Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #137 Into the Mere of the Dead Men Part 2.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8505073" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #073: Randall the Magnificent.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).</strong></p><p><strong>Daktari (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 8</strong></p><p><strong>New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 8</strong></p><p><strong>Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 8</strong></p><p><strong>Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 8</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>NPCs</strong></p><p><strong>Inverna Nightbreeze (played by Goonalan) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 8 (Sidekick)</strong></p><p><strong><s>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 </s>RIP*</strong></p><p><strong><s>Tarbin Tul (played by goonalan) Male Human Bard </s>RETIRED</strong></p><p><strong>*Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Servants/Familiars</strong></p><p><strong>Gerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New Tricks</strong></p><p><strong>Owly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiar</strong></p><p></p><p>This is session 73, and a short one.</p><p></p><p>And a bad one, we haven't had one of those for a while, but now it's done- the next one will be much better.</p><p></p><p>A short one because we had a few PC problems, one of the guys had to reload all of the files for FGU, also... it was level up time, and that required (for some) quite a lot of discussion. We started the session at just after 7.30 PM and the level up debate and activity (making new macros et al) was still in full swing over an hour later. Then, for some strange reason the rest of the session on FGU was incredibly laggy, so... a bit of a bugger this one, which may account for some of what follows.</p><p></p><p>So, the Dark Squad are back down in the depths, beneath Squabblepot and back to the lowest level of the ancient dwarven ruins here. There's another door down here, in the ruined temple of Moradin, and this door is trapped and very hard to open. Although, Humphrey Far-Fer-Nar has promised to open the door for the Dark Squad in exchange for the guys signing up for a future trip to Avernus with him. The Dark Squad have agreed to Humphrey's terms (in the last session) although the Moon Boar (Vinnie) somewhat reluctantly. Then... an extended rest, level eight for the PCs and their sidekick Inverna, and at last- we're at the here and now.</p><p></p><p>Rise and shine and Humphrey is back to see the guys- the devil/demon/fiend patiently explains- the Dark Squad already have the key to this door, and a second clue- the key in question was manufactured by the fellow that made this place- the ancient dwarven adamantium factory.</p><p></p><p>“Shatterspike!” Daktari calls out from the back of the assembled adventurers, and he's right- the door is made of stone, Shatterspike cuts stone, this place was once the home of Durgeddin the Black, who also manufactured Shatterspike- Humphrey patiently explains.</p><p></p><p>“But ze trap...” Vinnie asks, the adventurers know that there's a permanent magical trap on the portal, but... as Humphrey points out- the promise he made to the Dark Squad was to show them a way to open the door, there was no mention of the trap.</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad have been screwed, or else they need to remember that the words they use when dealing with demons/devils/fiends need to much better measured, the contract needs to be precise.</p><p></p><p>However, Humphrey is feeling magnanimous, he therefore wishes the Dark Squad good luck, opens the door thereby triggering the trap, and then duly disappears, still laughing.</p><p></p><p>An invisible wave of mental anguish washes through the chamber as the great stone door lurches upwards, and open, into a concealed cavity. The terror wave (alas) affects only Newt and the Sky Pony barbarian (the others passed their wisdom saves).</p><p></p><p>The pair, while squealing and hooting in fear, suffer a vision, it's this-</p><p></p><p>A bunch of nasty looking sea creatures (identified by Daktari as 'Soggys' = Sahuagin) arise from the waves and clamber up and onto the docks of a pleasant-looking sleepy sea-side village. Seconds later, as the gibbering Dark Squad pair watch on, and the people of this unknown place begin to suffer- to pay with their lives. The soggys set about about their terrible slaughter under the watchful eye of some larger leader type, although neither Newt nor Daktari can make out who or what this creature/person is (they both failed their checks).