A Wizard's Fate

Another session in the mash-up adventure I wrote that takes place in a large forest. After the last adventure two of the party members were infected with Lycanthropy. Since they were both demi-humans this was a potential death sentence. For this reason, the players wanted to get back to town as quickly as possible and get a cure. This means they set aside the original reason they came to the forest - tracking down the remaining members of the Veiled Society. I had anticipated this possibility. I could have had them go back to Town and try to get the Church to cure their two companions. But at the last minute (the day before the game) I decided to plug in an adventure.

I was a subscriber to Dungeon magazine from the start and one of the adventures that I remembered was "A Wizard's Fate" from issue 37 from 1992. Written by Christopher Perkins well before he had joined Wizards I assume.

The adventure is a short dungeon crawl through a dungeon beneath a wizard's tower that recently exploded. The formerly evil wizard had fallen in love with a local woman and his demonic familiar sabotaged a perfume he was making for her destroying the wizard and the tower. The woman comes to look for the wizard and the imp captures her. A few rooms with tricks and traps and an evil imp working things in the background.

I switched the location from a remote tower to the mayor's home in the hamlet of Cowfold. In the description of Cowfold the mayor is noted as a mage hiding from his past. So it all fit. It went quite well and everyone had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the favorite NPC Daen Shieldbreaker the dwarven fighter was bitten by a spider and failed his save and died. That was upsetting to the party. I did not make too many changes to the adventure as originally written. I made some of the monsters tougher given that the heroes were 4-5 level and I ad-libbed some changes to match the mood. Below is a Session report of how it went.

Daen is poisoned by a Giant spider

Session 19: Trouble in Cowfold

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Carric (Elf Thief), Daen (Dwarf Fighter NPC).

The players have spent the night at the Rangers Steading in the forest. Another ranger stricken with lycanthropy returns to the compound that morning. The adventurers decide to put off going to the suspected stronghold of the Veiled Society and head back to Cowfold. Upon entering Cowfold they immediately notice that the Mayor’s house, the only stone building in the hamlet, has been completely destroyed. A thin shell of stone remains. Bits of wood debris is scattered all over the hamlet. They see a small crowd of locals is outside the ruin and a pair of men can be seen in the ruin apparently searching for survivors.

The Ruins of the Mayor's Home

The Innkeeper's wife Karina tells them that the people of the hamlet were awakened by a tremendous boom in the middle of the night. Then flaming debris pelted the houses in the village. They first put out the fires and then her husband and the blacksmith checked out the mayor’s house. They did not find any survivors but they did find a circular stair going down. They returned to their homes for the rest of the night. In the morning Karina discovered that her daughter Tamra was missing. Karina became certain that Tamra went down the stairs in the ruin so she told her husband. The Innkeeper Ethan and Nell the blacksmith went to the ruin to check.

As they stand and watch with the villagers there is a cry of pain from one of the men. Soon after they can see Nell struggling to drag an unconscious Ethan from the ruin. They see that Ethan is unconscious and has a large swollen mark on the back of his neck from a sting. Karina sends one of the villagers to get the local healer Cedric Morrient. Cedric and his wife Cara return and examine Ethan. Cedric tells them that Ethan is still alive but just barely. He smooths a poultice on Ethan’s neck while Cara holds his hand and chants a prayer at a whisper. Immediately they see the swelling go down and Ethan starts to breathe normally, although he does not regain consciousness.

The Blacksmith tells them that Ethan was standing beside him and called out and then fell. He did not see anything. Watching the Morrient's work on Ethan Lakima asks Cedric if he is a healer. Cedric says he knows a few old recipes that sometimes work. The adventurers tell Cedric about the lycanthropy curse that has befallen the Rangers. He is shocked, but recovers and tells them he will put together some supplies and head to the Rangers to help them as soon as they find Tamra. Lakima asks if Cedric can cure lycanthropy and he claims that he can. Then the adventurers tell Cedric that Daen and Carric both have lycanthropy but have not turned yet.

Cedric says that the ingredients for the potion are hard to come by. He can cure one of them today and the other tomorrow. If they agree to descend the stairs and look for Tamra. They agree. Cedric gives Carric a potion to drink that tastes like slightly sweet water. He checks his throat with his hand and Cara says a quiet prayer. Then he proclaims Carric healed and Carric does feel much better. Lakima watches closely and comes to the conclusion that the healing is actually being done by Cara's praying but he does not say anything.

