Kardak's Tomb and a new party member?

Last weekend the players in my online Swords & Wizardry adventures took on Kardak's Tomb. This is loosely based on The Crypts of Kardak by Creations Edge Games. I used my own map put together from the Heroic Maps Modular Crypt tiles. I also changed the plot, the monsters, but retained some concepts and tricks and traps. We also had a new player join from Norway I believe. I had put out the open invite from players. Four people inquired but only one person showed up. We used Roll20 but we had to use my Discord channel for sound.

Session 14: Kardak’s Tomb

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

The players awaken in their home the day before the Harvest Festival in Edgerton. With no plans for the day, Lakima, Eathwund, and Daen head over to the Church of St. Cuthbert to visit their adventuring companion Marta. They found that the Church is a hive of activity with preparations for the Harvest Festival procession. They are directed to Marta who is in bed and looks quite ill. They are told that he has been stricken with Lycanthropy. They ask about a cure or divine intervention. The latter Abbot is working on. (Note: the player for Marta was with us from Session Zero but disappeared a few adventures ago.)

They head back to their Shoppe in a more somber mood. The Town square is being laid out with reviewing stands and a layer of dirt for the games. Lakima goes to the Alayna's alchemist shop asks her about a cure for lycanthropy. She promises to do some research and consult with some of her mentors.

While relaxing they hear a commotion outside and see a fight has broken out between men wearing the badges of the Radu family and men wearing Longbardi. The Town Guard is nowhere in sight. Local shopkeepers move their wares inside to avoid damage. They watch for a while until they see one older man gets tripped to the ground and repeatedly kicked. Lakima decides he has seen enough and casts a Sleep spell putting the entire crowd to sleep. The Town Guards immediately appear, thank them for their help, and beginning dragging away the combatants.

Lakima invites the old man who they rescued into the shop to recover. The man introduces himself as Stjarnhvitr. Lakima and Eathwund struggle with pronouncing the man’s name. Stjarnhvitr tells them it roughly means "Star White" in his language. So they settle on calling him, Starry.

Lakima and Eathwund tell Starry about some of their adventures. Starry tells them he is also a long time adventurer. The Adventurers look at him somewhat skeptically. But when Starry indicates he is a specialist at delicate tasks they take an immediate interest. Lakima has been determined to get a good rogue in the party. A messenger knocks at the door and drops off a message asking them to come to the apothecary immediately.

Lakima, Eathwund, Starry, and Daen head across town to the Apothecary (Malyn’s Magic shop) and find it locked with a closed sign on the door. They knock and are let in a minute later by a Malyn who appears injured and who has aged 20 years since they last saw him just two days earlier.  He thanks them for coming and asks them into the back room of the shop. He leads them into an old abandoned temple that backs onto the shop. He points out an unexpected visitor he just had, a skeleton lies sprawled on the floor of the church. Malyn tells them he is the custodian of the old temple and that there is a crypt below that was used to bury many members of the church. Many of these former members were powerful mages. Precautions were taken when they were buried to prevent them from being raised as undead. The more powerful individuals being buried wearing a gold death mask called the Mask of Peaceful Repose. Malyn tells them that the skeleton he fought was that of Kardak who should be interred below. He asks them to find the tomb of Kardak and search it for clues. Malyn tells them he will follow their progress with a Wizard Eye spell.

They do ask Malyn some questions about the crypts and he is evasive. He claims to have been in the Crypts but tells them his memory is not what it used to be. He gives Lakima a key to the gates that lead into the crypts from the Temple cellar. For their investigation, Malyn agrees he will pay them 1,000 gold coins.

The four adventurers enter the cellar and locate the entrance to the catacombs. The gates open easily but the area beyond looks like it has been undisturbed for a very long time. As they descend steps into the first chamber, flames spring to life in wall-mounted braziers illuminating the room. At the edge of the light, they see the unmistakable form of a grey ooze advancing toward them. They throw some fire at the ooze to keep it at bay. They head south and find the first few stone coffin tombs. One of the tombs is open and inscribed with “Wormrick, faithful servant.” At a distance, they spot a gelatinous cube but it is moving away from them. The heroes carefully follow the cube down a corridor that is headed west. They come to a curved passage with a large number of sarcophagi standing upward. A quick examination of the names reveals that Kardak’s is not here.

