Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh
Session #030 Bang & Olafsson.
Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).
Buggles (played by Stu) Male Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 2/Rogue Lvl 3
New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 5
Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 5
Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 5
NPCs
Daktari Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 5
Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 RIP*
*Trapped in the land of the bad dead ancestors.
Buggles’ undead servitor
Gwen Female Duergar Skeleton, in full-face helm and armour
This is session 30, and the start of something- maybe, it was a quiet session- fun, as in funny, but… quiet, not boring- lots of doing, just a bit slower than what has come before.
But to begin with- “Prophecy Corner”, don’t just say it- sing it. This is a new feature in which the surly DM makes the players chat about the various prophecies and wise-words they have picked up along the way-
see session 29B above, also for the results of this discussion. Prophecy Corner is just ten minutes long and will take place at the start of each new session, from here on in- an attempt by the DM to keep the PCs thinking about… well, lots of stuff.
The Dark Squad however are now in Farhill mine, owned by Gundren Rockseeker but the operation is run (day-to-day) by Manistrad Copperlocks, and she’s very much in charge. Certainly that’s the PCs opinion soon after they meet with her, she’s a surly dwarf- a little rude, maybe just brusque, but really not a people person. After being shouted at for a while the PCs deliver their letter to Manistrad (from Gundren) and then take an hour or two off to investigate Farhill’s amenities. This while Manistrad and her factotum Golf Kindle go off to read Gundren’s missive and then to find something for the newly arrived ‘problem-solving’ Dark Squad to do.
Farhill Mine and its inhabitants, Manistrad doesn't look that pleased to see the guys, but the Dark Squad are going to turn that frown upside down. Just you wait and see.
Farhill is quite a place, in a few short hours the adventurers meet the Triplecrown triplets, and shop for a while in their general store. Likewise they meet with Max Damage- a dwarven high-pressure-selling weapons and armour vendor- Buggles buys a nice pre-owned (masterwork) scimitar (which, according to Max Damage, killed a Hill Giant with one strike). Later this weapon becomes Buggles’ new off-hand scimitar- Giantsbane, the wood elf names all of his weapons.
All of the gang visit Arty Swell’s Potion-o-rama, the market-trader style boisterous gnome has an ointment for everything- from downstairs itch to problems with your fleshy-goitre. Vincenzo takes a particular interest, the Druid can make healing potions but he’s looking to expand his repertoire, he also purchases a potion of climbing.
Eventually the adventurers sojourn to Rooty Goldberg’s tavern (Rooty is the biggest dwarf any of the adventurers have ever seen). Things go from very well to great in the pub, the off-duty guards and miners start off surly-ish but 30gp behind the bar can turn a few heads, and loosen a few tongues. And once more the Dark Squad are spending to get the locals on-side, and to get the lowdown- what’s going down here in Farhill.
Not much, as it turns out- and as the PCs discovered in Ashby, nobody they have met and talked to so far on their grand pressing the flesh campaign trail has told them about anything untoward. That’s not to say folk at the mine are happy- Manistrad is universally disliked, but as it turns out that’s because she’s a stickler, and with no favourites, and she’s also the toughest SOB in the place.
So, just the everyday grumbles of the hard working/drinking dwarven folk, if there’s nothing bad going on here- what are the problem-solving Dark Squad going to do with their time?
[Meet the locals and ask around 500 XP]
Well, Manistrad has an idea, the mine supervisor apologises for her earlier brusqueness but she has a lot going on-
“I have a leaky up'n'down in head shaft four, the Tinker seam looks to be almost played out- there's at least two clans that are quite frankly getting on my tits, and there's a big patch of sporch that's going to have to be hosed or burnt in the underline.”
I gave Manistrad a few nice speeches.
Buggles asks if Manistrad can speak the common tongue, only he didn’t understand a word she just said.