</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]149524[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Noooooooooooooooooo!</strong></p><p></p><p>Then, Daktari remembers that he has seen this place before, it's Ashby, the fishing village the Dark Squad were dropped off in at the very beginning of their adventures in the Saltmarsh region. The Dark Squad really liked Ashby, and the people there. Newt, if you remember, destabilised the economy in the village- handing out gold and buying rounds of drinks in the bar for the whole village.</p><p></p><p>The vision then was Ashby being invaded by sahuagin, and Daktari and Newt are both aware- this has yet to some to pass.</p><p></p><p>However, the Sky Pony barbarian, when the bloody vision is over, has another issue- his lustrous hair is now flecked with grey. For a while Daktari is distraught, the magical trap on the door has aged him fourteen years, he was thirty-five years old, and now he's very suddenly forty-nine.</p><p></p><p>For the rest of the session Daktari (played by Jim/Haggis) plays up his new found decrepitude-</p><p></p><p>“Slow down, what is rush? My hip hurts.”</p><p></p><p>“I am craving for boiled sweet.”</p><p></p><p>All delivered in cod-Russian tough guy moronic, as always.</p><p></p><p>Then, after more discussion of the trap and accompanying vision- the Dark Squad are keen to get to Ashby to save their friends, but also keener still to get to the bottom of their present mystery, and so... onwards. Or rather, downwards- to Randall the Black.</p><p></p><p>[The door, the trap and the vision 500 XP]</p><p></p><p>Into a shattered ruined crypt, with another thirty foot high statue of an armoured Moradin, there has been a battle here- or else a war, the floor of the great chamber is three feet deep with the rusted and broken arms and armour of the fallen. Hundreds died here...</p><p></p><p>The chamber is massive, and at its centre- Ram determines, he's scouting ahead, is a raised dais on which a very large and elaborate sarcophagi stands.</p><p></p><p>Although that's when the spinagons show up (that's spine devils to you) and start firing their flaming tail spikes- a pair of them. Several PCs take hits- there's a bit of a scramble into action, although a number of the Dark Squad (Vinnie and Newt) both call out to the empty chamber- they're looking for Randall the Black.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]149525[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Spinagons, unpleasant.</strong></p><p></p><p>Eventually a spine devil is blasted to death by Newt, and...</p><p></p><p>“CEASE!” Although the order comes in the infernal tongue, and is therefore only understood by Newt (and the spine devils). The fight is suspended, and the spinagons are soon in retreat, fluttering back up into the darkness above- the chamber really is massive.</p><p></p><p>The DM leaves the PCs alone for a little while, just to see what they're going to do, in truth it's not much- Ram or Newt (I forget which) has a look at the great sarcophagi at the centre of the chamber, sculpted on its surface is the image of... Durgeddin the Black. The master smith is depicted here with all of the magical weapons that the Dark Squad (& Buggles) have laid claim to, but also another- a great two-handed sword on the dwarven smith's back.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]149526[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>There's the dead spinagon, and just ahead of Newt (to the west) is the raised and pillared dais atop which sits the sarcophagi (another) of Durgeddin the Black. But there was nothing I could do (including doing nothing) to get the PCs to explore further. Or, at all. </strong></p><p></p><p>So, there's another Durgeddin weapon somewhere.</p><p></p><p>Hang on, didn't Durgeddin the Black have another empty sarcophagi back in the Glitterhame?</p><p></p><p>What's going on here?</p><p></p><p>But the rest of the Dark Squad, they've not moved a muscle, even though the kindly DM has tried (repeatedly, because there's something here he'd like them to see) to encourage them to take a look around the great chamber.</p><p></p><p>But, nope- so that's that option gone.</p><p></p><p>Vinnie and Newt are however taking it in turns to try to get Randall the Black to answer them, they figure it was the gnome that shouted 'CEASE!” in the infernal tongue earlier, and they'd be right, and... eventually Randall chats.</p><p></p><p>“I AM RANDALL THE MAGNIFICENT!”</p><p></p><p>“I know who you are, but at the same time- who are you?”</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad take a moment to introduce themselves, but just to make clear- Randall cannot be seen, only heard, there's no indication where the gnome is in the chamber, although- and again, the PCs didn't attempt to look for him.