Session date: Monday, December 10, 2018
Game date: Saturday, January 22, 211
PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 71586/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 20616/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 9395/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 8334/16000
Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 16909/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 4429/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2116/4000
Jack, Thief 3, hp 10, xp 2811/4800
We seemed to have lost momentum. It had been eighteen weeks since our last session. As is our custom, as much time had passed in the campaign world as in real life. But now we (and thus, the adventurers) managed to all be available on the same day, and another delve beneath Idalium was made.
In the Rusty Lantern tavern, the adventurers found that in their prolonged absence, the Brothers Fruthwood (a rival adventuring party composed of three hobbit brothers and a couple of hired hands) had leapfrogged ahead of them on the "scoreboard". Somewhat peeved to have lost their crown, the party descended and made their way through the Temple of Hedonism to the second level, where Adrien insisted they stop in the Temple of Chance and take a spin on the great wheel of fortune.
Adrien spun, and suddenly felt very ill, but instant death was averted by a saving throw. Her retainer Jack also went for a spin, but apart from a vague feeling of good fortune it was unclear what boon or bane had been bestowed upon him.
Down they went to the third level. In the Hall of Elder Gods, they were not greeted by "the Judge" as usual, but instead heard deep snores coming from the hallway leading to his chamber. Deciding not to wake him, they proceeded to explore the level and headed west.
At a door with an engraved insignia of a pentagram surrounding a goat's head, Simon used his mind-reading amulet to sense the presence of several minds in the room beyond. Reaching deeper into one of the minds, his head was filled with thoughts of studying esoteric prayers and rituals. They moved on, further to the west, coming to a long wall that ran north and south into the darkness. The wall was decorated and painted to give the impression of a single long building, like a palace wall. At the intersection was a door, fairly ornate and grand.
They listened and Simon used his amulet, and detected no one on the other side. Gulleck knocked, and received no response, so they entered, and found themselves in an empty antechamber. It had once been quite grand, with marble tiles on the floor and decorative plaster molding at the top of the walls. Now it was dusty and ragged, the tiles chipped and scratched and the plasterwork crumbling.
Two doors led out of this room and the party chose a plainer door to the south. This led to a small room that was a sort of widening of a long hall that led west into the dark. Across from them was a large cabinet. It was found to be locked, so Jack put his thieves' tools to work and successfully picked the lock. Inside they found a few burlap sacks containing several hundred gold and silver coins, as well as a large stock of arrows. They took the coins, and Simon filled his quiver with as many arrows as it would hold.
They went back into the antechamber and tried the other door. This led to a grand hall with several doors leading off it, and a wide passage leading north. This passage was decorated with old, faded banners and flags depicting some unfamiliar heraldry. It led to a door at the north end that was barricaded with numerous pieces of furniture: ornate chairs, cabinets, side tables, wardrobes, etc., all jumbled in a heap blocking the door.
The group decided to ignore this door for now, and explored further to the west, through another door. This turned out to be a plain bedroom, with several old and rickety bunk beds against the walls, most likely a former servants' quarters. But dominating their immediate attention were four statue-like creatures, with demonic faces and bat-like wings - gargoyles!
The adventurers were itching for a fight after so long, and uncharacteristically they charged into the room with weapons drawn, rather than bottlenecking the doorway as usual. Adrien drew the "disco sword" she had claimed from the Goblin King, and the room was filled with scintillating light of every color of the rainbow as she faced down one of the gargoyles.
Caryatid attempted to cast a Sleep spell, but this had no effect on the magical creatures. Before Adrien could land a blow, she was viciously rent by claws and fell to the ground in a bloody heap. Another gargoyle pounced on Gulleck and managed to roll a 20 on two of its three attacks! Gulleck stumbled and fell on her side and the gargoyle leaped on top of her and its stony teeth tore open her forehead. Blood was streaming into her eyes, obscuring her vision.
Father Chase rushed to Adrien's body and let the power of his Staff of Healing flow through her (rolling the Big Green d30 for extra hit points healed). Adrien gasped as she regained consciousness, finding all her wounds healed.
A second gargoyle crouched over Gulleck and tore at her prone body, while she was struggling to wipe the blood from her eyes and clear her vision. Meanwhile the last of the four gargoyles ripped at Simon. Father Chase hurried over to heal Simon, while Gulleck, still struggling with two gargoyles pinning her to the ground, managed to swing her magical axe right into the side of one of them. Gray mud, like wet cement, poured out of the wound, and the gargoyle fell off her.
