PHDungeons Nentir Vale homebrew

[PHDungeon]

This is it, from Bella...

Session 18: A Death in the Family

Derren is dead.

With our choice of profession we’ve been extraordinarily lucky that this has not happened sooner. This is especially true for Derren with the haphazard way in which he fights. It has been a long time coming, but we all knew it was inevitable.

The words of Ludwig the Hateful, the architect of this death trap of a dungeon, echo in my mind- “Anyone who dies here becomes a sacrifice to the Slumberer”. Even if we wanted to, would we be able to resurrect him? Derren is the biggest liability to my identity. He most likely told his brother everything in a letter, or when he visited Grimmsburg. Either way, Starke watches the Androsax’s closely. If Derren told anyone then there is a good chance he knows my secret. Hopefully not, but it may force me into a premature strike, always dangerous with Starke involved.

I remember now just moments before. All of us trapped in a hallway and a large stone ball rolling toward us. Our way was blocked by a deep, spike filled pit, and to not cross it would mean instant death. Unfortunately, I knew that I would not have the strength to be able to jump the pit. The thundering stone ball of death came barreling down the hall. For an instant I imagined it rolling over top of me and leaving me bloody paste stain on the hallway floor, then Derren wrapped his arm unceremoniously around my waist. He leapt into the air and carried me across nearly effortlessly. The moment was a little ruined by his hand lingering on my breast, but he did save my life.

We opened the door to the vast chamber beyond. In a center was a ziggurat of stairs surrounded by four shallow pools, each filled with a representation of the primary elements: earth, air, fire, and water. At first there was no danger and we spread out to explore the chamber. It didn’t take long until we activated the room’s defenses, and four elementals predictably rose from the pools to attack us.

We concentrated our best attacks on the fire elemental. It fell first, but at great cost, for we expended some of our most potent attacks taking it out. While we were engaged with the elementals, a golden skull, big enough to have belonged to a titan, rose from a black pit at the top of the altar/ziggurat in the center of the room. Its first attack laid down a blanket of fire, and to my horror held me in place. Flames leapt up around me, causing me burning pain. I felt my legs being scorched, but I steeled my mind and tried to ignore the agony. I turned my attention to the water elemental while my more hale allies kept the earth and wind elementals at bay.

The water elemental could not withstand the combined might of the Sorceress’, and the earth Elemental did not fall easily, but it eventually crumbled under the might of our melee fighters. Finally, there was only the Golden Skull and the air elemental.

Bjorn had been facing the wind elemental single-handedly for the entire battle, but it was still cackling with lightning. Deryl and I were able to stay out of range of the Golden Skull (which continually attempted to blast my allies with various magical rays) and still attack it while the rest of our party surrounded the cursed air elemental.

The wind elemental continually tried to blow its foes into the pools of black ooze that surrounded the altar and the Golden Skull relentlessly protected it by attacking those that engaged it. Derren and Bjorn both fell and rose again after each administering aid to the other. Eventually, Torfinn had to rush in with healing potions to keep them fighting. It wasn’t long before our healing magic expended, and Derren fell and did not rise again. Watching, I took out a final healing potion and was torn between running into the fight and concentrating my attacks on the Golden Skull. Dropping the potion almost immediately I loaded my weapon in a smooth, practiced motion and continued firing upon the skull. I should have been resolute in this; taking care of the threat of the skull was the best strategy in keeping them alive. It was the first time that my common sense had been compromised in such a way. Having friends appears to be dangerous to my continued longevity.

Over the course of he battle the Golden Skull had sustained significant damage, and finally I fired a bolt that shattered it, causing it to fall into the black pit from which it had spawned. A sense of triumph surged through me, for the hovering titan skull had been terribly vexing and had caused great injury to many of my companions. However, my triumph was overshadowed by the sight of Bjorn pulling Derren’s withered corpse from out of one of the black pools. It seemed that while Derren had been lying unconscious, desperately clinging to life, the elemental had blown his body into one of the terrible black ichor. The stuff was potent enough to finish off a healthy individual in a matter of seconds, so it was no surprise that Derren had not survived. It was a terrible way to go none-the-less.

Now we sit, mourning the loss of our companion while trying to rest and decide what to do next. We still haven’t found a way out of this cursed place. We aren’t even sure if there is one. If there isn’t one, not resurrecting Derren might be a blessing. I know I wouldn’t want to be brought back only so I could starve to death.

We rest now, perhaps things will look less bleak after that.

 

[PHDungeon]

This journal is from Bjorn, but takes place prior to the heroes venturing into the Underdark and getting trapped in the Hateful Halls.

We have played another session since Derren's death that takes place in this nasty dungeon and features the most diabolical trap I have ever designed for a dungeon, so I'm hoping for journal entries regarding that session in the near future (as it was probably the most enjoyable game session I've run since my players fought Demogorgon at the end of of Savage Tide).

Bjorn 17

A most interesting and illuminating evening. Bella asked me to join her for dinner at a local inn, she asked me to come alone as there were some things she wished to discuss. She recommended an inn, one of the better ones in town, and we agreed on a time. Given recent developments I was not sure what to expect and as construction on the temple has nearly been completed. I decided it would be a good time to move from the grounds. With that in mind I went early to the inn to secure a room, it would also allow me to check out the surroundings before our meeting. The inn is actually quite comfortable, the bedding recently changed and the fellow guests looked to be skilled craftspeople. With the siege broken and the rebuilding going on there has been an influx of highly skilled masters and their apprentices. This inn obviously catered to the Craft Masters.

As I was a little early after settling into my room and decided to head down to the dining area. This inn had both a common room and an area for dining an unusual feature for the inns in town, I can see why Bella recommended it. The cellar was surprisingly well stocked given the recent events in town. Not as extensive as it might otherwise been but a good selection none the less. I ordered a drink and waited for Bella to arrive.

I was glad I had arrived early as we might not have got a table otherwise. The proprietor had earlier informed me they did not take reservations, as why turn away ready coin in favour of coin that may or may not turn up. The fact that the dining room was busy spoke well of the fare we were to enjoy this evening. The night's menu was a choice of either mutton stew or roast boar served with winter apples, spring greens, and fresh bread.

