Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
Sorry, Scott DeWar. I'll do better in trying to maim your character. Update in a few hours.
Let's Play Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures
Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
So my party is in some pretty decent shape, and I have confidence that if we can reach a camp area to heal and load up on spells we should be pretty much home free. After some traveling southwards towards a rock outcropping, the following message comes onto the screen. "Above the outcropping is a grim sight--sinister vultures circling lazily. As you watch, one of them swoops down and lands out of sight in the outcropping." Looks like something died nearby. Curious, I turn east towards the outcropping and decide to explore further.
"The ugly scavenger-bird screams in anger and flies away as you approach. When you step into the circle of boulders you see its foul feast--the body of a recently-killed young gnome. The body bears several wounds. In his left hand the gnome holds a broken club. An empty sword scabbard is attached to his belt, on the right side of his body." I decide to press 'Look' in order to search him. "You look over the dead gnome's body at the entrance of the outcropping. Beneath the gnome you find a pouch opened and spilling fourteen silver coins. Next to the pouch, near the gnome's cold hand, is a crumpled paper drawn with a crude map. It seems to show this outcropping." I decide to walk around the walls of the outcropping with the active search turned on, wondering whether or not this find is a treasure map. "Fenris looks at you, a bit wide-eyed. 'Surely we must be cautious the nearer we get to the Rock, but... do we have to search every step of the way?'" Gee, thanks Fenris...
I ignore him and take another step. "The party has discovered a secret door to the east." Sticking my tongue out at Fenris, we go east. "You pull open a cleverly concealed secret entrance--certainly not the work of goblins. A narrow crawlspace leads into the darkness, but your torch seems to illuminate a chamber in the distance. Fenris frowns, slipping back out of the tunnel. 'I don't like this. Anything could trap us in that crawlspace, and we could never defend ourselves.'"
Worried about a possible trap, I make the thief, Scott DeWar, active before proceeding. "The ceiling is considerably higher here. The cave contains six blankets, a washtub, three small covered pots, one large pot, various household tools and utensils, six short swords, eight daggers and four shields. There is also enough dried food for your party to subist for nearly a week. As you investigate the food and wares, you uncover a blue smoked-glass vial that is nearly full of watery liquid." The only items of value to me are the vial and shields. Unfortunately some glitch doesn't allow me to see them in the first treasure listing. Instead I only see six short swords and two daggers, which are relatively worthless to us. I have to go through three treasure screens before the shields and vial are available to grab. I have to wonder what programming glitch led to this. Fenris, Scott DeWar, GlassEye and (Un)reason are all getting the much needed shields. I breathe a little easier now that their respective ACs are 4, 3, 2 and 6. "Though uncomfortable, the skillfully made entrance to this cave practically ensures your safety. You could likely rest here for a time. As long as the owners don't return." I rest a day, which fully heals my barely scratched up party and restores my spells. I have Queenie memorize and cast detect magic on the party items. Fenris' broad sword, Queenie's silver dagger, ring and potion, and Col Pladoh's silver dagger and two potions all radiate magic. Our newly acquired maces do not, but I'm still happy with the results. Queenie rests for another few hours to memorize sleep, and we leave the encampment. I leave the cave and rock outcropping and head south once again. It should be smooth sailing until the end of the module.
"As the trail winds through the narrow mountain valley, you near an eerie, wailing sound drifting down on the wind from the rocks to your left. A moment later, the same sighing wail rises on your right, as if in answer." Hmmm... odd. I don't remember this part. I take a step forward. "Suddenly, the rocks all around erupt in wailing, hollow whistles and inhuman war cries. Goblins--at least twenty--leap from their hiding places onto the tops of the rocks, screaming and dancing in full view. They are wearing tattered animal skins and woven bark, and are armed with stone weapons. Each also has a leather thong tied to an animal skull or piece of bone that it is swinging around its head. The wind whistles through holes drilled in the bones, making the unearthly whistling noise. One goblin, larger and dirtier than the others, shouts in pidgin common, 'Weapons you drop quick! You fight not! Like rabbits be, or we hurt you much!' The leader looks around your party, focusing on your dwarven companion [Scott DeWar]. 'Him...dwarfkin...him tie up, you will...a toll he will be, so you can use our road...' The dwarf draws up indignantly, already reaching for a weapon. The goblins snear, getting ready to attack! As the goblins advance, your mage companion [Queenie] reaches into a spell component pouch. The creatures freeze in mid-step, their eyes widening. Thinking quickly, your friend changes the spell into a simple cantrip, a flash and some smoke. Filled with panic, all twenty of the creatures flee, some dropping their weapons in the raw panic gripping them!" And that's that. The goblins were enraged to see Scott DeWar, our dwarf, but freaked out when Queenie reached to her components to blast them. I am left to wonder what would happen if I didn't have a dwarf or a magic-user in the party. A twenty goblin fight with no magic slinger would be fatal, even if their leader spoke like a degenerate Yoda.
I run into a wall of thick forests, so turn east.
