The players in my Swords & Wizardry campaign finished up my adapted Creature of Rhyl adventure a few weeks ago. I found the adventure to be uneven. It certainly did hit all of the highlights of an old-school game from the 1980s (not hard to do since it was published in 1981). The dungeon layout was designed to be difficult to map, which just comes across as annoying when you are playing online. Come to think of it, it was annoying back in the '80s as well when I ran my players through similar designs. At some point in the mapping back then, my players' hand-drawn maps would not match up correctly ("How can we be back in this room - it does not connect?"), and they would ask me to correct it for them. The adventure was also strange in that there were very few encounters. An evil wizard has used a pet White Dragon to kidnap a prince (in my game an Earl), and the players need to rescue the prisoner. But when they arrive the dungeon is almost deserted showing signs of a hasty departure. By the end of the adventure, they find that the prisoner starved to death a few weeks ago, and the White Dragon (or dragons in my case) has eaten the wizard.
The adventure ended in the first hour or two of our game so the players head to travel home. I had planned out a few optional encounters for the journey. Things they could investigate or ignore. It is important to give them the choice. But the players found a way to return quickly by a magic portal so I had to ad lib a little. I turned one of the travel encounters into local news and one of the players decided to investigate. But he did it alone, which was a mistake on his part.
Session 98: Search for the Earl of Lockeland
Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human fighter), Flora (elven thief), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC).
After another day of resting in the now foul-smelling dragon cave, Domago casts Speak with Dead again on the corpse of the wizard Astylis. The shade of the dread wizard rises again. The party has prepared this time, and they have thought of the questions to ask in advance. The shade tells them that the Earl of Lockeland was alive at least up to the point the shade perished. He tells them where to find the jail cells on the second level of the complex.
The party gets prepared to continue. Lakima tells the charmed White Dragon to go off and hunt. Armed with directions the party ascends the lift back up to the first level. They move the statue in the direction they think will open the correct passage. They open the door from the room and find a gelatinous cube blocking the entire passage. Lakima orders his efreeti servant to raise a Wall of Fire between them and the cube. Lakima then fires magic missiles at the cube. Eathwund shoots some arrows at it. Lakima turns to Alrix and asks him to use a magic missile as well. Alrix argues that it is a waste of magic but eventually relents and the cube is melted away to nothing. The wall of fire is dismissed and they find a new passage with a pit trap in it and a dead end. They try again turning the statue in a second direction and they find they have opened the wrong section of the level. On the third try, they get it correct and head to the exit. Near the exit, they find a side passage right where the shade told them to look. This leads to a stair headed down where they encounter a troop of goblins. The goblins are quickly dispatched, Eathwund killing the last one just as it attempts to surrender.
The lower level turns out to be a maze of passages. After a few turns, they run into three trolls. A Wall of Fire keeps the trolls at bay while Lakima casts lightning bolt. Two of the trolls are downed and burned into ash with flame and acid. The third troll runs away. Lantosh and Eathwund set out in pursuit of the troll and come across its mangled corpse a short distance away. Apparently killed by some other denizen of the maze.
Around the next corner, they are suddenly attacked out of the darkness by an enormous, intelligent bear-like creature standing on its hind legs (a Rothran). Darkness seems to cling to the creature. Lantosh, Eathwund, and Domago strike the creature with their magical weapons but they find that the creature seems to absorb the damage. Lakima realizes that the creature is immune to magic and he shouts this information out to everyone. Lakima then hurls 3 darts at the creature striking it near the eye. It howls in anger, pushes Eathwund to one side, and swipes at Lakima hitting him with both massive claws. Lakima is pushed back to the wall and his blood stains his blue robes. Lakima scrambles to get behind Eathwund’s shield and Eathwund expertly deflects more of the creature's attacks with his shield. Using non-magical weapons, they press the attack on the creature. Sling-stones fired by Lantosh and Domago, and Eathwund clubs the creature with his quarterstaff. The creature falls after being hit in the side of the head with a stone hurled by Domago. It collapses dead. Eathwund searches a satchel the creature was carrying and finds a magic hand ax, a scroll tube, and a pair of potions.
