and passes a side chamber, its entrance draped in heavy dusty cobwebs. These are burned away to reveal a room full of ochre clay jars, along with other cobwebbed alcoves along the walls. The jars are largely empty (once filed with liquids and grave offerings), but in the alcoves are bodies. When Solcha disturbs one, all four rise to life. In the ensuing fight, the party takes a battering and are shocked to find their life force being drained away when hit. They retreat to the cave entrance where a trap of magic and fire are set, and the undead are destroyed. But by now Ranzel is barely able to walk due to weakness, so the party retreats all the way back to the chapel at the valley entrance to rest and recover. 

While the good heal as usual, life force is slow to return. But the party opts to charge back into the fray right away and return to the caves. They loot some treasure from an alcove overlooked by the form of a bearded man painted on the stucco, and explore a half-finished chamber where a charnel pit of bone and broken pottery fills the center. Beyond this chamber they find one with a quiet pool of water, in the bottom of which they find a green slime. This they scoop up into a canopic jar so they can search the pool. But alas to no avail, as nothing is found. A groups of zombies shuffle from the darkness to block the chamber entrance, but do not enter the room. A combination of the power of Heironeous and steel eliminate the threat, and the party moves on. 

They backtrack and continue past the bearded image into a large, low ceilinged chamber. It, like the first they encountered, is lined with bodies in alcoves, and with clay jars (this time grey rather than ochre) scattered across the floor. Disturbing one releases a choking cloud of spores and dust, but at least the body does not animate. To be sure, the party burns all the bodies, filling the chamber with smoke. They also fight another zombie patrol, which is dispatched like the first.

At the far end of the chamber is another exit, flanked by bowing, obeisant human figures painted on the rough stucco walls. On the opposite wall of the small chamber beyond are three statues; two rampant bears flanking a bearded man in robes, under which is concealed a great sword. Mindful of the spirit bear's warning, they approach cautiously.  Goro casts a silence spell as the riddle suggests sound may be a factor. Skeef approaches to check for traps, and notes the bears have eyes of yellow topaz, whereas the bearded man exhibits empty sockets. The thief tries to pry out one of the gem eyes, and is rewarded with a blast of flame and spray of acid from the two bear statues. And no gem. The angry Skeef then tries to stoneshape the statue mouths shut, but the magic of their creator is stronger than his ... 

GAINS

240gp of various grave goods and coin

KILLS/VICTORIES

4 Wight

2 Zombies

LOSSES

A lot of CON 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #29 - Way of the Wolf

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 4) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 4)

Date/Time

Goodmonth 24 mid-day to Harvester 2 mid-day 

The party returns to the shrine and their recovering druid. They decide it would be best to relocate to the rock-hewn chapel at the entrance of the valley, and settle down there for a few days as Skeef recovers. Apart from the usual lifting and descending of the daily mist, the only unusual event occurs one afternoon late in their vigil. They observe what seems to be the whole population of the village head west into the woods of the as yet unexplored wolf shrine. These folks then return back to the village before the mist falls that afternoon. It being more than a mile across the valley, the party can't tell if everyone returned, but there are suspicions that a sacrifice has been made.  

Skeef recovers, and the party makes tracks to the western wood. And they do indeed find another round stone, this marked with the sign of the wolf. And there is indeed a sacrifice. Hanging from the circle of trees around the boulder are bodies swaying in nooses. Most are long dead and skeletal, but one is fresh. Or at least what little flesh remains is fresh.  Solcha volunteers to confront this spirit and offers a sacrifice in the form of a brace of rabbits provided by Ranzel. The wolf spirit awakes with a howl that shakes the woods, but he is not hungry so the elf must take the challenge. Standing on the boulder, Solcha is assailed by spirit wolves who try to knock her off. When she fights backs, the wolves redouble their efforts and the elf is forced to keep climbing up onto the boulder thanks to a pre-planned spider climb. But in the end she passes the test, and the spirit of the wolf offers advice to the elf; one must stand fast and fearless in the shield wall to gain a warriors reward.  The spirit also offers a clue to the resting place of the Barbarian King: 

When the falling waters show the way, 

will you see the house of my lord. 

Leaving the ghoulish clearing, the party returns to the pit of the worm. Goro is intent of getting a reward or clue from that spirit, but even after returning the treasure to the casket there is no response. It is also noted that the sign of the worm that was inscribed on the half buried boulder is still missing. Skeef uses stone shape to drill a hole through the boulder to locate any enclosed treasure, but finds nothing. 

The party returns to the chapel to rest another night, then head north into the valley after the daily lifting of the mist. They stop first at the eagle shrine where Skeef tries once more to take the test. But the spirit becomes angry when the druid ties himself down with a rope, and the eagle arises in anger and drives the party off. They figure good riddance, and opt to follow the river up a steep valley. They pass a low plateau with standing stones covered in carved writing, unlike that on the burial mound steles. It is an ancient druidic script that Solcha and Goro are able to decipher and they learn to cast call lighting. 