As they move further west they come to a chamber with four stone coffins. One coffin is open and a ghoulish figure is leaning into the coffin. The figure hears them and turns, it says “So, you would disturb old Wormrick”. They realize it is a ghast a more intelligent version of a ghoul.  As the ghast moves to attack, Daen and Eathwund are affected but they sickening smell it exudes. But they manage to hit it with their weapons. The ghast strikes Daen severely but he manages to fight off the paralysis that ghouls can inflict. After a brief fight, they put it to rest. Lakima hands Daen a healing potion.

They continue west and find a single sarcophagus with the name Corpsemaker on it and several death dates. The sarcophagus is wrapped in chains and something thumps against the lid repeatedly from inside the coffin. Lakima takes some time to search for secret doors but finds none. Guarding the rear of the group, Starry notes that the grey ooze is following them.

They turn and head north and encounter an enormous 20-foot long snake, Eathwund is struck but the poison is not injected into his body. Eathwund and Daen strike the snake and Daen chops off its head. After the fight, Lakima gives a potion of healing to Eathwund. From this round chamber, there is a narrow passage leading east to a room that looks undisturbed for a hundred years. Starry is persuaded by his new friends to venture into the passage to the room. He finds a room with a checkerboard floor in alternating blue and grey flagstones. Starry borrows Eathwund’s polearm and uses it to test the floor. Finding the grey stones safe he skips across the floor to a pair of upright sarcophagi.

The Flagstone Golem attacks

Meanwhile, the grey ooze approaches the other three adventurers waiting down the passage. Again they ward it off with fire. Eathwund and Daen drive the ooze south down the passage. Starry finds iron rods on the two sarcophagi that can turn. He twists each about a quarter turn and all of them hear a rumbling noise directly to the east.

Starry rejoins the other three and they drive the ooze south until it climbs up the wall and moves onto the ceiling over their heads. They struggle to drive it further away but eventually with torches held high they drive it south. Eathwund uses a torch to finally kill it.

The group now retraces their steps east cautious of encountering the gelatinous cube again. They head north and find another lit room. In this room they see a human thief trying to pry open a stone coffin that has a brass lid. They surprise the man and interrogate him. The man claims to be Tamil Tarkon, a thief who came to put an old partner to rest. He claims his partner died recently and was interned here. He has since risen as a ghost. The story is greeted with skepticism from everyone, especially Starry. A short distance from the chamber they find the now open secret door. They ask Tamil to scout ahead and he takes off on a run. They follow Tamil into a chamber with an open stone coffin. Tamil reaches into the coffin and pulls out a parchment and threatens to burn it. Lakima walks up to Tamil and snatches the parchment from his hands. It is a cryptic note. The stone coffin is inscribed Kardak the Cruel. The note reads:

I can reach out and find you anywhere. There is nowhere to hide. Take Kardak’s visit as a warning.

Bring the Black Ring to the Standing Stones or damned servitude awaits.

It is signed with the sigil of a mage.

Feeling they have fulfilled their mission, the heroes decide to leave. But one more challenge awaits. As they step down the corridor a Golem made up of the very flagstones of the floor rises up and attacks them. Both Daen and Eathwund who are in the front of the group, are struck solidly by the creature's stone fists. At this moment Tamil draws his dagger and tries to stabs Eathwund in the back.  But the surprise blow bounces off Eathwund's armor. A tightly packed melee occurs. Tamil proves deft at avoiding attacks and Lakima resorts to using up 2 charges of his Wand of Magic Missiles and he casts Mirror Image. But it is Starry who finally kills Tamil using a borrowed polearm like a club. Meanwhile, Daen has been keeping the golem at bay while Eathwund had turned to attack Tamil. With Eathwund now back in the fight against the Golem they manage to defeat it.

Back upstairs they meet with Malyn and brief him on what they saw and heard. Malyn could see what was happening but not hear it. To no one's surprise he admits that he is the holder of the Black Ring.and he knows the person who uses the sigil they found. He ponders these facts and tells them he must think on this. They get paid and say goodnight.

 

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.

We're gonna need a new thief

I only had two players for Session 12. One of the regular has not been to play for several sessions so who knows. Another new person who joined came twice and I have not heard since. This is normal for Roll20 games.

