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Post by warlord476 on Aug 20, 2016 0:50:03 GMT -5
TI1.12: Lizardmen can't jump, or, Battle beyond the swamp The characters for this session:
Fennec, Level 2 wizard (no specialty)
Cauleigh, Level 2 warrior (background: literate townsman)
Jotunn, Level 5 warrior (background: hunter; talent: tracker)
Crompton, Level 2 rogue (background: Runebearer; talent: roguery)
and NPC Hazel, their little pony
An introduction to Jake’s town
We rejoin the four restorers of Ravensdown as they recuperate in Jake’s Town, just over the southern border from Burchardt’s demesne. Except for Crompton all are wounded.
Jake’s Town is a cluster of simple huts on the trail south: a few of which could be described as houses. Jake’s house is the ‘big house’ and is a solid story-and-a-half, mostly stone walled. Joe’s forge is partly stone, and a few other huts have some stone in the walls. Otherwise walls are wattle-and-daub or timber-and-lathe. Structural timber is solid. All are sturdily thatched with the local reed. Given the season and the natural dampness of the hamlet it would take a real effort to set any of the huts ablaze.
A few small patches of garden lie between the hamlet of 61 souls, and a stream that runs more or less due south here. Across a sturdy stone and timber bridge lie cultivated fields and a few farmhouses. Beyond those, the ground becomes swampy though two razor-back ridges, also running north-south and surrounded by stony hillocks, separate the fields from the real swamp.
There’s a camp of fisherfolk nearby Jake’s Town, but across the river. Almost everyone distrusts fisherfolk, but even in the first few days the Dwarves have made contact with them and have heard about lizardmen in the swamp, and have the offer of a boat-ride into the swamp or to the River.
The defenders await the call
In the meantime, the four are lodging with Joe Smith who repairs their metal armour as best he can. They also buy a whole new set of swamp boots from the fisherfolk, to replace the battered boots they walked in with.
Jotunn cleans the arquebus, and Joe Smith refurbishes the looted arbalest that it can be used normally. Fennec is pencilled in as arbalestier. Crompton makes an effort to befriend the pony they stole from disgraced Mayor Bolton, and announces its name is Hazel. Jotunn makes friends with Hazel more readily.
At that point in their stay, they are approached by Sir Cully of Lucas, who needs bounty-hunters.
Don’t call me baron, I work for a living
Cully Lucas, bluff and direct, looks more like a sergeant at arms than a knight; his voice is roughened by drink and shouting. He is called away on campaign across the River so needs the Lizardmen in the swamp hunted down, along with anything that’s bossing them. The bounty will be 5 gold per distinct trophy:
“They don’t have ears, right? But something that only comes one per Lizardman… a left toe or what have you.”
Cauleigh, who is doing the talking, confers privately with the other three. It seems light, but on the other hand if they bargain for free board, food, repair and so on it might be adequate.
Cully agrees and extends the offer to include assistance getting to Fingold – escort across the first leg of Quisinias to the west. But then he assigns the Dwarves the task of getting the village defensible and protecting the villagers. To go with that, he’ll give them authority of corvèe. It’ll be like being taxmen and lords all rolled into one.
Well it’s a big package but they accept. Cully passes over a worn, silver-headed baton, and rides off to join his baron’s campaign, and the Dwarves divvy up responsibilities, and begin meeting villagers.
Never volunteer – old jungle saying
Not surprisingly the villagers are hard to convince about following orders or preparing defences. Jotunn helps Cauleigh gain their attention [they share 7 AP each]. Shamefacedly three pikes and a few tatty gambesons are drawn out of hiding, and seven villagers are admitted to the defence army. Three other sturdy men seem fit for it, but they resist the urgings of Cauleigh and Jotunn and Crompton.
Now to see what can be done for defence!
Sprightly, winsome little Siembud (aged approximately 13) tours the Dwarves around the hamlet and they learn what is explained above. The pendulous-breasted matrons of Jake’s town look on and mutter darkly. Siembud lives in the big house, Jake’s house, where dwells Siella the hamlet’s matriarch. Later Siembud organises her friends to go out, picnic-style, to feed the wood-cutting detail.
It seems to Fennec that walls could be fashioned connecting up the hamlet’s huts in a crude barrier. And it seems to Jotunn and Cauleigh that an abatis of sharp stakes could surround Jake’s town to force attackers to pause in range of crossbows. That will quickly run through all of the local wood, so Crompton cheerfully agrees to bring Hazel and help Jotunn and some villagers cut more lengths, suitable for spears.
They’ve decided not to defend the bridge, since Lizardmen can swim the stream easily; and that the further farms will be evacuated when comes the time.
The other major parts of the defence are making spears – Crompton pays Joe for iron supplies and the smith gets to work – and building a lookout onto Jake’s house since that is sturdy enough for it.
The wood-cutting party is not without incident
Armed with bow (Jotunn) and axe (Crompton) two Dwarves escort a party of villages west, to cut timber. By all accounts the woods might run into the next demesne. Siembud volunteers to cook the midday bread rolls, along with three friends of hers. Hopefully their mothers will help! The four girls organise a picnic and follow the menfolk. Hazel the pony is there as well, to help drag the timber back.
The spring woods are peaceful and the menfolk busy themselves with bow-saws and hatchets, cutting suitably straight poles. Jotunn can see that mounted men have ridden the area extensively though not very recently. There’s an odour of charcoal, too.
The bread rolls are more akin to damper than muffin, but they are sustaining. But then the picnic is interrupted. Horses can be heard. Five men at arms ride slowly out of the woods and rein in not far away.
The two sides study one another for a time. The wood-cutters are nervously silent and the girls are pale with fear. On their side, the men at arms wear livery that probably began life as a common colour. It has weathered poorly and varies from brown-red to dull purple. Their gear is worn but cared for and their horses are not lathered or blowing. Each favours an open face kettle helm and has an armour-breaking sword – a braquemard, falchion, hand-and-half or estoc hangs at the cantle of each.
“Who’s your spokesman?” asks Jotunn, reasonably. He’s aware of his deficiency as a spokesman.
The riders don’t reply right away but their glances suggest a grizzled veteran might be leader. After a time, the man jerks his chin at the group and asks:
“What’s doing here?”
“Move along” says Crompton in as menacing a voice as he can manage, which is to say, not menacing at all.
“Hey there girls, looking for a good time?” asks one of the youngest men, ignoring Crompton. He knees his horse a little wider so as to get a better angle on them.
“Like I said, move along!” Crompton repeats.
So challenged, the man studies Crompton, swings down off his horse and draws an Estoc. It will punch through Crompton’s Lamellar like a needle into a pincushion.
Combat!
Crompton (bravely) decides to tough out round 1 to see what the balance of the fight is, and lull the warrior into a false idea of his tactics. Crompton’s superior weapon (the ancestor axe) allows a draw, both taking a few hits and some damage to armour.
Then Crompton uses his strength and low centre of gravity to get inside the Estoc’s range and overbalance the warrior. It doesn’t quite work, and he takes another nick through his armour.
The third round, he feints to do the same move then shifts to a sweep, and [with a big DARO on DEX] gets right past the Estoc and topples his target. The warrior is severely hurt and surrenders.
“Load Bugel up boys, I reckon the Dwarf made his point,” the grizzled spokesman growls.
Instead of looting, Crompton backs off cautiously and the other four men at arms help their comrade back into the saddle.
“You’re tough… do you ride?” asks the grizzled veteran, preparing to depart.
“Never tried! But I could do…” responds Crompton!
“Ah well…” and so saying the men at arms withdraw quietly.
[Later, Cauleigh’s player, who had been biting his tongue, asked why they didn’t attempt recruiting the men at arms. Crompton had plenty of cash on him. On the other hand, any CHR roll would tend to push confrontation into hostile action – as Crompton’s effort showed! So probably the best outcome possible was achieved.]
The fisherfolk map shows some possibilities
With work in Jake’s town well under way Cauleigh and Fennec visit the fisherfolk to see if they can learn anything further and if they will ally with the villagers.
Headman Pedrocollo, floreate but dishevelled, strokes his mustachios and regrets:
“We are river folk… we go with the flow. If these Lizardmen come, we move on.
“But hey,” he continues, “you following on the trail of the adventurer? He visit us a while ago, we show him map.”
“Map?” asks Cauleigh alertly.
At this point the GM proudly hands over the player map from Evening Session #2, demonstrating he does prep a little. The Dwarves copy the map and take it back, with thanks.
Although one option is to boat around and hit the swamp direct, Crompton wisely suggests they “clean the trail” so everyone benefits and an escape route is gained.
The trail marked allows the four to plan more than heretofore. The common consensus is that there is an undead menace, really close to the farms, so they ready silver weapons, spells, holy water and pouches of silver powder. And after inspecting and encouraging their trainees and builders, and a few last days of recuperation, they are ready.
Cleaning the trail
It’s a fine day, for the season, and the four make good time over the bridge, across the farm lanes (carts, not wagons, are in evidence) and across the barren verge beyond, which in wintertime will become bog. A crumbled stand of rocks that might have once been a barrow stands clearly visible.
As the Wight rises and attempts to close three crossbows snap, and then various silver weapons are wielded. Fennec snaps off a minor cantrip that enchants Jotunn’s axe, and the fight is over.
Fennec exclaims, “Stone! My wall-builders have been short on stone since day one! I’ll just shoot back and tell them….”
While Fennec trots back to Jake’s town, the others heft stones aside and dig down. The Wight guarded a cluster of throw-knives… and nothing else. They are filthy with mud and damp and have lost their edge but are undamaged by time and rust. Crompton tentatively calls dibs on them, since they are lighter than a crossbow – and 200% cooler. When Fennec returns, he checks them for magic, and confirms that they are.
A trail over the ridges is found
The next landmark is a Lone Grave. But before they reach it, Jotunn’s wilderness eye picks out an older trail branching off from their own old trail, southward. It runs to the closest ridgeback, suggesting an alternative route.
“This is perfect weather, we have maybe six hours of clear daylight. We might not get such a chance again. Let’s try it,” Jotunn suggests.
They follow him along the faintest of trails, up through hillocks and knolls, onto the ridge. He cuts sign of reptile life, and they are all bothered a little by midges. With around two hours of full daylight left, they make a notch on top of the ridgeback, allowing an easy path to the descent.
Looking north and east, beyond a ridge line, they can see the swamplands laid out before them. The swamp trees and flax grow too thick to pick out the ruined temple that’s supposed to be in the midst. But it doesn’t look as though there’s a dry path in.
Pressing on down, they cross the lower slope of the second razorback ridge and reach the edge of the swamp. It’s a scramble down more than a steep drop, but it confirms that this is not a great escape route and that there is no easy path. The hills are blocking the sun now and it’s time to find camp before it gets fully dark.
They camp up on the notch, munching their waybread in a cold camp. One Dwarf guards per shift and they tiredly head back next dawn.
Back on the main trail: the first bounties are taken!
It only takes an hour descending swiftly, now they know the trail. Again, Jotunn cuts sign of a few large reptiles but nothing tackles them. The lowlands are still fog-bound.
Swinging hard right they soon meet the lone grave rising up through the mist, an obelisk or similar, wherein runes are deeply carven. Crompton spends a few minutes trying to decipher them, then gives up with a shrug.
But a very short distance east of that, Jotunn and Crompton are swept off their feet by two crocodilian beasts!
Combat!
Cauleigh instinctively crashes his axe onto the croc bearing Jotunn away, and that sturdy Dwarf wriggles clear.
Crompton is in deep trouble, but he uses his Bic Flic inside the Croc’s gullet, and the reptile vomits him out and flees. [40 bonus AP for a life-saving reaction!]
Cauleigh then must needs take the brunt of two Lizardmen, since Fennec (wisely) tucks in behind. He survives, thanks to his sturdy breastplate. Then Jotunn joins him, and to prevent the Lizardmen “setting” Fennec hits one with an OGA. He’s now nearly powerful enough to drive one away, but it still works as intended and it takes terrible damage trying to get to Fennec. Crompton joins the fray, casting Bic Flic onto his mace-head (mainly for effect). Then as the remaining two Lizardmen retreat, Fennec uses another OGA to draw them back, and they kill those as well!
Loot, and Jake’s town militia grows
Feeling that the 15-minute working day has been well-spent Fennec suggests a rest back at Jake’s town so they retreat after taking trophy feet and looting the Lizardmen ambush-site of a spool of good wire, and one sturdy spear. In fact any and all Lizardman weapons are looted since the villagers have so few.
The success of their hunt draws one of the three sturdy shirkers onto the militia. Two other villagers admit to being able to use hunting bows. The militia number ten! And just as importantly Joe Smith has finished adding spear-heads to shafts and with eight pike- or spearmen drills look more realistic.
A purple-clad taxbringer arrives
“A stranger approaches! South!”
The lookout system is working, and militia are hurried to posts while women and children stand ready to rush into Jake’s house, the one defensible strongpoint.
Things are tense although the stranger is alone and afoot, for he wears purple livery. Doesn’t that sound like the men at arms? But there is no danger.
“I am the tax-bringer for Sir Cully, serving House V’laskas. My name is Barad-dur.”
“An ill-omened name!”
“Could be worse, could be ‘Mordor’” quips Fennec.
“I bring bounty, and I’m also to see how you are getting on with your power of corvèe.”
Barad-dur admires their defence efforts – “splendid, splendid” – and less fulsome about the bounties. “Hmm, fifteen gold,” he mutters, flicking the coins off a much larger stack.
He bids them good-day and heads south into the river mist again.
“If only I had more iron, I could be makin’ more’a them spear-heads” Joe comments.
“Crap!”
Crompton runs to Hazel, clambers onto her back, and [with an excellent DEX SR] trots after the tax-bringer. He orders the iron. Then he returns to Jake’s town and the 15 gold bounty repays him for the earlier payment to Joe.
The Lizardmen attack!
With barely a pause for breath, or so it seems, an alarm goes up! Lizardmen, three bands of them, are swarming to the stream and bridge! They have overrun the farms and it is too late to save anyone!
“Pikemen with me! Archers to the walls!” Cauleigh hollers.
One group of Lizardmen has the bridge and is speeding over. They can cover ground faster than Dwarf. A second group is north of the bridge and a third group is south of the bridge and slightly closer to the village than the second group.
Fennec sees a bold chance for encouraging the defenders. He rushes out of the one village entrance left, towards the abatis. As the Lizardmen get within a dozen paces of it he gestures and casts:
Oh Go Away!
Two Lizardmen impale themselves, trying to get to Fennec. But of course, the others in the bridge group break the abatis down and rush after him vengefully.
BOOM!
In a roil of smoke Jotunn’s arquebus claims another Lizardman – he can’t miss against such a mob.
To Cauleigh’s alarm the militia are upset by the noise rather than emboldened and he struggles to keep them with him. The bows and crossbows let fly uselessly. Leading from the front Cauleigh lets Fennec rush past him and to safety, and stands at the point of a wedge of pikemen! It’s enough to firm the militia up and three more Lizardmen die on the pikes. Spears stab, then Jotunn and Crompton join the fray and the Lizardmen are thrown back behind the corpses of the first wave.
Then the second group of Lizardmen arrive at the walls. They can’t jump, so the wall, low though it is, has stopped them: and they begin breaking them down.
There are moments to decide: Crompton and Jotunn pull back out, to switch fronts.
It’s a moment that brings a rolling crisis!
Jotunn ducks and weaves out successfully [L2 DEX SR] but Crompton is smashed by a Lizardman [takes what he missed by off CON].
Their retreat panics the militia!
Cauleigh fails to keep the men together!
[Opts to fail forward]
He flings his shield accurately at the furthest man’s knees, bringing him down. With a roar of aggression, he cries on the militia and they form up again.
Fennec has switched as well, using an OGA to force two more Lizardmen to try to clamber over the wall instead of breaking it – they are easily dispatched by Crompton and Jotunn. Then he repeats the exercise and is done for the day!
Cauleigh’s gate group slays several more Lizardmen who are having to clamber over a Cauleigh-high pile of dead. As the third group arrives on the village north wall, the other two groups give up and flee.
“Quick! Up to the platform! Count the number fleeing!”
Fennec sprints and vaults and climbs in time to count 24 retreating.
All told 15 dead Lizardmen are accounted for.
“So with that many slain, I don’t think they’ll be attacking any time soon!” Cauleigh concludes. The villagers agree: the last two sturdy shirkers join up.
So with 75 gold all but received, it’s time for the four defenders of Jake’s town to rest, polish and sharpen and plan the next foray.
Props
This session had an increasingly Seven Samurai feel to it. So I should give props to Seven Samurai, Magnificent Seven and Battle Beyond the Stars, all of which I own and enjoy. But we didn’t go fully down the tribute path. Jotunn’s player thinks the Three Amigos should also be given props.
The village and swamp concept is from Frank Schmidt, OP3, Peat’s Bog – an adventure in Filbar, a reworked 1-page dungeon. I down-graded the village concept to be a bit more Seven Samurai-like, and as usual all NPCs were my own creation.
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Post by warlord476 on Aug 26, 2016 15:22:34 GMT -5
TI1.13: Beneath the swamp ruin! The characters for this session:
Fennec, Level 2 wizard (no specialty)
Cauleigh, Level 2 warrior (background: literate townsman)
Jotunn, Level 5 warrior (background: hunter; talent: tracker)
Crompton, Level 2 rogue (background: Runebearer; talent: roguery)
Glossary of spell short-hands:
KK: knock-knock, for opening locks
OGA: oh go away, either drives away weaker foes or makes stronger foes go for the caster
OTIS: Oh there it is, for detecting invisible stuff
PP: protective pentagram, impervious barrier around caster
TTYF: take that you fiend, inflicts caster’s IQ x level cast
WoW: will o’ wisp, 1 candlepower cold light, directable
Zap: zappathingum [or zapparmor] tripling effect
Aftermath of the battle for Jake’s town
The justifiers of Jake’s town assess wounds and take counsel among themselves as to striking while the iron is hot, warmish or cold.
Crompton is in low health, Fennec is lightly wounded and Cauleigh and Jotunn have suffered mere nicks. It’s decided then. Some scouting to see if the Lizardman are rallying.
A couple of hours later sees Jotunn, with bow, and Cauleigh, with arbalest, scaling the nearest ridgeback. The Lizardmen split up and regathered but as they travel with wounded, and have toted dead humans on makeshift stretchers, Jotunn has been equal to them. Now, the westering sun lights the swampland below and they glimpse the wake of a group travelling directly to where the ruined temple must lie.
Meanwhile Fennec supervises rebuilding work and Crompton rests and makes unhelpful suggestions about working a bit harder. And a stranger is sighted!
“Is it a Lizardman?” – Crompton
“Aiehh, could be!!!” – panicked lookout
News from the south
But it’s not. Jotunn and Cauleigh arrive back to find Jake’s town is hosting an emissary from Sir Cully. Bergamot, weather-beaten and a stranger to regular bathing, tells them he is a mounted scout or ‘pricker’ for Sir Cully.
Aside from checking on them and having something north to do with Evrard, he passes on a message.
“Seems a couple of Elves might have headed into the swamp, so if you see trace of them their people would like to know” – Bergamot
“Bet I know which Elves? One a spell-slinger?” – Fennec
“Aren’t they all?” – Bergamot
“And the other good at tricky fighting?” – Fennec
“Carries a fancy knife, is what I know” - Bergamot
“I sincerely pray they die horribly and painfully” – Fennec
“Yer, well if you find their corpses there’s important people as would like ‘em returned” – Bergamot
The Dwarves pay an earring and travel by punt
Having taken further counsel, the four head off to their friendly fisherfolk headman, Pedrocollo. They pay him a shiny earring (unvalued) from the Ravenwood loot and secure guides and a punt for the water route to the temple.
It’s dawn and swamp mist lies at gunwale level as their guides bid them farewell and Jotunn directs Crompton and Fennec to pole towards where the temple must lie. He and Cauleigh are fully armoured, despite the peril should their punt tip. Silence is the watchword!
With a squamous croaking four flaccid flying creatures swoop! Jotunn manages a near-miss with his bow and the creature is kept at bay but the other three have a flying bloodsucking rat at their neck! Cauleigh bashes himself as he deals with his, and Fennec loses some blood, before they are dealt with. [Players are beginning to realize how hard targets can be to hit]
Suffering no further incident, they reach a wooded and ivied knoll where ruined columns mark the temple. A huge statue stands in still water beyond. Jotunn ties the punt up securely and they clamber up.
They plunge urgently into action!
With due caution the four scout around. There is something for all to find: Jotunn spots a dormant croc; Cauleigh spots an ivy-concealed entrance; Fennec determines that the temple is builded of impermeable stone and may extend far below water level; and Crompton finds a lever concealed with drifted leaves and dirt. [Excellent SRs all round, everyone contributes!]
Still as silently as possible, they assign tasks around. Jotunn baits the croc and as it rushes them, it is dispatched. Then Cauleigh investigates the entrance. Ivy conceals a steep flight of steps down, and faint sounds can be heard: so this is indeed a Lizardman lair!
Once he is sure everyone is ready and not before, Crompton operates the lever. The barking growl of surprised Lizardmen is music to Cauleigh’s ears and he plunges in – and barrel-rolls helplessly down at least 30’ of stone steps, landing on a pair of Lizardmen.
That would be the end of his career, but luckily Cauleigh has loyal comrades! Fennec activates a WoW and by its faint light Crompton dashes down and crash-barges one Lizardman. Jotunn and Cauleigh deal with the other, then all three slay the one Crompton has distracted. Two Lizardmen bounties!
Down to the depths: they enter epic battle!
A series of mostly-safe chambers and steps leads to a bending tunnel and a broad galley. The Lizardman hold the galley and can pitch javelins at any Dwarf cold enough to show themselves. By a stroke of misfortune, a javelin finds a chink in Jotunn’s armour and he is sore hurt. Then a pair of Lizardmen attack from behind!
Using stunts and swift thinking they deal with this most urgent threat then charge the galley. It’s at this time that Crompton discovers that his throw-blades are powerfully enchanted! [Each is a Zap weapon.] Crompton slides under the surprised Lizardmen and backstabs them as Jotunn Cauleigh and Fennec deal with their front. Two remain and with an OGA and some good footwork they are felled as well. Eight Lizardmen bounties!
The battle tips against the Dwarves: Crompton falls!
Buoyed by success they push on, find the galley turns then widens, with two exits. Here, Lizardmen have a chance to attack on two fronts and do so. One dies immediately as the Arquebus bellows! Crompton makes a bold stunt only to have it go horribly wrong, takes a huge hit, and lies dying.
Fennec and Jotunn have perforce to retreat a little until Cauleigh manages to buy some time, then they fight their way back through three Lizardmen and Fennec gets his 2nd-last potion dose down Crompton’s gullet. [An excellent SR on DEX allows this safely]
They pull back, and it’s time for Fennec to try that Poor Baby he learnt. It doesn’t “take” the first time but if he gets enough tries it will. Crompton regains his feet and all four pull back to the first descent.
With guts and greed they resume the assault!
Once Crompton is back to the same meagre health as the rest of them they push back in. By that time they have been attacked by hostile thorns that seem to grow from the roof. The Lizardmen boss is a mage, that’s clear.
Reaching the galley once more they find it ‘walled off’ with more thorns. These they patiently burn away, though not before Fennec loses his pack to the writhing vines.
Once again in the broad chamber beyond, the Lizardmen make a concerted attack but this time the Dwarves’s luck holds and they throw them back and follow up another steep flight down.
Twelve Lizardmen bounties!
The boss is a Naga!
Plunging down those steps, the Dwarves find themselves fighting across a four-way path, surrounding a pit where rises the bony form of an enchanted Naga! Jotunn and Fennec try a shot each but the creature has locked down inside a PP.
Dispatching the Lizardmen (by this time they are fighting wounded opponents and each has a magical knife) they push past the pit and rest up in a recovery area – after callously butchering the pair of helpless Lizardmen there.
Counting twenty or so bounties, they prep for the boss. Jotunn uses Lizardmen wire to rig a sturdy noose over the entrance.
Just in time!
The Naga surges in to close with them but is tangled enough in the snare that they kill it quickly without further damage.
Having butchered the last four Lizardmen they are free to loot at leisure.
Remains of folk
We must draw a veil over exactly what they find as they search each chamber… no wait! We never do that!
The foul stench of rotting meat alerts them to the corpse of the adventurer the fisherfolk mentioned, back when they got the map. His pack, containing many coins, is soon located.
A rank smell of different odour surrounds the bloody bones of a flensed Elf, manacled to a wall. A bent mirror standing opposite suggests he was forced to watch himself being tortured.
A crystal flask, picked up nearby, may have belonged to him.
Within two rooms of that, they find where the other Elf struggled on wounded gravely until his equipment broke or ran out; and where a brave Hobb died scrabbling about with knife and knucks. They pinch the Hobb's ring. Not far from the Elf, they find a fancy fighting knife, swathed in Elven runes.
Rousting about for something to tip the remains into they find two barrels and a chest, and punt the remains out, along with choice bits and the silver and gold coin.
Celebrations and farewells
No trace of armour is found, but cautiously dealing with a web-shrouded weapon rack, they do disinter a fine silk sheet, still good, though dirty.
