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Monday, March 1, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Dungeon Delving...
With their orc prisoner in tow, the group plunged into the caves in search of Grenyarna's shrines. The party had added to its membership Belial, a goblin warlock, as Buck and Misty rode off into the sunset.
Working their way through the caverns, the group was beset upon in the darkness by a group of devilish choking fiends: a choker and two darkmantles. In the chaos, the orc prisoner ran away. At a fork in the tunnel, the party chose to go down the path their orc guide had told them contained greater mystery and peril.
Sensing nearby magic, the group came upon a glowing purple patch of cave wall and the corpse of a fellow adventurer: Timonium the Dungeon-delver, from whom they extricated several treasures. Timonium warned that someone in the cave had betrayed him with his last will and testament. Studying the purple wall, Ragnar found a small button, which revealed a puzzle:
"I am found once per week, but never in a year; I am found twice per evening, but never in a day; I am found once per day, but never in a month."
After some scrupulous puzzle-solving, the group realize the answer was KEY.
They entered a shrine of Grenyarna, where Ragnar quickly gorged himself on some more fire water, gaining improved climbing ability. He continued to drink from the Grenyarna pool and experienced a vision wherein he saw a green-skinned kobold beckoning to the party for help.
The group went farther down the cave until they came to a vast chasm, with a 300 foot drop and groups of dire bats flying around through the skies. They turned back to the fork in the road, and continued down the other spur, presumably the way the orc went.
Shortly, the party was hailed upon with crossbow fire. They spied an orc encampment. Ragnar was lured into the open with promise of more fire water (which he drank, becoming an asthmatic). He collapsed and two orcs dragged him into a mine car, fleeing with their prisoner. The rest of the party jumped in a second car and chased them, like that scene from "Temple of Doom."
After an interminable fight, the party killed the orcs and recovered Ragnar ... just in time to find the kobold he'd seen in a vision: Ka'Bob.
They returned to Grenyarna's shrine, where Ka'Bob revealed his intention to revive the ancient deity with use of fell spells. The party had some internal debate, but turned on the vagabond. He turned invisible and slinked off.
The party chased him down the chasm, though Dimble stumbled and fell half the way. A dire bat followed him, but clever use of silence and light spells (as well as a few well-placed eldritch blasts) kept the dire bats at bay. The party found the cave of Belcher, the fire giant, who made a pact with them that he would give them the potion necessary to destroy Grenyarna's shrine if they brought him the heads of 10 dead grimlocks...
Working their way through the caverns, the group was beset upon in the darkness by a group of devilish choking fiends: a choker and two darkmantles. In the chaos, the orc prisoner ran away. At a fork in the tunnel, the party chose to go down the path their orc guide had told them contained greater mystery and peril.
Sensing nearby magic, the group came upon a glowing purple patch of cave wall and the corpse of a fellow adventurer: Timonium the Dungeon-delver, from whom they extricated several treasures. Timonium warned that someone in the cave had betrayed him with his last will and testament. Studying the purple wall, Ragnar found a small button, which revealed a puzzle:
"I am found once per week, but never in a year; I am found twice per evening, but never in a day; I am found once per day, but never in a month."
After some scrupulous puzzle-solving, the group realize the answer was KEY.
They entered a shrine of Grenyarna, where Ragnar quickly gorged himself on some more fire water, gaining improved climbing ability. He continued to drink from the Grenyarna pool and experienced a vision wherein he saw a green-skinned kobold beckoning to the party for help.
The group went farther down the cave until they came to a vast chasm, with a 300 foot drop and groups of dire bats flying around through the skies. They turned back to the fork in the road, and continued down the other spur, presumably the way the orc went.
Shortly, the party was hailed upon with crossbow fire. They spied an orc encampment. Ragnar was lured into the open with promise of more fire water (which he drank, becoming an asthmatic). He collapsed and two orcs dragged him into a mine car, fleeing with their prisoner. The rest of the party jumped in a second car and chased them, like that scene from "Temple of Doom."