Father Chase had healed Simon of some of his wounds, but alas, it was not enough to protect him from the onslaught of the gargoyle that was fighting him. With a scream, the hobbit fell beneath a flurry of claws and teeth. His plate armor hit the stone floor with a solid thump. And then Father Chase was facing the vicious claws of a gargoyle! He backed away, trying to defend himself, but he too was brought to his knees and then prone by the fangs and sharp claws of the cruel creature. With a gargling shriek, he fell still.
But the tide was turning. Adrien had slain her gargoyle, and Gulleck, having regained her feet, made quick work of the remaining two with her magical axe and gauntlets of ogre strength. Soon, all was still, and the party looked round to take stock of their comrades.
Simon and Father Chase lay still on the floor. Simon was feebly breathing but unconscious (at zero hit points) but Father Chase seemed worse off. I called for the customary 1d4-1 roll to regain hit points at the end of each battle, representing some portion of hit points that signify fatigue or combat luck. Simon did not roll a 1, and therefore gradually regained consciousness, feeling completely ragged and exhausted.
Caryatid's player chose to roll the Big Green d30 for this, and rolling a 20, Father Chase was found to be in pristine condition: a miracle!! Perhaps he had only been struck a series of glancing blows, or perhaps some divine intervention had averted his death, but either way, he regained consciousness to find he had narrowly escaped serious injury.
One of the gargoyles was found to have gemstones for its eyes: a round piece of carved jet and a deep blue spinel stone. They gouged out these "eyes" from the lifeless head, and pleased with this bit of treasure, the adventurers made their way back out of the dungeon and celebrated their success back in the Rusty Lantern with a round of drinks.
Father Chase, badly demoralized by his close brush with death, decided to take four weeks off from adventuring.
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Monday, June 24, 2019
Idalium Game 101: Or You'll Forever Tap Your Feet
Session date: Monday, August 6, 2018
Game date: Saturday, September 18, 210
PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 71454/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 20451/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 9222/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 8169/16000
Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 16826/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 4342/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2033/4000
Jack, Thief 3, hp 10, xp 2724/4800
It had been a LONG time since our last delve below Idalium, both in real time and in game time. Seventeen weeks had passed, in fact. We took some time to explore the consequences of the adventurers' unexpected three month disappearance from Idalium. Those with "day jobs" had some explaining to do to get their old jobs back. Everyone who lived in an apartment had been evicted and their belongings had been stored or disposed of by various friends and relations. All of the adventurers were now living in the rickety old house they had purchased over a year ago, in The Steps, the rundown and neglected hillside neighborhood to the west of the river that ran through Idalium. Collectively they paid several hundred gold darics to replace the planks and boards with a proper front door and windows. Adrien and Simon bought several hundred darics worth of gems to feed to "The Judge" down on level 3, to learn what they could about recent events in the dungeon.
Eventually, they arrived at the Rusty Lantern and descended to the streets of buried Ancient Idalium. Though it had been a long time indeed, the silent and cool air underneath the city was the same as ever. When they passed through the town square, they discovered the ominous sight of a recently deceased adventurer or bandit, lying on the cobblestones near the shattered fountain. They could not ascertain exactly what had killed him, but as they gingerly examined his body they heard jingling in his backpack, and discovered several hundred silver shekels and a few dozen gold darics. Grimly, they redistributed this wealth to themselves, and continued along the familiar streets deeper into the dungeon.
There were half a dozen hedonists hanging out in the "den" of the Temple of Hedonism. Thankfully, it must not have been a scheduled orgy day, as they were just loafing around drinking wine and playing music. They were surprised to see the adventurers after so many months, and bid them success as the adventurers passed through the temple on their way to the third level.
At the top of the stairs, the adventurers noticed something new: a small "sandwich-board" sign with writing in Common facing down the stairs. The writing said, "BEWARE: This level is protected!" The adventurers exchanged looks, wondering about these new benefactors of the second level that had arrived during their absence. Then they proceeded downstairs and entered the third level.
The "Judge", the living stone column perpetually standing in a room adjacent to the entry hall, was very surprised and pleased to see the adventurers again after so many months. Gulleck fed the Judge a gemstone and asked for general news of the dungeon events in the last few months. The Judge told them that the Queen of Nightmares had increased her entourage of bugbear slaves by a significant number (in the aftermath of the destruction of the Goblin King). But the big news was that a strange party of dwarves had taken up in residence on the second level. They seemed to be searching the dungeon for something specific and occasionally gave the Judge "shiny stones" in return for information. They had marked the second level as their territory and warned the various factions of the third level to mind their manners if they traveled above.