</p><p></p><p>Or look anywhere other than where they are stood.</p><p></p><p>Randall chats for a short while- his voice at times wavering between calm and patient (as if talking to children) to a maniac's whispered growl (oddly, a lot like Newt).</p><p></p><p>Randall explains that he was a member of the Eyes in the Night, an adventuring party- but that was all a very long time ago- nearly two hundred years. He, and his fellow adventurers, were tasked with saving the world from the coming of the Time of Ash... and, hang on- the Dark Squad have heard this story before, it's their story.</p><p></p><p>The Eyes in the Night, according to Randall were/are the good guys.</p><p></p><p>Oh, and the Eyes in the Night adventuring party had five members, they are/were-</p><p></p><p>1) Ub, the dwarf, that's his tomb over there (the tomb of Durgeddin the Black) and he was the bastard that started all of this, and although that's his tomb Ub didn't die- he's alive still, somewhere, Randall is convinced.</p><p></p><p>2) Randall the Black/Magnificent, gnome superior warlock, crippled by being enthralled to two fiendish master's (sound familiar). Later it is discovered that Randall's fiendish patrons are/were an unnamed Old One (an ancient entity of the planar depths) and a very charismatic (but fiendish) gnome called Humpty Far-Far-Away.</p><p></p><p>Note Humphrey Far-Fer-Nar appeared as Humpty Far-Far-Away earlier in this adventure, so... Newt has more than a little in common with Randall.</p><p></p><p>3) Antonio De La Crane, a human druid who went mad, Randall tells the Unexpected that when it all went to hell Antonio spent his family's fortune to build himself a hidey-hole and go back to playing with his chemistry set, and there he ended his days. Does that sound like anyone, a druid who is into alchemy?</p><p></p><p>Note the tomb that the Dark Squad investigated in Saltmarsh cemetery that lead to the ancient Pact of Flame chambers was in the De La Crane crypt.</p><p></p><p>Further note the mansion in the woods in which the adventurers fought the Talos adherents (lightning and giant boars) was the De La Crane manse.</p><p></p><p>4) Shambles, also known as the Mapmaker, is/was a silver-tongued nasty little piece of work- a pragmatist at heart, always out for himself, always smiling- but with an awful lot of blood on his hands. Shambles, when things went bad, ran home too. Although Randall presumes him to be long dead.</p><p></p><p>5) Last up, the wild wood elf- Giggles, a flighty female full of fun, and a terror with bow and sword, what happened to her Randall doesn't know, although he informs the Dark Squad that Giggles was more concerned with fighting a dragon, what with her being the last member of some sort of ancient elven pact.</p><p></p><p>So, there's lots to chew on- and keep in mind that this stuff doesn't just get said, this is a conversation we're having (although in point of fact a great chunk of it does just get said, the players are not really with it atm), and so it takes forty or so minutes to establish the fact that Randall and The Eyes in the Night are on the same quest/task/path as the Dark Squad. Also, that the various members of the Eyes in the Night obviously bare a striking similarity to the members of the Dark Squad.</p><p></p><p>But here's the thing- it's not all plain sailing, Randall the Magnificent has, at times, during the relaying of the above demonstrated a tenuous grip on reality. There are fraught moments in which the PCs, again entirely Vinnie and Newt, have to scramble to say the right thing to the screeching maniac.</p><p></p><p>Randall is incredibly unhappy (apoplectic) to learn that he is the first member of the Eyes in the Night that the Dark Squad have found.</p><p></p><p>Randall is further mortified to learn that the Dark Squad have unleashed Ashardalon.</p><p></p><p>And, well... Randall is unhinged, and at some point he has made it clear, the only way he can come back- get back to his old 'existence' is by killing his present incarnation- that's Newt, of course.</p><p></p><p>I made that real clear over the course of the extended chat, all delivered in a manner akin to the terrifying tabaxi.</p><p></p><p>So, at some point the fighting starts up again, and over the course of the next hour or so (and about ten turns of action) the Dark Squad are forced to retreat, all the way back to their starting positions in the chamber.</p><p></p><p>The bad guys consist of half-a-dozen spined devils, which zoot and scoot about up above, firing tail spike after tail spike- 50% of these attacks are aimed at Newt.