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Dwimmer Deep
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<blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 6305004" data-attributes="member: 2525"><p>[A brief note on session reports - some days I took the time for a full entry. Other days, often when I was exhausted at the end of a session, I simply wrote a brief summary, and once I had to go back and write one from memory of the week or two before. None of this has been edited from our log entries kept in Roll20. I may go back and edit some at a later date to make it flow better.]</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px">Session One</span></p><p>July 11, 2013</p><p></p><p>During the events described in "The Background Story", elsewhere the affairs of men and Drow were having some dire or auspicious consequences, depending on one's perspective.</p><p></p><p>As detailed in the background stories of Luther (Matt B.'s character, a bugbear Fighter) and Bear (Jason's character, a bugbear Ranger), a party of powerful adventurers rescued those two brave survivors from the ruined undercity of the Drow and their brutal gladatorial arenas. Amongst those powerful adventurers was a follower of the good and righteous deity sometimes known as The Lifegiver.</p><p></p><p>Setting aside their formerly somewhat wicked ways, Bear and Luther joined the religion of their rescuer, and turned to the side of the light and the just.</p><p></p><p>On return from their successful foray into the distant dark-elven deepness, those same powerful adventurers went on to be amongst the first to explore the depths of the newly discovered Dwimmerdeep. On their homecoming to town, they were appalled to hear that other amateur adventurers had also ventured forth, and met their maker within the stygian depths of the skull mountain, in their quest for coin and glory.</p><p></p><p>Concerned that others would follow such an ill-advised path and meet similar fates, the group helped sponsor the founding of the Adventurers Guild. </p><p></p><p>Hoping to follow in the adventuring footsteps of their mentors, Bear and Luther immediately signed up with the Guild. Therein, they met fellow adventuring hopefuls, Milo (John's character, a halfling Wizard) and Hollin (Noah's character, a human fighter), who had joined for their own mysterious reasons.</p><p></p><p>The newly formed amateur group were well equipped by the guild, in exchange for a small stake in any treasure found within the dungeon. They were escorted through the wilderness by fellow members of the guild, and led to one of the many openings along the face of that sinister skull mountain. </p><p></p><p>While most of the escort left for town, intent on returning in a few days to check on the adventurers, two members of the escort force remained behind: Father Rivers (a human cleric of the Lifegiver, and apprentice of that powerful cleric who had helped rescue Bear and Luther), and a mysterious man named Lionel (a human rogue), who the party overheard called "Slink" by his fellow escorts. Father Rivers and Lionel offered to stay within the entry chamber of the dungeon, and provide succor to the party should they require assistance in their quest.</p><p></p><p>Within that same entry chamber, the party found some torches and oil, and then conversed at some length with a Talking Door (see picture in dungeon). The Talking Door seemed rather sinister, and somewhat cagey, though it did offer to provide some information concerning the Dwimmerdeep, one time. The party asked what they would encounter should they open the Talking Door, and the Door replied with a riddle (see party Handouts - Door Riddle 1).</p><p></p><p>Working through the riddle, the party determined that a deadly cockatrice, able to turn hapless adventurers to stone, likely stalked within the next room. On advice from the Talking Door, which was later discovered to perhaps be somewhat misleading, the party feared that the gaze of the beast was just as deadly as the claws, and shielded their eyes before hazarding forth.</p><p></p><p>There they did find such a beast, and slew it well and truly dead, with sword and spell.</p><p></p><p>Beneath an old barrel within, they found a scared goblinoid creature named Uglug. Interrogating the cowardly soul, the party discerned that Uglug had also spoken with the Talking Door. Uglug's group had asked how they could make some money, and the Door had suggested that they trade cockatrice eggs with some Bullywug creatures that could be found deeper within the depths, and described where such eggs could be located. However, the Door had not warned the goblins that a room full of deadly cockatrice guarded the eggs, and most of the group had been turned to stone (seen as statues now within the room), with poor Uglug hiding within the barrel for a couple days until the party rescued him.</p><p></p><p>Vowing to devote his life to the adventurers, at least until he could find a cure for his companions, Uglug accompanied the adventurers thereafter.</p><p></p><p>The wizard Milo then gathered some cockatrice eyeballs and eye-stalks that he thought may have some value as a material component for an advanced spell, and the party journeyed onward.