A short distance later they find a rough-hewn chamber filled with dark mist. They see a vaguely human shape in the center of the mist. Lakima tells the efreet to raise a Wall of Fire between the party and the mist. It seems to keep the mist at bay. Domago attempts to banish the mist with his holy symbol and prayer to St. Aleena. It does not work but Domago tells everyone that he can sense that the creature is undead. Suddenly, the creature turns ethereal and passes right through the Wall of Fire, and rematerializes in the middle of the party. It concentrates attacks on Eathwund with long misty, clawed hands. Eathwund keeps it at bay pushing the claws aside with his shield. The rest of the group helps Eathwund by striking the creature with magic weapons until it is banished.
The party continues in a northwest direction. Traversing long, boring corridors that seem to have no purpose. Flora and Fenris take the lead attempting to quietly sneak up on anything they might encounter. The corridors begin turning back in on themselves in a spiral, leading to a dead end. More winding passages lead to a more rough-hewn section. The marching order of the group has gotten spread out at this point as they have not encountered anything in an hour. They stumble on a Minotaur at a point where Domago is in the lead. The Minotaur attacks Domago while Eathwund and Lantosh rush up to help. The bull-like beast tries hitting Domago with its ax or goring him with its horns but Domago manages to avoid all of the attacks. The three warriors kill the minotaur with well-placed sword thrusts and strikes from Domago’s Maul.
The minotaur cave turns out to be a dead end so the group finds they have to backtrack through winding tunnels and corridors, over pits filled with rushing water, and through chambers. They get back to where they started. Three directions are open to them. Lakima chooses a direction but quickly decides they are again heading into the minotaur maze. They head back and chose another direction.
After another half hour of walking, they see an iron door set into the side of the passage. Flora and Fenris check the door and find it safe. Swinging it open they see a dark and foul prison chamber. There is only one occupant of the prison and he is not talking. An emaciated corpse sits against one wall with manacles about its wrists attached to the wall behind it. The corpse is dressed in what was once the fine clothing of a noble. Lakima moves in and notes the heraldry of the Earl of Lockeland on its breast. On the floor, an outstretched hand lies near where a ring has been used to scratch a message into the floor. The symbol of a human figure with a raised arm holding a sword. Beneath the arm is an arrow pointing downward.
“He left instructions on how to use the elevator,” Lakima says.
They collect the Earl’s signet ring and contemplate whether they need to bring the corpse to their contact to get paid. Lakima looks at the efreet who is already carrying an enormous mirror wrapped in a rug. It is apparent that the efreet servant cannot carry the mirror and the corpse.
“Can we stuff him in the Bag (of Holding)”, Eathwund asks.
They soon discover that the Earl’s corpse does indeed fit in the bag.
The party retraces their steps to the exit from the complex. It takes two days to trek overland from the complex in the foothills to the village of Leandra’s Row. The party has a few encounters on the way. At one point a pair of giant eagles follow them far above but they eventually lose interest. Returning to the village they head for the Red Smile Tavern. They do not immediately see Sir Angus their patron but some shouting by the barkeep brings the old noble down from his rooms. Sir Angus questions whether they succeeded.
“We have some good news, and some bad news to tell you,” Lakima says. Sir Angus learns that they recovered the items taken from the Royal Treasury and the Earl’s signet ring. But the Earl is dead. In fact, they have his corpse in their Bag of Holding. Sir Angus asks that they bring the corpse to the Abbey of St. Leandra where the sisters can arrange to place it in a proper coffin. The Earl’s corpse will be sent to Dolmvay. Sir Angus drafts a writ and signs it testifying to the fact that the Company of the Black Dragon has fulfilled the contract.
Lakima asks the party if they want to return to Edgerton the hard way or the easy way. All but a few immediately say they prefer the easy way. Lakima tells everyone to pack up and follow him to the bridge just outside the village. Once there Lakima drinks a potion of levitation and floats sixty feet straight up in the air. He then casts teleport and arrives at the Bridgeway, 125 miles to the east. Greeting the custodian of the bridge (Ezmeralden) he requests that the Bridgeway be opened to the bridge in Leandra’s Row.