After an interminable fight, the party killed the orcs and recovered Ragnar ... just in time to find the kobold he'd seen in a vision: Ka'Bob.
They returned to Grenyarna's shrine, where Ka'Bob revealed his intention to revive the ancient deity with use of fell spells. The party had some internal debate, but turned on the vagabond. He turned invisible and slinked off.
The party chased him down the chasm, though Dimble stumbled and fell half the way. A dire bat followed him, but clever use of silence and light spells (as well as a few well-placed eldritch blasts) kept the dire bats at bay. The party found the cave of Belcher, the fire giant, who made a pact with them that he would give them the potion necessary to destroy Grenyarna's shrine if they brought him the heads of 10 dead grimlocks...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Fort on the Frontier - in search of Grenyarna
Following the sneak-attack from the orcs in the cave the previous week, the party voted as to what course to take. Would they explore the tunnel deeper into the mountain, continue exploring the forest, or return to the Fort? The vote was for the forest.
After getting lost and stumbling into a fight with a snake-like monster, the party returned to the dryad to learn more about these goat-men; the dryad told them that the goat-men's god, Grenyarna, prefers to live underground and has many shrines scattered throughout the area. So the party went to the foot of the mountain range and began exploring, eventually finding a large rock with Grenyarna's eye symbol scratched into it.
Ragnar used his thief skills to find an entryway into the rock, leading down to a small underground shrine. The snake creature was there, which - still wounded - they slew. A goat-headed fountain sprayed bio-luminescent green water into a puddle. Next to the pool lay a skeletonized wizard holding a goblet. Naturally, Ragnar decided to use the goblet to drink from the bio-luminescent water, as did Dimble. It had mysterious effects on them ... and one other. Ragnar searched the small shrine some more and found an opening that he crawled into, revealing the lair of the snake-like creature ... large enough for both itself and a mate! The party fled.
The party continued searching until they returned to the cave where they'd slept two nights earlier. The party decided to stake the cave out, rather than sleeping inside it. After a few hours, a group of orcs entered the cave from the secret door. The party waited until they were drunk on grog and attacked in stealth, quickly dispatching all but one of them (named Hammy Orc, incidentally), who promised to take them to another shrine to Grenyarna...
After getting lost and stumbling into a fight with a snake-like monster, the party returned to the dryad to learn more about these goat-men; the dryad told them that the goat-men's god, Grenyarna, prefers to live underground and has many shrines scattered throughout the area. So the party went to the foot of the mountain range and began exploring, eventually finding a large rock with Grenyarna's eye symbol scratched into it.
Ragnar used his thief skills to find an entryway into the rock, leading down to a small underground shrine. The snake creature was there, which - still wounded - they slew. A goat-headed fountain sprayed bio-luminescent green water into a puddle. Next to the pool lay a skeletonized wizard holding a goblet. Naturally, Ragnar decided to use the goblet to drink from the bio-luminescent water, as did Dimble. It had mysterious effects on them ... and one other. Ragnar searched the small shrine some more and found an opening that he crawled into, revealing the lair of the snake-like creature ... large enough for both itself and a mate! The party fled.
The party continued searching until they returned to the cave where they'd slept two nights earlier. The party decided to stake the cave out, rather than sleeping inside it. After a few hours, a group of orcs entered the cave from the secret door. The party waited until they were drunk on grog and attacked in stealth, quickly dispatching all but one of them (named Hammy Orc, incidentally), who promised to take them to another shrine to Grenyarna...
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Cult of Car-Ob
After having completed the quest to the House of Menander, the Elf Bard began seeing visions of things and suggested to the party that they return to the evil temple under the city that they had found through the rat tunnels and the crypts of the de la Peur family.