Other treasure is found aplenty – much of it copper coin. As Bergamot would have told them had he remembered, it is not just one tax official that has gone missing over the years. They pick the silver and gold out as they rest up periodically.
A Detect Magic thrown over the pile later picks out the knife and a spherical glass bottle with rust-red liquid. A brooch and such like are also found.
The punt is returned to the fisherfolk with thanks, and a joyous party ensues. The good folk of Jake’s town are just as grateful though in a quieter fashion, as becomes people who have worked extremely hard for their success.
Sir Cully Lucas returns from campaign and Barad-dur the tax bringer pays out the full bounty. It’s time to bid farewell to Jake’s town and the lands of V’laskas as Sir Cully escorts them north and west. But they won’t be going empty-handed!
“Hitch a cart to your pony and pack the barrels of pickled Elf aboard. You can take them as far as Fingold or even Sarnas that way” urges Cully. “You’ll be helping with diplomacy so it’s going to help you in turn.”
Props
As mentioned the basic set piece comes from OP3, Peat’s Bog (op cit). The pix of temple and statue with the PDF edition are great by the way, very evocative. The temple layout is out of Dodecahedron 2015 (op cit) again, this time it is Beneath Crovet's Tower. The contents are out of &Magazine's (op cit) Area Builder again, making 'Naga' 100% encounter and with a light rewrite to line some contents up with what people on the outside might say about it.
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 18, 2016 19:21:22 GMT -5
TI2.01: You just can't help staying on here
The characters for this session:
Fennec, L2 Wizard, (STR24 CON26 DEX13 SPD7 IQ16 LK13 CHR7 WIZ11)
Cauleigh, townsman and L3 Warrior (STR24 CON34 DEX17 SPD11 IQ11 LK17 CHR13)
Jotunn, hunter and L5 Warrior (STR25 CON50 DEX18 SPD12 IQ13 LK15 CHR5)
Crompton, rune-bearer/thief and L2 Rogue (STR26 CON16 DEX15 SPD10 IQ10 LK11 CHR8 WIZ10)
Fingold, city at war
Fingold is a puzzle box that you enter and then, can’t leave whenever you please. It has several pieces to it and the characters do their best to assess these pieces and fit them together.
The townsfolk are hungry. A lot of refugees arrived and others moved out, so they live in an unsettled state and more crowded than is comfortable. Child Ken, earnest, inquisitive, proud of his dad, can lead characters to a stable where the four-legged beast might become dinner.
The guards are townsfolk. Sergeant Aldus, pessimistic grizzled veteran, is one of a few survivors who now train the young men to guard the walls. The young guards are loyal and do not take bribes, but one will play a prank if he gets the chance. They police lightly since their real job is guarding the walls.
The walls are guarded against magic, using anti-flight ballistas. The citadel’s ballista operates freezing magic to counter the besiegers’ fire magic. A Dwarf arch-mage lives in the citadel, and can teach adventurers spells, if they earn it. The citadel has other secrets, including a library.
The siege is ritualistic, loose enough to let people in (but maybe not out) and crops be tended. One of two factions (roughly, east) does the siege work, and they have a fire mage. The second faction (roughly, west) would attack the first faction if it looked like succeeding.
The fire mage has an ally below ground. She is a vampiress who raises undead from the men that fall in battle, then sends them up to assault. These assaults all happen below the new wall. Adventurers defend against these sorties. And the old shrines along temple street stopped the undead: now they are part of the wall.
The adventurers are organized into a Guild, and work by a system of missions and privilege ranks. There are four groups: a heavy-hitter group, two less-strong groups, and a take-it-easy group that stays in the background brewing ale and guarding doors. The heavy hitters are helmed by “the demon in glasses” or the cartographer as Cauleigh names him, who is all brain. His group includes two normal tank types, an amazon princess type with unrequited love for him, and a sexy rogue type.
Missions can extend outside the walls, for things like supply-gathering. Missions are assigned importance and reward by Quartermaster-General Lady Countess Saundra. A nasty rumor of bastardy follows her and she insists on at least those titles being used. Rubies gleam in her hair and her dress is costly. Despite her vanity and plump appearance her logistical brains are excellent.
The ruler of the city is Saundra’s half-sister Duchess Melissa: or “her ladyship” since while she is training with the townsfolk she dislikes titles. Some two years ago her husband’s disastrous campaign left the city in her hands and without any effective army. Hawk nosed, black haired, blue eyed, with a face that was probably pudgy before hard physical training and hunger thinned it. Adoring prostitutes work for her, smuggling meat in from enemy lines.
In the north barracks, a small rump military mounts supply missions. Nesbitt, humorous but close-mouthed, possibly just a driver, seems to organise that side. There’s an armourer who will fix gear, if Quartermaster-General Lady Countess says so.
How the players reacted
What the characters do with all this:
Two tables, different cliques
They register at the Adventurers Guild. The door is guarded by a friendly half-elf who leads them in, tells them they have a good-ale-wife here, and introduces them to the ale and company. He explains the system: registering is free, you begin with a copper disk and work your way up through missions to better ranks. There’s plenty of room – there’s only 18 adventurers and room enough for 60. Food is better than outside. Oh, and that’s the usual zombie attack coming up…
The alewife is a motherly Hobb. She speaks encouragingly, as though to mere striplings. There are four groups in the Guild, we all work together and get along. She – and a friendly but pale and thin half-elf – explain more about missions. The land outside the wall here used to be city, but fell away in an assault, burying parts of the city, and there were tunnels below as well. The shattered zone on top is the easiest area to explore. Missions can be as easy as mapping, or as hard as killing one of the known dangerous monsters. She posts the missions up on a mission board. The one for the shattered zone is marked out on a rough map, with a dog-like shape in one corner with one word scrawled under it:
Barghest?
Cauleigh meets the cartographer and gathers information in exchange for a future unnamed favour. He also plays cupid, with who knows what consequences.
Two sisters and two missions
They all meet Melissa. She explains that there’s a town of Dwarves not too far away to the west who might be convinced to relieve the siege. The city has just enough wealth for one big chance, so it can’t be a force to just man the walls. Neither faction would permit the Dwarves to just march in.
In the meantime, there’s a small mission north to fetch some supplies. There’s a report of a minotaur in the woods so adventurers are needed – but it might turn out to be just a cow, with horns.
They all meet Saundra, as she vets Melissa’s offer and insists on surety; but Fennec and Crompton begin making thingy jokes, and trample all over any rapport building, and Cauleigh gets no further.
Fennec meets the arch-mage but fails to make much impression. But he doesn’t disgrace himself, unlike he and Crompton in front of Melissa and Saundra. He also browses the citadel library and finds another Ikkutas clue.
The supply mission
Nisbett tells them cheerfully that trouble will start at a pair of busted-up towers. That’s where the last lot were ambushed. Aside from themselves there’s a pair of guards, equipped adequately but lacking experience in action; Nisbett driving a large wagon; and an enormous dog pulling a dog-cart (and ridden by a very small girl).
Fennec realizes that his normal battle tactic won’t work. He explains he’ll use the range of his TTYF in support, and Cauleigh (arquebus) and Crompton (sword and shield) will do the forward fighting.
The ambush kicks off with arrows arcing down. The two guards are suppressed. The three Dwarves work well together to turn the tables and get to one-on-one combat. And with the ruined towers captured and yet to be looted, the session ends.
Props
Fingold has existed on my old Vale maps for a long time, and I did once choose a general lozenge-shape layout for it. This is the first time I needed detail, and I based the layout on Dreamworlds' Medieval Market Town map 3 (Cornelius Clifford, Fantasy Floorplans). The shatter zone is partly from my own thought process of what would happen to Fingold during a serious sorcerous war, and partly from &Magazine's Area Builder. Some elements, including the way adventurers interact with it and the dangers below, come from Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, an anime series I highly recommend. The "samurai beauty besotted with oblivious nerd" is an anime trope, but the "demon in glasses" comes from another anime series, Log Horizon. The supply mission setting is out of Forge Studios' Evening Session Map 3.
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Post by warlord476 on Nov 25, 2016 17:22:25 GMT -5
TI2.02: The fated tor/Level 1 Mission The characters for this session
Fennec, L2 Wizard
Cauleigh, L3 Warrior (Townsman)
Jotunn, L5 Warrior (Apprentice Hunter; Tracking)
Crompton, L2 Rogue (Roguery, Rune-bearer)
The towers are looted
Our four furbishers of Fingold are proud conquerors of the pair of ruined towers guarding access to the rocky, forested tangle of trails, gullies and outcrops where the supplies are to be found.
Crompton [STR] clambers up one tower and spots a fleeing ambusher. Jotunn confesses he didn’t manage to drop him, just scared him off. Cauleigh [LK] searches the other tower, finding dried rations, graffito remarks about a mean prick, and a sheet of paper with Dwarven curses and oaths written on it. Fennec examines it and keeps the paper. Jotunn loots the bodies, recovering arrows, coins and a woven-copper ring.
Meanwhile Nesbitt has come out from behind a old round bronze-faced shield, the two guards and tiny girl have popped back up from cowering under the wagon, and everyone is ready to roll on through. And so they do.
An ambush threatens as supplies are loaded
The first supplies are easy, and they learn that one of the young guards is there for his expertise with charcoal. Fine-quality charcoal is ready to dig and load into the dog-cart. After that, ready-cut and seasoned ash lengths are loaded into the wagon. The guards do all the work, getting very smutty and sweaty, while the others stand guard.
Jotunn’s wilderness expertise [Hunter] alerts him to movement from the ravine or gulch the fleeing bandit headed into. The Dwarves decide to ambush the ambush, and flank around left, but the poor repair of their gear betrays them [by this time boots are falling apart and seams are coming adrift]. Knowing the ambushers have heard his companions Jotunn dashes forward and makes a superb bowshot at point-blank range into the alerted ambushers!
Ambush ambushed: take prisoners!
Crompton follows up and shield-bashes [STR] a knee, breaking it. Only two ambushers remain and one summons a swarm of birds.
Melee with the fourth man is a foregone conclusion: the bird-summoner is “persuaded” to call them off and taken prisoner. His crystal flask of bird-summoning is confiscated.
“I am an officer and my family will pay ransom” he tells them immediately. This is a smart move, even though he’s an NCO and his ransom is probably small, because the Dwarves move from “kill” to “oh, ransom!”. Fennec seems determined to dislike him but the others decide to keep both prisoners alive.
It helps that Sergeant Musger doesn’t mind telling them about his detail. His camp is up by the ruin, which is where the second pile of supplies is. No, they haven’t seen any minotaur, but the last detail he and his men replaced were all dead. So all these men are soldiers, not bandits. No, no tracks of something huge. Musger is hitched to the wagon and walks along behind it, while Stumpy gets a ride in it.
At the cult ruin, camp is made
It’s not an easy task getting the wagon to the ruin but there is a trail. The ruin, Nesbitt explains, was once a cult temple of some kind, and saltpeter can be mined from under it. Smith, the other guard, has the expertise to know about mining the right quality.
The next day finds them all at Musger’s camp with plenty of daylight to search and supply. The ruin really is ruin – it would take a Hobb to find real concealment among the time-worn slabs. Not far away, and seeming to loom over the place, another rock-strewn outcrop or tor is marked by what is probably the remains of a watchtower with an ancient stark tree seeming to grow out of the rubble. Jotunn gets a weird vibe from it.
There are more dried rations in the camp, and a brace of little forest deer hung to near-perfection. Looks like meat’s back on the menu! There’s a supply of saddle leather, so they can make running repairs to shoes. And there’s a small pile of silver ingots left where “Skivey” the fleeing bandit/soldier decided they would be too heavy. He’s long gone of course.
Crompton discovers that Moose the enormous dog will only accept meat from Cassie, his owner (or possibly pregnant dog-pup, from the dog’s point of view).
Jotunn examines the area where Skivey had been told to dig graves. The bodies from the last detail are still lying unburied and two weeks’ rotting. It does look as though something big and not sword-sharp killed them.
The truth of the Tor
After the meal, the saltpeter is easily located. The soldiers had already begun work on it, and thoughtfully left their digging equipment. Charson and Smith once again do all the work, while the thoughts of the Dwarves turn to the mysterious tree.
Nesbitt tries to discourage them but Fennec’s getting a vibe from the tree so Nesbitt contents himself with volunteering to stay with the prisoners and Cassie.
As they make their way up the tor towards the tree, Fennec can actually see Mana boiling around the tree. The final approach to the tree is marked by regular slabs and a stone circle stands around the tree. So, not the ruins of a tower. Bone-white bits can be glimpsed under the tree.
“That’s far enough lads”
Nesbitt has climbed to an easy distance of them – they didn’t notice him at all. [LK, but L3 - all fell well short of that] As he speaks he unclips a small stick from inside his bronze shield. The stick becomes a massive half-glaive and Nesbitt swells, clothing shredding off him, becoming a huge bull-man!
Cauleigh is inclined to just ease back and see if Nesbitt will let the trespass go but Fennec repositions himself (expeditiously) behind the warriors and Nesbitt attacks!
[It’s that ‘shall I pause and negotiate when the Wizard might kill me with one shot’ question.]
Fennec hammers home a TTYF [L2, draining all but 1 WIZ from Fennec!] and Jotunn sends an arrow into the beast. Since he’s going all-out for Fennec, Cauleigh hurls his axe between the monster’s legs and brings him down [this is a fail-forward from a good DEX SR]. Crompton wields his ancestor axe with effect. [Crompton also tries a hamstring stunt but falls short on DEX SR and simply enters combat]
As the minotaur lurches back up to its feet it can’t defend easily. Crompton rushes in close with bollock-daggers, and Cauleigh makes a leap up and smashes his mace-head down onto the great skull. The beast’s skull shatters, shards of bone and gobbets of brain spraying out; and its guts drop out all over Crompton. It falls dead.
The panting Dwarves wait for it to transform back to Nesbitt. Disturbingly it remains a giant naked minotaur corpse. But the half-glaive shrinks back to ornament size, and Fennec clips it back inside the shield. After a little debate, they remove the corpse’s lower jaw as evidence, since it has huge tusks and fangs.
They return down the tor, colored crimson or at least spackled with brain flecks. Neither of the prisoners were on the side facing the outcrop and are oblivious, but Cassie is frozen in absolute horror! She has witnessed the entire scene!
They wash themselves clean, then Cauleigh speaks gently [CHR] and coaxes Cassie into at least accepting that Nesbitt is dead and the evil minotaur is dead. The story “we killed the minotaur but Nesbitt died” is repeated to Charson and Smith, and will be the agreed report back in town.
At Fingold pigeons have come home to roost
Late the following day the wagon, dog-cart, prisoners and survivors report in to Fingold’s north barracks. Success! But it will be up to Quartermaster-General Lady Countess Saundra to say exactly what the success is worth. So, at least one Dwarf should report to the citadel.
Having reminded Fennec and Crompton of their previous bad behavior ["did someone say endowed, woof woof!" and so on] Cauleigh appoints himself sole agent for that. The others all have a couple of things to see to anyway. They head to the Adventurers Guild.
In between arranging for repairs and new boots and so forth they learn that trouble has befallen the Guild. Two nights ago, the demon in glasses was fatally slow to react to the battle situation and an entire front-line group fell. Now they are zombies. By necessity the rear-echelon group of a Hobb, two half-Elves and a brooding drunk are now front-line.
“I’m going to have a stern word to Cauleigh about this,” Fennec promises the others.
The Dwarves are expected to pitch in to the defense and over the next 12 hours put serious planning into traps and the like.
Meanwhile over two interviews Cauleigh receives the reward for their mission (plenty of food chits) and gains Saundra’s agreement to release Sgt Musger, since his upkeep is more bother than ransom is worth. (He is set afoot with a short sword, out the south-east gate.) Later from Musger, Cauleigh discovers that Stumpy was given a noose and quick hanging – Quartermaster-General Lady Countess cannot afford useless mouths.
The mission Melissa suggested, and agreed to by Saundra – to ask mercenary Dwarves to relieve the siege – is still on, but first, the pressure at the Guild needs to be relieved.
A thought of traps leads to thoughts of Level 2
The suggestion about traps leads to a counter-offer from the demon in glasses: if they are willing to take the fight well towards the zombies, he’ll back them up with a SlushYuck, which ought to trap a whole wing of zombies.
Discussing these problems, Cauleigh decides to work on the social angle, while the others learn more about missions.
It turns out, there’s not much to be done with the demon in glasses. But Cauleigh does get to know the largest fighter a bit better, who explains some of the dynamics and assures him that they’ll work out the problems given time.
As for missions, if they are serious about the SlushYuck plan they’ll have to take on a mission to arrange for the Goblin boss in Level 2 to be removed. The goblins are far too organized for any foray to work, as things stand. The goblin hates Dwarves, but the Ogre boss on Level 1 will negotiate and might be willing to betray his rival.
But first, talk to the Ogre
They sign up for the mission and get the offer of help scouting, from Burnley the half-Elf survivor they first met as doorman for the Guild. They all prep, wearing a balance of light-enough gear, and carrying not-too-many weapons. And plenty of money in gems. Then off they go!
Burnley has a little bad luck with his first foray but [with the help of the GM rolling 17 on dice] evades a minor Goblin ambush and makes it back. The Goblins are far too smart to pursue. Trying an alternative route Burnley finds them a likely chamber, guarded by two Goat-men.
These are tough, but since they have time to plan, the Dwarves are ready. Fennec advances, tosses his trusty OGA, and Cauleigh and Crompton move up to intercept them. Behind them, Jotunn levels the arquebus.
BOOM!
Perhaps lazily, they forget to use any special moves and are bested despite the shot. Their armor handles the damage. Then Crompton ducks low, using his shield to tempt the goat-man onto it, while Cauleigh diverts the other one.
Crompton’s stunt gets him stomped, but luckily for him, Jotunn and Fennec (who has switched to Zapped knife) cope with that goat-man, driving it back. Meanwhile Cauleigh’s stunt wrong-foots his goat-man and he kills it. Crompton returns to the fray to finish off the second one.
The noise of fighting has attracted the boss. He’s an Ogre, but willing to negotiate – exactly as advertised.
The two sides sit across from one another and Cauleigh offers a fat reward for offing the goblin boss. Surprisingly the Ogre counter offers: he will take half, but only for setting the goblin up for the Dwarves to kill.
Agreeing to meet again once the Ogre has found a trusted sidekick they pull back, and the session ends.
Props
Op cit for all. I missed one important prop last week: Cassie/Moose, Melissa, Saundra and even aged doomsaying guard Aldus are all from Fantasy Neutrals (Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game, Engine Publishing - enginepublishing.com Gnome Stew)
Stay tuned!
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Post by warlord476 on Dec 2, 2016 19:54:47 GMT -5
2.03: Level 2 Mission! The characters for this session
Fennec, L2 Wizard
Cauleigh, L3 Warrior (Townsman)
Jotunn, L5 Warrior (Apprentice Hunter; Tracking)
Crompton, L2 Rogue (Roguery, Rune-bearer)
Meet Bryn, key to the assassination attempt
Although they could possibly race back to re-equip, nothing leaps to mind and that would be riskier than just sitting with lantern dimmed. They decide to stay put. Burnley, the cheery half-Elf who scouted their way here, bids them good luck and slips away.
None of them screams like a girl when bats flutter close: they spend an uneasy hour listening, and ducking bats.
The Ogre shows up again bringing Bryn: tall, armed like a ranger, with a suggestion of pointy ears and sharp teeth.
“Trust my hatred if you can’t trust me” mutters Bryn. “My end of the bargain is, I get everything belonging to Cheesecart, and his harem.”
“So, hatred, yeah, but why do you want to help…?”
“I want revenge on Cheesecart.”
“Oh, revenge! Yeah, we all understand that, sweet” the Dwarves agree.
“Bryn will collect my final payment,” Ogre-boss adds and leaves them to it.
It turns out, the way Bryn plans to descend needs rope, at least, if they plan to return the safe way. So with Bryn trailing well behind, Jotunn leads the party back through the maze of ruinous walls and tilted paths that form the bulk of Level 1, towards the Guild. There’s a nasty moment when a giant Badger erupts from its burrow and attacks Jotunn and Crompton slips into the burrow while trying to help Jotunn. But Jotunn survives long enough for the others to help and they make it out.
There’s plenty of rope in the spare room where they were looking at trap gear, and the 80’ Bryn estimates is needed is organized. Cauleigh finds the demon in glasses for an update and sketch-map of exit route for Level 2. He learns that a lot of Level 2 is wet. River seepage that trickles straight through Level 1 tends to pool in Level 2. So it’s ideal terrain for Goblins.
Traversing Level 1 safely the Dwarves head into a crypt
The five make their way cautiously through Level 1. Bryn seems very keen not to meet anything, though he’s obviously powerful. Light is kept to a minimum and he uses his nose a lot.
Reaching the now-familiar broad chamber where the deal was made, the Dwarves note that the goat-men corpses have been removed. It’s too dark to see how. Bryn gestures south.
“The path down leads through a crypt. Ancient dead going to be a problem?”
“No, we’ve all fought undead. Lead on.”
Judging by the symbology Cauleigh guesses the catacomb or crypt once lay beneath a Zolman temple. The remains are very old but the smell of ancient mortification is still unpleasant. Then Bryn freezes and crouches low. The others crouch or drop.
Across the secret exit out of the crypt lies the corpse of a Lizard-man. When nothing attacks, they investigate. Blood has congealed on the body. The cause of death is a crow-bar that something has rammed through its head. The corpse has been looted.
“We need to move the body so we can rope down.”
Preventing Fennec from tipping it forward into the blackness beyond – “fool of a Took!” – the others drag the corpse stiffly back into the crypts. Bryn points out spikes ancient enough to be part of the crypt, and rope is knotted and paid out. It will be about 40’ down, they estimate. Cautioning Fennec not to do any of “that flash-bang magic” and explaining that he won’t be stopping for folk that slip into pools, Bryn heads down first.
The path through Level 2, in haste and with accidents
They land on ashes: they have descended a chimney-like crevice. According to Jotunn’s compass the exits lead north and south. Sound from the south prompts Bryn to run at the door visible to the north, slap it open and dive through. The others follow – wary of tripwires – to find that the chamber beyond is mud, dominated by a pool to the left. Bryn is already scaling a wall to the right. Crompton slips and is in danger of sliding beneath the pool’s surface, while the others must deal with a huge toad that lunges up out of the pool.
Crompton’s lamellar is not as sinkable as mail or plate. He uses his axe icepick-style to keep him attached to the pool’s muddy side, while he ditches mace and pack. He clambers out, cursing his ill fortune, to find the toad dead and Jotunn and Cauleigh looking with horror as Fennec takes a good long lick at the toad’s slimy skin.
When the wizard fails to drop dead or go raving mad the Dwarves clamber up behind Bryn, who crawls north. On their left the wall drops away to a foul smell and glimpses of rotted furniture. At length Bryn finds his mark, a length of twine fastened to something below, an iron shield.
“Drop here. It’s solid stone below. And be silent!” Bryn suits deed to words, dropping and tucking into a roll to take the impact away. The others do likewise – though dangling by their hands first – but Crompton’s axe knocks against the shield as he falls past it. There’s the sound of a pewter tankard dropping onto stone and the five are plunged into combat!
Goblins are hard to combat but they survive
The Goblins have been sinking a few quiets around a keg, in an irregular chamber, good footing, no light. One rank of Goblins use missile weapons while another closes.
Jotunn Cauleigh and Crompton form a shield wall to protect Fennec, who lets a WilloWisp into play to provide light. Bryn sidles off right to use his bow.
This is a tough fight, with the Dwarves somewhat overmatched. Each missile Goblin Bryn takes down makes a big difference, but he’s not shooting well. And the Dwarves are pushing right and forward while Fennec tries to stay shielded. There’s a nasty moment when the missile Goblins close on Bryn but he hurdles them to join the shield wall, using the keg as cover.
As the last goblins turn and run Cauleigh and Crompton cut them down. Wounds are checked: not too bad.
“Fishface’s chamber is not far now, down the next stair” Bryn encourages them a short while later. “There’s a secret entrance on the right. But the steps could be trapped.”
He takes the Ogre's payment at this point, just in case things go wrong from here.
Crompton finds that the stairs have been set to safe, makes his way down and checks the indicated area. This is the non-secret side. There’s a latch that when disengaged will allow the door to be pushed from the other side. But there’s no obvious way of pulling it open from this side.
This puzzle stumps Crompton, and a child’s alert in Urukun (“mummy, the thing moved”) when he unlatches the door makes Cauleigh leap down,and pry it open with his dagger, and entry is gained.
The assassination takes place
The chamber is mostly harem: females and brats milling in alarm. Opposite, at near range, a powerful Goblin sprawls in the traditional throne; a shaman sits behind and beside him; and a hulking Goblin stands at close range at the right-hand wall.
The Dwarves close, Fennec slamming the shaman with a L2 TTYF. Crompton goes for the chief, Fennec for the shaman, the other two for Cheesecart. Jotunn loses some equipment getting through the crowd. “Buff me!” Fishface snarls to his shaman. Bryn loses his shot.
At the wall: Cauleigh goes low, Jotunn high and between them force Cheesecart into a purely defensive stance. They overwhelm him; Jotunn grabs the rune-scripted great-axe he bore.