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]149527[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The PCs are enjoying this bit.</strong></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile from the knee-deep debris of ancient battle come four chain constructs, each of them a triple-headed flail-like device (each with a fifteen foot reach) that whirls and snakes and spins. These strange constructs cartwheel places and then lash out at the PCs.</p><p></p><p>And... so far around a dozen or more lemures- these slow moving very low rent devils are weak and have fairly ineffective attacks, and yet they keep obviously spawning from minor crypts off the main chamber, and then slithering slowly, like a wall of melted flesh, to the fray.</p><p></p><p>But just to make this absolutely clear, the enemies don't turn up all at once- at the start there were just two spined devils, and then there were four- and then two of the chain constructs made themselves known, and then two more, and then a bunch of lemures slither out of their tombs, and then another pair of spined devils show up, and then a bunch more lemures...</p><p></p><p>Do you get what's going on here?</p><p></p><p>I don't think the Dark Squad have figured it out, which is a real shame.</p><p></p><p>And Randall?</p><p></p><p>Randall doesn't show up until the session is almost at an end.</p><p></p><p>But when he does...</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]149528[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>State of play just before Randall turns up. Newt's hit points are real low.</strong></p><p></p><p>Randall is a small ancient flying undead (emaciated and dead looking) gnome, his body wrapped and sprouting snaking chains. Randall looks like a lich...</p><p></p><p>But here's the thing Randall hasn't attacked anything yet, maybe he's been busy doing other stuff...</p><p></p><p>The PCs, except for Newt, are mostly doing fine (hit points wise) but they're in retreat- or else looking for somewhere to make a stand.</p><p></p><p>But let me be honest, and forthright, this was a bit of a mess.</p><p></p><p>So, let's make a couple of things clear, so that there can be no recriminations with what follows next session-</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Randall gets what he wants if he kills Newt, the warlock right now is on five hit points and Randall hasn't made one attack yet- and believe me he's tougher than everything else in the encounter combined. I only put him on the map at the end because I felt sorry for you guys.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Since this last fight has started none of the PCs have said anything to Randall, we've already established right at the start of this encounter that the way to stop the fighting is to engage Randall in conversation. Nobody has attempted this for the last ten turns, if at any point you had, well... we wouldn't be fighting right now, probably- depending on what you say to Randall, and keep in mind- Randall is a lot like... Newt. You've been practising talking to Randall every time you've had to chat with the crazy warlock tabaxi. Do you see what I have done here? Isn't it clever? What do you think the other members of the Eyes in the Night are going to be like? Eh! Clever?<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Randall is a member of the Eyes in the Night, an adventuring party who's members/goals et al mirror those of the Dark Squad, and yet the only questions you have asked so far are about things that you either already know, or else you could have guessed. I have written a list of possible answers for questions you may have, about the plot- about what happened to the Eyes in the Night etc. So far you have not asked any of these questions. That was really odd.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">I wish you had explored the chamber, I deliberately said on at least three separate occasions that the PCs should feel free to have a look around, except for a brief scurry to the central sarcophagi by one PC, nobody else moved a muscle. It's not that the answer to all of your problems is over the other side of the chamber, it's not- what is there is however an option.</li> </ol><p>Last bit...</p><p></p><p>Inverna (the DM) has stopped the fight, or at least called over twice so far to say- “Are we doing this right?”, or else some equivalent.</p><p></p><p>So, Newt's on five hit points- Randall has only just shown up (and he's 90% of the XP in the encounter) and all he has to do is kill the warlock. All of the other PCs are good to okay, HP & Powers/Spells-wise. It therefore may be time for the Dark Squad to have a chat amongst themselves, y'know OoC, and to formulate some sort of plan.