Bella arrived shortly after my drink. The room was busy, but not an eye did not follow her progress through it. I saw more than on fellow get a kick under the table from the woman he was with. After Bella was seated the conversation in the room picked up again, and the serving girl approached the table and took Bella's drink order. Bella's order arrived quickly and we placed our dinned order. Both of us decided on the Boar.

Our conversation started with our companions. We talked initially about the Androsax siblings. I stated that I was uncomfortable travelling with such a young girl into the situations that we often found ourselves, and if Darren was not with us she would have to be returned to her family. It was kind of Darren to humour his sister in the ownership of the house in town but the fact remained she was still a child regardless of how powerful she was. Bella was resistant to this not that she disputed that Deryl was a child but apparently there was a link between them. This is when Bella showed me a mark that she said she shared with Deryl. It was this mark they shared that made Bella reluctant to part ways. I indicated I understood but stated that if, the Gods forbid, any thing should happen to Darren she would have to be returned to her family. However I did concede that if Bella became Daryl's guardian things would be different. Bella however would have to get her parents agreement.

At this point our meal arrived and conversation stopped as we enjoyed the meal, which was very good.

After the trenchers were cleared and we enjoyed an after dinner drink our conversation returned to our companions. Bella felt that I was crazy to be staying so close to Torfinn after what happened the night of the banquet. I pointed out that Torfinn is one of my most trusted companions and what sort of friend would I be to abandon him in his time of need. Besides he had warning last time and if, a big if, it happened again I expected that we would have warning again and again Torfinn would take appropriate steps. I did however want to help Torfinn and as the hand of fate had been less than helpful I though maybe it would be as well to return to the beginning and ask the brothers who found Torfinn in the storm if they recalled anything that might either help or provide a clue as to where to start.

This brought us to each other Bella asked if there was anything I wished to ask her. I said i did but was hesitant to do so in so public a place for concern of her own privacy. I knew how protective of her secret she was, and heaven help the one who betrays her confidence. Bella assured me however that a crowded place was better because there were so many conversations going on that unless you were partaking in one you would not hear any of them. Assured I began to ask about Changelings separating fact from the fictions I had heard in myth. It was a most interesting experience.

Having taken me into her confidence Bella asked one more thing, assistance in taking down Starke. Given how I feel Starke was a danger I was ready to agree but wanted her reason. This she provided to my satisfaction.

It has been a most interesting evening and tomorrow we head into another adventure the Iron wyrm has asked our assistance and we have agreed.

 

[PHDungeon]

This journal details many of the events from game session #19 from Bella's POV. When we left off they were trapped in the deadly halls of Ludvag the Hateful, and Derren has just met his end in a terrible battle with elementals.


Session 19 – Naked Ambition

Victor,

My latest venture with the Androsax siblings was disappointingly low on profit and high on danger.

Deep below the silver mines that the Iron Dragon Kisanth had made her home we had stumbled across the halls of Ludvag the Hateful. We had not made it far when it claimed its first life, that of Derren Androsax. I was elated at first, most of our problems had come from the foolish noble. Luckily Bjorn had a raise dead scroll, and was able to perform the ritual and bring our companion back to life. (DM’s Note: The raise dead is a blatant lie put in the letter to Starke. The truth is more like this: Deryl used her magic dagger, which seems to be possessed with some sort of intellect, to perform a disturbing magical ritual that allowed us to bring the man back to life. She literally had to cut his heart out of his chest, and then Torfinn was able to gently stoke the heart back to life with his divine lightning. It was horrifying watching little Deryl holding her brother’s beating heart in her hands. She then placed it back in his chest cavity and Bjorn used his healing magic to seal the wound. Seconds later Derren jolted back to life. I still do not understand the exact nature of the ritual, and I am not certain that the Derren Androsax that now walks among us is the same man he once was).

After resting from our ordeal, we explored the two exits in the room. There was one on the south wall with a pool of freezing, necrotic black filth flush against the wall. It seemed to be the same foul liquid we had encountered in the bowls of the Temple of Yellow Skulls in the Ogrefist hills months earlier. Beyond a pair of bronze doors was a small room with nothing but a teleportation circle. Opening the second set of doors revealed another hall. Crossing the pit to open the first chamber had nearly killed me, so I stayed behind while the rest of the group scouted ahead down the hall. When it was determined that it was the way that we would go, I crossed the pool again and followed. Better the Devil you know, than the one you don’t.

The hall ended in a large chamber with an earthen floor featuring an enormous statue of Ludvag the Hateful and a pit/well. Upon entering it filled with armies of the undead that crawled up out of the earthen floor. I suspect they were the dead workers who had helped to build this vile place. However, we fought them off easily. Afterwards, a magic mouth activated on the statue and our illustrious host gave us salutations and empty promises. According to Ludvag, his crypt was deep down at the bottom of the pit and with him all of his earthly treasures but no easy way out. He even compared the traps below to the famed Tomb of Horrors, claiming that those of the Tomb of Horrors paled in comparison to the one’s he had designed. On the other hand, a teleportation circle in a chamber nearby potentially led to our freedom.

We explored the pit briefly. Cullen was able to tell us that far below was a cavern with a lake of acid and to the west was a shore leading into presumably the insane dwarf’s tomb and fabulous riches. We decided that even if we believed Ludvag we lacked the ability to delve into the pit unscathed and return. We chose the circle, and though I know what happened next, I am unsure that it would have been worse then what have happened if we had ventured down the pit. It would seem that Ludvag is very inventive. I find that I admire his ingenuity. Victor, I would recommend an expedition here with a more prepared team, the dwarf is a liar but there may be a grain of truth in the treasure he speaks of. All of his traps are purposely imperfect, they seem more tests for the skilled than contraptions made to kill, though they are plenty deadly. Perhaps we shall return another time. For now however, we all stepped onto the teleportation circle.