"Five strange creatures step forward from behind the rocks where they had hidden themselves. Like living rock themselves, these are unlike any other creature you have seen. They are spires of granite, each about seven feet tall and each obviously powerful, despite their slow, clumsy movement and appearance. They move onto the trail to block your path. You see that this is a living wall you will not pass easily. The first statue raises its jagged, stony right hand, palm outward, as if commanding you to stop. The other four have their arms folded across their chests. The first rock man speaks, saying, 'I am Krag of the rock men of the Barkel Mountains. We are the Barkel Mountains; there is a toll for crossing this stretch of trail. Pay or go back.' His four companions stand at his flanks, unmoving as stone." As you can see in the above picture, Glasseye and (un)reason are ready to level up at this point, and are highlighted in blue.
I'm not paying any toll. I have my party attack. "Crying out, the rock men lumber towards you. It sounds as if the very mountains themselves are marching on your party. The rock men are slow moving, but solid as worldrock." The five rock men are all coming from the east. I move to form a shield wall so that I might try to drop some of them with a sleep spell. I wish my ranger had some arrows. Each rock man has an AC of 2 and 14 hit points. We get two initial rounds against the slower moving rock men until they move, enabling me to form my wall while shooting off two rounds of slings from both my magic users. Only Queenie hits, doing 4 hit points of damage to the lead rock man. When he closes with my party, Col Pladoh hits him with a sling stone and Fenris finishes him off. I get impatient and stupid, moving my dwarf forward to attack another rock man. The readied rock man gets a free attack on Scott DeWar, doing 7 hit points of damage on the fighter/thief and dropping him. This puts me in panic mode and I use a sleep spell to take out two of them. Fenris and Queenie kill the two unconscious ones.
I have (un)reason cast cure light wounds on poor Scott DeWar. The two other rock men attack, but both miss. Queenie and Col Pladoh both hit for a total of seven hit points of damage, but one of the rock men takes out (un)reason with a punch. Queenie wounds the rock man again, bringing him down to 3 hit points, and Col Pladoh glances him for another hit point of damage bringing him down to 2 hit points. But the rock man attacks once more and knocks out our last healer, Fenris, with another punch. Glasseye fails to kill the lead rock man with a mace strike that only deals one point of damage. Now losing the fight, I have Queenie cast our last sleep spell at the remaining two rock men, even though one enemy still has a single hit point left. It knocks them both out and we kill them in their sleep. "As the fifth rock man falls, a terrible cry echoes through the mountains, ushered up by the stones themselves. Then, silence. You can pick five heart-shaped gemstones from the rubble which was once the rock men.
I grab the treasure, then get greedy. I decide to search the area. "Rock men await you in ambush! Massive stones roll down the mountainside, forcing you back into their trap!" Two rock men charge us from the north and two from the east. We flee, with the magic-users firing sling stones from a distance ineffectively. Unfortunately, they kill Fenris and (un)reason, who were unconscious, and Queenie who didn't get away. The party now consists of Scott DeWar, Col Pladoh and Glasseye. One tactical error (having Scott DeWar charge) and one bad decision (searching in a hostile area) led to half my group being wiped out. I realized that Fenris and (un)reason would die if left behind and tried to play with Queenie running and sniping against four slow rock men, which was working as she was dwindling one of them to near death, when I got caught in a corner and misjudged their movement. One hit was all it took for them to take down a squishy mage. Alternatively I could have used up my sleep spells, but we aren't even close to home base yet and I don't know of any more camping areas.
So now we have a decision to make. The only battle I had to fight was the one against the rock men. I can easily reload and face the encounter again, or press on with only three party members and hope to make it back home without being horribly killed.
"The ugly scavenger-bird screams in anger and flies away as you approach. When you step into the circle of boulders you see its foul feast--the body of a recently-killed young gnome. The body bears several wounds. In his left hand the gnome holds a broken club. An empty sword scabbard is attached to his belt, on the right side of his body." I decide to press 'Look' in order to search him. "You look over the dead gnome's body at the entrance of the outcropping. Beneath the gnome you find a pouch opened and spilling fourteen silver coins. Next to the pouch, near the gnome's cold hand, is a crumpled paper drawn with a crude map. It seems to show this outcropping." I decide to walk around the walls of the outcropping with the active search turned on, wondering whether or not this find is a treasure map. "Fenris looks at you, a bit wide-eyed. 'Surely we must be cautious the nearer we get to the Rock, but... do we have to search every step of the way?'" Gee, thanks Fenris...
I ignore him and take another step. "The party has discovered a secret door to the east." Sticking my tongue out at Fenris, we go east. "You pull open a cleverly concealed secret entrance--certainly not the work of goblins. A narrow crawlspace leads into the darkness, but your torch seems to illuminate a chamber in the distance. Fenris frowns, slipping back out of the tunnel. 'I don't like this. Anything could trap us in that crawlspace, and we could never defend ourselves.'"
