Idalium Game 118: The Great Wizard Quiquaequod

Session date: Monday, November 4, 2019
Game date: Monday, November 14, 211 to Sunday, November 27, 211

PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 74051/140000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 12678/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 12713/16000

Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 18334/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 4, hp 18, xp 6032/12000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2701/4000
Boe, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 926/2000

Unusually, we picked up the game just a couple days later in "game time", so that the adventurers could seek a cure for Caryatid, who had gazed upon the face of Atropos the medusa witch and been turned into a granite statue. But because we employed retainers in our game, Caryatid's player did not have to sit the session out, but instead she played the role of Caryatid's retainer, Father Chase Pike.

Father Chase informed the group that no one in his church hierarchy had the power to restore a statue to living flesh, and none of the adventurers knew of a wizard powerful enough to do so. They decided to contact the highest level wizard they were aware of: Caryatid's former teacher and mentor, a Granny Weatherwax who lived near the town of Lancre, roughly 15 miles to the east of Idalium. (Yes, we have at least one Terry Pratchett fan in the group.) They sent a letter describing Caryatid's plight and asked for any advice or leads she could offer. On Saturday, November 19th, they received a reply from Granny Weatherwax. She wrote that such magic was beyond even her grasp, but she did know of a wizard in Idalium that possessed such power: the Great Quiquaequod. Years ago he had been an adventurer himself, but now, as a Wizard of the Twelfth Circle, he was a recluse secluded in his tower in a wealthy neighborhood of Idalium. She wrote that his tower was protected by strange magics that kept it hidden from view from neighboring streets, and that one would most likely need to be led there by one of the wizard's apprentices.

The adventurers garbed themselves in their nicest clothes and combed their hair for a change, in hopes of receiving a good reception in the well-heeled craftsmen's quarter, and set out in search of the reclusive wizard. They made their way through the rougher quarters of the city, through the grand plaza that bordered the Great Cathedral of Idalium, and into a neighborhood they had very rarely visited before. It was a neighborhood of well-kept shops and businesses catering to the well-to-do with time and money to spare. The neatly swept streets were narrow and crooked, making navigation confusing enough even without an illusion-cloaked wizard's tower as their destination.

They stopped into a few shops and cafes, asking discreetly about the wizard's tower without much success, until they found an antique shop whose proprietor said she occasionally sold various knickknacks to apprentices of the Great Quiquaequod. "Well, I don't think his tower can be that far away, although I've never seen it myself. Some kind of enchantment on it, I believe." Father Chase bought a little statuette of a winged monkey for 10 gold darics, to thank the owner for the information.

Outside the shop, the group decided to take a different approach. Perhaps you could only find the tower if you weren't actively looking for it. They blindfolded Gulleck and she blundered around the streets aimlessly, but after a few collisions with irate passersby they abandoned this tactic. Then they decided to walk around abstractly while pointedly not thinking about the tower, but this proved impossible. They stood in the street debating the nature of the magic. Should they map the neighborhood? Is the tower hidden inside a block they can't get to? There was some metagame analysis about what kind of puzzle this was likely to be. In the end, they resumed asking around at nearby shops. They found a bookshop where the bookseller said, "Oh yes, I've only seen the wizard himself once or twice, but one of his apprentices was just in the other day to buy some very expensive paper and inks. The adventurers left a message with the bookseller for the apprentice, saying they were seeking help that only the most powerful wizard could provide. Then, having done all they could think of to find the tower, they returned to the humbler and grimier streets they were familiar with.

Two days later, a messenger came to the Rusty Lantern tavern with a note instructing them to meet next Saturday at the bookshop where they had left their message. And so, on Saturday, November 26th, they returned to the bookshop to be greeted by two young men wearing green robes with the interrobang sigil embroidered on the front in white thread. The two apprentice wizards heard the party's case, and said that they would escort the group to the tower of the Shining One, Quiquaequod, where one of them would be granted an audience with the Shining One himself. The wizards led them through the streets of the craftsmen's quarter, taking them down back alleys that no one could remember noticing before, and suddenly emerging onto a street containing a tall and narrow tower that rose high above all the adjacent buildings.