Back in Leandra’s Row, the rest of the party sees a portal open at the far end of the bridge. They walk across and arrive at the Bridgeway. Then Lakima asks Ezmeralden to open a portal to High Town bridge in Edgerton. This he does, and the party waves goodbye to the custodian and walks across the bridge to arrive in Edgerton. The Vorloi Estate is a short distance away so the party decides to go directly to meet with Baron Vorloi. They are ushered into a Ballroom and the Baron hears their story about the Earl of Lockeland and the Creature of Rhyl. He accepts and checks the writ signed by Sir Angus. The Baron has a servant bring in a wooden coffer loaded with 8,000 gold coins. The agreed-upon amount for finding the Earl of Lockeland. The Baron then invites the company to stay for dinner. Over dinner, Lakima asks the Baron for a favor. An invitation for himself and his wife to a ball in Dolmvay hosted by Duke Robert. Baron Vorloi happily acquiesces, suggesting that Duke Robert would likely want to meet them.
The Company returns to their Manor House in Edgerton. They learn that nothing particularly interesting has occurred while they have been away. The next day Lakima identifies all of the magic items found in the past few weeks of adventuring. Lakima goes to the Library of Antiquity to research the mirror they found. He learns that the mirror is actually a portal to another dimension where a Mirror Fiend awaits to trap unsuspecting victims. A few days later, Lakima heads over to the Mages Guild with his Efreeti servant carrying the Mirror. He has the mirror placed in his work area – still covered. Lakima also sits in on a beginner-level class to observe the students and teachers. He offers a potion to one of the students to drink. The student hesitantly accepts and drinks what turns out to be a potion of copper spewing. The sickened student throws up streams of copper coins while the other students laugh. Lakima cautions the students against laughing telling them that all magic can have unforeseen consequences.
Meanwhile, Alrix picks up some local broadsheets and learns that a fabled “feathered Serpent” has been reported to have returned to the hamlet of Deerford (the hook). He decides to head over to the Library of Antiquity and check the historical section. After paying the fee to browse the section he finds a book that describes the story of the couatl named Tlanextic who saved a small village from the effects of a deadly plague 40 years ago. The grateful villagers commissioned a beautifully carved statue of the couatl in gratitude. The couatl left but vowed to return if the villagers were ever threatened. The local broadsheets suggest that if Tlanextic has returned, the village or perhaps even the region must be in real peril.
Eathwund spends time at the Sign of the Purple Bugbear. One evening after having a few too many ales, he has difficulty sleeping and then experiences a life-like dream in which he confronted the Great Worm alone slashing it open with his sword Wormbane. But the black blood spilling from the wound he makes does not stop and he finds himself drowning in it. He awakens just as he drowns in his dream.
After several days, Alrix decides to visit the nearby village of Deerford to see if another of his race is indeed in the village. He is about to ask Domago to come with him but instead, he decides to change form and fly to Deerford which is only a few hours away to the northwest. Arriving near the tiny hamlet, he changes back to that his humanoid form and heads toward the hamlet. At the ford leading into the village, he is stopped by a local warden who requests a toll of 3 silver coins to enter the village. He heads toward the small chapel where the idol of Tlanextic is supposed to reside. A young priest tending a garden outside the chapel tells him that the idol was sent to a nearby old temple where Tlanextic now resides. He suggests heading there and gives Alrix directions.
It takes Alrix a few hours to reach the old temple. The temple is indeed ancient and little more than a ruin. Two wardens stand at the open doors and greet him. One asks for his name and his purpose in visiting. Alrix tells them his name and that he would like to meet Talnextic. One of the men loudly announces his name from the doorway and bids Alrix to enter. Alrix enters the ruin and finds that the roof is somewhat intact. Beams of sunlight poke through holes in the roof illuminating the interior. The air is filled with the smell of flowers and a hint of rot. Piles of cut flowers lay about a central altar. Atop the altar, basking in a ray of sunlight is a magnificent, feathered serpent, coiled atop the flowers. Alrix moves up to get a closer look as the feathered serpent raises its head and looks at him. Alrix just has time to realize that this is not a couatl, in fact, it has no wings, and what is that smell of rot in the air, when the creature uses its charm gaze on Alrix.
Alrix immediately realizes that this creature means him no harm even if it is not a couatl. In fact, he trusts this creature implicitly.
Back in Edgerton at supper, Lantosh asks, “Has anyone seen Alrix today?”
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