Capturing Hippogriffs

Last weekend we had a 4th players join the party that was already lugging around four NPC hirelings. Next week I have a fifth player who has asked to join. I believe that is my limit. We shall see how things go if all five players show up. It might be the tipping point in an online game where not everyone can talk at once. I do not want to get to the point where some players feel they cannot get their opinion heard.

I used Roll20's Dynamic Lighting for the first time in this session. I had a small orc lair planned and it was perfect for this use. It went really well. The players enjoyed it - especially the elven thief who could see things with his dark vision that others could not. I also enjoyed it as a game master. I did not have to spend time revealing areas and it meant I could move orcs around who were currently out of sight. It was a very small cave dungeon and players still lost track of where they had been. It definitely was an addition to the game session.

Session 26: Hippogriff Hunt

As the session opens, the adventurers prepare to enter the orc lair. Some concerns are voiced that the Orcs may be alerted to them. Carric advances carefully ahead of the rest of the party down the sloping tunnel. He checks carefully but does not find any traps. They round a corner and from in the lead Carric spots, some orcs milling about in a cave further ahead with his dark vision. Dag comes up close behind Carric. The rest of the party stays back around the corner under the light of Lakima’s staff. Carric also spots an orc shaman or witch doctor alone in a small cave and decides to sneak up upon him. He manages to slip silently through the tunnel right up behind the shaman. He goes to stab the orc in the back but at the last moment, the witch doctor hears him and whirls about shouting. Carric misses his strike.

The shouting orc brings the rest of the party to the attack. Lakima moves forward with the light so that the humans can see in the dark. Eathwund charges forward and attacks the orcs in a side cave near a cooking fire. Lantosh follows Eathwund. Dag moves to aid Carric. Lakima and Domago stay in the rear. The shaman switches his attack to Dag and clubs the dwarf solidly knocking him to his knees. Carric stabs the shaman. Eathwund slashes through several of the orcs. Lantosh tries to help but struggles in the dim light. Domago moves up and casts Cure Light Wounds on Dag.

Unbeknownst to the heroes, a short distance away at the bottom of a pit lies a human caravan guard named Grimble. Grimble was captured in an ambush a few weeks earlier and has been kept in the pit for days. The orcs occasionally feeding him scraps. Grimble hears shouting, sees the orc guards running off, and then hears the sound of fighting. He takes a chance and cautiously climbs up out of the pit (the new PC is introduced).

The fighting continues. The heroes also see some tougher looking orcs and a large orc with a headdress in a side cave. These orcs stay out of the fight so they can protect the chief. They also know that the entrance to the cave is trapped. The shaman is attacked by Dag and Carric but holds his own. Lakima comes over and casts Atanzibar’s Acrid Finger and directs the acid spray at the shaman. This causes the shaman to turn and run off into the cave with the orc leader. Eathwund finishes off the last few orcs in the cave. Meanwhile, Domago spots Grimble climbing out of the pit and goes over to help the stranger.

The entire group of adventurers moves toward the last cave in the lair. The orc leader, a pair of bodyguards, the shaman, and a few female orcs are all waiting in the last cave but not advancing. Dag gives his old shortsword to Gimble when the stranger asks for a weapon. Carric asks Dag to talk to the orcs and convince them to surrender. But Dag argues against it. “We got them trapped, let’s kill them!” They argue back and forth. Lantosh comes over and offers to speak to the orcs. The group, except for Dag, agree and Lantosh calls out to the shaman in orcish. Soon they hear the orc leader joining the conversation. Lantosh tells the others that the orcs agree to leave without taking their treasure - but they want to take some sacks of food. The heroes agree and the orcs carefully file past the heroes. The female orcs pick up some sacks of food that looks like it was stolen from human caravans. Dag and Carric follow the orcs from a safe distance and make sure they do not attack their camp where Nash is camped. They follow and direct the orcs to head north.

While Carric and Dag are away the remaining heroes search the cave. They find crates full of stolen clothing, blankets, and furs. Barrels of ale and beer. A few clay jugs or cheap wine and two treasure chests. Grimble flips open the first unlocked chest to find that it is full of thousands of copper and silver coins. The second chest is locked and Grimble finds he cannot open it. He asks the others if he should smash it open. Lakima tells him to wait. There might be something breakable inside. Lantosh lights a lantern and heads out of the caves looking for Carric. He finds the elf and takes his place guarding the entrance. Carric comes back to the cave and tries to pick the lock on the chest but he fails. He picks up a nearby rock and smashes the chest repeatedly until the lock is broken off. Inside he finds bags of gold coins, a pouch with some gems in it, and some necklaces.

The adventurers haul the coins and other treasure out of the caves and bring them over to their nearby camp. They sit down for an hour and decide on how to handle the hippogriffs. They conclude that it is best to wait until morning. The mules are brought around to the caves and led inside by Nash. Everyone else moves into the caves. The bodies of the orcs that were killed outside the caves and the bodies in the caves are all dragged into a large pile near the cave entrance. One hero maintains watch in shifts as the rest sleep for the rest of the night. They notice that a few scavengers are drawn to the pile of dead orcs in the night.

