Session 24: In the Arms of Hulvor

Time: 12/26/22  - 1/6/23 active 1/7/23

PCs: Xavier (fighter), Cracaryn (elf ranger), Ellin (thief), Reese (elven enchanter), Storm (paladin), Colton (thief)

I was certain we’d see Team B back in the saddle for this session, but the PCs juked me and opted for Team C, the newly generated characters from the half-session they played after their other characters were tried and convicted of war crimes against Teutch the Alchemist (Patron Mage). The best laid plans, etc etc.

They started in Northbridge, the newly liberated vassal domain of Lord Issac (Patron Paladin). They had some hooks, one about a goblin depot that supplies raiding parties along the river and one about a dungeon that the locals had dubbed “Goose Chase Warren” during the occupation due to the nature of the place. Tribes of competing beastmen sent war parties to search for some powerful artifact deep within the dungeon. It’s been happening for years and they’ve never found it.

The party seemed split between Xavier, an aspiring paladin inspired by Lord Issac’s defeat of Sir Oscar back in April, wanting to go to the Warren to destroy beastmen and using Cracaryn’s tracking ability to find lairs since they got lucky successfully defeated a lair the previous session with a 50% casualty rate acceptable losses. They chose a little of both, to search for lairs on the way to where they believed the Warren to be. Such compromise! Such teamwork!

The Warren was rumored to rest along the Yellow River which fed the Teesar Torrent from the north/northeast. There was also a road in disrepair due to the occupation headed north out of town. The party opted to follow the road resulting in a relatively peaceful few days until the road ran out, the materials having been torn up for use by locals or something long ago. They decided to cut towards the river and start searching for lairs, quickly finding one thanks to Cracaryn’s tracking.

They crept up on a grove of abnormally large willow trees, certain that something laired there but not sure what. One of the trees opened its eyes, followed by many others. Reese had a conversation with the Treants for a bit, learning that beastmen did sometimes come from the north and east but have learned that this grove is not for firewood. They learned the grove was a collective named Willow and didn’t have much else for them so bounced.

The next hex they searched and found a BROWN DRAGON LAIR predetermined point of interest for this hex. Whew that could have been a disaster! Instead, they actually found an ancient monument to a battle fought on this site like 500 years ago. It was a 25 foot tall stone plinth with some faded/weathered writing on it and a bunch of more recent beastman graffiti marring its face. The party put their heads together on what they could learn about the monument. They didn’t have any Loremastery or Knowledge proficiencies but they did have open language slots, Reese choosing to use one of his on Oeridian so he could at least try to read the statue.

He was able to piece together that it was dedicated to Hulvor the Invincible, a hero of Heironeous that had an epic last stand against Frutzii invaders back when the Bone March was part of the Great Kingdom. During this description I misspoke and said “tomb”, which I think tipped my hand that there was more to it. They eventually searched and found the latch that would reveal Hulvor’s tomb by sliding the large monument away. Unfortunately the whole thing had shifted over the years with a lean, making it difficult to budge. 

It was at this point that Xavier the Lawful fighter and aspiring paladin contested the tampering with and perceived grave robbing of Hulvor the Invicible. The party, disparate group of random adventurers, people present at the scene(?) argued about the steps to take next. The elves lobbied for cracking it open to see what was inside, trying to convince Xavier that whatever items might be there were surely meant for him. Xavier was unmoved. Then Reese opted to cast Charm Person on Xavier in an attempt to sway him.

Charm Person in ACKS states that the target will spin every interaction with the caster in the most positive light possible, but will not take acts that are personally harmful or completely against the target’s moral code. Using this logic, Xavier tried to be a good sport and go along without compromising his morals too hard, agreeing to help his new BFF Reese open the tomb for… reasons. They tethered up the donkey and put their backs into it and knocked over the top of the monument, revealing the tomb and its inhabitant underneath.

Looting the hero’s tomb was a bridge too far for Xavier, however, and he refused to allow the party to take the items, instead insisting that they be taken to Northbridge for Sir Eversly (vassal Issac) to rule on their fates. In the tomb were a sword, shield, and plate armor along with Hulvor himself. Arguments were made to at least take the items and wash them off in the river to see what they might look like, several of the items being removed and held by various PCs, but this did not sway the fighter.

After quite a while of back and forth, eventually Xavier had said all that he would say on the matter and declared “roll initiative”, presumably taking some aggressive action to prompt this. We’ll never know, because the ranger won initiative and plugged him with an arrow. Xavier used a fate point to stabilize and laid there walking wounded, mumbling “take them to Northbridge!” Reese at this point said he would nurse Xavier back to health. Cracaryn argued that if Xavier lives he’ll just hunt them down for the items and if Reese wouldn’t budge then he had to go too, so a new initiative was rolled and the ranger plugged the enchanter. He then stacked their bodies on top of Hulvor in the tomb and coup’d them both with his spear, I think more out of frustration about how out of hand it had gotten than anything else.

Cracaryn and Ellin scooped the loot, including the dead PCs items, and considered this a profitable run so left back to Northbridge, not to speak with Sir Eversly but to catch a caravan back to a real market in Talston where they could have the items identified and sold. The two dead players rolled up new PCs, a Paladin and a Thief, and joined on for some shopping! They went from Talston to Deinwick and back to Talston, eventually settling on consigning the items for sale at Lord Issac’s “Talston Arms Depot” with the shopkeep Sears Roebuck.

They also bought a treasure map from Sears which apparently led to the site of a lost traveler who was turned to stone by a giant lizard thing. This traveler had a very fine fur coat worth 2000gp! They briefly considered researching the potential encounter but nah. Off they went, braving the Swamp of No Hope to reach Riverstride and launch from there. They were lucky this time, only seeing some giant tiger beetles that they were able to evade.

Cracaryn was able to track down the Basilisk lair a few days later and they hatched a plan to try to lure the only critter that they saw basking in the sun on top of the rocky den. I ruled basilisks have terrible eyesight, I think due to being primarily subterranean or something? I don’t remember, but they could observe the critter from distance without it really seeing them. They set up to shoot arrows at it then try to run, leaving the ranger to hide in bushes well off to the side then sneak in and loot it later.

Ellin and Colton shot at it from horseback so they’d be ready to move, but not having riding proficiency were unable to move in the same round. Initiative was rolled, the lizard charged at them, and no one SAID ANYTHING ABOUT AVERTING THEIR EYES, despite claims that “Oh I can’t control my eyeballs now oh ok” from Colton 😀. So many petrification saving throws were rolled, with two horses and Storm the paladin failing and turning to stone statues. The thieves ran and tried to kite the lizard away but after a few rounds it realized it couldn’t catch them so it turned back. 

Meanwhile, Cracaryn realized 3 more of the big lizards had come out of the den. He waited a long time for them to settle back in then met at the predetermined rendezvous and went back to Newbridge and called it a session.

Towards the end of the session, Issac’s player messaged me his sentencing for the convicted members of Team A so we read it out loud for the first time at the table for full effect.

Xavier/Colton/Grim’s player wanted to try to escape from his cell in Talston as Grim, insisting he’d get a chance when they came to get him or something. Whatever we had time left so we ran it. Turns out the 3rd level unarmed assassin just couldn’t get around the several guards with clubs. He was killed in the attempt, which seemed to be an acceptable result for the player so hooray I guess!

Musings:

The session started off alright, had some hooks, looked for adventure. It devolved pretty quickly when the PVP started which led to a poor mood at the table among the players. It’s important to note three generally accepted forms of D&D party: co-op, working together to achieve goals; partial co-op, working together in session to achieve goals but understanding that some “soft pvp” can happen in downtime like misinformation, spying, thieving, or other actions that might be counter to other PC goals; or PVP where anything goes up to and including killing each other in session or in downtime.

I consider this group to have been running at a partial co-op level thus far, with a prime example being Team A attempting to submarine Team B’s prior work with Nekane. But with new players coming and going and different game events transpiring it seems as though that may have shifted. I want to run the kind of game that the table wants to run. If they want full PVP then ok. But we need to decide on that vibe for the group before it happens. It will help players guide their PCs if they know “Ok killing each other isn’t an option, how else can we get around X conflict?”

It was an oversight of mine to not address this sooner. I have a tendency to be very hands off when it comes to player agency. I do not want anyone to feel as though I’m influencing their actions as the DM. Before the next session we’ll get a consensus and hopefully get everyone on the same page to avoid surprise bad feelings in the future.

Sentencing and Execution:

This was the Sentencing handed down by Lord Issac at the end of the session followed by the Execution the next day:

Opening Statement: Mr. Redcorn, Lady Gwendolyn, Mr Oggie and Mr. Grimm. You stand before this court having been convicted of various crimes relative to an attack directed toward an otherwise peaceful village involving numerous murders and wanton mayhem. Our purpose today is to hand down the sentences for your individual crimes. 

(At this point Issac rises, kisses the Heironious symbol on the pommel of his sword and bows in silent prayer. Having done so he reseats and addresses the defendants.)

As I call your name please rise to hear your sentence. 

Mr. Grim. You have been convicted of Murder, Mayhem, Arson and Conspiracy to commit the afore listed. You have shown no remorse nor have you voiced any regret for your egregious actions. In fact testimony suggests that you celebrated your crimes. I am left to conclude that you would happily repeat similar crimes in similar circumstances. Therefore, I sentence you to execution by hanging. This to be carried out by Lord Tolston’s jailer between dawn and the noon hour tomorrow at his convenience. 