Worried about a possible trap, I make the thief, Scott DeWar, active before proceeding. "The ceiling is considerably higher here. The cave contains six blankets, a washtub, three small covered pots, one large pot, various household tools and utensils, six short swords, eight daggers and four shields. There is also enough dried food for your party to subist for nearly a week. As you investigate the food and wares, you uncover a blue smoked-glass vial that is nearly full of watery liquid." The only items of value to me are the vial and shields. Unfortunately some glitch doesn't allow me to see them in the first treasure listing. Instead I only see six short swords and two daggers, which are relatively worthless to us. I have to go through three treasure screens before the shields and vial are available to grab. I have to wonder what programming glitch led to this. Fenris, Scott DeWar, GlassEye and (Un)reason are all getting the much needed shields. I breathe a little easier now that their respective ACs are 4, 3, 2 and 6. "Though uncomfortable, the skillfully made entrance to this cave practically ensures your safety. You could likely rest here for a time. As long as the owners don't return." I rest a day, which fully heals my barely scratched up party and restores my spells. I have Queenie memorize and cast detect magic on the party items. Fenris' broad sword, Queenie's silver dagger, ring and potion, and Col Pladoh's silver dagger and two potions all radiate magic. Our newly acquired maces do not, but I'm still happy with the results. Queenie rests for another few hours to memorize sleep, and we leave the encampment. I leave the cave and rock outcropping and head south once again. It should be smooth sailing until the end of the module.
"As the trail winds through the narrow mountain valley, you near an eerie, wailing sound drifting down on the wind from the rocks to your left. A moment later, the same sighing wail rises on your right, as if in answer." Hmmm... odd. I don't remember this part. I take a step forward. "Suddenly, the rocks all around erupt in wailing, hollow whistles and inhuman war cries. Goblins--at least twenty--leap from their hiding places onto the tops of the rocks, screaming and dancing in full view. They are wearing tattered animal skins and woven bark, and are armed with stone weapons. Each also has a leather thong tied to an animal skull or piece of bone that it is swinging around its head. The wind whistles through holes drilled in the bones, making the unearthly whistling noise. One goblin, larger and dirtier than the others, shouts in pidgin common, 'Weapons you drop quick! You fight not! Like rabbits be, or we hurt you much!' The leader looks around your party, focusing on your dwarven companion [Scott DeWar]. 'Him...dwarfkin...him tie up, you will...a toll he will be, so you can use our road...' The dwarf draws up indignantly, already reaching for a weapon. The goblins snear, getting ready to attack! As the goblins advance, your mage companion [Queenie] reaches into a spell component pouch. The creatures freeze in mid-step, their eyes widening. Thinking quickly, your friend changes the spell into a simple cantrip, a flash and some smoke. Filled with panic, all twenty of the creatures flee, some dropping their weapons in the raw panic gripping them!" And that's that. The goblins were enraged to see Scott DeWar, our dwarf, but freaked out when Queenie reached to her components to blast them. I am left to wonder what would happen if I didn't have a dwarf or a magic-user in the party. A twenty goblin fight with no magic slinger would be fatal, even if their leader spoke like a degenerate Yoda.
I run into a wall of thick forests, so turn east.
"Five strange creatures step forward from behind the rocks where they had hidden themselves. Like living rock themselves, these are unlike any other creature you have seen. They are spires of granite, each about seven feet tall and each obviously powerful, despite their slow, clumsy movement and appearance. They move onto the trail to block your path. You see that this is a living wall you will not pass easily. The first statue raises its jagged, stony right hand, palm outward, as if commanding you to stop. The other four have their arms folded across their chests. The first rock man speaks, saying, 'I am Krag of the rock men of the Barkel Mountains. We are the Barkel Mountains; there is a toll for crossing this stretch of trail. Pay or go back.' His four companions stand at his flanks, unmoving as stone." As you can see in the above picture, Glasseye and (un)reason are ready to level up at this point, and are highlighted in blue.
I'm not paying any toll. I have my party attack. "Crying out, the rock men lumber towards you. It sounds as if the very mountains themselves are marching on your party. The rock men are slow moving, but solid as worldrock." The five rock men are all coming from the east. I move to form a shield wall so that I might try to drop some of them with a sleep spell. I wish my ranger had some arrows. Each rock man has an AC of 2 and 14 hit points. We get two initial rounds against the slower moving rock men until they move, enabling me to form my wall while shooting off two rounds of slings from both my magic users. Only Queenie hits, doing 4 hit points of damage to the lead rock man. When he closes with my party, Col Pladoh hits him with a sling stone and Fenris finishes him off. I get impatient and stupid, moving my dwarf forward to attack another rock man. The readied rock man gets a free attack on Scott DeWar, doing 7 hit points of damage on the fighter/thief and dropping him. This puts me in panic mode and I use a sleep spell to take out two of them. Fenris and Queenie kill the two unconscious ones.
I have (un)reason cast cure light wounds on poor Scott DeWar. The two other rock men attack, but both miss. Queenie and Col Pladoh both hit for a total of seven hit points of damage, but one of the rock men takes out (un)reason with a punch. Queenie wounds the rock man again, bringing him down to 3 hit points, and Col Pladoh glances him for another hit point of damage bringing him down to 2 hit points. But the rock man attacks once more and knocks out our last healer, Fenris, with another punch. Glasseye fails to kill the lead rock man with a mace strike that only deals one point of damage. Now losing the fight, I have Queenie cast our last sleep spell at the remaining two rock men, even though one enemy still has a single hit point left. It knocks them both out and we kill them in their sleep. "As the fifth rock man falls, a terrible cry echoes through the mountains, ushered up by the stones themselves. Then, silence. You can pick five heart-shaped gemstones from the rubble which was once the rock men.