At the throne: Fennec sees the shaman dodging away and turns to help Crompton who has managed to keep Fishface from leaping at Fennec with twin scimitars. Cauleigh leaps over and takes a TTYF – in orange and with crackling – from the shaman but closes and kills the shaman. Bryn manages a reasonable shot at Fishface.
Jotunn leaps at Fishface and the axe and scimitar slam together and explode! Jotunn (armed only with a dagger now) Fennec and Crompton are in close combat against Fishface armed with the other scimitar when Cauleigh heaves the throne over against Fishface’s back and the chief is quickly finished off.
Bryn has missed out on Cheescart’s axe but loots the remains and herds one of the females away, while Jotunn retrieves his own gear and Crompton and Fennec loot a crown and cloak, and scoop coins into a canvas sack. Cauleigh delicately returns the obviously-poison scimitar to its scabbard. Then away!
They exit Level 2, but not without incident
The word-of-mouth on exiting allows the Dwarves to guess they are not far from the exit here. They head off, quietly.
All is well until within sight of the rockfall that marks the exit. A bull-like creature, head bowed with bone armour, guards it. The Dwarves decide the best option is climbing up and around. A good plan, except that Fennec falls in front of it!
As Fennec survives its deadly gaze (or breath?) Jotunn drops in and puts it off its charge. Crompton locates the exit… and through they flee!
They are all silver plaque adventurers! But there’s no time to waste because the zombies are keeping their regular appointment.
Back with the Guild everyone is Zombie fighting
Zombies are strong but slow. Cauleigh, who is on minimal health, rests. Fennec has very little mana left and also rests. The adventurers ask the other two to stand in as tanks for the “survivors”. Crompton objects but is persuaded.
The battle goes well on that side, allowing the big hitters to exclusively help the other group. The one surviving tank of the survivors stands with Crompton and Jotunn while Mother Hobb, Burnley and the pasty-pale half-Elf use their agility to trip Zombies so the front rank can smash heads.
The following night the attack is repeated, and Cauleigh replaces Crompton, who feels he has learned enough of the dodge-a-zombie business. It doesn’t quite work as he planned it and he gets clear by dropping his loaner mace and cutting clear out of his lamellar. The mace is lost permanently, which is embarrassing.
Just about ready for Level 3!
With plans made for replacing equipment and a brief appointment with Quartermaster-General Lady Countess for permission to learn spells all seems to be going well. Crompton trades a meal for fast repair of his lamellar, and trade gold and silver for gems ready for travel or trade. Jotunn visits the citadel master gunner, gets his silver-laced gunpowder, and Cauleigh gets a carbine he can use as a handgun.
The next day will see all equipment ready and the mission to Level 3 begin. With some objections and argument among the other adventurer groups, the demon in glasses decides to bring only his rogue Gnat with him as he heads in with the Dwarves. And with that decision an early end to the session is called.
Props
The dungeon levels and population were generated with Wizardawn's Area Builder. Zombies are not listed as dT&T monsters but the template is from 5th edition: x2 STR x3 CON; 1/4 LK; IQ and DEX to 3.
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Post by warlord476 on Dec 10, 2016 22:58:14 GMT -5
2.04: Level 3 Mission! The Characters for this session:
Fennec, L2 Wizard
Cauleigh, L3 Warrior (Townsman)
Jotunn, L5 Warrior (Apprentice Hunter; Tracking)
Crompton, L2 Rogue (Roguery, Rune-bearer)
Important NPCs in this session:
QMGLC Saundra: As Quartermaster-General, Countess the lady Saundra is the final authority on who is allowed what inside Fingold. She has approved spell tuition for Fennec and Crompton and this session approves magic item appraisal.
The Fingold archmagi: A Dwarf of significant age, he works out of the citadel and on a daily basis contests with the fire-mage.
The demon in glasses, birth-name Two. Level 4 human wizard, equipped with staff, punch-dagger, and a range of items and spells. Demon in glasses is the leader and tactician for the heavy hitters adventuring group. He has agreed to help the Dwarves take down half the zombies, using a Slush-Yuck spell in Level 3 of Fingold’s shatterzone dungeon.
Gnat, birth-name Rue. Level 4 human rogue, equipped with a hand-crossbow and twin short swords, and a range of items and gear. She’s along as demon in glasses’ bodyguard.
Burnley, Whitey, Mizva and Mother Hobb: Collectively known as the survivors adventuring group. Up until very recently they were doing rear-echelon duty in the Guild, except for Mizva who was trying to pour himself into a bottle. They have returned to front-line work, though Mother Hobb’s job is still mostly ale-wife/healer. Burnley and Whitey are half-Elf rogues, Mizva is a human warrior, and Mother Hobb is a Hobb rogue with potion specialty.
Final preparations are made
Examining demon in glasses’ sketch of known areas of Level 3, and the area he indicates is his favored zone for casting the spell, the Fingold furbishers decide they will bring bill-hooks, two, zombies the tipping in for. [Zombies are clumsy and the plan is to make it a DEX-on-DEX contest] Crompton will stick with his ancestor-axe, since heads still need to be whicked off and Gnat can’t be expected to do all of that. Fennec’s job will be artillery support back with demon in glasses, who in turn will be guarded by Gnat. They’ll be tackling the northern tunnels, trying to work around to the known muddy cavern.
As a final measure they ask the survivors for missile support for the first stretch, because the monsters typically guard the first stretch up on a missile platform. Whitey and Burnley agree, though Mizva (with a scowl for Crompton, who lost his dear dead comrade’s staff) wants to go further and offers to go in with them. They turn him down, since he’s not a good fit for their plan.
The tantric dungeon I
Sure enough there is a missile-using guard, out at medium range. And it’s about the toughest missile-user the Level could have: an Ogre with a ballista-size crossbow! Fennec (optimistically) announces that a wizard has entered by slamming a TTYF into it, while Cauleigh and Jotunn fire their pieces, Crompton harmlessly fires his light crossbow, and Burnley and Whitey loose arrows (Whitey is a good archer, it turns out; Burnley not so much).
Much more of the same follows and eventually the Ogre (who has missed everything) topples and the ground shakes at the impact.
Pausing merely to loot the coin-pouch they push on up a right-hand, left-curving tunnel. Ahead, a suspicious choke-point and odd smell allows a little strategizing. Cauleigh and Jotunn hook their bills around the arched choke-point, not quite tripping a pair of snake-men guards.
Using Fennec’s favorite OGA tactic the lead Dwarves deal with one snake-man but the second, retreating back into his guard chamber, is incredibly hard to kill. He wields a poison spear and both Fennec and Crompton end up poisoned. The poison is disabling Hellfire Juice! Gnat has a remedy… but it’s Fennec’s old friend, a hallucinogen, so Fennec and Crompton are led babbling happily back to safety and the mission re-sets.
They rest up, and are fit to fight zombies again at the usual hour.
The tantric dungeon II
This time, the guards are hobgoblins with bows, but are much more easily dealt with. The Dwarves head confidently to the first choke-point, expecting snake-men. They are not disappointed! Cauleigh and Jotunn carefully spread caltrops then Fennec lures the guards with a tossed coin. As he cracks off an OGA and retreats the second snake-man hurls a javelin accurately, it penetrates Fennec’s backpack and right through Fennec!
The snakemen are both slain (again, with great difficulty) and before toting Fennec back, the exit to the guard-room is checked. It’s a larger chamber and seems to be a nest of snake-men!
Thanks to his backpack [and a LK SR] Fennec is not quite dead. While he recuperates the others keep the usual appointment with zombies.
The tantric dungeon III
Discouraged by the thought of an entire nest of lethal snake-men the expedition tackles the southern passage, initially along what was once an important service tunnel below temple street.
Although they resist the lure of the first trapped room they find, they encounter a patrol of Dark Elves and devil-dogs out in the main passage. It’s the first time Gnat gets into the action, chasing down a fleeing Dark Elf. She obviously uses something that doubles her speed. For the Dwarves, it’s a close fight but taps Fennec’s mana out, and given he’s announced their presence with a spectacular L2 TTYF, they pull back to safety.
And another zombie fight.
Spells and seercraft
The good news waiting for them is that the archmagi has lined up spell training and an ID parade for the magic items.
Fennec and Crompton both learn Vorpal Blade.
There are a number of items collected over the road trip. The most intriguing is the fiery-looking liquid in the spherical bottle: three doses of dragon breath! Yes, we can use that against snake-men! The fancy elf dagger (or hunting knife) that was found along with the Elf corpses has a once-a-day Whammy on it. The poison scimitar taken off Fishface the boss Goblin is perma-poison, probably dragon venom. The snake-men spears are also perma-poison but daylight removes the effect permanently.
The tantric dungeon IV
Equipped with a cask of flammable oil, the Dwarves once more press into the northern passage. The survivors chip in as before, the missile platform is cleared, then using combinations of OGA and gunnes the snake-men guard-post is cleared. Without giving the nest time to ready javelins the Dwarves hurl their cask and breath fire onto the oil!
Once the fire has died down and all snake-men are thoroughly dead, they examine the one exit, another choke-point archway. The evil eyes of a Dark Elf are glimpsed: it’s in a guard-niche further up the tunnel, ready to shoot and scoot. Fennec rolls out his trusty OGA and the Dwarves come off winners in the melee.
The tunnel, which is too curved to be useful for dropping zombies into a Slush-Yuck, leads to a larger cavern of broken stone flags and rock. One of the four possible exits off it turns out to be a guard niche and its resident, a huge gargoyle, attacks while Jotunn is somewhat isolated.
Jotunn saves his life by pressing into the corner of wall and floor and shielding himself, but is unconscious as the gargoyle tries to get down the passage and into the other Dwarves. It’s a tough fight, because it can only be hurt by magic. Crompton loves his new spell! Vorpal on his ancestor axe does a lot of damage!
This is the first time demon in glasses takes part in any action, hoisting two glowing spheres, one of which does damage each round.
The Dwarves cleave enough space for Gnat to escape past the gargoyle and get above it, and between them and the attack sphere, they kill it.
Jotunn is dragged back for healing, and the others attend the usual zombie battle.
Jotunn’s armour is completely wrecked so another day lapses, and another zombie battle, before the next expedition.
The tantric dungeon V
The removal of the snake-men has had a lasting effect. Only scavengers are encountered, scuttling away from the expedition. They get all the way to the cavern without incident. A Dark Elf shoots and scoots, leaving them uncertain whether to pursue or check a side-tunnel for safety’s sake. The side-tunnel isn’t on the sketch map, so they explore that.
Sadly it leads merely to the temptation to open a heavy door preventing an alarmingly poisonous giant spider from wandering the dungeon! Fennec decides to burn webbing and is bitten. He collapses, taking another of Gnat’s doses to prevent death.
And as he is led babbling happily to the exit the session ends.
Props
Dyson’s dungeons (2014 compendium) provide the maps and Wizardawn provides the encounters, rated “challenging”. I did not tweak them much, just checked them over and removed anything that a minor demon could not boss.
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Post by warlord476 on Dec 22, 2016 16:58:02 GMT -5
2.05: Level boss down! The characters for this session:
Fennec, L2 Dwarf wizard
Cauleigh, L3 Dwarf warrior (Townsman)
Jotunn, L5 Dwarf warrior (Hunter; Tracking)
Crompton, L2 Dwarf rogue (Roguery, Rune-bearer)
Important NPCs for the session:
Duchess of Fingold, Lady Melissa, the warm heart of the gallant defense.
QMGLC Saundra, the iron fist to Melissa’s velvet glove.
The demon in glasses, birth-name Two. Level 4 human wizard, equipped with staff, punch-dagger, and a range of items and spells. Tallish, thin, wears a long coat with protections on it. Demon in glasses is the leader and tactician for the heavy hitters adventuring group. Seemed oblivious to female emotions until Cauleigh took a hand.
Gnat, birth-name Rue. Level 4 human rogue, small but perfectly formed and with sex appeal, equipped with a hand-crossbow and twin short swords, and a range of items and gear. She’s along as demon in glasses’ bodyguard. With double speed in combat and some signature moves, she packs the biggest individual punch in the Guild.
Princess, Sharp, and Damper: the remaining members of the heavy hitters. All L4 warriors, though with quite different fighting styles. Sharp has a thing for Gnat, but Gnat is more focused on Two. Princess has a thing for Two, and Cauleigh helped her out there.
Burnley, Whitey, Mizva and Mother Hobb: Collectively known as the survivors adventuring group. Up until very recently they were doing rear-echelon duty in the Guild, except for Mizva who was trying to pour himself into a bottle. They have returned to front-line work, though Mother Hobb’s job is still mostly ale-wife/healer. Burnley and Whitey are half-Elf rogues, Mizva is a human warrior using a magical heavy mace, and Mother Hobb is a Hobb rogue with potion specialty.
Panic, Lardo, Sprain, Soup and Bless: Collectively known as the Lefties adventuring group. They take on front-line fighting duty against the daily zombie attacks, with the heavy hitters available as reinforcement. All speak with the same foreign accent, most are left-handed, and by common consent have the best non-weapon magic items of the Guild. Bless has a thing for Gnat, though maybe she just wants to dress her up in a nice dress for a change.
Something is bothering them
The four Furbishers of Fingold, after the usual zombie attack, join the usual post-match drinks and supper. Fennec notices the Lefties group are antsy. This is the remaining front-line group, three warriors known as Panic Lardo and Sprain, a rogue known as Soup, and a female wizard, Bless. They all speak with the same foreign accent.
There are two attempts to interact, Fennec off his own initiative [failed CHR SR] and Cauleigh, buying a round of ale for all and using his Cloak of Plausibility! [That’s the fancy cloak picked up off Fishface on Level 2.]
Answer: The Lefties are antsy because it’s about time for the deceased other front-line group to turn up as zombies.
This proves a good entry point to discuss tactics and billhooks. And reinforcements. Mizva the survivor is still willing to pitch in.
An unlikely ally
So in quest of billhooks, early next morn Cauleigh takes the last undamaged poison spear to swap for a pair of them. His path to the north barracks takes him along the broad market way. And there he spies Lady Melissa, and some adoring harlots, in a contretemps with a gentleman.
Or more likely an altercation.
Maybe even a fracas.
By which time he is close enough to hear the gentleman insult Melissa’s dignity.
Dashingly thrusting himself between the harlots (who continue to cast imprecations) and the gentleman Cauleigh repugns the slight!
To which the gentleman responds with a challenge to a duel!
“No you won’t,” says Melissa, “for my sister has forbidden duels during the siege, on pain of death.”
“Quite right too,” Cauleigh agrees, though regretfully. He’d planned on axes at two paces.
“Instead, we’ll make it a competition,” Melissa goes on, and easily manipulates the gentleman into helping the Dwarves in their current attempt on Level 3.
Belloc is this gentleman’s name, and he is the scion of a minor house, an offshoot of Kimelas. Which of course is Melissa’s house. He will bring a duelling pistol, a straight sword, and a breastplate to the contest.
Back at the Guild Cauleigh introduces Belloc and hands Jotunn the other billhook. Fennec is inclined to dislike Belloc. The others welcome another reinforcement. The plan is to leave the billhooks at the “nest” where the Lefties have the Level 3 entry set up, and advance into the rough-floored cavern three warriors abreast, the front rank all having enchanted weapons, with Belloc and Crompton using missile weapons in the second rank. Mizva clutches a flaming torch in his shield hand – he needs a lot more light than a glimmering Will-o-Wisp.
The fight for the cavern I: Spriggan!
Exploring niches and deciding not to worry about the side-tunnel leading to the giant spider the warriors press forward. Crompton and Belloc follow, and Gnat and Two (demon in glasses’ given name) prepare to follow. Then Belloc goes down!
A huge rather spindly-limbed creature suddenly looms up as though from nowhere. The Dwarves and Mizva are affected in different ways [CHR L2 SR]. Fennec is thrown, and finds it hard to concentrate; whereas Cauleigh merely thinks it an illusion and looks around past it as he drags Belloc back to safety. Jotunn Mizva and Crompton attack the huge creature and become aware that Two is yelling:
“Spriggan! Fall back! Get back behind Gnat!”
Gnat is the only adventurer fast enough to deal with Spriggan, and her tactic is to defend until they get bored and move away. So having survived the initial damage from the giant, they retreat to the nest and wait. That is the last they see of Belloc's pistol.
Belloc himself is near death and Fennec grumbles:
“Imagine if I really didn’t like him”
And trickles 2 WIZ worth of healing into him. Belloc is roped up to Level 2, and stretchered away to the city hospital, where later Cauleigh will visit him, accept his apology, shake hands and become friends.
The fight for the cavern II: Spider!
The offensive resumes but with Crompton alone in the second rank. Cauleigh spots a strand of spider silk up above, and shouts a warning as the giant spider swings down!
With so much offensive power – Vorpals on axes and Mizva’s magical mace – the spider is overwhelmed but not before it poisons the front rank! Mizva falls dying and another of Gnat’s antidote doses is used. Mizva is roped up to Level 2 where he can babble quietly under Mother Hobb’s care until the hallucinogen wears off.
The fight for the cavern III: Dark elves, Ant-warriors and what’s that other thing?
This time the Dwarves occupy the entire cavern. Two shallow flights of steps, half-left and half-right, lead down to tunnels. A Dark Elf takes a shot from down the half-right tunnel, and Fennec hits him with an OGA before he can scoot. Then again when the elf snaps out of his initial charge. The elf is slain though not before he wounds Fennec. Before they can do more than lightly loot, Crompton is shot by a second Dark Elf from the half-left steps. The arrow strikes true, piercing Crompton’s shield and lamellar coat and body. Crompton falls!
The strongest Dwarves drag him to safety and Fennec snaps the arrow as he trickles some healing in [Fail on IQ for the arrow removal]. Not all that helpful! Crompton is roped up to Level 2 and Mother Hobb’s more competent healing.
Somewhere on the half-right tunnel a door has been heard opening. What’s down there? Two agrees to send a Will-o-Wisp out as far as his staff can reach around the corner. There’s big, ant-bodied creatures with helmets and spears, and something bigger, like a giant beetle.
Various ideas are tossed into the mix but with numbers low and no perfect solution the warriors switch to firearms. Gnat demonstrates her hand crossbow, which has a Boom Bomb threaded just behind the head.
“Of course, you need a pet mage for a steady supply” she says with a wink.
As the ant-warriors and giant beetle advance the Dwarves fire, but Cauleigh’s caliver misfires and they retreat hastily to the nest.
Enough has been done for the day, it’s time to rest up for the evening and the zombie attack. And some planning into how to deal with a lair of Dark Elves that has twin tunnels allowing them to circle behind any advance.
The zombie attack on the nest
During the remainder of the day, as Mizva and Crompton recover, tactics are discussed. The Lefties opt for the broad “temple tunnel” on the southern flank, leaving our heroes and the survivors with the nest. Cauleigh and Jotunn are pretty keen to try fighting with billhooks in the nest, as a dry run. Instead of relying on fast-moving rogues to trip zombies they’ll do the tripping with the billhooks and the blade-armed rogues (and Mizva – “if there’s no head left the result is the same” – with his mace) will remove heads. All going well that leaves the heavy hitters able to throw their weight in to the Lefties as they have done the last week.
The nest has a choke-point entry, so only a few zombies shamble in at a time. Cauleigh and Jotunn knock the first couple down, they are dispatched easily. Then the next two – in fact Cauleigh tumbles one so that zombie #5 trips over it. By the time numbers 6-8 are tripped and executed the controller (whoever that is) has seen enough and pulls back.
Crisis in temple tunnel!
Congratulating one another on a complete victory [the players were rolling for Mizva Whitey and Burnley and got some great rolls] they loot quickly. The zombies weren’t thoroughly searched by whatever killed them: they find a couple of nice gems, and a jar of yellow powder.
Then from a distance, Gnat’s voice yelling “Assassinate!” and clash of arms is heard.
Seizing up their firearms and polearms again Jotunn and Cauleigh sprint back and around, Crompton keeping up with them, Fennec following at a more cautious distance. [SPD SR for the first three]
In the temple tunnel a chaotic scene meets their eyes. Off in the middle distance the heavy hitters are in action – defensively – while near to hand Bless and Soup and one of the warriors are fighting zombies and other zombies are dragging two fallen warriors away.
Cauleigh and Jotunn get into action spot-hitting the dragging zombies. [A series of good DEX SRs saves the two warriors]
Fennec and Crompton work around them towards the heavy hitters. Princess, Sharp and Damper are guarding Two. Corpses of various foul things lie heaped around them. Some way distant a shadowed being menaces.
Level boss!
Fennec hurls a L2 TTYF. It certainly slams into its target, though whether it has any effect cannot be told.
As Crompton runs past Two, the wizard calls:
Little Feets!
Crompton finds himself moving fast enough to see Gnat, who is constantly on the move, running at full speed across, up walls and looping back to fall on the demon from above. He coordinates his attack with hers, striking low as she strikes high. It has an effect! The demon begins retreating!
Sensing the demon has weakened Two sends in a counter:
Glue You!
And yells: “Hit it with everything!”
Jotunn and Cauleigh arrive at near range and let drive. They are firing silver balls!
Gnat and Crompton repeat their manoeuvre and the demon disintegrates back to its hell!
Shares and bargains
The ex-adventurer zombies dropped a lot of loot. There’s shares to be had and cheap deals too, over Mother Hobb's good ale that night.
Fennec picks up wizardly bracers [8 points armour] Crompton takes a Sopok shield [14 pts] and Cauleigh a Knight’s shield [14 pts]. Jotunn is offered a breastplate of Elven design that seems no better than a normal breastplate, but is magical. When he complains about the item, the Lefties offer him the Sheeting Arrows of Claes, excellent against unarmoured foes, even if you can barely use a bow, for 1000. Jotunn grudgingly takes the deal.
[Later, some testing detects that the yellow powder is to be sprinkled, will cover about 10 people, and protected against possession type spells.]
The fall of the level boss and an entire wing of zombies has completely changed missions. There’s no need to push past the Dark Elves now. Instead, the Dwarves can report to QMGLC Saundra and Lady Melissa for the “mercenary army” mission to Hathlisveit.
An opportunity to hand off the Elf remains
After briefing them and stating the offer they are to pass on, Melissa adds that she has received a delegation from the Elf Forest. It seems the Elves there have heard that Dwarves arrived in Fingold, packing Elf remains around in pickle barrels.
[This is true. The remains are stored in a carter’s shed at present. The Dwarves mean to pass the remains to the kinfolk of the fallen Elves.]
But fear not – she has smoothed things over! In fact she has temporarily focussed the Elves on the presence of Dark Elves in the shatterzone dungeon.
“We always meant to be rid of them, so if these Elves want to take the remains with them, that will be fine,” the Dwarves all agree.
The mission to Hathlisveit: evading the siege
So on a crisp clear early summer morning about two dawns after the fall of the Level boss, four Dwarves mingle with guards out of the south-east gate, where early harvest is being harvested.
After a time, they drop into cover in ditches and berry-bushes.
[Jotunn helps Cauleigh, who makes a mess of this manoeuvre. The others manage their SRs]
Pricking themselves with scorpion bulbs that inject an anti-scrying compound, they ease their way south. [L2 CON SR, Crompton misses and enjoys psychedelic effects for the next couple of hours]
They keep to cover. After a mile or less they swing south-west. By nightfall they have not travelled many miles, and Crompton at least is tired. A slumped ruin of a barn invites – just the tiled roof, canted over.
It seems besieging patrols use this to skive off. Mounds of horse dung lie dried under the shelter, tic-tac-toe games have been scratched in the dirt, and graffiti such as “sarge go suck a donkey” and “Agnes jugs block the sun” can be traced on the underside of the shelter roof.
Fennec has a new spell, that will ward the entrance, but not for long. They set up a normal watch. Jotunn decides to take a longer watch. In the later part, he hears a dog barking [hunting expertise] a warning.
He wakes Cauleigh and the others are woken, and prepare for trouble. After a time, the sound of the dog nearing the shelter, hunting something, can be heard.
Crompton smells troglodytes! Fennec [WIZ to represent obscure research or lore picked up on his travels] warns them that trogs spit glue-like saliva which can smother. Cauleigh clambers silently up atop the shelter, Jotunn and Crompton ready Vorpalled axes.
Three Trogs hasten to the shelter, as though seeking cover. Cauleigh drops and smashes the skull of the first, Jotunn and Crompton leap out and chop the remaining two dead. And gathering their packs, depart and hide in rough grass.
The hunters and dog catch up to the bloody scene. Judging by the conversation they are soldiers, and probably veterans. They decide to take the Trogs’ weapons, say nothing about what killed them, and claim the kill as their own.
And as the Dwarves congratulate themselves and decide whether to start walking again, the session ends.
Props
All op cit except when I needed something that would prevent scrying I rolled d100 on Wizardawn's Alchemy Ingredients for the adhoc inspiration.
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Post by warlord476 on Dec 24, 2016 14:08:21 GMT -5
2.06: The Hathlisveit mission The characters for this session:
Fennec, L2 Dwarf wizard
Cauleigh, L3 Dwarf warrior (Townsman)
Jotunn, L5 Dwarf warrior (Hunter; Tracking)
Crompton, L2 Dwarf rogue (Roguery, Rune-bearer)
It is a clear moonlit night and the four furbishers of Fingold have just been evicted from their rude shelter by the arrival of Troglodytes followed by a patrol.
