Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 81 - Of Things Best Not Seen, and Things Best Not Said

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Goodmonth 10 (midday) - Goodmonth 10 (mid afternoon) 

As the party finishes gathering the treasure and the strange metal object, their redoubtable paladin suddenly vanishes from sight. With Solcha muttering something about 'powerful wizard magical time dimensional dilation temporal fields' or something, the party shrugs and moves out the room and down a long winding corridor. After several twists and turns, they see that something lurks in the darkness ahead. The strange reptilian creature lifts its head and gazes at the party. Goro barely shrugs off a sense of suddenly stony-ness before the might of the party falls on the thing, Several more near-petrifications occur before the beast is battered to bits. Just around the corner they encounter a room; which blazes with the night of a thousand suns when Goro stick his continual light  coin in for a look. After much experimentation, they discover the room is filled with very highly polished metal mirrors, orientated to 'build up' light and reflect it in an almighty blaze. 

Further down the passage they open a door and release a giant rolling stone boulder. The party flees before it and takes refuge in the mirror room as the stone ball crashes on down the corridor. Once danger is past, they return to the door, open it, and are surprised to find another boulder rolling towards them. This 'boulder and run' process continues for some time until Skeef casts stone shape to drive a passage though the walls and around the trap. Curiously, once they get into the 'boulder' room, they find no boulder or anything else of interest. 

Beyond they follow another wide passage that leads to a solid wall of the strange blue-ish metal. In the centre at about waist level is a recessed carving of a square with a circle on each corner. The party notes right away that (a) it kind of looks like the ruins of the tower and (b) the weird blue-ish metal thing from the manticore lair fits exactly into one side. Solcha also searches and finds hints of a doorway, but no sign of how to open it. Figuring the metal piece is a key, and that they need three more to get beyond the metal door, the party retreats and heads back to the surface ruins and the NW tower. 

Descending below the NW tower, the party walks a wide corridor with another cryptic message carved on the wall "TAKE CARE WHAT YOU SPEAK AND WHERE YOU LOOK". Goro immediately pulls out his candle wax to prepare to plug his ears. At the end of the corridor they come to a door. Beyond is a room, at the centre of which is a crystal pillar topped by a 8' diameter crystal sphere. Inside the sphere swirls mist and something(s) else. On the base are carved four words: IXAM, ALRASTIL, PENTUKO, MYRG. Finding that door exiting the room is locked and unopenable, the party sits down to puzzle out the words, assuming they are some sort of clue. Several hours and much ink later, they can make no sense of it. So Goro boldly reads the four words aloud. And immediately a mist drift out of the globe and deposits four monsters in front of the cleric; and ice toad, minotaur, owl bear, and carnivorous ape. These tear into the half orc, all hitting hard, before his companions come to assist. In the end all four are slain. The party also noted the crystal ball has shrunk to about the size of a kobolds skull. And the exit door is nowe unlocked ... 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

Basilisk

Owl Bear

Ice Toad

Minotaur

Carnivorous Ape  

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 80 - The Ghost Tower

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Reaping 14 (morning) - Goodmonth 10 (midday)

The party spends the next three weeks around Trigol, preparing for the next stage of their adventures. As the date of the double full moons approach, the party departs town on the carpet, Skeef eagle in tow. Their destination is the rugged southern shore of the Nyr Dyr and the Ghost Tower. And there they  intend to finally rid themselves of the midnight opal, and perhaps rid themselves of the constant trouble it has brought. 

Their travel was wet and cold, but otherwise uneventful. Arriving at their destination in the evening, they see high on a promontory over the Nyr Dyv a ruined square keep. Though the walls still stand, they are pieced by numerous gaps, and the four corner towers are tumbled down onto themselves. And from their flying perch, they see the central keep or tower has likewise collapsed into a pile of rubble. After confirming that there are no foes about, the party lands and sets up camp for the night inside the confines of the keep. 

Next day, they begin to explore the ruins. Approaching the SE corner tower, they find a door still stands leading from the courtyard into the tower. The door is of an odd, untarnished metal. But barred by a terribly rusted lock. Solcha knocks this open, and then pushes open the door. Inside a spiral metal staircase, in remarkably good shape, leads down into darkness. Reaching bottom, they proceed along a long 20' wide corridor. Along one wall is an inscription, written in massive letters: "NOT TO BE BELIEVED. Passing carefully through one room, they explore another that leads off the corridor. It contains a strange set of desiccated membrane-covered wings, pinned up and hanging from the ceiling.  Beyond this further down the passage, they enter a room in which the ceiling has partly collapsed. As they attempt to move through, a beastly creatures springs atop one rubble pile. It has the face of a man, body of a lion, and wings of a bat. And with  drooling rumble says only "man flesh!" before firing spikes from it's tail. Spells and swords take it down, but not before it peppers the party with piecing. Behind the rubble pile they find the remains of previous victims, and a small smattering of treasure: a scroll case, two potions and a suit of unrusted chainmail.  

GAINS

Potion of Flying

Potion of Water Breathing

MU Scroll - Rope Trick

Chainmail +2 (elf sized) 

KILLS/VICTORIES

Manticore 

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 79 - Depths and Death

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Richfest 3 (morning) - Reaping 14 (morning) 

The party spends the next day in rest and recovery under the protection of Willowrose and the treants, who are getting ready to move the forest back to it's original position. That night, under the Midsummer Eve moon, Skeef and the two initiates of Obad-hai, Ban and Malichi, harvest their mistletoe. Next morning, as the party prepares to leave, they decide to go check out this cave/cleft and lava flow where Duncan said the trolls originated. They are concerned that something else could emerge and wreck more havoc. They find the rock face easily, a hours flight south of the current location of the forest.  It is a narrow cleft in the stone, half filled with a now solid lava flow.  There is just enough room to squeeze in, so the party decide to delve a little to see what lies beyond, and perhaps find out where the trolls had come from. It proves to be no simple cave however; 8 hours of descending through the narrow passage and the party finally emerges into a wider tunnel of terraces, flowstone, strange rock formations, all lit by a faint mauve radiance from the lichen growing on the walls. Skeef questions a blind cave salamander, who can provide little information except that two and four legged creatures do pass this way at times. The party is wary of going too much further, but Solcha does send a wizard eye to scout ahead. At the edge of its range, she spies a pair of humanoids with pitch-black skin and white hair, standing guard and watching the passage. She recognizes these as drow, the dreaded dark demon worshiping elves of the Underdark.  Her eye  also spies another 10 drow resting in a side passage. This looks like too much to just blunder into, so the party quietly retreats back up the passage. Once they've gone a fair distance, Skeef blocks of the passage with stone shape to protect their rest tonight and the surface world in general from further excursions from the Underdark. 

