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The Doorchime and the Troll

15 Saturday Oct 2022

Posted by fictivite in Uncategorized

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Tags

elf, humans, play report

Several mercenaries and opportunists were at loose ends in the wake of the big wedding that ended the taxation dispute on the coach road between Seaview and Crosscurrent. The elves in particular felt a certain unease, a resonant disruption in the natural order of the woods.

The Scoundrels

In the walled coastal city of Seaview, several scoundrels were sheltering in a tavern as rain poured down outside. Captain Rowull of the City Watch led in some of his guards. One stood on a table and announced danger for pay, and interested parties gathered in the back corner. Of the various riff raff, five were tough enough to get hired for the job.

  • Craig (the Wick). Human fire wizard, a tough criminal.
  • Braddus Wraithbelt. Dwarven skirmisher, topsider, and alchemist with a talent for harvesting monster bits, a sky dwarf infected with gold fever.
  • Leftwin. Elven scout and oracle, haunted by a spirit guide.
  • Isildea Thelen. Elven spellwitch flesh shaper.
  • Elfas. Elven warrior, skilled in woodscraft.

Mild-mannered Craig became The Wick, a wanted bandit who profited from opportunistic violence during the recent unpleasantness, when he donned his darkened goggles. Fortunately, the wanted posters don’t get his nose right, and if he isn’t wearing his goggles he is difficult to recognize. Craig’s home was Seaview.

Braddus and Leftwin formed an unlikely partnership of grudging respect, as they were both skilled woodland skirmishers during the conflict. They fought on the side of Seaview together. Braddus was not forthcoming about his history, Leftwin came up in the Elkglades elven enclave for exiles and malcontents.

Isildea partnered with Elfas, her bodyguard. Both hailed from the haunted and barbaric Elkglades.

The Job

No time like the present! The scoundrels hefted their packs and bindles and followed the captain to the Dockside Barracks, cranking open a metal trapdoor leading down some rough steps to a former seatunnel that was blocked off from the tides. Braddus was weighed down with 90 feet of rope and a “climbing harness” just in case.

The mission was to go through a few tunnels to the Doorchime Shrine. The Doorchime was a massive enchanted battering ram, a siege weapon kept in an underground shrine when not needed. The roof of the shrine had a giant trapdoor that could be cranked open, and the chains could haul the battering ram up for retrieval. The trapdoor was barred from below, and the captain did not want to damage the door and its mechanism by trying to cut through it from above. The last two groups sent down to shoot the bolt didn’t come back.

Captain Rowull offered 50 gp each to go into the tunnels, and 500 gp for any survivors to split. The scoundrels agreed, and got 50 gp each, then they followed the captain and some guards down a long and rough tunnel to a more open cavern.

The Approach

Grim guards were bandaged and battered, working on some mantlets that could quickly barricade the tunnel deeper in. A cave entry opposite that tunnel was mostly blocked with stones, and the other side smelled of the sea. There were racks of polearms, and a rack with some shoddy firebombs.

Craig sidled over to the firebombs, considering filching some of them, but he was too closely watched. He bought one for 10 gp.

Isildea spotted a mysterious gray robed figure unobtrusively settled off to the side, and approached him, sensing he was a wizard. The one-eyed spellcaster introduced himself as Davish and said something cryptic about keeping an eye on them. He had a staff with an octopoid headpiece.

The captain gave them directions, telling them to stay to the left. They would pass the pool, and cross a channel, then they would reach the shrine.

The scoundrels formed up as the guards scraped the mantlets out of the way, and they headed down the dark tunnel as Craig brandished a torch in the middle of the marching order.

Darkness and Water

The scoundrels reached the Flickweather Sump, rainwater draining through vents high above to fall into the pool where locals came to fish sometimes. Damselflies zipped around in the shadows over the pool that faintly glowed with anemones. To cross from one walkway to the other, they had to put down a rickety and narrow footbridge leaning up against the wall; they had to hold their breaths to cross, and didn’t want to attempt it in a hurry.

They came to a dented metal door, and Braddus shoved it open; the hall beyond was redolent with troll stink. Grimly resolved, they found a narrower 5 foot corridor that a troll had squeezed through several times, smearing the walls. They followed to the left, and found a last stand for a group of guards; shattered mantlets and bits of the guards were smeared around the armory watch station, but the bodies had been dragged away.

Leaving that dead end, they followed the corridor the other way, somewhat relieved when it opened up to a wider hall. That relief faded as they came to a bridge, about three feet over a channel of still, dark water. Gathering their nerve, they crossed the bridge one at a time, intensely aware of the ripples in the still water, watchful for trollsign.