Crompton, the most tired of the four, feels refreshed so by common consensus the four set Jotunn to the fore and head south-west again. Their mission is to take Fingold's urgent request for aid to the Dwarf town of Hathlisveit.
Plenty amid nothing
The hunter’s experienced nose tells him that the land is full of food and daylight confirms this. Feral wheat, barley and oats thrust up from weed-tangled abandoned fields and untended fruit trees droop with unthinned fruit. Game of all kinds, from deer and feral cattle downward, have left spoor near water-courses and in grazing sites. Wineskins or flagons are refilled from clear-running brooks (Crompton chooses to water down his wine) and they press on well into the day.
The complete lack of human habitation is a concern though. At some point they do need to ask someone where Hathlisveit is! Recalling how Ladies Melissa and Saundra phrased the journey, it seems to them that the girls had probably never been there and were simply repeating what they had been told: it lies south-west.
The camp of cripples
Fortune is with Jotunn: at length he peers cautiously into a steep small valley – perhaps a dry river bend – where a camp has been laid out. Various items of clothing are drying on stones, a small smokeless fire burns, and humans bustle about mundane chores.
They are all cripples.
The ablest of them are probably ex-soldiers missing an arm or leg, but some of the people have merely leg-stumps or several limbs missing. They are children adults and oldsters, male and female.
The Dwarves hold a quick and quiet discussion, and descend looking as un-fearsome as it is possible for three heavily-armed Dwarves and an obvious wizard to do.
Once these cripples’ initial fear is overcome the Dwarves are welcome, doubly so when they bring out iron rations. These are folk unwanted in any town and left to fend for themselves. They forage, tend a small patch of vegetables, and set snares for rabbits and the like. Jotunn heads out to hunt some fresh meat for the pot while the others confirm Hathlisveit’s general direction.
One of the cripples hails from Esgaroth and has travelled these parts. He explains to Crompton, after a mini-tournament of tic-tac-toe, that Hathlisveit is sealed off by siege lines! It’s also hard to see from this side, the east, so they should head south first and swing round west until they see a pale bluff standing alone.
Jotunn returns with meat, they all eat, and sleep well. They will be off by nightfall.
At the siege lines
It is early and the night is bright and clear, and the Dwarves crouch low, listening intently. They are about half a mile east of siege lines, where the watch is still fresh and challenges are sung out and answered briskly. It’s reasonably certain that the lines are not thickly manned, so in theory the Dwarves could simply sneak through.
A debate ensues. The land south and west seems shadowed and this is useful information. Options are considered. At length they agree to move south and a little west into thickets, camp down, and scout for the bluff during daylight.
In the distance, evidence of the defence
Although water is certainly to be had, they are not lucky enough to chance on some, and sip from their waterskins, chewing on a few bites of waybread. Although the Adventurers Guild eats better than most of Fingold, they are all used to eating sparingly by now, even Jotunn.
Dawn and the bugling of a mounted force of some kind, off west among timbered rolling land. It is answered with a loud, but distant, BOOM of a heavy gun. Then shrieks of men and horses in pain, and a few minutes later, the hooves of a riderless horse, and the calling of horsemen catching up that horse.
This is all encouraging. Jotunn scouts and soon sees the pale bluff, caught by the early sun. It faces south. Here perhaps in ancient times the great river cut north and uncovered solid stone.
He reports this and a brisk debate ensues. The dry camp is still quite some distance from the bluff and therefore from Hathlisveit. It seems prudent to some that Jotunn scout more, lightly clad, to see how the siege is being enforced on this side. Then, they can all make an informed decision about how to get through.
Crompton generously passes over two Zap daggers and Vorpals two more so that Jotunn can fight his way clear if he gets in trouble.
Discovered!
Only a few minutes into his mission though, Jotunn turns on his heel and flies back to camp as fast as he can run! For as he checks his back-trail to make sure of landmarks, he sees bootprints. And one set is that of a Dwarf, heavyset, and four are of men. And they are tracking.
Jotunn dons his full armour as he explains the danger and when a huge war-hound bounds into sight they are ready! It wears a chest harness fashioned from silvery-gold chain.
Behind the hound strides a massive-bodied Dwarf wielding a huge axe in one thick hand and clutching a sword-breaker in his other. That fist is encased in a jewel-decorated iron gauntlet. He himself is encased in flexible armour: a glittering coif and a hauberk of fine steel rings. Skulls of children (or perhaps small humanoids) dangle at his waist.
[If you want to signal that someone isn’t a good guy, equip them with dangling skulls, preferably small ones. No need to psychoanalyze them!]
And not far behind the hound and Dwarf come four bill-men, soldiers or deserters, armed with voulges or guisarmes, protected by habergeons and bucklers.
Combat!
Judging that Jotunn Cauleigh and Crompton will be able to employ the usual tactics Fennec throws an OGA and the renegade Dwarf duly plunges towards him. But things go awry. Cauleigh decides to trip the Dwarf, who scornfully sweeps the Esgaroth Dwarf’s axe away and breaks it and carries on in pursuit of Fennec; while Crompton and Jotunn are menaced by hound and bill-men!
Choosing to avoid the long weapons the pair throw themselves into close combat with the hound and deal a severe gash to its flank. It is out of action for the time being! But Crompton and Jotunn are both heavily wounded.
Meanwhile Fennec, who fled away from the fight, is in dire danger for even armored, the renegade Dwarf gains rapidly on the wizard! The axe’s edge slices Fennec’s jerkin and back: then Cauleigh, cursing the tactical disadvantage, catches up. He hammers his silver-headed mace at the iron gauntlet and is rewarded by seeing the sword-breaker spin away across the clearing they are fighting across.
The renegade turns on Cauleigh who dodges aside: not quickly enough! The remains of his fine Rothway steel cuirass also hurtle across the clearing and blood runs down inside Cauleigh’s gambeson.
Meanwhile the other two Dwarves have fooled the bill-men – Crompton executing a fine roll-through though sustaining more damage – and Jotunn runs around Cauleigh to place himself on Fennec’s side of the fight. That’s what Fennec has been waiting for! The wizard hits the renegade with another OGA. Jotunn fights breast-to-breast, fully occupying his foe, allowing Cauleigh a clear swing. The renegade falls, skull stove in under the coif. Jotunn pauses not but charges on at the billmen who are chasing Crompton down, while Cauleigh snatches up the fallen renegade’s axe and follows.
The disordered bill-men are no match for the three fighting Dwarves, although Crompton is all but unconscious by the time the last man falls. Turning to see where the hound went they find it guarding the renegade’s body. They reward its loyalty by killing it from a safe distance, and turn to looting. But quickly – there has been a great deal of shouting and screaming and anyone nearby will have heard them!
Loot and dispute
Working swiftly they take four haversacks that jingle with coin and stuff in a fine scroll case, the hound’s chain, assorted wineskins flagons and a clay jug, and the jeweled iron gauntlet, which unscrews from the renegade’s arm – it is a false hand. With more difficulty and mess they take the coif, and Crompton and Cauleigh strip the hauberk off as well.
Here a fierce and loud dispute arises. Crompton’s lamellar is badly damaged and he is hopeful of taking the hauberk, heavy and poor fit though it be. Before Jotunn can calm him down by explaining how close they must be to Hathlisveit, and that there is still the Elven-pattern breastplate as an option, Crompton is shouting rudely and taking oath that he will never stand in the front line again!
Hathlisveit’s southern fields
They four remove themselves some 500 yards west, to another thicket on a rolling wooded hill, and spy out the land before the bluff.
It is in cultivated fields, cut up by deep hedgerows. Workers are tending the fields, guarded by small pickets of armed Dwarves.
During the remainder of the day, the bucolic tranquility of the scene is broken once, when another mounted demonstration occurs. The Dwarves seem well prepared and the horsemen retreat without gunfire.
At the end of the day the Dwarf workers bundle shooks of hay or suchlike onto their shoulders and all Dwarves retreat to the bluff. From what Jotunn can see, they exchange greetings with a gate guard of some type and the gates close.
Feeling that they need only act moderately safely the four furbishers use the night to move to a non-threatening position near the gates, clamp a whitish rag atop an axe with the iron hand, and wait for the next dawn.
Hathlisveit and its amenities
This proves perfectly safe, and they are welcomed as ambassadors from Fingold, and taken within deep, well-cut and well-ventilated stone shafts. “Proper Dwarf living” as Fennec puts it. He notices the guards flinch away from his smell. No-one among the four has bathed in quite some time.
The town of Hathlisveit is not large, they learn from their guides. The census counts about 670, mostly Dwarves. There is but one Inn to Hathlisveit, and for reasons lost in time it is named the Serpent Inn. After a deep cleansing bath and wearing simple clean tunics they take lodging there and fall to conversation with Mukregard Senior, pious but gossipy host of the Serpent Inn. Mukregard Distaff sees to the other guests’ needs: a number occupy the common room, perhaps as a leisure activity. Cauleigh notices cute females, and games of chance.
These Dwarves are not all of one type. Some of the first they see within the halls are notably slender (for Dwarves) with silky dark hair, dark almond-shaped eyes and ears that are more pointed than usual. Other Dwarves are built along normal lines. And a third group, well represented among the soldiery, are even broader and stockier than normal, with massive hands and spatulate fingers. The renegade was of this type. Mukregard Senior says that their legend is that they are descendants of Ikuttas Dwarves. As for the agile, slender-bodied Sveltes (here he leans close, for he is retailing scandal) legend has it that a dark witch gave rise to their line.
Cauleigh gets to know some of the Sveltes over a game of rolled dice, and gets to know a pair of the cute Svelte girls even better on the Inn’s fine sturdy bed later.
Crompton finds that the Sveltes incline to being rogues, though some don’t and hotly resent being lumped in with the rogues.
Fennec learns that the town has but one temple, of Ikmal Iron-bringer, but is disappointed to find that there is no Wizard’s guild and magic-craft is carried out by rogues.
Jotunn learns that the southern approach to Hathlisveit holds the town’s fields, in much the same way Fingold maintains a few vital crops; but the other approaches are covered by star-trace fortifications, with overlapping fields of fire, banked low to the ground and surrounded by siege lines.
Before the senate
It’s clear from the promptness: This diplomatic mission from Fingold is seen as having the highest importance. The Hathlisveit senate meets in a stone chamber, well-lit by secret channels to the sky above. Consul Haugri sits in the ruler’s stone seat. His beard is long, his brow broad, his eyes deep with wisdom. The four furbishers notice that all three of the Dwarven peoples of Hathlisveit are represented in roughly equal numbers among the senators.
Cauleigh addresses the senate with flowing oratory, making the impassioned plea for assistance that Duchess Melissa requested. Fennec also adds that he seeks audience with the high priest. Jotunn notices that numbers of common Dwarves have crowded the tunnels leading into the senate, to overhear proceedings.
Consul Haugri responds:
“Regarding this plea from our titular ruler, there are two facts that we cannot get around. One: Hathlisveit is loyal. Two, Hathlisveit is small. We will consider how we are best to respond, and summon you to hear that response.”
[No CHR SR required since Cauleigh actually makes a speech. 20 AP.]
Fennec is shown to the temple and meets the high priest, and is appropriately respectful. He passes on the word-of-mouth from the archmagi:
“I know we parted on bad terms but the past is the past. Fingold’s temples are fallen and the worship of the whole city is yours for the taking.”
“I shall have to reflect and pray,” says the high priest, “and if Bobby thinks he’s getting around me with that offer…”
[10 AP for Fennec, mainly for the foresight of carefully writing down the ‘word of mouth’ so as not to mess it up.]
Refurbishing
By the time they receive their senate summons repair of equipment is well under way. Crompton is still reasonably sure that he does not want his old lamellar. He now wears the Breastplate of Xrong (green, and looks to be of Elf design) a steel cap and sturdy gambeson. The magical sopok shield he had is now with Jotunn, and Jotunn’s heavy bow and the Sheeting arrows of Claes are with Crompton. Fennec has had time to open the scroll tube and study the scroll within, a treasure map showing roughly where along the Golden River is the tomb of Colairion, with side-notes on a list of magic items someone was fairly sure are buried there. The scroll tube itself is very valuable. The clay jug looted from the billmen has a magic liquid, not liquor. And the coif is magical: it has been cleaned and Jotunn wears it. As for the hauberk, it is a superior steel mail hauberk, but some nice gems were concealed in its lining hem.
[As a way of simplifying my life I offer to trade all the coins and gems found for accommodation and full gear. I do not have to use a calculator so, yay!]
Meet three bold leaders, and the regiment
The senate’s decision is that a small but properly equipped regiment of 64 warriors will be sent. Three Sveltes have put themselves forward as leaders in the venture.
Ausecur is often the spokesperson, a rogue who seems to have the broadest range of magic;
Ondsop is his able second, and nearly as cunning with magic; and
Kamerad is their junior, eager to learn any spells going.
Four Dwarves from the strength will be needed at any one time to bear the high priest, who has decided to travel to Fingold.
The Svelte rogues introduce the furbishers to company leaders – generally older soldiers – and the formation the Dwarves train for is explained. There will be eight handgunners and eight crossbowmen, and the remaining 48 foot are a mixture of halberdiers and bladesmen (axes or swords). The order of march is a hollow square. The crossbowmen carry pavises and generally take up the rear corners of the travelling square, the gunners the front corners. With a need for bearers, there will be eight melee armed Dwarves per side of the square, the remainder being detailed as bearers or skirmishers.
The furbishers are welcome to stiffen the front melee rank, or if they have a gun, join the gunners.
Strategy of an escape
Some nights later the weather is perfect: there is not the smallest chance the moon will emerge and shine on the furbishers as they sneak slowly towards where a telescope has allowed them to pick out a powder store.
Crompton softly places a cask of gunpowder down at the store door, then readies his axe. He feels speed will be of the essence:
“Vorpal Blade!”
He strikes the lock a mighty blow, sparks fly off as the lock is broken, and some loose powder ignites.
BOOOM!!!
Flinging themselves aside saves Crompton Cauleigh and Jotunn from all but minor damage, and Fennec is protected by Jotunn.
Jotunn hustles into the store, smashes a cask there – no sparks this time – and trails a line of powder out.
Seeing an officer attempting to organize sentries into a response, Fennec hits him with L2 TTYF! There is a bright purple arc and a crash of thunder and the officer slumps down, battered or dying.
As they hustle east Crompton lights the powder trail – Bic Flic – and the store erupts! The clouds above flash white and yellow, a shockwave throws down all around it, then roiling black clouds cover the area.
Shortly after, the furbishers are intercepted by Ausecur, who seems to be able to see perfectly well in the black night. The diversion has worked well, and the regiment drives north-east, Jotunn navigating the way.
A running battle and a debt repaid
Crompton wearily drags himself back to the hidden column.
“I’ve found a likely site to attack. It’s overgrown, but not so broken we can’t keep in our column.”
The regiment stands, the littermen hoist Righteous Filbard onto their shoulders, and the skirmishers lead off Fennec, being too short to be useful in the middle, is with them.
They are some miles from Fingold and the western faction has so far failed to catch them; but the last stage will be well-patrolled if not by the western faction then by the eastern. Aware of forces close at hand, they had sent Crompton out scouting for a good place to use the regiment’s fighting strengths.
Skirmishers cut up enemy foragers then return into the square. Fennec sends an OGA at a mounted officer, preventing him from properly controlling his men. Front-rank, Jotunn and Cauleigh ready their weapons. Crompton levels the arquebus. They give fire! Flame ripples out and several enemy fall.
The regiment crashes through. A mixed bag of disordered foot and dragoons attempt to rally, and pursue. Fingold is a steady jog away.
Crompton’s strength gives out and he is hoisted up onto the litter. [He really does need better CON!]
Fennec uses the OGA trick again and the officer’s horse is cut down, the officer distracted. Cauleigh and Jotunn, skirmishing behind, knock aside the lead two pursuers bills, and deal heavy blows with axes.
Across the disordered enemy Cauleigh locks eyes with Sergeant Musger.
“Fall back lads, no need to be heroes!” cries Musger, sketching a salute to Cauleigh. And the regiment jogs clear.
Props
Hathlisveit is inspired by, but not particularly taken from, Haslithveit, a small Dwarf village in Fantasy Towns and Cities III by Art of War Games. Other than the name Haugri as its ruler everything else is my own. Its location was mapped decades ago as an unnamed fortified town within the vast Fingold estate, on my Vale map. For this session I put some thought into how it would have weathered the wars of the last two centuries and the current civil war. An armed force of one in ten as an expedition is a heavy commitment on any settlement, but I figure Dwarves in a state of war are able to commit that and still have a skeleton defense.
Wizardawn’s encounter creation and random treasure generators helped me create the boss of this session, the renegade Dwarf, and his war-hound and minions. Combined MR 465.
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Post by warlord476 on Dec 30, 2016 18:04:47 GMT -5
2.07: Dungeon rush/Level 0 funnelCharacters for this session:
Fennec, L2 Dwarf wizard
Cauleigh, L3 Dwarf warrior (Townsman)
Jotunn, L5 Dwarf warrior (Hunter; Tracking)
Crompton, L2 Dwarf rogue (Roguery, Rune-bearer)
Because there are a lot of Dwarves around I may refer to these four as the furbishers.
Fresh plans must be laid!
Stowing the regiment in the North Barracks, the four Fingold furbishers bring these Dwarves to meet Duchess of Fingold Lady Melissa, and Quartermaster-General Lady Countess Saundra:
- Ausecur, Ondsop and Kamerad the Svelte-Dwarf rogues acting as mission leaders;
- Righteous Filbard, high priest of Hathlisveit; and
- Five sturdy veterans that bear Filbard in his litter. (And Crompton, for the last couple of miles' jog - he is exhausted.)
This time audience is held in one of the citadel’s halls, possibly usable as a ballroom. A fair number of courtier-soldiers and courtier-clerks are present. Speeches are exchanged – the Sveltes assume Cauleigh will speak for them so he does – and a meet-and-mingle accompanied by hors-d’oeuvre follows. The ladies manage the mingling so that they have a private word with the furbishers. Except Crompton, who having insisted he would be there, decides he is snoring in Filbard's litter now.
[This is what I think of as the Crompton factor. I halve Crompton’s CHR for the time being. I think, in the player's mind, it goes like this: "I wanted to be present so I could contribute. Then it turns out Cauleigh is our faceman, which I knew all along. So if you aren't going to let me talk over him I'll act out by pointedly falling asleep."]
The ladies learn that Hathlisveit was not offered the free trade/tax deal originally proposed. As to the attack to relieve the siege, planning is called for. Fennec has some basics of strategy (he helped defend Jake’s Town) and is to meet the Archmage and Master Gunner atop the citadel’s tallest tower tonight. Other than that, it seems that trouble has again fallen upon the Adventurers Guild, so go there, find out, and report back without using that strange adventurer cant.
Passive-aggressive special forces Elves
En route from the citadel gate – which faces west – around its south wall to the Guild building at the inner north corner of the new wall, the furbishers (on their own – the three Sveltes are not invited over) pass perhaps half a dozen tough-looking Elves, apparently kitting up for a journey. Their armour is dulled and nicked, and many gadgets and odd containers are strapped around their persons. In a word, they look like experienced adventurers.
“Ah, you must be the Elves,” say the Dwarves wisely.
One Elf bows:
“So you must be the Elf-friends. We are about to take our leave. Job done.”
“Oh, so you have been aiding the Adventurers Guild in its fight under the city…”
Another Elf leans past the spokesman, dangles a necklace made of Dark Elf ears. “If you mean, did we clean the Dark Elves out for you, yes… and… you’re welcome” he says sarcastically.
Before Fennec and/or Crompton can put foot to mouth Cauleigh begins to move them on. But too late!
“Are you taking those barrels of pickled Elf with you, by the way?” Crompton asks, rather than asking politely if the remains have been dealt with yet.
[I pinch my nose bridge, and decide I have got what I was angling for - an excuse for these Elves to go back and suggest to their prince that he cancel the "Elf-friend" status. I did expect Fennec to bait himself into the job though.]
"What he means is," adds Jotunn helpfully as Cauleigh frantically signals to stop digging that hole, "We preserved the remains of your kin, do you know if they got taken care of? Or who we should turn them over to?"
[At this point I'm thinking I should give Fennec some AP for not joining in...]
The Adventurers Guild is poised on the brink
Inside the Guild the halls echo hollowly. Where is everybody?
It’s not until they get downstairs some way that the furbishers smell the hearty smell of fresh ale and tasty stew. Mother Hobb has a kitchen set up near the top of a stairwell leading down to the grand tunnel, Level Three. This is where she does most of her healing.
The story goes like this:
Cauleigh is busy making all sorts of plans when general tiredness catches Crompton up. He falls asleep over his ale and is put to bed. Fennec takes his leave. He hears Jotunn and Crompton talking about swapping some weapons as he does.
Fennec’s report and strategy session
After some unsuccessful research in the citadel library Fennec checks the time and heads out so as not be late for the meet.
He is waylaid by a courtier who brings him to Saundra. She is obviously deep in sums with her abacus-wielding clerks, but has issued a BOLO on any of the furbishers.
Saundra needs that report on the guild… and she also gets a little more detail on the regiment’s strength. She doesn’t seem very pleased, says something about a puzzle they have set her.
Fennec hastens to the meeting, arriving later than he had planned. Neither Archmage nor master gunner seems bothered. The strategy meeting is fairly general, pointing out the lie of the land around the Fire-mage’s lines, and various obstacles to getting there, to Fennec.
The Arch-mage asks Fennec whether the regiment’s attack would be early in the day, or late after the exchange of attack spells. Fennec decides on the late show.
[As proof they are not committing spells to their side, both mages exchange full-strength attacks each evening. The Fire-mage throws a maximized multi-blast Blasting Power and the Arch-mage replies with a similar-power Freeze Please.
Technically both mages are using gadgets to achieve the range. The Archmage uses a multi-tray ballista, for example.]
Fennec’s bonus reward
Once the master gunner leaves he reports the overall success at Hathlisveit to the Archmage. “Bobby” the Archmage is fearfully pleased that “Fili” has arrived in person. He offers a free spell. Fennec opts for Glue You. “Good choice” says the Archmage.
“Uh, I’m not sure if QMGLC Saundra will approve it…” Fennec avers.
“Well I’ll just tell her I have already begun… if the subject arises” assures the Archmage tapping his impressive old-Dwarf-size nose.
With the first “impress” of the spell in his mind Fennec hurries to the Guild.
Meanwhile – the town run
As planned, Cauleigh catches up with the Heavy Hitters, and learns a little more detail about the grand tunnel situation. The “balls in a vice” aspect, which Mother Hobb was too kind to detail, is that about one-third of the way along, there’s a series of chambers leading to a lower and wider natural cavern. It wasn’t sealed off, and allowed a strong monster through. Two even helped the monsters by opening a hole on a wall, allowing defenders to be flanked at all times. (It seemed like a good test of a new spell…)
Gnat keeps the Lefties supplied, but she does that by sprinting at top speed twice a day. She reports only wandering monsters in the grand tunnel, no coordinated attacks and no zombie raids.
Also as planned Cauleigh joins Jotunn for a walk to the North Barracks. Listening to Cauleigh’s description of the grand tunnel problem, Jotunn proposes a brutal shortening of the front:
“Seal off the tunnel south of this cavern entry, then focus on clearing that. If Two is right and there’s a way down to Level 4 there, that will be perfect.”
[Seems like a plan! I ask Jotunn’s player to hit me up for AP if it goes through. The grand tunnel lies far under the old Temple Street, roughly north-south.]
Near the North Barracks townsfolk recognize Jotunn, slap him on the back or (if housewives wanting some luck) grab his beard and kiss his cheek. Good to be back in town!
[Jotunn got most of the credit for bringing much-needed wood, charcoal and saltpeter back to town. He has a +3 to CHR while in Fingold.]
Cauleigh swaps his poll-axe for another billhook, they check in with the regiment and head for the Guild.
The Ogre wants to get gone
Using their memories of the options on Level One the Dwarves creep quietly past the maze and are lucky enough to be contacted by Bryn, the Ogre's trusted hench-hobgoblin. They agree on the previous protocol for meeting (though Crompton draws it out by making a loose reference, something you can’t do with Hobgoblins) and are soon seated facing the Ogre.
“I smell a change on the wind…”
Briefly, if the Dwarves can get rid of the Barghest up in the shatterzone, the Ogre will break out during the rumoured assault on the siege lines, bringing Bryn and ‘his missus’ with him.
The Dwarves are OK with this idea so decide to take the Level One mission, “Explore the shatterzone and if a Barghest exists, kill it.”
But that will be during the bright light of day, and meanwhile they will run to the Lefties and persuade them to retreat.
Bring ‘em home!
“Would you like an extra tank?”
Mizva, the survivor’s warrior, stumbles in while the furbishers are prepping. Apparently he is getting most of his calories from ale while doing the work of three warriors. Crompton makes sure he has some stew, as well.
