Session date: Monday, March 27, 2017
Game date: Saturday, July 26, 209
PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 4, hp 23, xp 13805/17000
Caryatid, Magic-user 4, hp 19, xp 15519/20000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 3, hp 11, xp 4320/8000
Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 3, hp 17, xp 5042/8000
Brother Chase Pike, Cleric 2, hp 11, xp 1915/3000
Kevon, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 116/2000
The adventurers emerged blinking into the mid-afternoon sunshine outside the Rusty Lantern tavern. They had with them Brother Orccake and Orc Debbiorc, bristly of hair, tusky of tooth, and generally foul tempered, and a man tortured to the point of derangement, spitting and snapping at any that came near. Trying to avoid crowds as much as possible, they led their captives through the ramshackle neighborhood near the Rusty Lantern through the narrow streets of the city towards the wealthy quarter in the southeast of the city. They eventually came to the grand open plaza, at the far end of which stood the Great Cathedral of Light.
They entered the cathedral, and inquired with an acolyte regarding whether it were possible to heal their three captives of whatever curse had affected them. They were brought to the office of Father Merrimoon, who looked over the tragic state of the three and offered the Church's aid for a mere 7,500 shekels. Each. Everyone hemmed and hawed and tried to ask for a discount, but the fact was that this *was* the discount rate, given the Church's extreme gratitude to Gulleck and Caryatid for their assistance retrieving the Holy Lantern last year. Eventually everyone agreed to chip in the healing of the poor deranged victims.
Brother Orccake, Orc Debbiorc, and the unnamed madmen were escorted by several burly acolytes into a room, with the rest of the adventurers left to wait anxiously in a small waiting room. Time passed, and then Brother Orccake and Orc Debbiorc came barging in, arguing loudly with two acolytes that were trying to calm them down. They no longer resembled orcs in their features, but they were as sullen as ever.
"You left us!" shouted Brother Orccake. "We got in that pool to cure Debbi's heart problem and, well, just because in my case, and then you walked away and left us! We were in the dungeon, in the dark, without food or clothes. The orcs found us, and what choice did we have except to hang with them? They were better friends to us than you turned out to be!"
Caryatid tried to reason with her irascible retainer clone, but he wasn't being soothed. "You know what? Forget it! I'll find some friends who appreciate me. Come on, Debbi!" And the two stormed out, without a word of thanks for the 1,500 gold pieces the party had just invested in them.
Next up came the tortured madman. He was dressed in a simple white robe now, and was now calm but seemed to be in shock. He told them his name was Eric. He could barely remember the past couple of years. He knew he had been living in the dungeon with a group of his friends ("Oh no, not the hippies!" groaned Caryatid) but had been captured by the orcs and tortured. It was all like a blurry dream. They had been an adventuring party once. They called themselves "The Soldiers of Peace", for they were really just in this adventuring game to have a good time. They had had a lot of success adventuring; they had even infiltrated the palace of the Goblin King and found their way to the goblins' treasure vault! But he told them about how they were caught by a mob of goblins and hobgoblins and chased out of the palace. "It was like a maze in there! Nothing made sense. But I remember we wrote down in a logbook the turns we had taken to find the treasure vault. I think we still had it when I was captured by the orcs." The Soldiers of Peace had eventually decided it would be easier to just live in the dungeon and do their adventuring straight from there, without having to get in and out every time. And after that decision, everything was kind of blurry for Eric.
But now Eric's memories of his life before adventuring were coming back. He had friends in the city that he intended to seek out and reestablish his life. He thanked the adventurers for rescuing him from the orcs and left with a hopeful smile on his face. And indeed, a couple of days later he tracked them down at the Rusty Lantern to tell them he had reunited with some old friends who had kept some items that he had left behind when the Soldiers of Peace left to live in the dungeon. Now Eric gave the party two potion vials, saying he had no more use for them. One was recognized as an invisibility potion, and the other seemed to have little bubbles continually streaming to the surface; when sipped it gave a feeling that the sipper was being lifted up out of his shoes.
A week after they had emerged from the dungeon, the adventurers reunited at the Rusty Lantern and prepared to head down again to mop up some loose ends. They descended via their usual path to the second level. When they emerged into the hallways, they found that some changes had occurred in the dungeon in the past week. The walls of the hall were festooned with ratty streamers, and several posters had been pasted to the walls. The posters depicted the smug, ugly visage of the Goblin Prince, surrounded by a motto in bold Common: "The Goblin Prince: Making the Dungeon Great Again!"
Gulleck wasted no time in burning down the posters and streamers, and then they moved on. Passing by what was formerly the orcs' temple, they saw that the door was open and light streamed out. Cautiously entering, they found the temple occupied by a single hobgoblin, who was looking thoughtfully at various aspects of the room.
"Oh, hello!" he chirped. "I'm just doing some redecorating here. This will make a wonderful feast hall for the Goblin Prince. Oh, did you hear? Someone wiped out the orcs, which left a wonderful power vacuum for the Prince to step into. It was quite fortuitous, really. Well, I'll be off, now. Toodaloo!"
And with that he left, leaving the party to marvel at the changes made to the temple. The painting of a hideous tentacled beast on the eastern wall behind the altar had been painted over, and a vague outline of the Goblin Prince's face had been sketched in with charcoal. The big ritual drums of the orcs still lay in one corner, and the adventurers decided to get rid of those fearful drums once and for all. Gulleck and Meat hoisted the drums and they marched off towards the chasm with the rushing water deep below (where they had ditched the orcs' gong some time ago). They beat the drums loudly as they marched, which of course triggered a wandering monster check every single turn. And in fact, wandering monsters did approach: a trio of the horrible featureless white figured that attacked with elongated arms and drained the very life out of their victims! Yes, it was at this point that the penny dropped: the adventurers had forgotten to patch the hole they drilled in the door of the Hotel Lethia, and the creatures were now free to roam the dungeon at will.
However, not much happened today. Caryatid whipped out her Wand of Paralyzation and suddenly there was a crack, a flash, and then there were three white figures in fetal position on the floor of the dungeon, twitching and shuddering. Axes and swords came down, and the creatures dissolved into rubbery liquid that drained into the flagstones.
On they went, continuing to bang the drums gleefully. This drew the attention of another wandering "monster", in this case Brother Jed and his gang of bandits. Brother Jed was once a retainer of the adventurers but now he was the spiritual leader of a bandit gang and led them forth to smite evil in the name of God.
"Oh!" gasped Jed. "Caryatid and Gulleck, how good to see you! You should be more quiet with those drums. Did you hear, someone killed all the orcs and the Goblin Prince took over their old lair!"
"Uh, yeah, we heard something about that..."
Wishing Jed and his boys a safe delve, they continued to the chasm, where they set the drums on fire (why?!) and sent them plunging into the rushing river far below.