The party, comprised of Bard, Don "Dwarfo", Artemis Ridcully, Hamfast "Hammy" Gordlington, and Minz, the newcomer dwarf that befriended Blake and Larry on a trip to a ruins in the South, entered into the windy rat tunnels and emerged into the temple complex. Upon entering the main temple area, Bard went berserk, attacking the statue of the giant eye with much fervor and recklessness. Cutting chunks of statue away, his newly found sword-blade began to peel and the shiny coating began to chip away, revealing a rune-covered black blade underneath.
The racket drew the attention of the evil priest who emerged from behind the curtain and re-animated the skeletons the party had destroyed in their previous entre into the temple. After a hard-fought battle, the skeletons and priest were defeated. When Minz began removing the priests platemail for his own use, the party recognized the priest as the man who escaped in their battle with the snake Cult of Car-Ob. Interestingly, he bore the arms and symbols of the frog-man statue, rather than the snakes worshipped by the cult.
Bard seemed to have an uncanny ability to detect things, including secret doors and the party discovered a secret chamber behind the curtain that they had previously missed. Inside the chamber, they found many unholy religous trappings. Searching further, they found the priests chambers and in it, a book, a potion (which Bard drank and was henceforth rather minute, standing a mere 6" tall) and a collection of gold.
Eventually, they also found stairs which led down and a passage to an abandoned house in the shanty-town outside the city walls.
Exploring the hallway outside the temple, they found a large, burned-out area, but also the rotting remains of a bathhouse. In the bathhouse, they fought a strange tentacled beast and recovered a quiver of 10 magic arrows which Bard had discerned lie beneath the water's murky surface. Escaping the tentacled beast, they returned to the city - through the rat tunnels to avoid the hefty tariffs they would surely be forced to pay at the city gate.
The party, comprised of Bard, Don "Dwarfo", Artemis Ridcully, Hamfast "Hammy" Gordlington, and Minz, the newcomer dwarf that befriended Blake and Larry on a trip to a ruins in the South, entered into the windy rat tunnels and emerged into the temple complex. Upon entering the main temple area, Bard went berserk, attacking the statue of the giant eye with much fervor and recklessness. Cutting chunks of statue away, his newly found sword-blade began to peel and the shiny coating began to chip away, revealing a rune-covered black blade underneath.
The racket drew the attention of the evil priest who emerged from behind the curtain and re-animated the skeletons the party had destroyed in their previous entre into the temple. After a hard-fought battle, the skeletons and priest were defeated. When Minz began removing the priests platemail for his own use, the party recognized the priest as the man who escaped in their battle with the snake Cult of Car-Ob. Interestingly, he bore the arms and symbols of the frog-man statue, rather than the snakes worshipped by the cult.
Bard seemed to have an uncanny ability to detect things, including secret doors and the party discovered a secret chamber behind the curtain that they had previously missed. Inside the chamber, they found many unholy religous trappings. Searching further, they found the priests chambers and in it, a book, a potion (which Bard drank and was henceforth rather minute, standing a mere 6" tall) and a collection of gold.
Eventually, they also found stairs which led down and a passage to an abandoned house in the shanty-town outside the city walls.
Exploring the hallway outside the temple, they found a large, burned-out area, but also the rotting remains of a bathhouse. In the bathhouse, they fought a strange tentacled beast and recovered a quiver of 10 magic arrows which Bard had discerned lie beneath the water's murky surface. Escaping the tentacled beast, they returned to the city - through the rat tunnels to avoid the hefty tariffs they would surely be forced to pay at the city gate.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Snurdle Snurdle Snurdle
Our band of intrepid adventurers, having lived it up for a week on the town, were meeting up back in the common room of the Silver Eel, within the Dark City District. Having relayed their wild tales to each other, someone mentions that he overheard that a particular city guard by the name of Kal Borzio was a particularly corrupt fellow. The newest member of the group - and old "friend" of Artemis, Snyrdle Syrdleson*, an odd and particularly cruel and cowardly man suggested that everyone get together and rob Kal's house while he's on duty. The party, in a bit of a criminal mood (Hammy having just been released from prison) agreed.