We materialized into a nightmare, a thin ledge against a wall next to a pit filled with fire. A chain hung from the ceiling over the fire and across the pit was a small opening. To add insult to injury, we were also naked; our gear was gone. It continued to get worse, the wall of course started to move and soon we found that it was cursed magical glyphs, which bore an enchantment that caused us to want to fight each other. Most of us were able to shake off its effects with little difficulty and those that couldn’t were not much of a threat without weapons. Unfortunately our kobold companions were far less iron willed. Two of them met their end in the fiery pit when they tried to attack us. Eventually we were able to use the chain to swing across into the next chamber where we found our equipment scattered on the floor and another teleportation circle.

Of course it wasn’t that simple, the room’s sole occupant was a flesh golem. We dropped, naked into the new chamber and rushed about trying to grab our weapons and gear, while at the same time avoiding the devastating fists of the hulking construct. After a brief melee we were brought close to death. We decided to flee, with our foe unvanquished, taking those of our possessions we could. Fortunately I did not lose anything.

Our final teleportation circle placed us in a pit surrounded by ogres in the Ogrefist Hills, naked, bruised and beaten, holding everything we own in our arms. Again we fought, but only briefly. It ended in us scrambling up the pit and running off into the night, chased by ogres nearly all the way back to Fallcrest. I’m starting to think I’ve forgotten how to kill.

I was deeply shamed but alive and unfortunately no richer than when we left. Though an experience in ingenuity, the halls of Ludvag the Hateful turned out to be a huge waste of time. Perhaps if you would be willing to fund a further expedition we would be able to unlock its treasures and my second visit will be more lucrative.

We can discuss it when I have mastered the Linked Portal Ritual, which should be soon.

Bella

 

[PHDungeon]

This is Bjorn's journal- recounting events from sessions 18-19 (The Halls of Ludvag the Hateful)

Bjorn's Journal

It has been an eventful week and doesn't appear to be letting up, but let me start from the beginning. The day after Bella's and my dinner I was asked to join my companions at Deryl and Derren's new home where Deryl informed us that she had been approached by the Iron dragon with a request. It seems that there was something deep in the mines that was killing the kobolds, not necessarily a bad thing from my point of view, and she wanted us to investigate and eliminate the threat. Given the recently established trading relationship with the dragon it made sense to pursue the task. It would also afford us some intelligence on their set up if it should be required we return at a future date.

We left for the silver mines and were met at the entrance, where they insisted we wear blindfolds. We grudgingly agreed not wanting to irritate the dragon. We were eventually led to her presence where we were informed of the threat and assigned 3 kobold guides to assist us. They wanted to again blindfold us to lead us to the area of the problems but in this instance we refused- if they wished our help we would not be blindfolded.

We made our way into the depths and eventually found the lair of some odd beasts called Quaggoths, they seemed some sort of ape but not. After slaying these beasts we found the remains of a few kobolds and thought that this was most likely the cause of their troubles. The lair was located in what appeared to be old dwarven construction. To be sure this was the sole cause we decided to explore further. This in retrospect was likely a mistake. For we had just entered the next area of the complex when the passage behind us was sealed by a devious trap of falling blocks. We soon discovered we had ventured into a labyrinth of deadly traps and it was all we could do to survive.

I must recount a particular encounter with a little shame, if only to be sure I do not repeat it. We had just survived a nasty little trap relatively unscathed, and entered a new room that appeared vacant. Most of the party remained at the entrance while Derren and I moved forward to explore the room. That should have been my first alarm, but as we moved in Derren and I went in different directions. Alarm two. The room was a large rectangle with a central dais raised in steps. At each corner of the dais was a well. The two closest to the entrance we came in contained dirt and water; the far left one had a fire burning in it, and the last was empty. There were also pools of what appeared to be the same black oily liquid we encountered in the temple of the elemental eye around the room. There was one large pool at the far end before a small landing and a door. There was another on the left side of the room, in front of a raised ledge and another door. A third one was on the right, just in from the plain wall. The final pool was just in from where we entered the room and was easy to walk around. Derren leapt up to investigate the ledge and door on the left, and I went to the right. All was quiet until, fool that I am, I began to climb the steps of the dais. As I stepped on the second step the wells activated and elementals of the Earth, Water, Fire and Air attacked. From the central dais rose a Golden skull that must have once belonged to a giant. It shot some sort of ray from its eyes. I have no doubt that we would have sprung the trap eventually, but the fact that Derren and I were so spread out from each other and the rest of our party was an error entirely of my own making. I cannot in this instance say it was Derren rushing foolishly in and endangering us; it was my own actions and impatience that allowed me to wander from Derren.

The battle was hard fought, I stubbornly fought the elemental of air by myself, and did not disengage to aid the balance of my party who were out of range of my healing ability. I was sorely wounded several times, but I was able to bounce back. It was not until near the end of battle that my error truly cost. I was knocked unconscious and was dieing when Derren, himself grievously wounded, came to my aid. He had no sooner aided me when the elemental of air slew him, first felling him with a blow, then knocking him into the deadly black "water". He died before I could pull him out. It was while I was pulling him out that the rest of the party finished off our remaining elemental foes.

It was a somber party that began to rest after this battle, I prepared to cast the ritual Gentle Repose on Derren to preserve him until we had opportunity to raise him. At this point I need to step back in time a little; earlier we encountered a magic visage of the creator of this hellish place. He spoke in a language only Bella understood. Bella told us that the creator was called Ludvag the Hateful and that the only way out of this death trap was forward. There seemed to be more, but Bella said it was mainly boasting and threats that were not worth translating.

Just as I was about to begin my ritual Deryl interrupted, saying that her dagger had told her that if we did nor raise Derren immediately his soul would be consumed by the Slumberer and this may help to wake it.

My first response was - Her dagger told her!?!?!?. What is going on? Unfortunately, Bella confirmed both that Deryl's dagger was intelligent and that those who fell in this place would feed the Slumberer.

