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Company of the Random Encounter ('complete' 14 Nov 2004)
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<blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1845052" data-attributes="member: 6294"><p><strong>This session was inspired by Mystic Eye Games' free adventure "Right Under Our Noses". Which basically means that I stole the hook (a hideous smell from the sewers is making people ill, and the engineers hired to fix it don't seem to be doing anything), some NPC names, and the maps, then re-wrote everything else.</strong> </p><p></p><p></p><p>The Company of the Random Encounter receive an invitation to Marikest Council Hall. Many of their number are off on personal errands, but the Padre is able to locate Ming Li, Sirdros, Twinkle (a recruitment he's not sure was wise) and Seraphina, who has been more or less adopted into the group and who now experiences the inevitable Tweedlefinkle introduction. Despite the halfling rather brusquely interrupting the gnome, the two soon become fast friends. Darn small-sized, animal-riding cliquey people.</p><p></p><p>At Council Hall, the Company learns that Marikest has been having considerable trouble with its sewer system, in recent weeks. A group of dwarven engineers were hired to alleviate the problem. Although initially the dwarves were successful, "The Stink" (as the councillors call it) is now back and worse than ever.</p><p></p><p>With people in the area of the Stink actually becoming physically unwell from the stench, and their patience with the dwarves running out, the Council (and specifically Margan Talhaus, who does most of the talking) ask the adventurers to look into it.</p><p></p><p>A significant amount of gold is mentioned, so the Company takes little time in agreeing to the proposal.</p><p></p><p>Travelling to the warehouse where the dwarves are based, the Company find it empty. There is, however, a sewer entrance gate, from which a nauseating smell is emerging. The fumes are so bad, Twinkle swears she can see them.</p><p></p><p>Wrapping scented scarves over their faces, the group descends, and begins looking for the dwarves. The first thing they find, however, is a dead beggar, wrapped in a ragged cloak. Approaching the body (surely to see if the man is alright, with no thoughts of looting the dead), the Company are startled (not to mention <em>surprised</em>) when the cloak suddenly flies into the air and attacks!</p><p></p><p>Five against one seems like good odds, but with only a narrow walkway to stand on, the adventurers are unable to get their numbers properly into the battle. The cloaker has a few tricks of its own, as well. It manages to down Sirdros during the course of the battle, but eventually the adventurers manage to get people on either side of it (thanks to the rogues eventually remembering their tumbling skills), and the creature is destroyed.</p><p></p><p>After healing Sirdros, the group continues their exploration. They find the dwarves, and also find them to be less than helpful. Sheer persistence, however, eventually forces the engineers to fetch their leader, a middle-aged dwarf named Haldan. Confronted by adventurers, Haldan admits that he and his men have been conducting their sewer repairs with stone they quarried in unauthorised excavations beneath Marikest. The stone is supposed to come from quarries outside the city, and is being charged to the Council on that basis.</p><p></p><p>Asked how this relates to the Stink, Haldan explains that, during the course of their excavations, the dwarves broke into a system of caverns, which were filled with vicious, noxious "slime monsters". The dwarves managed to drive off the creatures, but now the "monsters" keep attacking them, and the dwarves have not been able seal the cave back up. The cave is the source of the stink, as it is filled with pools of a strange liquid that gives off terrible fumes.</p><p></p><p>The Padre finds this story a little thin, and says so, but after a whispered conversation the group agrees to see what they can do about the monsters. By the terms of their agreement with the Council, the quicker the stink is resolved, the more they will be paid.</p><p></p><p>Entering the caves, it quickly becomes apparent that there is more afoot than the dwarves confessed. The first cavern is very large, and shows signs of a fierce battle. The corpses of many lizard-like humanoids are stacked in the cave, and a shattered throne made of bones and rocks is in one corner. Searching the area around the throne, the Company find a concealed cache containing two pink crystals of a kind they cannot identify. That's what happens when you don't put any ranks in Appraise.</p><p></p><p>Progressing onwards, the group are attacked by three spiny, slime-covered lizards. Each lizard is about six feet long from nose to tail, and - despite Twinkle's hopes that they will be friends for Rejjie - quite hostile to the adventuring intruders. A sharp battle follows, during which the creatures prove able to spit acid, but eventually all three of the beasts are destroyed.</p><p></p><p>(DM's note: the lizards were just hell hounds with a different appearance, and the fire-related abilities changed to acid)</p><p></p><p>Attracted by the sound of the battle, a small winged humanoid, with a body covered in slime, flies into the cavern. Seeing the adventurers, it immediately turns and flies back into the darkness, chittering in alarm. The Company follow it carefully, and emerge into foul-smelling cavern with a floor of slimy mud.</p><p></p><p>Several of the small winged humanoids are on a ledge on the far side of the cavern. They appear to be arguing as the adventurers enter, but the Company's arrival soon ends the dispute: three of the creatures launch to the attack.