Recovering the Everflame

Only two players again for our Swords & Wizardry session using Roll20. I did open the campaign for more players and I had three people ask for details. Of them one asked to join. But he showed up near the end of the night's action and did not join.  We made do with two players. I brought back the NPC cleric and the group has the regular NPC dwarf fighter that the players take turns controlling.

Last week the players almost completed my version of the Crypt of the Everflame (Pathfinder 1st edition). There were only a few chambers left to explore. I did move some things around. Opening up the portcullis to the final two rooms allowed the big bad (a Skeletal Knight) to roam about and awaken a lot of skeletons.

I also knew this would not take more than 1-2 hours so I had a short, funny, adventure from Creations Edge Games ready for play. The Alchemist's Task Mini Dungeon. I ran it almost as written.

Session 13: The Everflame and a Bear

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Daen (Dwarf Fighter NPC), Kasir (Human Cleric NPC).

The players return from the Everflame Mausoleum and spend an evening resting. The next day Eathwund, Lakima, and Daen head across town to the Mausoleum. They take note of the number of pennants and banners hanging on buildings and the number of people who have come to the town for the Harvest Festival. Lakima asks a local about the pennants and learns they represent the various family factions in the town. The factions will compete for honors in events during the Harvest Festival.

They meet Brother Kasir at the mausoleum and he unlocks the doors. Descending down the same paths they find little change until they reach the stone door blocking access to the circular room with the arrow trap. The door has descended again. Lakima unlocks the door and they cross the chamber. The trap activates but it is out of ammunition.

Descending to the second level they make their way east to the catacombs. In the first catacombs, they find the dead have been disturbed and have risen from the crypts. All eyes turn to Kasir who steps forward and turns most of the undead. The climb back into their crypts. As they near the portcullis to the second catacomb they find another group of skeletons waiting for them. This time Kasir is unable to turn them. The adventures catch three of the skeletons in the doorway and destroy them. The other skeletons back up to the far end of the chamber. The adventurers advance and destroy them as well. Past the catacombs, they come to a large chamber. A stone bridge crosses a wide pit in the center of the chamber. Two stone statues stand at the far end of the bridge. The adventurers walk into the chamber cautiously. Eathwund notes tracks from the Sewer Rats lead up to the bridge. On the bridge, the dust and dirt look to have been swept away.

Daen decides to cross the bridge. As soon as he reaches the midpoint, the two statues slide quickly toward him across the bridge. Daen tries to leap between them but he is caught up and he gets hurled back against the near wall. The statues then stop and slide back to their starting point. The adventurers decide to climb down into the pit to avoid the statues. Daen descends on a rope and then he hurls the grappling hook tied to another rope up and around one of the statues. He climbs safely up on the far side of the pit and the statues do not move. The rest of the group follow Daen’s lead.

On the other side of the bridge, two large brass-bound doors await them. Daen pushes them open. On the other side stone steps descend into an enormous tomb. Giant statues line a central hall. Crypts lie against the walls. In the distance, they see an open crypt with the Everflame torch sitting above it. As they slowly descend the stair a skeletal knight steps out of the shadows and taunts them telling them they will soon join his followers.

The skeleton waits for them unmoving so they advance slowly and then attack from all sides. Eathwund manages to get a solid hit. The undead creature calls out for his vassals to come to his aid. The lids of the nearby crypts slide open and skeletons armed with swords crawl out of them surrounding the heroes. The fighting with the skeletal knight continues and Daen strikes the creature. Lakima throws several vials of Holy Water but all of them miss. Kasir manages to turn the lesser skeletons driving them back into their crypts. The undead skeleton roars in anger at this and attacks Kasir. It hits Kasir with its two-handed sword. Kasir tries to raise his flail in his defense but he is staggered by the blow. Clutching his bleeding side he does not see the return swing from the undead knight that cleaves his head off of his shoulders. Kasir's headless corpse collapses to the stone floor.

Daen shouts at the creature in anger and redoubles his attacks, managing to score a hit. The creature appears concerned and begins to retreat into the shadows to the east. It calls out again for the creatures to rise from their tombs and skeletons do answer its call.  All the time retreating to the east. Daen, Eathwund, and Lakima pursue it and see another open crypt in the distance. A recent corpse is lying beside it on the floor.

The risen skeletons press their attacks and allow the undead knight to retreat to its crypt. The heroes are forced to chop down this new threat first. Eathwund destroys three of the skeletons quickly, Lakima smashes one with his flaming staff, and Daen destroys two more. Daen races to the open crypt and swings his hammer at the skeletal knight that is now lying motionless. His hasty strike rings off its armor. Daen takes careful aim on his second swing and smashes its skull.

Daen and Lakima search the body of the corpse which is that of a thin rat-faced man. Daen removes two large sacks and places them in his pack. They can tell that the man has been dead no more than two days. They surmise that this was the leader of the Sewer Rat gang that they heard about. Writing on the crypt states, “Asar Vergas. The finest Knight of St. Cuthbert before his pride brought his fall into evil. Contemplate his fate. Do not disturb his rest.”