Now, they were apparently feeling really tough, so they decided to pay the Goblin Prince a visit and find out what was going on. So back to the dungeon hallways they went and strolled up to the entrance of the apartment complex where last week they had fought the orcs. Four goblins stood guard at the door, dressed in tabards with a stylized version of the Goblin Prince's face.
"You can't come in, this is the Palace of the Goblin Prince!"
Caryatid waved an arm imposingly and cast the words of Sleep upon the goblins. Three slumped to the ground and before the fourth could react, Kevon yelled "Duck!" and shot a crossbow bolt over the heads of Brother Chase and Simon to kill the fourth goblin stone dead.
In they went into the courtyard. The orc corpses were all gone, and now the Goblin Prince sat on a wooden throne, surrounded by goblins as well as a few hobgoblins and bugbears clustered around the throne. He looked much as they remembered him, a fat pretentious schoolboy given power way beyond his ability to handle it.
"Ah, visitors! Have you come to pay obeisance to me? To pay me tribute? Just put it on the ground and my servants will collect it from you."
Simon started to talk smack with the Goblin Prince about the orcs. "You guys aren't worried that whoever killed the orcs might come back and take you out?"
"Oh, the orcs were expelled by the glorious Army of the Goblin Prince!" said the Prince pompously. "We purged this area of those beasts and making the dungeon great again! You should speak with more humility. Our next project is to build an enormous wall to keep you humans and dwarves out of my dungeon! And we're going to make you pay for it, too."
"You just keep telling yourself that," scoffed the diminutive Simon. "We took the orcs out and we can do the same to you!"
"Are you threatening me?" roared the Goblin Prince. "Kill them!" he ranted, pointing at the adventurers. "Kill them all!" A mob of goblins drew their rusty little swords and rushed towards the party.
"Ha, time to leave," laughed Simon, and the party raced up the stairs and out of the goblin lair, pursued by nine goblins, their shouts echoing off the hallway walls. "Let's lead them to Green Caryatid's house! We can 'ding dong ditch' her!" said Simon. He was really enjoying this!
So they ran over to where Caryatid's "evil twin" lived, with the sound of the pursuing goblins behind them. Caryatid slipped on her ring of invisibility and then banged loudly on the door of her clone's apartment. Then they ran further down the hall. Brother Chase tried to open a door for them to hide within, but it was stubborn and before he could get it open, they goblins had caught up with them.
Caryatid tried to use her wand of unpredictable magic, but once again, it suddenly reduced her and her pet monkey to 6 inches tall! On the bright side, she was pretty much no longer a target. Simon, Kevon, and Brother Chase all ran into the hall to do battle with the goblins.
Caryatid waved the wand of wonder again, and this time everything went black, as a sphere of magical darkness covered the hallway. The goblins shouted in panic, and Gulleck tried to prod their fear by bellowing, "The darkness of the King of Shadows envelops you!" Not bad for a spur of the moment improv.
Well, the next thing that happened was that further back up the hallway Green Caryatid opened her door and shouted, "How dare you make all this noise outside my home! Get out of here, all of you!" Then there were the chanted words of a spell Caryatid didn't recognize and then there was a BOOOOOOM and a rush of unbearable heat in the darkness. When the flames subsided, all of the goblins were dead, and so was Gulleck's faithful henchman Meat!
But no, perhaps he wasn't! The fireball had brought him down to -1 hit points, which is of course dead and I have never bent this rule. However, another house rule that we've had from the very beginning is that after every combat, each character that took damage can regain 1d4-1 hit points. This is meant to indicate the portion of hit points that represent fatigue, "will to fight", etc., that could be regained after a breather.
Gulleck's player rolled a 3, which meant Meat was still alive but practically unconscious at 1 hp. They helped him to his feet, and the group staggered out of the darkness and managed to escape the dungeon without further incident.
I quite liked this application of the 1d4-1 rule. I've always thought that there should be some option of just being knocked unconscious rather than always going from perfectly fine at 1 hp to stone cold dead at 0 hp. So I like the randomness of allowing this roll for characters that were brought below 1 hp, but only by a bit. We don't make the roll under after combat is over, so it adds uncertainty, but doesn't create the absurd situations we see in later editions where characters pop in and out of consciousness repeatedly and it's nearly impossible to die. So unless it causes any other issues, this application of the house rule will be permanently in place in my campaign.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Monday, November 13, 2017
Player Journals from Session 69
From the Diary of Caryatid:
Dear Granny,
You will not believe the adventures I have been having with my cohorts since we travelled to that insanely stupid monastery in the mountains. The “monks” turned out to be were-rats of sorts. We did manage to free an imprisoned Religion-y Wizard who seemed more like an ancient monk relic; and retrieved the stupid lantern for the Religion-y Witch who sent us on that stupid quest. The only good part of that adventure was that in liberating the monastery, I seem to have adopted an adorable like monkey. I call him Marcel. He is fiercely devoted and so darn cute. Much like your cat, You, but doesn’t sleep under my hat like You does. I’ve had him fitted with his own customized fez. This lovable creature is so loyal, that he went berserk, ape-shit crazy if you will, when I was killed by an insane Hippie. Yeah, I died. BUT, I lived! Well, I was resurrected actually. I’m fine now so no worries there.
I’ve begun to grow my collection of magical items including a ring which allows me to become invisible, and an interesting wand which, I surmise, invokes random magick, since it never produces the same result twice. It once shrunk me to the size of doll, but the effects were not lasting, I’m normal again. I’ve also learned a spell to lock doors. I’ve recently used this to lock a secret back door to the apartment my twin has, who’s magick has become increasingly concerning.
Since the trip to the mountains, we have encountered so very many strange and dangerous creatures, I cannot possibly list them all. But we are back in the city of Idalium again. I think one of the reasons we have survived as long as we have (ok truth be told, our membership has changed quite a bit since I last wrote to you due to premature death, so not all survived), is because we change our name with nearly every adventure: The Infestation Managers, Gong Inspectors, Bong Inspectors, Furniture Disassemblers, Dong Inspectors (you don’t really want an explanation for any of these names). That grumpy, annoying dwarf, Goo-lick, who causes all the trouble died too on that dumb quest we joined with him, but sadly, the Religion-y Witch resurrected him.
On a happier note, we have created an alliance of sorts with the adorable little gnomes who were instrumental in our scheme to retrieve a valuable demon statue. The happy little guys are just too much fun to have around. Speaking of too much fun to have around, I have employed a new companion, a cleric mostly, kind of. His name is Br. Chase Pike, but everyone seems to like to call him Br. Beefcake. And oh boy, he is rather aesthetically appealing. And so strong too! Mostly because the generous wages he receives from me allow him to work out and keep his hair highlights perfect.