Caryatid gave the Judge a gem and asked about the garden that she remembered hearing about once or twice. She was still hoping to find the rumored beanstalk that was said to lead to the castle of the giant from whence her goose had come, in hopes of finding more of the special oats that would make it lay more golden eggs. Gulleck, on the other hand, felt that this rumor was too silly to possibly be true. The Judge did tell Caryatid that the door to the garden was through this level to the north. So that's where they set out for.
They proceeded along a very long hallway past many side corridors, and eventually came to a wider, more ornate hall that ran west. The floor was covered in a once-grand carpet that was now tattered and worn. The walls were hung with huge, dusty paintings of wealthy Idalians engaged in various activities of the rich and idle. The party decided to bypass this hall for the moment, however, and continued along a smaller hallway to the north.
This hallway soon opened up into a large open room with what once obviously once a very nice polished wooden floor. In the center of the room they could make out all sorts of debris and rubble, where the ceiling had collapsed, and among the rubble were the bones of enormous snakes, as well as the dessicated husks of dead giant spiders. The adventurers recognized this room as being directly below the hole in the floor of the apartment courtyard in which the orcs and later the Goblin Prince's group had resided.
They moved further into the room, but as they stepped onto the wooden floor, torches set in wall sconces suddenly flared to life all around the perimeter of the room. The adventurers could see another doorway leaving the room to the west, and also saw that the perimeter of the room was lined with ten unusual cabinets or wardrobes. Before they had much time to take this in, the air was filled with music from no visible source, playing a stately dance. The ten cabinets suddenly opened, and from each emerged a life-sized cloth doll, stepping wobbily onto the ballroom floor. Five of them wore elegant men's attire, and the other five wore fancy white gowns. Their features were crudely stitched, and their heads and limbs were floppy and limp.
The dolls gained speed as they emerged, and danced their way across the ballroom floor, dodging the rubble in the center as they approached the adventurers. Their arms were outstretched as they attempted to sweep the adventurers up into the dance. Meat, Caryatid, Father Chase, and Orin were all taken up by the embrace of a doll, and found their feet moving of their own volition to the rhythm of the music, dancing in graceful circles with the dolls. Gulleck and Simon attacked the dolls, weapons slicing into stuffed cloth. The doll that Simon hit thrashed around and released Orin. Meat, even in the midst of dancing, managed to draw his sword and carve his doll open entirely and it fell in a heap of cloth and spun flax and stopped moving. Caryatid struggled to get free of the strange magic that forced her to dance with her partner but she was unable to do so.
The one-sided battle went on. The dolls never attacked with any physical force, but kept sweeping the adventurers up into an unwanted dance. The music was loud and I was rolling every round to see if wandering monsters would turn up. Eventually, the last of the ten dolls was hacked down and the music and torchlight faded.
As the adventurers, breathing heavily, took stock of the situation, the silence was broken by a slow, ironic handclap. They turned to see a group of about half a dozen dwarves standing at the edge of the ballroom floor at the same hallway to the south that they had entered from. The lead dwarf was smirking and applauding with slow, deliberate claps. The adventurers sized them up and walked over to speak with them.
"Well, thanks for the help," said Gulleck.
"Ah, you seemed to have everything under control. Besides, we saw no reason for us to get caught up in that spell," said the lead dwarf. He spoke in a strange, unfamiliar accent. [My attempt at a cod Russian/Slavic accent. Yes, as a DM I am not at all averse to a bit of "amateur theatrics".] Their clothes as well were unusual for Idalium, and indicated an origin in a colder climate. The adventurers attempted to ask the dwarves about themselves, but the lead dwarf simply offered to take them to his leader.
"How about you come with me and meet Tobar. Perhaps he will tell you what you ask."
So they followed the dwarves back up to the second level, and were brought to the room directly above the ballroom floor: the courtyard of the apartments that used to house the orcs. Now it appeared to be the redoubt of a party of dwarves, who were busy preparing meals, moving supplies, etc. The adventurers were met by a pair of rather weathered-looking dwarves. Their clothes, like those of the others, were rugged and utilitarian. After being introduced by the dwarf who had escorted them, the senior of the pair spoke.
"Well met, cousin," he said, nodding to Gulleck. "My name is Tobar. This is Yoska, my second-in-command."