</p><p></p><p>But that's when the session ended, it was funny in part but latterly a very large helping of meh, I tried (repeatedly) to try and get the players to think about what was happening here, but...</p><p></p><p>It was just odd, it felt like I had failed.</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad’s to-do list reads a little like this-</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Go down again- back into the deep dark depths, and then through the door, Randall the Black is down there.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> To the Moon Pool.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Goblins in the Dreadwood.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Nightshade in the Dreadwood.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> To Blackedge, find the Goblin Stair.<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Return to Fallowstone Holy for answers- the Witch’s Tor & the Pact of the Flame.</li> </ol><p>But we'll revisit this list sometime in the future, no doubt.</p><p></p><p>Stay safe and well you lovely people.</p><p></p><p>Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8505073, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #073: Randall the Magnificent. Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here). Daktari (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 8 New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 8 Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 8 Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 8 NPCs Inverna Nightbreeze (played by Goonalan) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 8 (Sidekick) [S]Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 [/S]RIP* [S]Tarbin Tul (played by goonalan) Male Human Bard [/S]RETIRED *Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors. Servants/Familiars Gerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New Tricks Owly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiar[/B] This is session 73, and a short one. And a bad one, we haven't had one of those for a while, but now it's done- the next one will be much better. A short one because we had a few PC problems, one of the guys had to reload all of the files for FGU, also... it was level up time, and that required (for some) quite a lot of discussion. We started the session at just after 7.30 PM and the level up debate and activity (making new macros et al) was still in full swing over an hour later. Then, for some strange reason the rest of the session on FGU was incredibly laggy, so... a bit of a bugger this one, which may account for some of what follows. So, the Dark Squad are back down in the depths, beneath Squabblepot and back to the lowest level of the ancient dwarven ruins here. There's another door down here, in the ruined temple of Moradin, and this door is trapped and very hard to open. Although, Humphrey Far-Fer-Nar has promised to open the door for the Dark Squad in exchange for the guys signing up for a future trip to Avernus with him. The Dark Squad have agreed to Humphrey's terms (in the last session) although the Moon Boar (Vinnie) somewhat reluctantly. Then... an extended rest, level eight for the PCs and their sidekick Inverna, and at last- we're at the here and now. Rise and shine and Humphrey is back to see the guys- the devil/demon/fiend patiently explains- the Dark Squad already have the key to this door, and a second clue- the key in question was manufactured by the fellow that made this place- the ancient dwarven adamantium factory. “Shatterspike!” Daktari calls out from the back of the assembled adventurers, and he's right- the door is made of stone, Shatterspike cuts stone, this place was once the home of Durgeddin the Black, who also manufactured Shatterspike- Humphrey patiently explains. “But ze trap...” Vinnie asks, the adventurers know that there's a permanent magical trap on the portal, but... as Humphrey points out- the promise he made to the Dark Squad was to show them a way to open the door, there was no mention of the trap. The Dark Squad have been screwed, or else they need to remember that the words they use when dealing with demons/devils/fiends need to much better measured, the contract needs to be precise. However, Humphrey is feeling magnanimous, he therefore wishes the Dark Squad good luck, opens the door thereby triggering the trap, and then duly disappears, still laughing. An invisible wave of mental anguish washes through the chamber as the great stone door lurches upwards, and open, into a concealed cavity. The terror wave (alas) affects only Newt and the Sky Pony barbarian (the others passed their wisdom saves). The pair, while