</p><p></p><p>The party then briefly encountered a pit trap within a hallway. At the bottom of the pit, after one member accidentally fell in, they discovered some valuable coins of an ancient vintage, and a rusty short sword (which they gave to Uglug). </p><p></p><p>In the next room, the party found a terrifying huge chamber, the floor of which appeared to be completely covered with deadly snakes and serpents. An old chain bridge seemed to have previously traversed the chamber, but it had fallen in long ago, and there seemed to be no safe way across.</p><p></p><p>After some experimentation, mostly involving explosive conflagrations crafted by Bear using some oil and vinegar barrels previously discovered, the party eventually discovered that most of the serpents were illusions, and only a relatively few of the snakes were real. Carefully climbing down and probing with their staves and weapons, the party made their way safely across.</p><p></p><p>The next passageway contained some difficult-to-spot green slime. But, the sharp eyes of the party picked up its sheen, and dealt with it handily with fire.</p><p></p><p>Following along further to the north, the party stealthily opened the next door to find a huge chamber, filled with water to the west and a large temple to the east. The water was occupied by a large crab-like sea creature of some sort, while the temple was well populated with the frog-like beings known as the Bullywugs. Doors exited to the west and north, but both could not be accessed without encountering the Bullywugs. </p><p></p><p>The party decided to parlay with the swampy temple dwellers rather than fight them, to some success. The Bullywugs revealed that they had been abducted by the Dwimmerdeep itself, their swampy lair having been suddenly absconded whole along with their tribe into the dungeon. They had agreed with the Talking Door to become residents of the depths, a decision they appeared to regret. At war with a nearby tribe of Kobolds, the Bullywugs were working to escape the dungeon. They had concocted a mysterious plan to leave, which apparently required cockatrice eggs as a component. Though they would not disclose the details of their escape plan, the Bullywugs did offer safe passage to a magical well not far beyond their lair, if the party did them but one simple favor. They warned though that, beyond the well, some wicked harpies made their lair in the caverns above.</p><p></p><p>The favor was of the choosing of the party: either help the Bullywugs kill the vile Kobolds that were vexing them so (and who had tried to eat their pet giant crab), so that the Bullywugs could be freed from their guard duties to go and retrieve the cockatrice eggs they needed themselves. Or, the party could simply obtain the eggs and bring them to the Bullywugs, bypassing any need to deal with the Kobolds.</p><p></p><p>The party, desiring to obtain access to the magical well which they hoped would cure Uglug's companions of their stoney state, agreed to undertake a task for the Bullywugs in exchange for safe passage. They would attempt to retrieve the eggs, rather than combat the kobolds.</p><p></p><p>The party returned to the room where they found Uglug, after dealing with some lingering snakes in the snake room, and prepared a plan to attack the remaining cockatrices.</p><p></p><p>On opening the door to the cockatrice lair, the group found that the old saying of no plan surviving contact with the enemy to be sadly true. As the cockatrice's flew in to attack, chaos ensued. Party members were going down left and right. A fortuitous flaming spell from Milo did manage to stave off the attack before all was lost, but Bear went down to the cockatrice's stone-causing claws, and the rest of the party faced a dire fate as their resources dwindled and situation turned urgent.</p><p></p><p>Fortunately, Uglug managed to find his courage at last. Well, he did, after he ran away to retrieve help. Fleeing to the next room, Uglug summoned the aid of the Father Rivers and Lionel, who came charging to the rescue. After a brief pitched battle between the hallway separating the cockatrice room and the main entry chamber to the dungeon, wherein Uglug did take a whack at one of the monsters, the group along with their escorts managed to slay the wicked cockatrices. </p><p></p><p>The battle was not without its casualties, however. Bear remained a stoney statue, victim of the deadly cockatrice attacks.</p><p></p><p>In addition, after comparing notes, it was discovered that the Talking Door had been a bit misleading in its information concerning the cockatrices. While their gazes could be deadly, they were far less deadly than their claws. And, by attempting to avoid the gaze of the creatures, the party had perhaps put itself at such disadvantage that the wicked birds had gained the upper hand for a time.</p><p></p><p>On searching the lair of the vile avians, the party did find some sacks of treasure, and more than a sufficient number of the desired cockatrice eggs.</p><p></p><p>But what to do about Bear's stoney state? The group rested and planned, hoping to trade the eggs for safe passage to the rumored magic well that might cure him, along with Uglug's companions.</p><p></p><p>To be continued, next session....