If I had not felt such remorse as the cause of Derren's death, I most likely not have agreed to the proposed ritual. This ritual required us to cut out Derren's heart then drop some of our blood over it. Then Torrfin would apply his powers of lightening to stoke the heart back to beating. It would then be placed back in Derren's chest cavity, and I would do some healing to mend the wounds. This would supposably restore Derren to life. I must soon talk with Deryl about this dagger; the child is becoming more and more worrisome. Regardless, the ritual worked and Derren was restored. The process and battle had stretched our resources and we needed to rest.

We managed to rest without interruption, and afterwards we began to examine both exits from the room, the exit at the end of the room lead to a small room with a teleportation circle. The exit on the left lead to a hall. The walls of the hall were decorated with frescoes depicting the Dawn Wars. About half way down the hall was a pit. Having experienced the traps of Ludvag, we approached with caution. The pit had runes in the bottom that reversed the pull of gravity; the ceiling appeared to be solid, but I was suspicious. We thew one of the kobolds out to the middle with a rope tied to it. Instead of falling down, the kobold fell UP! As the kobold hit the ceiling, the surface broke, and it tumbled upward into a spike filled recess. We used ropes and pitons to cross safely.

Ahead of us was a set of double doors. We managed to disarm the traps on the door, and we entered the room beyond. We again faced a fight, this time with undead which we were well able to handle. Ludvag made an appearance in a ghostly form to taunt us further. Bella informed us that there was both a great treasure and an exit, investigating this room we found a pit of acid and a secret door leading to a narrow passage. The pit no doubt led to Ludvag's tomb and the treasure, but given what we had faced so far we opted to forego it and follow the passage. I am not sure this was the easy route, as it led to another teleportation circle. Examining both this circle and the one previously found, we discovered they led to the same place and running out of options we used it. I was not amused. We teleported to a ledge a great distance above a flaming pit. There was a small exit across the room, and the only way to reach it was a chain hanging in the center of the room above the pit. To further complicate matters, the back wall of the ledge began to move forward and runes on the wall were effecting us with a confusion spell. Additionally, we were all as naked as the day we came into this world without any of our gear and no knowledge of where it might be. Not seeing a lot of options, in a moment of clarity, I leapt for the chain, and the Gods must have been with me for I was successful. I began to set the chain to swinging to make the chain easier for the rest of my companions to reach. The distance of the chain from the rune wall put me out of range of its nasty effects fortunately. Deryl using her power of flight flew to the other side without problem, taking her favored kobold with her. Eventually the rest of the party gained their senses and joined me on the chain before being pushed into the flaming pit by the ever advancing wall. Unfortunately, both the kobolds were still under the effects of the wall's runes and as they hung from the top part of the chain, they tried to tear at Bella's hair and throw her down into the flaming pit. Bella fought hard, with no weapon. In desperation, she managed to hurl both the little kobolds down into the pit. The next problem was that the exit on the far side of the flaming pit was not large enough to hold us all. It was merely a small hole in the stone wall, and in the next room there was a fair drop to the floor. The good news is we had found our gear. It was scattered about the room beyond; the bad news was the room also contained a construct of flesh that seemed eager to scatter our body parts in a similar manner. One by one we dropped down into this chamber. We spent a frantic time running around the room naked, gathering out gear and making our escape. There was some injury by all, though Torfinn seemed particularly wounded. The exit from this room was another teleport circle, which we used with a prayer that we were not going from the frying pan to the fire.

Fortunately, this circle took us out of Ludvag's halls of death. Unfortunately, we arrived in a place of worship for an ogre village in the Ogrefist hills, still naked and clutching our gear. We fought a hasty retreat and were able to get far enough away from the ogres to redress. We were exhausted from the trials we had faced, but we pressed on through the treacherous hills. We travelled all night long, pursued by ogre hunting parties the entire way. We were fortunate in that we made it out with both our lives and the vast majority of our gear. Deryl was a little upset at the death of her favorite kobold at the hands of an ogre shaman. I had no felling for or against them though Bella seemed particularly pleased at thier departure from this plane.

 

[PHDungeon]

Some DM commentary. I had a lot of fun designing the nasty traps for Ludvag's Hateful Halls. It's not that often that I find an excuse to build a Tomb of Horrors style dungeon.

I was particularly pleased with the final trap/encounter it was probably one of my favorite encounters that I've devised as a dm. In case it isn't entirely clear in the journals I'm going to attempt to explain exactly how it worked.

The PCs step onto a teleportation circle, and it sends them to this ledge overlooking a massive pit of fire. The ledge is about 30' wide and goes 25' back. The pit of fire is the same width as the ledge that overlooks it, but it is about 60' across. It is a 50' drop down to the bottom of the pit from the ledge, and the entire pit is filled with permanent magical flames. A single chain dangles from the ceiling in the middle of the pit chamber. On the far side of the pit chamber (opposite the ledge) is a single exit which is a 2' by 2' opening in the wall, which is set at the same height as the ledge. The chain is lined up with the opening, so that it is possible for one to jump from the ledge to the chain and then swing to the opening. It is not an easy jump.

When the characters arrive on the ledge they find themselves naked. The only thing around them are some mundane weapons scattered on the ground. There own gear has been teleported nearby (as you will soon see). As soon as they arrive the trap triggers. The back wall slowly starts to move forward. It moves 5' each round, so that after 5 rounds it will push anyone left on the edge into the 50' deep pit of fire. Furthermore the wall is covered in aberrant glyphs. They trigger when the characters arrive with a Close Blast 5 squares from the wall (thus effecting anyone on the ledge). Everyone is subject to an attack vs Will. Anyone who it succeeds against takes psychic damage and is dominated (save ends, as per 4E rules). Dominated characters spend their actions picking up weapons and trying to attack their allies instead of worrying about the wall that is moving forward.

