Session date: Monday, July 31, 2017
Game date: Saturday, November 1, 209
PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 6, hp 37, xp 35000/70000
Caryatid, Magic-user 4, hp 19, xp 16723/20000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 3, hp 11, xp 5546/8000
Adrien, Fighter 3, hp 9, xp 4805/8000
Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 3, hp 17, xp 5571/8000
Brother Chase Pike, Cleric 2, hp 11, xp 2529/3000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 364/4000
Debbi, Magic-user 1, hp 6, xp 632/2500
Well, a fair bit had changed for the Infestation Managers in our last session. Gulleck was back alive and still a dwarf, but now a woman. She was feeble and clumsy compared to her former self, but sturdier, wise, and always charming. Adrien now had a giant pet ferret, mangy and hopping with fleas and foaming at the mouth. She named him Norman and bought a custom leather harness to attach the leash to. Before I could even remind her, she informed me that she was "feeding" Norman (cutting her palm and letting him lap up her blood). Looks like Adrien will have a perpetually bandaged hand from now on.
The goose that they had retrieved from Green Caryatid's apartment and was now living at the surviving Caryatid's apartment (for fear of Norman getting too interested) laid an large egg of pure gold! They sold this to one of the discreet jewelers in the neighborhood around the Rusty Lantern tavern and received 500 gold darics for it. These coins (and the associated experience points) were split evenly among the four PCs, rather than including the retainers in the share.
At the Rusty Lantern, the animated wooden face hacked out of a door and hung above the bar greeted Gulleck with confusion and amazement at the change. It was difficult for him to wrap his head around this new Gulleck (you see what I did there?). They descended into the cellar and got themselves suited up to venture into the dungeon. In the downtime between sessions, Gulleck had commissioned an armorer to make some adjustments to her plate armor for a better fit. Her battle axe still thrummed with the same magical power as ever, but alas, it only enhanced her fighting prowess to the level of an ordinary, mediocre fighter.
Down the excavated shaft to the second level they went, and then to the Temple of Fate for a spin on the Wheel of Fortune. Adrien was enthusiastic about the idea of hazing her own new "henchman", and Norman was reluctantly strapped to the great wheel using bits of rope to lengthen the straps. It wasn't entirely clear what blessing or curse the wheel bestowed upon him, although he did do a surprisingly nimble backflip when released from his bonds.
Then Gulleck decided that she might as well try out the wheel, since it was technically her first time in the dungeon. Round and round she spun, everything a blur except for the dispassionate gaze of the solemn goddess of Fate painted on the ceiling. The wheel spun down to a stop, and Gulleck was helped off the wheel, feeling oddly disoriented but unsure yet what effect it had had on her.
They all decided to head to the Goblin Market. I'm not sure why, because they knew it was nowhere near the full moon, when the market convenes. I think they just wanted to prank the goblins by messing around with the grandfather clock that marks time at the end of the market hall. As they made their way there, Gulleck began to feel very odd, and the others noted that she seemed to be about a foot shorter than they remembered! They passed through an old kitchen area with many cupboards and drawers. Simon used his ability to smell gold (acquired from the wheel of fortune some time ago) to sniff out a cast iron cauldron that had several sacks of gold and silver coins stuffed inside it. The cauldron itself had the words "Dinner is Served" written across it in Ancient Idalian, and when this was spoken aloud, from the bottom of the empty cauldron a thick, steaming hot gruel bubbled up. It looked quite disgusting and smelled bland, but Gulleck, nervous about her diminishing stature, decided to try a taste in hopes of curing whatever it was that afflicted her. She found that it completely satiated her hunger, but was so tasteless and disgusting of texture that she was cranky for the rest of the day.
They explored some areas of the caves that hadn't been mapped yet, and encountered a group of goblins that let them pass without trouble, and a half dozen angry rock baboons, from whom they beat a hasty retreat. By this point Gulleck had slowly shrunk down to about two feet tall, and had to be carried by Meat in order to keep up with the party. Eventually, they arrived at the Goblin Market. All was empty and still, apart from the loud ticking of the grandfather clock by the far wall. Caryatid, a wicked smirk twisting her lips, drew forth her wand of random magic and pointed it at the clock. A horrible green gas boiled forth from the tip of the wand and engulfed the far end of the market hall in a hazy cloud. Even from where they stood at the other end of the room, they could smell the horrible, nauseating stink of the gas.
"Ha! That'll go over well at the market!" Caryatid crowed, hoping the stinking cloud of gas would remain there permanently. (I had to go back to the original AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide to see what it says about the duration of a Stinking Cloud from the Wand of Wonder, and in the end ruled that it had the same duration as the spell, cast by a high-level magic-user. Alas, by the time the Goblin Market reconvened, the cloud would have dissipated.)
Pleased with their prank against the goblins, the adventures returned to the surface. By the time they got home, Gulleck appeared to have stabilized at all of six inches tall. She was relieved that she was not going to fade away entirely, but it looked like they would have to spend at least part of the next session figuring out how to restore her to normal!
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