The Doorchime Shrine

The high-ceilinged shrine was clearly better craftsmanship than any area they had yet seen, columns rising into the darkness, and chains hanging from a mechanism in the columns to support the long battering ram. A statue of the god of war was braced by the head of the Doorchime ram.

Elfas watched their back trail, and Leftwin drifted over to keep an eye on the only other exit to the room. Braddus examined the mechanism and determined the controls and works were hidden behind the walls nearby. Craig started looking around for the secret access, but Isildea opened her uncanny elven senses and spotted the triggers. The secret door was worked into a shield in the shieldwall, poking the carving’s eyes opened the shield. Braddus and Isildea entered the musty works room, figuring out the mechanism to unbolt the ceiling trapdoor.

Ambush in the Dark

The troll burst out of the darkness in a wickedly stealthy ambush! Elfas had sharp elven senses, and he spotted the troll at once, snapping into action with his deadly elven blade as he called out to the others.

As the troll raced towards Elfas, arrows arced into the monster, and Elfas fought with cunning bladework to batter and baffle the creature, then leaped back out of the way with uncanny grace as Craig hurled his firebomb at the troll. Craig used his fire magic to guide the errant bomb back on course, and it burst to slather flame all over the screaming horror.

The elves rained arrows on the creature, and Craig used his fire magic to bolster the flames that ate into its regenerative powers. Elfas emptied a lantern’s oil onto the flailing troll torch. As strain took its toll on Craig, Isildea touched him, breathing the vitality of the deep woods into the flagging wizard. He rallied, and provoked an inferno from the troll fire, finishing it off decisively.

Victory and Spoils

Both Leftwin and Braddus had designs on the various troll bits they could sell or use. While the fire was dying down to manageable levels, Braddus cranked the secret mechanism to unlock the trapdoor above so it could be opened from the outside. The scoundrels gathered up some hot magical troll soot, and some of the knobbier bones, wrapping them in coats to make the heat tolerable to carry.

They followed their trail back to the entry cavern. Braddus sold his still-hot troll bones to Davish the wizard for 100 gp, and the wizard hastened off to do something with them while they were redolent with the troll’s life and the magic of its death. Captain Rowull was good for his word, and as soon as the City Watch tested the winches from above and opened the trapdoor, he paid them 500 gp that they split for 100 gp each.

  • Craig got 3 experience.
  • Braddus got 250 gp, so his gold fever granted him 2 Ledger.
  • Isildea formed an odd connection to the one-eyed wizard Davish, gaining 1 experience.
  • The other elves drifted through the episode, intrigued and contributing but not connecting.

Some reflections: the players made characters together, so I had no idea what they would play ahead of time. The mix of races and abilities worked out really well! The fire wizard was spotlighted for using magic to defeat the troll that otherwise would have been a much scarier challenge. The elves used their Uncanny ability to locate the secret mechanism easily, and to stay out of the way of the troll’s massively dangerous attack, and their archery carried the day for dealing out the needed damage to stop the troll. The dwarf was a great support, doling out additional attacks with his combat ability and looking over the mechanism, as well as carrying heavy gear and taking point. The players did a fine job of pooling their characters’ racial and chosen distinctives in a successful and entertaining collaboration. I planned a shorter adventure, since we were making characters together too; we started on time and ended on time.

Return to the Pillar of Flame

15 Saturday May 2021

Posted by fictivite in Uncategorized

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Tags

elf, humans, play report

  • Adil Nadhi. Knight sailor, captain of a small ship.
  • Cedvik Nightingale. Wizard criminal. Sight magic.
  • Elden. Wizard scholar. Travel magic.
  • James Thorne. Scoundrel criminal.
  • Robin. Elven Scout, Woodscraft.

Kan Vazaz. Scoundrel criminal. Remained on the boat for this one.

IRL 5.8.21

The Way In

As the scoundrels were gathering wood to build their miniature crane, they encountered Robin. The elf had his own boat and had made landfall on the island to refresh his water supply. He agreed to join them on their expedition, defeating the undead was a worthy goal. He waved off the idea of a share of treasure. Vazaz elected to remain with the ship and make sure their exit plan was secure in case they riled up something and had to leave in a hurry.

Hefting the big pulley repurposed from the ship rigging, and the support posts and parts, the scoundrels hiked back to the stone temple over the Pillar of Flame. They entered cautiously through the secret door.