I grab the treasure, then get greedy. I decide to search the area. "Rock men await you in ambush! Massive stones roll down the mountainside, forcing you back into their trap!" Two rock men charge us from the north and two from the east. We flee, with the magic-users firing sling stones from a distance ineffectively. Unfortunately, they kill Fenris and (un)reason, who were unconscious, and Queenie who didn't get away. The party now consists of Scott DeWar, Col Pladoh and Glasseye. One tactical error (having Scott DeWar charge) and one bad decision (searching in a hostile area) led to half my group being wiped out. I realized that Fenris and (un)reason would die if left behind and tried to play with Queenie running and sniping against four slow rock men, which was working as she was dwindling one of them to near death, when I got caught in a corner and misjudged their movement. One hit was all it took for them to take down a squishy mage. Alternatively I could have used up my sleep spells, but we aren't even close to home base yet and I don't know of any more camping areas.
So now we have a decision to make. The only battle I had to fight was the one against the rock men. I can easily reload and face the encounter again, or press on with only three party members and hope to make it back home without being horribly killed.
Last edited:
Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
For some reason ENWorld is still not letting me edit my posts from my laptop. This is what image 36 should have looked like:
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
For some reason ENWorld is still not letting me edit my posts from my laptop. This is what image 36 should have looked like:
hit the go advanced option and make your edit.
Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
Scott DeWar, that worked! Thanks!
Queenie, don't worry about your character death. Since no one has nominated their own names yet, I might just reload. I am not sure if I would do so if we were closer to home base, but since the party is so far off and out of sleep spells, moving forward at this point without a full party might be suicidal.
Queenie, don't worry about your character death. Since no one has nominated their own names yet, I might just reload. I am not sure if I would do so if we were closer to home base, but since the party is so far off and out of sleep spells, moving forward at this point without a full party might be suicidal.
Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
So one tactical error, an ambush, and a failed hail mary later and we have lost three of our party members to the rock men, along with all the treasure and equipment that Fenris, Queenie and (un)reason were carrying. It would have been cheaper to bribe the rock men, but seriously... to heck with them. I decide to push on and pray that Scott DeWar, Col Pladoh and GlassEye can make it through without another random encounter. If I can make it, I will create new characters to replace the fallen.
I make it to a bridge, similar to one we passed on the way here. "A swift-flowing river crosses your trail, spanned by a bridge made of dull gray stone. An arch made of the same stone stands at the mouth of the bridge. Old runes are carved into the arch. The runes are ancient, yet somehow familiar. Beyond the bridge the trail leads north and east into the barrens." The runes are still too complex for us to read. I probably need and elf or something. I run across the bridge and receive a new message.
"As you travel deeper into the barrens, a hot wind rises. You sweat in your armor, surveying this rough land of jagged rocks and hot sand, so unlike the forests. Your sight is blinded by the heat rising from the ground, and by your own sweat. Suddenly, the sand erupts into little jets, and you find yourself in the midst of large, beig colored spiders. They came out of the shimmering heat and they are attacking with amazing speed."
Oh not good... not good at all. I start out in a nightmare of a tactical situation as two giant spiders are immediately locked in combat with Col Pladoh. If I attempt to flee, they will get free attacks on our good mage. There seems to be three of them, with a poor armor class of 6 and 9 hit points each. Rather than abandon Col Pladoh, which our dear readers would never forgive me for, I elect to enter the fray with GlassEye and Scott DeWar.
GlassEye moves up and smacks one spider, and another attacks but misses Scott DeWar. Luckily we are taking some pressure off of Col Pladoh with our attacks. I have Col Pladoh switch to his silver daggger and swing at the wounded enemy. He misses as does Scott DeWar, but the spiders bite GlassEye and Scott DeWar for a few hit points of damage. Which would not be a big deal, except that they also paralyze them! I can't win this fight. I pray to the dice gods and pull Col Pladoh away but he is bitten and falls to the ground dying.
The game over screen:
"The secret of the Rock will persist for generations."
Brutal...
I struggled in my previous outings with this module, and returned with only two party members left standing and four others unconscious. I didn't try to explore, but instead pushed straight through, running scared the entire way. But this time I ran through this attempt with hardly any effort in the beginning. And I got cocky on the return trip and made some tactical errors, along with trying to perform some needless exploration. And my reward was a total party kill. At least in the previous attempt, I returned with my party intact, though nearly wiped out.
So we have two choices. First, I can create a new party and start from scratch with new character names chosen by the Let's Play readers, summarizing their victories until I can get passed the spiders and their paralyzing poison. Or I can reload from right before the encounter with the rock monsters and give Fenris, Scott DeWar, Queenie, Col Pladoh, GlassEye and (un)reason a second chance at life. I'm up for suggestions.