We continue to finance our adventures by collecting treasure, so I don’t need to ask for any coins. But I do want to learn a spell that will give my dear Marcel wings. I’ll plan a trip to Bad Ass soon, perhaps we can go to the Unseen University with Nanny Ogg and Magrat. I remain inspired by your sense of magick and continue to do what’s Right. I’m off now for drinks with Tod at The Squeaky Barnacle.
Cary
P.S. Don’t let an overambitious dwarf talk you into spending a bazillion gold coins for a fancy rolling casket only to leave it behind while escaping mountain trolls. And keep poison attached to your horse in case you need to sacrifice it to dragons. Life lessons learned.
Being a reprint from the Reminiscences of Tod P. Quasit:
I awoke from my hibernation naturally hungry and having to pee very badly. The full beard I expected was absent. As was my penis. I was still a woman. A tall handsome strong woman. I am proud. I think, perhaps, I will drink again from the fountain and see if I might return to my former gender. Not that there's anything wrong with being a woman.
Dear Granny,
You will not believe the adventures I have been having with my cohorts since we travelled to that insanely stupid monastery in the mountains. The “monks” turned out to be were-rats of sorts. We did manage to free an imprisoned Religion-y Wizard who seemed more like an ancient monk relic; and retrieved the stupid lantern for the Religion-y Witch who sent us on that stupid quest. The only good part of that adventure was that in liberating the monastery, I seem to have adopted an adorable like monkey. I call him Marcel. He is fiercely devoted and so darn cute. Much like your cat, You, but doesn’t sleep under my hat like You does. I’ve had him fitted with his own customized fez. This lovable creature is so loyal, that he went berserk, ape-shit crazy if you will, when I was killed by an insane Hippie. Yeah, I died. BUT, I lived! Well, I was resurrected actually. I’m fine now so no worries there.
I’ve begun to grow my collection of magical items including a ring which allows me to become invisible, and an interesting wand which, I surmise, invokes random magick, since it never produces the same result twice. It once shrunk me to the size of doll, but the effects were not lasting, I’m normal again. I’ve also learned a spell to lock doors. I’ve recently used this to lock a secret back door to the apartment my twin has, who’s magick has become increasingly concerning.
Since the trip to the mountains, we have encountered so very many strange and dangerous creatures, I cannot possibly list them all. But we are back in the city of Idalium again. I think one of the reasons we have survived as long as we have (ok truth be told, our membership has changed quite a bit since I last wrote to you due to premature death, so not all survived), is because we change our name with nearly every adventure: The Infestation Managers, Gong Inspectors, Bong Inspectors, Furniture Disassemblers, Dong Inspectors (you don’t really want an explanation for any of these names). That grumpy, annoying dwarf, Goo-lick, who causes all the trouble died too on that dumb quest we joined with him, but sadly, the Religion-y Witch resurrected him.
On a happier note, we have created an alliance of sorts with the adorable little gnomes who were instrumental in our scheme to retrieve a valuable demon statue. The happy little guys are just too much fun to have around. Speaking of too much fun to have around, I have employed a new companion, a cleric mostly, kind of. His name is Br. Chase Pike, but everyone seems to like to call him Br. Beefcake. And oh boy, he is rather aesthetically appealing. And so strong too! Mostly because the generous wages he receives from me allow him to work out and keep his hair highlights perfect.
We continue to finance our adventures by collecting treasure, so I don’t need to ask for any coins. But I do want to learn a spell that will give my dear Marcel wings. I’ll plan a trip to Bad Ass soon, perhaps we can go to the Unseen University with Nanny Ogg and Magrat. I remain inspired by your sense of magick and continue to do what’s Right. I’m off now for drinks with Tod at The Squeaky Barnacle.
Cary
P.S. Don’t let an overambitious dwarf talk you into spending a bazillion gold coins for a fancy rolling casket only to leave it behind while escaping mountain trolls. And keep poison attached to your horse in case you need to sacrifice it to dragons. Life lessons learned.
Being a reprint from the Reminiscences of Tod P. Quasit:
I awoke from my hibernation naturally hungry and having to pee very badly. The full beard I expected was absent. As was my penis. I was still a woman. A tall handsome strong woman. I am proud. I think, perhaps, I will drink again from the fountain and see if I might return to my former gender. Not that there's anything wrong with being a woman.
Anyhow, after a long slow meal at the Gut and
Trough, I went to look up Jibber. Apparently he had just returned from
a mission to convert the heathens to the north. From the looks of him
he was not very successful. I didn't press the subject.
We
agreed to look up our old friends in our famous group, The Proper
Authorities. They were hanging around The Rusty Lantern and welcomed us
back happily. That was nice. I was afraid after being away so long they
might not want us back. But there were orcs to kill, Goblins to kill.
Lurg was still down there. It was time to deal with that festering
knob.
My good friend Gullick was very keen to
buy barrels of oil. His plan was to burn the orcs out of their nest by
rolling the punctured barrels down the stairs and lighting the trail of
oil and then KABOOM! That's how he put it. KABOOM! He was very
enthusiastic. As enthusiastic as he gets anyhow.
So
we went down into the UnderCity with the barrels. We dropped them
somewhat unsuccessfully into the pit the Gnomes had dug for us. I got
oil spilled all over me. That was nice.
Before
we got to the stairs to drop our barrels, we encountered two asswipe
orcs and started talking to them until Gullick and I had had enough. I
killed one pretty quickly but somehow the other one managed to escape
and call for help. An orc that looked a lot like me, okay, was a
duplicate of me, came out complaining about how he had been abandoned
and only the orcs were his friend. A fight ensued. Somehow I was set on
fire. It hurt. A lot.
We dropped a barrel into
their nest and it went KABOOM! Then we went down to investigate. There
were six orcs left and Lurge. We managed to kill them all. Okay, the
magic users hit them with sleep spells and magic missiles. Then we
killed them all.
There was a pit with two huge
snakes that for some reason were completely harmless. They fought each
other, one of them killed the other and then just sat there to be
killed. Wait. I think Gullick and the new guy were using those animal
control rights. Yes! That explains it. Anyhow, two dead snakes. I should
have harvested their meat. I understand snake meat can be delicious. Oh
well. Next time.
There were two other orcs and
an crazy man. Apparently the orcs looked a lot like party members so we
kept them in hopes of curing the orc. Curing the orc. When will they
ever learn? Anyhow, we looted the place and found a butt load of
treasure.
We also found a room where they
make the Rage Dust. Apparently it's mummified and ground up dead orc.
NICE. We used the other barrel to blow that place up.
Then we returned to the Rusty Lantern. I was feeling really good about things. It was nice to get back to Adventuring.
Jibber and I celebrated with another huge meal at the Feathered Goat. I had the goat.