Several heroes were dominated but luckily made their saves pretty easy. However the glyphs have a 5,6 recharge, so they aren't out of the woods once they make their saves. In 4E this encounter is especially nasty because the heroes don't have easy access to flight magic and other effects that allow them to get to the other side of the pit easily. The sorcerer had a single round fly effect that could transport one other character with her (and she took one of the three kobolds, as opposed to an actual PC), but everyone else was SOL, so they had to jump for the chain. The cleric went first, making the jump, which he could have easily failed (resulting in a plunge to almost certain death). He then got the chain swinging back and forth. Other PCs (once they made their saves vrs. being dominated) started jumping to the chain (again they were lucky and no really low rolls showed up), so soon nearly the whole party was clinging to the chain). However, as the wall moved closer, so did the glyphs, so being on the chain was soon unsafe because those on the chain became in danger of being dominated again. The kobold guides were affected by this, and ended up trying to pull Bella off (it was a weird/hilarious image of an entirely naked party dangling from a chain over a pit of fire- Bella with kobold on her head trying to haul her off the chain). In the end the kobolds were too weak and they were tossed off into the pit.

The next problem was that opening on the far side was too small and not deep enough to hold the party. It was basically a 5' long tunnel that was 2 x2'. It ended with a 20' drop into another room, which contained all the party's gear scattered on the ground. It also had a flesh golem, which had enough reach to smack anyone coming out of the tunnel. Derren ended up feeding the chain through the tunnel and bracing his legs against the side wall to hold the chain so that the rest of the party could climb off it and start hopping down into the room with their gear. All the while the golem was smacking him for plenty of damage. It was nasty. Then the heroes had to run around and scoop up all their gear while the golem chased them and tried to trample them. Fortunately, they scooped up their bag of holding pretty early and managed to throw a lot of gear into it. None of them were in good enough shape to actually fight the golem in any real way, so they pretty much gathered as much of their magic items as they could and jumped onto the teleportation circle (it wasn't actually that easy because I believe the golem knocked a couple of heroes down to 0 hp requiring magical healing and the like to be doled out).

All in all it was a really evil encounter but a lot of fun. I totally recommend inflicting similar nastiness on your party if you are a dm.

 

[PHDungeon]

A quick journal from Derren

Dear Corvin,

It has been a while since I wrote, but you don’t die and get resurrected every day. Sadly, the details are a little cloudy to me – somewhere deep in Ludvag the Hateful’s trap-haunted tomb, I took a plunge in the black waters where Bjorn fell defending us.

I remember swimming, like we did at the villa as children – only I was swimming through stars. I could hear the laughter of the men at Valhalla, and I even think a Valkyrie winked at me when I looked up her skirt – but then I started drifting down towards towards this inky blackness. I swam as hard and fast as I could – my friends tell me this is when my heart was remade with blood and lightening and magic – and instead of sinking eternally into the slumbering void, I was lifted and came upon Niflheim, Hel’s dark domain.

You know, for an evil, half-rotting goddess and keeper of the dead who died in their sleep, she’s not bad looking. From her left side, mind you. Above her sat father Loki, and while I had a thousand questions about mistletoe, Torfinn and the death of a man named Flagg – I shut up. For once.

They warned me about some bad things about the end of the world, and wanted me to say hello to Torfinn – and with that – whoosh – I was staring into the pretending-not-to care face of Bella. Little did she realize I would soon see her naked!

Of course, the only way that chick would get undressed is if a magical trap stripped us bare and compelled us to fight one another while a bunch of kobolds clung to her hair. But that was two rooms later in Ludvag the Hateful’s trap-tomb of certain doom.

We made it out alive, no richer for our efforts and the ugly face of a laughing, maniacal gnome pressed permanently on our memories. That was one sick gnome (DM note: Ludvag is actualy a derro dwarf).

Your brother,

Derren

 

[PHDungeon]

As of this session (#20) the party looks like this

Bella: level 9 changeling rogue (with a touch of sorcerer)
Derren: level 9 human fighter
Bjorn: level 9 human cleric
Torfinn: level 8 Deva Invoker
Deryl: level 8 human sorceress

Derren's player is moving in a couple of weeks, so we a have new player joining to fill in his spot. She will be running Vesna Surtursdottr (human, warlord). Vesna is introduced into the game this session.

Bella's journal

Session 20 – Fallcrest Falters

On our way back to Fallcrest we stumbled upon a skanzi longship beached on the Nentir River. Its crew, which consisted of a warband of sturdy looking skanzi warriors, were taking a break upon the banks of the river. They appeared to be making their way upriver towards Fallcrest. Thinking one of them was Brianna, Derren rushed forward flailing like a madman and falling upon the ground at the feet of their commander. She was a woman; though it was hard to tell underneath all that armor and the many scars that decorated her face. Her men formed a circle around her and Derren and much to our surprise it seemed that they had been sent to find him.

Their leader, Vesna, was the sister of Brianna. It appears that the librarian never told her father that she was leaving to join our would be lordling in Fallcrest. Her father, having his daughter disappear with a disreputable man of a fallen house, seems to have sent this small band of warriors to retrieve her. After a brief parlay Derren was able to console the stern warlord and appease her that Brianna was safely back in Fallcrest. We were able to buy passage upon her ship and the remainder of our journey became swift and uneventful.

We returned, however, to a city in chaos.

A band of men (we later discovered that they were cultists of the Elemental Eye) had broken into Deryl’s inn. They found the secret chambers and tunnels in the basement, and they used them to access the deep caves we had previously discovered beneath the town. There they freed many of the monsters that lurked below as well as kidnapped Brianna. As soon as we were in the city gates we were informed that Lord Markelhay was on his deathbed, having been wounded in battle trying to defend the town from a terrible titan of earth and stone that had emerged from the caves. To make matters worse, any reputable cleric had been killed in the assault on the city. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Kissanth the iron dragon, was in the midst of laying claim to the leadership of Fallcrest in the confusion.

Both Bjorn and I wished to make haste to Lord Malkalhay’s side, as he seemed to be the most pressing matter at hand. According to what we knew Brianna had been taken out of the city and not knowing where she was we should have rushed to the manor to tend to the lord’s wounds. Instead, being lead by Derren’s foolish heart and Vesna’s stern devotion to duty and family, we stopped at the Blue Moon tavern to find out more about Brianna’s kidnapping. While we talked about the events that had occured with a drunken Sergeant Faringray, a messenger informed us that Markelhay had died; considering how quickly it happed, I doubt we could have made it in time to help.

