Rhenny
Adventurer
~~~~Session 10
Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle Campaign (WARNING: Mega Spoilers!!!)
Cast of Characters (4th Level)
Eyeta – Female Human Fighter (not present)
Kat – Female Human Wizard (Not present)
Vale – Male High Elven Rogue (not present)
Erebus – Male Human War Cleric
Ivan – Human Monk sent by Isteval as reinforcement, left and returned again.
We had a skeleton crew for this session..only 2 players (all the others DM NPC)
The group stirred from their rest in the dungeon of the Ambergul Estate and they went back to the room with the Earth Alter. Ivan took a cloak from one of the dead bandits and he threw it over the glowing opening in the front of the alter fearful that the glow some how had the power to turn flesh to stone. Then the group inspected the stone statue of Darwa Dalion figuring that the statue itself weighed close to 750 lbs. As the group searched the area, they saw nothing else of note, so Kat decided to use Delfen’s wand, and with a magical burst, she detected a secret door.
The party moved cautiously through the door and found a 10’ passageway that went to the east over 80’ and then bent toward the north. Vale walked ahead with his darkvision, but it was too dark for the others so Erebus placed holy light upon his shield. Thord, the Dwarf the group rescued, told them that they never went this far. The tunnel was filled with dust and cobwebs. It didn’t look like anyone had traveled the path for a long time. As the group got closer to the midsection of the northern stretch, Ivan heard some chittering ahead. Just then, a giant spider jumped out and shot a web at Eyeta, holding her fast. Another spider jumped out too as the party engaged. Eyeta was the target for the spiders. One moved up to bite her badly..then again. All the while Ivan, Erebus, Kat and Vale fought it bravely. Although Erebus and Ivan hit the spider, it was Vale’s arrow that shot straight through the thing and left it quivering on the floor. The other spider jumped forward as Kat used her dagger to cut Eyeta from the sticky webs. Eyeta was then able to disengage before taking more damage. Then she used her second wind to gain some strength. The others kept pounding on the remaining spider and killed it quickly.
Just where the spiders were dwelling, the group could see some halfling sized cracks in the ceiling where the spiders probably came from. They also saw a glowing rune on a pedestal. Kat was pretty sure it was not a rune of dangerous magic, nor was it a teleportation rune like the others they had seen earlier. Wary, the group left the rune behind and headed north to a dead end. It was Erebus who spotted the secret door this time. It slide open pretty easily and on the other side, the group saw the life-sized statue of a troll in a small alcove. The room itself was bigger. It had 2 large black marble tables with various figurines and statues atop them. They looked like real critters like rats and squirrel, and other small game. There was also a smaller version of a Sphinx, but that one did not look as lifelike. In another alcove was another statue of a troll, and on the wall between the two alcoves was an iron lever in the up position. The group contemplated pushing the lever down, but then decided to search further north, around a small bend where another door stood.
The stone door was stuck pretty tightly, so it took Erebus and Ivan two tries to crack it open. Once the door was opened a bit, the group could see flickering light inside. They also saw an ugly flesh golem pull the door wide open and flail his other arm at Ivan. The creature missed. Erebus and Ivan were up front when Erebus noticed the medusa behind the flesh golem. At once Vale knew that these were the two monsters he had teleported in on earlier so they realized that the mist and teleportation runes were somewhere in the next room behind the medusa and the flesh golem. Ivan kept his gaze directly at the flesh golem, but Erebus was surprised and looked directly at the medusa. His body felt the petrifying magic, but he was able to fight it and remain flesh. Then he shouted out, telling the others a plan. He wanted the group to retreat. If the monsters followed, he suggested someone stay behind and push the lever. He wasn’t sure what would happen, but he was hoping something might happen to the troll statues. Eyeta agreed and quickly withdrew. Then, the medusa stepped up and its writhing snake hair darted out at Erebus with 2 snakes and Ivan with 1. Both adventurers took hits and they felt the power of the snake venom poison them painfully. After that, the group retreated but Ivan stayed near to pester the golem and stand defensively using his monk skill. He figured that he could run to the other room where he knew the teleportation rune existed since he had used it once before.
Eventually the group got out of the room, and Vale pushed the lever down. A mist sprayed down upon the 2 trolls and they began to turn fleshy and stir. Vale quickly jumped out of the secret door to the south to follow the others and they sealed the door behind them. Ivan disengaged from the golem and ran to the other room into the red mist that shrouded the alcove where the teleportation runes were. Since the medusa and golem were in the room with the 2 trolls, the trolls attacked them. After a while, Ivan teleported back to the beginning of the crypts while the others doubled back to meet him. They had planned to meet back where Alicia Ambergul, the lich was seated at her throne so that they could tell her that they had apprehended the thieves but found that 2 had escaped with the Earth key. (Meanwhile, the trolls fought with the flesh golem and the medusa. One troll was turned to stone immediately, but the other stood and took down the flesh golem. Then the medusa attacked it a number of times with her poisonous snakes. When the troll went down, the medusa went back to her chamber, snatched a torch and brought it back to burn the trolls writing body. Then she went back into her chamber and sealed the door.)