Idalium Game 69: Rumble at the Orcs'
Session date: Monday, March 20, 2017
Game date: Saturday, July 19, 209
PCs:
Tod P. Quasit, Jr., Fighter 3, hp 16, xp 7614/8000
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 4, hp 23, xp 13434/17000
Tyrriel, Elf 2, hp 7, xp 7550/8000
Caryatid, Magic-user 4, hp 19, xp 15148/20000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 2, hp 6, xp 3930/4000
Retainers:
Father Jibber, Cleric 3, hp 16, xp 3885/6000
Wilhelm, Magic-user 2, hp 4, xp 3260/5000
Brother Chase Pike, Cleric 2, hp 11, xp 1915/3000
Kevon, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 116/2000
For the first time in months, Tod and Tyrriel's players were available to play. Such a rare occurrence necessitated an epic session - the defeat of the orcs!
Tod and Tyrriel were still gender-swapped after their sampling of the magical fountains in the Temple of Hedonism, so hopefully I'll remember to get the pronouns correct in this report. The first order of business for the party was to purchase a metric ****ton of oil to make the orcs go BOOM. We discussed back and forth a bit about what size barrels they were expecting to buy, and we eventually settled on two 16 gallon barrels (roughly like half kegs of beer), for which I set a price of 200 gold pieces each. Considering that a flask of oil (which I take to be a pint) costs 2 gold pieces, this seemed like a reasonable extrapolation with a hefty volume discount. Still, given that I eyeball a gold piece as roughly $10 in modern money, that's a pretty expensive purchase. They still had the handcart that they had used to retrieve the gilded idol a few sessions ago, and now they lowered the cart and barrels into the dungeon using the Rusty Lantern's winch, with the help of the trapdoor guards.
They were on their own getting the barrels and cart down to the second level of the dungeon, though. They went to their custom-built shaft leading into to the shrine formerly occupied by shadow creatures and prepared to lower the cart and barrels laboriously down the shaft. Gulleck and Tod went down first to recover the barrels at the bottom, and then they lowered the cart. I made the PC guiding the ropes make a dexterity check in order to avoid mishap. (That's a d20 roll, at or below your Dexterity score.) A bad roll led to the wheel of the cart getting snapped off on the side of the shaft. Tyrriel's player also rolled poorly for the first barrel, and it cracked nastily against the side of the shaft, spring a leak. Gulleck stepped out of the way, but Tod was clumsy and got drizzled with oil. They were able to patch the leak in the barrel using a chunk of wax that Gulleck had been carrying around for ages. The second barrel made it down fine. The cart was shot without professional attention, but no matter: the orcs were just around the corner.
Once the rest of the party joined Tod and Gulleck, they carried the barrels into the hallway just south of the orcs' lair. Two orcs stood guard in front of the stairs that descended into the apartment complex they lived in. Tod picked a fight with the orcs, and decapitated one before the alarm could be raised, with Gulleck just as quickly killing the other one. They opened the stopper on one of the barrels and gave it a push down the stairs into the orcs' lair. Oil splattered all over the stone steps, leaving a trail behind the barrel, just like some kind of Roadrunner cartoon. Simon pulled forth flint and steel and scraped them together trying to draw sparks. Meanwhile, several orcs had come up to the stairs to confront the adventurers.
One of the orcs was no ordinary orc. Although he had piggy eyes, bristly hair, and little tusks jutting up from his protruding jaw, his features were unmistakably those of Tod (or at least those of his original male appearance)! Tod and Gulleck had only a moment to consider this strange twist of events, when suddenly Simon managed to ignite the oil that drenched the stairs. Unfortunately, Tod as well was drenched in oil, and she was suddenly engulfed in flame. She backed into the hallway, and dropped to the ground, rolling to put the flames out. Gulleck, meanwhile, fought with the orc version of Tod, and then human Tod stood up, looking singed and scorched but no longer on fire, and put a sword through her strange alter ego.
Then there was an enormous BOOOOOOM and flash of light from down below in the orcs' lair, as the barrel of oil ignited, accompanied by the dying shrieks of many orcs. To maximize confusion, the adventurers quickly ran around to the other entrance to the orcs' lair, and then charged down the stairs into the large central courtyard of the apartment complex. Half a dozen orcs lay dead or dying on the ground. Puddles of oil still burned next to the exploded remains of the barrel. Another half dozen orcs attacked the party angrily, spurred on by a big fierce looking orc. Swinging a big club was Lorg, the brutish ogre that had sent the party running once before. And just like there was an orc version of Tod, here the adventurers found savage, brutish versions of Brother Chase and Debbi! Both were quite recognizable but were already showing the signs of transformation into orcs.
"You abandoned us!" shouted the orc Brother Chase. "You left us to fend for ourselves here!" The adventures made feeble efforts to justify themselves, but there was little time for conversation. The battle raged. Tod engaged an orc in melee, Wilhelm tried to take cover, but was also attacked by an orc. Tyrriel was surrounded by two orcs, but his plate armor fortunately deflected their blows while he spoke the magical words of Sleep. Gulleck found himself under attack by Lorg the ogre, as well as the orc Brother Chase.
The battle was somewhat anticlimactic. Half the orcs were already burnt to death, and Tyrriel and Wilhelm managed to cast their Sleep spells and put all of the orcs and their allies to sleep. The orc versions of Brother Chase and Debbi were tied up with the intention of rescuing them and given nicknames. Caryatid had taken to calling her attractive retainer "Brother Beefcake", so the orc version was dubbed "Brother Orccake". And Debbi somehow became "Orc Debbiorc". Real serious grimdark stuff, this game.
In the center of the courtyard was an enormous pit, some twenty feet deep. In the darkness below, amidst bones and rubble, two enormous snakes slithered. Gulleck and Simon donned their rings of animal control and the giant pythons attacked each other until one was dead, and then the adventurers shot arrows at the other one while Gulleck held it still with the ring.
Having put the orcs to the sword (or the flame), the party explored the various apartments surrounding the courtyard. They found the orcs' treasure room, containing several thousand gold and silver coins, and several sacks of the white "rage dust" powder. In another room they found a horrible idol made of wicker and bone. Brother Jibber put it to the flame. They found a man, manacled to the floor and apparently tortured, who could do nothing but scream and spit. Although he didn't seem very appreciative, Tyrriel insisted on rescuing him, first tying his hands and feet.
Finally, the adventurers found a room containing one of the most horrible revelations they had yet discovered in the dungeon. On pallets were laid the corpses of many dead orcs, in various stages of decomposition. The "freshest" orcs were at one end of the room, smeared with strange oils and pigmented powders. Farther away, the bodies of the orcs were decomposing into a chalky, powdery substance. At the far end of the room were trays of the off-white powder, set to dry. Partially filled sacks of the powder hung near the trays.
"Nope!" said Gulleck, and they went to fetch the other barrel and blew up the entire room with it.