But there’s a much better option. Gnat will scout in front, since she must do the run anyway.
Party order: Fennec and Crompton 2nd-rank with missiles and spells (Will-o-Wisp up at all times), Cauleigh and Jotunn front-rank with axes and shields, Gnat somewhere in front in the dark.
The grand tunnel expedition turns into more of a grind than anyone was expecting [when I roll Snakemen, max numbers, on my random list] but by keeping to one wall and making sure each Snakeman is down before going to the next, the Dwarves do well, not even getting scratched from the poison spears the Snakemen use. They create time and space for Gnat to dash around lopping bits off the Snakemen. With only three survivors the Snakemen flee up-tunnel.
[Good stunting, Jotunn typically using shield-charge while Cauleigh complements that by leaping. Good support by the 2nd rank with Vorpals too.]
“They’ve probably dissed down the ravine ahead on the left,” Gnat guesses.
She is kind of right – they are down the ravine but only waiting to ambush. A powerful goat-man uses a crossbow from the right flank once Gnat is safely past, and the three Snakemen charge from the left. The Dwarves all react well and quickly. Fennec virtually destroys the goat-man on his own (and loots the heavy crossbow), Gnat returns to clean up the third and final Snakeman as the other Dwarves deal with two of them.
Treasure from among the drops includes a couple of interesting items, they’ll check them out once they get to some light.
Aside from a scare from a retreating giant lizard the last third of the run is event-free.
As Two predicted the Dwarves’ persuasion tips the scales, and the Lefties begin packing for the retreat.
[25 AP each for the low-level mission success]
Items and swaps
Crompton has found a small glass hourglass, strangely empty. He pays Two his remaining 60 gold and learns that it will do Little Feets once per day. [Command phrase Tempus Fugit] This is exactly the kind of gadget Crompton needs to be a dodging-type rogue, so excellent news. Cauleigh has found a scroll that Fennec says is Level 6. He swaps it for Bless’ Phenomenal Kukri of Charitiki, a perma-zap. [Applies to weapon only since it is permanent.]
[So that I have a record of it, the scroll carries a non-standard 6th-level spell, Shared Sorrow, possibly created by an angst-ridden emo/goth wizard. Opponents affected share the caster’s emotions and may completely empathize, at least for the duration. Cost 40, Range 100, Area 100, Duration 3cbt rnds incr.]
The Lefties have a pile of spare stuff they could sell – there’s only so many powders and potions you can lug around – but the Dwarves are out of funds, so that’s as far as that goes.
Someone bringing Mother Hobb her food supplies has brought a rumour that notices will be tacked up around town. “Rations reduced” is everyone’s guess.
Shatterzone preliminary: Volunteers sought!
But morning finds a very different kind of notice. Volunteers are sought: adventure into the shatterzone, become Adventurers Guild members, and reap food tokens!
By the time the worried furbishers arrive outside the citadel, dozens of men and a few women are being marshalled into order. They place themselves in the ranks.
A worried courtier-soldier summons Saundra. In effect she asks them what they think they are doing? Learning that they want to be the ones to take down the Barghest Saundra decides to cope with what fate has thrown at her, gives them a “hmp” of disapproval and retires back to her plans.
And so it is that, to cheers of admiring townsfolk, the Dwarves lead a dozen militia into the shatterzone. For reasons best known to Saundra they are lowered from the wall.
Shatterzone: The first Level 0 funnel
It turns out the furbishers are noobs when it comes to leading formed ranks of men through uneven twisted ruins. Militia are equipped with polearms – mostly simple voulges – and the line of march is too long.
Once organized into three sections: left-flank, right-flank, and rearguard, the twelve seem much more capable. This is an illusion.
The line of march alerts a monsterish magical alarm, but Fennec is alert to it. Cauleigh (leaping) and Crompton (balancing) head to where two black-cloaked brutish shapes have charged into the left flank. Then Fennec realizes that the mage is positioned off the other flank, and Crompton leaps across to help Jotunn against four similarly cloaked shapes. Fennec identifies the enemy wizard (OTIS) takes a low-power TTYF, and returns the favour with L2 TTYF, killing the enemy wizard.
Although they drive the Uruks off and grab some basic treasure, seven militia are dead.
Swinging away from the next obvious trap sets the column alongside what was supposed to be an attack on the rear. The Dwarves sweep back and deal with pesky brownies before they can do any damage, while Jotunn, whose arquebus has misfired, struggles with some kind of runty spiderkin who knifes him with an envenomed fang-dagger.
Both Fennec and Crompton are low on mana by this time so the march is abandoned and the session ends with the column of nine survivors returning to safety.
Important NPCs for the session:
Duchess of Fingold, Lady Melissa, the warm heart of the gallant defense.
QMGLC Saundra, the iron fist to Melissa’s velvet glove.
Arch-magi of Fingold, an aged Dwarf, specialist in Ice based combat. Teaches approved spells to approved learners.
The demon in glasses, birth-name Two. Level 4 human wizard, mapper and planner, leader and tactician for the heavy hitters adventuring group.
Gnat, birth-name Rue. Level 4 human rogue, small but perfectly formed and with sex appeal, equipped with a hand-crossbow and twin short swords, and a range of items and gear. With double speed in combat and some signature moves, she packs the biggest individual punch in the Guild. She fends Bless off politely, tends to be cheeky to everyone but Two.
Mizva and Mother Hobb are two of the survivors adventuring group. Mother Hobb’s job is still mostly ale-wife/healer. Mizva is a human warrior using a magical heavy mace, and Mother Hobb is a Hobb rogue with potion specialty. Burnley and Whitey, the other members, are half-Elf rogues.
Panic, Lardo, Sprain, Soup and Bless are collectively known as the Lefties adventuring group. All speak with the same foreign accent, most are left-handed, and by common consensus have the best non-weapon magic items of the Guild. Bless has a thing for Gnat, though maybe she just wants to dress her up in a nice dress for a change. At the furbishers' urging there's a recommendation heading to Saundra that the Lefties be promoted to Gold rank in the Guild.
Props
More of a shout-out to Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG for QMGLC Saundra’s ruthless expedient of finding 64 volunteers to pour into funnel-type dungeon crawls, thus dealing with the “extra mouths to feed” problem the regiment’s arrival gave her.
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Post by warlord476 on Jan 6, 2017 17:51:07 GMT -5
2.08: Shatterzone cleared/The Guild holds councilThe characters for this session:
Fennec, L2 Dwarf wizard (Background, wanderer, which permits the odd 'lore' check)
Cauleigh, L3 Dwarf warrior (Background Townsman)
Crompton, L2 Dwarf rogue (Roguery talent, Background Rune-bearer)
A couple of likely lads
The furbishers have just been winched back up to the new wall out of the shatterzone, and are sharing coins out to the five 'tag-ends' who made it back alive with them. Three of them seem to be interested in something Jotunn has to say while Quest, a herdsman with an easygoing manner, and Vojun, a smith with the muscles of his trade, ask Cauleigh where the Adventurers Guild is?
As they head to the north end of the wall and down, Fennec tags along while Crompton excuses himself:
"I need to follow up a couple of purchases..."
The awl-pricker
Crompton heads across New Wall lane, and into his awl-pricker's building, nodding to the various families setting to their meager breakfast. His awl-pricker is in, and knows a tailor, which is what Crompton wants this time. He gives Crompton general directions, complaining about the sheer number of families crowded into buildings.
"Well quite a few lads are dying out there, and looks like the survivors will live in the Adventurers Guild," replies Crompton.
"Bless her ladyship! A grand plan to turn the tide, is what I hear," the awl-pricker replies, glancing uneasily at the doorway in case someone is listening.
"The Guild seemed pretty empty, newcomers will be good," comments Crompton and heads over the next block to begin enquiries.
Business as usual in the Guild
As usual the upper floors of the Adventurers Guild echo hollowly. Fennec looks about vaguely.
"Let's follow our noses," he decides and turns south to the stair down. Sure enough the heady smell of brewing ale can now be detected.
A round-bodied individual bustles up from the stair and along into the four heading that way. Cauleigh intercepts him.
"Ah, one minute, young fellow, what's your business?"
A sharp scent of hops comes from the chap. "Delivering hops" he replies, as a second hop brother trots up stairs and catches him up. Mother Hobb has just paid them for their hops.
Thoughts of a council
Kindly Mother Hobb is about to brew afresh. As she did with the Dwarves, she performs a simple induction session for the two newbies. They admire their copper token and study the Mission Board (which is down here these days) and are too busy to notice Cauleigh heading away to talk to the senior Guild members, especially Two. Mother Hobb stops he and Fennec long enough to ask where the "ranger" Jotunn is - she has a mission to find good malting barley for him.
"He's with three of the newbies," Cauleigh explains.
"These halls will be lively! We really should hold a Guild Council to decide who should do what mission. We used to do that quite often. Although... perhaps only representatives of each group," Mother Hobb suggests. The other pair think of Mizva and nod.
The tailor
Meanwhile Crompton has slogged through a lot of human households and at length finds the tailor's stall, up two floors on Whitehorse street. There's a tailor, and a 'prentice, and it's pretty obvious from the girth of the tailor and the boniness of the 'prentice that the tailor is eating all the food rations.
He's delighted to help someone that wants a suit of fancy clothes (based on an Esgaroth Truerunner outfit) and will recommend a belt-maker friend of his as well. Licking his fat chops in anticipation he settles on the agreed food token price.
Crompton stands patiently being measured...
Heavy hitters catch-up
The heavy hitters are exercising, as Mother Hobb supposed. Sharp and Damper are currently going at it, two completely different fighting styles. Two is watching, and Gnat is standing in attendance beside him. Cauleigh heads towards Two, with Fennec trailing along. Princess moves to intercept them, then sees who it is and steps back, taking her hand off her long slightly curved sword. Fennec pauses to congratulate her on her recovery, while Cauleigh joins Two.
"I thank you most graciously for your solicitous concern," Princess replies. She has an odd accent, easy enough to follow, speaks breathily and very formally.
Fennec notices Bless, the Lefties' wizard, grab Gnat's hand and lead her away. He raises an eyebrow and joins Cauleigh, who has also decided not to say anything. (Later Cauleigh mutters "I assumed Gnat had just decided to give in to the inevitable.")
Two is very much on the same page as Cauleigh. In fact as far as he can see, the Dwarf timetable such as the Barghest mission, are setting the agenda. But a Guild Council would be a good idea. Though - glancing at Sharp and Damper - perhaps just representatives from each group. Then the Council can present the plan to Lady Saundra - with a glance over his shoulder in case someone heard him cutting her titles down - and a proper timetable can be agreed on.
Mission thoughts
The pair return, in no great hurry - Fennec is healing himself every ten minutes or so - to Mother Hobb's common room. They find her farewelling a messenger to the citadel, and posting up another mission, this one about protecting the harvest. Cauleigh and Fennec pass on the general agreement about a Council.
By virtue of being the rear-echelon support, Mother Hobb is Guild secretary. She'll organise the Council for this evening. At the same time the Guild would normally be recovering from zombie fighting, probably.
Crompton finds them there, and they all head back up to the wall to see how later groups fare.
The trio station themselves near the winch and chat about the assault on the fire mage, the plan to locate and kill the vampiress, and what they will need to swat a Barghest, though they have discussed this before and it's really a matter of agreeing who might carry what. Crompton for example regrets Jotunn insisting he will shoot-and-drop the arquebus but decides the heavy bow, with Sheeting Arrows of Claes, is a good option.
Panic stations!
"We're going to need all four," Cauleigh decides and is interrupted by screams from far below and oaths from the guards, calls of "ballista! Can you hit it?!" or "F***ing h*ll! Dragon!!!"
The Dwarves leap to their feet and see smoke marks the main east-west path through the shatterzone where several adventurers are burning. Just as they are deciding the excitement is over Crompton glances over his shoulder and with a scream alerts the others that the dragon is coming back over the town! He shoots, missing. [L8 DEX SR needed!]
It's too fast for them to sight in so Fennec waits until it flashes past, works out it is only about 8' long, and both he and Cauleigh let drive. As the smoke from Cauleigh's caliver rolls away they see fresh adventurer barbecue - but the drake is certainly retreating fast towards the Fire mage's lines.
"Ha! winged it," they brag and this improbable tale is accepted by the guards.
Thoughts of a higher nature
It seems the burnt group is still bravely moving on - or at least, occasional glints of voulges or guisarmes can be seen in the sunlight. They return to cleaning weapons and checking lacings.
"You know, I don't see how Two can throw up those two orb spells together. I've done some research, they are two separate spells, and he ought not to be able to do that," Fennec muses.
"Well, you know... Two..."
"He's just a smart c**t?"
"Yeah, pretty much that. Pretty dumb around women, pretty smart c**t otherwise."
[The demon in glasses' signature spell is the twinned effect of the two orb spells. It's a gimmick not a cheat, pre-casting and delayed activation, which limits what he can cast ad-hoc. Originally it was just a good way of showing Two's command of spells and suggest what can be done with gimmicks and gadgets once you can empower your own.]
Gentry full of promise set out
It's now mid-morning and the three survivors of the second group are winched up, bearing massive cuts of pork. They are hailed as heroes! and the third group descends. The Dwarves interest is piqued by a different formation: some four swordsmen have taken the van. The word passed on by the guards is, a couple of them are young squires.
"Sounds promising," Cauleigh says approvingly, and at about that time the first squire plummets to his death in a spiked pit.
Nevertheless the sound of nervous calling and fighting recedes into the distance, occasional screams marking real alarm. It's obvious this group is doing relatively well and having swords up front was a good idea.
[The Dwarves have rested, in effect, since the fire-drake attack so now AP spend proceeds. Significant marks - Fennec's IQ moves to 19, Cauleigh's STR and DEX move to 25, and Crompton's CON moves to 19 and DEX to 18. These are much more well-rounded adventurers capable of surviving the odd calamity now.]
A path is sketched out
Well through the afternoon, fully ten of the adventurers return, and they brag that they have located the entrance to the Barghest's lair! Neither of the squires made it back.
The Dwarves collar the lone Hobb. His name is Parda and he styles himself a dyer, though his repulsive appearance - completely colored in odd dye tones from curly hair to hairy feet - suggests he is a lowly mixer and stamper. Using a piece of chalk - possibly looted from a corpse - Parda traces out the path. He warns about centipedes and endures a traumatic flashback, and struggles to explain how you get from the slumped building where a number of paths lead off, around into the kobold tower. They guard the Barghest's lair entrance, but he's pretty sure his group cleared the kobolds. And pinched their darts.
The last group in is a particularly large one, and the Dwarves are startled to see three being marched in at sword-point just before they are handed a short sword and buckler. Their lone guard looks experienced to the point of being a geezer, in human years.
"Well, I guess we were wrong. QMGLC Saundra doesn't just execute prisoners out of hand," Cauleigh comments. Fennec pulls a face. He prefers the radiant compassion of Duchess Melissa. "This is pretty much the same thing though," he retorts.
A fourth is called for
"Look, I'm going to head away to find Jotunn or one of the Sveltes. If we do go in right away before the shatterzone can be re-trapped we should have a fourth," Cauleigh confirms and follows through, heading first to the Guild.
It's time for evening meal and excited newbie adventurers are all over the Guild building. It's still disorganized but noise and life have returned to the building. Some of it the sobbing of the traumatized:
"The bugs! The bugs!"
"The smell as they burned alive! O lady of compassion!"
Still the Mission room is cheerfully chaotic and Mother Hobb is still kindly inducting new members and explaining the set-up. There's no sign of Jotunn, he must have headed out to the countryside. But the third Svelte, Kamerad, is right there looking around at the sights.
"How are you doing? How are things with the regiment?"
"Oh, steady to the point of being boring. They do have a name for the regiment though. Chion's regiment, it's called now."
"So you're looking for something a bit more exciting?"
"Anything with the prospect of getting loot and new spells. I heard a rumor that in this Guild place you 'get' meals and are 'given' spells. So what's the real deal?"
"No, that is the real deal. Do missions for food, do good work and they teach you spells. And it so happens we have a mission and need a fourth."
"Excellent! I'm in! What's the mission?"
[Kamerad is the weakest of the Sveltes with only 18 points of spells known. He's probably the best choice for joining as a pick-up member, being exceptionally motivated to learn.]
Cauleigh leads him over to the board and over the shoulders of taller newbies points to the well-known map of the shatterzone and the word in one corner: Barghest? "We have a path through to that boss and we plan to take him down very soon."
"I'll head away and get some gear then. But if you see the others - don't mention this - OK?"
While they wait, Fennec snaps up a drop from one of the newbies, a healing potion. It leaves him a bit light on food tokens but he plans to gain more very soon!
Into the shatterzone once more
It's deep dusk to the point of being night especially since the shatterzone is masked off from any setting sun's rays by Fingold's walls. The four are winched down and begin tracing the same path as all four previous expeditions.
The noise of the river masks any small sounds but close to the walls, there's seldom danger.
Kamerad yells "left" and rolls right. Fennec and Crompton duck and roll right, Cauleigh leaps left, jinking and catching one of a pair of bulky dark shapes before they can team up on him. They wield voulges or guisarmes! He smashes his silver-chased axe down and finds he has just slain a uruk. Before he can flank the other, that one is brutally cut down by Crompton's ancestor axe.
From further in the direction he's ducked Fennec hears a low mutter in urukhun and the noise of stealthy withdrawal! Probably something like 'Bob and Tigsy are down! Let's just pull back and say a requiem for them...'
[These uruks are survivors from earlier uruk fights, not the uruk-boss lair. They are exploring a wild boar's area now that it has been cleared, and have time to set a quick ambush on what looks like a small group of noobs. They aren't expecting to meet L2-L3 opposition!]
Adding the small pouch of coins each had to their own belt the four find the path again and proceed across the crude footbridge that lets into the shatterzone's crazy maze of rubble. Now away from the balefires on the wall, Fennec throws up a Will-o-Wisp.
Off in the darkness, screams. The fourth expedition is still in action. [This is where the uruk boss is taken down in a tough slog]
In their own ranks, all proceeds smoothly. Cauleigh and Kamerad - who is armored in a 'medium' fitout - are front rank and Fennec and Crompton are second. Murmured discussion about what is done by who has agreed on missile support. The Dwarves know the Svelte has a Boom Bomb rock, he knows Cauleigh will jump around.
[Which went well, I thought. Kamerad has only seen them in action in the context of skirmishing during the regiment's forced march.]
Rescue and creepy-crawlies
After perhaps twenty minutes the Dwarves have located Burn Alley, the main east-west path through collapsed streets. Ahead in the darkness, screams and frantic running approaching.
Seeing the friendly light of a Will-o-Wisp two adventurers barely pause, and the Dwarves wave them through:
"What's after you?"
"Ghouls!"
Three hungry ghouls have chased these last pair, the ageing guard and a strapping youngster, who may have moved faster were he not weighed down with loot! The Dwarves delay not and make short work of the ghouls. Fennec has not even needed to use an attack spell: he now throws up his third WoW.
Burn Alley has been scavenged during the hours that adventurers were not using it, and even the bones of the burnt adventurers are scattered. Ahead the Dwarves see the arch across the alley. This is where they swung left into Brownie trouble and also about the area where, Parda reckoned, centipedes started attacking.
Sure enough as they creep cautiously under the arch, Cauleigh is swathed in centipedes and Fennec has to deal with four more of the giant horrors. He is stung, shrugs off the poison from the centipede bite, and Kamerad and Crompton help rake them off and smash them.
Kobold guards cleared
Another WoW later they reach a confusing branching-off area. Fennec's excellent recall of Parda's sketch [L3 IQ SR] pinpoints which side of a slumped-over building they need to search to get beyond to where the kobold lair can be approached. Here, the remains of perhaps a barracks or wall bastion form a ruined tower.
The area outside the tower is marked by the bones and gear of an adventurer, perhaps acid-eaten. Scavengers have picked the area over though; and the kobold lair is not at all obvious. Perhaps it has been disguised again.
After some minutes' search Cauleigh suddenly disappears down into the side of the mostly-intact tower. [He takes a fail-forward having missed by 1] The others are a trifle slow to react. From the dark below there's a clang as something hits Cauleigh hard enough to knock his helm off. Fennec advances and pushes the WoW forward: Crompton jumps down. Clang! Something also knocks his steel cap off! [Those are also two fail-forwards on not being hit by flung darts]
Fennec spots the eyes of three smallish creatures using masonry as cover. Neither side is willing to advance. Fennec throws OGA at the two smaller and two kobolds skitter away back up into the tower. The bigger kobold flees, wisely. [Time was, that would have forced a charge. Fennec's combined IQ+LK+CHR just top the kobolds]
The three were guarding a tunnel leading, so Kamerad says after a quick scout, to a blocked doorway.
Level boss down
Retrieving their gear, the Dwarves advance. Sure enough, at the end of the tunnel - perhaps once a proper stone passage - the kobolds have jammed up a doorway. The Dwarves use axes as jemmies and soon have it open.
Beyond, what may once have been a storage or watch chamber smells rank and damp. An exit left is blocked by another door. Cauleigh has been through and over many a wall in Esgaroth and [L1 IQ SR] believes it could lead to a storage cellar.
Prising the door away - silence being the watchword - they find indeed a shattered store. Remains of tuns and mold growths mark where stores have decayed. Beyond, at an odd angle, rotten shards of a door lead to what was once probably a circular stair up, but which has collapsed into sections.
The support pair attempt to cover the lead pair as best they can, as they clamber across collapsed sections of stone. Ahead the tunnel widens and a glimpse of something large made of wood and iron can be seen on the ground.
It proves to be a large spindle and windlass, lying useless adrift from its housing. Beyond, the part-collapsed chamber widens and forms a V. Nearest the windlass on the wall facing it, a mirror offers the chance to mistake one's self as an intruder - but it is too dirty and verdigrised to offer much now.
Always cautious of an attack from the other, the Dwarves explore right. A curtain of some heavy fabric covers something on the right wall. Fennec consults with Kamerad who incants, holds his hand on the wall, and a small earth elemental clears away enough of one corner that the curtain falls. [5 Bonus AP to Fennec for thinking of it and getting someone else to spend WIZ]
Shallow steps rise to what appears to have once been a kobold punishment room. The Dwarves prudently ignore a tempting satchel under a crude throne, and the remains of a shackled kobold. "He's not going anywhere" as Cauleigh observes.
The tunnel curves, then widens and forms a decent-sized chamber. Two doors on the right can be seen; on the left the chamber opens to what is probably a tunnel, and ahead crude steps seem to head down.
Crompton sneaks forward to check the doors while Kamerad watches left and the other pair cover. The first door is narrow and was once latched but the iron latch has rusted to nothing. The second door is broader, made of quality timber that has not completely warped, and bears three gouges where some immense dog-like creature has swiped at it.
From behind Crompton hears a warning "Ffft" as one of the others notices a deeper pool of black seeping up the crude stone steps. Kamerad backs off right into the left passage using cover, screams "Boom Bomb!" and makes a great throw.
"Glue You!" screeches Fennec triumphantly as the explosion illuminates an immense dog-like creature, 7' at the shoulder, about to pounce. Crompton fires his Sheeting Arrow then Vorpals his axe as Cauleigh shoots it between the eyes with a silver bullet: the Barghest is slain!
[I don't tally the numbers - good prep, great spell choice. The combat will go one more round, and the Barghest is slowed so can't flee.]
The remains of the complex suggests that a high council of kobold bosses decided to summon a Barghest. They sit dead and long-decayed around their table, spoils still before them. The Dwarves loot much coin, and a really nice bracelet that glows magical when tested. The same test also picks up an arrow.
They also lug out a smallish statue probably used to summon the Barghest, and some coin from the trapped knapsack in the punishment room.
The first, smaller door leads to a rift, probably down to Level One. They hammer the door closed again. The second door leads to a large statue of the sun god (Ysel, in Esgaroth) and a permanent Wall of Flame. Possibly something to do with the original destruction, Fennec hazards.
The Barghest's own resting place, if that's what it is, is a weird hollow tree whence the noise of wind can be heard.
All these things are duly reported to the Adventurers Guild as the mission is ticked off. There is now nothing to prevent the Ogre on Level One from breaking out when the relief assault begins!
[I do briefly play through the retreat, but time is pressing and we are talking MR5 scavenger level here. Next session I'll flashback to see if the major treasure of the lair was found - I didn't want to spend half an hour on a search process.]
Adventurers Guild Council
It's about the time that, up to a fortnight ago, the adventurers would be unwinding from the zombie attacks over cards booze or tea. The three Dwarves, and Kamerad representing the Hathlisveit contingent, are seated at a long table. Around the table:
- Two, representing the heavy hitters.
- Panic and Bless representing the Lefties - and Bless has a pretty little girl on her lap all dressed in pink and ribbons. Yes, that's Gnat. [Cauleigh claims 5AP for guessing ie reading the blog] Gnat is poker faced.
- Burnley and Whitey representing the survivors. The Dwarves are a little disappointed that Mother Hobb isn't there - as secretary she really ought to be - but she has had a tiring day and is still brewing.
- Gena, a serious black-haired Elf with a burn scar on her face, and Natty Paray, white-haired and brown eyed, with a habit of playing with his blade, representing the 'fleeburns' which is the three that survived the second expedition combined with the two that the Dwarves recently saved from ghouls. During the meeting Gena proves to have good insight and ability to keep to the agenda.