Next morning, the party continues back towards the surface. Just as they sense sunlight ahead, Goro at the head of the line is surprised to find the entrance webbed shut.  A quick search for giant spiders ensues; none are found. But they do hear a chuckle, and they see a man suddenly appear on the opposite side of the web. It is Polistera the wizard, back again! He once more offers them their lives in exchange for the Midnight Opal. The party answers with violence. And is quickly in a very tight spot. Magic just bounces off the wizard, but he cuts down Solcha, Chanee and Baqua with a cone of cold. With just Goro and Skeef still standing, the half orc bursts through the web thanks to his ring of free action. He then turns to lay into Polistera with his sword, while Skeef transforms to a giant skunk and sprays the wizard. This causes him to make a flying retreat, while Skeef pursues as a giant eagle. Goro turns to grab the opal for safe keeping, and is then attacked by some invisible foe. Skeef chases off Polistera and then he and Goro finish off the unseen attacker. And then they immediately pile everyone onto the carpet and fly at full speed to the town of Trigol to get assistance for their deceased friends. 

The next week are spent in the care of the priests of Heironeous, followed by some training and other upkeep as they party prepares to head off to the Ghost Tower to deal with the Midnight Opal once and for all.   

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

Invisible Stalker 

LOSSES

Solcha

Chanee

Baqua 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 78 - The Grand Alliance

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Richfest 1 (mid-day) - Richfest 3 (morning) 

While Duncan heads back through the woods to gather his folk for the coming confrontation with the trolls, the party settles down to rest for the evening and into the night under the watchful eye of Willowrose and the treants. They awake under the stars, memorize spells and prepare to intercept the troll warparties; the trees of the forest had passed word to Willowrose confirming that the foul humanoids continued to move through the night to some unknown final destination, Based on the information, the party was able to plot an intercept course so they and their firbolg and treant allies could catch them as dawn broke.  

The party, half dozen giants and ten of Willowrose folk head out under the light of a waxing Luna,  and are successful in catching the first band of trolls unaware and in the flank as the sun rose. As the party's battle line advances, the firbolgs charge into the trolls, the treants animate the trees to grab and hold the creatures, and the party follows with supporting magic and (carefully controlled) fire to make sure the trolls stay dead.They repeat this with a second band of trolls, the creatures being to dumb to come to each others aid even  with the sound of battle ringing through the forest. But having defeated this second band, they receive a nasty surprise when Eydral the troll shaman/chieftainess catches them in an ambush. Alas, even though some of the now battered firbolgs have to fall out of the line, the tried and true combination of giant/trees/magic & fire is too much for even the wily Eydral. And certainly was for the final band of trolls they hunt down nearby. They burn (carefully) all the bodies, loot Eydral of a mass of strange, uncouth jewelry, and then return to Willowroses court and the firbolg clan to celebrate their collective victory. 

GAINS

Strange, uncouth jewelry (17000gp) 

KILLS/VICTORIES

Eydral + 33 Trolls

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 77 - Trolls?!? Why Does it Always Have to be Trolls!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Wealsun 28 (morning) to Richfest 1 (mid-day) 

The party rises with the sun and heads towards the rambling margins of Buran Wood. There Skeef uses a speak with plants to ask the trees why they are moving. And the answer he receives is "we answer the call of the Lady of the Forest". Skeef tries to get more details on who or what the Lady is, but the trees aren't very clear; she seems to look both human and not-human. The druid asks the trees where they can find the Lady, and are pointed in the vague direction of the centre of the wood. The trees also say they have sent word to the Lady of the party, but there is no indication of how long that communication will take. 

Following the trees' directions, the party hops aboard the carpet of flying (and Skeef turns into his usual giant eagle) and flys a search pattern over the forest heading south-west. But the thick canopy of the ancient wood stymies their search. Nightfall finds them setting up camp just inside the forest under a bluff next to a stream; they'd discovered the trees would move around impassible obstacles so this would be a safe place to rest. Except for the band of trolls that emerg out of the deepening twilight. These tear viciously into the party, bring Chanee to near death and batters the rest of the party badly. Three of the trolls are slain, and two succumb to fear and flee into the night. The party is just cleaning their blades and burning bits of troll when someone else emerges from the darkness; a trio of humans dressed in clothing of woodland hues. They cautiously introduce themselves as Rhune, his sister Tanree and cousin Kinren, saying they are travelers who got trapped when the wood moved over them. They probe the party as to their intentions and question them about their fight with the trolls. When they seem satisfied, the three alter themselves into the form of shortish-giants, and bade the party follow them to the rest of their clan. There the clan leader Duncan can answer their questions.  

The party agrees, and follows the trio through the still moving trees to a temporary camping site on the verge of a small lake. There Chanee receives aid for his hurts, and the rest of the party gets the story of the moving wood. The giants have lived peacefully in Buran Wood for years uncounted, sharing it with the treants who also live here. But about a week go, a ravanging band of trolls, lead by a viciously cunning shaman named Eydral, appeared suddenly in the wood. The giants fought them, but were getting overwhelmed by the regenerating trolls. And so turned to fire; which immediately brought out the wrath of the treants and their queen Willowrose. Fire being anathema to these guardians of the wood, she decided the best thing to do is move the wood. And so Buran Wood became mobile. But the trolls are still there, and the giants are still fighting them, though they are now much depleted in numbers. 