Triumphant, the party made their way back to the surface, bringing Orc Debbiorc, Brother Orccake, and the insane man with them, shuffling along at swordpoint. The orcish copies of Brother Chase and Debbi grumbled the entire time about how the PCs had abandoned them at the resurrection pool, how the orcs had found them and given them shelter, food, and clothing. One big guilt trip all the way back up to the Rusty Lantern.
With the XP gains from the orcs' treasure, Tod and Simon both levelled up. The adventurers agreed to start the next session right where we left off, to see if the survivors could be somehow healed of their derangements.
Game date: Saturday, July 19, 209
PCs:
Tod P. Quasit, Jr., Fighter 3, hp 16, xp 7614/8000
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 4, hp 23, xp 13434/17000
Tyrriel, Elf 2, hp 7, xp 7550/8000
Caryatid, Magic-user 4, hp 19, xp 15148/20000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 2, hp 6, xp 3930/4000
Retainers:
Father Jibber, Cleric 3, hp 16, xp 3885/6000
Wilhelm, Magic-user 2, hp 4, xp 3260/5000
Brother Chase Pike, Cleric 2, hp 11, xp 1915/3000
Kevon, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 116/2000
For the first time in months, Tod and Tyrriel's players were available to play. Such a rare occurrence necessitated an epic session - the defeat of the orcs!
Tod and Tyrriel were still gender-swapped after their sampling of the magical fountains in the Temple of Hedonism, so hopefully I'll remember to get the pronouns correct in this report. The first order of business for the party was to purchase a metric ****ton of oil to make the orcs go BOOM. We discussed back and forth a bit about what size barrels they were expecting to buy, and we eventually settled on two 16 gallon barrels (roughly like half kegs of beer), for which I set a price of 200 gold pieces each. Considering that a flask of oil (which I take to be a pint) costs 2 gold pieces, this seemed like a reasonable extrapolation with a hefty volume discount. Still, given that I eyeball a gold piece as roughly $10 in modern money, that's a pretty expensive purchase. They still had the handcart that they had used to retrieve the gilded idol a few sessions ago, and now they lowered the cart and barrels into the dungeon using the Rusty Lantern's winch, with the help of the trapdoor guards.
They were on their own getting the barrels and cart down to the second level of the dungeon, though. They went to their custom-built shaft leading into to the shrine formerly occupied by shadow creatures and prepared to lower the cart and barrels laboriously down the shaft. Gulleck and Tod went down first to recover the barrels at the bottom, and then they lowered the cart. I made the PC guiding the ropes make a dexterity check in order to avoid mishap. (That's a d20 roll, at or below your Dexterity score.) A bad roll led to the wheel of the cart getting snapped off on the side of the shaft. Tyrriel's player also rolled poorly for the first barrel, and it cracked nastily against the side of the shaft, spring a leak. Gulleck stepped out of the way, but Tod was clumsy and got drizzled with oil. They were able to patch the leak in the barrel using a chunk of wax that Gulleck had been carrying around for ages. The second barrel made it down fine. The cart was shot without professional attention, but no matter: the orcs were just around the corner.
Once the rest of the party joined Tod and Gulleck, they carried the barrels into the hallway just south of the orcs' lair. Two orcs stood guard in front of the stairs that descended into the apartment complex they lived in. Tod picked a fight with the orcs, and decapitated one before the alarm could be raised, with Gulleck just as quickly killing the other one. They opened the stopper on one of the barrels and gave it a push down the stairs into the orcs' lair. Oil splattered all over the stone steps, leaving a trail behind the barrel, just like some kind of Roadrunner cartoon. Simon pulled forth flint and steel and scraped them together trying to draw sparks. Meanwhile, several orcs had come up to the stairs to confront the adventurers.
One of the orcs was no ordinary orc. Although he had piggy eyes, bristly hair, and little tusks jutting up from his protruding jaw, his features were unmistakably those of Tod (or at least those of his original male appearance)! Tod and Gulleck had only a moment to consider this strange twist of events, when suddenly Simon managed to ignite the oil that drenched the stairs. Unfortunately, Tod as well was drenched in oil, and she was suddenly engulfed in flame. She backed into the hallway, and dropped to the ground, rolling to put the flames out. Gulleck, meanwhile, fought with the orc version of Tod, and then human Tod stood up, looking singed and scorched but no longer on fire, and put a sword through her strange alter ego.
Then there was an enormous BOOOOOOM and flash of light from down below in the orcs' lair, as the barrel of oil ignited, accompanied by the dying shrieks of many orcs. To maximize confusion, the adventurers quickly ran around to the other entrance to the orcs' lair, and then charged down the stairs into the large central courtyard of the apartment complex. Half a dozen orcs lay dead or dying on the ground. Puddles of oil still burned next to the exploded remains of the barrel. Another half dozen orcs attacked the party angrily, spurred on by a big fierce looking orc. Swinging a big club was Lorg, the brutish ogre that had sent the party running once before. And just like there was an orc version of Tod, here the adventurers found savage, brutish versions of Brother Chase and Debbi! Both were quite recognizable but were already showing the signs of transformation into orcs.
"You abandoned us!" shouted the orc Brother Chase. "You left us to fend for ourselves here!" The adventures made feeble efforts to justify themselves, but there was little time for conversation. The battle raged. Tod engaged an orc in melee, Wilhelm tried to take cover, but was also attacked by an orc. Tyrriel was surrounded by two orcs, but his plate armor fortunately deflected their blows while he spoke the magical words of Sleep. Gulleck found himself under attack by Lorg the ogre, as well as the orc Brother Chase.
The battle was somewhat anticlimactic. Half the orcs were already burnt to death, and Tyrriel and Wilhelm managed to cast their Sleep spells and put all of the orcs and their allies to sleep. The orc versions of Brother Chase and Debbi were tied up with the intention of rescuing them and given nicknames. Caryatid had taken to calling her attractive retainer "Brother Beefcake", so the orc version was dubbed "Brother Orccake". And Debbi somehow became "Orc Debbiorc". Real serious grimdark stuff, this game.
In the center of the courtyard was an enormous pit, some twenty feet deep. In the darkness below, amidst bones and rubble, two enormous snakes slithered. Gulleck and Simon donned their rings of animal control and the giant pythons attacked each other until one was dead, and then the adventurers shot arrows at the other one while Gulleck held it still with the ring.
Having put the orcs to the sword (or the flame), the party explored the various apartments surrounding the courtyard. They found the orcs' treasure room, containing several thousand gold and silver coins, and several sacks of the white "rage dust" powder. In another room they found a horrible idol made of wicker and bone. Brother Jibber put it to the flame. They found a man, manacled to the floor and apparently tortured, who could do nothing but scream and spit. Although he didn't seem very appreciative, Tyrriel insisted on rescuing him, first tying his hands and feet.