I make it to a bridge, similar to one we passed on the way here. "A swift-flowing river crosses your trail, spanned by a bridge made of dull gray stone. An arch made of the same stone stands at the mouth of the bridge. Old runes are carved into the arch. The runes are ancient, yet somehow familiar. Beyond the bridge the trail leads north and east into the barrens." The runes are still too complex for us to read. I probably need and elf or something. I run across the bridge and receive a new message.
"As you travel deeper into the barrens, a hot wind rises. You sweat in your armor, surveying this rough land of jagged rocks and hot sand, so unlike the forests. Your sight is blinded by the heat rising from the ground, and by your own sweat. Suddenly, the sand erupts into little jets, and you find yourself in the midst of large, beig colored spiders. They came out of the shimmering heat and they are attacking with amazing speed."
Oh not good... not good at all. I start out in a nightmare of a tactical situation as two giant spiders are immediately locked in combat with Col Pladoh. If I attempt to flee, they will get free attacks on our good mage. There seems to be three of them, with a poor armor class of 6 and 9 hit points each. Rather than abandon Col Pladoh, which our dear readers would never forgive me for, I elect to enter the fray with GlassEye and Scott DeWar.
GlassEye moves up and smacks one spider, and another attacks but misses Scott DeWar. Luckily we are taking some pressure off of Col Pladoh with our attacks. I have Col Pladoh switch to his silver daggger and swing at the wounded enemy. He misses as does Scott DeWar, but the spiders bite GlassEye and Scott DeWar for a few hit points of damage. Which would not be a big deal, except that they also paralyze them! I can't win this fight. I pray to the dice gods and pull Col Pladoh away but he is bitten and falls to the ground dying.
The game over screen:
"The secret of the Rock will persist for generations."
Brutal...
I struggled in my previous outings with this module, and returned with only two party members left standing and four others unconscious. I didn't try to explore, but instead pushed straight through, running scared the entire way. But this time I ran through this attempt with hardly any effort in the beginning. And I got cocky on the return trip and made some tactical errors, along with trying to perform some needless exploration. And my reward was a total party kill. At least in the previous attempt, I returned with my party intact, though nearly wiped out.
So we have two choices. First, I can create a new party and start from scratch with new character names chosen by the Let's Play readers, summarizing their victories until I can get passed the spiders and their paralyzing poison. Or I can reload from right before the encounter with the rock monsters and give Fenris, Scott DeWar, Queenie, Col Pladoh, GlassEye and (un)reason a second chance at life. I'm up for suggestions.
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
reload to right before the rock concert!
Queenie
Queen of Everything
What he said!
Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
I reload back at the last camp inside the cave. On a whim I try resting again, but as I expected the module will not let me do so as I had already exhausted the site. I go south again, scare away the goblins again with my magic-user and press until the turn to the east. This time, when I encounter the rock men once more, I am adamant not to break my shield wall and to nibble away at them with my slingers and shield men until they are packed enough for an effective sleep spell. I want to save my second sleep spell for the spiders. I could bribe my way, but I refuse to do so. This will be a tough couple of battles. The rock men would let me pass for 500gp, but I'd rather have their bits of XP and shiny hearts.
My shield wall is put into place and combined attacks by Scott DeWar and Fenris bring the first of five charging rock man down, after he fails to hit GlassEye. Two more bunch up near the party and miss our shield men with their strikes, but I'm still hoping to take down at least three with one spell.
Queenie and Col Pladoh combine their sling attacks to inflict five points of total damage against the second rock man. GlassEye, Scott DeWar and (un)reason all miss with their own attacks, but Fenris and his magic sword brings him down. Fenris is becoming a killing machine with that blade, but unfortunately he goes down during the rock men's next round. GlassEye misses a counterattack, but the beautiful thing is that the rock men have now lined themselves up perfectly for Col Pladoh's spell, while (un)reason can heal Fenris on his next go.
Col Pladoh's spell, unfortunately only takes out the lead two rock men, leaving the last in the rear still in fighting condition. Scott DeWar coup de grace's the first one, while Queenie takes a pot shot at the rear one, but misses. I pull (un)reason take a couple steps back and cast cure light wounds on Fenris., fully healing him. The second rock monster ruins his next turn, trying to flank us into the trees but not getting too far. Queenie pelts him with a rock, and I have (un)reason coup de grace the second sleeping rock man before he can wake up and cause havoc. I move GlassEye and Scott DeWar up to (un)reason's flanks and set them to guard, which gives them an attack of opportunity when the rock man moves up. He does so, and they both miss him, but he misses one of them also. The next round is uneventful, as everyone misses each other, but in the next round one of my slingers whittles the rock man down to half its hit points.
Ranged weapons still seem to have such a large advantage here. I wish I had some more arrows for GlassEye. The rock man hits GlassEye for 3 hit points of damage, but GlassEye has five left. Scott DeWar brings the rock man down to 1 hit point after striking him for six, and after a series of misses, Col Pladoh brings him down. I take the couple hundred experience points and five heart-shaped gemstones and have Fenris lay his healing hands on GlassEye. Then we push eastwards again before more rock men attack. The party is fully healed, except GlassEye who is down to 7 hit points. We still have two healing spells and a sleep spell in our arsenal. I move on, past stone arch and past the bridge. Eventually we are ambushed by the poisonous spiders, like what happened before.