The party set out to gather intelligence on the guardsman - first seeking out some off duty guard at the tavern. Artemis buddied up to a drunk guardsman named Eulor, extracting information from him about Kal with regular and magical means. Kal, it seemed, was a particularly corrupt and vile guardsman - even judged against the low standards set by the main of the city guard who generally accept bribes and look the other way when their "friends" are pursuing their "business". Additionally, Eulor relayed that Kal often hung out at the Green Dragon Inn - a favorite haunt of the guard when off duty.
The party headed over to the Green Dragon Inn and easily spotted Borzio and his compatriots. After watching during a long night of drinking, they followed him home. Along the way, a group of shady characters approached him and Blake (or was it Larry?) overheard that they were expressing concern that Borzio may not be able to hold up his end of the bargain. Eventually, he appeased their concerns and headed home and fell asleep in a drunken stupor.
Staking out his house, the sneaky Blake (or was it Larry?) crept in through the window and inspected his home. Finding the keys on the bedside table, he opened the footlocker, removing a large bag of coins and some paperwork. In the meantime, Snyrdle set up a rope across the front door for Borzio to trip on upon awakening. Upon returning to the inn, the party found the bag full of silver and the paperwork to include references to many shady characters and links between them.
The next day, the party split in two. Half followed Borzio around and the other half went to talk to Eulor, who cautioned them against getting involved with Borzio and his shady dealings. Eventually, Borzio and his guardsman crew headed to a mansion in the weathly district of the city. The party lied in wait while it appeared that Borzio and his men were doing private guard duty at the house.
After some time, Borzio headed out of the house and headed into the stables. The shady characters the party had seen before headed out of the stables, through the gate and (with ropes) up and over the wall of the next property. In the meantime Blake (or was it Larry?) headed into the stables and found a trap door in the floor which led to some tunnels below.
Eventually the robbers returned, their bags full of loot. The party couldn't decide what to do. Should they kill the thieves and take their stuff? Kill Borzio? Shout out the alarm for the city guard? Turn Borzio in? Their indecision left a sizeable gap between themselves and the thieves who by now were down in the tunnels below. They waited for Borzio to return to the stables, knocked him out then once again couldn't decide what to do. Eventually, they tied him up and headed into the tunnels themselves.
Finding themselves in the sewers, they eventually were able to track down the band of thieves, whom they engaged in combat. After many arrows were fired, they recovered the stolen loot and looked for an exit from the sewers. The emerged into the moonlight near the city market and headed back to the inn.
* Note: I can't remember Snyrdle's real last name, but Snyrdleson goes so well that that's what I'm calling him for now. Here's what Snyrdle looks like:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/PeterLorre.jpg
The party set out to gather intelligence on the guardsman - first seeking out some off duty guard at the tavern. Artemis buddied up to a drunk guardsman named Eulor, extracting information from him about Kal with regular and magical means. Kal, it seemed, was a particularly corrupt and vile guardsman - even judged against the low standards set by the main of the city guard who generally accept bribes and look the other way when their "friends" are pursuing their "business". Additionally, Eulor relayed that Kal often hung out at the Green Dragon Inn - a favorite haunt of the guard when off duty.
The party headed over to the Green Dragon Inn and easily spotted Borzio and his compatriots. After watching during a long night of drinking, they followed him home. Along the way, a group of shady characters approached him and Blake (or was it Larry?) overheard that they were expressing concern that Borzio may not be able to hold up his end of the bargain. Eventually, he appeased their concerns and headed home and fell asleep in a drunken stupor.
Staking out his house, the sneaky Blake (or was it Larry?) crept in through the window and inspected his home. Finding the keys on the bedside table, he opened the footlocker, removing a large bag of coins and some paperwork. In the meantime, Snyrdle set up a rope across the front door for Borzio to trip on upon awakening. Upon returning to the inn, the party found the bag full of silver and the paperwork to include references to many shady characters and links between them.