Finally, the adventurers found a room containing one of the most horrible revelations they had yet discovered in the dungeon. On pallets were laid the corpses of many dead orcs, in various stages of decomposition. The "freshest" orcs were at one end of the room, smeared with strange oils and pigmented powders. Farther away, the bodies of the orcs were decomposing into a chalky, powdery substance. At the far end of the room were trays of the off-white powder, set to dry. Partially filled sacks of the powder hung near the trays.
"Nope!" said Gulleck, and they went to fetch the other barrel and blew up the entire room with it.
Triumphant, the party made their way back to the surface, bringing Orc Debbiorc, Brother Orccake, and the insane man with them, shuffling along at swordpoint. The orcish copies of Brother Chase and Debbi grumbled the entire time about how the PCs had abandoned them at the resurrection pool, how the orcs had found them and given them shelter, food, and clothing. One big guilt trip all the way back up to the Rusty Lantern.
With the XP gains from the orcs' treasure, Tod and Simon both levelled up. The adventurers agreed to start the next session right where we left off, to see if the survivors could be somehow healed of their derangements.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Idalium Game 68: The Whims of Fate
Session date: Monday, March 6, 2017
Game date: Saturday, July 5, 209
PCs:
Caryatid, Magic-user 4, hp 19, xp 14952/20000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 2, hp 6, xp 3724/4000
Adrien, Fighter 2, hp 6, xp 2414/4000
Retainers:
Brother Chase Pike, Cleric 2, hp 11, xp 1812/3000
Kevon, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 18/2000
Debbi, Magic-user 1, hp 6, xp 19/2500
Well, we had a month between sessions, and a corresponding month therefore passed in game time. Caryatid took advantage of the downtime by scribing four scrolls of Magic Missile. That business taken care of, three PCs and their retainers (Gulleck's player being, unusually, absent today) descended into the undercity in search of adventure.
In the Temple of Hedonism's upper level, Simon used his recently acquired olfactory powers to sniff out a large sack containing hundreds of silver and gold coins, hidden beneath a pew. In the basement of the temple, the adventurers were suddenly set upon by a dozen angry giant baboons. They quickly hid in a small library room, and Caryatid cast Wizard Lock on the door to prevent entry. They looked through the shelves of scrolls and books while they waited for the baboons to move along. The shelves contained documents of all sorts of hedonistic pursuits: recipes for decadent feasts, directions for brewing beer and making wine, "instructional scrolls" full of embarrassing illustrations, etc. They found a scroll labeled "A Spell to Enhance Sensation" (Debbi translated from Ancient Idalian) and another labelled "A Spell of Bondage", which Brother Chase believed he might be able to cast from the scroll. They took these along with them and, hearing no more baboons, left the temple. Caryatid dispelled her Wizard Lock, so the hedonist acolytes would not be locked out of their library. (This is a bit of a house rule, but it seems reasonable that a magic-user should be able to dispel their own permanent magical effects.)
Next they headed to the Temple of Fate for more spins on the "Wheel of Fortune". Debbi took another ride on the wheel (which had given her frequent fits of sneezing last time, that still affected her a month later) and when she arose, she clutched at her chest with alarm. She was experiencing stabbing twinges and pains in her left side. Caryatid took a spin on the wheel, and discovered that like Simon, she too could now smell gold! Kevon was the last to ride the wheel, and when he get off it, he found that multicolored puffs of smoke now emerged from his ears at a steady pace, increasing in pace the harder he thought!
It took a while to decide what to do about Debbi, who didn't feel well at all. Eventually, the adventurers thought to immerse her in the pool of resurrection, which they knew would heal a living person of all their wounds. Would it cure them of impending heart failure? Well, it was right around the corner, so it wouldn't take much to find out. On the way, they ran into a half dozen goblins, who exchanged friendly words with them and urged them to get rid of the orcs that lived just to the north. "That's our plan," chirped Caryatid.
In the tiny chamber containing the pool of resurrection, Debbi cast her mage's robe aside and jumped stark naked into the warm liquid. She felt the warmth pervade her body, smoothing out the twinges in her erratic heartbeat. Her sneezing fits also stopped, and she received a permanent +1 bonus to her constitution score. She climbed out of the pool with a huge smile on her face. Brother Chase, who was not suffering from any illness, but obviously impressed by Debbi's description of her improved health, stripped down to his adventuring skivvies and took a dip in the pool as well, receiving a +1 constitution bonus as well. Brother Chase and Debbi dried themselves off as best they could, put on their clothes and armor, and the party was on their way again.
Refreshed and ready to take on the dungeon, the adventurers headed towards the lair of the orcs, passing through the room adjacent to the shadows' shrine. Now that the room was no longer shrouded in magical darkness they could see the broken up pews and other furniture filling the room. They also found an empty suit of plate armor, still wearing a backpack. Evidently these were the remains of a former adventurer killed by the shadows. Caryatid and Simon could smell gold in the backpack and they found it to contain over 300 gold pieces.
Then, they entered the hallway outside of the orcs' lair. Two orcs stood guard at the entrance to their lair. The orcs took a long look at the adventurers, and recognizing Caryatid and the others, one exclaimed, "Hey, those are the *******s who stole our gong! Get 'em!" An orc charged directly at Simon and would have run him right through with his jagged short sword, if not for a Magic Missile from Caryatid that instantly eviscerated him (she rolled the big green d30 for damage). The other orc ran screaming down the stairs into the lair, and the adventurers decided to make themselves scarce rather than face a pitched battle with the orcs.
The group explored a few more empty rooms and avoided a few encounters with the help of Simon's mindreading amulet, and eventually decided to call it a day and return home. Passing through the Temple of Hedonism they found two teenaged urchins furtively poring over a luridly illustrated "training manual". Pretending not to notice, Caryatid just reiterated the warning to avoid her "sister", and then the adventurers returned to the surface, pleasantly weighed down with gold coins for a change.
* * * * *
Unbeknownst to the players, in a small room lit with a dimly diffuse pink glow, Brother Chase and Debbi gasped as they broke the surface of the pool of resurrection. They pulled themselves out of the pool and kneeled at the edge, soaked to the bone and dripping. They were alone in the dungeon, naked apart from Brother Chase's thin undergarments, without armor or weapon to protect themselves.
"Caryatid?" called Brother Chase. "Adrien?" called Debbi, panic rising in her voice. "Where are you?"
"Why did they abandon us!!??"
Game date: Saturday, July 5, 209
PCs:
Caryatid, Magic-user 4, hp 19, xp 14952/20000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 2, hp 6, xp 3724/4000
Adrien, Fighter 2, hp 6, xp 2414/4000
Retainers:
Brother Chase Pike, Cleric 2, hp 11, xp 1812/3000
Kevon, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 18/2000
Debbi, Magic-user 1, hp 6, xp 19/2500
Well, we had a month between sessions, and a corresponding month therefore passed in game time. Caryatid took advantage of the downtime by scribing four scrolls of Magic Missile. That business taken care of, three PCs and their retainers (Gulleck's player being, unusually, absent today) descended into the undercity in search of adventure.