The party convinces Duncan to lead them to Willowrose so they can mend the rift between the two and allow all to turn their attention on the trolls.  He agrees, and next morning leads the party through the shambling  trees to a clearing near the centre of the wood. There they find the slim Willowrose, who looks like a cross between a willow tree and and dryad, with her court. First thing the party does is inform her the wood is about to overrun the human village of Dunsinane; Willowrose immediately halts the moving trees. They then convince the treats to join with the party and the giants to fight the trolls. Willowrose however is adamant that use of fire must be very strictly controlled; no combat using fire inside the wood and any other use very carefully controlled. Both the party and the giants agree, and start to plan how to best deal with the trolls. Willowrose tells them her trees say the trolls have left the cave where they've been holed up for the last few days; the movement of the trees has now left them outside the forest canopy. The foul beasts are heading north east through the woods, moving in hunting bands towards some unknown destination. Although there is a roadside inn that has just been brought inside the verges of the forest ... 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 Trolls

LOSSES

Chanee (temp) 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 76 - To The Woods!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Wealsun 14 (morning) to Wealsun 28 (morning) 

The party rolls Asflag up in the carpet and head off to the College of Wizardry and Thaumaturgistry and a meeting with their employers, leaving Baqua invisible outside with a silenced pebble in case things got out of hand. The conference went off the rails quickly, Mirim accusing the party of not completing the terms of their contract; it seems she had been keeping a close magical eye on them and noted several potentially dangerous creatures the party did not dispose of. And then accusations started to fly about the 'side' deals; although Endoc seemed content. In the end, the party under duress opted to forgo their contract payment and get out of town since Miran and Tullintot seemed intent on getting the carpet and spellbooks and just making their lives difficult in general.  

Quietly burying Asflag outside the city walla, the party uses their new flying transportation to head south towards Trigol, a trading hub on the border between the County and the Kingdom of Nyrond. There they settled in the train and rest, and Goro is able to make contact with the local temple of Heironeous and arrange for Skeef's leg to be un-withered.  And then Skeef reminds everyone he needs to harvest some mistletoe, and told them of an old oak forest halfway back to Radigast City where he needs to be by Midsummers Eve. And so once more they head out on the carpet of flying and in a few days find themselves in village of Dunsianae just north of Buran Wood. 

Settling in at "The Ancient Dog" to wait the few days until Midsummer, they soon note a pair of robed figures tucked in the shadows next to the hearth. They appear to be watching the party, so Chanee strides over and turns on his paladin charm. The two are convinced to join the party at their table, and immediately introduce themselves to Skeef as Ban and Malichi, initiates of Obad-hai. It seems they too have come to Buran Wood to harvest mistletoe. But have noted something troubling: the wood is moving! It is ambling north towards the village, slowly but surely, and will likely overrun Dunsinane within 3 days. The locals haven't noticed yet; they tend to shun Buran Wood and their fields don't extend that far south. 

The party sets out that night to examine to edges of  the wood, and confirm the story told by the two young druids. They mark the edge of the wood with a stake and then head back to the inn, intending to follow-up in the morning to see just how far the wood has moved.

GAINS

Skeef's Leg

KILLS/VICTORIES

none

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 75 - The Wizards End

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Wealsun 12 (morning) to Wealsun 14 (morning) 

The party takes one last scan of the bedchamber and decides it is time to head back down to the laboratory to figure out what to do with whatever pulsed and swirled above the pentagram. But as they head for the stairs, Solcha notes a strange crunching sounds emanating from her backpack. Opening it up, she is horrified to find a pair of the big green worms crewing up her spell book! One is quickly squished, but the other escapes to the sounds of muttered sweary elfish.   

One back in the laboratory, they decide to remove Asflag (assuming that is who it is) from the swirling ashen cloud, hoping that will close the gate or portal. A complex collection of rope is used to brace around the pillars at the edge of the room. Solcha lassos the legs as they pass by, and the whole party heaves and pulls the body out of the cloud. Horrified, they see the upper half of the body is partly skeletal, defleshed, torn and bleeding and diseased. Equally horrifying is the view through the 'hole' left in the cloud; a gloomy dull grey landscape emanating waves of ennui. As the party turns to see what can be done to help/pump information from Asflag, a cloud of green-grey spores shoot out of the cloud causing all the hack and cough. This is shortly followed of a trio of strange creatures, like man-size storks with wickly long and sharp beaks, and human like hands.   Battle ensures, and the party takes much hurt before the three vile things are destroyed. 

Turning to Asflag, they try to question the wizard. But being short of tongue and missing part of his brain, communication is difficult and degenerates into grunts and pointing. Solcha use a potion of ESP to pry into what little grey matter is left. She learns the wizard had been trying to entrap the Oniodaemon from the glooms of Hades, but something went wrong and he was himself pulled partly into the Lower Plane. Asked how to close the gate, his response was a bit confusing and garbled, but they party surmised either someone has to go though  the cloud and close the gate from the other side; or they had to 'reverse' the pentagram on the floor.  They opted for the second, and the party started work under Solcha's supervision, shifting the diamond powder forming the pentagram into the mirror image of that protective device.  Chanee, refusing to even touch such an evil thing, dispatches the dying Asflag and stuffs the body back in the hole, hoping that will block it while the party works. That work takes painstaking hours to shift the grains perfectly one by one. Nearly complete, it is interrupted by another strange creature that pushes Asflags body out of the way and bursts  out of the grey haze; round with five wicked clawed arms, three legs and a beetle like head. It grabs Skeef with all five claws and nearly kills the druid with one blow; luckily the blades and magic of the rest of the party destroy it before it destroys Skeef. 

Successfully completing the mirror pentagram, the party watches the cloud quickly fade and disappear. And then they sweep up the diamond dust, hoping the gate does not come back. Which luckily for them, it does not. They also gather up the dead wizard, wishing to speak with dead with him later. 