Continuing on, they come to the headwall of the valley. A waterfall drops 60-70' over this cliff, atop which are perched two pillars, one to either side of the stream. A narrow, steep and slippery path climbs up to the right. Ranzel tries to scramble up but slips and falls. A second more careful attempt with rope is successful. The pillars turn out to be statues, faceless and formless having lost their coating of plaster/stucco. A mournful wail is heard that slowly fades away. Connecting this location to the wolf's prophesy, the party looks around and sees a dark cover on the talus slope above them. They climb up and find a small grotto with a tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. They follow this until it splits into a Y-passage. Here they see the flaking remains of barbarian frescos on the wall, and the figure of a huge bear standing at the intersection, it's maw and claws painted as is covered in blood ... 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

none

LOSSES

Skeef's Pride 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #28 - Two More Tests

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Balthus (Human Fighter 3) and his War Dog 
Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 4) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 4)

Date/Time

Goodmonth 23 late afternoon to Goodmonth 24 mid-day

The party carefully lift Skeef's battered body up the hillside, and are disappointed to find all his potions were destroyed in the fall, in addition to the hole in his skull. Bundling up the half elf, they carry him back to the ruined shrine of Allitur just under the brow of the mountain and above the village. There they all sleep safely for the night, and next day wait for the fog to thin a bit before venturing forth again. They make Skeef comfortable and, trusting in the protection of the god, head back into the valley, intent on investigating the other three sacred sites of the barbarian totem gods.  

They head to the place of the worm, finding a gaping, muddy pit at the center of a wide ring of burial mounds. The pit is surrounded by skulls on poles, and at the bottom is a large round boulder half submerged in the mud, alongside a rotting wooden casket. Before entering the pit, the party examines the surrounding burial mounds for clues. Solcha cast comprehend languages and finds the stones on top of the mounds are epitaphs to those buried beneath. Those marked with a wolf symbol tell tales of great barbarian warriors and the deeds they'd performed in battle; one marked with a worm tells a shorter story of a child who died young.  While exploring the barbarian resting place, the party is attacked by another band of phantom warriors, the last pair of whom disappear as the mist finally burns off for the day. 

Back to the pit, Goro is lowered into it's depths. He breaks open the casket and scoops out the electrum and gems he finds therein. This provokes something, and a sinister slithering voice whispers in the clerics head. Goro casts protection from evil just as a mass of strange misty worms writhe out of the mud to attack him and his companions on the edge of the pit. Goro is protected from the summoned creatures, but the others take a battering and Balthus' war dog is killed. They defeat about half of the things, at which point the rest disappear, only to be replaced by a repulsive and sickly looking round thing, supported on strong rubbery stalks and appendages, that rises out of the mud to take their place. It tries to get out of the pit and attack the non-protected party, but a series of mighty blows slays it and it disappears from their sight. 

After one last search of the pit, the party heads east to another sacred bolder they'd seen from the mountainside. This boulder is covered in moss and surrounded by small offerings. Ranzel boldly approaches and makes a small offering, and is rewarded with a minor sense of something stirring. He repeats this several times, and after offering food, is rewarded with a sense of something awakening.  A booming voice challenges him, and the ranger asks to take the totem spirts trial. At which point the spirit of a massive cave bear appears, and challenges Ranzel to a wrestling match. The two wrestle, and though hugged and crushed for a moment, the ranger survives the trial, even breaking free of the spirits grip at one point. The spirit of the bear rewards the ranger by breaking open the stone and giving him the torc of bear power hidden within. It also leaves the party with a riddle before heading back to it's sleep:

When you the mountain-depths see, will you see the house of my Lord. 

But if in his house my form you see, beware; 

for one alone is harmless, 

but more may kill you with but a sigh.

GAINS

470ep

4 opals (300gp each)

Torc of Bear Power 

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 Phantom Warriors

12 Worms of the Bonesucker

Spirit of the Bonesucker Worm 

LOSSES

Balthus' War Dog

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #27 - Blowing in the Wind

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 4) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 4)

Date/Time

Goodmonth 22 late afternoon to Goodmonth 23 late afternoon

The party swiftly retreats from the burial mound and heads back towards the entrance of the valley. Before leaving the misty vale completely to camp on the plains, they explore the dark entrance between the two marble slabs. Inside is a shrine and burial chamber dedicated to Allitur and Pelor, with battered statues of the gods looking over the smashed remains of an alter and several sarcophagi. Goro says a prayer and the party tries to tidy up,  reinterring the bones to their resting place as much as possible. And are rewarded with  faint and temporary yellow glow from the figure of Pelor. This they take as a good sign, and decide to rest here for the night. And in the morning, Goro, Solcha and Ranzel find their wounds from the battle with the phantom warriors have all healed. 