- Danain Dyer, brown-haired, with energetic gestures that sometimes leave his hair disordered, and Hely Baker, tall and overweight, one of many red-haired townsfolk. Danain has one of the few valuable drops of the expeditions, a wand. They represent the City Boys, the half of the ten survivors of the third expedition that hail from within Fingold.
- Urn, a golden-bearded purple-eyed warrior who owns his own scale mail and speaks with the accents of the far north, and Khali, an attractive copper-haired Elf whose tight leather pants draw Crompton's eyes. They represent the Wanderers, the other half of the same ten. During the meeting Khali proves to be a major flirt unable to turn down a chance for some innuendo.
- And finally Quest Herder and Vojur Smith, the same two the Dwarves talked to after their own expedition. They represent the Tags group.
The purpose of the meeting is to establish what the Guild's major missions are and what general timeframe is being worked to. At the end of the meeting these can be presented to the citadel, QMGLC Saundra in particular since she approves missions and is in charge of the supplies.
[I use Two to establish this agenda.]
Cauleigh lays out what he sees are the key missions, at least from the city's point of view:
- Assault on the lines: take down the Fire mage and break the siege
- Expedition to the deeps: take down the vampiress and consecrate the unholy shrine
[I step away from the scene to bring the other two in. Are they on board here? Do they disagree or have other ideas? It is hard to bring them back to missions per se and away from timeframes, but they do agree these are the keys. Fennec makes the wise observation that it's more an exploration to Level 6 and not an expedition, since there is not even a line sketch let alone a map.]
The table discusses these. The extra information that missions to protect the harvest, and how the siege needs to be broken before then, are added in. It will be about a week, based on weather expectation.
The general notion of 'scouting to the underlevels' is agreed, with the thought that dark-sighted or low-light-vision members might be used in a pick-up group. Crompton startles the newbies by suggesting the Elves are the obvious deep-level scouts. Khali makes an incredibly lewd-sounding request for Crompton's help gaining experience. Gena makes a very polite case for the newbies to be able to contribute more by first gaining experience in not-so-lethal missions.
"'Ey, no problem," Panic responds off the cuff, "pret' soon ze Ogre, 'e be gone outta 'ere, d**n' sure chances to map level one, level two, bella bella!"
So as a third point, or second from the Guild's point of view, 'level one missions to level one' is added.
The timeframe shakes out fairly naturally from this.
- Chion's regiment will attack at the next opportunity after the magic duel has taken place. (That means all the Guild that think about it, know that the attack will occur at next dusk.) The Ogre will presumably take that opportunity to leave.
- That will create the space for the Guild to take on protection missions, favorable for newbies, and clear level one dungeon.
- It will also create a working space of less than a week for the more senior groups to probe to Level four and beyond.
- There will be no need for the whole Council to turn up at the citadel. After a consensus based discussion the Council agrees that the four Dwarves present will all be needed due to their involvement in the assault or for Hathlisveit; but that only Bless and Gena need represent the Guild and present the mission points. The Council is adjourned.
Kamerad bids them farewell and reminds them not to blab about the details of the day to the other two Sveltes. He heads off to his quarters in the North Barracks, probably to pretend he had a boring time and plan which spells he will get.
Crompton takes Khali aside to follow up on her need for experience but she friendzones him. [misses L1 CHR SR]
It has been another long day and the Dwarves hit the sack, agreeing on getting their two items identified when they head over for the Council.
[As they sleep AP is spent again. Fennec's LK is now 14 and SPD 10, double figures! Cauleigh moves LK and SPD to 19 apiece. He is a worthy L3 adventurer now. Crompton moves CON up to 20, huzzah!]
Props
First, Goodman Games' Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg (4th printing) for the backgrounds and survival of the 20 new adventurers. And base stats, obviously. If you are curious as to how the funnels actually went, I soloed them to play with my Christmas present and the games are posted starting here.
With so many new NPCs I needed some help with names and personalities and turned to Art of War Games' Supporting Cast: 64 NPCs you might meet in a tavern. It's designed for the modern D&D family so most of the NPCs are demi-humans, but it is still useful.
&Magazine's Wizardawn generators are used extensively for the shatterzone. The Barghest's lair is interpreted from The Redoubt map, located in Dyson Logos' 2015 Dodecahedron cartographic review, alongside random room descriptions generated from the above, and spinning it from the theory that kobolds might originally have laired there.
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Post by warlord476 on Jan 11, 2017 2:54:40 GMT -5
2.09: A morning of decisions and danger The characters for this session
Fennec, L2 wizard
Cauleigh, L3 warrior (with burgher background)
Crompton, L2 rogue (Roguery talent, with Runebearer background)
Ready for the big occasion
Since it's now broad daylight Cauleigh looks for Crompton, finds him back at the Guild, and the pair knock up their favorite cobbler. Cauleigh books up a second pair of fine boots and Crompton books a replacement pair.
Fennec is dressed in his finest robe when they get back. "Hurry up lads, the Council - and food - aren't going to wait our convenience!" The pair start polishing things.
"There's been a lot of bustle below - missions galore!" Fennec updates them. "All for the same thing - new-fledged wizards and rogues taking a scroll and enchanting a ballista. Easy money! They've all gone, of course."
The other pair finish their preparation and the trio swagger along to the citadel.
The High Council
[Protocol, in fact 'an occasion', is hard to 'show' adventurers. I take my time getting the order of seating clear.]
The food and drink are done with - for now, it's better quality than they eat on the Guild - and the long table is occupied.
Head of table: Duchess Melissa of Fingold. Unusually (in fact uniquely, in the Dwarves' experience) she is dressed in finery and has jewels in her hair. Behind her stand both her ladies in waiting and one courtier-soldier.
At her right, representing the spiritual power: Righteous Filbard, High Priest of Ikmal Iron-bringer. Behind him stand all five veteran bearers.
From his right, along that flank of the table:
Ausecur; and dragging a stool in close, Ondsop, representing Hathlisveit's interests (and their own!) No sign of Kamerad. The two Sveltes are working hard on their swag, way out of their league here.
Two of Chion's regiment file-leaders representing the regiment, chosen by vote: Twill and Sayer.
Cauleigh representing the Guild and the Dwarves in general; and also dragging stools in close, Fennec and Crompton. Cauleigh has already reminded them about not making thingy jokes.
At Melissa's left, QMGLC Saundra, in finery and bejeweled, as usual. Behind her sit her usual coterie of four or five abacus-men and clerks.
From Saundra's left, on that flank of the table:
The Arch-magi;
The master gunner;
Bless] and Gena representing the Guild, snuggled close so they can share notes. ("Yeah, right" snorts Fennec, but to himself.)
[No-one comments that there is no representative of, say, the gentry, or the townsfolk. I guess that means I've got the autocratic nature of Fingold across OK?]
The Dwarves are surprised to see Bless must be short-sighted, she uses a monocle type of eyeglass to read with. She's got her hair up and is dressed in a fine wizard robe. Gena is wearing a robe too, but can't have had time to have one made up, and patches of wear on it suggest it's her old navigator's attire. It's embroidered with emerald and turquoise thread, depicting river scenes.
Looking left Cauleigh notices that Righteous Filbard is peering with intense curiosity across and down, at Gena. Or on second thought, [IQ SR] it's more likely he's short-sighted and is simply trying to make sure he's seeing her right. Then Melissa opens the high council.
"My thanks and welcome to you all. Let us open our high council with a prayer from Righteous Filbard, High Priest of Fingold's new official deity, Ikmal Iron-bringer."
Filbard seems to be trilingual and says a short prayer in common, then Dwarven, then (fluently, as far as any of the Dwarves know) in Elven.
Melissa thanks him and continues her introduction. The agenda is to agree on an order of proceeding. She quickly outlines the first two points agreed by the Guild and looks around.
"Eet ees zis way, Milady," Bless explains, poorly "Ze Guild also sink ze matter of getting Righteous Filbard down to Level Six need attention - 'e being needed, bot not mobile - ees urgent we larn 'oo team wiz 'oo." Much eye-rolling from the Dwarves but it is added at the bottom of the things that need to be decided, as a sub-point to the second major point:
Assault the vampiress on Level Six, and throw down the evil shrine churning out zombies - Senior adventurers to coordinate with Righteous Filbard how to transport him down!
There is an update from the Arch-magi on the preparedness against ooh, say, Drake attack. "That was a nasty surprise," he rumbles, "but each ballista has been readied against a fire creature." He has dark smudges under his eyes - he's been prepping scrolls non-stop.
Melissa speaks briefly to remind the table of the grand plan - the Hathlisveit regiment will assault the lines!
"And those Mother-of-pearl pieces were fine," Ausecur tells her, "we'll have a clear trail to follow!"
"But the assault to break the siege has been put in jeopardy," Melissa continues, "for the enemy seem to know it is imminent."
Shocked and angry, Twill and Sayer leap to their feet! Cauleigh (who is wearing his cloak of plausibility) mutters them down, more or less. [Fail-forward CHR SR] But Filbard, seeing they are not about to say anything, creaks:
"I for one would like to know how the strategy came to be revealed."
"I too would be most interested to know," Saundra says in offended tones.
[It was Fennec! At the Adventurers Guild Council he spoke about what the regiment was going to do, and everyone there heard him say quite specifically that the assault would begin after next mage-duel.]
Gena stands and bows deeply to the head of the table.
"Do I know you, young lady?" wheezes Filbard. Gena once again bows, saying:
"Righteous Filbard, defender of the Dwarven faith, it has been these one-score year and three since we met by the river. It is the fortune of my folk that we recall each and every shallow and bend, and I plied my trade as navigator there. Happenstance brought me within these walls some score of months since, and here have I stayed."
Then, she turns to Saundra - and Cauleigh once again mentally congratulates the Guild on selecting this serious and intelligent Elf - and says:
"Most Serene Countess, Lady Saundra, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Quartermaster-General, Defender of Fingold's Walls, Knight of the West March, my apologies. It is common knowledge in the Guild."
That seems to be all the explanation there is! But the lady Saundra seems to accept it.
[Flattery - getting all the titles lined up - gets you a long way!
At this point Fennec is curmudgeonly rather than grateful for being bailed out, but I choose not to play it as if he is speaking loudly across the table. I will retain his behaviour for future dealing with the fleeburns though.
Crompton's player adds that once the newbies at the Council work it out, it spreads across the groups and out to the town.]
Crompton followed by Cauleigh suggests that a diversion come from the town itself, to sow doubt among the enemy as to their intel. [10AP each] Melissa catches fire:
"I shall scrape the walls, I shall leave babes and grandfathers alone, a thousand shall march!"
There's no so much a wet cloth flung on this, it's more, well, let's just parse this out and see what the benefits and dangers are.
There are several options for diversions. Each gate offers a possibility, and the time of evening can be changed too. After discussion in which only the master gunner takes no part (he's there, but is intent on volunteering nothing) the advantages of the large assembly areas on the city's west hold sway. A thousand (roughly) can be marched out quickly from the west gate and the west way gate.
Obviously one of the alternatives is to grit teeth and stick it out some more, but Melissa at least is inclined to say, this way if we lose we have definitely lost, and can plead for terms. Perhaps her unspoken thought is, and I'll be dead and pity the fool who tries to wed Saundra. The table is brought along with her. Saundra for example makes no opposing note to this at all. Bless might privately think, the longer the siege, the more drops, but says nothing.
There are a number of things that such a force can do - for example Cauleigh suggests that Righteous Filbard could act as a mobile fortress with them - but cutting through the west siege lines, swinging south and rolling up the weak southern siege lines seems as much as can be expected, so that's what is eventually agreed. Marching within sight of the walls, so that they don't get lost, dictates a lot of the strategy. For its part Chion's regiment will head north, march slightly east, and loop back south, so as to break through the lines and assault the fire-mage's headquarters direct.
Should the Fire-mage be removed the assault effort will swing to the Adventurers Guild, who are following promising leads for getting to Level Six. The High Priest has volunteered to help purge the zombie-generating temple, and the Guild is keen to take down the vampiress. There's some minutiae not understood by any but Bless and the Arch-magi about lowering a hefty Dwarf with his litter down a deep crevasse, then the Council concludes. The Arch-magi signals Fennec. Cauleigh follows Fennec. It is to Cauleigh he turns first.
Tabloid facts!
"I had a recollection of the falchion being mentioned in our Sarn Athrad Archive - but in fact it turns out it was a color piece in the Sarnas Tribune - so now that you have been warned it is tabloid journalism this is what I found..."
(Here, the Arch-magi refers to notes in hieratic Dwarven)
"It's said that a Uruk-hai, right-hand of a Uruk sorcerer, wielded the falchion in the last days of Tor Tarqol before the Death Goddess arrival. Supposedly, he clove the breast of Maglos the High Elf, rallying his forces and crying Elfblood! Elfdeath! in the common tongue.
"Another tale of later days has it that a Uruk-kin descendant of this Uruk-hai rallied his forces and over-awed the Elves at the river by crying Malindor! Malindordol!
"You could try both command phrases. However I notice that the silver intaglio is new and there's no potential magic - it could be that the blade needs to be reactivated with the blood of an Elf."
As Cauleigh ponders this not-so-great news the Arch-magi turns to Fennec.
"I have not had time to identify those interesting items you sent by. Hands full, sorry. A dozen spells to teach every day for some time to come, I think."
"Speaking of spell-teaching," Fennec rejoins, rolling a huge white diamond about in his hand, "I'd be keen to learn another."
Crompton catches up to the little group, gulping down the last extra morsels he grabbed. "I want some of that action too," he adds, rolling a matching diamond around in his hand!
[I'm still working my way through the new-to-me rules on spell teaching but agree the Arch-mage can fast-imprint Hidey Hole for Fennec and Cateyes for Crompton given how important the assault on the Fire mage is to the city.]
The monsters are breaking in!
The Adventurers Guild rings with cries of alarm and clangor of arms! Hearing that the goblins on Level Two seems to be about to break through, the trio hurry to the entry room, catching up that newbie who distinguished himself beside them in the dawn, and joining some of the Wanderers and City Boys who are armed with a mish-mash of polearms and lighter weapons. Khali hangs back waiting for her chance to use her attack spell. Fennec waits near her, craning his neck to get a view; Crompton readies Jotunn's arquebus; Cauleigh shoulders his way forward.
"Stand ready lads," Cauleigh (who is still wearing his cloak) calls. "They may have a Cobblepot but we have the numbers."
"It's Catoblepas," Fennec corrects him from back at the doorway. He will do so again before the day is done. "I have a plan! When it gets to where you can all strike I'll cast. Then, hit it a lot."
Sure enough the goblins have cleared enough stone that the Catoblepas can ram its way through! Stone blocks topple into the room and the mighty, bone-armored magical beast powers through.
"Glue You!"
The wizard's tactics work fairly well, allowing Cauleigh time enough to duck under the low-slung belly and strike up at tendons and less-armored flesh with his enchanted kukri. But a pair of agile goblins leap atop the beast.
WHAMMM!! Khali must have trained at much the same school of magic as Fennec, her powered-up TTYF glows purplish like his. A Goblin is flung backward. Her working day over, Khali pulls back further.
BOOM! Crompton's shot is accurate and the other goblin is also flung back. Crompton hands the arquebus to the guy his two comrades think is handy. Who looks blankly at it and sets it down carefully.
Polearms and sword blades lance into the great beast's flanks as Fennec's spell slows it to a crawl.
"Keep at it lads! This Catball won't stand much longer!"
"It's Catoblepas Cauleigh, what did I just tell you?"
As the beast slumps Cauleigh nips clear. But that puts him in close proximity to four bull goblins, bulky with muscle and looking for blood and loot. Suddenly Crompton vaults across the throng, bounds up off the carcass, and lands beside him.
"Vorpal Blade!"
With kukri and vorpalled axe the fight is won, goblins further back decide not to press forward, and the job of rebuilding the stone block barricade begins. The newbies cheerfully toss goblin corpses back out to the goblin side, build the barricade, and look forward to a judgement as to whether the huge bull-like magical beast counts as clean enough to eat.
As soon as they dare, the trio hurry below to see how the senior groups fare.
The grand tunnel has been partially blocked off since Jotunn suggested it be fully blocked, creating a killing zone. It is choked with mighty bodies and the foul stench of dead zombies comes from the piles heaped around the crude walls.
The heavy hitters and Lefties are tired but fit. The Dwarves chat about the assault this evening, help drag corpses away, and wonder aloud about what to do about Drakes, Fire mages and so on. Seeing Crompton generously making sure Fennec has two magic knives, Damper unclips a wand from his belt and offers it on loan.
"It'll snuff out flame on the command word 'abbas!' It does need mana though."
"I can use it," Cauleigh assures him. "Thanks for the loan! Say, I don't see billhooks around here."
"Thank you, we did think about using them, but, no..."
Shaking his head at their strange insistence on using powerful magic weapons instead of billhooks, Cauleigh pats his powerful magic weapon in its sheath and heads back up for a rest.
Later the Dwarves hear that Level One defense received only a token attack, soon broken off with no losses on either side.
[I don't quite recall why the newbie militiaman is present at the fighting on Level Two. The Dwarves all seemed pretty keen for him to be inducted as a new wizard, so he was. Good enough reason I guess. He had a good fight too, I didn't do him justice above. Though it did get quite confusing as Crompton handed off weapons or changed his mind. I seem to recall Crompton's player names him Max.]
The last part of the afternoon is spent resting (for Cauleigh) and learning spells (for the other two). And the early part of this extra session ends.
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Post by warlord476 on Jan 11, 2017 2:56:20 GMT -5
2.09.5: Fall of the fire mage! The characters for this session
Fennec, L2 wizard
Cauleigh, L3 warrior
Crompton, L2 rogue
It is late afternoon, and their final decision on gear is made and all straps and laces checked. The three Dwarves swagger along gallows lane, west past the citadel gate, and to the North Barracks. Having decided to leave early and with no ceremony they are not delayed by quartermasters and marshals, who at this time are mustering the town militia by neighborhood.
At the North Barracks there's a parliament to hold. The Chion's Regiment Elect - Dwarves like Twill and Sayer - and the three Sveltes sit down over whatever drink the regiment has and go over the plan.
The evening mage duel signals the march The regiment breaks out due north through the light siege lines following the road The Sveltes guide the regiment east then south following a trail they have marked The regiment strikes due south at the flank of the siege lines straight at the fire mage's fort The three adventurers are free to kill the fire mage Depending on how beset it is* the regiment will stand its ground, roll up the defences, or pull back *With due deference to Lady Melissa, none of Chion's Elect count on anything from her diversion.
Chion's regiment marches
It is another fine night and Chion's regiment, all Dwarf, has no difficulty navigating away east from the road at a pace that leaves any bold enemy scout too far behind to worry about. Even so the rear missile corners are crossbows with big pavises that can be used to create a scratch defense against pursuit.
The Svelte guides pick up the mother-of-pearl marker telling them to swing south. The moonlight makes the shell glow like a beacon, to Svelte eyes. They wave the new direction to the skirmishers and the regiment wheels south.
[The players wrestle with the idea of being part of the skirmish line. Fennec's player sensibly points out that if he sees any action Fennec will be tapped out and unable to help further. So they all stay in the square, and are in the sheltered hollow middle at this stage.]
Keeping up a cracking pace thanks to the easy conditions for Dwarf eyes and the trail of mother-of-pearl fragments, Chion's regiment marches south. The skirmishers can seldom see the siege lines or larger buildings above the land's folds and contours, but Fingold's balefires and the watchfires of the besiegers are good markers themselves.
[And this is where Point 4 above, the aggregate LK SRs, are counted. Fennec gets L0, Cauleigh gets L2 and Crompton L1. The opposition's ability to "turn" its normal lines of defence amounts to barely 15 troops initially.]
The besiegers aren't blind, and their pickets have been warned that some kind of assault is expected. Perhaps the word has gone round that the assault is west, and the southern lines are threatened. In any case the Dwarf skirmishers kill the enemy pickets or drive them in and the opposition scrambles to form lines. They seem thin on the ground!
[No character tries anything clever, like racing out ahead or suddenly making the regiment form line. So Point 5 does not need attention.]
The skirmishers rejoin the square and the Sveltes tuck themselves safely in the middle. Cauleigh nods to them, and squeezes through to the front left gunners, Crompton (armed with the arquebus) follows and Fennec tucks himself discreetly behind them. Cauleigh utters some brave words to put heart into the regiment.
[This is where Point 6 above is counted. I judge Cauleigh's actions to be a CHR SR and he gets L3, or 2d6 help, so instead of 10d6+ 48 the regiment rolls 12d6+48.]
"Give fire! And advance!"
The volley of ten gunnes sweeps away some of the defenders and as the Dwarf square stamps forward the remaining survivors scramble to either side. The square halts within a long bow-shot of the fire mage's fort. If it advances it will be among supply trenches tha lead from the fire mage's camp to the siege battery. Far off on its right flank the siege battery is beset with contradictory orders.
The invisible foray
"This is our time. Good luck lads, we'll try to let you know..."
And with that word from Cauleigh, Fennec casts the Hidey Hole. This is a new spell to all of them and they are heartily glad to find they can see one another.
"As long as you keep near me you'll be covered," Fennec assures them.
Cauleigh and Crompton form up a couple of paces apart, Fennec a couple of paces back from both. None of them need extra light, the moon is bright and the fire mage's fort is well lit by watch-fires and bale-fires.
The two gunne-armed Dwarves begin weighing up the opposition and study the fort. It is a mishmash of buildings, and Crompton draws a tentative conclusion that it should have at least a service gate or door at the rear or east. He's right! They swing through at a steady pace.
As a secondary line of defense someone has flung a short arc of light crossbowmen in front of them, between the fort's rear approach and an open door to their barracks or, ideally, the command building. Certainly the doorway they are guarding looks like it belongs to a command area.
Naturally the light crossbowmen can't easily hear them owing to the battle noise, and can't see them, until they are right alongside the door. Then two of the crossbowmen are enclosed within the Hidey Hole and give the alarm! Crompton levels the arquebus at a yard's range and blows one's head off. The other is cut down by Cauleigh who whips his kukri out and lops through neck and shoulder.
Crompton and Fennec leap to the doorway with alacrity and seek cover while Crompton begins reloading - then realizes that even crossbows firing blind can score a hit, and scrambles to cover as well.
There are passages on that level, and stairs steeply up to the right. Nothing leads down, though Fennec does look around carefully.
On the basis that "up" is where human commanders tend to be, Fennec signals up and they begin working their way up, quietly. Cauleigh checks that the wand Damper loaned him is ready to draw.
The fire drake
Pressed against the stairway wall, they hear the accents of a local man, obviously of some presence:
"They are on the stair!"
All they can see of the man is that he wears the feathered hat (over steel cap) of a marksman, wears a half-breastplate suitable for sniping, and has a beautifully-decorated arquebus muzzle. From somewhere further off comes the call:
"Let my pet play with them!"
Cauleigh is not sure how the wand works exactly but whips it out and calls:
"Abbas!"
The match on his caliver, and the match on Crompton's arquebus, go out.
There's a thump of something hefty landing, a scraaape of scales, and the fire drake scrambles down the stairwell. Although they mentally know it's only eight feet long it looks a lot bigger with its wings extended and jaws agape!
"Abbas!"
The drake extends its neck and a puff of some warm vapor is expelled.
Crompton and Cauleigh leap to the attack! The kukri and ancestor axe make short work of the drake.
The marksman S'rathra the Enforcer
Up they go! Cauleigh and Crompton athletically, Fennec pragmatically. Cauleigh is first up around a landing and to the next possible exit. The interior wall of a room or series of chambers is on his right shoulder, he's looking half-right through an open doorway or entry. Again he can see the muzzle of the enemy's arquebus, ready to shoot whoever tries the doorway.
Crompton dive-rolls across that landing and stands on the opposite side of the entry to Cauleigh, who signals where the arquebusier is. Who clearly knows they are there:
"Come now! You dare to beard S'rathra the Enforcer in his own chambers! On, on you brave Dwarves!"
Crompton signals his plan, gets the nod, sees Fennec is ready: he spins round the frame, catches a glimpse of another entry or open chamber and a wizard's robes, flings a throw-knife that way, closes with the arquebusier, but the fire mage is ready:
"Glue You!"
Cauleigh yells:
"Abbas!"
and rushes the fire mage, kukri hacking at him.
Fennec hustles behind them as support. He does not have many options that are likely to work. But it's possible the mage does not have multilevel protections against conformation magic.
"Glue You!"
Looks like it works!
In the next couple of minutes:
Crompton is face to face with a powerful marksman who now wields a longish and somewhat clumsy club, thanks to the fire suppressing wand. He drops it to one side, and grins evilly as he draws an epee - ideal for pricking through Crompton's fabric armor. The rogue draws his magic hourglass and incants "Tempus Fugit!" and is back in the fight at normal speed! He calls "Vorpal Blade!" and is in full combat with S'rathra.
The fire mage Nyx of Kimelas
Crompton's knife spins lazily across the chamber at the fire mage who has to take a moment to get out of its way. He can only parry Cauleigh's kukri. They lock weapons: the fire mage has a steel-headed staff that takes no damage at all from the kukri. At this distance Cauleigh can see he's wearing a different ring on each hand.