They leave the tower, going over the wall (on which they note the flickering electrical protection is now weaker than before) and head for a new inn, "The Tall Queen", to try shaking any wizardly attentions. There Skeef and Solcha examine the spellbook, and the thief opens the three locks on the lead bound tome. This releases an enchantment that withers Skeef's left leg, a ray that drains Baqua's strength, and an umber hulk that tries to kill them all. Everyone survives, and they settle in to rest so they can memorize new spells in the morning. 

In the morning, Goro speaks with Asflag and learns the crystal ball and carpet of flying are actually his; it would appear the two College wizards had lied about their ownership. He also extracted the command word ("command word") for the carpet of flying before letting the wizard return to his final rest. However, when Solcha goes looking for the crystal ball, she finds it is missing. A locate object from Goro points them to the College of Wizardry and Thaumaturgistry; it seems the gnome Endoc obtained the object of his desire afterall. 

After letting Solcha salivate over her new (sadly somewhat worm-eaten) spellbooks for a bit, the party prepared to head out to the College and discuss payment for a successful job from their employers ... 

GAINS

3 gems [3x 100gp]

Diamond Dust (15000gp)  

2 Spell Books

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Bookworm

3 Diakk

1 Deghordaemon

12 Umber Hulk 

LOSSES

Full use of Skeef's left leg 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 74 - The Upper Tower

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Wealsun 9 (early morning) to Wealsun 12 (morning) 

The party returns to the The Unicorn & Tankard and settles in to rest, recover spells and heal up. Having taken quite a battering , the healing part took a few days. They also are accosted by the three wizards who hired them, who interrogate the party about the state of the job, including their individual "side quests". The scoundrel Tullintot takes to opportunity to charm Goro into making sure the party turns over the spellbooks when found.  

On the third day, the party returns to Asflags tower to rescue their petrified companion. They climb the wall, enter the towers servant entrance, and move swiftly through the entrance hall with the brass snake chandeliers, and back to the landing on the second floor. Where thankfully Chanee still stands, Goro and Skeef open up with a barrage of dispel magic. But alas none are successful on the paladin. So the party retraces steps, heads to another inn (to avoid the attention of their wizardly employers) to rest up and memorize more spells. And once more return; and this time is successful in bringing the paladin back to flesh and dispelling the petrification trap on the door as well. And the charm person on Goro. 

Beyond the door is Asflags circular library, stuffed with long curved lines of shelves loaded with books, scrolls, and tablets. The party proceeds carefully using find traps and detect magic to wend their way safely towards the centre, where lies two large tombs that appear to be spell books. Both are trapped, so Solcha carefully slips them into sack to investigate latter. Goro likewise wipes clear a shelf of volumes on the lower plane; for research purposes of course. 

Having looted the library, they head up the stairs to the next floor. This passage is interrupted when Solcha notes a strange green worm crawling up Goro's leg. She flicks it free with her sword, and the critter wiggles away like greased lighting. Vermeology complete, they reach the top of the stairs and enter the wizards laboratory. At the center, above a pentagram of silvery powder,  swirls a vaporous mass of dark ashen grey. Out of which stick a a pair of legs. Asflag, or part of him, presumably. Chanee helpfully informs the party that this thing is Evil. The party concurs. Solcha checks the pentagram, and a quick glance suggests it is intact. Feeling confident they can leave this thing in their rear, they party proceeds to the trap door in the ceiling which leads into Asflags bedchamber. They see right away the carpet of flying, crystal ball, and a chest. Which they pop open to find a fortune of gems, gold and platinum. But looting is interrupted when an octet of gargoyles burst through the (curiously unseen from outside) windows and attack. The battle turns in their favor by a tried combination of spells from Solcha, blades from Goro, Chanee and Baqua, and a stink cloud from Skeef (who transforms into a giant skunk). 

GAINS

carpet of flying [6x9]

crystal ball

400pp

1100gp 

Black Opal (1000 gp) Black Pearl (500 gp) Black Star Sapphire (1000 gp) 2 Bloodstone (50 gp) Bright

Green Emerald (5000 gp) Carnelian (50 gp) Citrine (50 gp) Deep Blue Spinel (500 gp) Emerald (1000

gp) Eye Agate (10 gp) Freshwater Pearl (10 gp) Golden Yellow Topaz (500 gp) 2 x Iolite (50 gp) 2

Jade (100 gp) Jasper (50 gp) Jet (100 gp) Lapis Lazuli (10 gp) 3 x Moonstone (50 gp) Obsidian (10 gp)

 2 x Star Rose Quartz (50 gp) Zircon (50 gp). [10490gp total gems] 

KILLS/VICTORIES

4 gargoyles 

LOSSES

None 

   

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 73 - Stone Paladin

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Wealsun 8 (night) to Wealsun 9 (early morning)

Moving on, the party finishes their exploration of the basement with a tromp through the wine caller. There they encounter wine, webs and an ettercap which is soon destroyed. When additional detailed searching fails to find further areas to explore, the party moves up to the main level. There they find Asflags ballroom, a massive room with space for  hundreds of guests. Surrounding this central area are a series of utility spaces such as storage, powder rooms, and a cloak room. In the cloak room, Goro fiddles about with the cloak pegs and finds one is actually a button. He presses it, and with a mechanical whir and grinding of stone, half the room floor starts to descend. Everyone hops on and it lowers them 50' to the end of a long tunnel. This is followed to  the end, where a narrow circular staircase twists upwards. At the top is a trapdoor, which initial efforts cannot open; it feels like there is something on top of it. A second try and it flies open, leading the party into the centre of the rock garden which they noted on their earlier stroll amongst the flower beds. They are somewhat startled when the largest rock starts moving and tries to roll over Solcha. The elf dodges, and she and the rest of the party decide the return to the tunnel, hearing what they assume is the moving boulder roll over on trapdoor of it once closed. 