In the Temple of Hedonism's upper level, Simon used his recently acquired olfactory powers to sniff out a large sack containing hundreds of silver and gold coins, hidden beneath a pew. In the basement of the temple, the adventurers were suddenly set upon by a dozen angry giant baboons. They quickly hid in a small library room, and Caryatid cast Wizard Lock on the door to prevent entry. They looked through the shelves of scrolls and books while they waited for the baboons to move along. The shelves contained documents of all sorts of hedonistic pursuits: recipes for decadent feasts, directions for brewing beer and making wine, "instructional scrolls" full of embarrassing illustrations, etc. They found a scroll labeled "A Spell to Enhance Sensation" (Debbi translated from Ancient Idalian) and another labelled "A Spell of Bondage", which Brother Chase believed he might be able to cast from the scroll. They took these along with them and, hearing no more baboons, left the temple. Caryatid dispelled her Wizard Lock, so the hedonist acolytes would not be locked out of their library. (This is a bit of a house rule, but it seems reasonable that a magic-user should be able to dispel their own permanent magical effects.)
Next they headed to the Temple of Fate for more spins on the "Wheel of Fortune". Debbi took another ride on the wheel (which had given her frequent fits of sneezing last time, that still affected her a month later) and when she arose, she clutched at her chest with alarm. She was experiencing stabbing twinges and pains in her left side. Caryatid took a spin on the wheel, and discovered that like Simon, she too could now smell gold! Kevon was the last to ride the wheel, and when he get off it, he found that multicolored puffs of smoke now emerged from his ears at a steady pace, increasing in pace the harder he thought!
It took a while to decide what to do about Debbi, who didn't feel well at all. Eventually, the adventurers thought to immerse her in the pool of resurrection, which they knew would heal a living person of all their wounds. Would it cure them of impending heart failure? Well, it was right around the corner, so it wouldn't take much to find out. On the way, they ran into a half dozen goblins, who exchanged friendly words with them and urged them to get rid of the orcs that lived just to the north. "That's our plan," chirped Caryatid.
In the tiny chamber containing the pool of resurrection, Debbi cast her mage's robe aside and jumped stark naked into the warm liquid. She felt the warmth pervade her body, smoothing out the twinges in her erratic heartbeat. Her sneezing fits also stopped, and she received a permanent +1 bonus to her constitution score. She climbed out of the pool with a huge smile on her face. Brother Chase, who was not suffering from any illness, but obviously impressed by Debbi's description of her improved health, stripped down to his adventuring skivvies and took a dip in the pool as well, receiving a +1 constitution bonus as well. Brother Chase and Debbi dried themselves off as best they could, put on their clothes and armor, and the party was on their way again.
Refreshed and ready to take on the dungeon, the adventurers headed towards the lair of the orcs, passing through the room adjacent to the shadows' shrine. Now that the room was no longer shrouded in magical darkness they could see the broken up pews and other furniture filling the room. They also found an empty suit of plate armor, still wearing a backpack. Evidently these were the remains of a former adventurer killed by the shadows. Caryatid and Simon could smell gold in the backpack and they found it to contain over 300 gold pieces.
Then, they entered the hallway outside of the orcs' lair. Two orcs stood guard at the entrance to their lair. The orcs took a long look at the adventurers, and recognizing Caryatid and the others, one exclaimed, "Hey, those are the *******s who stole our gong! Get 'em!" An orc charged directly at Simon and would have run him right through with his jagged short sword, if not for a Magic Missile from Caryatid that instantly eviscerated him (she rolled the big green d30 for damage). The other orc ran screaming down the stairs into the lair, and the adventurers decided to make themselves scarce rather than face a pitched battle with the orcs.
The group explored a few more empty rooms and avoided a few encounters with the help of Simon's mindreading amulet, and eventually decided to call it a day and return home. Passing through the Temple of Hedonism they found two teenaged urchins furtively poring over a luridly illustrated "training manual". Pretending not to notice, Caryatid just reiterated the warning to avoid her "sister", and then the adventurers returned to the surface, pleasantly weighed down with gold coins for a change.
* * * * *
Unbeknownst to the players, in a small room lit with a dimly diffuse pink glow, Brother Chase and Debbi gasped as they broke the surface of the pool of resurrection. They pulled themselves out of the pool and kneeled at the edge, soaked to the bone and dripping. They were alone in the dungeon, naked apart from Brother Chase's thin undergarments, without armor or weapon to protect themselves.
"Caryatid?" called Brother Chase. "Adrien?" called Debbi, panic rising in her voice. "Where are you?"
"Why did they abandon us!!??"
Idalium Game 67: Sneaking Round the Back
Session date: Monday, February 6, 2017
Game date: Saturday, June 7, 209
PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 4, hp 23, xp 13399/17000
Caryatid, Magic-user 4, hp 19, xp 14917/20000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 2, hp 6, xp 3687/4000
Adrien, Fighter 2, hp 6, xp 2379/4000
Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 3, hp 17, xp 5024/8000
Brother Chase Pike, Cleric 2, hp 11, xp 1793/3000
Kevon, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 0/2000
Debbi, Magic-user 1, hp 6, xp 0/2500
Another kind of aimless session, but that's the way some of them are in a "beer and pretzels" game. Adrian's player decided to roll up a retainer, and settled on a magic-user named Debbi, who had the distinction of being the smartest character in the party, and the only one able to comprehend the Ancient Idalian language. Simon's player rolled up a fighter named Kevon to replace the dearly departed/melted Remus.
The party proceeded down to the second level of the dungeon, intent on filling in the few unexplored sectors of their map. They stopped in the small Temple of Chance in order to "initiate" the new party members by giving them a spin on the magical wheel of fortune. Debbi was strapped to the wheel and spun, and ended up sneezing uncontrollable for the rest of the day, eliminating any chance of surprise. Kevon received a permanent +1 to his charisma.
Now that they had a party member who could understand Ancient Idalian, they proceeded to the room with the magical painting of a court jester. When he came to animated life on the wall and spoke to them, Debbi was able to understand him and translate. He said his name was Puntilio. He had been alone in this room for so long since the day of the disaster, when the owner of the apartment had fled the city. Being immobile, he didn't have a whole lot of information about the dungeon, so they left him, ignoring his plaintive cries of "Come back! You're the first person I've been able to talk to in decades!"