The group talked to Alicia and found out that they could use the iron lever and the alcoves to unpetrify Darwa Dalion if they could drag her statue to the room where the trolls were. They also learned that the rune in the back would slide the massive stone block that had sealed the group into the crypts so they could leave through the front door. Alicia did ask the group to patch up the exit that Grit and Lump used to escape the dungeon so that no other creatures could enter and the group accepted. Both Ivan and Erebus spoke well.
With that the group went back to unpetrify Darwa. Before she came alive, they had bound her, gagged her and put a cloak around her head. Then they waltzed her out of the crypts and brought her back to Daggerford. The group first stopped at Delfen’s tower. They announced themselves and Delfen teleported them into the tower so they could speak. Delfen was pleased. He took back his wand and told the group that they had done well. He realized that the Red Wizards were definitely collecting the Elemental Keys for fell purposes and warned that the group might have to travel to Mount Illefarn. Thord the Dwarf told them more about Mount Illefarn and how the Red Wizards were really using the Dwarves and Orcs and their children as pawns. Before leaving, the group asked Delfen if he could help them find Grit and Lump. If they were on foot traveling back to Mount Illefarn, perhaps with horses, the group could catch up to them and convince them to hand over the Earth Key. Delfen asked the Dwarf if he had anything that might help him locate his son, Grit. The Dwarf had nothing, but Delfen said a drop of blood might help. The Dwarf submitted and Delfen pricked him with a dagger. Then he called his assistant and told him to take the blood into the other room and prepare it for later. Delfen told the group to bring Darwa to Sir Isteval so that she could face justice and so that they could tell Isteval all that they had experienced. Then, they could return tomorrow and they could attempt to locate Grit.
The group left Delfen and found Isteval. They told the paladin everything they could and then they interrogated Darwa (after Thord had gone to the inn to get some drink). They found out that Darwa was an apprentice to Arvik Zaltos and he had 3 other apprentices – Kannon Tolker a female human, Luuthgar and Ulan Zev twin male humans…all of them necromancers. They had gone to Mount Illefarn and were helping to make the lower levels safer by constructing magic circles that would brace the fortress from cave ins. The Ironaxe Halls were certainly old and in disrepair. They also found out that Darwa had been spying on Daggerford for years. Then she was tasked to find the Earth key. She also mentioned that she had seen an Air Key back in Mount Illefarn so the Wizards nearly had what they needed, the Earth, Air, Fire and Water keys. After she spoke, Isteval and the others rememebered that Arvik Zaltos was the Red Wizard that had been caught earlier and hanged in Daggerford after he had broken into Lord Floshin’s country manner, capturing some servants and one of the Elemental keys the wizards have been searching for. When they told Darwa that, she was truly shocked. She had not known that her master was hanged and cremated.
Isteval had a few of his guards take Darwa to a cell to await trial and justice. He sent word to the Lords that they had her in custody and he paid the party 1,000 gp for their services. He also arranged a feast for the adventurers and told them to get some sleep. The party would have to make their way to Mount Illefarn soon.
End.
We had fun with a lot of roleplaying, story development. The group also dealt with the medusa and the flesh golem in a very interesting and satisfying way.
Since the next parts of the adventure call for the group to be 6th level, I’m letting them level up to 5th level. I kind of get the feeling that they are overpowered anyway, so 1 level below what it says seems to work well.
I'm definitely changing the way the adventure runs based on the choices that the players are making. In the adventure, Delfen does not offer to help nor does it even mention that the PCs might want to try to catch Grit and Lump. It basically assumes that it would be impossible. That does not seem logical. My players realized that if Grit and Lump travel on foot, and they travel by horse they could possibly catch up to them since Grit and Lump only had a few days head start. I'm building this into the adventure. Another reason why I want to put this into the adventure is because the adventure itself has too many instances where the PCs go to do something and then at the end they get foiled. End of part 1, the Maechen look alike takes the Water Key right from them basically. End of part 2 - Grit and Lump escape with the Earth Key. Too many of these makes the adventure seem too scripted.
I'm going to have Delfen cast a Scrying spell in the morning to begin the next session. If it succeeds, I'll give the PCs a chance to ride out after Grit and Lump and possibly intercept them before the get to Mount Illefarn. If it fails, well...they won't have any clue where the two thieves are so it will be unlikely that they will catch up to them. (Although, I still won't rule it out...it just might be luck that decides if they intercept or not).
I also had to put in a rune to let the PCs get out the front door. I added the spider attack because it was just about time for another combat. I also made the Lich a bit more understanding and amiable than others might.
Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle Campaign (WARNING: Mega Spoilers!!!)
Cast of Characters (4th Level)
Eyeta – Female Human Fighter (not present)
Kat – Female Human Wizard (Not present)
Vale – Male High Elven Rogue (not present)
Erebus – Male Human War Cleric
Ivan – Human Monk sent by Isteval as reinforcement, left and returned again.
We had a skeleton crew for this session..only 2 players (all the others DM NPC)
The group stirred from their rest in the dungeon of the Ambergul Estate and they went back to the room with the Earth Alter. Ivan took a cloak from one of the dead bandits and he threw it over the glowing opening in the front of the alter fearful that the glow some how had the power to turn flesh to stone. Then the group inspected the stone statue of Darwa Dalion figuring that the statue itself weighed close to 750 lbs. As the group searched the area, they saw nothing else of note, so Kat decided to use Delfen’s wand, and with a magical burst, she detected a secret door.
The party moved cautiously through the door and found a 10’ passageway that went to the east over 80’ and then bent toward the north. Vale walked ahead with his darkvision, but it was too dark for the others so Erebus placed holy light upon his shield. Thord, the Dwarf the group rescued, told them that they never went this far. The tunnel was filled with dust and cobwebs. It didn’t look like anyone had traveled the path for a long time. As the group got closer to the midsection of the northern stretch, Ivan heard some chittering ahead. Just then, a giant spider jumped out and shot a web at Eyeta, holding her fast. Another spider jumped out too as the party engaged. Eyeta was the target for the spiders. One moved up to bite her badly..then again. All the while Ivan, Erebus, Kat and Vale fought it bravely. Although Erebus and Ivan hit the spider, it was Vale’s arrow that shot straight through the thing and left it quivering on the floor. The other spider jumped forward as Kat used her dagger to cut Eyeta from the sticky webs. Eyeta was then able to disengage before taking more damage. Then she used her second wind to gain some strength. The others kept pounding on the remaining spider and killed it quickly.
Just where the spiders were dwelling, the group could see some halfling sized cracks in the ceiling where the spiders probably came from. They also saw a glowing rune on a pedestal. Kat was pretty sure it was not a rune of dangerous magic, nor was it a teleportation rune like the others they had seen earlier. Wary, the group left the rune behind and headed north to a dead end. It was Erebus who spotted the secret door this time. It slide open pretty easily and on the other side, the group saw the life-sized statue of a troll in a small alcove. The room itself was bigger. It had 2 large black marble tables with various figurines and statues atop them. They looked like real critters like rats and squirrel, and other small game. There was also a smaller version of a Sphinx, but that one did not look as lifelike. In another alcove was another statue of a troll, and on the wall between the two alcoves was an iron lever in the up position. The group contemplated pushing the lever down, but then decided to search further north, around a small bend where another door stood.
The stone door was stuck pretty tightly, so it took Erebus and Ivan two tries to crack it open. Once the door was opened a bit, the group could see flickering light inside. They also saw an ugly flesh golem pull the door wide open and flail his other arm at Ivan. The creature missed. Erebus and Ivan were up front when Erebus noticed the medusa behind the flesh golem. At once Vale knew that these were the two monsters he had teleported in on earlier so they realized that the mist and teleportation runes were somewhere in the next room behind the medusa and the flesh golem. Ivan kept his gaze directly at the flesh golem, but Erebus was surprised and looked directly at the medusa. His body felt the petrifying magic, but he was able to fight it and remain flesh. Then he shouted out, telling the others a plan. He wanted the group to retreat. If the monsters followed, he suggested someone stay behind and push the lever. He wasn’t sure what would happen, but he was hoping something might happen to the troll statues. Eyeta agreed and quickly withdrew. Then, the medusa stepped up and its writhing snake hair darted out at Erebus with 2 snakes and Ivan with 1. Both adventurers took hits and they felt the power of the snake venom poison them painfully. After that, the group retreated but Ivan stayed near to pester the golem and stand defensively using his monk skill. He figured that he could run to the other room where he knew the teleportation rune existed since he had used it once before.
Eventually the group got out of the room, and Vale pushed the lever down. A mist sprayed down upon the 2 trolls and they began to turn fleshy and stir. Vale quickly jumped out of the secret door to the south to follow the others and they sealed the door behind them. Ivan disengaged from the golem and ran to the other room into the red mist that shrouded the alcove where the teleportation runes were. Since the medusa and golem were in the room with the 2 trolls, the trolls attacked them. After a while, Ivan teleported back to the beginning of the crypts while the others doubled back to meet him. They had planned to meet back where Alicia Ambergul, the lich was seated at her throne so that they could tell her that they had apprehended the thieves but found that 2 had escaped with the Earth key. (Meanwhile, the trolls fought with the flesh golem and the medusa. One troll was turned to stone immediately, but the other stood and took down the flesh golem. Then the medusa attacked it a number of times with her poisonous snakes. When the troll went down, the medusa went back to her chamber, snatched a torch and brought it back to burn the trolls writing body. Then she went back into her chamber and sealed the door.)