Pleasantries were exchanged. Tobar was guarded but pragmatic and seemed to be evaluating the character of the adventurers before revealing too much to them. He told them that his group had come from the north, from their ancestral homeland in the Balinok Mountains, and that they were on an expedition to search for a long lost dwarven artifact that fell into the hands of the Ancient Idalians hundreds of years ago. He was cagey about the exact nature of the artifact, but told the adventurers he would pay for any information they came across that helped them locate it. He also told them that their current obstacle was in dealing with the Queen of Nightmares on the third level. Her bugbear minions had already abducted several of their number, and they would be happy to see her eliminated. In fact, they would be willing to pay a bounty on any bugbears that the party killed, and offered to pay 10 gold darics for each left bugbear ear the adventurers brought back as evidence.
The group was happy to shake on that offer, and though Tobar and Yoska seemed a bit aloof and cool to them, any enemy of the Queen of Nightmares was a friend of theirs. They parted with an exchange of mutual well wishes for future success, and the adventurers returned to the Rusty Lantern tavern, perhaps with only a few coins to show for it, but with a decent appraisal of what was new in the dungeon.
Game date: Saturday, September 18, 210
PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 71454/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 20451/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 9222/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 8169/16000
Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 16826/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 4342/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2033/4000
Jack, Thief 3, hp 10, xp 2724/4800
It had been a LONG time since our last delve below Idalium, both in real time and in game time. Seventeen weeks had passed, in fact. We took some time to explore the consequences of the adventurers' unexpected three month disappearance from Idalium. Those with "day jobs" had some explaining to do to get their old jobs back. Everyone who lived in an apartment had been evicted and their belongings had been stored or disposed of by various friends and relations. All of the adventurers were now living in the rickety old house they had purchased over a year ago, in The Steps, the rundown and neglected hillside neighborhood to the west of the river that ran through Idalium. Collectively they paid several hundred gold darics to replace the planks and boards with a proper front door and windows. Adrien and Simon bought several hundred darics worth of gems to feed to "The Judge" down on level 3, to learn what they could about recent events in the dungeon.
Eventually, they arrived at the Rusty Lantern and descended to the streets of buried Ancient Idalium. Though it had been a long time indeed, the silent and cool air underneath the city was the same as ever. When they passed through the town square, they discovered the ominous sight of a recently deceased adventurer or bandit, lying on the cobblestones near the shattered fountain. They could not ascertain exactly what had killed him, but as they gingerly examined his body they heard jingling in his backpack, and discovered several hundred silver shekels and a few dozen gold darics. Grimly, they redistributed this wealth to themselves, and continued along the familiar streets deeper into the dungeon.
There were half a dozen hedonists hanging out in the "den" of the Temple of Hedonism. Thankfully, it must not have been a scheduled orgy day, as they were just loafing around drinking wine and playing music. They were surprised to see the adventurers after so many months, and bid them success as the adventurers passed through the temple on their way to the third level.
At the top of the stairs, the adventurers noticed something new: a small "sandwich-board" sign with writing in Common facing down the stairs. The writing said, "BEWARE: This level is protected!" The adventurers exchanged looks, wondering about these new benefactors of the second level that had arrived during their absence. Then they proceeded downstairs and entered the third level.
The "Judge", the living stone column perpetually standing in a room adjacent to the entry hall, was very surprised and pleased to see the adventurers again after so many months. Gulleck fed the Judge a gemstone and asked for general news of the dungeon events in the last few months. The Judge told them that the Queen of Nightmares had increased her entourage of bugbear slaves by a significant number (in the aftermath of the destruction of the Goblin King). But the big news was that a strange party of dwarves had taken up in residence on the second level. They seemed to be searching the dungeon for something specific and occasionally gave the Judge "shiny stones" in return for information. They had marked the second level as their territory and warned the various factions of the third level to mind their manners if they traveled above.
Caryatid gave the Judge a gem and asked about the garden that she remembered hearing about once or twice. She was still hoping to find the rumored beanstalk that was said to lead to the castle of the giant from whence her goose had come, in hopes of finding more of the special oats that would make it lay more golden eggs. Gulleck, on the other hand, felt that this rumor was too silly to possibly be true. The Judge did tell Caryatid that the door to the garden was through this level to the north. So that's where they set out for.
They proceeded along a very long hallway past many side corridors, and eventually came to a wider, more ornate hall that ran west. The floor was covered in a once-grand carpet that was now tattered and worn. The walls were hung with huge, dusty paintings of wealthy Idalians engaged in various activities of the rich and idle. The party decided to bypass this hall for the moment, however, and continued along a smaller hallway to the north.