When the sun comes up they see activity at the nearby hippogriff aerie. Two hippogriffs take flight and immediately notice the pile of dead orcs. They circle a few times before one lands on a nearby mesa. This hippogriff watches for a short time and then hops down to the corpses. It starts ripping into the orc corpses. After a few minutes, the second hippogriff descends and joins its mate. Once both hippogriffs are occupied with the orcs, Lakima casts Lightning Bolt from inside the cave mouth. The bolt strikes both hippogriffs with devastating effect. The creatures are burned and fall to the ground struggling to rise. The rest of the heroes run out of the caves and attack the hippogriffs while they are struggling on the ground. They quickly kill them.

There is a brief discussion about butchering the hippogriffs. In the end, they decide to leave them for now. The entire group including Nash on the wagon, move over to the base of the mesa with the hippogriff nest. Lakima casts Levitate and ascends slowly to the top of the 60-foot mesa. He lets down a rope to Carric who climbs up easily. Carric moves over to scout the nest while Lakima helps Dag up the slope. Once the dwarf is atop the mesa he pulls the rest of the group up. Carric makes his way through piles of debris from trees and the bones of animals and humanoids. He peers into the nest and is surprised to see four hippogriff fledglings. He comes back and tells the other adventurers. Lakima sneaks up and casts Sleep putting all four of the hippogriffs to sleep. While most of the adventurers work to carefully lift the fledgling hippogriffs down the slope and put them into the wagon, Carric searches the mesa. He locates a battered shield and a necklace amongst the debris around the nest. All four fledglings fit in the caged wagon but it does not leave any room for the hippogriff corpses. They decide to leave them after taking some feathers. 

The rest of the day is spent traveling back to the Sommerfeld homestead where they left their horses in the care of the locals. Ivo greets them and asks about the hippogriffs and the orcs. The patriarch Marek joins them that evening around the fire sharing some homemade ale. The next day they head toward the Dolm river and leave the Northern Hills. But they do not get away without incident. As they head for the road around midday they are attacked by a pair of Axebeak (giant flightless birds). Dag and Carric are injured by one of the birds. Eathwund kills one and Lakima kills the other, striking it six times with darts. Dag and Grimble cut up the giant birds for the meat.

As evening falls, they make it to the familiar Restless Knight Inn. Lotti Feilding the owner greets them and they tell her and her kids about the hippogriffs. The inn is quiet - they are the only travelers this night. So they rent all four rooms. The next morning Lakima gives Lotti a flyer to post advertising the sale of the four hippogriff fledglings. He worked on it during the evening.

The adventurers make the trek to Edgerton the next morning arriving in the early afternoon. They have a brief discussion with the city guards at the gate. The guards are not sure how to handle adventurers entering the town with live creatures. Eventually, they settle on a tax to enter and assign a guard to make sure nothing untoward happens. They head toward the Watch Post and talk to Sergeant Frans. After a little negotiating it is agreed they can park the wagon in Market Square under guard. Eathwund stays with the wagon. Nash takes the horses and mules to the stables and the rest of the group heads to the Chapter House.

As they approach home they are surprised to see a guard outside and four workmen replacing the front door. Inside they find Huntley their manservant with his arm in a sling. Huntley tells them that a group of men in hoods attempted to batter down the door last night. He and a workman he hired named Davish managed to hold the door closed. He was injured and the door was wrecked. Carric heads off to check in on some of his contacts in the underworld. Lakima takes a necklace they found at the hippogriff aerie to give to Alayna. He also gives her a bag full of hippogriff feathers.

Carric goes to the Bishops’ Rest Inn and finds Nuen is not around. He finds a drunken Nuen in the nearby Frozen Crow tavern. Nuen starts to tell his friends about what a great guy Carric is - he almost tells them about the gift of gold Carric gave him but Carric stops him and takes him aside to tell him to be quiet about it. Nuen does not seem to understand the importance of staying quiet. Carric leaves and goes to the Low Market to check on the street urchin gang. He finds Maik again. The boy tells him he has heard that a new gang in Mirdton attacked the Chapter House last night. Word in the market is that this King Rat is moving on other gangs - pushing them out. People are afraid to walk about Mirdton at night as people are going missing. Carric thanks the boy for the information. He returns to the Chapter House. On the way, he spots Eathwund watching the wagon and stops to let Eathwund know that the Chapter House was attacked and who he suspects was behind it.

At the Chapter House the group discusses what to do with the hippogriffs. Lakima wants to try and sell them and is busy creating posters to advertise the sale. Carric argues for keeping them and training them. However, he has not been able to find anyone who thinks they can train them. He tells everyone that he suspects King Rat was behind the attempted break-in. That night Grimble relieves Eathwund at the wagon. He devises a tent to cover the wagons to allow the hippogriffs to get some sleep without people watching them. The market stays somewhat busy all night. Carric heads off and checks in with contacts at some other inns and taverns. He is able to confirm most of what Maik told him.