</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]61799[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61800[/ATTACH][ATTACH]61801[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]61802[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mistwell, post: 6305004, member: 2525"] [A brief note on session reports - some days I took the time for a full entry. Other days, often when I was exhausted at the end of a session, I simply wrote a brief summary, and once I had to go back and write one from memory of the week or two before. None of this has been edited from our log entries kept in Roll20. I may go back and edit some at a later date to make it flow better.] [SIZE=5]Session One[/SIZE] July 11, 2013 During the events described in "The Background Story", elsewhere the affairs of men and Drow were having some dire or auspicious consequences, depending on one's perspective. As detailed in the background stories of Luther (Matt B.'s character, a bugbear Fighter) and Bear (Jason's character, a bugbear Ranger), a party of powerful adventurers rescued those two brave survivors from the ruined undercity of the Drow and their brutal gladatorial arenas. Amongst those powerful adventurers was a follower of the good and righteous deity sometimes known as The Lifegiver. Setting aside their formerly somewhat wicked ways, Bear and Luther joined the religion of their rescuer, and turned to the side of the light and the just. On return from their successful foray into the distant dark-elven deepness, those same powerful adventurers went on to be amongst the first to explore the depths of the newly discovered Dwimmerdeep. On their homecoming to town, they were appalled to hear that other amateur adventurers had also ventured forth, and met their maker within the stygian depths of the skull mountain, in their quest for coin and glory. Concerned that others would follow such an ill-advised path and meet similar fates, the group helped sponsor the founding of the Adventurers Guild. Hoping to follow in the adventuring footsteps of their mentors, Bear and Luther immediately signed up with the Guild. Therein, they met fellow adventuring hopefuls, Milo (John's character, a halfling Wizard) and Hollin (Noah's character, a human fighter), who had joined for their own mysterious reasons. The newly formed amateur group were well equipped by the guild, in exchange for a small stake in any treasure found within the dungeon. They were escorted through the wilderness by fellow members of the guild, and led to one of the many openings along the face of that sinister skull mountain. While most of the escort left for town, intent on returning in a few days to check on the adventurers, two members of the escort force remained behind: Father Rivers (a human cleric of the Lifegiver, and apprentice of that powerful cleric who had helped rescue Bear and Luther), and a mysterious man named Lionel (a human rogue), who the party overheard called "Slink" by his fellow escorts. Father Rivers and Lionel offered to stay within the entry chamber of the dungeon, and provide succor to the party should they require assistance in their quest. Within that same entry chamber, the party found some torches and oil, and then conversed at some length with a Talking Door (see picture in dungeon). The Talking Door seemed rather sinister, and somewhat cagey, though it did offer to provide some information concerning the Dwimmerdeep, one time. The party asked what they would encounter should they open the Talking Door, and the Door replied with a riddle (see party Handouts - Door Riddle 1). Working through the riddle, the party determined that a deadly cockatrice, able to turn hapless adventurers to stone, likely stalked within the next room. On advice from the Talking Door, which was later discovered to perhaps be somewhat misleading, the party feared that the gaze of the beast was just as deadly as the claws, and shielded their eyes before hazarding forth. There they did find such a beast, and slew it well and truly dead, with sword and spell. Beneath an old barrel within, they found a scared goblinoid creature named Uglug. Interrogating the cowardly soul, the party discerned that Uglug had also spoken with the Talking Door. Uglug's group had asked how they could make some money, and the Door had suggested that they trade cockatrice eggs with some Bullywug creatures that could be found deeper within the depths, and described where such eggs could be located. However, the Door had not warned the goblins that a room full of deadly cockatrice guarded the eggs, and most of the group had been turned to stone (seen as statues now within the room), with poor Uglug hiding within the barrel for a couple days until the party rescued him. Vowing to devote his life to the adventurers, at least until he could find a cure for his companions, Uglug accompanied the adventurers thereafter. The wizard Milo then gathered some cockatrice eyeballs and eye-stalks that he thought may have some value as a material component for an advanced spell, and the party journeyed onward. The party then briefly encountered a pit trap within a hallway. At the bottom of the pit, after one member accidentally fell in, they discovered some valuable