Waiting awhile, they find the overnight mist lifts very slowly. Rather than wait all day, they plunge into the fog and continue along the path past the burial mounds. This leads them to to banks of a shallow stream. By now the mist has lifted enough for them to see, on the other side, a village of crude stone and sod huts surrounded by poor fields of oat and barley. On a rise above the village lies the remains of some long collapsed wooden building.  They see signs of life, so Skeef if chosen to scout, cloaked in invisibility. He sees no more than a few dozen inhabitants, all dour and moving as if in an unenthusiastic funk. And they are dirt poor. The ruined building he finds was a longhouse, long burned and collapsed. And following the trail a little further, he comes to a small stone chapel with a smashed stone head of Allitur lying in the grass outside. 

The druid/thief returns to the party, and Goro and Socha decide to cross the stream to the edge of the fields and politely grab a farmer to talk to. They find the villagers believe the barbarian 'masters' and King Thorlandor are still alive, simply away at war. Even evidence to the contrary i.e the ruined longhouse, does not sway the man. They also learn of the four spirit guardian of the valley; the worm, the eagle, the wolf and the bear and the peasant points out the holy sites of each in the four cardinal directions.

Goro figures the village in under a curse of some sort, so the party avoids it and pushes to the chapel on the mountainside above. Skeef repairs the stone head as best he can and places it on the statue inside. And is rewarded with a barely perceptible gesture of thanks from the statues clasped hands. Keeping this place in mind as another possible safe resting place, they push on. They encounter a body sticking out of the ground, only the head buried. When disturbed, it attacks and tries to suck out their brains with blood red routes that have taken the place of its head. It is killed, and the hole from which it was plucked is looted of a magical mace, chain mail and healing potions. 

Pushing further, they follow the trail up a narrow valley and then up onto the spur of the mountain overlooking the village. There they see a strange round boulder and a tall form of a man built out of rotting, mossy logs. Climbing the log man allows them clear view of the whole valley now that the mist has lifted, and they make note of all the features. Skeef approaches the stone, and notes the stylized form of a bird carved on it. And then  a distant booming voice echo's out, demanding what the party wants. Saying they seek knowledge, the voice demands either blood sacrifice or successfully passing a trial. Skeef takes the trial, and is told he must climb the boulder and stay there for 4 minutes. Thinking this is easy, the druid is suddenly buffeted by gale force winds.  He holds on at first, but is blown off the boulder and down over the side of the mountain, where he lands on his head with a sickening 'crunch'. The party plays out rope and lowers Solcha down to bind his wounds, which are severe ... 

GAINS

footmans mace +2

chainmail +2

2 potions of healing

golden holy symbol of Allitur [25gp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

Cursed Plant Priest

LOSSES

Part of Skeef's skull 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #26 - Misty Mountains Cold

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 4) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 4)

Date/Time

Reaping 27 morning to Goodmonth 22 late afternoon

The party spends a night in Orlane to rest and recover, and then seek rumors of the assassin Derek or Abbott Grosso (to no avail). They then decide to return to Oxton for training and to sell some of their finds. And to seek further information and rumors to plan adventures going forward. Along the way, a midnight attack by a trio of ankhegs left them battered and short a pair of horses. But they otherwise made it to the crossroads town without trouble. 

After a number of weeks training and fencing goods individually, the party reconvenes at the Ox and Lyre to decide what to do next. Plans of revenge against Derek are shelved for now, as was any plan to follow up on the cult of Wastri (largely due to a lack of information for both). They did have the Salander prime rod and it's directions to another site, but visions of undead hoards made them wary of that right now. Conversation turned to their need for weapons  of magical power, a conversation overheard by an old codger by the name of Geth of Kodof. He began to ramble on about legends and hints of magical weapons. From his yarn, the party plucked two likely threads:

• A berserker hoard had burst forth from the Griff Mountains and ravaged the lands of northern Tenh a hundred years ago.  They were eventually run to ground by the Duke and the Tenha Host, and the mighty barbarian king and his champions were slain. The remnants retreated back into their mountain valley and buried their fallen, and it is rumored the king's mighty bronze great-sword was buried with him. 
• Geth reminded the party that to find weapons of renown, turn to the halls of the dwarves. For the dwur are known to  hoard weapons and armor. He tells a tale of a long abandoned mine of the dwur, dating from before the great migration of the Suel and the Oeridians into the Flanaess. There, undoubtably, could be found weapons of mithril from the metals mined in the dark of Oerth.