This adventure was based on the Pathfinder adventure Crypt of the Everflame. But I made a lot of changes to get it to fit in my campaign. It is no longer a starter dungeon with some undead and some harmless traps. I made all of the traps lethal and added a wererat sub-plot.

Session 12: The Mausoleum of the Everflame

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

The adventurers were approached by the Church of St. Cuthbert. The Everflame torch that is in their care for the town has gone missing. They have just a few days to locate it because it is the centerpiece of the Winter Festival. To make matters more grave, their old friend Marta (Cleric of St. Cuthbert) took some guards to investigate and disappeared.

The adventurers Lakima, Eathwund, and Daen head over to Clearwin’s oddities early in the day. Lakima picks up the Continual Flame Staff he commissioned and seems pleased with it. They then head for the Church of St. Cuthbert. While passing through the Town Square they check the stocks for Billy the thief who they have not seen in several days.  Billy is not present but two men are in the stocks. One of the town guards tells them they were arrested for stealing from a farmer’s cart.

Lakima speaks to the two thieves attempting to discern their character. Eventually, he settles on the younger of the two, a man who tells them his name is Mead. A discreet bribe to the guard gets the thief released. Mead agrees to accompany them.  I was not expecting this at all but I quickly put together some statistics for Mead (thief 2) and created a token on the fly. The name came from the Book of Random tables.

At the church, the Abbot tells them about the missing Everflame torch and their friend Marta. They assure the Abbot that they will find the Marta and the torch. The abbot introduces them to Kasir, a thin-looking man who the abbot assures them is a seasoned priest used to adventure. At the Mausoleum that used the hold the torch, they are met by a guard who lets them in once he speaks to Kasir. They do a search of the chamber directing Mead to search the floor. The thief tells asks what he should search for? Eathwund finds a flagstone that has been levered up and not put back down correctly. Daen lifts it and they see a dark shaft leading down 20 feet. There is a wooden ladder in the shaft. Lakima tells Mead to climb down and report back. Mead argues that it is too dangerous but eventually agrees to do it. Getting the all-clear from Mead everyone descends into the catacombs.

The corridor leads to a chamber with many solid pillars. Mead reports a pit trap in the floor, “I found a trap!” The pit trap is open and they see the body of a Church guard sprawled at the bottom clearly dead. Tracks lead past the pit but there is no easy way to pass. Lakima tells Mead to lead them south around the trap. The thief takes three steps and falls into another pit trap. Daen is sent down on a rope to check on the thief. Unfortunately, nothing can be done, Mead is dead.

We're gonna need a new thief

Daen now takes the lead. They hear wailing coming from the north. Possibly a human voice. Heading in that direction they turn east and come to a locked door they cannot get past. They return and head north. The wailing gets louder and they come to a door that is barricaded shut on the other side. The wailing stops when they call out. A man's hysterical voice tells them to go away. Kasir tells them it sounds like the Church Guard Roldare. Despite a lot of effort, they are unable to convince Roldare to open the door. He wails about gnashing teeth and shining claws. Giving up on Roldare they move on and encounter an enormous beetle eating a giant rat. The beetle attacks and grabs Eathwund in its mandibles. Eathwund is practically chopped in half and falls to the floor unconscious. The rest hack away at the beetle until it is dead. Kasir casts two Cure Light Wound spells on Eathwund before he bleeds to death.

They continue north and encounter a pair of shadows in a chamber with a smoldering fire. The shadows are killed fairly quickly. The smoke makes visibility difficult so Lakima pours water on the fire. Great plumes of smoke fill the chamber. They retreat to the locked door again. Daen tries but is unable to chop it down with his ax. They return to the chamber with the fire and find a key on the edge of the firepit and an unburnt dagger in the middle of the pit. Using the key they are able to open the door and see a circular chamber. A pillar supports the roof in the center of the room. The pillar is full of hundreds of small holes, arrowheads poke out of the holes. Lakima goes to read some magic runes on the floor just as the pillar starts to spin, firing 100s of arrows out in all directions. Everyone is hit by arrows, including the distracted Lakima. Eathwund opens the door to the north and he and Kasir duck behind it. Yelling finally convinces Lakima and Daen to join them. Lakima is hit by several arrows.

