Adam, Josh and Rich weren't able to make this session, so I ended up DMing a total of
nine players. You can see some of them in this photo:
Yes, that's a 4E DM screen; I'd accidentally left the useful half of the AD&D one at home.
The players and their characters:
Chris - Bjorn the human Cleric 3
Shane - Edward the human Wizard 2
Tait - Grak the half-orc Fighter 1
Callan - Mirock the dwarf Fighter 2
Paul - Grunt the half-orc Fighter 2
Jackson - Rathralen the human Cleric 1
Matt - Bear the human Ranger 1
Ben - Qoveh the human Ranger 2
Reece - Gol the human Fighter 3
Matt was playing in his very first D&D game. Well second, counting the earlier D&D Encounters session, I'd run a few minutes before.
22 Flocktime, 601 CY
The game picked up where the previous session had finished, with the way open to the duergar stronghold below. Not much conversation was entered into, as the duergar had the following forces ranged against the party:
8 skeletons
5 zombies
10 duergar (AC 4, HD 1+2)
2 duergar lieutenants (level 2; AC 4)
1 duergar captain (level 5; AC 0)
The initial rounds saw Bjorn turning the zombies and then the skeletons, whilst Shane used his
sleep spell to great effect, with most of the duergar going down. Otherwise, most of the rest of the characters were in melee, with varying effects.
Grunt was in particular trouble, with several blows getting past his armour and swiftly reducing him to 0 hp, and Qoveh followed him into unconsciousness - yes, the duergar were dying, but the party were being hit hard as well.
Chris had obviously been preparing his spell-casting tactics, as duergar reinforcements arrived, and - more importantly - the evil priest appeared on a balcony above the combatants and began to cast spells. First, he cast
silence on the priest, negating his spell, and then followed it up with a
hold person, which the priest failed to save against. Gol rushed up the stairs to the balcony and slew the priest whilst he was helpless, then returned to the fray.
The battle continued, with the duergar leader proving almost impossible to hit; Mirock went down, and the undead began to recover from their turning. At this point, the duergar leader offered them an olive branch - if they left now, they could go in peace.
Most of the players took advantage of this offer. Chris wanted to cast a
cure light wounds spell on Grunt, whilst Reece sent Gol up to recover the priest's armour.
This was a mistake: soon enough Gol found himself overwhelmed by new duergar arriving and just slain outright. Yes, this is a fairly bastard sort of thing to do as a DM.
Chris found himself needing to talk his way out of being captured, but in that he was successful. The group returned to town, where they healed the three unconscious members of the group, and failed to mourn Gol. Reece rolled up a new character - a halfling thief.
1 Wealsun, 601 CY
A week later, with most of the characters healed and trained (for those who had gained a level... which was many of the PCs), the local Baron, Lord Sigmund, chose to pay them a visit. He'd become aware of the large amount of money flowing into the town's coffers, and wanted to make sure he was getting his proper share.
His proper share? Half of the PCs money! The group objected to this, but not too much - not after he cut off Bjorn's left hand as the cleric cast a
Know Alignment spell on him. (He's Chaotic Neutral). Against his big, doughty henchmen, the group wouldn't have stood much of a chance. He left them with an offer to join him on a longship voyage in a month's time, which would leave from his seat of power, Vortenfjord. This rather divided the group, with Bjorn being vehemently against any alliance with the Baron!
(Chris was indeed rather pleased with the result, as for the most part there will be no game consequence of the missing hand, and it gives him great role-playing potential!)
3 Wealsun, 601 CY
In the meantime, the group resolved to go back into the dungeon, exploring the chambers around the elevator room. This time, Ben realised the significance of the rainbow on the imposing door down below - it was the symbol of Bifrost, the rainbow bridge to Valhalla. The door itself was locked and had no handle or obvious lock - they weren't able to determine how to open it, but it certainly was a portal of some power.
Otherwise, they investigated the chambers to the west and north of that area, where they discovered a group of bandits with which they attempted to negotiated with a little before slaying them, and then finding a room with fungi and a pool and a dead badger - the latter of which was crawling with 12 giant centipedes! Upon realising the danger the poisonous bite could inflict, the group fled hurriedly. A couple of characters were bitten, but both made their saving throws.
North of there, they came upon a room filled entirely with sleeping gas (which, again, no-one was affected by, saving throws being made by those caught in it), and stairs down to yet another level of the dungeon.
There, they discovered an enclave of orcs, this time of the Severed Hand, which Chris took much exception to. Two of the ten orcs surrendered after the others were slain - Spig and Spog - but they swiftly led the group into their greater number - a large room with 29 orcs! Shane's magic was definitely a game-changer, but the superior armour of the group also made a big difference. Eventually, the remaining orcs surrendered - were bound and then slain (not wanting more treachery!) A number of gems were found on the orcs, but all of little value - 600 gp in all.
At this point, the group returned to the surface; it was getting quite late and that was enough for our latest session. I expect a smaller group next week (as Paul will be running his 4E game), and we'll see what happens as the next part of the campaign commences.
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