They were brought into the tower and into a simple sitting room, where another apprentice greeted them. They noticed that the whites of his eyes were "bloodshot" with bright green veins. He explained to them that the Shining One was deeply immersed in communion with the Essence of the Shining Chrysanthemum, and that one of the group would have to partake of the Essence and join the Shining One in the Communion, to prove his seriousness of purpose. Father Chase bravely stepped forward, his loyalty for his employer Caryatid triumphing over any anxiety he might have felt. The apprentice brought forth a small glass flask of bright green liquid and offered it to Father Chase. He drank it down, flinching at the overwhelming taste of licorice. His stomach twisted and shuddered at the unfamiliar and potent elixir, but Father Chase held it down, even as he felt an unusual light-headedness percolate through him. The apprentice told him that he needed to enter the Shining One's chamber empty-handed, and as Father Chase handed over his few belongings, the other adventurers noticed that the pupils of his eyes were completely dilated to the point where no iris was visible, and the whites were already shot through with veins of vivid green.

Father Chase was escorted deeper into the tower by the apprentice. He grew more and more woozy as he was led through long halls and up and down flights of stairs. He became vaguely aware that none of these hallways seemed like they should fit into the tower as they had seen it from the outside, but then he got distracted by what seemed like great mystical significance of the interrobang sigil on the back of the wizard's robe. Finally, a door was opened and he was ushered into a darkened room. An elderly man with a long white beard reclined in a padded chair on the far side of the room, clad in simple white robes. A single prismatic skylight at the top of the arched ceiling scattered scintillating rainbows across the dark room. A brazier burned incense and herbs in the center of the room, in front of the man, and opposite the brazier was another, less ornate chair. The man gestured to the chair with a nod, and Father Chase took his seat. Things were getting very strange for Father Chase now, and he looked around as colorful flowers seemed to bloom and dissolve in the dark corners of the room.

"We... I... need your help. I... this is... I don't understand what's happening," Father Chase stuttered, but the old man raised a finger. His lips did not move, but a voice filled Father Chase's head. "Don't speak. Let go of your fear. Find the center point in the chaos." Father Chase took a deep breath and managed to master his near-panic. The urgent whorls of coruscating color surrounding the Shining One subsided into a more subtle twinkling as Father Chase gazed into the black pools of his pupils.

"Very good," echoed the voice of the wizard. "What brings you to seek audience with the Great Quiquaequod?" In the smoke rising from the brazier, Father Chase saw small interrobang glyphs form and rise lazily through the air before losing shape and dissolving back into the smoke.

Having to focus to "speak" without speaking, Father Chase was surprised to hear his own voice echoing in the shared mental space between the two men. "My friends and I are adventurers. One of my friends was turned to stone by a monstrous witch deep below the city. Only the most powerful of wizards, such as yourself, can help her." Wisps of smoke drifted together to form the face of Caryatid, eyes staring blindly.

"I was an adventurer once myself," the Shining One replied, his eyes narrowing. "I lost several friends in the course of that career. These things happen. Why should they concern me? The physical world is largely irrelevant to me today. All that is of interest is here, in the Communion. Here I commune with the servitors of the true consciousness that underlies all reality. Why should I distract myself to deal with your trivial setback?" Rainbowed chrysanthemums bloomed in the smoke, and in the darkness behind the wizard's chair.

"Oh, Great Quiquaequod," flattered Father Chase, "Truly you operate on a different level from the rest of us mere mortals. But even you must need material wealth to pursue your research. We are prepared to pay well for your services."

The wizard's mouth curved into a tiny smile. "Indeed, there is a need for coin to fund my researches and to procure my stock of the Shining Chrysanthemum. I will deign to help you, for 2,000 gold darics and your assistence in retrieving a small item for me from the home of a colleague who has left this plane of existence and has no further use for it."

Father Chase agreed to the terms, and the Shining One reached down to a small table next to his chair and picked up a small glass flask of milky white liquid.

"Drink this," his voice echoed.

"What does it do?" asked Father Chase.

"Nothing, so long as you are making progress on your work for me. It is merely insurance on my investment."

Quiquaequod extended the potion and Father Chase reached out his hand to take it, and found himself holding the cold glass vial, even though he was dimly aware that there were at least 10 feet, plus a burning brazier, between them. He drank down the liquid and winced as he felt it squirming down his esophagus as though alive. Again his stomach twisted uncomfortably, as he felt the strange liquid settle in.