</p><p></p><p>The Company has a <em>lot</em> of trouble with these enemies. Most blows seem to slide harmlessly off the creatures' slimy skins, and the beasts are not easy to hit in the first place, as they fly out of reach of the adventurers, then dive down to attack. That is, when they aren't scraping the acidic slime off their chests and throwing it at the intruders, or releasing large clouds of noxious fumes from ... other parts of their bodies.</p><p></p><p>Eventually, however, the adventurers develop some effective tactics: those with magic weapons find these hurt the creatures just fine, while those without begin to flank their enemies, allowing the rogues amongst them to launch crippling sneak attacks.</p><p></p><p>When two of the attacking creatures have been killed, a wizened example of the race calls out, speaking in broken common;</p><p></p><p>"Cease this fighting! These are not our true enemies!"</p><p></p><p>The last fighter is in a berserk rage, and does not listen, but the Company shifts to non-lethal attacks to end the battle without killing it. This done, they speak with the wizened creature, which seems willing negotiate. It names itself Yolgru, and explains that its people (whom it names as "mephits") were attacked by a monster unleashed by the dwarves, which is why they attacked the adventurers. Asked how it knows the dwarves released the monsters, it explains:</p><p></p><p>"It looks like one of their race, except that the flesh of its face is misshapen, the jaw replaced by a four tentacles, and the eyes turned purple and lidless. When it spies our people, it stuns them with its mind, and then consumes their brains."</p><p></p><p>(DM's note: at this point, the Padre's player started whimpering)</p><p></p><p>In exchange for the adventurers killing the beast, Yolgru continues, the mephits will leave. Currently, they are unable to leave because the creature's lair blocks the only exit, except for going past the dwarves (which is another reasons they have been attacking the engineers). Once they can leave, Yolgru says it will also give the adventurers what treasure the mephits have.</p><p></p><p>The Company agrees to go forth to battle the tentacled, brain-eating dwarf. But first, they return to speak with Haldan and demand to know what's going on.</p><p></p><p>Eventually, Haldan admits that the cave had actually been home to troglodytes, rather than the mephits. He defends the dwarves' attack on the reptilian humanoids, saying that they are well known to be vicious cannibals. When pressed some more, he admits that one of the dwarves went missing after the fight with the troglodytes: the dwarves assumed he had become lost in the tunnels, or been taken as food when the last few troglodytes fled the battle.</p><p></p><p>The Padre passes on the description of the monster that was given to them by the mephits, and Haldan immediately wants to seal the tunnel With the adventurers there to stand guard, he asserts, the mephits will not be able to stop them.</p><p></p><p>"It's safer to leave that thing undisturbed." He argues.</p><p></p><p>More or less because Haldan doesn't want them to, the group decides to kill the creature, and go forth to find its lair.</p><p></p><p>As advertised, the first thing the creature does when they do find it, is attack them all with a stunning mental blast. Only the Padre manages to resist the creature's attack.</p><p></p><p>"It's Ulfgar!" he exclaims, recognising his old adventuring companion in the ruined face of the dwarf-thing they now face. Then he shrugs and puts two arrows into it.</p><p></p><p>(DM's note: Ulfgar's player went AWOL after the third session of the campaign. I tacked a level in expert onto the 2 of fighter he already had, slapped the half-illithid template on top of that, and waited to see how the PCs would react to having to kill one of their own. The answer: without compunction.)</p><p></p><p>It takes a lot more than that to put the creature down, and several times it has its tentacles wrapped around one or another of the adventurers' heads, but each time they manage to free themselves before it can suck out their brains. Twinkle, in particular, proves a very slippery customer.</p><p></p><p>(DM's note: damn dice!)</p><p></p><p>When the creature finally falls, the adventurers loot the body, get their reward from the mephits, and instruct the engineers to seal up the caves. They then make a full report to the Council, and - when the Stink dissipates within 48 hours - receive a handsome reward.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Explanatory Notes</strong></p><p>the dwarves did indeed break into the caves while quarrying stone illegally. The true reason they decided to stay, however, was that they found several of the strange pink crystals. Haldan (an Aristocrat 2/Expert 2) recognised this as a little known substance called <em>rosenkryste</em>, for which he knew that certain subterranean denizens would pay well: specifically the illithid. (Those of you with the EN World Player's Journal #3 may be thinking "isn't <em>rosenkryste</em> valuable to aboleth?" - the answer is "not when I originally came up with the stuff, but then WotC released the monsters SRD with mind flayers removed, and I had to change it". Unfortunately, one of the crystals was damaged in the fight with the troglodytes. It just happened to have a larval illithid within it, and said larva infected Ulfgar, who was one of the engineers. Haldan had hoped to find more <em>rosenkryste</em>, but once the PCs mentioned the half-illithid, he was more concerned with hiding what he'd been up to than making any further profit. The PCs, for their part, never told Haldan about the two crystals they found. Nor did they ever find anyone who could tell them what the stuff was. So they just kept it. Sooner or later, that was going to get them into trouble <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> ).