The trap of 1,000 arrows

The next chamber has stairs leading down. Before they can descend they are forced to kill two monstrous rats that emerge and attack. On the next level, they come to a crossroads. They smell rot from the east, hear dripping water to the west, and splashing water to the north. On the floor is a message carved in ancient common tongue admonishing those who enter from despoiling the dead. They decide to head east. They enter into a catacomb full of carved alcoves stacked with human skeletons. Mindful of the warning they avoid touching the bones. They do find a backpack with fresh blood on it. Inside is a note from someone called the “Rat King” ordering an investigation of some tunnels found behind a collapsed wall.

They open a stuck door to the north and surprise eight rat creatures the size of small humans that stand on hind legs. Two of the creatures are even wearing human clothes and carry swords. In the corner of the room, they see their friend Marta lying on the floor. He is covered in wounds but looks alive. Lakima attempts to parlay with the creatures who just hurl insults back at him. Then some of the creatures begin to slink forward their intent to attack clear. Lakima casts Phantasmal Force from a scroll and summons an enormous cat. Telling the rat creatures that the cat-god is upon them. All but one of the rats run to the far end of the chamber in fear. One stands firm yelling at his companions, “It is a trick!” But he also seems reluctant to try attacking. Lakima convinces the rat-men to leave, leaving Marta behind. They step aside to let the rats pass. Kasir runs to Marta’s side. He uses his last Cure Light Wounds Spell. Marta looks better but is still incoherent. At the north wall of the chamber is a sturdy iron portcullis. Daen and Eathwund try but neither can lift it. They see iron chains ascending above the gate.

They pick up Marta and head back to the crossroads. Heading north they find a chamber with a fountain of clear water. Daen tries it and is healed. Everyone then drinks from the pool and all of them receive some healing. The water is given to Marta and some of the bite wounds close. Marta becomes coherent. He tells them that he led four guards down into the catacombs where they were ambushed by the rat creatures. He fought as some of the guards fled. Eventually, the rats piled over him and he blacked out. He remembers passing in and out of consciousness. The wererats told him they were making him part of the family. He heard them talking about entering the catacombs from the sewers at the request of a Rat King. They found and stole the Everflame and went ever deeper. They used an iron wheel to the west to open the portcullis. Then they found tombs of Knights of St. Cuthbert. But they disturbed an undead creature which attacked killing their leader. They fled out of the tombs.

The adventurers with Marta now able to walk, head west into a number of flooded chambers. The water is soon 2 feet deep and it is murky so they cannot see the floor. Mindful of traps Daen borrows Eathwund’s polearm to check the depth of the water every few feet. They find a flooded room with three tombs. On top of one tomb squats a giant frog. Recently killed rat-men float face down in the water. They attempt to move quietly through the chamber past the frog but the frog attacks and it is joined by two more frogs. The first frog they encounter jumps and lands in front of a surprised Daen. The frog then swallows Daen whole. Another frog jumps in front of Lakima. Daen pulls out a dagger and tries to cut his way out of the frog. Outside of the frog the battle rages. Lakima and Eathwund manage to kill one frog and then move on to the one that swallowed Daen. Eventually, they are able to kill the frog and pull Daen out of its mouth. Meanwhile, the frog Kasir had been fighting flees out a hole in the wall that sounds like it leads to the sewers.

Shaking it off they head north and enter a large chamber. On the far wall, they can see a large iron wheel with a chain attached. Daen moves quickly across the chamber and steps right in a deep pit. Weighed down by his armor he disappears from sight. Eathwund throws his grappling hook attached to a rope after the dwarf. In the depths, Daen sees the rope and holds on. He is pulled to safety. More cautiously Dean taps the floor with the polearm and skirts the edge of the pit. He finds a 5-foot wide bridge over the pit leading to the wheel. Eathwund and Daen grab the wheel and manage to spin it four times before the chain becomes taught and will not move. Eathwund volunteers to wedge it in place with his bastard sword. As they turn to leave, large rats emerge from holes in the walls and splash through the water towards them. The rats are large but not giant - but they have poison dripping off of their incisors. They kill the six rats quickly but Eathwund is bitten. Luckily, he shrugs off the poison.