coins of an ancient vintage, and a rusty short sword (which they gave to Uglug). In the next room, the party found a terrifying huge chamber, the floor of which appeared to be completely covered with deadly snakes and serpents. An old chain bridge seemed to have previously traversed the chamber, but it had fallen in long ago, and there seemed to be no safe way across. After some experimentation, mostly involving explosive conflagrations crafted by Bear using some oil and vinegar barrels previously discovered, the party eventually discovered that most of the serpents were illusions, and only a relatively few of the snakes were real. Carefully climbing down and probing with their staves and weapons, the party made their way safely across. The next passageway contained some difficult-to-spot green slime. But, the sharp eyes of the party picked up its sheen, and dealt with it handily with fire. Following along further to the north, the party stealthily opened the next door to find a huge chamber, filled with water to the west and a large temple to the east. The water was occupied by a large crab-like sea creature of some sort, while the temple was well populated with the frog-like beings known as the Bullywugs. Doors exited to the west and north, but both could not be accessed without encountering the Bullywugs. The party decided to parlay with the swampy temple dwellers rather than fight them, to some success. The Bullywugs revealed that they had been abducted by the Dwimmerdeep itself, their swampy lair having been suddenly absconded whole along with their tribe into the dungeon. They had agreed with the Talking Door to become residents of the depths, a decision they appeared to regret. At war with a nearby tribe of Kobolds, the Bullywugs were working to escape the dungeon. They had concocted a mysterious plan to leave, which apparently required cockatrice eggs as a component. Though they would not disclose the details of their escape plan, the Bullywugs did offer safe passage to a magical well not far beyond their lair, if the party did them but one simple favor. They warned though that, beyond the well, some wicked harpies made their lair in the caverns above. The favor was of the choosing of the party: either help the Bullywugs kill the vile Kobolds that were vexing them so (and who had tried to eat their pet giant crab), so that the Bullywugs could be freed from their guard duties to go and retrieve the cockatrice eggs they needed themselves. Or, the party could simply obtain the eggs and bring them to the Bullywugs, bypassing any need to deal with the Kobolds. The party, desiring to obtain access to the magical well which they hoped would cure Uglug's companions of their stoney state, agreed to undertake a task for the Bullywugs in exchange for safe passage. They would attempt to retrieve the eggs, rather than combat the kobolds. The party returned to the room where they found Uglug, after dealing with some lingering snakes in the snake room, and prepared a plan to attack the remaining cockatrices. On opening the door to the cockatrice lair, the group found that the old saying of no plan surviving contact with the enemy to be sadly true. As the cockatrice's flew in to attack, chaos ensued. Party members were going down left and right. A fortuitous flaming spell from Milo did manage to stave off the attack before all was lost, but Bear went down to the cockatrice's stone-causing claws, and the rest of the party faced a dire fate as their resources dwindled and situation turned urgent. Fortunately, Uglug managed to find his courage at last. Well, he did, after he ran away to retrieve help. Fleeing to the next room, Uglug summoned the aid of the Father Rivers and Lionel, who came charging to the rescue. After a brief pitched battle between the hallway separating the cockatrice room and the main entry chamber to the dungeon, wherein Uglug did take a whack at one of the monsters, the group along with their escorts managed to slay the wicked cockatrices. The battle was not without its casualties, however. Bear remained a stoney statue, victim of the deadly cockatrice attacks. In addition, after comparing notes, it was discovered that the Talking Door had been a bit misleading in its information concerning the cockatrices. While their gazes could be deadly, they were far less deadly than their claws. And, by attempting to avoid the gaze of the creatures, the party had perhaps put itself at such disadvantage that the wicked birds had gained the upper hand for a time. On searching the lair of the vile avians, the party did find some sacks of treasure, and more than a sufficient number of the desired cockatrice eggs. But what to do about Bear's stoney state? The group rested and planned, hoping to trade the eggs for safe passage to the rumored magic well that might cure him, along with Uglug's companions. To be continued, next session.... [ATTACH=CONFIG]61799._xfImport[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]61800._xfImport[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]61801._xfImport[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]61802._xfImport[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]
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