Both stories appealed to the party, and in the end they choose to strike north and seek the lost valley of the barbarian king in the remote vales east of Nevond Nevnend. After six days on horseback, they reached the largely uninhabited downs below the north facing ranges. Following the old mans' instructions, they follow a small river into a narrow canyon. Dark mountains of pine and mist loom around them. They found signs of the ancient battle here and there, included a tumbled barbarian watchtower. Also discovered is a pair of marble slabs set into the side of the mountain, covered in names that Ranzel recognizes as mostly Flann/Tenh. Between then a dark passage is cut into the stone. 

The party opts to not enter the dark hole just yet, but instead strike deeper into the mountains where they see the canyon open up into a valley. There they spy barrow mounds, and head straight that way. As they do, the mist starts to drift into the valley, and soon the party is encased in thick, chill fog. They climb the closest mound, and are attacked by a band of ghostly barbarian warriors. They fight these off, but are badly hurt in the process, and start thinking to pull back and rest elsewhere for the fast approaching night ...  

GAINS

nil

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 Ankhug

8 Phantom Warriors 

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #25 - Poison and Fried Eggs

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 4)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 3)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 3) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 3)

Date/Time

Reaping 17 late afternoon to Reaping 27 morning

The party makes it's way through the maze of tunnels interspersed with patches of deep mud, heading north-west. Several uninteresting caves are explored before they come to a spot where Skeef (the only without wax stuffed in his nose) smells troglodyte. The party enters a wide cavern that extends well beyond their lantern light, shaking out into a skirmish line as they go. Solcha spies a hidden figure against the right wall and fires a shot with her bow. Before running off into the darkness, the camouflaged troglodyte hurls a wicker cage at her, which bursts to free a hissing viper. Before the party can dispatch the serpent, it bites the elf and she goes down, poisoned. Skeef and Goro jump in to save her with a combination of slow poison and neutralize poison, and party begins to advance carefully. A side chamber is found, with a nest full of troglodyte eggs about to hatch. Oil and flame are applied, but the screams and smells attract an onrush of troglodyte defenders. More pit vipers come flying at the party, and this time Ranzel goes down. Once more, Goro drags his fallen comrade out of the way and starts casting spells to bring him back to the fight. Meanwhile the rest of the party  engages the hordes with swords and hold person spells until all are dead. Skeef also manages to capture a pit viper (and several pit viper hatchling in the next room). They pile the bodies to burn, and then push to the end of the cavern. There they find the drying pelt of their fallen giant weasel friend, as well as a pile of treasure hidden under one of the mud-pile sleeping nests. 

Leaving the long cavern, the party fights past a screaming and savage bonesnapper. Who is an easy kill since it's chained to the wall. They now find themselves in the naga's chamber again, having approached it from the opposite direction as they did last time. A quick search of the green glowing, water filled cavern reveals no unrecovered treasure, so they backtrack a bit to a side passage. Where they encounter a pair of huge spiders, and this time Skeef falls dead to their poison. With no spells left, Ranzel calls on his wilderness wiles to suck the poison from the wound, thankfully not poisoning himself in the process. This stabilizes the druid/thief enough for the party to retreat back to Orlane for a week of rest and recovery. 

Returning to the dungeon, they continue this exploration of the lower level. They encounter a curious room where zombies operate a system of pullies and buckets, raising water from the pool in the chamber to the darkness above. After much conundruming, they realize this is a sump to keep the lower level from flooding. As they discover when they destroy the zombies and the water level starts to rise.

Rushing ahead of the rising waters they check out one last place; a water filled chamber they bypassed in their original explorations. Here the party is surprises to see one wall of the passage has been opened up, revealing a hidden  storage area. A boat now also lay at the waters edge, so they party piles in to cross the long cavern. At the end they find a raised mud bank and wooden platform, similar to the treasure room they found on the upper level. Here though the treasure is looted. Two chests lay smashed on the platform, and a body lay amid the ruins. They examine the body and find it had died of poison, likely from a trap on a chest.   And he looks like one of the Derek the Cultist's men. Based on the body and the tracks Ranzel examines, it looks like the treasure was looted when the party was recovering in Orlane. Cursing their luck and promising revenge against the wily Derek, the party returns to Orlane once more to consider their options going forward. 

GAINS

47pp

273gp

490sp

gems [350gp, 200gp, 110gp, 80gp] 

Giant Weasel Pelt [3000gp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

10 Troglodytes 

2 Mud Vipers (1 captured)

1 Bonesnapper (helplessly murdered) 

2 Huge Spiders 

5 Zombies 

LOSSES

Solcha, Skeef, Ranzel (poisoned) ... but they're feeling better now. 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #24 - Back to the Dungeon

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 4)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 4 / Magic User 3)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 4/ Thief 3) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 3)

Date/Time

Reaping 13 morning to Reaping 17 late afternoon 

Before leaving Oxton, the party visits the sage Pharnabazus as they'd left the mysterious horn with him to identify. Unfortunately, they learn that it is an essentially worthless and useless horn of bubbles, product of the trickster Jester Mage, Xthilius . They also ask about the grey toad seal from the evil priests scroll. Pharnabazus easily identifies it as the mark of Wastri, the Hopping Prophet. He is a minor demigod who favors humankind and amphibian life, and has a great hatred for demi-humans. What it signifies he cannot say as the cult of Wastri has not been previously know in the lands of the Tenha.