squealing and hooting in fear, suffer a vision, it's this- A bunch of nasty looking sea creatures (identified by Daktari as 'Soggys' = Sahuagin) arise from the waves and clamber up and onto the docks of a pleasant-looking sleepy sea-side village. Seconds later, as the gibbering Dark Squad pair watch on, and the people of this unknown place begin to suffer- to pay with their lives. The soggys set about about their terrible slaughter under the watchful eye of some larger leader type, although neither Newt nor Daktari can make out who or what this creature/person is (they both failed their checks). [ATTACH type="full"]149524[/ATTACH] [B]Noooooooooooooooooo![/B] Then, Daktari remembers that he has seen this place before, it's Ashby, the fishing village the Dark Squad were dropped off in at the very beginning of their adventures in the Saltmarsh region. The Dark Squad really liked Ashby, and the people there. Newt, if you remember, destabilised the economy in the village- handing out gold and buying rounds of drinks in the bar for the whole village. The vision then was Ashby being invaded by sahuagin, and Daktari and Newt are both aware- this has yet to some to pass. However, the Sky Pony barbarian, when the bloody vision is over, has another issue- his lustrous hair is now flecked with grey. For a while Daktari is distraught, the magical trap on the door has aged him fourteen years, he was thirty-five years old, and now he's very suddenly forty-nine. For the rest of the session Daktari (played by Jim/Haggis) plays up his new found decrepitude- “Slow down, what is rush? My hip hurts.” “I am craving for boiled sweet.” All delivered in cod-Russian tough guy moronic, as always. Then, after more discussion of the trap and accompanying vision- the Dark Squad are keen to get to Ashby to save their friends, but also keener still to get to the bottom of their present mystery, and so... onwards. Or rather, downwards- to Randall the Black. [The door, the trap and the vision 500 XP] Into a shattered ruined crypt, with another thirty foot high statue of an armoured Moradin, there has been a battle here- or else a war, the floor of the great chamber is three feet deep with the rusted and broken arms and armour of the fallen. Hundreds died here... The chamber is massive, and at its centre- Ram determines, he's scouting ahead, is a raised dais on which a very large and elaborate sarcophagi stands. Although that's when the spinagons show up (that's spine devils to you) and start firing their flaming tail spikes- a pair of them. Several PCs take hits- there's a bit of a scramble into action, although a number of the Dark Squad (Vinnie and Newt) both call out to the empty chamber- they're looking for Randall the Black. [ATTACH type="full"]149525[/ATTACH] [B]Spinagons, unpleasant.[/B] Eventually a spine devil is blasted to death by Newt, and... “CEASE!” Although the order comes in the infernal tongue, and is therefore only understood by Newt (and the spine devils). The fight is suspended, and the spinagons are soon in retreat, fluttering back up into the darkness above- the chamber really is massive. The DM leaves the PCs alone for a little while, just to see what they're going to do, in truth it's not much- Ram or Newt (I forget which) has a look at the great sarcophagi at the centre of the chamber, sculpted on its surface is the image of... Durgeddin the Black. The master smith is depicted here with all of the magical weapons that the Dark Squad (& Buggles) have laid claim to, but also another- a great two-handed sword on the dwarven smith's back. [ATTACH type="full"]149526[/ATTACH] [B]There's the dead spinagon, and just ahead of Newt (to the west) is the raised and pillared dais atop which sits the sarcophagi (another) of Durgeddin the Black. But there was nothing I could do (including doing nothing) to get the PCs to explore further. Or, at all. [/B] So, there's another Durgeddin weapon somewhere. Hang on, didn't Durgeddin the Black have another empty sarcophagi back in the Glitterhame? What's going on here? But the rest of the Dark Squad, they've not moved a muscle, even though the kindly DM has tried (repeatedly, because there's something here he'd like them to see) to encourage them to take a look around the great chamber. But, nope- so that's that option gone. Vinnie and Newt are however taking it in turns to try to get Randall the Black to answer them, they figure it was the gnome that shouted 'CEASE!” in the infernal tongue earlier, and they'd be right, and... eventually Randall chats. “I AM RANDALL THE MAGNIFICENT!” “I know who you are, but at the same time- who are you?” The Dark Squad take a moment to introduce themselves, but just to make clear- Randall cannot