Our warlord and fighter were appeased for the moment, and we hurried to the palace to inspect Markelhay’s body. Kissanth waited in the courtyard. Being cautious and respectful I convinced her to allow us passage into the keep where his body lay. We were taken to the body upon arriving by Lady Markelhay. Bjorn made a close inspection, and to his trained healer’s eye it revealed that he had been poisoned. Olivia, the maid was abnormally nervous, and seeing this Derren and Vesna started to question her. Terrified she would tell us nothing until Derren hung her upside down out the tower window. It was only then, crying and screaming that she revealed Kissanth had forced her to poison the wounded Lord Markelhay.

It was then we knew what had to be done.

Under the bluff of wanting to talk about the leadership of Fallcrest, Deryl convinced the dragon to enter the Great Hall. Once inside I bolted the door shut and we all closed in around the mighty Iron Dragon. We were lucky and surprise was on our side. Torfinn kept her controlled by stunning her repeatedly with his divine spells. Derren took the brunt of the dragon’s attacks and allowed the rest of the party to attack her in relative safety. Being trapped in the great hall, she was unable to take to the air. The element of surprise and numbers worked in our favor. It was over more quickly than I anticipated.

Kissanth is dead.

Though I wish to claim her hoard deep from within the kobold infested silver mines, it seems we have to rescue Derren’s useless librarian love interest from her captors. Hopefully it will still be there when we get back.

 

[PHDungeon]

Bjorn's Journal:

It is with heavy heart that I put quill to parchment, for Torfinn is truly gone. Let me recount from the beginning. We had just killed Kisanth and learned that Brianna had been taken in the direction of the ogrefist hills most likely to the old temple we had earlier explored. The town was still in disarray but we could not spare the time to set things right if we were to have any hope of rescuing Brianna. This being the case we set off the following morning taking horses and a dozen of Vesna's men, one of whom was a good tracker. We knew generally where we were going, but this time we were cutting across land, instead of following the road and heading south, which was the path we took during our first visit. This should save us some time provided we did not get lost. We left Deryl behind to support Lady Marklehay in her grief and provide a little aid if it should be needed for the troops.

Once we reached the Ogrefist hills we left the horses with Vesna's men, and our party; myself, Bella, Torfinn, Vesna, her tracker Snorri, and Darren. Headed into the hills on foot. The ground of the hills would have been treacherous for the horses and the time we gained getting here would have been lost. We pushed hard and made our way to the valley of the temple in good time. When we arrived, Bella sent her familiar ahead to scope out the situation.

The Temple which we had cleared out when he last visited had new occupants. The upper area had a number of ogres patrolling and it looked like it would be a tough fight to go through them. That and the fact that the sound of the fight might alert those who took Brianna to our presence made us decide to enter through the lower entrance where the black substance came out. The only problem was that what had been only a small trickle had expanded into a stream and had flooded the entrance area. From previous encounters with it, we knew we could not just wade through it. There was a barely scalable path along the wall and into the cavern. Darren went first, acting as lead climber and laying a path of pitons and rope to aid the rest of us along.

Even with this assist it was a hard climb and falling into the black liquid would not have been good. Here luck was with us and we made it into the cavern. The climb continued as we made our way along the way of a tunnel that led to the interior chambers of the temple. We were almost through the tunnel when we encountered a partial cave in. This was actually an aid to us and made progress a little easier if a little slower, as we could brace ourselves between the wall and the collapsed rubble. Derren still had the lead and this far in there was almost no light. In order to see Darren activated a sunrod. As he lit it just as a trio of gargoyles launched an attack. If not for that light we would have been at a serious disadvantage. Again the cave in aided us, giving us a bit of a slope to fight from and allowing all of us into the combat. It was a quick and dirty fight, as the gargoyles attempted to haul us from our precarious perches into the nasty ichor. Luckily, the black substance proved to be as inimical to the gargoyles as us. We managed to hack our way through them and cross the pool of black liquid with little additional injury. We were not in too bad shape and felt we had to press on for fear the fight had alerted others to our presence.

We made our way through the flooded catacombs with out incident and approached the well room. This room was occupied by a variety of nasties including the air archon we encountered and fled from under Fallcrest, a lich, two more gargoyles and a trio of human cultists. Fortunately, Brianna was here and still alive; they had not sacrificed her yet. It was our tack to see they did not. This was a hard fight, and we fought well together, focusing our attacks to take down the threats before us. As the tide turned in our favor one of the cultist moved over Brianna threatening to kill her if we did not surrender. Immediately Darren and Vesna leapt to her defence drawing his attacks to themselves and preventing harm to Brianna. It was Bella's well aimed shots that ended the threat of that culist however. The fight was made easier by a well timed blow by Torfinn against the lich, knocking it into the well and taking it out of the battle. The fight had been a hard one and many of our resources had been used. We had been pushed to the limit but were victorious. We now had to get out. With Briannah in bad shape from her ordeal we decided not to go through the ogres but to attempt to go out the way we came in.

It was here tragedy struck. The way out was as difficult as the way in. Bella and I had made it out Torfinn was behind me, followed by Vesna and then Darren who was carrying Briannah. Given the precariousness of the line and pitons we were quite spread out so as not to put too much weight on any one point. It was as Torfinn was half way along the outside wall, myself and Bella at the path and Vesna at the entrance to the cavern, that he lost his footing and fell into the black liquid, he was out of range of my healling powers, and before we could get to him he had suffered enough wounds to kill him. To have fought through so much and die in such a matter was more than I could bear. I retreived his body and resolved to bring him back. The rest of the party made it out and we left the area to where I could preform a gentle repose ritual to preserve Torfinn until we made it back to town. Briannah was in some shock from her ordeal and we soon learned that they had preformed some sort of ritual on her and implanted something into her womb. I preformed some minor healings on her to get her back to Fallcrest where we could aid her better. As much as I wanted my brother back Briannah took president. After gathering the necessary supplies I performed a Remove Affliction ritual, this was trying on Brianna but successful, and with some rest she was physically well. In time she will heal in her mind as well, as she has begun to show some signs of recovering. Though given her interest in Darren you have to question how sound of mind she was to begin with.