Arriving in Orlane, the party does a detect evil recon of the village to confirm that no trace of the cult remains. They learn that while the first few weeks after the party had slain the naga were awkward and uncomfortable on the town, formerly charmed cult members and the rest of the townsfolk have mended broken bridges and started to move on. Several of the former cult have disappeared and not returned, including the sinister Derek and the constables former companions. 

Proceeding  the next day back the naga's dungeon, the party begins a systematic search for bypassed treasure. They deal with a troll who has been gathering the half-rotted remains of the slain cult members. Further encounters with green slime and poisonous snakes likewise interrupt their searching. A druidic conversation with the crocodiles reveal little useful information, though the party does learn of a boat they can use to more easily cross the muddy waters of the chamber. They find no treasure until they enter the lair of a pair of harpies. Skeef, Goro and Ranzel are all charmed at various points (and Ranzel is also immobilized in some deep mud, lured their by the bird-ladies song), but in the end the party slays both. Looting the harpy lair recovers a small collection of jewelry, both mundane and magical.  

Figuring they have found all there is of interest on the top level, the party now proceeds back to the muddier depths ... 

GAINS

Various jewelry [250gp, 100gp, 100gp, 90gp, 75gp, 50gp, 50gp]

Necklace of Adaptation 

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Troll

1 Green Slime

1 Poisonous Snake

2 Harpies 

LOSSES

None 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #23 - Death and Nagas

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 3)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 3 / Magic User 2)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 3/ Thief 2) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 3 / Fighter 2)

Date/Time

Wealsun 25 evening to Reaping 13 morning

Explictica Defilus is slow to turn and face the threat behind her, not expecting anyone to approach from the secret door but her high priest. Taking advantage of the surprise, Solcha and Ranzel start charging at the naga, while Skeef and Goro hold back and begin casting spells. Just as the charge connects and the spells go off, the naga responds with a spell of here own. Skeef finds himself stuck in a sticky web, and Goro is trapped on the wrong side of it, away from his companions. The purple glow of faerie fire leaps from the snake like form as Solcha and Ranzel hack at her, and Goro burns the web (and Skeef) to clear a path. The naga turns her gaze on Ranzel, charming the ranger, who then attempts to keep both sets of his friends separate and generally getting in everyone's way. The naga swiftly bites Solcha, poisoning the elf , who falls dead. Goro charges in to lay about with his blade, and Skeef rushes forward to cast neutralize poison on his fallen comrade. And then the naga release a fireball, and both Skeef (and his critters) and Solcha fall to the blast. But getting caught in the flames also releases Ranzel from his charm. He raises his sword, and the ranger finishes the serpent-thing with a mighty chop. 

Skeef's wounds are bound, and he regains consciousness in a short time. There is nothing that can be done immediately for Solcha, so her remains are respectfully wrapped to be carried out of the dungeon and hopefully to a cleric for raising. The remainder of the party gathers the loot, rescues the captives, and scoops up the leftover silver pieces from the first treasure hoard. And then make their way back to Orlane, arriving just as dusk begins to fall. They make their way directly to Ramne's grove, but notice along the way there are actually people on the streets of Orlane and life seems to be just a little more normal. Ramne confirms their observation, noting that whatever the party has done, it appears the curse on the town is lifted. They confirm this with visits to the Slumbering Serpent Inn and the reeve Zakarias (who has his own charm lifted by the death of Solcha, and is none to happy with his previous enscollment) 

The party does not linger in Orlane, but escorts the formerly captive merchant and his wife back to Oxton. There they pool their gold to raise Solcha, and decide to sell to bag of holding to a reveling Richfest dandy. This allows them to train and pay off debts, and prepare for a return to the dungeons of the naga to see what treasures and evils they may have overlooked ... 

GAINS

110pp

890gp

5862sp

Jeweled bracelet [400gp]

Ruby [800gp]

Bag of Holding

Boots of Elvenkind

Horn of ??