The wizard told Father Chase to return to the tower tomorrow morning with the statue of Caryatid. Father Chase rose from the chair and stumbled out of the dark room, blinking in the bright light outside. He was escorted back to the rest of the adventurers. They left the tower and Father Chase had the strangest trip through the city of his life, making their way back to the Rusty Lantern.

The next day, Sunday November 27th, the group reunited. Father Chase felt mostly back to normal now (the sky had stopped undulating, at least) but as they returned to the craftsmen's quarter he somehow knew how to retrace his steps to the tower of the Shining One. They wheeled Caryatid's statue along with them in a wheelbarrow, drawing stares from the passing crowds. In the tower, two apprentices took the wheelbarrow through a door while another apprentice escorted the party through many hallways and staircases. They eventually arrived in a simple dining room. Sunshine streamed through large windows on one wall (they could see the rooftops of the surrounding neighborhood below them) and the Great Quiquaequod sat at a long table, eating from a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. Father Chase marveled at the change in the wizard, who seemed like a perfectly ordinary man now, elderly yet oddly spritely. Only the green veins in the whites of his eyes belied the mundanity of the scene. That, and the statue of Caryatid, which had already been delivered to the room and was standing next to the now empty wheelbarrow.

"Ah, there you are. And there's the unfortunate young lady!" smiled the wizard. "Let me just finish my breakfast and we'll have her sorted right out. You can just leave the coins on the table there, thank you."

He stood up and placed a hand on the granite arm of Caryatid and murmured words of power. Underneath his hand, the stone gained color, the green of Caryatid's robes. The green spread from his hand across the statue, and then her hands returned to flesh, her backpack changed back to leather, and her head returned to flesh and hair. She gasped and averted her eyes, covering her face with her sleeve. Then, realizing that she was somewhere else, she looked around in wonder and confusion.

Explanations were made, and then Quiquaequod spoke to them about the other part of his payment. "Not too far from here, just a few day's travel, is the tower of an old colleague of mine. A wizard named Castanamir. He has fled this realm of existence. I would like you to go to his tower and retrieve a certain manuscript of Castanamir's. He had been researching certain elemental spirits from another plane of reality, called gingwatzim. I would very much like to acquire this book. Castanamir will not be coming back to this world, so anything you wish to take from his tower for yourself is of no concern to me."

He drew forth a large brass key and a strange wooden rod. "This is the key to Castanamir's tower. It is no ordinary lock, but it amused him to make it appear so. The tower has powerful charms that will prohibit the removal of any of Castanamir's possessions from it, but this rod will nullify those protections on any five items. One of them must be the book, but as to the other four, choose wisely."

Quiquaequod took another bite of scrambled eggs. "Well, if you have no other questions, you'd best be on your way. Time is of the urgency, as I hope you in particular understand, Father Chase."

The sinister undertones of that last comment were left hanging in the air as the party took their leave from the Shining One and left the tower with their empty wheelbarrow. The wizard has told them the tower was near the village of Oakhaven, several days travel to the east of Idalium. He said that Father Chase would know if they were heading in the right direction or not. And so, the adventurers began to make plans for an unexpected excursion away from Idalium, into the nearby wilderness...

Idalium Game 117: I Turn to Stone When You Are Gone

Session date: Monday, October 21, 2019
Game date: Saturday, November 12, 211

PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 73588/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 23163/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 12070/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 12134/16000

Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 18044/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 5727/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2411/4000
Ms. Vanjie, Thief 1, hp 1, xp 1146/1200

About a month had passed in both real time and within the game world, so the first order of business was to check in on Professor Zinn, and see if he had any information for the adventurers about the strange mushrooms they had brought back from the underground caverns. Professor Zinn was very excited to see them, and showed them three jars of the samples. The first jar was his "control group", just the mushrooms in a glass jar. They were dead and desiccated. The second jar held mushrooms that he had planted in soil and compost to see if they would draw nutrients from the soil and grow. These mushrooms were also dead and withered. He said they lasted a few days longer than the control batch but quickly died away. The third jar contained mushrooms he had planted in soil, but he was replenishing the soil with fresh compost daily. These mushrooms seemed barely alive, pale and sickly, struggling to hold on to life. Clearly, the Professor said, ordinary compost and soil itself was not sufficient to provide them with what they needed to thrive.