With Briannah taken care of I now began the preparations to revive Torfinn. The Aesir Temple, though damaged in the latest attack had not burned down, and was in sufficient repair for me to perform the ritual. With Torfinn laid out upon the altar, cleaned and garbed in muslin, I began my meditations to prepare myself for the raise dead ritual. I was in the middle of my meditation when a most peculiar thing occured. A stranger came into the temple, and approaching Torrfinn on the altar he shook his head and said, “Our enemies have grown strong.”. He drew closer and continued saying, “I must send my son home now. His time as a mortal has ended. He was sent here to atone for his misdeeds and now he must face judgement.” Suddenly Torfinn burst into flames and the stranger disappeared. All that was left was a sprig of mistletoe. There was no trace of Torfinn and no scorch marks from the fire. Even as I write the details fade from my mind.

I offered up prayers for Torfinn and hope that he is judged well, for he was a true friend to me and I will miss his sometimes taciturn companionship. The others in the party only knew the front he put forward; they did not come to know his lively sense of humour and keen wit, or his true loyalty once earned. My bother you will be missed.

With Torfinn's final passing and the healing of Brianna, it is time to turn our attentions to Fallcrest and the coming months. With the orc raids and battles of the past summer, there is little to harvest in the area, and it will make for a very difficult winter. There is the possibility of starvation, as well the town's defences have been compromised- add the damage to the temple, and the murder of Lord Marklehay, and the town is at risk both physically and spiritually. We have decided to seize the hoard of Kissanth in compensation for Markelhay's murder. The bulk of this will be used to purchase grain and food stuffs to help the town through the winter. I have put forward that the provisions be earned by work restoring the town's defences and Temples. I have dedicated the restoration of the Skanzi Temple to Torfinn's memory. In the morning we will head out to the silver mines to parley with the kobolds. We will take the hoard however by force of arms if necessary, but it should not come to that. The one other matter we have to see to is the trial of Olivia, Lady Markelhay's maid for her part in the murder of Lord Markelhay.

 

[PHDungeon]

A journal from Bella.

Session 21 - Heart of Ice and Darkness

With a sharp intake of breath I awaken. The room is freezing, far too cold for September. In horror I realize that I can see my breath clouding in front of me. I panic and leap from my bed my thoughts transforming my nightclothes into my trusted suit of armor. My hand reaches over and brushes the metal and leather grip of my crossbow and I watch as the metal frosts over at my touch. My entire body is wracked with the feeling of cold. I drop to my knees the crossbow still in my hand.

And then it is gone. As suddenly as it had come, it is gone.

This wasn’t the first time this has happened but I always react as if it is. The symptoms were becoming less painful and prolonged with each passing day, my body adjusting to a new power manifesting itself inside me. I can still feel the coldness within me, now a throbbing numbness. I can feel it flowing through me and into my crossbow. Although the crossbow was already magically augmented to launch freezing projectiles, I had always noticed that in my hands the bolts seemed to be more effective. The frost burns usually found on victims of this type of enchantment would extend much farther out of their wounds than normal.

I allow Cullen to manifest and he comes crawling over my shoulder.

“It seems mistress, sweet mistress that your powers are increasing.”

“Yes Cullen, I was just thinking the same thing. Although I have not been able to control this new ability, perhaps a few hours on the target range would aid me in honing it. I have a feeling however that it has not reached its full potency within me. Since I’m up I might as well get some work done.”

Bella sits at her workbench where a dragons eye is dissected and spread open with pins recent plunder from the defeat of the iron dragon, Kissanth. Her notes lay in an orderly pile on the table. Cullen leaps down off Bella’s shoulder and lands lightly on the table.

“The anatomy of a dragon’s eye is proving to be very educational. It allowed Kissanth to see a broader spectrum of light then us mere humanoids. With it I was able to manufacture a ritual that creates an area that allows creatures with regular vision to see as she did, at least for a short distance. It works like a light but would not be seen at a distance. I am confident that with further study I could create lenses that actually allow me see in the dark as a dragon would.”

“The main ritual component required the extraction of a specialized lens within the dragons eye that allows it to refocus light in order to see in the dark. Although the dragon’s eye was the first material component I was able to make the ritual work with the lens of any creature that has darkvision could be substituted….”

Cullen leans back against a stack of books and yawns but when his mistress turns towards him he snaps to attention looking nervous. Bella grants him one of her rare smiles, amused.

“It would seem it is later than I believed, perhaps I should return to bed. This can wait till morning; it is obvious that I am nowhere near to unlocking its mysteries. Come my friend, let us return to our dreams.”

 

[PHDungeon]

Our campaign has been in a bit of flux over the past month, and the players are a little behind in their journals. Here's one of my own to help get things caught up.

Having rescued Briannah from being sacrificed to the Slumberer by the Cult of the Elemental Eye, the heroes found themselves back in Fallcrest. More time passed, and the companions kept themselves busy helping to prepare the town for what would surely be a difficult winter. The fall harvest was a lean one, for the fields had been neglected over the course of the summer due to the ever present threat posed by orcs to any who traveled beyond the town’s walls. Derren spent much time dreaming of and preparing himself for the day when he would head north to the remains of Androsax Hall and reclaim his ancestral lands from the claws of the red dragon Rathnir. He was insistent that it happen before the onset of winter, but the expedition was continually delayed as the heroes worked to help the town.