They head back to the room with the iron gate and confirm it is open. But Marta is wavering and looks pale so they vote to return him to the church for healing. On leaving they meet the guard again who asks if they found the torch yet? They are dripping wet and everyone but Kasir has fresh wounds. They wave off the guard and head on their way. They escort Marta to the church and summon the abbot. Everyone gets healing from the priests. After a brief discussion with the abbot, they return to their home for rest so they are ready to tackle the quest again the next day.

NeMoren's (modified) Vault

I only had two players for my Sunday session of Swords & Wizardry. So I used a short adventure I had ready for just this type of occasion. It is a combat-light adventure with a lot of traps and puzzles making it very easy to scale for different party sizes.

This adventure is NeMoren's Vault by Fiery Dragon. I ran it once before to start a D20 campaign back near the turn of the century. This time I have cut it down to just the essential rooms and spread them over four levels. The resulting dungeon really is a deep vault. Since I was using it beneath a manor in a large town I felt it made more sense.

Since I was not using it to start a campaign I removed the hook of having the players all receive keys to the vault to discover their inheritance. Instead, I had them be contacted by the remaining NeMoren heir who needs their help in clearing the vaults of undead. The heir also accompanies them to be sure they do not make off with the family jewels. But this heir does not get involved much in combat.

Session 11: NeMoren’s Vault
Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Daen (Dwarf Fighter NPC).

The adventurers spent the night at the Inn of the Dancing Dragon. At least, Lakima, Daen, and Eathwund did. They are not certain where Billy spent the night or where he got off to because he is not around in the morning. Also, Marta who said he would spend some time at the CHurch of St. Cuthbert has not returned.

On the way to the Merchant Adventuer's Guildhall to look at some properties, Daen is hailed by a passing young man who turns out to be the scribe Gareth. Gareth traveled with the group for a week from Larm to Edgerton. Gareth asks about the rest of the company and is sad to hear that Manny and Gaeleath were killed adventuring. He does tell Daen that he needs his help on a simple job. He tells them he will bring his employer to the Inn at noon.

When they return to the Inn for lunch Gareth arrives with a young noble named Ennio NeMoren. Ennio has a problem with his inheritance. Gareth explains that Ennio recently inherited the family home and business. He arrived from Dolmvay only 3 months ago. Gareth was hired to go through the family assets. Unfortunately, the ledgers make it clear that Ennio has inherited a pile of debts. They did find a silver key and the records of the construction of an underground vault. They found the vault and opened the door but were chased out of the vault by zombies in the first room they entered. Ennio asks them to clear the vault for him. Since Ennio is currently in debt they negotiate a price of 10 percent of the treasure found and a bounty on the zombies.

They head to the mansion in the wealthy part of town across the river. The NeMoren mansion was clearly very fine at one time but it has not been maintained. Ennio informs them that once the zombies are cleared he will accompany them. He changes into some leather armor and picks up a spear.

Ennio uses the silver key to unlock the door. Daen, Eathwund, and Lakima walk into the narrow hallways of the vault. They see a glowing object before a door at the far end of the hall. In the first door, they enter they find a pool of stagnant water surrounded by four pillars carved to look like trees. Behind a tapestry, they find a statue of a knight. A plaque indicates this is Jacin Three-Fingers. Lakima discovers a ring on a necklace about the statue’s neck. He casts Detect Magic and it is magical. Some kind of enchantment on the wearer. All this time Ennio is calling down the hall for updates.

They head to the north door where they find a dimly glowing orb resting in a holder of Elvish brass on the wall. They take the orb and it dims. Remembering a similar depression in the pool they return and place the orb in the depression. The water transforms into clear, fresh-looking water and it glows with magic to Lakima. Testing it he finds the water casts the effects of Cure Light Wounds. He fills a few containers.

Crossing the hall they finally enter the family crypt where Ennio previously indicated the zombies were seen. They do not see anything at first. But they notice four crypts are broken open. As soon as Daen descends a stair in the chamber, four undead creatures attack. Three of them appear to be zombies. But the last one, although looking similar is able to speak and cries out at the intruders defiling the family crypt.

Daen is attacked by two zombies in the lower half of the crypt. The more intelligent undead creature attacks Eathwund while another creature attacks Eathwund from behind. Immediately, Eathwund is struck hard by a clawed hand and staggered. Daen trades blows with the two zombies and then one strikes him knocking him off balance allowing the second zombie to hit him as well. Daen struggles to his feet badly wounded.