Since they were already in The Steps, they went to the vacant house they had purchased, to use the wardrobe which was a magical portal to the second level of the dungeon. Pushing through the old fur coats and cloaks, they emerged into the dungeons below the city. They made their way back to the mushroom caverns at the shore of the underground lake, passing by a group of giant locusts in a hallway, fighting a pair of giant lizards in a cave, and placating another pair of lizards with a block of cheese that Simon had been carrying.

When they arrived at the beach they decided to drink a potion they had been carrying around for ages that promised to indicate the direction of the largest nearby treasure. So sooner was it drunk but it gave the overwhelming impulse to head towards the cottage of Atropos, the potion-making witch on the island in the center of the underground lake. They left their retainers on the shore, and the other four climbed into the rowboat that lay on the beach and began to row towards the sensation of treasure. Their plan was to attack the witch from a distance, hopefully out of range from any spells she might be capable of. When they were about 20' from the shore, Simon loaded his crossbow and took a shot at the cottage door to get the witch's attention. THUD!

"Who goes there?" came a stern voice. Simon shot another bolt at the door, but this went wide and snapped against the wall of the house. Then Gulleck and Caryatid noticed the shutters of the window to the left of the door open a crack. Caryatid began chanting the words of Fireball, and pointed a finger directly at the crack between the shutters. But Atropos the witch had drunk a potion of human control before opening the shutters, and Caryatid suddenly felt her arm jerk upwards. The glowing ember of the fireball shot high overhead, above the cottage, and blossomed into an aerial firework that illuminated the island and the black lake surrounding it.

The shutters then opened all the way. Atropos was not wearing her veil, and the party recoiled at the sight of a woman with writhing snakes for hair and features indescribably hideous. Adrien, Gulleck, and Simon made their saving throws and shivered as the sight chilled their bodies to the bone, but Caryatid failed her save and within an instant was transformed into a granite statue.

Gulleck and Adrien quickly ran to the window and attacked the medusa witch. (Gulleck's player rolled the Big Green d30 for 22 points of damage.) Atropos attempted to charm Adrien, but Adrien saved vs this spell as well. The door of the cottage burst open, and the witch's two strange stone-like dogs ran out barking and snapping at Gulleck and Adrien. Simon used his levitation boots to get out of melee range, and shot at the dogs from above with his crossbow. Atropos again failed to charm Adrien, but her snakes bit her. Adrien retaliated, swinging blindly at the medusa so as not to look at her, and struck a lucky blow that killed the witch! But then a dog bit Adrien as well, bringing her to -1 hit points and potentially dead! Her demonic giant ferret, Norman, went berserk at the apparent death of his mistress and attacked the dog, snarling and snapping. Gulleck managed to put down the two stone dogs.

In this campaign, PCs could regain 1d4-1 hit points after catching their breath after a combat, and Adrien's player rolled a 1, bringing her back to exactly 0 hit points. Adrien was comatose, and Caryatid was a statue. Gulleck barged into the witch's cabin, prying open a large chest and filling three large sacks with hundreds of gold coins. Simon ferried Adrien back to the shore with the gold, where Father Chase laid his hands upon her wounds, restoring some measure of vitality to her. Back on the island, Gulleck also plundered the cottage of four vials of potions, a suit of finely made leather armor, and a polished bronze shield. Finally, Gulleck decapitated the witch (with some difficulty since she was averting her eyes), and put her head in a sack and brought it with her, just in case it retained its potency. She and Simon made the crossing again, having awkwardly maneuvered the statue of Caryatid into the rowboat.

The party made the long and arduous journey carrying Caryatid through the caverns and ruins of Ancient Idalium, stopping for many rests but finally making it safely out via the cellar of the Rusty Lantern tavern.

Idalium Game 116: Field Mycology

Session date: Monday, September 23, 2019
Game date: Saturday, October 15, 211

PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 73511/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 23067/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 11969/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 12038/16000

Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 17996/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 5677/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2363/4000
Ms. Vanjie, Thief 1, hp 1, xp 96/1200

With a mind to reduce the "mold problem" in the caverns below Idalium, the adventurers went shopping in the city for gardening tools. They bought a rake, and at "Crazy Harry" the alchemist's shop they bought two pints of Greek fire, which they carefully wrapped in cloth for cushioning. Descending into the dungeons, they had a number of minor encounters on the way to the caverns on the third level, but were able to quickly avoid or overcome the threats without much effort. When they arrived at the shore of the underground lake, they were alarmed to note that the "front line" of the mushroom growth had advanced somewhat since the last time they were here.