There being no obvious way to get the elevator to rise again, they treck back up to stairs to the ballroom. Poking about the stage at one one of the ballroom, they find a violin on the conductors podium. Goro takes it up and starts to play; and finds he cannot stop. And begins to play faster and faster and faster. As the rest of the party desperately tries to break it or wrest it from the clerics hands, Chanee breaks into a dance along with the music. In the end, the paladin collapses from exhaustion, and Skeef uses warp wood to destroy the violin and break the spell. 

Done with ballrooms. the party moves through the double doors at the north east end of the room. These lead into a long entry hall hung with tapestries depicting pastoral scenes. At one end of the room a brass-railed stairway curves up. As the party moves into the room, the hear a faint sound of metal on metal, and suddenly a rain of brass snakes drop from the ceiling. These prove hard to hit, so the party retreats up the stairs. The snakes do not follow, and they find themselves in front of another set of double doors. Chanee reaches out to open them, and as soon as his left hand touches the brass handle, the paladin is transformed into stone! 

The party now faces a dilemma; how to get their now quarter-ton comrade past the snakes and out of the tower. But they can think of no way to do so and still avoid getting bitten to death buy the brass snakes. In the end, they decide to leave the paladin behind, and return when fully healed and re-spelled to recover him. 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Ettercap

1 Fire Snake 

3 Brass Snakes  

LOSSES

Channe the Stone Paladin 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 72 - The Beast(s) are Beaten

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Wealsun 8 (evening) to Wealsun 8 (night)

... the buzzing man-thing advances on the druid and rewards Skeef with a massive number of bee stings. The party, a couple dozen feet away, turn to assist their comrade and the shambling insect collection is soon dispersed. Checking out the wooden boxes that first attracted the druids attention, they are found to be ordinary bee hives. Leaving these behind, they continue down the pebbled path, only to be accosted by the nearest scarecrow. But finally they make their goal, passing through the flower gardens and up to the tower itself. They circle around to the back servants entrance, where a smear of blood leads up to the door and through a hinged flap at the bottom. 

Entering, the party follows the trail of blood downstairs and through a wrecked kitchen. The blood leads through a partly smashed door, which proves difficult to open due to the half-eaten dead donkey behind it. They enter this next room cautiously, Skeef and Baqua gliding through shadows as the rest of the party turns the corner to get a better look inside. They find a charnel house of mostly devoured bodies, and from a nest of table linen in the far corner leap two sleek cat-like beasts with tentacles growing out of their shoulders. They are slain in a relatively short combat, and the party moves on. 

They next encounter a strange mummy-like creatures to which both weapons and Skeef (transformed into a giant beaver) get stuck. Further rifling of the erstwhile-servants quarters gave them some loose change, and they ultimately end up back in the kitchen and in the adjacent cold room. Apart from various dried and packaged foods, the only thing of note in the room is a covered well from which traces of a ghostly blue light emerge. Uncovering the well releases a swarm of odd flying creatures, looking like a bundle of bristly grey hair with two bulbous glowing eyes and a long tail. These are vicious, and attach to their victim with a bite and then sting with an electrical jolt with the tail. And they keep emerging from the well. Goro swiftly throws the lid back on the well, and the party retreats from the room before getting overwhelmed. 

GAINS

300gp

Silver Holy Symbol of Trithereon [25gp]

86cp

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Scarecrow

2 Displacer Beasts 

1 Adherer

6 Volts  

LOSSES

none

 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 71 - Asflag's Tower

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

Wealsun 2 (morning) to Wealsun 8 (evening) 

The party pokes about for some rumors of adventure, while Skeef heads off to fence the brilliant Helm of Morandril Hath he'd been lunging about since winter. Two items of interest, both linked to wizards, are learned. One rumor speaks of the mage Meldime, who awaits some unknown but mysterious cargo to arrive by ship. But said ship seems to have been lost in fog off the port at Brampton, and he is looking for help to find it.  The second speaks of strange creatures and monstrous killings in the night around the wizardly towers in the Seers District. The party opts for rumor #2, as Solcha wanted to make  contact with locals  mages and learn some new spells anyway. 

And so they find themselves at the College of Wizardry and Thaumaturgistry, meeting with the vertically challenged gnome illusionist Endoc and the frumpy wizardous Mirim.They explain one of their guild, Asflag,  appears to have disappeared from his tower; likely carried off during some summoning ritual he was known to perform. Of no real concern to the College, except now the strange creatures the wizard used to guard and staff his tower have begun to escape and terrorize the district. Which puts the unspoken agreement (to police their own) the College has with her Nobel Brilliance the Countess Belissica in peril.  So on behalf of the College the two (joined now at the last minute by the dandy mage Tullintot), offer the party 2000gp (half up front) plus whatever the can recover from Asflags tower, as payment for dealing the the monstrous menaces inside the lost wizards' abode. The two also offer rewards for recovery of two items Asflag had borrowed and never returned to them; a crystal ball of Endoc's and a carpet of flying of Mirim's. The party mumbles a non-committal answer to this last request, and negotiate 2000gp in value of spell training for Solcha before closing the deal. 

The party scouts the lost wizards' home, finding it to be a smallish tower inside a large walled estate. Noting a smear of blood near the south east corner of the wall, they surmise the electrical security system of which they were warned has failed there, allowing monsters out. And so perhaps it will let them in; and indeed they clamber over the wall and safely get inside. They find themselves in a pleasant refuge, facing an extensive water garden, with formal and vegetable garden leading towards the tower itself towards the other end of the enclosure.  Beginning their exploration, they follow a path past a series of grotesque statues, which spring to life as gargoyles and attack. They slay three, while the other three flee to the top of the tower. Dusting off, the party's next stop is a series of utility buildings along the west wall. They mostly ignore the zombie gardeners and animated garden tools found therein, and head along the path to the tower instead.  Skeef detours off into the trees to investigate some square wooden boxes; and discovers a swarm of bees forming a man shaped monster that buzzes towards the curious druid ... 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 gargoyles 

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 70 - Rescue Successful!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 7 / Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 6 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 6) 

Date/Time

Flocktime 20 (morning) to Wealsun 2 (morning)

First part of the plan is to get the still convulsing Baqua and her paladin guardian out of Tortage. The pair are booked late in the afternoon aboard a slow barge to Radigast City. With them on the way to safety, the remaining trio bides time until after midnight, then  proceed to the mansion of Lord Fhaylin Jark. Using a combination of invisible sleath, climbing and silence, they break into the lady's bedchamber, unseen and unheard. A trio of female guards stand watch, but web and silence keep them out of the way. They find the young woman chained to the bed, and quickly free the terrified captive. She is taken away by Skeef in the form of a giant eagle, while Goro and Solcha follow with fly spells. Leaving an obscuring spell behind then, they fly out over the Nyr Dyr and intercept the barge with Chanee and Baqua. Careful application of gold buys the captain and crews cooperation and silence, and a day later the party finds itself safe for the moment in the capital of the County of Urnst. 