(Led back to the dungeon)

Mr. Oggie, You have been convicted of Murder, Mayhem, Arson, Conspiracy, and Perjury. You have shown no remorse or regret for your heinous actions. In fact you have shown contempt for these proceedings and demonstrated that you believe yourself to stand apart from the law and the norms of civilized behavior. I am certain that you pose an ongoing danger to members of this realm and any other peaceful individuals unfortunate enough to cross your path. Therefore, I sentence you to execution by hanging. This to be carried out by Lord Tolston’s jailer between dawn and the noon hour tomorrow at his convenience. (edited)

(Led back to the dungeon)

Mr. Redcorn, you have been convicted of Vandalism, Malicious Trap Setting, Conspiracy and Being an Accessory after the fact of murder. You have acquitted yourself well during these proceedings if only to preserve your own life. I find that the placing of deadly magical traps in such a way that  any innocent person might be maimed or killed is an unforgivable action. For this crime I sentence you to have all the fingers but not the thumb of your non-dominant hand shortened by one joint. This to remind you of your thoughtless crime. For the crime of vandalism, and this at a religious site I might add, I sentence you to receive 20 lashes beneath the gallows where hang your former comrades. This to remind you not only of your crime but also to choose your friends more wisely. For the remainder of your crimes and in view of your mitigating behavior and cooperation I sentence you to receive a quest to be determined and explained at a later hearing. 

(Led back to the dungeon)

Lady Gwendolyn, you have been convicted of Conspiracy and  Being an Accessory after the fact of murder. Yours are not capital crimes and you have shown what I believe to be true regret. You have demonstrated remorse and have gone so far as to publicly, with the use of your own money, established a charity aimed at the victims of these and crimes like them. Your actions and demeanor have weighed heavily in mitigating your sentence. You are, however, guilty and the law will out in the end. Therefore I sentence you to 10 lashes under the gallows of your former comrades so that you might remember your crimes and choose better friends. Also, I sentence you to receive a quest to be determined and explained at a later hearing.

(led back to the dungeon) (edited)

To the court and public in general I rule that all the gains recovered pursuant to these crimes are declared property of the realm save that 25% be held in escrow pending a pleading by members of the aggrieved village or tribe. This hearing to be conducted if/when such individuals make themselves known. This proceeding is at its end. Go with Heironious. 

I certify that this is a true and verbatim transcript of the hearing as noted on 12/26/22.

Ishley Bishley

Chief Scribe of Lord Tolston

Lord Issac’s Justice: 12/27/22 - Throughout the afternoon on 12/26, servants of Talston Castle are seen scrubbing the weathered gallows that stand resolute against sun, snow, and injustice in the courtyard outside of the keep. Lord Talston’s Executioner goes over the mechanisms and actions then consults a scribe waiting nearby. He begins tying each of the dozen nooses to specific lengths and numbers of loops then testing them obsessively using sandbagged dummies. As dusk approaches, guards are stationed on the gallows and the winter sun sets on their polished steel helms.

The following morning at dawn, the gathering crowd of peasants feel before they hear a martial drumbeat that announces the arrival of Lord Issac de Molay of Riverstride. The Paladin and official of record for the proceedings takes the Judge’s box as the drum corps forms up nearby. Lord Talston is not in attendance. Shortly thereafter, the beat changes to announce the arrival of the executioner, who the crowd boos and jeers as is their privilege as the innocent. Excitement builds as the crowd swells. Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd.

The drummers cease. Soon after a procession of criminals is escorted out under a hail of fierce boos, scattered cheers, and rotten vegetables. In the lead are two guards carrying a body on a litter. They mount the gallows and string his limp corpse into the leading noose, followed by a small handful of various ne’er-do-wells who take the next nooses in line. Murmurs in the crowd identify these as Grim the Assassin and his crew.

Next a dwarf is tugged, fighting the whole way, onto the gallows where he rails against the injustice of the trial and the kangaroo human court that he was subjected to. He struggles with the guards as they try to put him in his noose, eventually being doubled over by a gut punch that stuns him long enough to secure the rope. He continues his tirade, hoarse from repeating himself for days on end, as the crowd laughs and boos at him. He weathers the indignity of hurled tomatoes and insults by attempting to shout over them.

The remaining nooses are filled with other criminals of the Lord Talston’s gaoler, ragged dirty nondescript men who squint in the light and have clearly been waiting a while for their time in the sun. Other prisoners are kept chained and under guard nearby, either waiting their turn on the gallows or being forced to witness the executions in person.

The Executioner mounts the gallows next, pacing precisely to the mechanism and looking to Lord Issac, who glares solemnly over the crowd until they hush. The Judge nods to the Executioner who throws the lever, each prisoner dropping and Oggie the Dwarf’s hoarse protestations cutting off abruptly as the carefully applied art of the Executioner ensures that each neck breaks on the drop.

The crowd goes wild and Lord Issac grimaces in distaste at their uncouth behavior as the Executioner taps a careful time out on the nearby post of the gallows. After a few minutes, the bodies are released and confirmed dead then carried away. The waiting prisoners are led to the foot of the gallows and tied to rings installed there. The Executioner produces a long whip and proceeds to apply it to each of them in turn, the most notable of the punished a Flan man and blonde woman who are cleaner and in better shape than their fellows. Murmurs from the crowd identify them as John Redcorn III and Gwendolyn the Goat and gasps accompany each lash. Even great adventurers aren’t above the Law? Suddenly the ordeal is a bit much even for the peasants, winces replacing boos and grumbling building into the silence as the Executioner completes his deed. It’s all fun and games until they see the blood and hear the cries of pain.

He rolls up the lash and the prisoners are escorted back to the dungeon. The drum corps sounds out the exit for Lord Issac and the Executioner and then the crowd disperses, sharing uneasy looks and eager to get back to their day to day lives.

Xp from Kills:    0

Xp from Loot:    0

Total XP:    0

Cuts:    6

PC:    0%    0    5%    0    10%    0

Hench:    0%    0    5%    0    10%    0

Session 23: Appeals for Justice

Time: 12/17/22  - 12/17/22 active 1/17/23?

PCs: Gwendolyn, Redcorn, Grim, Oggie

Surviving Hench: Cemil, Amadayo, Mahin, Paulus, Iylul, Pablo

You’ll recall Team A’s activity from a few sessions back ended with the destruction of a settlement that was vassal to Teutch the Alchemist (Patron Mage). The Team fled the area and attempted to lay low while certain that they would learn of their PCs deaths during the down time between sessions.

Teutch, while powerful, is not omniscient. He’s got to gather and act on intel just like anyone else, which is exactly what he did. He personally rode out with some retainers and troops to investigate the scene of what has since been dubbed “Wounded Ear”. He and his retainers have quite a bit of tracking ranks between them so they snooped around and found some evidence that corroborated Fernblithe’s claims. While investigating the inside of the huge petrified tree that acted as the fortification of the place, Lockleaf (Teutch hench elf ranger ??) stumbled on a Glyph of Warding trap that exploded in his face, causing a lot of damage and slowing the search.

Despite the setbacks, Teutch and his team were able to track the perpetrators back to their campsite, where they discovered evidence of the animals that Redcorn is known to run with including a griffon. They followed the party’s trail through the hills but lost it as it approached the area around the Zarate Vault new and improved Vault of Nekane the Great (Patron Vaultguard, welcome!). Considering Teutch’s history with the ornery lil fella, he and the boys pulled off and considered the options.

Teutch, rather than make assumptions of Team A’s guilt and launch into a vigilante campaign of magical counter-murder, chose instead to fly off and visit Lord Issac (Patron Paladin) and appeal to Issac’s well-known sense of honor by describing the unprovoked attack against his elven vassal and the evidence that he had discovered thus far. He requested the ability to speak with Team A to get to the bottom of the events and gain justice if necessary. Issac agreed to oversee this and sent out notices to many local settlements that if the party of Team A were seen then they were to be detained for questioning.

Meanwhile after a few days' rest to heal up, Lockleaf was on the party’s trail from Rushford, gathering rumors to be able to track them through the cities of Rushford, Deinwick, and Talston. He may have caught up to them on his own but the Law found them first in Talston, where they were trying to lay low and get to Redcorn’s farmstead that he rents from Issac in Riverstride. Gwendolyn had dyed her hair and changed her scarf, but the rest of the party was still pretty conspicuous, particularly considering the animals that they had in tow. A local platoon sergeant named Gregor located them at their inn and asked them politely to not leave the city at the request of Lord Issac. 

Up to this point, no one except Teutch really suspected them of any wrong-doing and due to the relatively advanced levels of some of the PCs they were being afforded the benefit of the doubt. No dragging them to jail or posting watchers on their inn.

The party agreed to wait for Issac and carried out some basic downtime stuff. All except Gwendolyn who was feeling pretty guilty about the whole thing. She chose to found the Elven Abuse Rehabilitation Society, or EARS, by purchasing a local building and filling it with elf-friendly amenities and caretakers to see to the battered or abused elves of Talston. Reminded me of the Mitch Hedberg joke about frogs in jars. She also had fliers printed and passed around town. She hoped that this would be seen as a genuine attempt at showing remorse if it came to it. Which it did.