One day during that fall, a lone minotaur wandered into town. His name was Turak and he was a member of the Golden Horn tribe- a clan of minotaurs who resided in a labyrinth in the Dawnforge mountains not far from Hammerfast. Turak was a minotaur looking for answers. His clanhold had recently been razed and an important relic stolen from the heart of the maze. He had been away from home when the attack had occurred, leading a warband against hill giants. The minotaurs found themselves in battle against a large force of giants. It was a battle they could not win and Turak’s warriors had given their lives to see him survive, for he was the chosen of his clan, the minotaur who would be the next Guardian of the Maze. The sole survivor of the battle against the giants, Turak had returned home only to find that his clanhold had been destroyed and his kin slain. The attacker had clearly been some sort of giant, possibly a titan, for it had smashed straight through the walls of the maze to its heart- the place where the clan’s most sacred relics were held. The being had crushed all those who tried to stand in its way, leaving one minotaur corpse after another in its wake. Turak was devastated by the carnage, and the rage of Baphomet, which he worked so hard to suppress had been stirred inside of him. He had still to undergo the final stages of his training as the Guardian’s apprentice, the stage that would have told him the nature of the sacred relic that his clan protected. Only his master, the clan Guardian, knew the secret, and it was his master’s sacred duty to protect the relic and train the next guardian. Turak’s master was now dead, and the secret of relic had died with him. Thus, even though he had not completed the final initiation, and even though the sacred relic was gone and his kin dead, Turak was now the new Guardian. It was up to him to find out what had happened and reclaim his tribe’s lost relic.

He began his search in nearby Hammerfast, and there he heard some wild tales that had drifted up from town of Fallcrest. These tales spoke of a hulking titan of earth that had emerged from caverns beneath the town. The titan had carved a swath of destruction through Fallcrest’s high town district before leaving the town and disappearing into the wilderness. Rumors seemed to suggest that the creature had headed east towards the Dawnforge Mountains. Turak doubted that this event and the destruction of his clanhold could be unrelated. In all likelihood this titan of earth that had appeared in Fallcrest was the same creature that slaughtered his kin and stole the sacred relic. The time had come for Turak to pay a visit to the lands of men. He traveled from Hammerfast to Fallcrest, and in Fallcrest he met a band of human heroes that seemed to know more about the titan than anyone else. They agreed to help the minotaur track down the titan, but first he would help them.

Late that fall Derren led Bjorn, Bella and Turak north up the Nentir river to recover the Anrdrosax manor from Rathnir the dragon. Vesna the Viking daughter of Jarl Sturgleson had taken her longship and sailed back south to procure food supplies that would help see the town through the winter, and Deryl had remained in Fallcrest to attend Briannah, for Derren could not bear the thought of any more harm coming to her in his absence.

The Androsax manor was not that far north of Fallcrest. It was clear as they neared the place that it was within the territory of a red dragon, for the surrounded countryside was a scorched ruin. The dragon had marked its territory for all to see. Finally, late in the afternoon, near the end of a hard day of travel they spotted the manor up ahead. It sat on a bluff overlooking the river, giving it a commanding view of the countryside. If the dragon had made its lair in the place, it would surely be able to see the heroes coming with ease.

However, it was not the dragon that first spotted them. A small flock of harpies emerged the keep’s crumbling watchtower and flew towards the heroes. It seemed that the dragon had some minions. Before the harpies could get close, Bella had her crossbow up and aimed. She fired on the first of the foul creatures, clipping its wing and causing it to plummet to the ground. With uncanny speed she reloaded the weapon and put two more bolts into the wretched thing. The others suddenly lost their urge to confront the heroes, for it seemed unlikely that they would be able to get close to them before the markswoman had shredded them with her bow. They reeled in the air and hastily flew back to the keep where they would in all likelihood report to the dragon.

The companions decided to fall back and take an extensive detour that would allow them to circle around behind the manor and approach it from the rear. They circled so widely that they made camp that night several miles north of the manor, and if the dragon had bothered to look for them it had not found them. Yet their rest that night was not a peaceful one. They found themselves ambushed by a bloodthirsty band of bugbears. This was their first true test of battle with their new ally Turak. The minotaur proved himself to be a capable and worthy companion, and the heroes made short work of the goblinoids.

The next day they made their approach on the Androsax manor. They scale up the backside of the hill and approached the gatehouse of the keep. Bella had already sent her familiar Cullen to scout out the place, and he had found that the gatehouse was home to a trio of hulking feral minotaurs. A hag of some sort had taken over an out building in the bailey that had once been a chapel to Roa, and she was busy practicing some sort of blasphemous religious rite with the aid of another massive minotaur. Cullen had not investigated the main keep, but it was presumed that Rathnir made his lair within, though he had yet to make an appearance. The minotaurs in the gatehouse were busy fighting amongst themselves, which seemed to be their main source of entertainment. Therefore, it seemed likely that if the heroes could engage them in the gatehouse and keep them contained within, they could hopefully slay the beasts without drawing the dragon, harpies or hag into the battle.
Unfortunately, this tactic failed. Bjorn led the assault, summoning the power of Thor to strike a mighty blow with his hammer that resulted in a thunderous clap that shook the entire gatehouse. The minotaurs inside were sent reeling by the divine power of blow, but they recovered quickly and engaged the heroes. These shaggy beasts were far larger than even Turak, and their curving horns were wicked sharp and long. They thrashed with the savagery of Baphomet himself, and they used their horns to hurl heroes out of the gatehouse and down the hillside. It was likely that it had been the initial thunderclap that had altered hag and her minotaur henchman to the fact that something was amiss, and it wasn’t long before she joined the fight along with the three harpies. Even Rathnir emerged from the keep, but the dragon took up a position overlooking the courtyard and seemed to content to watch the show. The presence of the dragon kept the heroes fighting in the gatehouse, for they were fighting for their lives as it was, and bringing the dragon into the battle would surely have spelled their doom. In the end they managed to fell their foes, but it was one of the most grueling battles they had ever been through. They were bloodied and spent, and to make matters worse the dragon awaited them. The situation seemed hopeless. Then Bella came up with an idea. Most of the fighting had occurred within the gatehouse, and though the dragon had been watching closely from outside it would only have been able to see bits and pieces of the action…