Along the way, the young woman regains her composure and tells her tale. Her name is Janna, daughter of a Tenha chieftain. Lord Fhaylin Jark had been a guest at their manor and taken a liking to her. When rebuffed, he arranged to have her kidnapped and brought to him in Tortage.  Obviously quite traumatized, she wishes only to return home. Goro makes contact with the local temple of Heironeous, and through their good offices makes arrangements to place the woman under the protection of Her Noble Brilliancy, the Countess Belissica of Urnst.

Their knight errant duty fulfilled, the party settles into  a decent inn (The Unicorn & Tankard) so Skeef can make some local contacts for training. And to decide what to do next. There is still the Orb to be dealt with, but it is still two months until the moons are new and the Ghost Tower appears. So the party opts to settle into Radigast City for awhile and look for means to make some coin and take it a little easy as summer approaches. 

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

none

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 69 - Into the Pirate Den

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 7 / Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 6 / Fighter 6) 
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 6) 

Date/Time

Flocktime 17 (early  morning) to Flocktime 20 (morning)

... there came a shout of 'fire!' from one of the crew. There, atop the mast, floats a glowing ball of light. Aftera few moments trying to figure out what to do, Swirir bellows at one of the crew to climb up there and make sure it wasn't actually burning down the mast. Goror intervened and used Baqua's gloves to scurry up there, while Skeef transforms into a giant eagle and Solcha prepares her spells. The thing is not fire, but a ball of glowing light. It drifts away from the mast, then circles Skeef in the sky, before plunging to the deck and  crisping a crewman in a crackle of lightning. The party then turns on it, but neither Skeef nor Goro seem able to strike it. In the end, a fistfull of magic missiles from  Solcha snuffs it out forever. 

The remaining two days to Tortage are uneventful. Swirir though started to suggest he could tranship the party to another vessel, as the do-gooders might not feel welcome in the den of scum of pirates that was the capital of the Principality of Redhand. They also got the distinct impression that the dwarf was afraid they might be trouble for his business. The party opted to stay aboard of course, being intent on rescuing the lady in the cabin, but placated the captain my insisting they'd be getting off as soon as the barge docked. 

Arriving in Tortage, the party disembarked, sending Chanee and Baqua off to the somewhat clean "Mermaids Arms" inn so the halfling could finish her recovery. The other, now invisible, three followed a party of Lord Fhaylin's men who arrive at the docks to pick up the woman. Two figures stand out; a brawny, pirate-y half orc with a pirate band and a female half elf with her own better equip female guards. They carry the still comatose woman up and out of the dock district to a more upscale area close to Prince Zeech's castle. There they enter a respectable house through a guarded gate. 

Skeef turns into a sparrow to scout the windows, and was able to get an idea of the interior. He did note the kidnapped lady is now settled in a well appointed bedchamber, guarded by two of the female guards and tended by a handful of servants. He also observed two other ways into the house; a balcony leading into the Lady's bedchamber and a small hatch at the attic level. Also of note was a conservatory where a captive elf was observed, forced to play for Lord Fahlin and companions; and elsewhere in the house a dark shrine to some god, perhaps the dreaded Hextor who is strong in Tortage. 

The trio settles in to observe all the comings and going throughout the day and evening, and begins to formulate their rescue plans.  

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Will-o-Wisp

LOSSES

none

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 68 - Of Hags and Hustlers

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 5)

Date/Time

Flocktime 9 (early morning) to Flocktime 17 (daybreak)

Skeef changes form into a bloodhound to track the scent, which to no one's surprise leads them to the overgrown swamp at the far end of the island. The party cautiously enters the morass of water, mud and twisted stunted trees, looking for clues of the kidnapper or the missing Levik. They find no clues of the missing sailor, but are jumped by a pair of ettercaps lurking amidst the branches above. Alas, one strikes down Solcha with it's poison bite. Desperate to save their companion, the party quickly retreats back to the beached barge to allow the cleric and druid to rest and pray for the slow poison and neutralize poison spells they need to bring the elf back. 

That done, the party heads back to the far end of the island later the next day, followed by grumbling of the crew about abandoning poor Levik because the elf is more important ...  Delving deeper into the swamp the party hears a subtle splash of water ahead, which leads them to a muddy tunnel half filled with water. Goro and Solcha crawl in first, it leading into a muddy chamber some 30' across and 20' high. The roof is a maze of mud and tree roots, and faint light filter through. A room or cave lies off to one side at ceiling height, accessible by a tattered rope. While Goro climbs up, Solcha goes to get the rest of the party.  In the darkness of the cave, Goro finds scattered debris and bone, and a frightened young woman. She tries to talk to the cleric and approach him, but the cleric drops a silence spell, suspecting a sinister spellcaster. And the woman suddenly turns into a green hag, lunging to attack the half-orc. Down below, the other three are confronted with a wraith-like figure that enters from the tunnel.  

The battle moves down to the main water filled chamber, and after the party is successful in slaying the hag. The other figure never attacks or seems to interact directly with the party, and it just disappears after awhile. The party climbs up to the high camber again, finding loot and the half eaten remains of poor Levik.