Soon after the mine supervisor dishes out the PCs first job-
“I gave my chief engineer Garvast Bang a tenday off, to relax I told him- thinking he'd just go for a good long drink in Ashby. What I didn't account for is that his deputy Ragbark Olafsson was off at the same time. Don't get me wrong, every sodding dwarf down here thinks they're an engineer. But, they're really not.
So, I need one of them back. They've not gone far, but I can't spare anyone to go looking for them right now. One of Garvast's underlings told me that the pair had gone to explore some old ruin they had found in Farrow Wood. They've been away maybe four or five days now, even if I could get just one of them back a day early that'd be... well, it’d be better than nothing. The pair are both booked off for a tenday.
You up for it? You never know, by the time you come back I might have found some proper work for you.”
A meeting in Rooty's Tavern, we're going adventuring again...
The Dark Squad are all nods and smiles- they’re up for it.
Golf Kindle, good cop to Manistrad’s bad, a short while later- when Manistrad has departed, explains a little more-
“You need to bring the pair of them back as soon as you can, we need them here- more than Manistrad is saying, and it was her error- sending them both off at the same time. She's not used to making mistakes.”
Then, after further questions-
“Don't mind Manistrad, she's got a lot on her mind- lots of folk depend on her making the right decisions about an awful lot of things.”
Getting this job done- returning either Bang or Olafsson (but preferably both) early will surely put the Dark Squad in Manistrad’s good books. The pair have actually been gone for three-and-a-half days Golf makes clear, although they both have a tenday booked off-shift.
Note, the DM- in the guise of Gundren Rockseeker, told the adventurers all about Manistrad back in Neverwinter, so- they’re actively trying to get on the mine supervisor’s good side, and already very aware that she’s a tough dame.
Also note- Garvast Bang and Ragbark Olafsson.
Bang & Olafsson, this joke found favour about an hour later when one of the PCs, with a little help, eventually worked it out.
Anyway, Golf is much more helpful- providing directions to Farrow Wood, a two hour yomp away- but time is getting on, there’s only maybe four hours of daylight left in the day- so there’s also the offer of overnight accommodation. Which is refused- the Dark Squad carpe diem, a few more purchases and they’re off to Farrow Wood right now.
[Meetings with Manistrad & Golf 500 XP]
My but the Dark Squad have got the bit between their teeth today- off the Waverider at 6 AM this morning- the folk of Ashby amused, bemused and bested by midday; then Farhill mine likewise royally entertained, and now they’re off to save a pair of dwarven engineers. All in a day’s work for the Dark Squad.
So, two hours of tramping through stunningly beautiful countryside- of the windswept and wild variety, and the adventurers are at Farrow Wood, but now where- Farrow Wood, as it turns out, is a pretty big place.
The countryside hereabouts and Farrow Woods- it's all very pleasant. Note the regional map (top right) is fairly huge, the Dark Squad have exposed about 1% of it so far.
My aim in this chapter is to get the PCs to do a lot more in the way of travelling and exploring stuff, and with all the associated skill checks, roleplay and random encounters that may bring. Although, in truth I am at present keeping them busy at the Farhill Mine (and thereabouts) while I do a bit of frantic building with regard to the rest of the region on Fantasy Grounds.
So, Farrow Woods- a plan is formed, checks are made- mostly survival, and the adventurers plunge into the foliage, eventually- maybe an hour or so later they wander into a patch of forested drumlins, and are soon after are ambushed by a pair of giant hyenas.
Note the first giant hyena is spotted as it sneaks forward to make its attack- and thus gets swiftly savaged by Ram and Buggles. The second hyena is much better hidden, and soon after tears a hole in a panicked Newt, and then repeats the trick mere seconds later.
The Dark Squad in kill mode, then Vinnie gets shot in the back.
Note Buggles makes his usual Nature check (‘4’) to identify the attackers, he is convinced that the savage creatures are ‘bow-legged bears’.