They wandered around the nearby hallways and poked their heads into a couple of rooms that appeared to be infested with giant centipedes. No one felt like tangling with them, and Simon couldn't smell any gold in the rooms, so they moved on. Then they came to a room that reeked of animal sweat and waste. Simon's mindreading medallion detected the presence of multiple primitive minds in the room. They dithered over what to do, and then Debbi sneezed loudly and repeatedly, and a great hooting and chattering went up in the room, and they were suddenly set upon by eight giant baboons wielding clubs made of sticks and femur bones. Well, Gulleck and Simon used their magical rings of animal control to sow chaos in the group of baboons, who spent more time fighting each other than the party. Caryatid used her new Sleep spell to eliminate the rest of them.
The party found a small golden cup in the room of baboons, so they took it and moved on. They studied their maps for a while, puzzling over a large blank area in the middle of the page, and decided to spend some time searching for secret doors. Luck was indeed with them, for they found that one of the torch sconces could be manipulated in a way that caused a panel of the wall to swing open. Behind the secret door was a dark and dingy corridor that felt very much "backstage" from the main hallways and rooms of this level. The group cautiously explored the secret passage, noticing the backs of several other secret doors along the walls as they went.
Eventually, they came to a plain wooden door, behind which they heard the voices of children! It seems they had found the secret hideout of the urchins who live in the dungeon. Gulleck knocked on the door, and there was a great commotion and then hush behind the door. He called out, "Don't worry, it's just Gulleck and his friends!" There were murmurs and whispers, and then the door was opened and the party was invited into the urchins' hideout. The room looked like it had once been some sort of command center, almost like a secret bunker, but was now the common room of the urchin gang. A big table filled much of the room, and boxes and crate full of presumably stolen food and other goods lined the walls. The adventurers talked with the urchins at some length, warning them against the orcs, and even more so the goblins. "Just remember one thing. Don't ever eat goblin food. It'll turn you into one of them!" Most of the urchins promised, but a few seemed skeptical. "I had an apple from the goblins a week or two ago, and it didn't hurt me! They're not that bad, the goblins. I don't think they would do anything mean to us."
The adventurers also tried to warn the urchins to stay away from Caryatid the Green, but the urchins said they knew all about that scary lady. In fact, they had a secret passage that went right into her apartment! The adventurers asked the urchins to show them, and they escorted them through another dusty back passage to a door which opened into the hallway in the back of the old wizard's rooms, between a bedroom and an alchemical lab.
"Well, listen, don't go in there, and you know what, just stay away from her altogether. She's got an actual demon in there!" Just to make sure that no trouble came to the urchins, Caryatid cast wizard lock on the secret door before they took their leave of the urchins and made their way back out of the dungeon.
Game date: Saturday, June 7, 209
PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 4, hp 23, xp 13399/17000
Caryatid, Magic-user 4, hp 19, xp 14917/20000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 2, hp 6, xp 3687/4000
Adrien, Fighter 2, hp 6, xp 2379/4000
Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 3, hp 17, xp 5024/8000
Brother Chase Pike, Cleric 2, hp 11, xp 1793/3000
Kevon, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 0/2000
Debbi, Magic-user 1, hp 6, xp 0/2500
Another kind of aimless session, but that's the way some of them are in a "beer and pretzels" game. Adrian's player decided to roll up a retainer, and settled on a magic-user named Debbi, who had the distinction of being the smartest character in the party, and the only one able to comprehend the Ancient Idalian language. Simon's player rolled up a fighter named Kevon to replace the dearly departed/melted Remus.
The party proceeded down to the second level of the dungeon, intent on filling in the few unexplored sectors of their map. They stopped in the small Temple of Chance in order to "initiate" the new party members by giving them a spin on the magical wheel of fortune. Debbi was strapped to the wheel and spun, and ended up sneezing uncontrollable for the rest of the day, eliminating any chance of surprise. Kevon received a permanent +1 to his charisma.
Now that they had a party member who could understand Ancient Idalian, they proceeded to the room with the magical painting of a court jester. When he came to animated life on the wall and spoke to them, Debbi was able to understand him and translate. He said his name was Puntilio. He had been alone in this room for so long since the day of the disaster, when the owner of the apartment had fled the city. Being immobile, he didn't have a whole lot of information about the dungeon, so they left him, ignoring his plaintive cries of "Come back! You're the first person I've been able to talk to in decades!"
They wandered around the nearby hallways and poked their heads into a couple of rooms that appeared to be infested with giant centipedes. No one felt like tangling with them, and Simon couldn't smell any gold in the rooms, so they moved on. Then they came to a room that reeked of animal sweat and waste. Simon's mindreading medallion detected the presence of multiple primitive minds in the room. They dithered over what to do, and then Debbi sneezed loudly and repeatedly, and a great hooting and chattering went up in the room, and they were suddenly set upon by eight giant baboons wielding clubs made of sticks and femur bones. Well, Gulleck and Simon used their magical rings of animal control to sow chaos in the group of baboons, who spent more time fighting each other than the party. Caryatid used her new Sleep spell to eliminate the rest of them.
The party found a small golden cup in the room of baboons, so they took it and moved on. They studied their maps for a while, puzzling over a large blank area in the middle of the page, and decided to spend some time searching for secret doors. Luck was indeed with them, for they found that one of the torch sconces could be manipulated in a way that caused a panel of the wall to swing open. Behind the secret door was a dark and dingy corridor that felt very much "backstage" from the main hallways and rooms of this level. The group cautiously explored the secret passage, noticing the backs of several other secret doors along the walls as they went.
Eventually, they came to a plain wooden door, behind which they heard the voices of children! It seems they had found the secret hideout of the urchins who live in the dungeon. Gulleck knocked on the door, and there was a great commotion and then hush behind the door. He called out, "Don't worry, it's just Gulleck and his friends!" There were murmurs and whispers, and then the door was opened and the party was invited into the urchins' hideout. The room looked like it had once been some sort of command center, almost like a secret bunker, but was now the common room of the urchin gang. A big table filled much of the room, and boxes and crate full of presumably stolen food and other goods lined the walls. The adventurers talked with the urchins at some length, warning them against the orcs, and even more so the goblins. "Just remember one thing. Don't ever eat goblin food. It'll turn you into one of them!" Most of the urchins promised, but a few seemed skeptical. "I had an apple from the goblins a week or two ago, and it didn't hurt me! They're not that bad, the goblins. I don't think they would do anything mean to us."
The adventurers also tried to warn the urchins to stay away from Caryatid the Green, but the urchins said they knew all about that scary lady. In fact, they had a secret passage that went right into her apartment! The adventurers asked the urchins to show them, and they escorted them through another dusty back passage to a door which opened into the hallway in the back of the old wizard's rooms, between a bedroom and an alchemical lab.
"Well, listen, don't go in there, and you know what, just stay away from her altogether. She's got an actual demon in there!" Just to make sure that no trouble came to the urchins, Caryatid cast wizard lock on the secret door before they took their leave of the urchins and made their way back out of the dungeon.
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