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Capellan, post: 1845052, member: 6294"] [b]This session was inspired by Mystic Eye Games' free adventure "Right Under Our Noses". Which basically means that I stole the hook (a hideous smell from the sewers is making people ill, and the engineers hired to fix it don't seem to be doing anything), some NPC names, and the maps, then re-wrote everything else.[/b] The Company of the Random Encounter receive an invitation to Marikest Council Hall. Many of their number are off on personal errands, but the Padre is able to locate Ming Li, Sirdros, Twinkle (a recruitment he's not sure was wise) and Seraphina, who has been more or less adopted into the group and who now experiences the inevitable Tweedlefinkle introduction. Despite the halfling rather brusquely interrupting the gnome, the two soon become fast friends. Darn small-sized, animal-riding cliquey people. At Council Hall, the Company learns that Marikest has been having considerable trouble with its sewer system, in recent weeks. A group of dwarven engineers were hired to alleviate the problem. Although initially the dwarves were successful, "The Stink" (as the councillors call it) is now back and worse than ever. With people in the area of the Stink actually becoming physically unwell from the stench, and their patience with the dwarves running out, the Council (and specifically Margan Talhaus, who does most of the talking) ask the adventurers to look into it. A significant amount of gold is mentioned, so the Company takes little time in agreeing to the proposal. Travelling to the warehouse where the dwarves are based, the Company find it empty. There is, however, a sewer entrance gate, from which a nauseating smell is emerging. The fumes are so bad, Twinkle swears she can see them. Wrapping scented scarves over their faces, the group descends, and begins looking for the dwarves. The first thing they find, however, is a dead beggar, wrapped in a ragged cloak. Approaching the body (surely to see if the man is alright, with no thoughts of looting the dead), the Company are startled (not to mention [I]surprised[/I]) when the cloak suddenly flies into the air and attacks! Five against one seems like good odds, but with only a narrow walkway to stand on, the adventurers are unable to get their numbers properly into the battle. The cloaker has a few tricks of its own, as well. It manages to down Sirdros during the course of the battle, but eventually the adventurers manage to get people on either side of it (thanks to the rogues eventually remembering their tumbling skills), and the creature is destroyed. After healing Sirdros, the group continues their exploration. They find the dwarves, and also find them to be less than helpful. Sheer persistence, however, eventually forces the engineers to fetch their leader, a middle-aged dwarf named Haldan. Confronted by adventurers, Haldan admits that he and his men have been conducting their sewer repairs with stone they quarried in unauthorised excavations beneath Marikest. The stone is supposed to come from quarries outside the city, and is being charged to the Council on that basis. Asked how this relates to the Stink, Haldan explains that, during the course of their excavations, the dwarves broke into a system of caverns, which were filled with vicious, noxious "slime monsters". The dwarves managed to drive off the creatures, but now the "monsters" keep attacking them, and the dwarves have not been able seal the cave back up. The cave is the source of the stink, as it is filled with pools of a strange liquid that gives off terrible fumes. The Padre finds this story a little thin, and says so, but after a whispered conversation the group agrees to see what they can do about the monsters. By the terms of their agreement with the Council, the quicker the stink is resolved, the more they will be paid. Entering the caves, it quickly becomes apparent that there is more afoot than the dwarves confessed. The first cavern is very large, and shows signs of a fierce battle. The corpses of many lizard-like humanoids are stacked in the cave, and a shattered throne made of bones and rocks is in one corner. Searching the area around the throne, the Company find a concealed cache containing two pink crystals of a kind they cannot identify. That's what happens when you don't put any ranks in Appraise. Progressing onwards, the group are attacked by three spiny, slime-covered lizards. Each lizard is about six feet long from nose to tail, and - despite Twinkle's hopes that they will be friends for Rejjie - quite hostile to the adventuring intruders. A sharp battle follows, during which the creatures prove able to spit acid, but eventually all three of the beasts are destroyed. (DM's note: the lizards were just hell hounds with a different appearance, and the fire-related abilities changed to acid) Attracted by the sound of the battle, a small winged humanoid, with a body covered in slime, flies into the cavern. Seeing the adventurers, it immediately turns and flies back into the darkness, chittering in alarm. The Company follow it carefully, and emerge into foul-smelling cavern with a floor of slimy mud. Several of the small winged humanoids are on a ledge on the far side of the cavern. They appear to be arguing as the adventurers enter, but the Company's