The next day Gregor showed up to escort them to the Castle where they found a few companies of Issac’s cavalry and some magical goats with butterfly wings parked outside. They knew the goats belonged to Teutch or his henchmen and they exchanged some nervous looks. They were taken to the throne room where they had an audience with the Lord Talston, a very elderly noble who was Issac’s direct superior, Lord Issac, and Teutch the Alchemist. The rest of the Lord’s court looked on in curiosity, but the Lord Talston himself looked a little bored and ready to get this off of his plate.

Despite being the ranking official present, Lord Talston had very little to say, letting Issac run the show. Issac asked simply, “What happened?” Redcorn replied with a detailed report of every single thing as truthfully as he could remember, including identifying Grim and Oggie for the bloody scene at Wounded Ear. He also vocally and publicly renounced Teutch as deceitful and treacherous, citing again the murder of Daniel the Storm Giant. Teutch kept his big white hat pulled low over his eyes and remained silent and expressionless during the tirade and the court in attendance gasped at the dramatic scene.

Issac had the party taken to a conference room of sorts for holding. He then interviewed them individually, having them escorted one by one to an office where he, Teutch, and a couple guards waited in comfort. What follows is a summary of each individual deposition.

Oggie the Dwarf was brought in and had the shortest deposition by simply denying he was even there. He claimed the party picked him up in Deinwick on the way to Talston and he had no knowledge of anything about any elves. Name rank serial number, wasn’t me. Teutch whispered something to Issac during this (Fernblithe had identified the dwarf as being present with Team A), which the party made a big deal about witnessing Teutch speak for the first time since he only communicates in neon text that he flicks out with his fingers like a text message. During Issac and Teutch’s first meeting, Issac had forbidden the practice as “tiring and disrespectful”. “If the man came here to do parlor tricks, direct him to the inn to entertain there. If he intends to talk to me as a man should, by all means show him in.” Pretty sure I lol’d at that and it still makes me grin.

Oggie was brought in a second time and stuck to his guns. Name rank serial number, nope wasn't me. 

Grim the Assassin was next and he took a whole different approach. He admitted his full involvement and showed absolutely no remorse or concern for the deaths of the elves, who had been described as alien and otherworldly in the ACKS vein rather than the D&D vein of them being hippy humans with pointy ears. He said he was hired by Nekane to do a job and he did it. It’s not like he killed actual people. He also claimed that Redcorn was actually the one to burn the houses down. I mean, he had fire magic right? Had to be him. Issac commented, “Your lack of contrition is troubling” as Grim was dismissed back to the waiting area.

Gwendolyn the Bard is described as a disney princess with a big blonde braid and a scarf that she wears all the time. She had apparently changed her look for winter, dyeing her hair and changing scarf colors. For her deposition she handed out fliers for EARS and explained her involvement in the events, being very careful not to implicate anyone else in any other activities. “I looked away, I didn’t see anything but I can still hear their screams. That’s why I founded EARS as a way to give back to the elven community.”

Redcorn reiterated his original testimony, being as honest and detailed as he could be. He insisted on submitting himself to magical compulsion to prove his honesty but a cursory glance at easily accessible spells made it clear he had too many HD to be affected. Issac would just have to trust him or not. He offered his share of Nekane’s hefty payout to Issac as restitution. He also refuted Teutch again for good measure. Teutch ignored it.

They were all brought back to the throne room where Issac had a guard collect the rest of Nekane’s payout. Oggie still insisted he wasn’t there and guards had to physically search him for the diamonds. The dwarf maintained that he was paid the diamonds to join the party in Deinwick.

The party was informed that they would be held for UP TO a month in the dungeon at Talston while Issac deliberated and gathered more information as he felt necessary on the issue. Those with hirelings and charitable foundations would be allowed to conduct business with a court scribe that would be overseen by Issac’s people to reduce the chance of shenanigans. There was some grumbling about due process and what charges and whatever, where I reminded them that this was not Law and Order. While being dragged away Oggie called the proceedings unlawful and false and refuted Issac’s jurisdiction to sit in judgment on them. He again stated that he wasn’t even there.

Musings:

The move to appeal to Issac for justice was interesting, arguably more so than Teutch handling it himself. The players played the thing in character and wait now for Issac to decide their fates. More will follow on the decision and what led to it when we have a verdict.

I’m regularly surprised by what the players and patrons will say and do and am much more pleased with the outcomes of these sessions as a result of their play rather than having to determine it all as DM. Patron play is a must for organic world-building. Glad we’re adding more. The perpetual thorn in Teutch’s side just became a Patron himself in the form of Nekane the Great! I’m looking forward to their interactions in the weeks to come.

The actual session play of this session broke into two, as Team A got detained fairly early. The party, not wanting to waste session time, rolled up a Team C (!) and got underway, earning a bit of treasure and nearly dying as 1st level adventurers are known to do. We’ll summarize for brevity:

Thief, Elven Enchanter, Elven Ranger, and Fighter randomly determine starting location by rolling 1d6 for the 6 border forts along the river. They came up in Riverstride, which fit the Fighter’s backstory of witnessing Issac’s single combat and inspiring him to be a paladin, but he didn’t have whatever it is that it takes to be a paladin so he’s a fighter instead. 

They inspected the old kobold mine that Team A’s first few sessions were in but it was still tightly sealed so they went wandering for lairs at 1st level. They got a mission from Hakim the merchant to investigate something that was killing their deer, a much needed food source for the isolated merchant compound. The party’s ranger tracked to a spider lair in a wooded copse. They set fire to it and flushed out the spiders, who were panicked and downed the Fighter and Thief before fleeing from the flames. Fate points ruled the day there and they were able to loot the lair after the fire burned out, coming up with a decent haul. They limped back to Hakim, got paid, and traveled to Issac’s new holding Northbridge where they ended the session.

Musings: There was some grumbling about rolling up 3rd characters, but 1:1 time doesn’t care about your grumbling. Once they got rolling they had some fun, but I could tell the fate of Team A was distracting. We’ll see what kind of impact Team C may make on the future of Oberholt in sessions to come.

Team C: Xavier (fighter), Cracaryn (elf ranger), Ellin (thief), Reese (elven enchanter)

Xp from Kills:    0

Xp from Loot:    2585

Total XP:    2585

Cuts:    4

PC:    0%    1,293    5%    1,357    10%    1,422

Hench:    0%    646    5%    679    10%    711

The Verdicts:

These are the Verdicts that were handed down later in downtime by Lord Issac (Patron):

Opening Statement: For record I am Lord Issac de Molay, Lord of Rivestride and Newbridge. The charges being brought before me are varied and damning and I will rule on each charge individually. It must be noted that the impetus for this trial is a complaint by Teutch the Alchemist who at this date has no standing before this or any tribunal within the Realm. Therefore any awards of damages based upon Professor Teutch’s complaint will not be considered until or unless he becomes subject to and receives the protection of our laws. Provisions have been made to allow this and if Professor Teutch eventually becomes a subject he would be entitled to make a civil claim for damages and the transcript of this trial made available for any future hearings. A letter from Baron Heinrik states this and will be included in the transcript as Exhibit A. 

Now to the matters before us. When I say your name please rise to hear the charges against you and my verdict. Please know that outbursts against the court could produce further charges. 

Mr. Redcorn you are charged with capital murder, mayhem, vandalism, malicious trap setting, arson, conspiracy, and being an accessory after the fact. These are my verdicts

Capital murder - Not Guilty

Mayhem - Not Guilty

Vandalism - Guilty

Malicious Trap Setting - Guilty

Conspiracy - Guilty

Accessory After the Fact - Guilty

Lady Gwendolyn you are charged with capital murder, mayhem, arson, conspiracy, and being an accessory after the fact. These are my verdicts.

Capital Murder - Not Guilty

Mayhem - Not Guilty

Arson - Not Guilty

Conspiracy - Guilty

Accessory After the Fact - Guilty

Mr. Oggie you are charged with capital murder, mayhem, arson, conspiracy, perjury, contempt of court. These are my verdicts.

Capital Murder - Guilty

Mayhem - Guilty

Arson - Guilty

Conspiracy - Guilty

Perjury - Guilty 

Contempt of Court - Guilty

Mr Grim you are charged with capital murder, mayhem, arson, conspiracy, perjury, contempt of court. These are my verdicts. 

Capital Murder - Guilty

Mayhem - Guilty

Arson - Guilty

Conspiracy - Guilty

Perjury - Not Guilty

Contempt of Court - Not Guilty

Closing instructions: Insomuch as each of you has been found guilty of at least one crime which could result in imprisonment you will leave this place and be remanded over to Lord Talston’s gaoler. He will continue your incarceration until your sentencing is decided at which time you will be returned to hear your sentence. 

I certify that this is a true and verbatim transcript of the hearing as noted on 12/22/22.

Ishley Bishley

Chief Scribe of Lord Tolston 

 

Session 22: Plans? We Don’t Need Plans!

Time: 12/10/22  - 12/21/22 active 12/22/22

PCs: Blair, Bigtoe, Bralen, Bash (Cleric of Pholtus)

Surviving Hench: Abyan, Amelia, Jahanaray

Team B loaded up and must have asked me 5 times whether or not there were any birds or messengers or anything waiting for them from Teutch. I think they thought that he was going to hire them to find Team A after last session, but the Alchemist is keeping his thoughts and plans close to the vest so we’ll have to wait and see.