Then the adventurers ready their gear and descend down the circular staircase. Daen estimates that the stair descends thirty feet below the village. The stonework is not dwarven or human. It almost appears that it was created with magic. Carric takes the lead but steps on a floor plate trigger in the first corridor they enter. The walls here are painted with mosaics of runes that disguise a stone block in the wall that slowly starts closing. Carric asks if they are in or out and they all decide to duck past the stone further into the dungeon. The dungeon is dark, except for the light cast by Lakima’s Continual Flame Staff. The corridor enters a room with a statue of a demon at the far end. Four doors enter the room, two of which are open. As they stand in the chamber they hear loud, demonic, laughter. A moment later a huge demon appears in a burst of flame. Lakima casts Mirror Image, Daen and Eathwund attack and miss. Carric makes his way to one of the doors. The demon moves to attack Lakima and misses one of the projected images. Then Eathwund slashes the demon with his sword and it vanishes. Lakima is not certain but he suggests it might have been a phantasmal force. Carric looks into the two rooms with open doors and sees a pile of rubble. Then he opens and swings wide the door to another chamber. A net above the door releases a number of cast iron pots and pans that bang to the floor harmlessly. This is another room full of rubble and he sees some partially eaten rats and a live rat that ducks into a hole. Carric checks out the demon statue but does not find anything of interest.

They decide to open the last door and they find another corridor and several doors. They turn back and go south and find a strange stone door with a large keyhole in the mouth of a gargoyle head. Carric tries to unlock it but cannot. Eathwund, who is at the back of the group, hears a tapping noise from the direction they checked earlier. They head over to investigate and discover the tapping is coming from behind one of the doors. But the door is locked and Carric is unable to open it. Daen chops at one of the doors twice with his ax but the door is ironbound and solid. They decide to head back to the room with the demon statue to check for a key. Lakima checks the statue and spots that the head can be rotated and removed. In the neck of the statue, he finds a pair of spell scrolls and a large iron key. They also check the rubble in the three rooms that adjoin the statue chamber and find a key ring with two keys, an unbroken jar containing rose petals, and a carefully hidden sack full of coins, other items, and a pair of keys that seem to fit on the key ring. They return to the stone door and Carric places the iron key in the lock and turns it. The door and the key vanish as if they were an illusion. But a short distance in front of them is another stone door. This one is round, there is a single keyhole in the center of the door.

They return to the locked door to the room the tapping noise was coming from. Eathwund takes the keyring and on the second try finds a key that works. He opens the door and they see the missing girl Tamra sitting motionless at a writing desk guarded by two enormous, humanoid skeletons armed with battleaxes. As soon as they step into the chamber the skeletons attack. Daen is struck once but they manage to destroy both skeletons, Eathwund with his mace, Daen using his war hammer, and Carric using a sling they just found. When the last skeleton falls they find a large, wooden key in its chest.

The key is cut in the same pattern as the large, iron key. Lakima looks at Tamra closely and sees that she is breathing but her eyes are not moving or blinking. On the table in front of her is a family journal. Lakima tells Eathwund that he needs to kiss Tamra to awaken her. Eathwund is uncertain and instead first picks up Tamra’s hand. The young woman immediately snaps out of her trance and asks, “Where am I”? They explain to Tamra where she is, and she tells them that she went to investigate the ruin early in the morning before her parents were awake because she was worried about her “friend” Roland Sammus the mayor. The journal is that of Roland and his ancestors. In the journal, they find a loose parchment with the word “kizzimic” written on it. Tamra reads a few passages and learns that Roland was in love with her and wanted to marry her and take her away somewhere. But first, he needed to banish his demonic familiar. She also finds earlier passages written by Roland’s father, Elzid. The passages suggest his father was completely evil. Roland also seems to have done some questionable things. Tamra tells them that she had no idea Roland was a magic-user. She does know he knew a few things about alchemy and he promised to make her an enchanting perfume. She gives the journal to Eathwund who puts it in Daen’s pack.

Tamra asks Eathwund to lead her out of the dungeon. She is concerned her parents will be looking for her. Eathwund tells her they are trapped in the dungeon behind a stone barrier. They will just have to find a way out. Carric uses the keys and unlocks another door. The chamber they enter has a summoning circle and a lectern facing it. A piece of parchment on the lectern appears to be an incantation for returning summoned creatures to their home plane.