They head back into the main chamber and look into the open crypt. The writing on the crypt proclaims, “Ekat Kassen, First Abbot of St. Cuthbert. Defender of the weak.” In the crypt is a mummified body of a man wearing resplendent plate mail armor and clutching a mace to his chest. Rather than pilfer the tomb, Daen and Eathwund carefully close the lid sealing it again. They immediately, feel a sense of thanks and are each healed of their wounds.

They take the Everflame torch which is resting against the wall beside the tomb. Daen also places Kasir’s head into a sack. Eathwund and Daen lift up Kasir’s torso and carry it out. In the chamber with the sliding statues, they race across the stone bridge before the statues can slam into them. From there they do not have much trouble reaching the exit. At the exit, the two Church Guards are horrified by Kasir’s headless body. One of the guards runs off to the Church for help. Half an hour later, Brother Wakefield arrives with four knights. They take Kasir’s body on a stretcher and Brother Wakefield solemnly takes the Everflame torch. He asks if they could deliver a full report of their findings in the crypt the next day. Wishing peace upon them, they leave.

Daen, Eathwund, and Lakima wearily head back to their home base. The cook has lunch waiting for them. They discuss the events and Lakima writes down as much as he can remember and scrawls out a crude map. In the sacks taken from the thief in the crypt, they find gold coins, a spellbook, and a Wand. Lakima casts Detect Magic and discovers it is a Wand of Magic Missiles. He also notes that the dagger they found earlier in the crypt is magical.

The next day Brother Wakefield visits and accepts Lakima’s notes with thanks. He tells them the Abbot would like them all to be his guests at the Harvest Festival in a few days. Then he leaves nearly knocking over a young woman standing outside the front door.

A Very Large Bear

The young woman knocks on the door sill and asks to enter. Once waved inside she tells them she would like to hire them to kill a very large bear. After a few confusing sentences, she starts over. Her name is Alayna, she is the owner of a nearby potion shop. She is an aspiring alchemist. She just needs some good, unique formula to pull in some business. She purchased a map to the workshop of a rival of hers called Raho. When she went to check it out she found a large bear in the entrance cave.

The adventures agree to help her and start immediately. They agree that all notes discovered in the workshop belong to Alayna but all potions will be split 50/50. Alayna returns a few hours later wearing leather armor and carrying a small pack. She tells them that the cave is about a one hour walk from the West Gate. They tell her that they are riding. Alayna asks if they might have a pony for her. As it turns out they do still have Manny’s pony. It only takes them a short time to get to the cave entrance. It is located in some hills near the Valen river a short distance from Edgerton. Daen descends a short distance into the cave and reports there is a bear sleeping in the back of the cave.

Lakima comes up with a plan. He creates a snare with rope and connects in with block and tackle to a nearby tree. Eathwund and Daen hold the far end of the rope ready to pull it tight. Lakima gets as close as he dares and throws three darts. All of the darts strike the sleeping bear in the rump. The bear leaps to its feet roaring in anger and charges up the slope out of the cave directly over the snare. Eathwund and Daen pull it tight and all four legs of the bear and caught dropping it to the ground (I gave the bear a saving throw and rolled a 1). The heroes winch the bear across the ground and leave it tied to a tree, snarling at them.

Inside the cave, they find the entrance to another large cave. The bottom of this cave is a chasm 30 feet deep. Across the chasm is an unsafe looking bridge made of rotten logs. At the bottom of the chasm, they see giant fire beetles skittering about. At least a dozen of them. Daen is the first to step carefully across the bridge with a rope attached to his waist. He makes it despite a lot of creaking from the logs. The rest follow. Alayna skips across displaying real dexterity.

The next chamber holds a pool of water fed by a spring. Daen dips his hand in the water for a drink then notices a ripple moving across the water towards him. A serpent made of water launches out of the water and attacks him. Between Daen and Eathwund they manage to strike the weird and it drops into the water vanishing.

They move on to the next cave and behold the odd site of many small pools carved out of the rock that holds discolored liquids of various shades and hues. Alayna excitedly advances to check on them telling them that these are pools of potions, or mixing vats. Daen advances into the cave and discovers another cave to the south where a tremendous fire has occurred. All that remains are bits of glass, charred wood, soot, and the skeleton of Raho the mad. Searching through the area they do find 18 intact glass vials. Alayna sets about identifying some of the liquids in the pools in the chamber and Lakima and Daen draw some of the contents into the flasks. The adventurers taking potions from pools that Alayna identifies and Alayna taking them from ones she cannot. They also find some charred notebooks that are turned over to Alayna.

Once all of the vials are full they load their packs and head out of the caves. Outside the bear is chewing on the ropes attempting to free itself. They mount their horses and leave the angry bear behind.