This time they have to face all six of us. Queenie tags the first sand spider with a sharp sling stone, but it attacks and bites Fenris for 3 hit points of damage, nearly bringing the paladin down. The hardy warrior ignores the wound and avoids paralysis. (Un)reason moves up and kills the wounded spider with a strong hit from his mace. Scott DeWar injures a second spider badly, but Col Pladoh fails to bring it down. Scott DeWar strikes it again, ending its life.
Only one spider remains standing, but not for long as Fenris moves up with his magical sword and kills it with a 10 hit point swing. What was a one-sided slaughter before becomes so again, but in the other direction. We didn't even use Queenie's sleep spell, but I do have (un)reason cast a healing spell on Fenris, who becomes fully healed. Pushing east once more we find a chest buried in the sand. "As you draw nearer, you see that it is a corner of a metal chest; it must have been uncovered by the sandstorm you weathered!" I'm not sure what happened here, as I didn't see a treasure change in my inventory. Searching the spot doesn't get me anywhere. Shrugging, then pushing on I get this message.
"It takes a moment to be sure you are hearing it, but gradually you cannot deny it--singing! At first the sound is hard to identify, distant and faint. Soon you can pick out snatches of melody. It is the sound of many voices singing what seems to be a work song. As the singing grows stronger, a shimmering image begins to form south of the trail. Through the rising heat you can barely make out... something. Whatever it is, it's big, and it looks like it's being pulled across the sand by a team of several dozen humanoids." Curious, I wait along the trail for it to get closer.
"As the object draws closer, it begins to take shape. At first it seems your eyes must be playing tricks on you. But no, the shape is definite. It's a large, flat-bottomed wooden hull with a single mast, hitched to a double-rope harness and being pulled by several dozen humanoids. A dozen or more so humanoids are picking up logs from the rear of the ship. They carry these logs to the front, where they can drop them in the ship's path to serve as rollers. Even so, the weight of the ship pushes the logs into the soft sand, and the pushers are straining with all their might. Standing atop of the foredeck is a small humanoid with a beard almost as long as he is tall. He is shouting through a megaphone, exhorting his workers to pull harder and sing louder." Some humanoids are too stupid to rebel. This is why unions happen. I approach them cautiously.
"As the craft draws closer, you see that the bearded humanoid is indeed a gnome of blocky stature. When he notices you, he calls down through his megaphone, 'Out of the way, ye lubbers!' The crew stops tugging at the ship, half of them collapsing into the sand in exhaustion. Frowning, the gnome shouts down at them, 'Right then, that'll be dinner!' Bellowing through the microphone, the leader roars at you, 'Ahoy there! This be the Motherlode Rover! Ye wouldn't by any chance know where I could find an ocean 'round these parts, would ye? I've come a long way, and I've yet to come across one.'" I can respond politely, rudely, mockingly or by walking away. I go with being polite. "'Bosun! Pipe them aboard!' You squint up at the leader atop of the ship. His shouts rouse another gnome, who scampers about for a moment before blowing a few shrill notes on a whistle and tossing a rope ladder over the side of the ship. You watch your companions climb one by one to the deck above you. Then it is your turn. As you reach the top, the bosun hauls the ladder up after you. 'I am Robern. We search for the ocean,' says the leader. 'Not long ago, a wondering merchant stopped by the clan stronghold. He sold me a book about shipbuilding and ocean navigation. Being quite an adventurer, I decided that this 'ocean' was something worth seeing. A group of 'em bet me I couldn't even find me an ocean to navigate, much less sail it. But the folks ye see all around ye knew me better. We built this here boat and we set out to find the ocean.'" Well, I guess that explains everything.
"'I don't suppose ye have any news, do ye? Concerning the ocean, I mean?' Robern watches you closely. 'Or maybe nautical charts ye'd be willing to sell?' You know that the path the gnomes now carry will take them towards the great mountains of the northlands, but only after the great cities of Specularum, Urnst and Rhoona. To the west they will find the great desert, but to the east are the vast swamp and the eastern ocean." I tell Robern to go east. "Robern's eyes light up as he hears your words. 'Thank'ee! Thank'ee! Thou art surely fine fellows and brave adventurers! Take these sacks of food with ye for thy travels and troubles. Bosun! Let these gentlepersons leave our ship. Lower the ladder.' The bosun lowers the ladder and watches as you descend to the barrens below. For a long while you can hear the gnomes' work song as they ply their way in the direction you sent them." Thus ends my favorite part of the module, though if this was in the orginal game I can see why gnomes were never taken seriously. The TSR writers did them no favors.
Despite the food the game says was offered, I can't rest here. Pushing east I find a line of trees, and eventually a path through them.