The party hired some hench in Deinwick then decided to do more economic stuff by heading to Talston and giving Bigtoe’s venturer hench a chance to establish market familiarity there. On their way back to Deinwick they ran across a hostile lawful NPC party. Turns out it was a posse led by a St Cuthbert cleric to arrest one of the party’s newly hired Chaotic henchmen. Some discussion was had about leniency and fair trials and such but Meguy of Cuthbert and his 18 cavalry weren’t having it. So they took Bigtoe’s fresh Fighter hench into custody, much to the dwarf’s dismay. His henchmen have been goin’ through it.

Back in Deinwick, Bralen and Bigtoe hired some henchmen that they had commissioned and then the party discussed what to do for the session. They didn’t really have any concrete hooks or plans so they set off for Teutchland to see what might be available there. Nothing much of interest happened on the road and they arrived, where they met a recently recovered Lockleaf who shared some information with them about the attack on Fernblithe’s settlement.

The party couldn’t help themselves so they went to talk to Fernblithe and made the right comments in the wrong tones like a bunch of smart ass PCs, giggling over poor Fernblithe’s predicament. They learned that Teutch was offering cash for the location of an elf lord or more cash to bring an elf lord to Teutchland. Much questions on where the elves hang out were met with the DM shrugging and saying “idk, the woods or something”.

Blair had a rumor about an elven city in the Loftwood far to the north, so they decided that might be an option. They hoofed it back to Deinwick to search for maps and information. Through rumor mongering and map research they found out a little more about Lunandthrir the Moon Home. They got a better map of the north of the region and a new rumor that if a tea is made from the leaves of the Moon Tree and drunk at a specific time of year it’ll make them more powerful. 

The party was satisfied and headed to Talston where they did the same thing, more maps and rumors and got some more information about the Bone March. Then they went north towards Riverstride to introduce themselves to Lord Issac and continue their journey to Loftwood. Unfortunately they had to pass through the swamp west of New Bridge and Riverstride Keep which is becoming known as the deadliest few hexes in the game.

In the first swamp hex, they came upon a giant crab spider lair. They were going to flee but several of their members were surprised so they stood and fought. After a brief combat, they realized two of their members, Blair and Jahanaray the Heironeous Hench, had been poisoned and would die in 1d4 (1) turn! They wracked their brains for options to combat the poison, sending Jahanaray into the spider lair to dig up their treasure in hopes of a cure. Unfortunately all that was in there was a bronze necklace.

Someone floated the idea of sucking out the poison, which I laughed at and determined sure why not. They could suck the poison out and have to make the save throw or die themselves. Bigtoe tried to convince Jahanaray the hench to do it for Blair since he was going to die anyway, but the cleric was too busy making his peace with this world and preparing for the next. Bash of the Blinding Light stepped up and bravely volunteered to do it for Blair and after much argument about how expensive it was to resurrect multiple people, did the deed and made the saving throw, saving Blair’s life. Jahanary expired but Bigtoe promised that he would have him Restored of Life and Limb when able.

The mission now was to get somewhere quick to Restore Jahanaray, so they booked it into the next swamp hex towards Issac who they were certain would Restore a fellow Heironeous follower. Nearly through the swamp, they surprised a group of Spectres, ghostly apparitions that resembled monks in a somber procession. Unfortunately some of their members were also surprised. While the more aware of their party fled for their lives, the heroic Bralen the Battle Mage stood his ground, casting Phantasmal Force to try to distract the undead with an image of a Sphinx landing and threatening them. The plan was to buy time for the members that couldn’t act in the first round to escape, which were Abyan the thief and Bash the cleric. 

Two of the spectres fell for it, entering imaginary combat with an imaginary foe, but the other three were not fooled and chased the three laggards on the next round. They had extremely fast flying speed so it was really more if the fleeing members could evade by dodging or whatever rather than outrun them. Unfortunately the evasion failed and the spectres attacked, vicious elongated claws reaching from their ghostly robes and terrifying fanged skulls grinning with the chance to drain two levels each hit from their victims. Yikes.

By randomly determining targets, Abyan the thief got 1 attack and Bralen got 2. Abyan was sliced open and killed with damage, falling from his horse with his head and neck twisted at a weird angle. Bralen survived the damage, but was drained of all levels, his lifeforce completely leaving his body as his desiccated corpse fell to the road. Bash escaped to join the party who continued to flee. In my mind, Spectres and ghosts and wights and whatnot are tethered to the places that they haunt, so I rolled a chance that the party was fleeing away from the tether which they were. Just before another round of attacks the spectres peeled off, hissing and ooooooing, having reached the end of their haunted area.

Team B raced to Riverstride and pleaded with Father Sebastian to Restore Jahanaray. Unfortunately, Sebastian wasn’t high enough level and Lord Issac confirmed that he had nothing available to restore anyone! Sebastian was able to provide a little healing and then the party weighed their options. Talston or Bellport were the next closest big markets, Talston being the closest but taking them back through the swamp. They decided to risk it because the longer someone’s dead the worse off the Restore is, so they rested and left at the crack of dawn “as fast as our horses will go”.

They passed the scene of the murder but the bodies were no longer there. Seems like there’s a spectre lair in that swamp swollen with Bralen the mage’s loot (Abyan didn’t have anything). They came across some hippogriffs that were flying in a V formation, but again Bash was surprised and left behind, where the hippogriffs surrounded him and eventually shook him down for his rations and his backpack. He snatched his holy book and took off, leaving his underwear and school books and whatever was in his pack behind. They got to Talson and paid for Jahanaray’s Restore. He chose to stay on with the party but the mage hench of Bralen’s bailed. The group decided to cut their losses and end the session there.

Musings:

This is one of those types of sessions that have turned out so poorly for the Dubzaron campaign on occasion, where there isn’t really a plan and/or a bad random encounter changes the whole session. I’ve mused on this before about how lucky the party has seemed to be with random encounters both in and out of dungeons but I’ve trusted that things would even out. I am occasionally accused of “trying to kill them” but I really just want to explore all the results that the dice and random tables generate, which we certainly got a different look at this time. Losing a leveled mage is always a bitch, but Bralen’s player dove right back in, rolling an Explorer I think to be played next session. It’ll be fun to see how the Team bounces back.

Xp from Kills:    152

Xp from Loot:    130

Total XP:    282

Cuts:    8

PC:    0%    71    5%    74    10%    78

Hench:    0%    35    5%    37    10%    39

Session 21: From Grinch to Goebbels

Time: 12/4/22  - 12/11/22 active 12/12/22

PCs: Gwen, Grim, John Redcorn, Oggie

Surviving Hench: amadayo, cemil, mahin, eylul, paulus, pablo

The session was played on Sunday 12/4/22 and for reasons that will become clear this report was held until after a reasonable time had passed for the game to catch up to the date. In the interests of a complete report, we are trusting the involved parties to play as straight as they’re able. As those involved are aspiring or established elite level gamers, I am unconcerned with this decision.

Team A was in the saddle for this session minus Max Bear, who was a last minute scratch due to RL scheduling (sad face). They picked up Oggie the Dwarven Vanguard (welcome!) in Talston, where they dithered for quite a while on what to actually do in the session. We’re getting a better handle on downtime stuff and will hopefully streamline session play to not include shopping and such in the very near future. More time for adventure!

After some rumoring and discussion and influence from having a dwarf in the party, they decided to head west in search of the Slate Clan, a once prominent dwarven clan that after an unknown event receded into secrecy and seclusion. Grim had a lead on a blacksmith that was creating a magic axe. Previous Sage advice led him to believe that Runestones that the Slate Clan were rumored to produce were needed for the axe’s creation and Oggie decided that his dwarf was a Slate Clan member! When he returned home the clan was gone and now he’s in search of their whereabouts. Who needs a 5 page backstory?

Off they went to the west, coincidentally in the direction of Team A’s most favorite weirdo wizard Teutch the Alchemist (Patron Mage ???). One might recall from previous session reports that Team A and Teutch did not end on the best of terms, each renouncing the other, but distance and time cooled the heat on that they hoped. To be safe, they planned to just skirt the tower and avoid any unpleasantness that might arise. 

While in Deinwick they discussed what options they might have to actually find the Slate Clan. The Blemu Hills were the target, which is a decently sized chain of hills and mountains along the Teesar. They wanted to narrow it down a bit so they hit on the idea of asking the only dwarf they were aware of in the area, The Great Nekane, about the Slate Clan. They hoped having Oggie the dwarf along and no elven sparkledust on them this time would help with relations. The first time didn’t go so well. 

Nekane is a Neutral dwarf known to be greedy and arrogant. He did not disappoint. Gwendolyn was able to bribe the party’s way into the Vault and gain audience with Nekane the Great, who is a swole dwarf with diamonds in his beard. None of the party had met him before but he was showing signs of aging since the last time someone saw him.

The party asked what they could think of regarding the Slate clan and Nekane’s reaction rolls were good so he told them what he knew, which wasn’t much in the way of specifics but did narrow their search down to a 5 hex cluster of mountains to the north. He advised they start at the source of the tributary river as a natural entry point into the mountains since searching for the Slate clan’s sekrit entrances would be an unreasonably dangerous gamble in the mountains. This is where things got spicy.

As an aside after dwarf business was situated, Team A, as they have been known to do from time to time, took it upon themselves to warn Nekane of the treacherous nature of Teutch the Alchemist. This is in response to Teutch having harvested Daniel the Storm Giant’s pituitary gland after the party made friends with him like idk 100 years ago. Many sessions back. However, Nekane actually knows Teutch unlike the other instances of this type of warning.