The adventurers carefully took samples of the mushrooms and other varieties of fungal forms, placing them carefully in three glass jars they had brought with them. Then, Orin poured out a flask of oil on the ground and lit it with a torch, burning the mushrooms and fungus in a roughly four foot circle. It seemed to writhe and twist as it burned. The air filled with the aroma of sauteed mushrooms. They followed this up with one of the pints of Greek fire, which seemed to spread more effectively and burned a larger area of mushrooms. Caryatid got tired of this piecemeal approach, however, and just cast Fireball into the cave passage, incinerating the fungus coating the walls, floor, and ceiling. The mushrooms seemed to scream as they burned away, but perhaps it was just the sound of the rapidly escaping steam.

On a whim, Simon tried to use his amulet of mindreading on the mushrooms, and his head was suddenly filled with an alarming voice, deep and monotone: "Join us... Come to us... There is nothing to fear... Join with us and be one..." At that moment, four bugbears staggered out of the cave passage, draped in fungal filaments like the seemingly mindless humans they had fought here before. The bugbears lurched stiffly forward. One gaped open its mouth in a croaking, hissing gasp, and they could see the mushrooms growing from its tongue and cheeks, clogging its mouth and spilling out onto its fur.

Caryatid cast Fireball directly on the fungus-enshrouded bugbears. Orin cast Sleep and several of them collapsed, while the others charged forward to attack the remaining one. Chase's mace thumped solidly into the side of the last bugbear standing and it collapsed, but not before a dense cloud of spores erupted from the wound, leaving Chase choking and gasping for fresh air. The group knew that this was bad news, so they returned to the surface, helping the wheezing Father Chase along.

Back in the city of Idalium, they returned to the shopfront chapel that Father Chase had been hired from. They waited anxiously in the drab waiting room while a Brother Todd examined Chase. He returned with the news that the fungal infection could be cured with the right prayers, but that the chapel would require a donation of 1,000 gold darics for the necessary oils and incense, etc. Caryatid paid the fee, and then arranged for her and Father Chase to stay at the chapel overnight (for an additional 5 gp donation apiece), in the event the infection worsened before it could be cured in the morning.

Leaving Father Chase behind, the group made the trek to the Steps to pay a visit to Professor Zinn, the eccentric sage. Professor Zinn was fascinated by the mushroom samples they had brought with them, and offered them 500 silver shekels for each jar. Adrien scoffed at this offer quite rudely, and then Caryatid attempted to smooth the Professor's ruffled feathers with honeyed words and flattery. Simon hinted vaguely about the mysterious voice he had heard in his mind when trying to probe the "thoughts" of the fungus. Professor Zinn eventually offered them 3000 gp for everything, including all the information they knew about the stuff. Caryatid continued to drive a hard bargain, with Adrien chipping in about what a cheapskate the Professor was, and finally Zinn said, "Enough! I'll give you 3500 gold, on the condition that *she* [pointing at Adrien] stay outside from now on! And that she keeps that horrible mangy beast with her!" [referring to Norman, Adrien's pet demonic giant ferret]

The deal being made, the group left their samples with the Professor and returned across the river to the city proper.

Idalium Game 115: Like a Bad Penny

Session date: Monday, August 12, 2019
Game date: Saturday, September 9, 211

PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 73421/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 22955/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 11851/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 11926/16000

Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 17940/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 5618/6000
Kevon, Fighter 2, hp 8, xp 2808/4000
Ms. Vanjie, Thief 1, hp 1, xp 37/1200

Heading down to the 3rd level again, the party had to deal with several restocked encounters on the way. In the Street of Temples, an swarm of bats had roosted on the ceiling, but the group was able to quietly sneak past. In the Temple of Hedonism, they stumbled upon a nest of four giant gecko lizards. Gulleck and Simon used their rings of animal control to immobilize them, but as they were giant animals they could only control one each. The other two lizards attacked angrily. One bit Simon savagely, breaking him out of his trance. Now there were three angry lizards attacking them, but Caryatid put a quick end to the combat with a sleep spell.