Oh, and a little later on I tell Stu, playing Buggles, that his last three dice rolls in the Dice Tower (meaning hidden so that the Player cannot see the results) were a ‘1’, a ‘2’ and a ‘3’- in that order. Having just told him this his next three dice rolls in the Dice Tower are- a ‘1’, a ‘2’ and a ‘3’.
It’s a beautiful symmetry at times.
Buggles’ dice are semi-busted this session, although not his to hit rolls, just pretty much every skill check he makes.
My dice however are on fire this evening.
Vinnie entangles one of the giant hyenas and soon after the creature is slaughtered by the ferocious rogues. The second is stabbed repeatedly by Daktari, then shot by the rogues, and then finally blown apart by Newt. The fight would have been very easy except for the fact that Vincenzo, somewhere in the midst of the fracas, gets shot in the back- there’s an archer up on top of one of the wooded drumlins. Worse still the creature evades the Dark Squad’s attempt to hunt it down- the sniper escapes, most perturbing.
[Giant hyena’s and the mystery archer 625 XP]
Then, while Vinnie and several of the other PCs, are still trying to figure out who (or what) the mystery shooter was… there’s an explosion, with accompanying short sharp shudder felt through the feet- a tremor. Although the impact (or whatever it was) clearly happened several miles away from this locale.
Vinnie bravely climbs forty feet up into the canopy of the highest tree he can find, and in the distance, and in the last light of day- the druid spots a smoke cloud- south east, maybe a mile or two away.
“I ‘ave located ze dwarves.” The druid declares, and then leads his comrades unerringly to the spot- although maybe ninety minutes later.
[Find the dwarven engineers 250 XP]
The Dark Squad- moving quickly through the woods, almost run into two thick-set grumpy old dwarves heading in the opposite direction.
It’s dark now of course, but remember all the members of the Dark Squad are at home in the dusk and shadow, at least to some extent- Daktari is still getting used to his Goggles of Night.
“Who the hell are you muppets?” The first dwarf politely asks while waving his mace in Ram’s face.
“Talk fast sunshine or else I'll put my cludgie in yer speck-hole!” The second dwarf adds impetus to the discussion.
Bang & Olafsson in all of their glory, Abbathor style masked dwarves- as on the statues (see below) and bottom right the newly created entrance to the ancient ruined evil dwarven temple.
The Dark Squad say all the right things- Manistrad Copperlocks sent us, we’ve come to take you back to Farhill mine etc.
But the suspicious dwarves are not buying it, they have questions, just to make sure the adventurers are the real deal-
“A likely story- what's the name of the tavern at Farhill?” The first dwarf snarls.
“What's the name of the gnome pox doctor that sells his wares there?” The second adds, and then in chorus- “And the name of the high-pressure-selling dwarven armsman?”
You have to make sure that the players are paying attention, feel free to test them every now and then- go on, I dare you.
The Dark Squad pass the test, and Bang & Olafsson get introduced, only- they’ve got an ongoing problem… Well, that’s okay- because the Dark Squad are problem-solvers.
The dwarven engineers lead the adventurers back to the great hole in the ground (actually hole in the side of one of the drumlins) within which is some sort of open space… and an ancient ruin.
Olafsson explains, at a race-
“There are a pair of doors in the entrance hall- they were open, so Bang there takes a peeky- and something lurches outta the dark. He thinks a zombie, a dwarf zombie mind. Then at the same time the other door starts opening- on the other side of the hall. Skeleton! So- we slammed the doors shut, tout sweet as the elves say, and then spiked ‘em. But I think they're trying ta break tha doors down.”
Bang adds a little detail- “It's an ancient temple- dwarven, and... well, it's not pleasant- we think it's a temple to Abbathor.”
Vinnie quickly reminds his friends (after a religion ‘20’ check) that Abbathor is the dwarven god of greed, and the only evil member of the pantheon (if you ignore the duergar gods, which you should).
By the time the explanation is done (of course) the PCs have been lead back to the site- and what do you know, the closest (formerly spiked shut) door is suddenly smashed off its hinges- zombies and skeletons spew out.