What’s interesting here is that now the party of Team A was actively working against the interests of the party of Team B, played by the same players as a result of random rumors leading them to Nekane and premier roleplaying. Bonkers.

Anyway, Nekane nodded knowingly and let on that he was dealing with Teutch but was already suspicious of him and his band of hooligans Team B, which included a frilly elf. But he had felt the risk was worth it due to the machinist’s promise of increased mining efficiency. Then someone in the party, I think it was Grim, asked if there were any missions that the party could do for Nekane.

This is a pivotal moment in the game where the DM, having no clue they were going to Nekane or what Nekane might want done, rolls some dice to see if the result is even worth thinking about. Naturally it was so I needed something Nekane was fired up over. His history of hating on Teutch’s hench Lockleaf and the elves and some recent developments in Teutchland told the story for me.

Nekane was uber offended by even more elves showing up basically on his doorstep, prancing around a huge petrified redwood tree that Team B had secured on behalf of Teutch a while back. He at first offered a pretty decent payout for the party to humiliate the elves before or during their holiday celebration at the winter solstice. In the back and forth on what this actually meant and after some pretty terrible reaction rolls, the party got him so fired up he offered even more cash to drive the elves off. The word devastation was floated by someone, they worked each other up over it, and off the party went to hassle some knife ears.

This was quite the departure from the dungeon delve that I was actually prepared for. I shot Teutch a message online for some quick deets on these elves as they were very new to his service and I couldn’t find specifics in his notes while the party made their plans. They traveled to the hex in question without much trouble and camped. In a nighttime aerial raid, Redcorn flew his griffon over and torched the elves’ enormous plastic ceremonial wreath that was hanging on the side of the redwood with their ladders leaned up against it as though they were recently decorating it for their holiday celebration. The Prelate cast Flame Strike which has a range of 60 ft and is a 10 ft diameter column of flame, so it gives off quite a bit of light. The elves identified the griffon and tried to shoot it, but were surprised and Redcorn won initiative so he outpaced the arrows and returned to camp.

The following morning the party, minus Redcorn and his animals, approached the tree under the guise of concerned adventurers. Good reaction rolls even with negatives for the scenario led Fernblithe the Spellsword to give them a brief audience while his warriors prepared to march off to Teutch to get assistance. There was some back and forth, “hey we saw the smoke” kind of thing, then the same offer of missions for hire that Grim had made to Nekane. The elves were all confused and devastated by their melted plastic wreath, looking horribly dejected. Fernblithe was focused only on this new threat of wizards on griffons and getting help from his Lord Teutch, so he waved them off. But the reaction was good enough he asked what they were called so he could know them again if needed. Like deer in headlights they uh’d and um’d until Grim said “Yeah we’re Team A”. Nice. smooth

They hustled back to the camp where Redcorn waited and quickly formed a plan to ambush the elves on their way to Teutch since they didn’t want to be associated with the vandalism. The chances of that were very slim unless Redcorn went alone on the griffon since the elves had light horses, knew the terrain, and the party’s camp was on the other side of the hex from the direction the elves were leaving in. Failing that, the party decided to opt into the devastation tactic for even more money. They descended on the very small fledgling settlement in and around the tree and found a few elven peasant families chilling doing peasant stuff. A hot debate was had again over what “devastation” meant, with Redcorn bowing out of the next actions. I think the phrase “I’m not going from Grinch to Goebbels” was used.

This is where we had a discussion about the nature of elves we were running with in Oberholt. I went with them being soulless faerie creatures of mystery and otherworldly nature, as alien to humans as orcs or dragons. See Poul Anderson’s Broken Sword or Lord Dunsany’s King of Elfland’s Daughter. Grim the Assassin was good with that and he and the boys merked the few elves present, put them all in the few little huts and burned everything that could be burned down. Slapping the soot off of his hands he looked around like, alright, let’s go get paid. Assassins, amirite? 

The mood in the party had changed a bit since they realized that they had essentially committed an act of war in Nekane’s name against Teutch the Alchemist, one of the two most powerful Patrons the PCs were aware of in the campaign. They hauled ass as fast as they could back to Nekane’s Vault where they got an audience the next day. The pressure was on to get back across the river and into human lands where they thought it’d be harder for Teutch to find and or kill them if it turned out that he blamed them for the atrocity.

The audience with Nekane was positive, where Grim handed over an idol of Correllon Larethion as proof of the deed and the dwarf lord paid them their blood money reward in the form of diamonds identical to the ones in his beard. The party described the scene of having ruined the elves’ holiday, witnessing their depression, and then burning the whole thing down which pleased Nekane, who shared some further details about Runestones with Grim. Grim instigated a cheer of “hip hip fuck Teutch, hip hip fuck elves!” to the delight of Nekane’s court and then the party beat feet ASAP back across the river, using the ferry at Rushford instead of Teutch’s bridge and fleeing to Deinwick to hide.

Musings:

I just… can’t… stop… laughing. Things really escalated quickly and Team A looks to lay low for a while. I feel bad for Oggie who it looked like was gonna get into some dwarf history for the campaign. But hey, big score and the only danger they’re in is future-them’s problem. See y’all next session!

Xp from Kills:    0

Xp from Loot:    25100

Total XP:    25100

Cuts:    14

PC:    0%    3,586    5%    3,765    10%    3,944

Hench:    0%    1,793    5%    1,883    10%    1,972 

Session 20: Modern Hospitals and the Monsters Who Run Them

Time: 11/19/22 - 11/22/22 active 11/23/22

PCs: Blair, Bigtoe, Braylen

Surviving Hench: Abyan

Back in the saddle after a few weeks off due to scheduling, Team B caught up on some downtime then decided to tackle a hook from Teutch the Alchemist. They followed a treasure map to a crumbled tower quite some distance from Teutchland but were graciously offered flying goats with butterfly wings for transportation. The intel they had on the place was that it was an old experimental ground for a mad wizard who specialized in Fear based spells. Functionally it meant that any random encounters were going to be some weird take on humanoids suffering from medical and psychological experimentation.

I think Teutch generated this hook originally just before Halloween but it didn’t get picked up. Definitely had some Halloween, horror movie vibes, but we’ll get to that.

They landed and found a dark tower with really strange architecture and a steel bound door that was locked. The tower was crumbling due to poorly aligned walls and bizarre angles to the structure. Bigtoe went to work picking the lock but a band of goblins showed up down the mountainside. Everyone hid but Bigtoe, who was surprised. Fortunately the Goblins didn’t notice him by the building and carried on their way. The party gained entry to the creepy tower into a small entry chamber with stairs leading down and a diner style two way door with a grimy window in it that they couldn’t see through.

Blair tracked around and found evidence of shuffling feet both old and recent leading in both directions. They were given Locate Object potions by Teutch but decided that they wanted to get deeper into the building before using them. They chose the diner door and very carefully inspected for traps but found none. While attempting to quietly peek into the door, Blair knocked it completely off the hinges. Oops.

The “diner” had a bar/counter with a few stools bolted to the floor, some places on the end cleared of dust as though someone, or something, had sat there recently. There was a door leading out and they were able to see through the window in it to the hallway beyond which had a floor of rolling waves that would be really weird to fight on. They carefully checked this door and EVERY BLOODY DOOR IN THE PLACE for traps before wobbling through the corridor to the next chamber. 

Here they found a bunch of plush but poorly maintained furniture in haphazard configuration. There were drag marks all over the floor like the furniture was moved often. I had set the scene to have more encounters in the dungeon but the dice had different plans. Two hallways led out of this room, one at a slight grade up. The floors of the place were wooden and the whole place creaked and groaned due to the poor architecture.

Blair investigated the corridor that had the grade to it, finding that it rapidly increased until she had to Climb Walls to proceed. It leveled out but started to narrow Alice in Wonderland style until she was crawling. She put a Light spell on an arrow so she could see and continued on eventually triggering a trap door! It dropped her on a spiral slide and with a very loud “weeeeeee” she landed in a circular room. There was a wine rack along one wall with a key made of seashells hanging from a nail on it and a hobbit-like circular door with a doorknob in the middle. Blair grabbed a few bottles and the key and Climbed back up the slide eventually back to the party.

They traveled on, finding a dead end and eventually backtracking to the stairs at the start of the dungeon. Through all of this, no random encounter hits. It was a place that showed many signs of habitation but no inhabitants. Did this lead to more tension during the session? I’m not sure, but I’d like to think so.

Down the short stairway to a room with a very low ceiling, they found a door and another stair leading up. Again, much time spent on door investigation. Beyond the door they found a fireman’s pole with at least one level above and below. While tracking around finally an encounter! Orcs started sliding down the pole. Combat was on and the party made short work of the two orcs, but they heard footsteps retreating above them.

They ran out and up the stairs, chasing the orcs down through a hallway with both old and fresh blood trails on the floor and into a room with a dozen other orcs strapped to racks on the wall like Hannibal in Silence of the Lambs. The escapees were trying to free other orcs to help them fight but were quickly put down by the group. The party discovered the orcs all had different surgical deformities, missing teeth or missing eyelids or missing hearts. They also found a table with tools and some metamphora that contained various parts of dissected beastmen.

They determined that they were centrally located enough in the building to use a Locate Object potion, which allows the user to determine a generic object within range. They chose scroll as that was the payout item from Teutch and it indicated it was to the south and down a level. They considered the fireman’s pole but decided to look for stairs, which they eventually found and descended to a circular chamber with a hexagonal door on the southern wall that was lined with etched egyptian runes that glowed as Bigtoe got closer to investigate. There were also six different humanoid skins flayed and tacked to boards along the west side of the room.