They made their way through the caves on the 2nd level to the sloping passage that led down to the beach of the underground lake on the 3rd level. They were alarmed to discover that they had company on the beach: nine skeletons wielding swords and shields, led by a horrid, stitched-together creature wearing the tattered remains of a sack-like coat. They recognized this monstrosity. It was "Mister Beefcake", the cobbled-together horror that Caryatid's clone had created as a bodyguard. Last they had seen him, they thought they had killed him, but apparently he had not been as dead as he seemed. A red glow pulsed beneath the bared flesh of his barrel-like chest, accompanied by a deep throbbing heartbeat. The Beating Heart! They had always suspected that Caryatid the Green had stolen this foul relic, but now they understood that she had used it as part of the dread rituals that had given this creature its parody of life. And now it granted the monster the ability to command the undead!

"Fireball," intoned Caryatid, and the air around the monster and his skeletons exploded with flame. The skeletons were instantly annihilated, scorched bones clattering to the ground. And then the battle was joined. The adventurers swarmed around the monstrous man, slashing and jabbing with their blades. Caryatid sent a magic missile into the fray. And then with a roar of frustration the hulking brute pushed Adrien to the ground and walked away from the battle, striding right into the underground lake. The black water submerged him and closed over his massive, lumpy head.

The adventurers stood on the shore, breathing hard. Father Chase used his staff of healing to treat Adrien's wounds. Once they had caught their breath, they entered the caves of fungus to the north. Taking a mushroom-choked passage on the right, they came to a place where the way was blocked by a pair of giant mushrooms, livid violet in color, with dangerous looking tendrils growing from beneath their caps. They decided to retreat back to the first chamber, for fear of being poisoned or worse.

Taking the left branch, they entered another passage where mushrooms and other fungi were growing densely. At the entrance to the passage, an enormous pale white puffball grew, quivering alarmingly. Gulleck jabbed it with her axe, and it exploded into a cloud of spores, sending Gulleck and several others into a deep sleep from which they could not be awakened. The others waited nervously, guarding against any wandering dangers, and after 20 minutes or so, the sleepers groggily awoke, speaking confusedly about bizarre fever dreams, in which tendrils of mycelium spread underground and alien fruiting bodies sprouted and proliferated.

Once the others had recovered their wits, the group explored the next chamber, in which there was an odd area in the west corner of the cave where no mushrooms grew. The rock was a different color here and the mushrooms stopped growing where the color changed, forming a well-defined perimeter. Gulleck grabbed a chunk of a mushroom and chucked it into the "dead zone", but nothing too dramatic happened.

Caryatid's magically enhanced nose got a sudden whiff of gold from a passage to the northeast, so they moved on from this chamber into a similar one where fungus covered all of the surfaces around them. In the eastern corner, they could see a skeleton, partially covered by a bright yellow fungus, next to a rotting backpack that spilled decayed adventuring gear along with hundreds of gold and silver coins. After their experience with the puffball spores, no one was too keen on disturbing the yellow mold, but Gulleck dared to grab a handful of coins that were farthest from the mold-covered skeleton. This was a tiny portion of the large pile of coins, but sufficed as a souvenir and to have obtained at least some treasure on this delve into the dungeon.

Unwilling to press on further this day, the adventurers returned to the surface.

Monsters of Idalium: Stretchers

One of the more memorable new monsters that I created for the Idalium campaign was the stretcher. (I originally named them stretch ghouls, and then realized years later that this sounded too close to Kickstarter's stretch goals to take seriously.) My players were utterly horrified by these undead creatures, in vast disproportion to their actual statistics. They encountered them two or maybe three times, but the most memorable occasion was the first one, in the sealed Hotel Lethia.

This encounter and monster arose directly from a nightmare I had a year or two before the party actually encountered them in the game. Mechanically, I considered them just a variety of ghoul, and based the stat block off of the ghoul, with just some specifics added to cover their unique attack and the way their stretching arms work. This stat block was designed for B/X D&D, but should work in any version of D&D or its retroclones derived from the original D&D lineage.

Stretcher

Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 2**
Move: 90’ (30’)
Attacks: 1 touch
Damage: paralysis / 1d4 life drain
No. Appearing: 1-6 (2-16)
Save As: Fighter:2
Morale: 9
Treasure Type: B
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 30

Stretchers are undead creatures that live in a perpetual dream state, dimly going through the motions of a parody of their former life. They have pallid white (fish belly) flesh, and a vaguely female form, though their bodily and facial features are rudimentary and vague, as if they are only an imitation of a human being. They do not wear clothes. They do not talk, nor do they exhibit any type of human-like intelligence, having a bestial cunning only.