The group talked to Alicia and found out that they could use the iron lever and the alcoves to unpetrify Darwa Dalion if they could drag her statue to the room where the trolls were. They also learned that the rune in the back would slide the massive stone block that had sealed the group into the crypts so they could leave through the front door. Alicia did ask the group to patch up the exit that Grit and Lump used to escape the dungeon so that no other creatures could enter and the group accepted. Both Ivan and Erebus spoke well.
With that the group went back to unpetrify Darwa. Before she came alive, they had bound her, gagged her and put a cloak around her head. Then they waltzed her out of the crypts and brought her back to Daggerford. The group first stopped at Delfen’s tower. They announced themselves and Delfen teleported them into the tower so they could speak. Delfen was pleased. He took back his wand and told the group that they had done well. He realized that the Red Wizards were definitely collecting the Elemental Keys for fell purposes and warned that the group might have to travel to Mount Illefarn. Thord the Dwarf told them more about Mount Illefarn and how the Red Wizards were really using the Dwarves and Orcs and their children as pawns. Before leaving, the group asked Delfen if he could help them find Grit and Lump. If they were on foot traveling back to Mount Illefarn, perhaps with horses, the group could catch up to them and convince them to hand over the Earth Key. Delfen asked the Dwarf if he had anything that might help him locate his son, Grit. The Dwarf had nothing, but Delfen said a drop of blood might help. The Dwarf submitted and Delfen pricked him with a dagger. Then he called his assistant and told him to take the blood into the other room and prepare it for later. Delfen told the group to bring Darwa to Sir Isteval so that she could face justice and so that they could tell Isteval all that they had experienced. Then, they could return tomorrow and they could attempt to locate Grit.
The group left Delfen and found Isteval. They told the paladin everything they could and then they interrogated Darwa (after Thord had gone to the inn to get some drink). They found out that Darwa was an apprentice to Arvik Zaltos and he had 3 other apprentices – Kannon Tolker a female human, Luuthgar and Ulan Zev twin male humans…all of them necromancers. They had gone to Mount Illefarn and were helping to make the lower levels safer by constructing magic circles that would brace the fortress from cave ins. The Ironaxe Halls were certainly old and in disrepair. They also found out that Darwa had been spying on Daggerford for years. Then she was tasked to find the Earth key. She also mentioned that she had seen an Air Key back in Mount Illefarn so the Wizards nearly had what they needed, the Earth, Air, Fire and Water keys. After she spoke, Isteval and the others rememebered that Arvik Zaltos was the Red Wizard that had been caught earlier and hanged in Daggerford after he had broken into Lord Floshin’s country manner, capturing some servants and one of the Elemental keys the wizards have been searching for. When they told Darwa that, she was truly shocked. She had not known that her master was hanged and cremated.
Isteval had a few of his guards take Darwa to a cell to await trial and justice. He sent word to the Lords that they had her in custody and he paid the party 1,000 gp for their services. He also arranged a feast for the adventurers and told them to get some sleep. The party would have to make their way to Mount Illefarn soon.
End.
We had fun with a lot of roleplaying, story development. The group also dealt with the medusa and the flesh golem in a very interesting and satisfying way.
Since the next parts of the adventure call for the group to be 6th level, I’m letting them level up to 5th level. I kind of get the feeling that they are overpowered anyway, so 1 level below what it says seems to work well.
I'm definitely changing the way the adventure runs based on the choices that the players are making. In the adventure, Delfen does not offer to help nor does it even mention that the PCs might want to try to catch Grit and Lump. It basically assumes that it would be impossible. That does not seem logical. My players realized that if Grit and Lump travel on foot, and they travel by horse they could possibly catch up to them since Grit and Lump only had a few days head start. I'm building this into the adventure. Another reason why I want to put this into the adventure is because the adventure itself has too many instances where the PCs go to do something and then at the end they get foiled. End of part 1, the Maechen look alike takes the Water Key right from them basically. End of part 2 - Grit and Lump escape with the Earth Key. Too many of these makes the adventure seem too scripted.
I'm going to have Delfen cast a Scrying spell in the morning to begin the next session. If it succeeds, I'll give the PCs a chance to ride out after Grit and Lump and possibly intercept them before the get to Mount Illefarn. If it fails, well...they won't have any clue where the two thieves are so it will be unlikely that they will catch up to them. (Although, I still won't rule it out...it just might be luck that decides if they intercept or not).
I also had to put in a rune to let the PCs get out the front door. I added the spider attack because it was just about time for another combat. I also made the Lich a bit more understanding and amiable than others might.