The Zombies in the NeMoren Family Crypt

Eathwund steps back and drinks a potion of healing. Lakima throws darts from the doorway dropping one of the zombies. More blows are traded and Daen drops one of the zombies. Lakima brings down another with darts. Now all three concentrate on the undead thing fighting Eathwund. Lakima’s deadly dart throws finally bring it down. Ennio calls from the cellar if everything is all right. Lakima tells him they are handling it.  Checking the open crypts they find little of value, just rags, and bones.

Lakima gives Daen the water from the pool but it has reverted to stagnant water. Returning to the pool they use the orb again and Daen is able to cure some of his wounds. A potion of healing helps cure some more. Lakima tries on the magic ring he found and he finds that it gives him the ability to see in low light.

Ennio joins them as they try to figure out how to open the mysterious iron door. It has no locks or hinges visible. Just a line of elvish brass around the door and connected to the orb holder. After a few false tries, Lakima finds that he can open the door by placing the orb in the holder and touching it. It does not work for anyone else. It glows brightly and the door ascends into the ceiling. Once everyone is through to the circular staircase beyond, Lakima snatches the orb and leaps under the door. It is anti-climatic as the door does stay up.

They descend to the second level. They find cave-ins caused by the work of human thieves who tried to pilfer the vault. A recently dug tunnel has broken into the vault and leads to a ladder going up. By the smell coming down from above, it leads to the sewers. Under one cave in, they find the body of a human thief who has been dead a few years. Daen surmises they triggered a deadfall trap. The rooms they search have been ransacked. They do find a use for the ladder to crawl across a bottomless pit leading to another ransacked room. Lakima finds a torn ledger with a scrawled note demanding to know where the treasure is hidden (in less polite language). They do manage to find a magic dwarven war hammer under some debris. Lakima’s Detect Magic spell doing the trick.

Crossing the Bottomless Pit

Another Iron door is located. It is again opened by Lakima with the Glowing orb. They find another spiral staircase headed down. Ennio tells them that Gareth’s search indicated there were only three levels. In this third level, they find that the floor of one corridor is made of glass placed over a swiftly flowing stream. They avoid this and head the other direction. They find a door with dwarven runes carved into, “Trace the door to enter”.  They try a lot of tracing with their fingers and with the orb but nothing happens.  Next, they find a room with a stained glass “window” of art showing four figures before the NeMoren manor. Behind it is a kneeling statue with one hand outstretched. Lakima puts the Orb in the hand and the statue projects a brilliant light. The stained glass image is projected on the far wall. They marvel at how it is almost real looking. Lakima steps up and grabs the door to the manor in the image and pulls them open revealing a secret door. Beyond is a staircase leading down. Ennio, exclaims, “A secret fourth level!”

The fourth level staircase leads to a room empty but for a winged statue on a pedestal. Once Daen advances past the statue it animates and attacks him. The statue proves to be made of very hard rock and their blows bounce off it with little effect. Daen is pressed back and struck. Eathwund manages to hit it solidly and they statue turns its attention to him striking him violently. Finally, they batter the statue to pieces and it crumbles to dust.

A door leads to a treasure room. Daen who is leading the way has to be restrained as he sees three tables with gold bars stacked on them. A statue of a scholar holding a scroll speaks to them, “What must you first give to me in order to keep it?” Lakima and Eathwund ponder this for some time unable to come up with anything. Lakima searches a nearby bookshelf with Ennio and finds a second set of financial records for the family going back centuries. Suddenly, Eathwund has an idea and speaks to the statue, “My word!”. The statue says, “You speak wisely.”