This hallway soon opened up into a large open room with what once obviously once a very nice polished wooden floor. In the center of the room they could make out all sorts of debris and rubble, where the ceiling had collapsed, and among the rubble were the bones of enormous snakes, as well as the dessicated husks of dead giant spiders. The adventurers recognized this room as being directly below the hole in the floor of the apartment courtyard in which the orcs and later the Goblin Prince's group had resided.
They moved further into the room, but as they stepped onto the wooden floor, torches set in wall sconces suddenly flared to life all around the perimeter of the room. The adventurers could see another doorway leaving the room to the west, and also saw that the perimeter of the room was lined with ten unusual cabinets or wardrobes. Before they had much time to take this in, the air was filled with music from no visible source, playing a stately dance. The ten cabinets suddenly opened, and from each emerged a life-sized cloth doll, stepping wobbily onto the ballroom floor. Five of them wore elegant men's attire, and the other five wore fancy white gowns. Their features were crudely stitched, and their heads and limbs were floppy and limp.
The dolls gained speed as they emerged, and danced their way across the ballroom floor, dodging the rubble in the center as they approached the adventurers. Their arms were outstretched as they attempted to sweep the adventurers up into the dance. Meat, Caryatid, Father Chase, and Orin were all taken up by the embrace of a doll, and found their feet moving of their own volition to the rhythm of the music, dancing in graceful circles with the dolls. Gulleck and Simon attacked the dolls, weapons slicing into stuffed cloth. The doll that Simon hit thrashed around and released Orin. Meat, even in the midst of dancing, managed to draw his sword and carve his doll open entirely and it fell in a heap of cloth and spun flax and stopped moving. Caryatid struggled to get free of the strange magic that forced her to dance with her partner but she was unable to do so.
The one-sided battle went on. The dolls never attacked with any physical force, but kept sweeping the adventurers up into an unwanted dance. The music was loud and I was rolling every round to see if wandering monsters would turn up. Eventually, the last of the ten dolls was hacked down and the music and torchlight faded.
As the adventurers, breathing heavily, took stock of the situation, the silence was broken by a slow, ironic handclap. They turned to see a group of about half a dozen dwarves standing at the edge of the ballroom floor at the same hallway to the south that they had entered from. The lead dwarf was smirking and applauding with slow, deliberate claps. The adventurers sized them up and walked over to speak with them.
"Well, thanks for the help," said Gulleck.
"Ah, you seemed to have everything under control. Besides, we saw no reason for us to get caught up in that spell," said the lead dwarf. He spoke in a strange, unfamiliar accent. [My attempt at a cod Russian/Slavic accent. Yes, as a DM I am not at all averse to a bit of "amateur theatrics".] Their clothes as well were unusual for Idalium, and indicated an origin in a colder climate. The adventurers attempted to ask the dwarves about themselves, but the lead dwarf simply offered to take them to his leader.
"How about you come with me and meet Tobar. Perhaps he will tell you what you ask."
So they followed the dwarves back up to the second level, and were brought to the room directly above the ballroom floor: the courtyard of the apartments that used to house the orcs. Now it appeared to be the redoubt of a party of dwarves, who were busy preparing meals, moving supplies, etc. The adventurers were met by a pair of rather weathered-looking dwarves. Their clothes, like those of the others, were rugged and utilitarian. After being introduced by the dwarf who had escorted them, the senior of the pair spoke.
"Well met, cousin," he said, nodding to Gulleck. "My name is Tobar. This is Yoska, my second-in-command."
Pleasantries were exchanged. Tobar was guarded but pragmatic and seemed to be evaluating the character of the adventurers before revealing too much to them. He told them that his group had come from the north, from their ancestral homeland in the Balinok Mountains, and that they were on an expedition to search for a long lost dwarven artifact that fell into the hands of the Ancient Idalians hundreds of years ago. He was cagey about the exact nature of the artifact, but told the adventurers he would pay for any information they came across that helped them locate it. He also told them that their current obstacle was in dealing with the Queen of Nightmares on the third level. Her bugbear minions had already abducted several of their number, and they would be happy to see her eliminated. In fact, they would be willing to pay a bounty on any bugbears that the party killed, and offered to pay 10 gold darics for each left bugbear ear the adventurers brought back as evidence.
The group was happy to shake on that offer, and though Tobar and Yoska seemed a bit aloof and cool to them, any enemy of the Queen of Nightmares was a friend of theirs. They parted with an exchange of mutual well wishes for future success, and the adventurers returned to the Rusty Lantern tavern, perhaps with only a few coins to show for it, but with a decent appraisal of what was new in the dungeon.
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