The next day, the party split in two. Half followed Borzio around and the other half went to talk to Eulor, who cautioned them against getting involved with Borzio and his shady dealings. Eventually, Borzio and his guardsman crew headed to a mansion in the weathly district of the city. The party lied in wait while it appeared that Borzio and his men were doing private guard duty at the house.
After some time, Borzio headed out of the house and headed into the stables. The shady characters the party had seen before headed out of the stables, through the gate and (with ropes) up and over the wall of the next property. In the meantime Blake (or was it Larry?) headed into the stables and found a trap door in the floor which led to some tunnels below.
Eventually the robbers returned, their bags full of loot. The party couldn't decide what to do. Should they kill the thieves and take their stuff? Kill Borzio? Shout out the alarm for the city guard? Turn Borzio in? Their indecision left a sizeable gap between themselves and the thieves who by now were down in the tunnels below. They waited for Borzio to return to the stables, knocked him out then once again couldn't decide what to do. Eventually, they tied him up and headed into the tunnels themselves.
Finding themselves in the sewers, they eventually were able to track down the band of thieves, whom they engaged in combat. After many arrows were fired, they recovered the stolen loot and looked for an exit from the sewers. The emerged into the moonlight near the city market and headed back to the inn.
* Note: I can't remember Snyrdle's real last name, but Snyrdleson goes so well that that's what I'm calling him for now. Here's what Snyrdle looks like:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Tales to Astonish!
The expedition ... continues
Behold, my friends! Come hear the tale of adventures from the years, the days, of yesterday -- adventurers whose bravery did not depend on things like feats, or race/class distinction, or even double-digit hit points.
These brave and hardy adventurers continued their adventure on the dangerous side of the River Shrill. Two elves (Illuminar, also known as Balthazar, and Gildor Von Dandelioneater), two men (Benedict the Pious and Emirol the Pathetic), and a dwarf (Balin the Illiterate) were joined by Galeena the Graceful, a sagacious, if self-described ditzy cleric. (Though no one knows where she came from or how she got there.)
Left to right: Galeena, Balin, Benedict, Emirol, Gildor, Illuminar - plotting an intelligent, cogent strategy They searched through an abandoned town, finding naught but rot, rats, and a residue of a once great civilization. (They also found statues marked with circled-stars and secret doors.) Balin the Illiterate, who seemed to assume a more devil-may-care attitude toward life, took to chopping doors down rather than opening them. In his haste, he split off from a party. "Balin, I shall not leave you alone, unaided," Benedict said. They were set upon by a nest of rats, who defeated and devoured them.
Emirol, Galeena, and Benedit - true heroes
Meanwhile, the rest of the party was exploring the rooftop of another building, and continued exploring the ruins. Upon finding a bubbling fountain-stream, Gildor - his elf-kinship to the nature world roused - rushed to slake his thirst. But bepoisoned he was! and lost a hit point -- permanently.
Benedict, Illuminar, Emirol - three great sages of days long gone"Where are the other two?" asked Illimunar, adding, "I'm sure they're alright." They circled around until they discovered Balin's and Benedict's corpses. Overruling Gildor's idea to use the bodies as decoys against some later foe, Galeena had them buried and performed a funerial ceremony: "May your spirits soar, amen," she said. The threnody of our morning stretched to the farthest corner of the generic world in which we live.
To mourn his fallen friends, Illuminar paints his sword - TruthSeeker - blackest blackWe searched through piles of garbage, finding some baubles and treasure amid the ruination. We found an ivory tube containing a scroll of three cleric spells, a mighty find.
"We'll find those devils..."
Then we heard through a door mighty arguing. We investigated, casting open the door -- two OGRES! Alas, alack, fear, fire, foes!!! We engaged them and, despite their numerous hit points, defeated them. (In 1st edition, monsters didn't get strength bonuses to damage.) We looted their lair, finding much gold. An imaginary mounted paladin came by and made reference to his many feats. "Are you from the future?" asked Illuminar...
"Take that, foul villain!"
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