Ring of Protection +1

Ring of Free Action

Potion of Gaseous Form

Potion of Invisibility

Potionof Clairvoyance

2 Potion of Healing

Philter of Love  

KILLS/VICTORIES

Explictica Defilus aka the Naga

LOSSES

Solcha (Twice)

Skeef (Once) 

Racoon and Rat 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #22 - Of Undead and Secret Doors

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 3)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 3 / Magic User 2)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 3/ Thief 2) and his giant weasel Riki
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 3 / Fighter 2)

Balthus (Human Fighter 2) and his War Dog 

Date/Time

Wealsun 25 late afternoon to Wealsun 25 evening

The party pushes along the edge of one last mud-filled chamber and finally emerges onto dry-ish land. The passage initially leads to a large chamber filled with deep water and no sign of a way to cross it. Turning back, they take another branch of the corridor which leads to a door, swollen tightly shut. This is forced open and leads to the first 'built' chamber encountered on this lower level. A single massive pillar holds up the ceiling in the center. As they move past this pillar, two undead creatures emerge from behind it and attack. Both wrap their hands and Goro's neck and start to choke the cleric to death. And while both are quickly chopped down, they gruesomely rise again and scare off half the party, leaving the remnant to turn to magic and silvered weapons to finish them off. 

Forcing open another door, the party encounter zombies waiting, which Goro turns. However, the undead come back as the party is exploring another exit and are taken down by sword and mace. The new exit leads into a series of cells. One is occupied by a teenage boy and girl, the other by an older couple. All explained they'd been captured by the cult and brought before Eplicitica Defilus, but resisted the naga's charm gaze. So they were locked up here. The teenagers are from Orlane, children of the town carpenter, a cult member. The other two are merchants unlucky enough to stay in the wrong inn when they passed through town. When questioned, they can tell little about the dungeon overall as they were blindfolded when lead through, but are able to describe the naga's lair. It is accessible only by boat, through a great water filled chamber lit by a strange green glow. The naga herself sat on a pile of treasure on a dry shelf at the end of the cavern.  

All of the prisoners' beg to be released, but the party convinces them to remain in the cells until they finish with the naga, it being safer for them here for now. They sullenly agree, and the party hands over a few spare weapons just in case someone comes for the prisoners. 

Heading further down the hall, the party passes through another chamber before reaching a door. Throwing it open, they find themselves looking into a wood paneled chapel. At the far end next to a dais and alter stands a man in grey-green robes, who mock's their arrival and prepares to cast a spell. This is cut off by a magic missile from Solcha, and the figure then neutralized by a hold spell from Skeef. However, the man's assistants rushes across the room and grabs at Goro, draining away some of the cleric's life force and vitality. The giant weasel latches onto the attacker; but unfortunatley is also drained of life as a result. Once more, the magic and silver comes out and the undead attacker is slain. 

Entering and searching the room, they find a stone statue of the naga on the wooden alter. Looting the body of the cleric, they find he wears chainmail and carries a snake-headed hammer. He also has a scroll hidden under the robes, a letter from some called Abbot Grosso. The letter outlines much of what the party knows about the cult activities, and also suggests the naga's cult is but a small part of some greater evil. The scroll has a seal attached, in sickly green-grey wax, of a hopping frog. No one recognizes the symbol. 

Searching around the alter, Solcha finds the statue's head can turn, which opens a secret door in the north wall. This leads into a short passage, where the party finds another secret door. Opening this, they are greeted by a strange green glow silhouetting a great serpent shape in the chamber beyond ... 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 coffer corpse

4 zombies

Gareth Primo, High Priest of the Cult 

1 wight 

LOSSES

Riki the Wonder Weasel 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #21 - Of Trogs and Guards

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Solcha (Elf Fighter 3 / Magic User 2)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 3/ Thief 2)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 3 / Fighter 2)

Balthus (Human Fighter 2) and his War Dog 

Date/Time

Wealsun 25 mid afternoon to Wealsun 25 late afternoon 

Leaving Ranzel to temporarily keep an eye on their captive, the party moves on in their search for Explictica Defilus. Their path leads them inexorably to the east, to the area they suspect houses the rest of the human guards. Sneaking in as best they can, they burst in on one group of guards and kill them all. This raises a hue and cry from a second group, who are likewise slaughtered. And a third quartet was roused from sleep only when multiple batterings are required to open the moisture swollen door to their room. These four are slain, and all the bodies locked into a single room to hide them from easy discovery. As they are doing so, the party is surprised by a giant weasel, attracted by the sounds of slaying, whom Skeef charms and speaks into friendship. The beast knows nothing of the naga, but tells the party a group of troglodyte's dwell near its lair to the south west. Surmising where there are trogs, there may be Explicitica, the party has the weasel lead them that way. 

To reach the other end of the dungeon, the party traverses a water filled cavern, using a few doors as rafts. They are lucky to avoid the smiling jaws of the three crocodiles that call the water home. After a short detour to the weasel's watery cave, their new furry friend leads them to the troglodytes. Before moving further, everyone in the party seals their nostrils with candle wax in hopes of avoiding the creatures stench. Bursting in through a door, the party surprises and slays the two trogs behind it before they can raise an alarm. They then lure in the rest and slaughter them in pairs, with little hurt to the party except for Balthus' war dog and the weasel. 