Carric takes the wooden key and tries it on the round, stone door. The door and the key vanish just like on the previous door. But they see the passage is blocked by a third, diamond-shaped door with a keyhole in the center. There is also an inscription that reads, “Let he who would enter speak his name.” They head down the corridor to another wood door. It is locked and Carric is unable to open it. Daen strikes it with his ax and a cloud of soot bursts from behind the door. After a few more strikes he breaks open the door. The chamber beyond is a library destroyed by fire. Charred books and shelves are all that remain. But while searching the chamber, Carric discovers a secret door. They open the door and see a corridor leading to a chamber covered in spider webs. Daen lights a torch and throws it into the webs. The webs slowly start burning and they hear the sound of glass breaking. A few moments later, four spiders covered in burns drop to the floor and charge toward them. Daen bravely tries to hold the doorway but he is bitten twice by the spiders and he collapses.

The other three adventurers and Tamra back away from the spiders. Eathwund attacks and kills three of the spiders. Carric gets the other one. They check on Daen, but the dwarf is breathing his last breaths. He dies a few moments later. They pull Daen aside against the wall and remove some items from his pack. Eathwund makes a promise to Daen that he will return and carry him out of the dungeon as soon as they find the way out.

Lakima waves at Carric to follow him and the two do a careful search of the room full of webs. Carric finds a secret door but it is blocked from opening by rubble. Eathwund comes over and moves the rubble aside. The door opens enough to give Carric access. Beyond the door a chest sites in a small chamber. Carric picks the lock and yells out, “success” as the lock opens. Unfortunately, that cry of success is followed by a cry of pain as a burst of flame pours over the elven thief. He brushes himself off and opens the chest. Inside they find some treasure, including a wand and more spell scrolls and they find a large brass key in a familiar pattern. Lakima hands Carric a potion of healing which the elf drinks immediately.

When they return and try the brass key on the stone door it does turn but nothing happens. Lakima calls out “kizzimic” but nothing happens. Then Lakima asks Tamra for the name of the other wizard in the journal. She says, “You mean Elzid?” As she speaks that name the door and the key vanish. Beyond is a circular chamber. They are through the doors at last.

The three remaining heroes advance to the edge of the chamber and peer in while they motion Tamra back around a corner in the corridor. In the chamber they see five metal spheres floating four feet off the floor. On the wall are paintings of three fighters, a human, a dwarf, and an elf. They slowly enter the room and look around. As Lakima approaches one of the metal spheres he notes that they all have a seam about their middle. He reaches out and touches the metal sphere and the three paintings vanish. Three figures that look like the paintings appear before them and attack.

The elven warrior attacks Eathwund, the dwarf warrior attacks Lakima, and the human warrior attacks Carric. Eathwund is the first to hit one of the guardians. Dust pours from the wounds rather than blood. Carric manages to strike the human once, but then an imp appears in flying in the air behind him. Lakima turns and casts a lightning bolt bouncing down the corridor striking the unlucky imp. The imp is badly injured and flies into the chamber to attack Lakima and try to sting him. It succeeds in striking one of the mirror images.

After several rounds of combat Eathwund destroys the elf which collapses in a cloud of dust. The human fighter attacks Carric and hits him twice. Things look desperate for Carric but Eathwund arrives and helps dispatch the human. The dwarf attacks Lakima and his four remaining projections. The dwarf manages to dispel two of the projections and hit Lakima once before Carric and Eathwund help destroy the last guardian. Lakima hits the imp with his dagger and kills it.

Lakima opens one of the metal spheres and finds it is hollow. Inside is a parchment with the nonsense words “thossum” and “thissus” written on it. There is also a small pouch full of rubies. He speaks the words and the stone doors appear and then disappear again. The second sphere is opened and is found to hold several spell scrolls. The third sphere appears to hold only worthless copper coins. The fourth sphere holds four labeled potions. They open the final sphere and find an iron cobra lying inside. It attacks and bites Lakima. It makes a second attack and dispels his last mirror image. Lakima tells everyone to run and they quickly leave, closing the stone doors behind them.

Eathwund goes and picks up Daen’s body and they find Tamra and head to the exit. The stone is still blocking the exit but when Lakima shouts “thossum” the block begins to slowly move back open. They hurry past and up the staircase into the sunlight. Tamra races to her mother and the two embrace. Ethan has also recovered enough, that he is conscious and standing. Cedric and Carra come over and check on Daen. Cedric shakes his head and tells them it is too late for their dwarven friend. The heroes go to the Inn to settle in for the rest of the day. The villagers ask if they can help them dig a grave for Daen in the cemetery and ask what they want on the tombstone. Lakima also asks them to fill-in the spiral staircase into the ruin with rubble so no one else risks entering.

Fight in the Treasure Vault