They prefer to live in enclosed rooms underground, and will spend much of their time sleeping (if the undead can sleep) completely covered by a sheet or blanket. They tend to try to avoid being uncovered.

Stretchers have an insatiable hunger for the human life force, and when they encounter the living, they will reach out with a questing arm, which unnaturally stretches up to 30’ feet, moving at a rate of 10’ per round unerringly towards its target. The arm (and the rest of the stretcher) can squeeze through the tiniest cracks, such as through keyholes, under doors, etc. The touch of a stretcher will paralyze any creature of ogre size or smaller (except elves) unless the victim saves vs. Paralysis. Starting on the round after the victim is paralyzed, the stretcher will begin to drain life force from the victim. This causes the victim to lose consciousness (eyes fluttering, gasping for breath), and does 1d4 points of damage per round. The paralysis and unconsciousness induced by a stretcher lasts 2d4 turns, but can be reversed by a cure light wounds spell.

If an amount of damage equal to half the stretcher’s total hit points is done to an arm, it will retract very quickly, though the stretcher may try again with its other arm. If the other arm is “killed”, it will also retract and the stretcher will flee. The stretcher can only be killed by doing its total amount of hit points in damage to its actual body. When killed, stretchers dissolve into a white, rubbery liquid and drain away through cracks and crevices in the ground.

Any creature whose life force is completely drained by a stretcher will dissolve into the same liquid and drain away (raise dead is impossible) and will reform as a new stretcher in 1d4 days.

As undead, stretchers are immune to poison and mind-affecting spells such as sleep and charm person. They can be turned as ghouls.

 

 

Idalium Game 114: Strange Brew

Session date: Monday, August 5, 2019
Game date: Saturday August 27, 211

PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 73405/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 22935/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 11830/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 11906/16000
Orehoe Hüfflestüff, Elf 1, hp 3, xp 1377/4000

Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 17930/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 5608/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2353/4000
Ms. Vanjie, Thief 1, hp 1, xp 27/1200
Fritzenbürg, Cleric 1, hp 1, xp 96/1500

We had a large party this time of five players and their retainers, so Gulleck bought another canoe and paid to have it awkwardly lowered down into the ruins of Idalium. On their way through the Temple of Hedonism, a random encounter had them running into a group of five hedonists on their way to an orgy. Another random encounter put 10 skeletons in the temple itself. The hedonists (who are in fact acolytes) turned the skeletons using their "holy symbols", of which the less said the better!

The party paid a visit to the Judge, who was sad that they didn't bring him any tasty gemstones to eat. Then they retrieved their other canoe and rowed across the underground lake to the beach. They had previously noted that an iron rod was driven into the ground near the shore, and a rope tied to it led out into the lake. Pulling the rope taunt they could feel that it was secured on the other end. So they followed the rope in their canoes into the center of the lake, where they found an island. A rowboat was pulled up onto the shore near a similar iron pole where the other end of the rope was tied. A small house or cottage stood in the center of the island, and oddly colored smoke curled from the chimney. Strange stone rubble was strewn across the beach that looked oddly like fragments of granite statues, a forearm here, a booted foot there. Gulleck looked at the rubble with some misgivings.

Simon used his amulet of ESP and sensed the presence of an intelligent mind within the house. Caryatid took off her invisibility and approached the house. Next to the front door a sign on a low post read, "Potions, elixirs, and concoctions sold and traded. Those who are serious about doing business, enter. Those of ill will and time wasters will not be tolerated." Caryatid knocked on the door, and Gulleck joined her.

The door was opened by a strange figure that they realized they had met before. She wore a frayed black dress and a nearly opaque black veil hanging from a wide brimmed hat, such that her face was completely obscured. She greeted them in a businesslike fashion, and after ascertaining that they were here to possibly buy some potions, she invited them in to the cottage.

The room inside was quite spartan. The veiled woman introduced herself as Atropos, and invited them to sit at a small circular table. A cauldron at the other end of the room bubbled away, and a "fume hood" above it whisked the strange vapors away up the chimney. Two very strange creatures were curled up near her feet. They looked like large dogs, but seemed to be made of living stone. Each was gnawing on a piece of granite, presumably from the shattered statues outside.