"You pause. From up ahead you hear harsh, labored breathing, and a steady tapping noise. You inhale faint, foul odor. Then the reason comes staggering into view. A withered old man, leaning heavily on a staff comes from around a bend in the forest and lurches towards you. His head is bent; he sees only the ground before him. Slowly, he seems to realize that he is not alone. His head snaps up, and you look into his wild, crazed eyes. He flings both arms wide, almost falls, and screams, 'Stop!'" I do as ask and wait. "The old man raves, 'I have waited! Pondered! Searched! Suffered! Seen! From the furnace of desolation I have come, bearing the truth that is mine alone! Leviathan is come, and the boundaries of earth and air, fire and water, shall be swept away! Twoscore minions has he, and they shall smite down the doers of evil, as a woodsman fells oak and pine! With the strength of a giant and the voice of an army, he is come... beware!' The old man eyes you warily, his last booming word echoing through the forest around you." I'm entertained and talk to him further. "The old man smiles as you address him, deciding to impart his wisdom upon you. 'Listen, for I am a seer of visions, and my sojourn into the desert... seven days without food or water, and then I saw a vision... I saw Leviathan, his great white preponderance moving effortlessly across the land! He has come to smite the doers of evil, to deliver just to those deluded minions of the outer darkness! Theirs shall be a squalid death, but I am the prophet of Great Leviathan! I have foreseen his coming! Tell what you have learned here, dear ones. You are the first children to be imparted with this wisdom and foreknowledge. Yours is the glory of aiding us in the spreading of wisdom.' The old man wanders off into the forest, still talking about his vision. He barely seems to notice that he has left you." Heh... he is going to get manhandled by forest goblins.
We're at the home stretch. Next, I will conclude the adventure.
My shield wall is put into place and combined attacks by Scott DeWar and Fenris bring the first of five charging rock man down, after he fails to hit GlassEye. Two more bunch up near the party and miss our shield men with their strikes, but I'm still hoping to take down at least three with one spell.
Queenie and Col Pladoh combine their sling attacks to inflict five points of total damage against the second rock man. GlassEye, Scott DeWar and (un)reason all miss with their own attacks, but Fenris and his magic sword brings him down. Fenris is becoming a killing machine with that blade, but unfortunately he goes down during the rock men's next round. GlassEye misses a counterattack, but the beautiful thing is that the rock men have now lined themselves up perfectly for Col Pladoh's spell, while (un)reason can heal Fenris on his next go.
Col Pladoh's spell, unfortunately only takes out the lead two rock men, leaving the last in the rear still in fighting condition. Scott DeWar coup de grace's the first one, while Queenie takes a pot shot at the rear one, but misses. I pull (un)reason take a couple steps back and cast cure light wounds on Fenris., fully healing him. The second rock monster ruins his next turn, trying to flank us into the trees but not getting too far. Queenie pelts him with a rock, and I have (un)reason coup de grace the second sleeping rock man before he can wake up and cause havoc. I move GlassEye and Scott DeWar up to (un)reason's flanks and set them to guard, which gives them an attack of opportunity when the rock man moves up. He does so, and they both miss him, but he misses one of them also. The next round is uneventful, as everyone misses each other, but in the next round one of my slingers whittles the rock man down to half its hit points.
Ranged weapons still seem to have such a large advantage here. I wish I had some more arrows for GlassEye. The rock man hits GlassEye for 3 hit points of damage, but GlassEye has five left. Scott DeWar brings the rock man down to 1 hit point after striking him for six, and after a series of misses, Col Pladoh brings him down. I take the couple hundred experience points and five heart-shaped gemstones and have Fenris lay his healing hands on GlassEye. Then we push eastwards again before more rock men attack. The party is fully healed, except GlassEye who is down to 7 hit points. We still have two healing spells and a sleep spell in our arsenal. I move on, past stone arch and past the bridge. Eventually we are ambushed by the poisonous spiders, like what happened before.
This time they have to face all six of us. Queenie tags the first sand spider with a sharp sling stone, but it attacks and bites Fenris for 3 hit points of damage, nearly bringing the paladin down. The hardy warrior ignores the wound and avoids paralysis. (Un)reason moves up and kills the wounded spider with a strong hit from his mace. Scott DeWar injures a second spider badly, but Col Pladoh fails to bring it down. Scott DeWar strikes it again, ending its life.
Only one spider remains standing, but not for long as Fenris moves up with his magical sword and kills it with a 10 hit point swing. What was a one-sided slaughter before becomes so again, but in the other direction. We didn't even use Queenie's sleep spell, but I do have (un)reason cast a healing spell on Fenris, who becomes fully healed. Pushing east once more we find a chest buried in the sand. "As you draw nearer, you see that it is a corner of a metal chest; it must have been uncovered by the sandstorm you weathered!" I'm not sure what happened here, as I didn't see a treasure change in my inventory. Searching the spot doesn't get me anywhere. Shrugging, then pushing on I get this message.
"It takes a moment to be sure you are hearing it, but gradually you cannot deny it--singing! At first the sound is hard to identify, distant and faint. Soon you can pick out snatches of melody. It is the sound of many voices singing what seems to be a work song. As the singing grows stronger, a shimmering image begins to form south of the trail. Through the rising heat you can barely make out... something. Whatever it is, it's big, and it looks like it's being pulled across the sand by a team of several dozen humanoids." Curious, I wait along the trail for it to get closer.