The rest of their sojourn on the Isle of the Armiger is uneventful, and a couple of days later repairs are complete and the barge resumes its journey down river. The next day they pass Stoink, the City of Thieves, and two small sailing boats pull out of the pool to intercept. Swirir says they are probably 'customs collectors' coming to shake down the barge for bribes. The party decide they will not be shaking down this barge, but Swirir cautions them to not make it too obvious and/or bloody. Otherwise the dwarf will pay dearly next time he has to pass the city. So the party makes use of a series of hold person spells to immobilize the crews and let the boats drift away on the current. 

The next five days pass without incident, either on or off barge. They pass a wrecked barge with what appears to be 'salvagers' aboard, but they opt to ignore them and continue on. However just before dawn on the 6th day ...

GAINS

40pp

511gp

gems (500gp, 10gp, 500gp, 100gp, 1000gp)

Potion of ESP

Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location 

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Ettercap

1 Greenhag

LOSSES

Solcha (Temporarily) 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 67 - River Adventures

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 5)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 5)]

Date/Time

Flocktime 6 (morning) to Flocktime 9 (early morning) 

... Baqua's shout roused the party (and much of the crew). The halfling pointed them downriver, where below the phosphorescent glow of Phostwood itself, there hung in the air over the river a pair of beings that themselves were glowing. Angelic in look, the two drifted slowly towards the barge, ignoring all attempts to communicate. While all attention is focused on the performers to the front, Skeef hears a faint noise behind. Investigating, he notes sign that someone or something had been in Swirir's cabin. The dwarf investigates, and report the pay chest has been looted; all his gold and silver is gone. By this time, the two figures off the bow have disappeared. It all appeared to be a rather elaborate break & enter. But by whom?

The next day passes without incident and they emerge from the Phostwood once more in the open. When night falls, Skeef turns into a mouse to sneak into the cabin to further investigate their mysterious co-passenger. He finds an attractive young women of Flann appearance, apparently in a coma or similar. The cabin itself was non-descipt, but mouse-Skeef did note some bottles that could be potions or poisons. 

Next day "The Hammer" must run the Iron Gates, a narrowing where the river passes between high cliffs. Swirir assures them there is nothing to worry about; just a little more current to deal with for a few miles. But then the barge slams into a new rockfall lurking just below the water. They begin to ship water from the shattered bottom; the crew rushes to staunch the flow, and Solcha enlarges some of the damaged wood to make very temporary repairs. They make it through the Gates, and Swirir beaches the barge on the Isle of the Armiger, a small rocky island just past the Gates. There the crew starts to repair the vessel. Swirir tells the party it will be a few days to make repairs; they are welcome to flag down another passing barge to continue their if they like. But the party chooses to stay, and head off to explore the islet. 

The Isle is long and narrow, with a low ridge running down the center. A small promontory on the western side holds the tumbled remains of an old tower; to the south-east is a tangled swamp. They head for the tower, finding a barely standing lower floor overground with brush and weeds. The shattered bas-relief of an ancient knight guards the entrance. Skeef speaks to a local bird, which reports that a strange creature has recently flown(?) to the tower and has scared away ]everything else.  Proceeding cautiously, the party enters to tower. Inside is more rubble, with the faintest remains of a second floor at the rear. As they approach this, a strange creature suddenly floats overhead. It appeared to be a huge brain with tentacles dangling below it. It immediately drifts down to land atop Baqua. It wraps two tentacles about the halfling, and then proceeds to lash and bite her into paralytic unconsciousness. The party destroys the foul creature, bringing Baqua back from the brink, and return to the barge just as night begins to fall. 

Chanee convinces the distracted Swirir to let him minister the gravely injured Baqa in the captains' tent, which also allows to paladin a closer look at the sleeping beauty. It is confirmed there is no evil or magic at play; the woman is likely under the influence of some poison or drug. So he grabs samples from the bottles Skeef had seen for further analysis/investigation. 

Just as the party and crew have settled in for the night, the air is rent with a scream. Solcha catches a glimpse of something dragging away one of the crew (Levik) before it disappears beyond range of vision, The party girds it's loins and heads out into the darkness in pursuit, making a beeline for the swamp ... 

GAINS

15sp, 12gp

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Grell

LOSSES

Baqua (Temporarily) 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 66 - Fleeing From Fiendish Foes

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 5)
[Baqua Irontoes (Halfling Fighter 4 / Thief 5)]

Date/Time

Flocktime 1 (morning) to Flocktime 6 (midnight) 

As the end of training time approached for Chanee, Baqua and Solcha, preparations for departure from Redspan ramp into full gear. In addition to laying in supplies and arraigning passage, the party also makes plans so they can get out of town without being noticed by any of their 'suiters'. In particular Polistea, whom they fear the most. However, it turns out to be the cultists of Nerull who make the first move. On a day of heavy rain and mist, the party is ambushed while heading back to their inn. There is but a short flurry of spell casting and attempted assassination (plus an aerial pursuit by a giant eagle-d Skeef), with the party victorious over their black and rust clad foes. They recognize their attackers as the four who'd approached them at the inn with an offer to buy the Opal. Pulling the bodies into an alley, they loot them and then redouble efforts to get out of town. 

The party make it's escape a few days later. Wrapping the Opal in a thick sheet a lead and spells in an attempt to dampen its 'signal', they fly off the inn roof under cover of a mystical fog raised by  the druid. They head out over the Artonsamay River to meet their chosen transportation (the barge "The Hammer", skipped by the dwarf Swirir Orfang), having also booked passage on several other vessels to confuse their pursuers. 

The party is a bit surprised to find they carry, safely ensconced in the skippers cabin, another passenger. The dwarf informs them he is carrying a young women, suffering from a debilitating and untreatable ailment that leaves her in a deep coma, to her family in Tortage on the Nyr Dyv. He waves off all offers of help from the cleric and paladin, saying only she has been seen by the mightiest clerics in Redspan to no available. Their suspicions raised, the party uses a careful application of spells to learn the as yet unseen woman is not charmed, neither she or the dwarf are evil, but that the story he's told them is not quite true. The woman is in fact to be sold to a certain vicious Lord Fhaylin Jark in Tortage, to be his 'plaything'. This of course sets into motion plans to rescue the helpless woman somewhere between here and the Nyr Dyv. 