Much talk was had over how to approach the CERTAIN TO BE TRAPPED DOOR. I mean, it glowed when anyone got closer. Bigtoe made the decision to chop through the sandstone wall and around the door, but the rest of the party felt the 5 turns to do so was going to be a challenge. Braylen the Battlemage just walked up, took a couple deep breaths, and opened the door with the little hospital pull latch handle. It dinged like a hospital elevator and the door slowly faded away to reveal a hexagonal receptionist office.

There was a desk with a telephone on it and a chair behind it that was spinning slowly and then stopped as though someone had been sitting there and fled quickly. They searched the desk and found an office calendar with doodles in the margins and an office phone that appeared to be magical instead of mechanical much to Bigtoe’s disappointment. It truly was a House of Horrors.

They chose one of two passages out of the room based on the guidance of the Locate Object potion that Blair had consumed, ending up in another hexagonal room with lockers along the southern walls and benches in front of them. The potion indicated there was a scroll in one of the lockers so they started searching. Shortly thereafter screaming could be heard coming from one of the exits to the room, loud but distant and a little hard to parse due to the weird shapes of the hallways and rooms. They ignored it and kept searching, taking the time to carefully examine each locker door for traps.

Eventually a gang of lizardmen in hospital gowns and clutching various surgical implements screamed down the hallway towards the party. Bigtoe rushed to try to hold the bottleneck while Blair threw a bola (tf?) at the leading lizardman, wrapping his feet and causing another one behind him to fall as well. The rest charged and battle was joined. Bigtoe the Extremely Tanky was hit like a bajillion times despite his wildly high AC, Braylen’s player confirming that my damascus patterned D20 was indeed rolling 20s left and right, and Blair summoned berzerkers to defeat the maddened beastmen.

They continued searching and found the correct locker which opened into an interdimensional space that held the items that they searched for on little pedestals: a ring made of scarabs that held hands and appeared to be frozen mid-skip, a potion bottle, a cape made of vulture feathers, and a scroll in a hard leather case. When Blair reached in to grab the items she could see through her skin like an xray. Someone asked when she pulled the items out if her arm still showed that way which didn’t occur to me so I rolled to see if it was permanent. It wasn’t. Disappointing.

The lighting in the place changed from orange to red and a loud klaxon started blaring when the scroll was removed. The party decided not to investigate the rest of the complex and made good their escape. They passed by the telephone that was ringing and when someone picked it up (I forget who, Braylen maybe?) they could just hear screaming and the klaxon in the background. They tossed the phone down and fled the tower, deciding to toss oil on and use a burning hands scroll to set the place on fire once they got outside. They hovered around on the magical butterfly goats until they were convinced the thing burned all the way down and then retreated back to Teutchland, narrowly avoiding some Frost Giant boulders thrown their way.

Musings: 

Randomly generating a dungeon is fun. This one was unusual in that no encounters hit for the rooms themselves (every room was “Unique” which led to the bizarre funhouse vibes) and only a few random encounters in the whole thing. The receptionist that escaped was getting the Big Bad to cause some trouble, but the party was smart in securing the objective and GTFO. Anyone keeping interdimensional portals and telephones and high level scrolls was probably a BAMF anyway. Proud of them for playing smart, disappointed there wasn’t more risk. No traps, few encounters, good payout, good job guys. Maybe next time!

Xp from Kills:    330

Xp from Loot:    9117

Total XP:    9447

Cuts:    7

PC:    0%    2,699    5%    2,834    10%    2,969

Hench:    0%    1,350    5%    1,417    10%    1,485

Session 19: Swamps are Spooky

Time: 10/29/22 - 11/4/22 active 11/5/22

PCs: Gwendolyn, Max Bear, John Redcorn III

Surviving Hench: Amadayo, Mahin, Mushi (Cemil starting 11/1/22)

The group chose to run Team A again in order to finish what they started in scouting the hex near the Werewolf Tower. They trudged out there again with their hired Surveyor. They also hoped to find the site of their battle with the Gargoyles from last session to recover the relatively expensive barding lost when the animals were slain.

They saw a lone traveler who avoided them due to the lions tigers and bears or whatever that Redcorn’s always rolling with. The hunting dogs were able to track down the old battle site. They found the animal bodies ripped apart and the barding missing. They also found Bertilo’s body (hench Max) laid out respectfully, but relieved of his valuables. Some conjecture was made that the traveler they passed probably stole all the stuff, but some more tracking indicated two separate cases of looting. The traveler probably only had Bertilo’s meager belongings, so they decided to let him be. “Finder’s Keepers” is the law of the land.

They spent the remainder of the day tracking and surveying. The Surveyor let them know that there were 3 lairs on this hex, but he still wasn’t sure on the land value. They were unable to locate any other lairs so they camped for the night.

The next day they continued to search for the 2 unknown lairs, having already cleared the white apes from the first one. They came across a crevasse with Ogres and Orcs guarding the mouth of it but the distance was extreme so they took off when they saw the orcs run to get reinforcements from inside. Lair 2 had been found but looked a little big for Team A’s britches.

The search continued and Team A ran across a large band of goblins rooting around in the bushes and hills looking for something. Max was not surprised, but certainly surprised them and everyone else by charging directly at the 50ish little goons. The battle was fierce, some wounds were taken, but ultimately the party prevailed with no casualties. They interrogated Bok the Goblin about where the warband’s lair would be, but they didn’t have one. Then Bok didn’t make it. So sad.

The final lair was still avoiding detection, but at the end of the day, the Surveyor was able to price the land value at 7, which is 1 above the national average. Much cheering at the table. 

They were unable to find the 3rd lair and decided to report back to Captain Wicker at Headford to let him know about the Orc lair that was only a few hexes from him. The surveyor was released from his employment and the party wanted to head to Riverstride. Gwendolyn planned to take Cemil to a bigger market to get Restore Life and Limb cast on him, a plan that Cemil was super excited for having lost a leg, an arm, and an eye in service to the A Team.

They had a rough time of it on the road through the swamp, scaring up all kinds of undead. First was a whole cluster of zombies milling about, which they dispatched pretty easily. Clerics are pretty good at the whole undead thing. They determined there was a deep deep pool with something evil at the bottom, but they didn’t want any part of diving 40 feet into swampy water. So they felled some trees to mark the location and bounced, intending to let the local paladin Lord Issac (patron) know about it. 

Next the party found 4 wights dressed like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but no one got my subtle reference and I was sad. The Wights attacked the party, probably due to their embarrassment over the missed costuming, but were easily defeated thanks in large part to the silver weapons the party still carried from the werewolf battle. The group found a small tomb with treasure in it, apparently much more than the dead were originally buried with. The treasure included a suit of shiny scale mail and a sword that gave off a musty fungal odor and had exotic fungus growing down its fuller. 

A request was made to retcon like 4 hexes and a day of travel but nah bruh. So they backtracked for Redcorn to check on his hippogriff investment which was on the other side of Riverstride from the swamp. He found that the hippogriff eggs had hatched so he scooped them up to try to sell them in Talston. On the trip back they saw some gargoyles way off that they avoided and then rested, preparing to try their luck with the swamp road again the next day.

Three wraiths, the wights’ bigger badder cousins, attacked the party from the roadside. These were dressed like the Three Amigos which the party recognized, but no one was laughing as they zipped very fast towards them. Max engaged and stuck one with his silver spear and Redcorn got with the turn undead, but they had a lot of HD so it was gonna take a while for the turn undead easy win button.

Redcorn turned one, but was attacked by another, narrowly avoiding the hit. Max was not so lucky, getting swiped by the wraith which did a little damage but crushed morale because wraiths drain a level each time they hit with an attack. Silver weapons finished off the one that Max had already damaged and Redcorn turned the other, but the party was unable to destroy the fleeing ones because they fly super fast.

The grapes were awfully sour on the remainder of the trip to Talston. Max was almost to his next level, so a level drain was particularly impactful in terms of total xp lost. He’s also a barbarian, a class with a pretty steep xp gap between levels, so definitely a tough hit to the party’s morale. They made it safely to the larger market and made some moves to buy and sell and identify things, most notably Gwendolyn having Cemil restored to his full self by a powerful cleric of Pelor. They discussed mostly economic and downtime stuff, with Max planning to hit up Teutch (Mage Patron) for guidance on how to get his xp back.

Before Cemil (BC)

Xp from Kills:    220

Xp from Loot:    0

Total XP:    220

Cuts:    9

PC:    0%    49    5%    51    10%    54

Hench:    0%    24    5%    26    10%    27

After Drain (AD)

Xp from Kills:    1032

Xp from Loot:    1338

Total XP:    2370

Cuts:    10

PC:    0%    474    5%    498    10%    521

Hench:    0%    237    5%    249    10%    261

Session 18: Domain Prep

Time: 10/16/22 - 10/24/22, active 10/25/22 

PCs: Gwendolyn, Max Bear, John Redcorn III

Surviving Hench: Amadayo, Mahin, Mushi

This week Team A got deeper into preparation for domain play by hiring a land surveyor to assess the quality of land near the Werewolf Tower. They traveled through Riverstride where they spoke with Cemil the Oftwounded. His spirits were low but not broken, especially after Gwendolyn promised to get him a restore life and limb spell cast to fix his missing leg, arm, and eye.