Looting the bodies, they press on and find stairs going down. Which they go down. These lead to a labyrinth of mud filled passages which takes much time and mapping but nothing else to show as yet ...

GAINS

20gp

20ep

57sp

180cp

KILLS/VICTORIES

12 guards

8 troglodyte

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #20 - Foray to the Fens

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 3)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 3 / Magic User 2)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 3/ Thief 2)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 3 / Fighter 2)

Balthus (Human Fighter 2) and his War Dog 

Date/Time

Wealsun 16 night - Wealsun 25 mid afternoon 

The party hides the bodies in the old Inn, and then head off to the reeves house. There they rouse him from bed, and are surprised to meet their erstwhile companion Balthus as well. While discussing what to do, there is a knock at the door. It is the Constable, Grover Ruskadal, with two goons and the cleric Abramo. They spin a tale in which the party unjustly attacked them and kidnapped Misha, and demand they be found and brought to trial before the village council of grandfathers. Zakarias gets them to leave, but now insists the party has to as well, as he is legally bound to summon the council and bring them the trial if he can 'catch' them. The party takes the hint, heading out the back window and into the night, dragging the charmed Misha with them. 

Given the less than useful status of Ranzel the Blind and Slocha the Slow, the party discusses what to do next. Lay low until the heat is off and Socha recovered? Head back to Oxton to regroup and heal? Split the party? As they debate, Whiskers the weasel emerges from the trees and tugs at Skeef's cloak, trying to get them to follow him. Intrigued, the party does, and Whiskers leads them back his his master's grove. There, Ramne greets them and offers assistance and information. It seems their fight in the streets has convinced the secretive hermit that they can be trusted. He removes Ranzel's blindness, and agrees to let Solcha recover in the hidden safety of the grove, while the rest of the party hides out in abandoned farms and buildings around the outskirts of town. Ramne also provides a scroll of dispel magic, suggesting it may be useful when they go after the naga Explictica Defilus in her lair.

Speaking of which, they drop the charm  from Misha, and then Ramne dispels the charm the cleric is under from the naga. Misha is horrified of what she has been part of, and provides the party with directions to the dungeon in the Troll Fens where the cult leader can be found. She can tell them little of the dungeon itself however, having been there just once when first initiated into the cult, and she had been blindfolded most of that time. She does confirm there is little else in Orlane or the Temple of Berei tied to the cult,  apart from a few troglodytes hiding in tunnels and the cultists the party is already aware of. She then takes her leave of the party, going off to mediate and pray for forgiveness for her actions. 

Once Solcha has recovered, the party convinces Ramne to cast invisibility on three of the team (Balthus, Sheef and Ranzel), and they then head off for the fens at first light. By mid afternoon, the trail they've been following fades away in front of a low rise surrounded by a mud dike holding back the water surrounding it. In the center is a pit with a set of muddy stairs; which Skeef slips on, crashing down into a chamber with four human guards. The rest of the party follows, the guards are quickly defeated, and all stealth and invisibility is gone. But it seems the general alarm is not raised, so the party starts to explore. They deal with a water filled room and a pair of giant frogs, who Skeef gets to lead them to a hidden treasure. Pushing deeper, they encounter a trio of of human henchmen of the naga. They kill two, and capture one, but are unsuccessful at extracting any useful information from their belligerent prisoner ... 

GAINS

87 gems [10gp each]

6 gems [25gp each]

Small Shield +1

Jade statue of Explictica Defilus [75gp]

Scroll of 2x Cure Light Wounds 

KILLS/VICTORIES

4 guards

2 assassins

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #19 - Murder in the Streets of Orlane!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 3)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 3 / Magic User 2)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 3/ Thief 2)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 3 / Fighter 2)

 

Date/Time

Wealsun 16 mid-day to Wealsun 16 night 

The party spent some time discussing how they should approach the evening's planned shenanigans, and decided to go to see Zakarias. There they told the reeve what they knew and suspected, and Solcha convinced her charmed friend to call out a handful of trustworthy militia to support the party this coming night in case things got out of hand.  Goro meanwhile sent the snake from his mace into the liveryman's house and told it to hide and wait for later events. 

When they later arrived back at the Golden Grain Inn, they were somewhat surprised to be met by the two clerics, the lovely Misha and the spastic Abramo. Misha proceeded to question the party closely about who they were, their links with the cult, and so on. Once done with the interrogations, she informed the party there was a change in plans for the night. She wanted to show them something in the ruins of the third inn in town, the Frothing Mug. Something that would really lay out what the cult is all about.  The party agreed, and the clerics then left them be. 