Near sunset on the second day, they observe a troubling sight on bluff above the right bank of the river.  A band of the fanatical apostates of Photlus of the Theocracy of Dimre stand prepared to execute a group of men. This offends Solcha, and she takes advantage of the low cloud and low light to surreptitiously drop a lighting bolt in the midst of the heretics, killing many and scattering the rest. 

The next day, the barge paseses into the Phostwood. The daylight passes without event. But near midnight, Baqua on watch raises a hue and cry ...  

 

GAINS

4sp, 159gp, 4pp

2x jeweled sword belts [900gp each] 

Onyx Unholy Symbol of Nerull [800gp]

Gauntlets of Swimming and Climbing 

Philter of Persuasiveness

Clerical Scroll - 2/Spiritual Hammer 

KILLS/VICTORIES

Gyarnax Jorth & Forwaith (Clerics of Nerull)

Juth & Syv (Assassins) 

8 Warriors of the Faith 

LOSSES

none

The Grim Halls (TM) - Session Summaries 21 - 27

SESSION #21

October 15, 2025

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 4)

Thunk II (Thief 5)

Chonko (Fighter 3)

Ranthor (Cleric 1)

Ranthor II (Cleric 1)

Cat (Cleric 1)

Zotten (Mystic 1)

Chunk (Cleric 1)

Encounters:     Boarmen (twice)

                        Tiger, Oil and Fire Beetles (lots!)

                        Cockatrice 

                        

Treasure:         None

                               

XP:                  None

 

Notable Moments:  The asthmatic cleric quartet

                                Chonko and the cockatrice; Cat and the alphabet soup 

                                TPK when Zotten stirs up a nest of giant beetles 

                                Chonko saved by his 'return my body to the temple for a reward" tatoo. 

                                Grumli saved by the divine intervention of Buffatuko,

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SESSION #22

October 22, 2025

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 4)

Ranthor III (Thief 1)

Gorta (Cleric 1)

Ghille, Pellcox, Worfirth, Morg (NPC Hirelings)

Gump (Linkboy) 

Encounters:     Carrion Crawler

                        Mini-Fire Elemental

                        2 Pit Vipers

                        Gargoyle

                        6 Beetlemen

                        

Treasure:         810sp, 80gp

                        silver bracelet (70gp)

                        Bag of Holding, MU Spell Scroll 

                               

XP:                  655

 

Notable Moments:  Exploding carrion crawler

                                Dead body deadliness

                                Reluctant statue rebuild, and a boon from the gods 

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SESSION #23

November 12, 2025

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 4)

Ranthor III (Thief 1)

Gorta (Cleric 1)

Ghille, Pellcox (NPC Hirelings)

Gump (Linkboy) 

Encounters:     Carapace Golem 

                        2 Beetlemen

                        

Treasure:         1200 sp, 500gp

                        Jewelry (700gp)

                        Gems (10gp, 500gp)

                        Treasure Map

XP:                  3070

 

Notable Moments:  Frank, the lost hireling everyone knows

                                Hireling picket line

                                Beetleman / priest standoff

                                Meat for the spiders

                                Treasure Map excitement

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SESSION #24

December 3, 2025

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 4)

Ranthor III (Thief 2)

Gorta (Cleric 1)

Encounters:     Crystal Statue

                        6 Fascist Kobolds 

                        Caecilia

                        2 Mantis Men

                        6 Zombies 

                        

Treasure:         Sword +1

                        Sword +1, +2 vs Spell Users

                        600sp

                        Gems (5 x 10gp, 7 x 50gp, 8 x 100gp, 1 x 1000gp)

XP:                  3165

 

Notable Moments:  Ranthor fails his climbing roll

                                Dwarf on a rope

                                Negotiating with Nazi kobolds

                                   The secret door slog 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SESSION #25

December 10, 2025

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 4)

Ranthor III (Thief 3)

Gorta (Cleric 2)

Encounters:     2x Fire Beetles

                        Rhagodessa

                        10x Lizard Men

                        Lizard Man Shaman

                        

Treasure:         Necklace (3000gp)

                        

XP:                  3580

 

Notable Moments:  Lizard Man battle, capture and escape

                                Grumli curse of boils and sores (-4 to hit) 

                             

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SESSION #26

December 17, 2025

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 5)

Ranthor III (Thief 3)

Gorta (Cleric 3)

Carmack (MU 1) [NPC]

Dolmore, Beyghild (NPC Hirelings) 

Encounters:     7x Oil Beetles

                        14 x Beetlemen

                        5x Beetlepriests

                        

Treasure:         12 x 10gp gems

                        

XP:                  535

 

Notable Moments:  Failed attempt to sneak into the beetle temple

                                Assault on the gate

                                Burning gate and temple doors

                                Final battle in the temple foyer

                                Carmack and the paralyzation staff. 

                                

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SESSION #27

December 30, 2025

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Grumli (Dwarf 5)

Ranthor III (Thief 3)

Gorta (Cleric 3)

Carmack (MU 1) [NPC]

Norcox, Beyghild, Moria (NPC Hirelings) 

Encounters:     Tiger Beetle & High Priest

                        Shadow Claok

                        5x Lizard Men

                        6x Crab Spiders

                        NPC Party

                        Tiger Beetle & Beetlepriest

                        3 Beetlemen

Treasure:         The Beetleblade (Two Handed Sword +2) 

                         7 jeweled chains (7 x 700gp)

                        40gems (100gp each) 

                        

XP:                  9763

                

 

Notable Moments:  High priest escape

                                Using the Beetleblade to bluff past encounters

                                Carmacks death on the raft

                                Ranthor and Grumli trade HP in the eggs

                                Carmack brought back to life in the eggs ... at the cost of Narcox's life!

                                Gorta dies to crab spiders

                                Talking to "Shiney" NPCs

                                 The end of the staff of paralyzation