be seen, only heard, there's no indication where the gnome is in the chamber, although- and again, the PCs didn't attempt to look for him. Or look anywhere other than where they are stood. Randall chats for a short while- his voice at times wavering between calm and patient (as if talking to children) to a maniac's whispered growl (oddly, a lot like Newt). Randall explains that he was a member of the Eyes in the Night, an adventuring party- but that was all a very long time ago- nearly two hundred years. He, and his fellow adventurers, were tasked with saving the world from the coming of the Time of Ash... and, hang on- the Dark Squad have heard this story before, it's their story. The Eyes in the Night, according to Randall were/are the good guys. Oh, and the Eyes in the Night adventuring party had five members, they are/were- 1) Ub, the dwarf, that's his tomb over there (the tomb of Durgeddin the Black) and he was the bastard that started all of this, and although that's his tomb Ub didn't die- he's alive still, somewhere, Randall is convinced. 2) Randall the Black/Magnificent, gnome superior warlock, crippled by being enthralled to two fiendish master's (sound familiar). Later it is discovered that Randall's fiendish patrons are/were an unnamed Old One (an ancient entity of the planar depths) and a very charismatic (but fiendish) gnome called Humpty Far-Far-Away. Note Humphrey Far-Fer-Nar appeared as Humpty Far-Far-Away earlier in this adventure, so... Newt has more than a little in common with Randall. 3) Antonio De La Crane, a human druid who went mad, Randall tells the Unexpected that when it all went to hell Antonio spent his family's fortune to build himself a hidey-hole and go back to playing with his chemistry set, and there he ended his days. Does that sound like anyone, a druid who is into alchemy? Note the tomb that the Dark Squad investigated in Saltmarsh cemetery that lead to the ancient Pact of Flame chambers was in the De La Crane crypt. Further note the mansion in the woods in which the adventurers fought the Talos adherents (lightning and giant boars) was the De La Crane manse. 4) Shambles, also known as the Mapmaker, is/was a silver-tongued nasty little piece of work- a pragmatist at heart, always out for himself, always smiling- but with an awful lot of blood on his hands. Shambles, when things went bad, ran home too. Although Randall presumes him to be long dead. 5) Last up, the wild wood elf- Giggles, a flighty female full of fun, and a terror with bow and sword, what happened to her Randall doesn't know, although he informs the Dark Squad that Giggles was more concerned with fighting a dragon, what with her being the last member of some sort of ancient elven pact. So, there's lots to chew on- and keep in mind that this stuff doesn't just get said, this is a conversation we're having (although in point of fact a great chunk of it does just get said, the players are not really with it atm), and so it takes forty or so minutes to establish the fact that Randall and The Eyes in the Night are on the same quest/task/path as the Dark Squad. Also, that the various members of the Eyes in the Night obviously bare a striking similarity to the members of the Dark Squad. But here's the thing- it's not all plain sailing, Randall the Magnificent has, at times, during the relaying of the above demonstrated a tenuous grip on reality. There are fraught moments in which the PCs, again entirely Vinnie and Newt, have to scramble to say the right thing to the screeching maniac. Randall is incredibly unhappy (apoplectic) to learn that he is the first member of the Eyes in the Night that the Dark Squad have found. Randall is further mortified to learn that the Dark Squad have unleashed Ashardalon. And, well... Randall is unhinged, and at some point he has made it clear, the only way he can come back- get back to his old 'existence' is by killing his present incarnation- that's Newt, of course. I made that real clear over the course of the extended chat, all delivered in a manner akin to the terrifying tabaxi. So, at some point the fighting starts up again, and over the course of the next hour or so (and about ten turns of action) the Dark Squad are forced to retreat, all the way back to their starting positions in the chamber. The bad guys consist of half-a-dozen spined devils, which zoot and scoot about up above, firing tail spike after tail spike- 50% of these attacks are aimed at Newt. [ATTACH type="full"]149527[/ATTACH] [B]The PCs are enjoying this bit.