Relieved that any traps are likely disabled they check the gold bards. Daen turns them over and says they are real, and worth about 400 gold each. Still, one more door beckons them. In the next chamber there four statues, one more door (this one with a key lock) and a strange trench cut on the floor. Daen circles the room to the door keeping clear of the trench. As he reaches the door, a ghost appears and demands the key to the door. Daen glances at Ennio and the ghost glides towards Ennio who hastily backtracks. Lakima casts Protection from Evil and tells Ennio to toss him the key which he does. The ghost is kept at bay by the protection and Lakima interrogates it learning it is the ghost of Paytro NeMoren and that he killed his brother Incaro for the family wealth. While Ennio distracts the ghost Lakima heads to the door to open it but the ghost possesses Ennio and runs to the door. As the door opens they see the sarcophagus of Kragor NeMoren. Ennio/Paytro cries out in triumph seeing four treasure chests against the wall behind the sarcophagus. Just as he is reaching for them another ghost appears, Paytro cries out that it is his murdered brother Incaro. The two fight with Incaro winning and banishing Paytro. Incaro approaches his nephew Ennio and tells him all of this is his now. But warns him not to disturb the tomb of Kragor NeMoren. Ennio nods to Incaro and the ghost vanishes.

In the chest they do find some gold, but a lot less than Ennio had hoped. It seems much of the family wealth was squandered. He does find a proclamation of logging rights given by the Elves to the NeMoren family for the King’s Wood. This he is ecstatic to find. It is something with which to rebuild the family's wealth.

They decide to head back up to the mansion. On the way through the third level Eathwund is persuaded to strip out of his armor and try to cross the glass floor over the stream. The glass starts to crack and he retreats.  They decide to pass on trying to cross.

At the first of the iron door controlled by the orb they find it has closed at some point since they descended. Ennio is concerned because the Orb will not work for him. Only for Lakima. He asks Lakima to return in a few days when he has a work party put together. He will try to hire a mage to examine the door. Meanwhile, Lakima checks a hunch and takes off the ring he found earlier. The orb does not light up when he is not wearing the ring. But he does not tell Ennio.

Hapwich the NeMoren manservant has a meal waiting for them so they stay and eat. Ennio assures they he will abide by the contract and Gareth tells them he will send them an accounting of the treasure to deduce their share.

Lakima has a transcribes a message to a Scribe telling Ennio that he believes he needs someone with Elvish blood to operate the doors in the vault.

The Almost Thief

For Session 10 of my Swords & Wizardry online game using Roll 20, I ran another of the Creation's Edge games adventures. This time I ran as written with no adjustments. Mainly, because one of the players did not show and the next adventure used his character as a hook. So I had this other adventure-ready as a back-up.

It is written as a short adventure designed to be handled in a single session. My players cut out early once they had the goal of the quest completed and were done the adventure in under 2 hours. So I can recommend this adventure for a single session or filler in a longer session.

Session 10: The Almost Thief

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

The adventurers arrive with their cart full of dead kobolds before the East gate of Edgerton. The Watch Commander of the gate informs that they cannot bring a cart full of dead kobolds into the town. He listens to their arguments and agrees to sign a deposition stating to the contents as long as they get rid of the bodies before entering the town.

Once inside the town, Marta stops at the Church of St. Cuthbert telling them he will meet up with them later. The rest of the group head directly to the Inn of the Dancing Dragon and settle in for the night after a quick meal. The next day they spend some time to divide up the loot from the last few ventures. The gear that no one wants they plan to sell. They head over to Clearwin's Oddities and manage to sell one of the Continual Flame torches (the green one) they found in the last adventure. Billy tries stealing a grappling hook but is noticed and is forced to put it back. The next stop is the Merchant Adventurers Guildhall. They meet with the Guildmaster this time and receive the 3,000 gold reward for ending the Kobold threat.

Flush with gold the adventurers look for someplace to spend it. They settle on the most expensive Tavern in town. The Shining Sword. They manage to get past the dubious guard on the door. Inside Daen tells the waitress to give them one of everything. The food arrives and they demand ales for everyone at the table. The waitress comes back with the Tavern owner who politely asks for a deposit. They are getting looks from several rich merchants who are eating meals in the room. They put down the full cost of the meal and more and the attitude changes. Now they have two servers attentive to their every want. This goes on well into the afternoon. Eventually, they get bored and look for another place to drink.

Lakima suggests they try near the Southgate. Right at the gate, they find a promising Inn, The Bard’s Trousers. This Tavern is pretty lively and completely full. But for a silver coin, the waitress empties a table for them - chasing off some drunks. After a few rounds of ale, they are approached by a nervous young woman. She introduces herself as Rosa Raventhal, she has heard of their group (although she got the name wrong) and really needs their help.