As Fennec races, magic dagger in hand, to help Cauleigh finish off the fire mage, the latter leaps back and yells:
"Protective Pentagram!"
Cauleigh strikes a powerful blow and his blade ricochets off a glistening amber-covered shield.
"Don't bother - that's invulnerable both ways - we just need to guard him," Fennec raps out and stands guard.
Freed from that quarter Cauleigh races back to lock up the marksman.
"So, a second comes to try me! In that case I shall switch to my stronger hand!" S'rathra brags, and the fight is furious.
From behind him, Crompton can hear cries of the soldiery encouraging each other to help. One braves the stairwell. Fennec signals to Crompton and summons very nearly his last reserve of mana: "Whammy!" and leaps back away from the PP and across to help Cauleigh.
Cauleigh locks S'rathra up long enough for Crompton to spin, hide next to the entrance, ram his dagger through the luckless soldier, and get back in time to lock up the epee: Fennec's dagger kills S'rathra. [Just enough, he is suitably tough.]
But seeing the distraction the fire mage pops his PP! Fennec flings the dagger, accurately, the mage wields his staff like a bat and smashes it but his spell - whatever it was - is incomplete. And he's still slowed! All three Dwarves gank him!
They begin stripping the corpses and glancing about for loot. This seems to be a luxurious chamber with easy access to S'rathra's quarters. Fancy pictures on the wall, luxury silver service and a fine goblet and decanter... And not far off a steel strongbox is big enough to hold troop pay!
[I make the IQ/LK SRs to search for loot open ended and aggregate, because there is a lot, and the three score an aggregate of L13 with some of the best rolls of the session! So that makes it easy - they find everything!]
The triumph at the battery
The trio clamber down and out, Cauleigh and Crompton using two paintings like a stretcher with piles of loot heaped on it, Fennec staggering under the 200lb weight of the strongbox. The enemy soldiers give them a respectful distance and then head in to see what loot they can find.
Chion's regiment is still very much in the same position, having only advanced to the support trenches. The opposition has either not hardened into overwhelming numbers, or has been dealt with. Looking around from that vantage, Cauleigh sees that the enemy battery, at the other end of the support trenches, is in a state of confusion, with some gunners fleeing and some trying to dig their gunnes out.
"This is our chance! Look!" Cauleigh calls, heaving the strongbox down in front of them and opening it. "There's coin enough to pay for all! Let's take that battery!"
[Makes a CHR SR with a small but fair bonus from the coin offered. Which is mostly copper coin.]
And seeing the coin, the Dwarves cheer, ready their weapons, and advance to capture the gunnes!
[There is actually downtime during the assault on the fire mage, with Nyx (the fire mage) making the Dwarves an offer for changing sides, but it doesn't really have a bearing on the fight. They don't even get to introduce themselves or learn his name. At least I managed to let S'rathra say his little tribute to the Princess Bride!]
Any missions going?
They have piled together a pile of stuff they would like identified, could pay the Guild seniors to do it [possibly they acknowledge most coins have just been given away, possibly they forget that's an option] but are content to wait for the Arch-magi to have some free time.
Crompton casually returns Jotunn his arquebus with thanks. He plans to hang onto the magical, slightly longer and less-wieldy arquebus looted from S'rathra. He knows it's magical and time will tell how magical.
"I wouldn't mind testing it out though," he hints to Cauleigh.
"Why it's extraordinary you mention that, I was just thinking to see if there is a small mission suited to our status as silvers but enough to earn another meal token or so."
[In game-speak, Cauleigh is a few dozen AP shy of a really big buy and I encourage him to wait, because there is a small mission.]
A scouting foray into the dungeon is on offer
At the mission board and common room Mother Hobb seems to have things under control. She's just formally welcoming that new wizard they met as a militiaman at the mill fight.
"There is something up on the 'Level Four Trailblaze' corner" she advises and this leads them down to talk to Gnat. Who is perched up on the killing corner of the barricade, pretending to stand guard but really just watching Two, who is supervising Damper Mizva Sprain and Lardo piling up more stone. Some dodgy-looking scaffolding is being assembled by newbies who know something about working with wood.
Cauleigh thanks Damper for the wand and hands it back.
"No, thank you," the big guy replies politely and clips it back. "Great work!"
Briefing from a small rogue
"You go through that doorway back there on the right, head straight, go through the mousehole lord demon made that time..."
"Yes he's a bit keen on new spells..."
"Oh, all's well that ends well..."
"Ends well? Didn't you end up having to take one for the team?"
"Meh. That's done with."
"By the way Fennec wanted me to say he's happy to PB you any time, no strings attached."
"Thanks! Anyway through the mousehole there's a square chamber that points you half-right, out through that short tunnel and you're in a big sloping cavern, heading down. Any information about exact ways down further is good. There's a gully on the left we've never really looked at, and we have no plan of the side chambers on the right of the cavern. So don't forget to map. I've never seen you doing it, but mapping is kind of the point here."
"Any word on monsters?"
"It's been super no-spawn since yesterday."
Into the gully
Crompton has plenty of light from Fennec's Will-o-Wisp and decides not to use his Cateyes yet - it does suck most of his mana pool! He can see rough steps have been hacked into the stone leading down, and signals that way.
The Dwarves have discussed this at some length and are going for noise discipline and very limited light as usual. There's no reward for just attracting monsters, so the plan is to not attract attention.
Cauleigh, who is following the others and mapping, takes a good look around as they descend. Not only can he detect no hostiles in sight, he can see a concealed stone door against the rougher stone of the wall at the gully's end. [Another great IQ SR from Cauleigh, who has IQ as a dump stat!]
Crompton examines the fine tracery relief on the stone but shakes his head at Fennec.
The wizard is ready for this type of door:
"Knock knock!"
The monster beetle
As the heavy stone door swings open there's a sound like air pressure shifting:
Puhh!
Cauleigh hurls himself aside and Crompton stumbles against the stone door, but Fennec takes acid gas in the body and frantically wipes his face and strips off his robe and backpack, which are dissolving. Crompton too drops his backpack as the straps are breaking. A clicking as of immense segmented legs can be heard from the chamber beyond.
It's a huge beetle! Armored and powerful, but clumsy.
The combat involves leaping behind it, then jumping on top of it as it works its way back round. Eventually the carapace surrenders to repeated massive chops, and the beetle stops wiggling.
Crompton has a quick search of its very dirty chamber. Other than a similar stone door on the right, he finds loose coins and an old helm with the skull of a small demi-human still occupying it. He casually tips the skull out and scoops the coins in.
A number of choices
Fennec once more rises the the occasion:
"Knock knock!"
Puhh!
But this time it's only air pressure. Fennec has not moved: but the other two dust themselves off and peer through. Fennec, who is dressed in not very much now, is conscious of air movement from out in the cavern, moving past them and into the newly-opened chamber.
What begins as small squarish chamber breaks off into a widening and rough cavern, and rock shards lie as though something once forced its way through the stone wall from cavern to chamber.
About a dozen feet along the left wall of the rough cavern, a particularly deep concavity proves to be a small tunnel.
Only a few feet further along the rough cavern is bisected by a fissure or ravine. It is much too deep for Fennec's WoW to have any effect, and there is a very hollow deep sound or feeling to it. On the opposite side (too far for a laden Dwarf to leap easily) the rough cavern continues, and there are a few glittering shards on its floor. Beyond that, narrowing into what could be a passage.
The cavern of the pool
Crompton casts Cateyes on himself. Now viewing the world in greys and blacks, he peers along the small tunnel. He makes sure nothing will easily snag, and squeezes in and along. The tunnel widens, and he comes to the lip of a moderate size pool, opaque to his eyes.
Sticking his shoulders right out and peering left, he can see another tunnel. Peering right, he can see a rock shelf slopes gently up and away to where steps have been cut leading up, roughly half-right. But he can't see the start of the rock shelf owing to the way the cavern wall bulges between his tunnel and the shelf.
The pool cavern is currently unoccupied. After nearly nerving himself up to try splashing towards the rock shelf, Crompton squeezes his way backward and rejoins the others.
"We've mapped, we found this pool with steps, and a possible deep drop down to lower levels, let's call it there," they decide.
[With this chance to rest and spend the bonus from the fire mage, the three Dwarves do so. Crompton and Cauleigh are pushing DEX strongly, Fennec has to take a more balanced approach across the wizard three but pushes WIZ in particular.
Briefly:
Cauleigh: best attribute is still CON, his weakness is IQ on 10.
Crompton: best attribute is still STR, his weakness is CHR on 10.
Fennec: best attribute is still CON, his weakness is CHR on 9.
Jotunn's weakness is CHR as well, on 8, or 11 in Fingold.]
Props
2015 Dodecahedron (op cit) for the last stage. Wizardawn generators for S'rathra and his arquebus, and the various nifty items the fire mage and marksman were using.
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Post by warlord476 on Jan 13, 2017 21:41:02 GMT -5
2.10: Scouting level fourThe characters for this session
Fennec, L2 wizard (combat mage)
Jotunn, L5 warrior (hunter, with tracking talent)
Crompton, L2 rogue (roguery and runebearer)
At the guild council the Dwarves ponder what to make of it all
The adventurers guild council meets again, late the next day. During that day a number of rewards have come back and new missions posted. Equally importantly Fennec and Crompton are both fully shod and clad. At the top of the table Mother Hobb is perched on the table taking notes and Two and Bless are unfolding a piece of silk that has been turned into a gridded outline of the city.
Other adventurers present, by group in alphabetic order:
City boys: Danain and Hely, to make a case for help;
Dwarves: Fennec, with Crompton and Jotunn, to hear about further missions;
Fleeburns: Gena, wearing a mourning flash of silk;
Hathlisveit: Ausecur, to make sure their interests are promoted;
Heavy hitters: Two's other party member Gnat, for her scouting expertise;
Lefties: Bless's other party member Panic, for his opinion on where the seniors need to concentrate;
Survivors: Burnley and Whitey to hear what the newbie groups have to say about needing help;
Tags: the locksmith pair Balda and Gontre (all the others are injured);
Wanderers: absent.
Fennec has a small update for the council:
"I've taken the trouble to talk to a few of the soldiers out on the battery. A sergeant-type spoke of finding 'bodies clove in two' and 'strange black arrows in others' and 'huge boot-prints' so I think we're safe to say that the ogre, his go-between, and maybe whoever they wanted with them, really did escape and cut through the defenses."
"By the way," Fennec adds, "the captured gunnes - five big ones though one probably ought not to be fired - are being shifted around to bear on the other enemy works, and our comrade Cauleigh is out there to help negotiate."
The sudden change in fortune for the besieged city has created new considerations to set before the council. The map helps explain factions and the remaining leader, Kimelas Sinister AKA Kimelas the Elder, is given a vague outline. Alongside these the count-down to the harvest (three to four days) and the urgent need to get the vampiress mean the need to find a route to Level 6 is top of the mission list.
The route should ideally be both secret and direct enough for Two and Bless to combine their powers and lower Righteous Filbard easily. Which means sink-hole are much preferred to stairways that monsters will be patrolling.
Given the progress on the grand tunnel barrier, scouting across the great cavern for other Level 4 entrances is the focus of the seniors and the Dwarves need to keep scouting their find.
The council, or at least the Dwarves and seniors, still needs to agree on the order of battle in Level 6. It will definitely be a combined effort! The elements that will - most likely - be there are:
Heavy hitters and Lefties combining their fighting powers;
Righteous Filbard, possibly with his veteran Dwarf bearers;
The Dwarves, possibly acting as Filbard's bearers or guard;
The Sveltes, possibly supporting the Dwarves and Filbard as scouts.
All manner of other combinations are possible; for example Gnat could run interference for Filbard, or Jotunn could join the seniors to help take the aggro. Fennec makes an interesting suggestion about using the overwhelming force that Chion's regiment would bring, but that would involve finding regular passages down through 4 and 5 and fighting the whole way.
The other key matters before the council are the new instruction from the QM-General's office, and the appeal from newbies for support in Level 1.
Two and Bless explain the silk map:
"The QM-General's office has supplied this map, with instructions that the shatterzone and enemy camp are to be sifted for treasure and coin, and those rendered to the QM-General's office.
"This council needs to come up with a position to reply to the instruction."
Turning the situation over to the table allows a surprisingly quick reply. It won't be a problem - provided the QM-General's office is not putting those areas up as missions. Most everyone is more than happy to concentrate on the dungeon levels and the missions already in train.
Gena, with a nod to Danain and Hely, indicates they should speak:
"Level One has been tackled and some of us have done better than others. Natty Paray is dead and his group the fleeburns and his sister Mithril of the wanderers is mourning his loss. The healing station is down on Level 2 of the Guild halls and well away from the entrance to Level 1. But Level 2 is all sealed up and it seems there's no need to worry about it now. What we are getting at is, we seem to be spending lives here and some help would be good."
The table - barring Ausecur - discusses this and the opinion of the survivors is particularly important since they are the ones that would help. Fennec asks about what kinds of monsters are being encountered and the answer is a mixture of Goblins and lesser of the shatterzone topside type - brownies for example - and the occasional larger in-situ thing.
The decision is that Level 3 scouting is still too important to move the healing station. The survivors will stand patrol and groups finding themselves under attack from numbers need to holler for help and pull back cautiously. This is the guild life.
As to the side-suggestion that where fireplaces are encountered a fire be lit to help clear bugs and the like out of the topside and Level 1, that leads to a discussion on firewood and the scarcity of timber, and how it would be really useful to get big timber struts from the enemy earthworks before the QM-General's office confiscates it all.
[Post-meeting the Tags ask Jotunn's advice, he realizes they need to make their own mind up and gives advice both ways (Elf style!) and gets bonus AP.]
They return to business as usual
In terms of their need to keep scouting a Svelte will be very handy and Ausecur agrees to stay with them and help. He listens to what they have to say about limiting noisy gear and spells, and heads back to his quarters to assemble gear.
The Dwarves have two items identified now. These are the two they picked up in the dead kobold bosses table, a nice bracelet and a short-bow arrow. Tentatively Crompton agrees to use both. The bracelet is of very limited use and he'll need to get his gambeson sleeves re-cut. Jotunn suggests he can slot the arrow through his gambeson's breast and after a bit of experiment he does manage to tuck it behind the breastplate but with enough touchable that he can activate it. It will protect him from normal missiles.
Feeling good in his new boots Crompton rejoins the other three who are admiring, or listening to the seniors admiring the new barrier. Rickety scaffolding reaches right up to the ceiling and stone blocks make most of a crude barbican-like exit. Firing slits off a fighting platform are included.
Two wants to hang a gate-door kind of access out, since he doesn't want to seal the guild away from all the rest of Level 3. Fennec agrees that a few Hathlisveit Dwarves will probably have some mason expertise and a message should be sent. Here, he thinks of Ausecur, but the Svelte seems to have forgotten that he originally came as representing the regiment's interests, so a message will be relayed direct or via Cauleigh.
From the barrier the seniors and Dwarves walk through to the great cavern.
"Lefties will clear the side-rooms over right, Dwarves clear the side-rooms down the gully, heavy hitters stand support near the gully."
The Dwarves quietly discuss ways of safely moving across the sinkhole or fissure they found blocked the way forward; and what to do about the dark pool and steps beyond. Crompton outlines a wood frame and sliding sabot-like ladder to get across, and the semi-competent carpenters take that on as their next task once the scaffolding work is done. Jotunn advises taking stone blocks from the pile and quietly blocking the side-hole that Crompton squeezed through (to get to the pool) and they do that right away.
[Some bonus AP for the various good ideas.]
Jotunn scouts forward
It is late that same day but they are well rested. Ausecur has not rejoined them, and since all they are doing is scouting the chambers and passages, the trio set out over the scaffold bridge. The sliding sabots, though not at all what Crompton first thought of, work fine.
Party order: Jotunn scouting (using his tracking talent where possible) then Fennec with WoW up but off to one side to see past Jotunn, then Crompton but off to the other side to be able to use his heavy bow.
Jotunn confirms that the glittering that could be seen in the dust from the other side comes from small gems, not specially valuable. He moves forward and studies the rubble that seems to have been caved in from the other side of the chamber. Beyond, a tunnel swings left sharply.
As he sets foot carefully over the rubble, a large snake - which looked a lot like stone until it struck - sinks its fangs right through his boots! [L3 CON SR no problem]
Crompton reacts immediately, loosing his bow at the snake. By happy chance he has accidentally nocked one of his remaining Sheeting Arrows of Claes and a storm of flechettes hammers the snake, and Jotunn. Luckily Jotunn is well armored and only the snake takes damage.
A wight takes a hand
The tunnel seems to broaden, left, perhaps into a chamber. As Jotunn cautiously approaches the corner a bony hand reaches out and seizes his axe hand in an icy grip! Jotunn smashes his magical sopok shield into the wrist and Crompton doubles past Fennec, activating his hourglass - "Tempus Fugit" and vorpalling his axe gets in to help. The undead creature's eyes glow red in deep black sockets! Fennec throws in a Glue You and they smash it to bits, though not before Jotunn feels himself weaken. [-1STR]
"Righteous Filbard's probably the one to contact to restore that," Fennec advises.
There is a chamber but it lacks treasure. A rusty iron bowl lies dry and empty against one wall. A heavy iron chain stapled into the rock rusts on the far wall. Near it, a bony foot lies gnawed off. The undead creature was not very mobile as it lacked a foot.
Beyond, a frosty reception
The tunnel seems colder and slopes up. Then up and around, shallowly. Then as Jotunn sees a couple of branches left, including to an opening, a huge Troll, protected with a glittering layer of ice, advances purposefully on him!
Fennec is quick on the draw: "Glue You!"
This gives the Dwarves breathing space. They pull back, and back, always making sure the Troll wants to keep chasing them. At the corner that leads to the ladder-bridge, Fennec throws his trusty OGA and the Troll pursues him as fast as it can! Crompton emits a shrill alarm-whistle, to alert the heavy hitters.
They dash across the bridge and heave its parts back onto the safe side. Then Jotunn and Crompton grab one of the beams as a ram, for the Troll, undeterred by the leap, strides up, rams its right hand against a wall, freezes that in place, and swings towards the near side!
Jotunn and Crompton slam the timber's end against the Troll's torso as Damper, the true tank of the heavy hitters, rams his tower shield against the end. Fennec throws a powered-up TTYF directed at the Troll's hand where it is frozen onto the wall... and the Troll falls into the depths.
They rest a few minutes and receive congratulations [and 70 bonus AP, ice trolls are scary] then reassemble the 'bridge' and loot the Troll's lair. Fennec finishes off the map he's been sketching.
Looting the Troll's lair provides injury and gems
The lair connects to the steps Crompton saw across the pool. Another branch seems to go to a Troll privy. Another branch swings right and seems to head up. A short way along, just where steps up begin, it is blocked by solid ice. Jotunn wipes a sleeve across the ice and in the limited light, can just see a very annoyed looking goblin, frozen solid inside the ice.
The Troll's own chamber holds some not-very-comfortable stone benches. As Crompton explores a wall and detects a panel, the stone flops down on him! He is saved by his armor, but will need plenty of healing.
The Troll favored ice-themed gems, and they pick up two small blue diamonds and three very nice large star sapphires.
The seniors compare notes and maps are updated
Over cards and tea, or ale and odd-tasting stew ("maybe Catoblepas isn't the best ingredient") the Dwarves, Lefties and heavy hitters compare maps and Two tides up his master map.
The Lefties cleared the side-chambers, finding a minor boss and yet more nice stuff to add to their pile.
The Dwarves cleared the gully chambers, leaving the fissure down to explore.
Sharp, the heavy hitters' quick-moving warrior, offers the use of a wand for the fissure. "It will stop one undead," he explains. "Point it and yell 'fight for me!'. There are some other words but those ones work for me."
Jotunn scratches his head. "Might be a bit hard to use..."
"Yeah, we found the same. It's hard to find a gap in a fight to haul it out. But you never know."
"Gift horses and all that," Fennec counsels and Jotunn ties it inside his sopok with some twine.
Down dangles Jotunn, on down in the dark
The following day, strength restored to normal, [and after spending APs boosting DEX to 22] Jotunn is lowered by sturdy rope off the makeshift bridge. The Cateyes spell cast by Crompton allows him to see, in monotones, that the fissure is not a comfortable round chiney, but stretches off to either side into real blackness. Creepy crawlies of large size and irascible nature occupy small lairs all the way down.
After estimating that he has been lowered more than five fathoms, Jotunn sees the fissure broaden below his feet. He reaches up to where he has pre-knotted the rope and jerks it twice, and his descent pauses.
Below, probably another two or three fathoms down, there is a pool cutting across a fair-size regular-shaped chamber. He can hear the water running through both walls. Shattered remains of an ice troll lie part-in the pool.
A large snake very similar to the one that bit him yesterday noses out of a stone niche and regards him balefully. He jerks the rope rapidly again and is hauled back up as quickly as possible.
The Dwarves (and Svelte) scout Level 4
Ausecur has come equipped with a broadax light enough to throw, a buckler, and a reserve short sword and dagger. His mishmash of armor looks as though it allows mobility. He may possibly have borrowed it from Kamerad. (Or looted Kamerad's body, thinks Fennec darkly.)
The Svelte, who seems to be able to see fine in the dark, does the scouting and the other three explore to check doorways and that side-tunnels don't contain ambushers, in his wake. Wherever he spots or hears danger Ausecur falls back, sometimes at the run.
Jotunn's instinct is to just follow open pathways because zombies must ascend somewhere and they are not good with door-handles. This guides the Dwarves as they:
- locate a secret door in the pool chamber, but leave it for later;
- locate a door off it but proceed to the open end;
- ambush a mini-boss weird ogre and his bulked-up kobold minion;
- ignore a side-passage to possible cells and other doors;
- kill the ogre's pet giant cat;
- use his heaped manky rugs to muffle three of four very tough zombies allowing one at a time to be beheaded;
- polish off a 'bait' zombie pretending to be a tempting corpse;
- scout round a circuit locating stairs going down
Loot there must be, but apart from a hefty coin-pouch, very little has been examined. Fennec has just enough mana to keep powering WoW so they retreat and finish sketching a map up above. And the session ends.
Props
Dodecahedron 2014 (op cit) is providing me with the Level 4 map and extra bits such as the small complex of the ice troll, and all monsters and furniture, come from Wizardawn (op cit) Area Builder.
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Post by warlord476 on Jan 20, 2017 16:50:01 GMT -5
2.11: Factions and deceptions
The characters for this session
Fennec, L2 wizard
Cauleigh, L3 warrior
Jotunn, L5 warrior
Crompton, L2 rogue
We have found ways down!
As he clears the last few rope-ladder rungs, Crompton spots a light far below. The Dwarves – and Ausecur their Svelte ally - haul the rope ladder up and stand ready for trouble but nothing eventuates, so they retreat from the passages and up the gully, to see what else is happening.
Far off to their left, in the depths of the great cavern, can be heard the sound of voices raised in larking about and japes. They bend their course that way.
The great cavern drops away rather than eases down. The lower area, partly supported by an immense column of natural rock, seems quite wet under far-away lights. At one point a ladder has been placed, though the scramble down is not too difficult for Dwarves with hands empty.
They can see the noise comes from the heavy hitters, who are obviously light-hearted. Sharp makes some kind of joke, Damper makes some kind of joke, Gnat jumps and kicks Damper in the head. All good fun. Nearby them, a pile of stones can just be made out.
As they begin choosing a course down, Princess flies up and soars in their direction, up, and descends majestically, using a cloak that permits flight. The effect is slightly marred when Crompton realizes he can see up her tunic.
In her slightly formal speech pattern, Princess invites them down. The great cavern is cleared and sealed! And to see what the Lefties have to report. They have been checking a water course letting out from the cavern.
They make their way down as directed and across the wet stone to the rear of the cavern. It seems the rocks have been piled up against a door to another cavern complex. Cauleigh turns from where he is helping Sharp and Damper:
“Is this the job for a captain of Fingold? How’s tricks lads?”
Cauleigh has numerous endeavours to relate
Cauleigh, ambling back from the Customhouse with 2,000gp in merchant-mark gems to share round from the fire-mage’s stronghold, is diverted out through the gate and around (cautiously, using the shatterzone as cover) to the gunne battery.
The master gunner is no diplomatist. He needs the gunnes re-positioned to menace the neighboring bastion, because the much smaller gunnes there still cover the road out of Fingold. But Chion’s regiment has got the crazy idea that they are being paid in gold now… and he would need gold to be released from the Quartermaster-General’s office to pay them.
Cauleigh uses his knowledge of Esgaroth flim-flammery to work out that the rank and file Dwarves are playing the master gunner. Once Cauleigh dislodges the file chiefs like Sayer from the distractions their rankers have created, the master gunner gets his workforce.
There’s a distraction while this goes on: a flight of hippogriffs flies over Fingold, out of the west. One rider dips low enough for Cauleigh to see they are well wrapped up.
Cauleigh stays with them until he is happy with progress and heads into Fingold and walks briskly up the main streets to the citadel. He’s recognised, admitted, but then cannot make contact with QMGLC Saundra – everyone is extremely busy rushing around trying to cope with new supply situations.