Once they got to the hex in question, they set to escorting the surveyor around. It’s more difficult to assess land value based on terrain type, but I didn’t catch that rule til the end of the session so he was rolling at normal rates. They determined there were 2 lairs there, which had to be dealt with before the hex could be considered “cleared”.

The first was a pegasus lair, which excited the lawful Redcorn as he’s always looking to add to the menagerie. Unfortunately they weren’t very excited to see the party and remained neutral. We discussed the option to become friendly with them and build them a nice nest to hang out, but reaction rolls weren’t going well so the party left them be.

The second lair was a wyvern lair with only one wyvern. This was discovered while Redcorn was flying with his griffons at like 18 yards or some silly close distance. Wyverns are notorious for defending their nests to the death so the fight was on. The aerial combat was fierce, with the griffon that Redcorn was riding being slain by poison. Fortunately my man had a gaseous form potion that kept him from splattering onto the rocks below. The other griffon defeated the single wyvern in the nest and that was that.

It took a few more days for the surveyor to assess the land value, which the party found to be insufficient for their needs, and so they went back to Headford to discuss with Captain Wicker what other real estate was available out there. They learned the hex directly north of Headford was a royal conservatory used for hunting by the Bloodletter, so they definitely left that alone. But there were plenty of other hexes to the west that were free to claim, so off they went.

Surveying began on this hex where they encountered a lair of white apes who were pretty aggressive. The party let out a little frustration on them and beat them down. Traipsing around in the woods and waiting on an NPC to give you info can be a drag, apparently. So can being stalked by Meowster Mittens the Magnificent, the Sphinx that they had run into near Issac’s stronghold. They saw him twice during this session, but both times he was flying high and didn’t harass them.

They ran out of time for that day and had to camp, the surveyor not having any information for them yet. It takes 8 hours and a roll of 11+ modified by terrain type (which I missed. Next time!) to assess the hex, but the poor guy kept rolling bad. While camping a random encounter hit and it was something none of us had seen before: Gargoyles.

They flew in pretty aggressively but the party was able to wake up before they got to them. Battle ensued, but they realized after the first round that they weren’t really hurting them. Gargoyles are only damaged by magic weapons and there was only one in the party. They fought for another round to see what they could do, but it looked pretty bleak, so Redcorn covered the team’s retreat using Protection from Evil Sustained and a screen of animals, many of whom were slain after their heroic stand. Max’s hench Bertilo was also killed. Gargoyles are nasty.

They escaped back to Headford to lick their wounds and plan for the next session. There was a little treasure gained but it was mostly about information this time around. Stretching into the land value assessment using RAW is interesting. We’ll see how it develops as they progress. 

Xp from Kills:    1540

Xp from Loot:    11230

Total XP:    12770

Cuts:    9

PC:    0%    2,838    5%    2,980    10%    3,122

Hench:    0%    1,419    5%    1,490    10%    1,561

Session 17: Henches with Hooks

Time: 10/9/22 - 10/22/22, active 10/23/22 

PCs: Blair, Bigtoe, Benjamin, Braylen

Surviving Hench: Abyan

Team B was up this week and they weren’t really sure what they were going to do. Teutch, as ever, had a few hooks out there most notably the Fallen Castle Dungeon so the team went to Deinwick to try to pick up some henchmen and resupply. Bigtoe was able to land a cleric of Pelor who happened to already possess a treasure map worth quite a bit! Turns out it led to the burial tomb of Lothander the Mischievous, an elven adventurer of old. It was also quite a few hexes through true mountain terrain but that did not dissuade our heroes who saddled up and rolled out to rob the dead, departing from Teutch Tower and picking their way through very rough terrain.

The first few days were surprisingly uneventful, but on the fourth day they ran across a few platoons of orcs. Fortunately distance and terrain gave the party the advantage and they were able to evade them, but the next night while camping the orcs caught up to them. Due to amazing reaction rolls the orcs simply demanded that the party leave the mountains, indicating that they should do so immediately or be killed. The orcs pointed North and waited while the party got their things and departed. Benjamin crept back after a few hours and found the orcs had camped in that location overnight. The party waited for them to leave and then resumed their original trajectory, unconcerned over breaking their agreement with the orcs to leave the mountains.

A few days later they found the location of the tomb, having combed the hex in question and using the map and Braylen’s Mapping proficiency to zero in on the spot. Two large trees were carved into the flat side of a mountain, the branches framing a double door of Ironwood. Two emaciated Caecilians were compelled in some way to guard the entrance and attacked but the group beat them down and cut them open for their riches. Astartes (Braylen hench) was eaten during the battle.

The front door was locked but they were able to disable it and gain entry into a short stairwell leading into a marble chamber. They hit it with the old Daggerfall/Diablo always take a right strat and found another long chamber with a seated figure in the middle of the floor. They eventually discovered it was a stuffed taxidermy of a man holding a potion bottle after shooting it and poking it. Benjamin lifted the bottle and tucked it away. While they searched some crazy lookin’ albino humans with filed teeth crept up on them and attacked. The party put them down and kept moving, taking the next (you guessed it) right hand turn.

They found a crack in a wall and looked in to see a dwarf named Jogrim just chillin’ in his cell, having been imprisoned by the morloks by dropping him through a grate in the ceiling. The crack was pretty small but Benjamin was able to squeeze through. He climbed a rope to inspect the grate but couldn’t find a way to remove it, so they decided they’d try to widen the split in the wall. Bigtoe did some calculations and then started chiseling while the rest of the group kept watch. Eventually, after much noise and dust, they were able to widen the hole for the stocky Jogrim to escape.

They tried to hench him but he wasn’t interested, mostly wanting to just recover his party’s remains and escape. Benjamin gave him a sword to use and Bigtoe notified him that he could take the bodies of his friends but the party would be keeping any valuables that were found. Jogrim did not respond. 

When they came out into the main room, there was an additional larger group of Morloks poking around the entry chamber. They attempted to parley but with the morlok bodies laying around that devolved pretty quickly into violence. The party was victorious but lost their new Pelor cleric Farnaza in the tussle. One of the morlok’s got away and they followed him across into an opposite wing of the complex. They found him in another fungus room and gave him an ultimatum to show them the loot (what loot who knows) or die. The morlok agreed using charades and then made a break for it. They chased him down and killed him.

They found a locked ironwood door in this wing that they were able to pick which led to a burial chamber that had another tree motif on the wall framing an elven sarcophagus. They didn’t want to mess with it just yet and went to the RIGHT to search another chamber that was filled with glass columns that crowded the room pretty close. These columns would have played the opening riff to Heart’s Crazy on You if touched, but they were careful not to touch them. Their loss.

The opposite chamber to this very symmetrical tomb contained more glass columns but they were broken and spiderwebbed. They would not have played anything, RIP. At the end of this room was a statue of an elf in a superhero crouch with a mischievous grin on his face. The party guessed this was Lothander and took it to mean they were in the right spot. While investigating the statue they touched it and it cursed. Each time they touched it, it let out a different curseword in elvish which Blair, being an elf, could translate. She immediately fell in love with it.

They inspected the coffin and eventually Benjamin opened it, catching a trap in the face that dyed his skin black for an indeterminate amount of time. This was followed by a low chuckle emanating from the interior of the vessel. Lothander’s body was revealed, having been buried with his very fancy elvish armor, a cloak, and a pair of boots. They had no qualms stealing this dead adventurer’s gear and even his statue, lugging it out to put it on their cart.

They traipsed the long way back to Teutch tower, seeing no more orcs but finding a Storm Giant Castle complete with flying griffons overhead that they avoided and a nest of small rocs. They avoided that too but were careful to map the location of each.

Musings:

1:1 time got ahold of them this session as Bigtoe was certain there was a lair of the Morloks within the tomb, they were just unable to find it before needing to skedaddle so as not to be caught in the dungeon at session’s end. The overland travel was interesting, particularly having a mapper for once who could locate the lairs again if necessary to sell them to Teutch who is usually hunting this or that for magical research. It’s interesting as the choice to take mapping as a proficiency was informed by their previous interactions with Teutch. The world lives by the actions of its players and every week is something new.

Xp from Kills:    1280

Xp from Loot:    9209

Total XP:    10489

Cuts:    9

PC:    0%    2,331    5%    2,447    10%    2,564

Hench:    0%    1,165    5%    1,224    10%    1,282

Session 16: Finders Keepers?

Time: 10/2/22 - 10/8/22, active 10/9/22 

PCs: Gwendolyn, John Redcorn, Max Bear

Hench: Cemil, Nona(deceased), Amadayo

Team A was back in the saddle for this wild ride, traveling to Headford and then to the werewolf tower they had recently cleared. They had left an evil altar in the basement of the large tower because they were all Neutral and breaking it gained them nothing, but John Redcorn had decided to choose a side. In downtime we discussed what it would take for him to change alignments to Lawful. A time investment and some gold, or he could break a chaotic altar and swear oaths to Law. The ramifications of running 1:1 time make time investment a serious consideration rather than just “skipping time”, so the party chose to break the altar.

They arrived and found the tower inhabited by not one, but TWO parties of NPCs, one smaller one chilling in the big dining hall on the first level and one serious one in the basement stuffing bags full of the library items left below. Team A nearly went murderhobo on the first group, but Redcorn’s looming Lawful transition stayed their bloodthirsty hands. They got a little information from the dwarf leader of the first group about the second group and made it clear that this was THEIR TOWER. The smaller NPC party was fine with that and intended to leave.