Invited to sit she asks that they meet her outside - in a dark alley. They agree and follow her outside on alert. In the alley, she introduces them to her boyfriend Zane who is a ghost.

Zane cannot speak so Rosa explains that Zane wanted to get Rosa her grandmother’s silver ring back as a betrothal gift. Zane had been training to be a thief for more than a year without much success. Rosa feels that he must have tried to retrieve the ring anyway. The ring was taken from her grandmother unfairly by some trick, she does not go into detail. The ring was taken by Marian Evendal. When Marion died several years ago, it was buried with her in the Evendal Crypt. Rosa thinks that Zane will stop haunting her if they retrieve the ring. She offers them 100 gold she has saved. Lakima tells her that they do not need to be paid for such a simple task. She does tell them that there is bound to be a treasure in the crypt that they can take. After all, no one likes the Evendal’s anyway.

Rosa says goodbye and Zane’s ghost leads Lakima, Eathwund, Daen, and Billy to a graveyard near the Church of St. Aleena. The crypt of the Evendal family is the biggest in the graveyard. The chain locking the doors shut has been broken with a nearby rock. Inside they find stair leading to a pair of stone doors. The doors prove to be unlocked. In the chamber beyond, they find a grate covering a pit. Billy checks and tells them that the grate is a trap designed to swing open and drop people in the pit below. It is not well disguised. Looking down into the pit they see Zane’s bones. They are completely clean of any flesh which is strange if he just died a few days ago.

To the south, they find two bookshelves. At least fifty books are on the shelves. The first book they check has a name on the spine - Hunter Evendal. Several of the books are blank and have a name on the spine. They push open a pair of double doors headed east and enter a large hallway. Corridors head north and south and there is another pair of double doors at the far end. In the center of the chamber is the statue of a man on a pedestal. His hands are outstretched and holding a real book. They avoid the statue and head to the door. The door proves to be locked. Billy tries but is unable to unlock it. He does point out a keyhole in the eye of a skeleton bas-relief on the door.

The Heroes and the ghost examine the Guardian of the Crypt

Heading north they find four chambers blocked by Iron bars. Lakima casts Strength on Daen and tells the dwarf to lift the portcullis. Daen struggles and is unable to do it after a few tries. He is also unable to bend the bars. To the south, they find an identical room. Four more chambers behind bars. Behind the bars, in each chamber, they see an upright sarcophagus with a family name carved into the lid. The names are Alphonsina, Brookes, Caden, Deldodd, Erwin, Farant, Gigin, and Hunter.

They head back to the statue looking for clues. Eventually, Daen reaches up and removes the book. The pages in the book are blank and the spine says, “Guardian of the Crypt”. Eathwund has an idea and goes and gets the book from the earlier library that had Alphonsina on the spine. He places it in the statue’s hands. They immediately hear the portcullis opening to the chamber containing the sarcophagus with the name Alphonsina on the lid. Opening the sarcophagus they are attacked by a zombie holding a silver chalice. Daen and Eathwund quickly dispatch the zombie.

Understanding the trick of opening the sarcophagi, the heroes open them one at a time. In each sarcophagus, they encounter a zombie. Some have weapons or minor treasures. Each is dispatched efficiently. Finally, when opening the sarcophagus of Farant they fight a zombie with a silver key about its neck. They find that the key fits perfectly in the door lock and the doors swing open. Beyond is a chamber with two stairs leading down to the far side of the room. A bas-relief of a procession is carved into the walls. Hallways lead off to the south and north. Before the bas-relief is a marble pedestal with a silver ring upon it. Daen and Billy rush for the ring - Daen getting their first. A horrible smell emanates from a hole near the floor on the west wall. Two oozes come forth and move toward them. The smell from the oozes is that of rotting flesh. Lakima motions everyone to follow him quickly down the stair. The oozes slide down a ramp toward them and Lakima with everyone following - races around the chamber and up the other stair. The oozes slowly try to follow - but Billy closes and locks the door to the chamber behind them.

Then they quickly exit the crypt back out into the cold, evening air. No alarm has been raised and as far as they can tell no one sees them slip out of the cemetery. They follow the ghost to a small cottage. Rapping on the door, Rose answers, and they present her with the silver key. She thanks them and turns to Zane’s ghost. The ghost, smiles, turns to leave and fades from sight.