Eventually Cauleigh gains an interview with the QM Lieutenant-general, one of Saundra’s abacus-men. He listens carefully, appoints Cauleigh acting Captain, and sends him back out. [L5 LK SR, only reaches L2 so misses meeting someone useful]
Cauleigh rejoins the master gunner to begin negotiations. He seeks two able seconds to stand proud for House Kimelas and gets two powder-monkeys. It is late in the evening and torches flare where the bastion commander awaits talks.
The opposing faction is now commanded by the Captain of Kimelas. A proud veteran noble below middle years, barely civil to the Dwarf, does not offer his right name. Cauleigh agrees to a truce during which the fallen can be removed, and learns that the Captain is a widower with children.
He heads back, very tired, to the Guild and sleeps the sleep of the just after calling in to Level 2 and learning that four more new adventurers have died and the fleeburns will have to break up and combine with other groups.
His brain sparking with a master plan, Cauleigh seeks very earnestly for Duchess Melissa and/or QMGLC Saundra and after much searching and waiting is admitted to see Saundra. She is still hard at work and is vexed at her sister’s decision to camp outside the walls with her ‘battalion’ which consists of hundreds of militia rabble.
Delighted to be able to plague Melissa with a suitor, Saundra falls in with Cauleigh’s master plan and writes out what she calls a ‘bill of sale’ for the potential husband to admire. On repeating his plea for admirable seconds, Saundra provides him with two soldier-courtiers: Belloc, whom he already gets on well with; and R’stair, a very presentable man of similar age and rank. Belloc retails the glory of the Fingold Battalion’s advance and clearing the lines. Though he does admit, as many fell from friendly fire as from enemy resistance.
The Captain of Kimelas does – partly – admit that the western faction might be a problem but speaks grandiosely of having reserves he can draw on. Cauleigh contents himself [no better than L2 to L3 CHR in these discussions] with waving the lure: “look! Duchess!” in front of him and dealing with his prejudice about Melissa (the Captain remembers her as a plump, plain child). He hands over the ‘bill of sale’ and the Captain seems interested but commits nothing.
The siege therefore remains in stalemate, and we may guess that the master gunner may order the battery to fire, but Cauleigh now betakes himself to the Guild and makes his way below.
The grand tunnel is barred, not far from the now-normal entry from the healing station, by an impressive stone wall, with firing steps and a gateway. Workmen from the town are atop a rickety scaffold finishing up, while a few Dwarves from Chion’s regiment work on the gate. They direct Cauleigh to the tunnel that leads through to the great cavern. And so to the stone-piling.
The Lefties also have had much success
The Lefties emerge from further left and fill in whatever Princess has left unexplained. They have scouted down a stream on the left side of the great cavern, down a waterfall, along a stream across the Dwarves’ trail, down more waterfalls and into a deep area. It was Soup’s torchlight that Crompton spotted.
There is a lot of information to exchange and maps to compare, so it’s time to retreat for a cup of tea and more planning.
They check in with Mother Hobb again, hearing from a couple of the newbies there that the groups have reformed, except not too sure where the new guy, Max was it, is supposed to fit. They agree to look for him. Jotunn hands a wet pack of cat-meat over to Mother Hobb.
And so to a nearby room where they won’t be bothered by the comings and goings of the healing station, and where tea can be brewed.
Ausecur checks that nothing is about to start, takes his fourth of the ogre’s coin pouch, and leaves to update the other Sveltes on progress. He seems smugly confident that he can persuade the arch-magi to teach him spells. Fennec mutters darkly about finding his frozen bones somewhere in the near future, but mutters it to the Svelte’s retreating back for he is off.
Princess sets her cup down
With tea properly made, each party explains what they have found or achieved and Two sketches Level 4 quickly on translucent parchment, overlaying it on the Great Cavern. If he’s right, the stairs up that Jotunn found will link somewhere to the ‘possible Level 4’ marked beyond the grand tunnel, beyond the furthest point the Lefties threw up a barricade.
They discuss the stairs down and Jotunn explains to the admiring crowd his logic.
Then Panic and Bless explain the water-course down. “One direction leads to a dead end, but the other takes you out above a huge wet cavern, where zombies stand around.”
“So tentatively, we can say Level 5 is shallowly below Level 4,” Two comments.
“What did you find in Level 4?” Gnat wants to know. “Randoms? Any kind of Level boss?”
“There wasn’t much,” admits Jotunn, “we ambushed an ogre and minion, beheaded some zombies, that was it really, oh, and a cat.”
As Jotunn speaks, Crompton notices [L3 LK SR] that when he mentions the ogre, Princess puts her tea cup down quite sharply. She is normally very particular about how she holds her tea and would never just bang it down.
“What’s wrong?” he asks curiously
“The sound of that I do not like!” she exclaims.
After a few minutes’ further elucidation Two explains:
“Two ogres seems one too many. In her homeland, there are magical ogres. In fact in her country’s legends ogres are ruled by magical ogres.”
According to these same legends magical ogres could look like anyone.
“Who’s seen those Sveltes lately?” Fennec suddenly exclaims.
“Uh, minutes ago you waved goodbye to Ausecur.”
The conversation moves on. Once again the physical dimension of navigating an aged cleric down to Level 6 must be focused on. As far as clearing Level 4 goes, the other groups seem to think that the Dwarves can have first go as their right, or they can choose to let the new groups try, and support them. But the priority is to find a non-main-stair way down.
Merry dancing furniture of death come knocking
A commotion – “protect her! Fall back! On me!” – draws the groups out and down to the healing station. Mizva has a huge shiny shield at the upper entrance – the one up to Level 2 – and Whitey and Burnley are on his flanks in support.
A massive table lurches into view, and slams Mizva a huge swipe, sending him bowling back to the healing brew. The table appears to be fairly flexible for all its size, and squeezes itself in.
There is an eruption of noise behind them – “what do you mean you lost your furniture animation wand?” “’ey, ees OK, I trap heem, will drop black drip from ‘e fingernails” – but regardless, the Dwarves press forward to aid the survivors. Behind the table they can see a large powerful chair waiting to join the fray!
Fennec holds back far enough to hear Two and Bless agreeing what they will try, and checks his own choice. “Yes, stick with the Glue-You, good choice,” Two agrees.
The front-rank Dwarves find themselves well outmatched by the table but as more forces take their place and hold it, Cauleigh leaps atop it and chops it apart. The chair, slowed by Fennec, is dealt with by Crompton who reads out a plant-control scroll; but a second chair joins it. Cauleigh attempts to topple that one but is flicked off into the next room along.
Ogre mage!
From that vantage he sees the young ex-militia wizard Max peering into the same room. About to wave him over Cauleigh spies black spots dripped below him.
He rushes, intent on tripping the gangling wizard.
“Hohoho, I don’t think so my friend,” Max chuckles and swells rapidly, drawing a short rod: which becomes an enormous spiked mace. A massive foot strikes Cauleigh solidly on his breastplate and he catapults over a balustrade and up against the stone wall, apparently dead. [Cauleigh is kicked aside with 90 STR, and has 34 CON, so I feel OK allowing him to sacrifice his breastplate to remain alive but stunned.]
Bless levels her staff across the debris and fires the next Dispel at the ogre mage. “Keep debuffing, at the worst he’ll have to counter it” Two urges Fennec, “I’ve just used my last buff, we are ready now. Damper! Push!”
As he planned to do even without Two’s advice, Fennec throws his last Glue You at the ogre mage. The furniture is being reduced to kindling, and Mizva has been put back on his feet by Mother Hobb. Sitting back in the pocket with the other wizards Fennec gets a good view of the fighting styles. The heavy hitter warriors fight in orthodox fashion around Damper’s defence, and they can afford to. The Lefties are even more so, though left-handed.
As Mizva barges the line once more the groups rush the ogre mage. Jotunn has gotten behind him and is stopping a retreat! Then Cauleigh – minus his mangled breastplate – launches himself off the balustrade and tangles the huge ogre up. Blades rise and fall and the ogre mage dies messily.
Reduced
The dead ogre mage’s cache is found among the quarters – now tombs – of the other adventurers. In most cases, they have been killed quietly while asleep. A few seem to have awoken to be chopped apart by the ogre mage’s huge spiked mace or squashed by enchanted furniture.
Finding that the ogre mage has most of their fire-mage treasure on his person (along with the note from the arch-magi explaining them), the Dwarves begin reclaiming it. But Gnat, ever with her eye on the drops, wonders if it’s necessarily theirs. As an expedient, they hand over the fire mage’s deluxe staff. After all, they might have trouble selling it.
Pragmatically the adventurers all split the treasure of the dead fellow-adventurers, before contacting the authorities to have the bodies removed.
This changes the options for the drive to Level 6. Up until now, they have planned that low-level parties can guard their backs. Now they are back to four, counting the depleted survivors group.
They retire to restore wounds and mana.
[About 12 hours with healing and WIZ recovery, though it's not just passive resting. Re-equipment such as purchasing armor is undertaken as well. I ask for a decision on who Filbard's bearers will be, if anyone. They elect to use the official bearers, therefore are limited to being able to buy/borrow hauberks off Chion's regiment.]
Scouting level 5
Lacking either Righteous Filbard or Duchess Melissa to pursue diplomacy, there is little to be done now save seek the best way down. The Dwarves are once again chosen for their ability to scout in limited light. They take plenty of rope, a billhook, and hauberks purchased from Chion’s regiment. They also have on loan the ‘fight for me’ zombie-command wand, and a potion for plant control.
The watery path down is as described by the Lefties and their map, so after not much more than ten minutes’ quiet descent from the great cavern, the Dwarves are ready to make the last drop down to a ledge overlooking the ‘big wet zombie cavern’. Jotunn rams a dagger into a rock crack and whips rope around it, then they cautiously lower themselves the last steep descent. Cauleigh ensures the billhook he insisted on bringing is lowered to him as well.
Fennec’s second Will-o-Wisp lights the ledge and the first few zombies below. Perhaps because it is above their eyeline or perhaps because it is faint, the zombies do not react to the light. The few they can see are shin- to knee-deep in water. They are not stationary, but nor are they patrolling in any order.
Immediately below their feet, double valves – one part open – let into the ledge from the big wet. Something more organised and structured lies beyond – perhaps a mine shaft. Whatever it is, they can carefully lower themselves into the opening, and avoid the zombies completely.
And so they begin, but the session ends before they can find out what lies beyond.
Props
This all involved far more prep than I usually commit, but I simplified by pillaging the old D&D boardgame (produced here by Parker) for random floor layout, and drawing the normal fighting pattern of each group on card circles so the players could simply lay out one circle for each group.
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Post by warlord476 on Jan 28, 2017 2:50:25 GMT -5
2.12: the lost gold-mine of Fingold or, scouting Level 5 the hard way
Characters for this session:
Cauleigh, L3 warrior
Jotunn, L5 warrior
Crompton, L2 rogue
[minded by GM] Fennec, L2 wizard
NPCs:
Ausecur and Ondsop, L4 rogues, and Kamerad, L2 rogue
Attracted by the noise, Zombies
Our four Dwarf heroes have just lowered themselves off a ledge and beyond massive double valves letting into it. Their aim is to scout Level 5 and locate a passage down to Level 6. Preferably a secret one.
Cauleigh, heavily equipped for the rigors of dungeoneering, makes a heck of a racket, and Jotunn is just about as noisy. [No roll permitted, Cauleigh is well above 25% capacity] Fennec and Crompton glare at them. The four stand in a small faint pool of WoW light, darkness pressing in around them. The shaft or chamber appears to be so broad the sides can barely be glimpsed, and barrel-vaulted in section. They stand at what appears to be an entrance to a very wide, level shaft with twin tracks cut in the stone. It is dry enough to be termed slimy. Filthy water fills the tracks or channels suggesting the cavern outside the gates is very nearly on the same level.
As Cauleigh begins to sort through his gear and decide what can be left here, a zombie, attracted by the noise, shambles to the still-open gate. Another is close behind.
Fennec lets out a nicker of fear and repositions himself adroitly, further into the tunnel so that he is rear-guard. He holds off on spell-casting. Crompton, who at that moment is beginning to test the gate for ease of pulling shut, whips the rope they descended on around the ankles of the second zombie as Cauleigh’s billhook trips the first. Jotunn chops the head off the first.
More zombies appear! The rope trick works well again, but Jotunn stumbles in one of the stone channels or gutters. The second zombie grabs his ankle. Cauleigh slams down the billhook blade, taking the arm off that zombie, though leaving it attached to Jotunn’s ankle. Crompton and Jotunn heave on the gate, and the remaining zombies are shut out. The remaining two zombies are dealt with.
Then the real defenders show up
Fennec throws up his second WoW and squeals in terror and pain as a broad-axe cleaves through his pack. In the confusion he has not noticed a small phalanx – six or seven strong – approach from the shaft’s depths.
These defenders seem disciplined enough to stay in a tight formation. They are pallid, of no more than Dwarf stature, and their eyes bulge blindly. They each bear a wicked-bladed broad-axe and target shield. Their armor is heavy grey fabric or leather of some type.
Jotunn decides the formation needs breaking up and salmon-leaps into the axes! They bite deep, [37 off CON!] but his tactic works insofar as Cauleigh is able to cripple one that Jotunn cut. Cauleigh too experiences the excellent axe-work of these strange deep-dwellers. But the enemy are down to six.
That doesn’t make them less dangerous! Jotunn rolls out and cuts at one’s legs, taking more damage, Crompton, now LFed [his tempus fugit charm] dances in to one flank, and Cauleigh, also LFed, cuts on both. The tactic of sharing damage around the phalanx is the wrong one and Cauleigh is severely wounded. One of the defenders is hurt to the point of falling out of formation.
By this time flight is looking a good option. Fennec struggles with the gate but lacks the strength to push it back open. Jotunn, now reeling from wounds, joins him and the valves squelch back apart. Meanwhile Cauleigh and Crompton use their speed to stay out of range and bring the wounded defender down. They are down to five. Two more rounds of WoW remain, three more rounds of LF.
Jotunn shimmies up the rope intending to haul Fennec up. [I roll another 3 for Fennec] The wizard takes a broad-axe to the back of the head and falls face-down! Crompton scoops up the WoW-enchanted staff and uses it as a makeshift shield trying to draw the defenders off the wizard. Cauleigh outfoxes a defender and puts him down. They drop to four. One more round of WoW remains, two more of LF.
Jotunn realizes things have gone amiss and that he is effectively in the dark. Frantically he operates his tinderbox and gets a torch alight. In the broad mineshaft Cauleigh and Crompton team up to wrong-foot another defender and he too falls. They drop to three. The WoW gutters out, one more LF round remains.
Jotunn bravely drops, grabs Fennec’s collar and yanks him out of the muck, so he won‘t just drown. The light allows Crompton and Cauleigh to repeat their maneuver. The defenders are now only two, one of those badly wounded. But the Dwarves are now reduced to normal speed.
Jotunn joins in, though defensively so as not to take damage. To his surprise the grey defenders reel back from his torch! With this advantage and being just as fast on their feet, the remaining two are slain without more than a couple more scratches being taken among the Dwarves.
It’s time to breathe, and pick up the various bits of gear their desperate tactics threw off. And pull out!
As they rope Fennec’s chest a healing potion is found, tied prominently to the wizard’s doublet. How fortunate! [I roll a good LK SR to make up for the 3] They lack the expertise to safely apply it, but what’s he got to lose! It is poured down the wizard’s gullet.
They clamber back out, sluicing the muck and blood off in the running watercourse, and report to the Guild.
Having survived, the Dwarves use their allies wisely
It takes more than a day for them to heal, during which time the Guild is called on to perform other missions, such as harvest guarding, and applying scrolls to ballistae. Cauleigh limps over to the citadel and though QMGLC Saundra is still extremely busy, manages to gain permission for the master-smith to fashion him a new breastplate. The initial measurements are done.
Crompton and Jotunn also make arrangements for armor, using Cauleigh’s influence if necessary.
While at the barracks, Cauleigh invites the Sveltes back to the Guild. Their help will be needed.
In Guild council, the Dwarves find the other groups are still happy to lend support. Two can mystically link to Fennec so that Fennec can describe what he sees, allowing Two to map it. Bless and Two can both provide Cateyes which will allow perhaps twenty minutes dark-vision inside the shaft.
Most importantly the Sveltes agree to help scout. Sveltes have dark-vision as part of their heritage. Ausecur: STR20 DEX16 LK40 SPD14 CON27 IQ16 WIZ16 CHR17. Spells are DetM, LT, OGA, WoW, A-Scram, Boombomb, U-Bd, Ding, HH, Shrug, BLTG, Teacher.
Ondsop: as Ausecur; for spells Ding, BLTG, Teacher are dropped, OTIS and TTYF are added.
Kamerad: STR16 DEX14 LK20 SPD14 CON22 IQ14 WIZ14 CHR17. Spells are ItsEl (earth), LT, U-Bd, DetM and Boombomb.
Seven strong on Level 5
The uses of HideyHole are much debated. Cauleigh is keen to go in under invisibility to sneak forward as far as possible, so they try this first up.
There are no issues getting into the shaft: it seems nothing has closed the valves. Considerably more of the wet cavern can be seen now that they have Cateyes up. It is huge, stretching out into blackness. They can see dozens of zombies, aimlessly moving or standing in the water. As for the water, it seems it must gently drain away, somewhere beyond.
Cauleigh comes up with a cunning plan for tabling at the Guild and above. If the arch-magi can use his special Ice power to freeze the cavern the zombies can easily be dealt with.
Inside the shaft, a side-passage or guard-room can immediately be seen. The Sveltes investigate. Inside is a huge icy lizard! It can sense them, though it can’t see them, and lurches out to attack.
Glue You! Fennec yodels happily and the six others hack the lizard apart before it can get fully out of its lair. Crompton sighs regretfully: he has used the last Sheeting Arrow of Claes.
Sveltes tracking ahead they all follow the twin trackways in. Again on the left, another doorway stands open. This time they do not have the luxury of a HideyHole and with a booming challenge a monster cave-ape galumphs out to the attack! Ausecur uses his BLTG to speed away at great pace, and muttering the time-honoured phrase “I don’t have to be faster than him, I just have to be faster than you” Ondsop speeds ahead of Kamerad!
Kamerad is swatted to the floor but the fighting Dwarves are there to help. Jotunn and Cauleigh each flank around, cutting at its tree-like forearms. They get into difficulty when they try to improve on that the next round: Cauleigh is casually batted across the shaft to smack against the wall and Jotunn is parried off. But meanwhile Crompton has done a lot of damage to the beast’s hamstring and it is soon toppled and dispatched.
Finding a secret way down?
The Ape’s lair is truly filthy, but noticeable in the nest itself is a staff with a silver head. It is the mace-staff Crompton lost on his second zombie fight! “That’s got a definite owner” Crompton explains, handing it to Fennec to mind. There is one other exit in the lair, a closed stone door on the right. Crompton examines it, finding it still in working order. Muck and filth are dug back to permit the door to be dragged open.
Beyond, they can see two passages into connecting chambers. As they explore further an immense beetle rumbles out of the further chamber!
It is so large that both Cauleigh and Jotunn can leap atop and chop through its carapace. As it struggles sideways to fit through a doorway, they slay it.
Little of note is found in either chamber until Crompton presses a pressure plate, and locates a hidden door. It leads to a passage that curves down!
With no more Cateyes, they close the door and pull back out.
Resting and recovery brings Cauleigh and Kamerad back to fitness. Crompton hands the staff-mace over with due ceremony. Mizva is mightily pleased. [It belonged to the dead Cleric of the survivors group, he's had a real issue with Crompton over it.]
Meanwhile the early harvest is completed and under the truce, trading progresses between the camps and town. A few merchants from further afield east bring news and goods to trade.
But Fennec loses a prized possession
It’s still too early for the breastplate to be fitted but time presses and the seven-strong party returns to Level 5.
This time, they choose not to throw a HideyHole down since it may be an empty area now.
The previously-icy lizard lair is empty and thawed, and some beer-money coin is found. So far so good. Sticking to that left face, they work down to the next side-entry, where the ape laired.
A mighty snake has made its nest among the usefully-warm dung the ape left and lunges forward. There is much ducking and diving! Unable to constrict a victim, it recoils back and sits in a good defensive position. Fennec makes the call to use OGA. Jotunn leaps high as Cauleigh blocks low. Not good enough! The snake smashes the already-weakened staff Fennec uses to protect himself as Cauleigh opens it up with a mighty gash, and Jotunn chops down into its barrel-size body.
Inside the snake’s crop is a healing potion, which is added to Fennec’s supply. Fennec would be ranting about his broken staff but strict noise discipline is being observed. He tucks the staff pieces into his new pack.
On Level 6 a voice is heard
Nothing has been through the further chambers, though the beetle carapace lies jammed in the doorway, eaten out to a hollow.
Crompton operates the secret door again, and they scout in. The passage curves, drops down a few steps, curves down some more, a few steps more… and is blocked by rockfall.
But, Ausecur realizes, not the kind of rockfall that is impenetrable. Quietly, a chain of rock-movers is formed, and rocks stacked around the chamber. Eventually (and for part of the time Fennec has rested so as to be able to cast WoW again) a Dwarf-size tunnel is made atop the fall.
They all squeeze through carefully, soon finding the down-passage gives onto a straight, well-cut shaft into a larger chamber, opening towards their left.
Jotunn swipes his hand across the grime on the floor. Beneath it the stone is good quality, a nice polished granite.
Not far ahead on the right face of the chamber are two strong stone doors. Another impressive stone door is across the chamber, and a fourth stands on the chamber’s right face. These last two have impressive vaulting and arching around them. Cauleigh studies these.
“Some religious significance” he mutters confidently. And who knows, he may be right. [Based on making L1 IQ SR]
Crompton meanwhile has caught the indistinct sound of a female voice from beyond the door at the far end of the chamber! [Just shy of L3 LK SR] He waves urgently, signalling ‘vampire’ and they retreat. Jotunn and the Sveltes smother their tracks so it is not obvious a party of Dwarves just explored, and a false rock-fall is carefully re-inserted at the low end.
As they pull back to the level’s main shaft a swarm of large beetles emerges from the dark trackway passages and attacks, their bites poison. Jotunn and Cauleigh shield the weaker members and they all pull out safely.
Much excitement in the Guild! Though it will be difficult to maneuver Righteous Filbard over the rocks, this is a genuine prospect for a surprise attack on Level 6.
And meanwhile, events in Fingold march on
The Guild is still busy with normal patrol and other duties though the Lefties, minus Soup, have part-cleared Level 4. And yes, they came back with another nice item. Two has a theory about the circular roof-carving the Dwarves found in Level 4. He also has thoughts of that side-quest he suggested to Fennec.
Speaking of that: Cauleigh places his genius plan in front of the wizards. Fennec thinks the arch-magi is too important and busy to use, but Two says “I like the way you think” and he and Bless will take it higher. Two also likes the idea of a huge cavern – it gives the heavy hitters a lot more combat options than they usually have.
Duchess Melissa has curbed her mettle and her ‘battalion’ has returned to normal city life. The western faction seems unwilling to re-prosecute the siege – though the presence of hippogriffs means the arch-magi is still having to churn out scrolls for ballistae. Chion’s regiment has been paid and is ready to march home.
As talk circulates of a dinner at the citadel, for the purpose of bringing the Duchess and the Captain of Kimelas together on a social basis, the Dwarves and Sveltes decide to keep scouting Level 5. Or clearing it, if that’s a likely thing.
Fennec agrees to go along, though he’s mainly there as the light-source. So back the seven go.
Back down to Level 5: clearing the outer mineworks
In the short time they have been absent the areas they have cleared have stayed clear. With growing confidence they advance, following the twin tracks, to a point where they can see the tracks disappear through twin shafts or tunnels. On the right face of the main shaft a shallow bay and stone door beckons. A little further along the main shaft on that same side, quite near the trackway-passages, a similar bay and door.
Crompton investigates and heaves the near door open. Beyond lies a large chamber, somewhat reminiscent of a forge but larger, where the remains of smelting pots, stands, ore-benches and the like are vaguely recognizable though crumbled to nearly nothing.
Among the rubble that was once a trying-furnace the Sveltes find some more coin.
Beyond a further solid door, another chamber. This may once have been an assay area. Ausecur scoops three lengths of jewel-rock, or raw gold, out of the remains of an ore-bench.
The second door off the main shaft is tried next. It leads to a long chamber. Though debris cloaks the floor, it is hard to say what purpose it served. On the left side, and therefore on the face that the main shaft extends down, two bays and doors stand. But time is pressing (these cautious explorations tick through WoW) and they begin pulling out.
As a last spiteful farewell, as Crompton checks just one last door, it falls outward and over on him! He is thoroughly depressed, but the others heave the mighty stone off him and drag him out for healing.
News and rumor chase one another in the city above! The Captain of Kimelas has been assassinated!
And the session ends.
Props
Level 5 comes from Dyson's 2014 Dodecahedron, &Magazine's Wizardawn generators provided the monsters, both op cit., and I used HeroQuest (the MB Games boardgame) chance cards to decide what was encountered while clearing.
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