We’re fighting.
Ah... that's better, combat- the first door is smashed off its hinges and the mindless undead spill out.
But these are only zombies and skeletons- dwarven mind, but here’s the thing- my dice (as I said earlier) are on fire. I have thirteen low level mooks in this fight, six spill out of the first door, and seven more get into the melee when the second (formerly spiked) door is wrenched open moments later. The dwarven skeletons are +4 to hit, dwarven zombies +3, but over the course of the next six turns I make twenty one attack rolls in total (I just counted them in the chat file), and fourteen of them are hits.
It’s not terrifying for the PCs, because even when the fighting is over none of them are particularly beaten up (bloodied), they’ve just all taken one to lots of hits each (including Bang & Olafsson).
[High to-hit-rolling mindless undead 650 XP]
Then silence, and there are no more undead to kill.
The Dark Squad make their play to B&O, again- you pair are needed back at the mine, now! But B&O have a counter-offer for the PCs, which is this- help us to explore this place (or do it for us) and we’ll split the loot 50/50. Also B&O will throw in a pair of sending stones, the magical devices are much used in the mining industry.
The Dark Squad and the dwarven engineers chat for a while, eventually they reach an accord. The thinking is- the Dark Squad have found their quarry (B&O) alive and well (and very quickly), and so they’ve still got five days to get the pair safely back to Farhill mine. But, Vinnie reasons- “we shud get zem back two or sree (three) days early, to show Manistrad we mean biz-ness, n’est pas?”
The Dark Squad will take one of the sending stones and explore the ruins- all finds split 50/50, meantime Bang & Olafsson will keep hold of the other sending stone and guard the way in.
So, welcome to the Dark Squad’s first ‘dungeon’ in Saltmarsh.
[Dealing with Bang & Olafsson 500 XP]
Note the chambers the undead exited each contain a set of stairs heading below- into crypts, best guess- so there’s some exploring to be done down there. The entrance area in the upper section is home to half-a-dozen dwarf-sized statues, depicting violent looking masked dwarves, again identified as adherents of Abbathor.
The central passage descends into an large open worship space with an altar and another much larger nasty-looking masked dwarf statue, this figure has his hands cupped before him- however there’s something glowing, hidden in his cupped hands. A birds-egg sized beautiful glowing gem, Ram discovers after a bit of climbing. This large high ceilinged chamber is over run with plants and vines- nature it seems has broken in. There are also two doors exiting this space, one either side of the statue.
The ancient ruined temple of Abbathor- thus far, plenty more to be explored.
Note, there follows another Wise-Words/Prophecy-based chat, if you remember Newt’s premier patron Belphegor said-
“WAIT!”
“For the pale dwarf without a face to beg you- only then should you take the ghost home.”
So, the PCs want to know- is a dwarf without a face actually a dwarf in a mask?
Also, would the ghostly Garumn count as a pale dwarf?
These are smart people, have no doubt.
But we get on, however- the next thing that needs to happen is for the PCs to get a rest. Although it’s also just short of 10 PM atm, and so the Dark Squad have been on the go, pretty much, for the last 16 hours.
Time to get a proper rest then, which involves Newt evoking his latest toy- Leomund’s Tiny Hut, B&O are sore amazed- a spell casting cat!
A good night’s sleep is had by all, and with no further encounters.
Now for the exploring proper, which starts with a good look around the central chamber, and then a thorough investigation of the glowing gem in the large statue’s hands- Ram is certain that there’s something not right with it. Eventually the rogue notes that ancient fragments of bone discovered nearby show burn and scorch marks- blackening. There was an intense fire here.
Ram rolled a bloody ‘20’.
Newt and Vinnie take over the investigations, soon after the druid is certain that the gem is the source of a frightening magical (evocation) power. Newt however has a plan- it involves all of his companions getting well back and taking cover, this while his unseen servant goes and grabs the gem from the dwarven statue’s hands.