arrival soon ends the dispute: three of the creatures launch to the attack. The Company has a [I]lot[/I] of trouble with these enemies. Most blows seem to slide harmlessly off the creatures' slimy skins, and the beasts are not easy to hit in the first place, as they fly out of reach of the adventurers, then dive down to attack. That is, when they aren't scraping the acidic slime off their chests and throwing it at the intruders, or releasing large clouds of noxious fumes from ... other parts of their bodies. Eventually, however, the adventurers develop some effective tactics: those with magic weapons find these hurt the creatures just fine, while those without begin to flank their enemies, allowing the rogues amongst them to launch crippling sneak attacks. When two of the attacking creatures have been killed, a wizened example of the race calls out, speaking in broken common; "Cease this fighting! These are not our true enemies!" The last fighter is in a berserk rage, and does not listen, but the Company shifts to non-lethal attacks to end the battle without killing it. This done, they speak with the wizened creature, which seems willing negotiate. It names itself Yolgru, and explains that its people (whom it names as "mephits") were attacked by a monster unleashed by the dwarves, which is why they attacked the adventurers. Asked how it knows the dwarves released the monsters, it explains: "It looks like one of their race, except that the flesh of its face is misshapen, the jaw replaced by a four tentacles, and the eyes turned purple and lidless. When it spies our people, it stuns them with its mind, and then consumes their brains." (DM's note: at this point, the Padre's player started whimpering) In exchange for the adventurers killing the beast, Yolgru continues, the mephits will leave. Currently, they are unable to leave because the creature's lair blocks the only exit, except for going past the dwarves (which is another reasons they have been attacking the engineers). Once they can leave, Yolgru says it will also give the adventurers what treasure the mephits have. The Company agrees to go forth to battle the tentacled, brain-eating dwarf. But first, they return to speak with Haldan and demand to know what's going on. Eventually, Haldan admits that the cave had actually been home to troglodytes, rather than the mephits. He defends the dwarves' attack on the reptilian humanoids, saying that they are well known to be vicious cannibals. When pressed some more, he admits that one of the dwarves went missing after the fight with the troglodytes: the dwarves assumed he had become lost in the tunnels, or been taken as food when the last few troglodytes fled the battle. The Padre passes on the description of the monster that was given to them by the mephits, and Haldan immediately wants to seal the tunnel With the adventurers there to stand guard, he asserts, the mephits will not be able to stop them. "It's safer to leave that thing undisturbed." He argues. More or less because Haldan doesn't want them to, the group decides to kill the creature, and go forth to find its lair. As advertised, the first thing the creature does when they do find it, is attack them all with a stunning mental blast. Only the Padre manages to resist the creature's attack. "It's Ulfgar!" he exclaims, recognising his old adventuring companion in the ruined face of the dwarf-thing they now face. Then he shrugs and puts two arrows into it. (DM's note: Ulfgar's player went AWOL after the third session of the campaign. I tacked a level in expert onto the 2 of fighter he already had, slapped the half-illithid template on top of that, and waited to see how the PCs would react to having to kill one of their own. The answer: without compunction.) It takes a lot more than that to put the creature down, and several times it has its tentacles wrapped around one or another of the adventurers' heads, but each time they manage to free themselves before it can suck out their brains. Twinkle, in particular, proves a very slippery customer. (DM's note: damn dice!) When the creature finally falls, the adventurers loot the body, get their reward from the mephits, and instruct the engineers to seal up the caves. They then make a full report to the Council, and - when the Stink dissipates within 48 hours - receive a handsome reward. [b]Explanatory Notes[/b] the dwarves did indeed break into the caves while quarrying stone illegally. The true reason they decided to stay, however, was that they found several of the strange pink crystals. Haldan (an Aristocrat 2/Expert 2) recognised this as a little known substance called [I]rosenkryste[/I], for which he knew that certain subterranean denizens would pay well: specifically the illithid. (Those of you with the EN World Player's Journal #3 may be thinking "isn't [I]rosenkryste[/I] valuable to aboleth?" - the answer is "not when I originally came up with the stuff, but then WotC released the monsters SRD with mind flayers removed, and I had to change it". Unfortunately, one of the crystals was damaged in the fight with the troglodytes. It just happened to have a larval illithid within it, and said larva infected Ulfgar, who was one of the engineers. Haldan had hoped to find more [I]rosenkryste[/I], but once the PCs mentioned the half-illithid, he was more concerned with hiding what he'd been up to than making any further profit. The PCs, for their part, never told Haldan about the two crystals they found. Nor did they ever find anyone who could tell them what the stuff was. So they just kept it. Sooner or later, that was going to get them into trouble :) ). [/QUOTE]
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