Riled Up

The emberdead milled around in the entry chamber. The raiders cleared them out quickly, knocking a pile down before the energies destabilized and the rest fell apart. Cedvik once again focused his magical energies through his amulet; since his had been destroyed, he had borrowed Thorn’s amulet the day before. (Vazaz also loaned out his Simmerbrew to the active adventurers.) Once again, Cedvik miscalculated the energies, and detonated the overtaxed charm.

Moving on to the doorway, they saw another big batch in the hallway. Cedvik threw up an illusion to deflect their attention, and the raiders considered how best to proceed. Another battle, or wait for them to lose interest and discorporate or wander off? They withdrew to the jungle outside and rested for a while, recovering from incidental injuries from the fight.

When they returned, the hallway was fairly clear. They hustled to the balcony without further incident, building the crane while posting guard to get warning if another wave of emberdead closed in.

Staff Meeting

Thorn was the lucky raider who got to ride the slowly swaying tarred rope down into the heat mirage to retrieve the Emberstaff suspended in its magic, about a hundred feet below. Adil and Robin handled the windlass, and Elden used his travel magic to steady the swinging rope, while Cedvik posted lookout.

Shrugging off the rippling waves of heat that dried out the soaked and tarred rope, Thorn endured the long trip down. He managed to get the rope swinging enough for him to snatch the staff without being thoroughly cooked himself. As the tar began to melt on the rope, causing sticky problems, he struggled to climb while also holding the staff. His training as an acrobat thief were invaluable as he hauled himself up the rope, keeping the momentum going even as the windlass crew dealt with jams and delays as the makeshift equipment got gummed up by wet and tarry rope exposed to heat.

Thorn reached the balcony with the prize, only lightly toasted. Lady Urli, the scholar who funded the expedition, was eager to claim the Emberstaff on the spot. Adil hesitated, considering they were still in danger (and he was unclear on the difference between a scholar and wizard, so the stakes of her getting the staff were certainly unknown.) The rest of the raiders shrugged, and Urli insisted, so she got the staff and demanded they escort her out.

Tactical Withdrawal

The Pillar of Flame was sluggishly rousing defenses, but the raiders got clear. They carried the Emberstaff, the pulley, and enough of the steaming rope to have some insurance in case rough weather or disaster complicated their voyage home. (They abandoned the rest of the equipment used to make the crane.)

Reaching the ship, they planned their next move. Urli was done going into the Pillar of Flame, she got the Emberstaff and was keen to get to work studying it. Cedvik asked the other scoundrels to give him one of the enchanted amulets to repel the undead, but no one else was willing to give theirs up. Urli offered Cedvik her fancier, sturdier amulet in exchange for a chunk of deathbrittle the size of her head. He took the offer under consideration, accepting a bag of the proper size (but a bag made of leather only, with no protective properties; just to give him a sense of the size.)

The raiders remained interested in recovering the Ashlord’s amulets and solving the mystery of the resting place of the Lovely Three.

Scouting the Pillar of Flame

In the morning, the raiders returned through the secret passage. This time, Cedvik had a different plan. Rather than chopping their way down through the Pillar of Flame’s many dangers, he would use a ritual to project his point of consciousness. The ritual rendered him insensible to the waking world, requiring all his concentration, but he could skim through solid matter. He would not be able to see magical energies, but he could see in the dark, and pick up visual information for about ten minutes moving at high speeds. Once the raiders entered the Pillar of Flame, he arranged himself and sent his magical vision through the stone corridors.

He reported his findings with a sing-song tune; he could sing, but not hear the other raiders’ responses.

Second Level

  • He found a sacrificial table and shrine with expensive knives and jewelry, guarded by creepy statues.
  • Also, a strange table with spikes on it. A kneeling shrine for priests to prepare themselves.
  • A long hall, supported by bone pillars, where cultists could ritually complete the journey from life to death. At the end, a reflective black plate of Deathbrittle, the end of the road.
  • The blocky corridor in the center wound down around the central shaft, leading to the third level.

Third Level

  • A statue of the Ashlord overlooked a large chamber deep with crematorium dust where emberdead uneasily slumbered, forming and crumbling. To one side, a crystal chamber deeply crusted with deathbrittle.
  • Off to the other side, there was an audience hall of sorts, where someone could stand at a podium and address the gathered followers. Behind curtains, a long chamber with more reflective deathbrittle plates mounted on the wall.
  • Through an ornate door connected to that chamber, Cedvik found what appeared to be a tomb kennel for the tarry hounds, and through a connected door, the burial chamber for the Master of the Hunt. Quiescent, the undead monster was buried with a blade matching the depiction of the Sundering Blade on the first level.
  • On the far side of the level, a wide and crooked hall housed thousands of corpses stacked in standing position, waiting for the necromancers to wake them and summon an army. Another of the black wall-mounted plates was in this chamber, flanked by braziers.