Which it does, and then is ordered to wait in the centre of the massive chamber until… eventually… BOOM!
The gem becomes a fireball, only augmented by a fusillade of slivers of red hot melting glass, just to say fellers- there were ten dice involved in the damage roll for that trap.
Well done for avoiding witnessing it.
[The shattering fire gem 500 XP]
Just to note while the above was going on, and with Newt ordering his unseen servant around- and then directly into mortal danger, Buggles had the following to say to his skeletal companion, the text taken straight from the chat-
Buggles: cover your eyes gwen
Buggles: id never treat u like this
However the danger is avoided, next up one of the sealed chambers off the main worship area is investigated, Daktari eventually shoving his way in to a tomb. The small chamber revealed is empty, save for the stately but ancient sarcophagi of a priest of Abbathor. Marked as such in dwarven.
Ram and Buggles get to work, the pair swiftly discover that the sarcophagi is riddled with small circular holes, through which the pair speculate something bad is ejected when the trap goes off- how right they are. The mechanism for the trap however seems to be within, and so is inaccessible. Therefore the pair spend nearly thirty minutes sealing all of the holes that they can find, before drafting Daktari in once again to actually get the lid off- the trap is successfully disarmed. Within there’s not much save ancient bones, and a remarkably well-preserved bandolier which holds five matching, and still sharp, steel knives, which Ram takes a liking to and soon after calls his own.
Traps disabled and treasure found- the Dark Squad are back in action.
Note, I’ve found myself a treasure table I really like, and have started to pimp up the treasure parcels, so no more big bags of gold and silver for the Dark Squad. Instead there are going to be more useful (and also useless but sometimes valuable) items to be found. I figure now that the PCs have got a bag of holding I’m going to find a way to fill it with junk.
Also, the PCs are going to have to find some folk to buy this junk, which may lead to conversations… see below.
[Open the sarcophagi and get the treasure 400 XP]
But that’s it- that’s all we got up to.
DM Interlude, to the players (and reader)-
Just to make clear, the change of gear is not a bad thing here- this is the start of a new chapter of the Dark Squad’s adventures. Like I said in earlier sessions and at the VTT, the idea here is for the PCs to make Saltmarsh their new home, so- we’re playing the long game, you’ve only been ‘here’ (in the Saltmarsh region) for just over 24 hours. This then serves as a warning to the guys, the players, some adventures are going to come to you- like this one, but other events- well, there’s a timetable of sorts. While other possibilities (and adventures) are only going to happen/take place after a little investigation- i.e. when you find them out. At some point you (the players) are going to have to get involved- make friends, find folk to talk to, and perhaps also take the time to investigate a few of the outstanding ‘prophecies’ etc.
So, we’re talking smaller adventures, no sprawling multilevel dungeons, but rather a plot (or two). A bit of detective work, a lot of chatter, plenty of exploring- maybe even putting a few clues together along the way, that’s what is going to be needed.
But… to do this, we need a little time- so, this part of the campaign isn’t going to be a race (at the start) it’s going to be quieter, at times, certainly from what has come before. The PCs are going to get a little space to be themselves, and to get some downtime activities done, to explore Saltmarsh and meet its people, and to find out what- if anything- is going on here.
Remember you signed up with Gundren for a six month stint here, and with the option of another six months should it be needed.
Should any problems arise in the Saltmarsh region during this time then the Dark Squad are, at present, promoting themselves as being aggressive problem-solvers.
Let’s see if we can make that work.
So, we started a little late and finished mostly on time, and one of our intrepid explorers has got a touch of Covid atm, so an early night for all, but much more action next session- promise.
I said it was going to be a bit slower play- but, I’m still going to try to kill the pesky PCs.
Stay safe and well.
Cheers goonalan.
Get better soon Bear, Newt needs to be earning because Humphrey Far-Fer-Nar will be back to collect sooner than you think.
Update: Just heard back from Bear (Newt) and he's doing just fine.