[/B] Meanwhile from the knee-deep debris of ancient battle come four chain constructs, each of them a triple-headed flail-like device (each with a fifteen foot reach) that whirls and snakes and spins. These strange constructs cartwheel places and then lash out at the PCs. And... so far around a dozen or more lemures- these slow moving very low rent devils are weak and have fairly ineffective attacks, and yet they keep obviously spawning from minor crypts off the main chamber, and then slithering slowly, like a wall of melted flesh, to the fray. But just to make this absolutely clear, the enemies don't turn up all at once- at the start there were just two spined devils, and then there were four- and then two of the chain constructs made themselves known, and then two more, and then a bunch of lemures slither out of their tombs, and then another pair of spined devils show up, and then a bunch more lemures... Do you get what's going on here? I don't think the Dark Squad have figured it out, which is a real shame. And Randall? Randall doesn't show up until the session is almost at an end. But when he does... [ATTACH type="full"]149528[/ATTACH] [B]State of play just before Randall turns up. Newt's hit points are real low.[/B] Randall is a small ancient flying undead (emaciated and dead looking) gnome, his body wrapped and sprouting snaking chains. Randall looks like a lich... But here's the thing Randall hasn't attacked anything yet, maybe he's been busy doing other stuff... The PCs, except for Newt, are mostly doing fine (hit points wise) but they're in retreat- or else looking for somewhere to make a stand. But let me be honest, and forthright, this was a bit of a mess. So, let's make a couple of things clear, so that there can be no recriminations with what follows next session- [LIST=1] [*]Randall gets what he wants if he kills Newt, the warlock right now is on five hit points and Randall hasn't made one attack yet- and believe me he's tougher than everything else in the encounter combined. I only put him on the map at the end because I felt sorry for you guys. [*]Since this last fight has started none of the PCs have said anything to Randall, we've already established right at the start of this encounter that the way to stop the fighting is to engage Randall in conversation. Nobody has attempted this for the last ten turns, if at any point you had, well... we wouldn't be fighting right now, probably- depending on what you say to Randall, and keep in mind- Randall is a lot like... Newt. You've been practising talking to Randall every time you've had to chat with the crazy warlock tabaxi. Do you see what I have done here? Isn't it clever? What do you think the other members of the Eyes in the Night are going to be like? Eh! Clever? [*]Randall is a member of the Eyes in the Night, an adventuring party who's members/goals et al mirror those of the Dark Squad, and yet the only questions you have asked so far are about things that you either already know, or else you could have guessed. I have written a list of possible answers for questions you may have, about the plot- about what happened to the Eyes in the Night etc. So far you have not asked any of these questions. That was really odd. [*]I wish you had explored the chamber, I deliberately said on at least three separate occasions that the PCs should feel free to have a look around, except for a brief scurry to the central sarcophagi by one PC, nobody else moved a muscle. It's not that the answer to all of your problems is over the other side of the chamber, it's not- what is there is however an option. [/LIST] Last bit... Inverna (the DM) has stopped the fight, or at least called over twice so far to say- “Are we doing this right?”, or else some equivalent. So, Newt's on five hit points- Randall has only just shown up (and he's 90% of the XP in the encounter) and all he has to do is kill the warlock. All of the other PCs are good to okay, HP & Powers/Spells-wise. It therefore may be time for the Dark Squad to have a chat amongst themselves, y'know OoC, and to formulate some sort of plan. But that's when the session ended, it was funny in part but latterly a very large helping of meh, I tried (repeatedly) to try and get the players to think about what was happening here, but... It was just odd, it felt like I had failed. The Dark Squad’s to-do list reads a little like this- [LIST=1] [*] Go down again- back into the deep dark depths, and then through the door, Randall the Black is down there. [*] To the Moon Pool. [*] Goblins in the Dreadwood. [*] Nightshade in the Dreadwood. [*] To Blackedge, find the Goblin Stair. [*] Return to Fallowstone Holy for answers- the Witch’s Tor & the Pact of the Flame. [/LIST] But we'll revisit this list sometime in the future, no doubt. Stay safe and well you lovely people. Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #137 Into the Mere of the Dead Men Part 2.
Top