Fourth Level

The duration of the spell was running out, so Cedvik withdrew hastily to his body and awoke.

Sobered by the dangers and treasures below, the raiders withdrew to form a plan of attack for their next expedition.

3 experience for the humans, 0 for the elf.

The Ember Staff

08 Saturday May 2021

Posted by fictivite in Uncategorized

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Tags

humans, play report

  • Adil Nadhi. Knight sailor, captain of a small ship.
  • Cedvik Nightingale. Wizard criminal. Sight magic.
  • Elden. Wizard scholar. Travel magic.
  • James Thorne. Scoundrel criminal.
  • Kan Vazaz. Scoundrel criminal.

The volcanic island of Pallspreader is studded with deathbrittle, impossible to settle because of the restless dead. The Pillar of Flame is an underground fortress from which the Ashlord, an undead warlord, ruled a modest seafaring territory with emberdead aboard blackened ships.

Urli, a scholar from Tecnica, believes she has found the location of the Pillar of Flame. The fortress was buried in stone and warded by a Tecnican warlord to assure none of the slain Ashlord’s lore or artifacts would escape the site to cause further trouble. Urli offered the scoundrels 200 gp, talismans called Amulets of the Six Sages that would help protect them from the emberdead, and a Simmerbrew healing potion each to come along. Also, she knows of the way in, and has studied. All she wants is the Emberstaff, and the scoundrels can keep anything else they find.

Enter the Pillar of Flame

The ship dropped anchor off the coast, and the scoundrels (along with Urli) sloshed ashore and headed through the jungle to the stone temple built to cap and restrain the Pillar of Flame. Urli conducted a ritual to disarm the entry, and they pushed their way through the big stone door. They sensed their intrusion reverberating through the place, and the emberdead began to pull together to assault them.

They passed a big portrait frieze of the Emberlord by the entrance. Further in, they found a balcony overlooking a massive 120 foot drop, a vertical shaft that appeared to only be accessible from the balcony at the top and entry at the bottom. In the center, a dome of embers radiated a heat mirage up the center of the shaft, and at the center of the mirage at the bottom hung what appeared to be the Emberstaff.

Depictions of Treasure

The heat was daunting, so they decided to look for another way down. Continuing on, they passed three works of art on the wall depicting the Emberstaff, the Master of the Pack’s Sundering Blade, and the Amulets of the Lovely Three. Urli gave them a little background on each, delighted to show off her research.

She told them the Lovely Three were undead consorts to the Ashlord who were slain beyond recall by the Witherfeather Archers, then entombed somewhere in the Pillar of Flame along with the Emberheart amulets the Ashlord crafted for them. Apparently one of the craftsmen forced to work on the Pillar of Flame escaped, and before he died of madness and injury, he whispered something about the access to the tomb of the Lovely Three being guarded by the burning blood of the slain monarchs.

Emberdead managed to shamble towards them. The slow-moving and suffering manifestations were easily dispatched.

Behind the Door

The raiders reached an intersection with two doors and stairs leading further down. The door appeared to have a chunk of polished deathbrittle in the center. They hauled it open and cautiously went inside, discovering two pillars made of bones as well as two artistic frames. The frames contained crowns on skulls embedded in the artwork; perhaps these were the slain monarchs.

As the raiders puzzled over these elements, more emberdead arrived. The raiders closed the stone door, but the emberdead were able to transport through the deathbrittle at the center of the door, entering the room and taking them by surprise. Cedvik concentrated his magic through the amulet, boosting its effect on the emberdead to damage several at once with a single burst rather than repelling them. In the fierce fighting, Adill struck one of the bone pillars, attempting to shatter it and possibly disrupt the undead.

The Tarry Hound

A horrible tarry hound slid out of the pillar’s center and assaulted the raiders, putting them in desperate peril. The wavering energies of the emberdead gave out, and they collapsed into heaps of ash as the raiders finished off the tarry hound–but before the battle was over, Cedvik lashed out at the other pillar–and another tarry hound emerged.

The horrific monsters occasionally concentrated their energies and regenerated their vitality, and also in the heat of combat they burst into flame, causing further damage. The raiders struck them with weapons, only to have those weapons tugged out of their grip by the tarry substance of the bodies. (They recovered most of their weapons.)

Battered and keenly feeling their mortality, the raiders struggled with whether to retreat or double down. As they pulled back to the hallway, Thorne tried to open another stone door, but the rest of the raiders pulled him along as they retreated down the stairs, deeper into the Pillar of Flame rather than heading for the exit.