"As the object draws closer, it begins to take shape. At first it seems your eyes must be playing tricks on you. But no, the shape is definite. It's a large, flat-bottomed wooden hull with a single mast, hitched to a double-rope harness and being pulled by several dozen humanoids. A dozen or more so humanoids are picking up logs from the rear of the ship. They carry these logs to the front, where they can drop them in the ship's path to serve as rollers. Even so, the weight of the ship pushes the logs into the soft sand, and the pushers are straining with all their might. Standing atop of the foredeck is a small humanoid with a beard almost as long as he is tall. He is shouting through a megaphone, exhorting his workers to pull harder and sing louder." Some humanoids are too stupid to rebel. This is why unions happen. I approach them cautiously.
"As the craft draws closer, you see that the bearded humanoid is indeed a gnome of blocky stature. When he notices you, he calls down through his megaphone, 'Out of the way, ye lubbers!' The crew stops tugging at the ship, half of them collapsing into the sand in exhaustion. Frowning, the gnome shouts down at them, 'Right then, that'll be dinner!' Bellowing through the microphone, the leader roars at you, 'Ahoy there! This be the Motherlode Rover! Ye wouldn't by any chance know where I could find an ocean 'round these parts, would ye? I've come a long way, and I've yet to come across one.'" I can respond politely, rudely, mockingly or by walking away. I go with being polite. "'Bosun! Pipe them aboard!' You squint up at the leader atop of the ship. His shouts rouse another gnome, who scampers about for a moment before blowing a few shrill notes on a whistle and tossing a rope ladder over the side of the ship. You watch your companions climb one by one to the deck above you. Then it is your turn. As you reach the top, the bosun hauls the ladder up after you. 'I am Robern. We search for the ocean,' says the leader. 'Not long ago, a wondering merchant stopped by the clan stronghold. He sold me a book about shipbuilding and ocean navigation. Being quite an adventurer, I decided that this 'ocean' was something worth seeing. A group of 'em bet me I couldn't even find me an ocean to navigate, much less sail it. But the folks ye see all around ye knew me better. We built this here boat and we set out to find the ocean.'" Well, I guess that explains everything.
"'I don't suppose ye have any news, do ye? Concerning the ocean, I mean?' Robern watches you closely. 'Or maybe nautical charts ye'd be willing to sell?' You know that the path the gnomes now carry will take them towards the great mountains of the northlands, but only after the great cities of Specularum, Urnst and Rhoona. To the west they will find the great desert, but to the east are the vast swamp and the eastern ocean." I tell Robern to go east. "Robern's eyes light up as he hears your words. 'Thank'ee! Thank'ee! Thou art surely fine fellows and brave adventurers! Take these sacks of food with ye for thy travels and troubles. Bosun! Let these gentlepersons leave our ship. Lower the ladder.' The bosun lowers the ladder and watches as you descend to the barrens below. For a long while you can hear the gnomes' work song as they ply their way in the direction you sent them." Thus ends my favorite part of the module, though if this was in the orginal game I can see why gnomes were never taken seriously. The TSR writers did them no favors.
Despite the food the game says was offered, I can't rest here. Pushing east I find a line of trees, and eventually a path through them.
"You pause. From up ahead you hear harsh, labored breathing, and a steady tapping noise. You inhale faint, foul odor. Then the reason comes staggering into view. A withered old man, leaning heavily on a staff comes from around a bend in the forest and lurches towards you. His head is bent; he sees only the ground before him. Slowly, he seems to realize that he is not alone. His head snaps up, and you look into his wild, crazed eyes. He flings both arms wide, almost falls, and screams, 'Stop!'" I do as ask and wait. "The old man raves, 'I have waited! Pondered! Searched! Suffered! Seen! From the furnace of desolation I have come, bearing the truth that is mine alone! Leviathan is come, and the boundaries of earth and air, fire and water, shall be swept away! Twoscore minions has he, and they shall smite down the doers of evil, as a woodsman fells oak and pine! With the strength of a giant and the voice of an army, he is come... beware!' The old man eyes you warily, his last booming word echoing through the forest around you." I'm entertained and talk to him further. "The old man smiles as you address him, deciding to impart his wisdom upon you. 'Listen, for I am a seer of visions, and my sojourn into the desert... seven days without food or water, and then I saw a vision... I saw Leviathan, his great white preponderance moving effortlessly across the land! He has come to smite the doers of evil, to deliver just to those deluded minions of the outer darkness! Theirs shall be a squalid death, but I am the prophet of Great Leviathan! I have foreseen his coming! Tell what you have learned here, dear ones. You are the first children to be imparted with this wisdom and foreknowledge. Yours is the glory of aiding us in the spreading of wisdom.' The old man wanders off into the forest, still talking about his vision. He barely seems to notice that he has left you." Heh... he is going to get manhandled by forest goblins.
We're at the home stretch. Next, I will conclude the adventure.
