Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 57 - Battle Royale

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

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

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

Date/Time

Readying 11 (morning) to Readying 12 (morning) 

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

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

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

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

GAINS

7 vials of Nolzur's Wonderous Pigment 

396 pp, 

1058 sp, 

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

KILLS/VICTORIES

19 Quaggoth 

2 Yeti

1 Stone Guardian  

LOSSES

None

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

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

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

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

Date/Time

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

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

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

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

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

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

GAINS

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

100gp

80sp

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Leucrotta 

LOSSES

None

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

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Date/Time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 gorgon

3 giant poisonous snakes [defeated] 

LOSSES

Baqua 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 54 - A Disastrous Success

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

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

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

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

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

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 cultists of Moloch

LOSSES

none

 

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

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

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

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

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

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

GAINS

51gp

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

Unopened iron chest 

Captured Cultist 

KILLS/VICTORIES

7 cultists of Moloch (1 captured)

10 lemures

LOSSES

none

 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 52- The Black Chapel

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

[Svagola (Human Fighter 4)]

Date/Time
Needfest 577 Sunday - Needfest 577 Earthday

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

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

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

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

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

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 cultists of Moloch

4 lemures

LOSSES

none

 

Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 51- Back to the Prime

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 6)

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

[Chanee (Human Paladin 3)]

Date/Time

????? - Needfest Sunday

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

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

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

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

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 shadows

LOSSES

none