The surviving tarry hound gave harrowing chase. They threw canteens of water at it, but the flame was only dimmed and not extinguished. Cedvik attempted to concentrate power through his amulet again and it burst, overloaded.

Despairing of outrunning the beast, they turned on it and managed to slay the foul thing. Breathless and harried, they had a rapid conference on next moves, and decided to head back towards the surface.

Consolation Prize

Returning to the skulls and crowns, Thorne and Vazaz broke the skulls and pulled the crowns free; a nice payday. Reluctant to retreat, they pushed open the other stone door and discovered a chamber with another portrait of the Ashlord–and stairs up. They discovered the interior side of a secret door built on the exterior, a way to enter and exit without disrupting the seal that was supposed to hold the Pillar of Flame inert below.

The scuffed-up raiders retreated to Adill’s ship to rest, refill their sheaths for weapons lost, and then put together a block and tackle. Using that and the tarred rope, and maybe some quenching magic to keep the rope and frame from setting fire, perhaps they could get down to the Emberstaff first thing on the next expedition…

Book Keeping

  • Thorne gave his amulet to Cedvik, so he could tune to it overnight and use it on the next expedition.
  • They got 2 crowns worth 500 gp each.
  • They build a block and tackle, and pull together about 150 feet of tarred rope.
  • 3 experience each.

Housewarming Party

12 Monday Apr 2021

Posted by fictivite in Uncategorized

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Tags

humans, play report

Played 4.10.21 IRL. Humans!

Adill Nadhi. Knight sailor, captain of a small ship.

Cedvik Nightingale. Wizard criminal. Sight magic.

Elden. Wizard scholar. Travel magic.

Evict the Lord of Gums from Spike Isle

Magistrate Jaron, ruler of Tecnica Isle, hired these scoundrels to go to Spike Isle and wipe out the Lord of Gums and his necromatic cult before they established a foothold. Fr. Inmon went along to confirm the Lord of Gums was actually killed; the adventurers left him with the first mate of the boat and the crew, to assure they had an exit even if things went terribly wrong inside.

An interrogated prisoner explained that there were two entrances to the underground lair; one that suckbats used to come and go, and one the cultists used (and guarded.)

Entry

The adventurers chose to enter through the suckbat vent, with Adhill leading the way after Cedvik enchanted his allies so they could all see in the dark. He spotted a resting suckbat, and took a swipe at it with his hammer–the whole swarm rose up and attacked. Elden blinked out to safety as the others managed a “fighting withdrawal” with Cecvik popping a startling flash as they retreated. They crushed most of the suckbats, and the rest withdrew.

After resting for about an hour, they made another attempt, this time pushing past the few remaining suckbats and entering the lair, following the winding unfinished stone corridors.

Home Defense

While the others lagged behind, Cedvik scouted ahead, using his magic to see in the darkness while the others relied on torchlight. As Cedvic crossed a chamber, a droprock almost impaled him. His screams of terror attracted slavering servitors, undead with massive claws and lamp-like eyes. Two of them raced out of the darkness. As Adill and Elden battled one, Cedvik hurled the droprock at the other and ran for his life.

The servitors were driven back, and the adventurers followed Cedvik, catching up. They saw lights and heard chanting, so they followed the corridor. Cedvik scouted again, but he got too close, and the robed cultists spotted him. They attacked.

Again Cedvik flashed the incoming cultists, disorienting them so the adventurers quickly won. As they knocked the last cultist down, they realized there was only a door between them and the Lord of Gums (and his slavering servitors.)

The Lord of Gums

The necromancer was tending a ritual braizer full of deathbrittle and other components, seeding the chamber to make a geode of death in this lair. He would be able to reanimate and empower a much larger force, should he succeed.

One of the slavering servitors that had been following them attacked, and some of the adventurers fought it off while Adill struggled with the servitor guarding the necromancer. Elden tried to magically hurl the brazier into the necromancer, but dark forces countered and rebuffed him. One of the cultists spasmed and became a slavering servitor on the spot, and a rush of power flowed through the necromancer and struck down Adill; reeling, the warrior tried to fight on, but the pain of his wounds overcame him.

Retreat

As the Lord of Gums channeled more dark power into his servitors to increase their unholy armor, the two wizards snatched up their fallen warrior and managed to stagger out of the lair, collapsing once to catch their breath before finishing the mad rush to the ship. Once they had some water between the haunted shore and the ship, they took stock of the situation. With Adill badly hurt, it seemed best to retreat and reconsider their tactics.

Experience: 3 each.

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