Atropos showed them many different potions that could be theirs: potions of invisibility, healing, diminution and growth, and even deadly poison. While they were dithering on what to buy, and remembering the sign's admonition against time wasters, Atropos was making small talk and casually mentioned that her sister was the Queen of Nightmares. Caryatid and Gulleck replied neutrally to this, not mentioning that they had only just recently killed the Queen of Nightmares. In the end, they bought two potions of healing so as not to annoy Atropos.

After paddling back across the lake, they took a side passage that sloped upwards and worked their way through natural caverns until they found themselves at the entrance to the Goblin King's palace. The guard room was empty, and the last entry in the guest book was for "Rugger's Raiders". Caryatid wrote "Appointment Canceled!" next to this entry. Then they retraced their steps and returned to the beach. They briefly explored the fungus-engulfed caves again. They found four giant striped beetles in one cavern, but Caryatid and Simon dealt with them quickly with a web spell and Simon's animal control ring. They started to proceed deeper into the caves, but Caryatid got a strong whiff of large animals and they decided it was too late in the evening to deal with that right now. Noting it for later, they paddled back across the lake and returned home.

Idalium Game 113: Change and Decay in All Around I See

Session date: Monday, July 1, 2019
Game date: Saturday July 23, 211 to Sunday, July 24, 211

PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 73397/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 22926/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 11821/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 11897/16000

Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 17925/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 5602/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2348/4000
Boe, Fighter 1, hp 5, xp 921/2000

There was a notice on the bulletin board of the Rusty Lantern tavern that said that Professor Zinn would pay for evidence of giant ants mining nuggets of gold deep underground.

The group took their usual path down below. On the way they met a quartet of gnomes, who told them that some of the gnomes from their clan had been recruited away to work on some kind of mining project three dungeon levels below here. (Planting plot hook seeds that were never to sprout, alas!)

They visited the Judge, and Simon fed him a gemstone to ask about the "giants" in the garden area. The Judge told him that once their ancestors were the caretakers of the gardens, but left isolated and alone over the generations they reverted to brutish savagery.

They headed east to the shore of the underground lake, getting their canoes out of their wizard-locked storeroom on the way, and paddled across to the north shore of the lake. A natural cave passage led into the rock to the north. A short ways in, it widened and split left and right. To the right, strange mushrooms and other types of fungus grew on the ground and the walls. Cautious and wary of that, the group chose to go left instead. They hadn't gone far before they came upon three people standing oddly in a widened area of the cave. They slouched awkwardly as if uncomfortable in their own bodies.

"Er... howdy!" said Gulleck. One of the figures turned around, revealing a human face, but covered in mushrooms and fungus that grew in its hair and entwined its neck. It wheezed and coughed, and Gulleck could see that its mouth was choked full of small pale mushrooms. It falteringly extended a hand at Gulleck.

The group turned and ran back to the big Y-intersection. Then they composed themselves and decided to charge them. I mean, it was 8 against 3, right? Caryatid started to cast the Web spell, and was confused to see the creature in the front imitating her, waving its hands as if casting a spell. Then the strands of sticky spider silk shot from her hands and entangled all three of the creatures. A cloud of spores erupted all around them. Caryatid coughed as the spores filled her lungs. Gulleck ran up to one of the creatures and hacked its arm off. It let out a horrible wheezing cry, as more spores filled the air (but Gulleck's dwarven constitution was up to the threat). They put the arm in a sack as a sample, and hightailed it back to their canoes.

On the way out they visited the Judge again and fed him a piece of amber to ask about the fungus. "Bor was here to visit the other day, and he mentioned he saw a spreading fungus on the other side of the lake." But he had no useful advice, so they went home to seek a cure for Caryatid, who was looking green around the gills and wheezing.

Back above ground, they made their way through the bustling streets and alleys of Idalium to Father Chase's "temporary clerical staffing" chapel and waited to be seen by High Elder Flimwitz. Caryatid balked at the "requested donation" of 1,000 gold darics for a Cure Disease spell, but after a restless night full of strange and alien dreams of mushrooms and mycelium and the unearthly beauty of decay, Caryatid scurried back to the chapel the next morning to cough up the cash and get healed of whatever the spores were that had lodged in her lungs.