At nightfall, Ranzel met the militia in the trees overlooking the liveryman's house; the party suspected the cult might still try a kidnapping. The rest of them headed for the eastern edge of town, and there were soon met by a group from the temple: the two clerics, 5 ruffians and Derek of the the nasty scar.  They entered the battered building, and Derek led the party down into the cellar. First impression was of a swampy, sickening odor. And then all hell broke loose. Someone from upstairs tossed down a rock with silence cast on it, and and then Derek moved to attack the party. Skeef turned his dire wolf on their attacker, and the party retreated upstairs. They found the ruined inn empty, and swiftly moved out into then street. There they were engaged by the clerics and ruffians, who were in position a short ways down the road. Spells were slung and swords swung, and then the party was surprised from behind by Derek and a trio of troglodytes. This put them in a very tight spot; Skeef had to climb to the inn roof to save himself, and Solcha fell bleeding and unconscious.  

At around this time, Ranzel arrived on high-speed horseback and charged into the clerics, who were holding back from the melee. Even though the ranger ended up blinded for his efforts, this helped turn the tide. After a bit more fierce fighting, three troglodytes and three ruffians were dead, Derek had turned into gaseous form and drifted off, Abramo the cleric had fled on foot, and Misha was under a charm. And the militia finally arrived to take custody of the surviving ruffians.  So then then all proceeded towards the reeves house to turn over the prisoners and question Misha ...

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 Troglodytes

3 Ruffians

Misha of Berei(?) [Captured]

LOSSES

Dire wolf 

Solcha (almost) 

Ranzel's Vision  

Gygax & Greyhawk Session #18 - You're Now Part of the Team

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 3)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 3 / Magic User 2)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 3/ Thief 2)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 3 / Fighter 2)

 

Date/Time

Wealsun 15 evening to Wealsun 16 mid-day 

Instead of turning in for the night, the party plans a little more skullduggery. Skeef settles in to watch for the elves, hoping to figure out what they do on their nightly rounds. He does see them leave and head east through the trees and bushes; but even with Ranzel's help, the party is unable to track them past the edge of the mill stream.  They then decide to check out the now deserted general store, but after sneaking in, find nothing suspicious apart from a pair of loaded and ready crossbows hidden behind the counter and curtain. Another pass of detect evil around town also reveals the jewelers establishment, once 'hot', now shows no sign of evil intensions inside. 

Now heading back top their lodgings, they make a quick decision to check out the other 'evil' establishment, the Golden  Grain Inn. It seems deserted of custom, but a faint light glows in the window. So they barge in, surprising a cluster of four men standing at the bar, conferring by candlelight. One is obviously the barkeep, another a local farmer, while the other two are hard looking men in leather armor, and armed with swords. One of them, with a long scar running down the right side of his face, looks particularly vicious. Once over the surprise, the barkeep greets them and goes to get them drinks, into which Solcha notes he drops something. Suspecting poison, none of the party drinks except Skeef, who has a small sip and immediately feels a bit woozy and unsteady. Meanwhile, Ranzel slowly dumps his ale on the floor in provocation, then hurls the empty mug at one of the men at the bar. Then all hell breaks loose until Skeef is able to charm the barkeep and Goro holds the two men in armor, the farmer simply fleeing behind the bar. 

Skeef now convinces his newfound friend Bertrem the Barkeep that they are all members of the same cult. The party learns an evil cult is kidnapping townsfolk and bringing them to a dungeon in the Troll Fens where the person/creature they worship named Explictica Defilus dwells. There the folk are brought  before Explictica to be judged whether they've worthy of joining the cult, or become food for the dungeon dwellers. Those judged worthy are returned to the town, somewhat changed. The party convinces Bertrem to let them join the kidnapping the next night, that of the stableman and his family. This will be lead by the clerics of the Temple of not-Berei, who will talk their way into the home, followed by a sudden onrush from Derek (the scarred man) and his fellow heavies. The family will then be brought to the dungeon the next night after being held at the temple for the day. 

The party decides to relocate to the Golden Grain Inn, and are escorted to the Slumbering Serpent by Derek and Wylie (the other armed man) to get their things then back to a room at their new inn. The party, being suspicious, keeps watch all night. Solcha note sounds behind the back wall during her watch, and finds a secret door there, openable only from the other side. But nothing comes of it, and morning arrives without incident. 

After breakfasting, the party heads back into the streets. They approach the miller, but are rebuffed by the suspicious man. They make their way to the elves, and after establishing their bona fides, start to compare notes. Dorian and Llywillan have identified many of the same cult members as the party, spending their nights watching either the temple or the inn watching who comes and goes. While willing to share information, the elves are not willing to join the party in their activities, preferring to keep to themselves in case the party is caught. At least then there will still be someone looking into the cult. 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

none

LOSSES

none