After a tense standoff with the sentries of the second party, they negotiated access to the altar to break it and did so, earning Redcorn his transition from following Neutral Obad-hai to taking a more active hand in the eternal battle against Chaos by swearing to Lawful Ehlonna. They found a strange tablet in the ruins of the altar covered in weird sigils and informed the basement party that this was THEIR TOWER. The cleric leader of that party, Margarida, was unimpressed but told them they’d make their way out sometime tomorrow maybe. 

Much talk was had about building costs and repairs and such for the tower, with Gwendolyn’s henchman Cemil able to add solid information using his engineering proficiency. Determining that they needed quite a bit of gold, they left for Riverstride to see what missions Lord Issac might have for them. On the way there they scared up a Wyvern Lair, inhabited by one angry lizardbird who dove on the henchman Nona and tore her to bits before being destroyed by the large party. I forgot to cleave with the Wyvern. Tsk tsk.

They chose to speak with Father Sebastian at Riverstride, who they passed off the weird tablet to and learned that Issac wanted previously cleared lairs kept clear across the river. They decided this was an opportunity for cash and set off into the wilderness between Riverstride and Northbridge, the recently conquered stronghold under Issac’s control.

They had been to these lairs before and had good directions, so it only took them an hour to search for each one at each hex. The first inhabited lair they found was their old friend Red Dawn and a few hundred Flan nomads who were just chillin’. The party renewed their good will with the tribe and advised them to keep their noses clean in regards to Issac and rolled out. The next lair they found the Hakim the Baklunish Merchant building some sort of merchants’ compound or trading post or something. The party warned him repeatedly that this was “Issac’s Land” but Hakim cited the age old law of “Finders Keepers”. They also floated the idea of home relocating to their fledgling tower area, but he wanted to scout the market and expected to be paid for his lost productivity in building so they noped out on that and moved on.

The next lair they scouted had nearly a 100 Ogres including females and young building a palisade around a stand of trees. They caught the Ogres by surprise so were about to avoid getting involved with them, but with such a tough force they decided that was best reported to Issac.

They made camp and then moved on to the next hex, where they found a lair of stirges that they easily ran off through intimidation and a lair of Rhagodessa, giant spider/squid things that were pretty tough but ultimately were dunked on by Max and Redcorn’s griffons. Time was pressing so they headed back to Riverstride to debrief and collect payment. Then they went to Talston in prep for downtime stuff.

Musings:

Fun session, a lot of action and tangible benefits, and an opportunity to potentially shift into conqueror tier with the acquisition of the tower. They’ve identified that they need to rebuild and secure it, it’ll be interesting to see what they do to make that happen. Until then, those restock rolls are real.

Xp from Kills:    2182

Xp from Loot:    24975

Total XP:    27157

Cuts:    8

PC:    0%    6,789    5%    7,129    10%    7,468

Hench:    0%    3,395    5%    3,564    10%    3,734

Session 15: 9/18/22 - Motel 6 Miles Down

Time: 9/18/22 - 9/25/22, active 9/26/22 

PCs: Blair, Bigtoe, Bralen, Benjamin

Hench: Adyan, Astartes

Team B was back in action, chasing down a treasure map quest from Teutch the Alchemist to retrieve a crown, throne, and high level magic scroll from the king of the mongrelmen 15 miles under the Oerth’s surface. The party headed out to find the canyon in the middle of a large icy tundra situation. They had a solid map and directions to the location thanks to Teutch’s defeat of the Ice Salamanders that had laired there previously.

The party ran across some Ogres that they were able to evade mostly due to the Ogres’ indifference in chasing them and otherwise had an uneventful travel into the canyon and down a wide series of switchbacks into a large cavern mouth that led even further down. They found a miraculously well-prepared camp site complete with carefully stacked firewood and comforting bioluminescent lichen that they rested at before completing the journey to the massive cavern of the mongrelmen.

The enormous natural cavern had many cave entrances all along the walls at different heights with no obvious stairs, ladders, or ramps to access them. The party did not investigate any of these, instead heading to the back of the cavern where the treasure map indicated the king of the mongrelmen’s palace would be.

A large bas-relief figure of a strangely dressed man wielding a pistol was carved to each side of the entrance to the king’s palace, two tall  bronze doors that were dark green from verdigris. They investigated the doors and pushed one open, made difficult by time and squealing loudly. Blair tracked around the open door for activity and found nothing but when she passed the threshold she floated to the ceiling. Gravity appeared to have been reversed within the palace itself. 

They followed a white and black checkered tile floor/ceiling to a room with a large, dry fountain and 3 other bronze doors. At the right hand door they found a small worship room, complete with a shrine devoted to the same subject of the bas-relief carvings outside, a dashing man with a pistol. There were some small gemstones in the offering bowl and after careful examination they found a hidden compartment with even more valuable treasure.

Across the fountain room another door led down a short hallway, where they found an ancient storage room, its contents decayed to dust, and a long hallway of cells. They encountered a band of orcs that were camping here and dispatched them fairly easily once they employed some military oil into the confined space. They were forced to escape the narrow area and the smoke from the fire and chose to go forward rather than back.

In the next room was another door leading further into the palace and a break in the wall leading into a natural cavern beyond. They surmised that the orcs had probably come in this way since the main entrance had seemed to be undisturbed. They took the door into a large room with a big pit in the center, rows of pews or benches around it, and a spiral staircase leading down. There was also another bronze door here that led to the rear entrance of the king of the mongrelmen’s throne room. They found the very large room well-lit by glass light bulbs and a large throne on a dais. Bigtoe inspected the throne and discovered that the king was still in it! An old and desiccated corpse still wearing his crown, tattered clothing, and a worn leather gunbelt with a pistol holstered in it.

Bigtoe immediately reached for the pistol, but the corpse sprang to life, attacking him with claws and a bite that trailed iridescent glowing patterns in their wake. Fortunately none of the deadly strikes landed before Bralen was able to cast a protection from evil spell, rendering the natural attacks of the king useless. But it turned out that he still had a pistol… so anyway he started blasting.

I ruled that whatever gunpowder-like substance that the rounds in the pistol used had been compromised with time, so for each shot there was a chance that it was a dry fire. Fortunately for the Wombat, the king only connected with two shots, which were still enough damage to nearly kill him. Meanwhile Blair, Benjamin, and the henchmen were stabbing away at his flanks, eventually just chopping him down. They got the crown from his head, a revolver, and a throne with a futuristic city skyline studded with gemstones over the head rest. But no scroll yet, which meant splitting the value of the items with Teutch. Unacceptable!

They decided to rest since Bigtoe was bleeding to death, so they fortified the two large bronze double doors leading into the throne room with spikes and a crowbar through the handles and slept. A few random encounters tried the doors to no avail, but one nearly broke through, saved only by the stout bronze door handles and the MVP of the session, the crowbar.

The party had to get the scroll to make the most profit from the haul, so they decided to keep searching, going down the spiral staircase and into some kind of lab or workshop area. They found a weird metal spiral that hummed with wires running off of it to some metal box on the wall. There were switches and purple crystals and they fiddled with it for a while turning lights off and on, Bigtoe excited about the implications of access to electricity and Bralen commenting on how this was “world changing” information. Blair totally didn’t steal a plastic handled screwdriver and they continued to search on.

The next room was a basement of sorts for the throne room where they could see the wiring for the lights. It had a study or library area with plastic patio furniture in it and a bunch of rotted books and things. Also some spare parts that the Wombat snatched up. While searching for secret doors Blair flipped over the patio table and found a number scratched into the bottom surface. They tried that number on a keypad found in the basement which opened a steel door. It revealed a gun rack with some spare ammo, a katana and wakizashi on their own rack, and a glass case filled with Edgar Rice Burroughs novels and a clearly magical scroll.

Bigtoe searched for traps and found none and after some discussion about how to handle retrieving the items the party just started grabbing stuff. The door slammed shut and gas started filling the room. There was a bit of panic but Benjamin, who had stayed outside, entered in the original code on the keypad backwards and the door opened and the party was saved.

They went back to the generator to try and take it and found that it sat on top of a large purple gemstone rising out of the ground, which was apparently a deal breaker so they put it back. They heard some loud berzerkers coming down the stairs so they laid in ambush and waited, but the barbarians went the other way and they were able to sneak up and past them all the way to the fountain room. They got the drop on some goblins that were coming in from a different hallway and Blair was able to secure the door before the goblins could bust in and attack.

The rest of the trip back was surprisingly uneventful and they were able to cash in on a pretty solid payout from The Purple Fever Dream.

Musings:

Bigtoe’s been asking about gunpowder for a while, and now that it’s been introduced I’ve got to explain how it’s gonna work mechanically. There is precedent in our world with the Brotherhood invasion in the Pirates game having cannons and such. I suspect they enslaved dwarves and forced them to produce the gunpowder for the cannons. I’ll have to make a decision on which rules to use from Guns of War in regards to gunpowder. This is a fantasy world with fantasy implications to these things so whatever I rule, it’s not gonna be basic real world science.

Xp from Kills:    1083

Xp from Loot:    18515

Total XP:    19598

Cuts:    10

PC:    0%    3,920    5%    4,116    10%    4,312

Hench:    0%    1,960    5%    2,058    10%    2,156