The next morning Eathwund goes out to the wagon to relieve Grimble. He starts charging locals 1 copper to be allowed to look under the tent covering at the hippogriff fledglings. Lakima buys some meat from a local butcher to give to the hippogriffs. Lakima splits up the loot giving half shares to Dag and Lantosh. Lantosh puts most of his share in the vault but Dag happily puts the coins in a sack and heads out for a day on the town.

The Sidetrek

This past weekend the players decided to wander away from the plot and go off on a side trek. I had some warning this was going to happen so I spent a few hours writing up a few encounters to have along the way as they went hunting for hippogriffs.

Session 25: The Hippogriff hunt

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Carric (Elven Thief), Domago (Human cleric NPC), Lantosh (Human fighter NPC), Dag Icefoot (Dwarf fighter NPC).

Previously the heroes had commissioned a wagon to be built in which they could hold captured hippogriffs. While they wait for the wagon to be completed they start meeting wannabe adventurers responding to the flyers they put out for Hirelings. They meet a halfling fighter in plate mail but decide he is too short. They hire a dwarf fighter named Dag Icefoot because he is a dwarf, even though he demonstrates some clumsiness. They meet an older human fighter named Gerrold and decide he is a little too experienced. They meet a very young human named Nuen of Blackcreek who has the opposite problem. Nuen tells them he is trying to put together the gold he needs to marry his girlfriend. They turn him down. Finally, they hire a tough-looking human who gives them the name of Lantosh.

Satisfied with the two new hirelings they outfit the men with armor and magic weapons. Dag takes the shortsword Lawbringer and Daen's old chainmail. Lantosh gets a new suit of chainmail and takes a magical polearm.

Carric lets Nuen know that they did not hire him, but they might sometime in the future if he is still available. While he and Nuen converse in the market Carric learns a little about the young man. Carric asks Nuen how much gold he is trying to raise. Nuen tells Carric he needs 1,600 gold. Carric thinks it over for awhile and then decides to gift the gold to a shocked Nuen. He goes back to the Chapter House and takes 1,600 gold out of the vault and gives it to a disbelieving Nuen. Carric only asks that he accompany Nuen when he presents the gold to his girl’s father. Nuen says, “Let’s go now!” 

(Oh boy when word of this gets around there will be a line-up of beggars, swindlers, and con artists outside their door).

While Eathwund works with Lantosh on getting used to his new weapon and armor, Carric heads to the Grateful Bishop Inn with Nuen, and Lakima heads to the alchemy shop to speak to Alayna. Carric watches an angry innkeeper threaten to toss Nuen from the Inn for pestering his daughter until Nuen drops the bag of gold on the bar. Then the man’s tone changes and he yells for his daughter to come down. The homely woman arrives who seems disinterested in Nuen. After the brief ceremony, Carric speaks with Nuen and comes to the conclusion that he is marrying the girl for the chance to own the Inn.

Lakima meets with Alayna and the alchemist surprises Lakima with a gift she is certain he will need, 2 potions of healing. When she learns of his plans she asks Lakima to bring her some hippogriff feathers. She also mentions that if they kill a hippogriff they should bring the corpse back. A lot of the parts are valuable.

That evening most of the company have a celebratory meal at the Dancing Dragon Inn. Domago is off at the Church of St. Aleena. They discuss the best way to find the hippogriffs in the Northern Hills. Since it appears to be on the way, they plan to head east and stay at the Restless Knight Inn and see how the staff is making out since last they saw them.

The next day the caravan of horses, mules, and wagon heads out the gates of Edgerton with locals waving as they go. It is soon apparent that Lantosh would be more comfortable on the wagon so his horse is tied to the back of the wagon with a pack mule. They head east along the Wilderness road and make it to the Restless Knight Inn in the late afternoon. As soon as they enter the Inn they are greeted by Lotti Fielding the owner who is happy to see them. They see that the Inn is still surviving and some new staff have been hired. A new cook and a new barmaid. They also notice three other travellers in the Inn. Lakima goes over and meets with one who turns out to be a bard named Robin. The bard is from Edgerton and has heard of the Company of the Black Dragon. He asks Lakima and Carric for stories of some of their adventurers that he can add to his repertoire of tales. Robin also tells them he is headed for Larm to learn of the recent discovery of Quasqueton. Lakima tells him their company is the one that discovered the stronghold. Although unfortunately, none of the members from that group at that time are still alive. Robin listens avidly and asks them what adventure they are on now. When they explain, he tells them they should talk to another traveller - pointing at a grizzled veteran seated nearby. Lakima goes over and buys Tizian the mercenary a few drinks and asks him about the Northern Hills. Tizian tells him that he and a companion were prospecting for gold in the Northern Hills just a few days earlier. His companion was killed by members of the Red Skull Orc tribe. He also tells them he spotted a single hippogriff in the sky. Tizian tells them that some horsetraders north of here near the Northern Hills are a good source of information on the area and Hippogriffs. He also warns them about the orcs. Carric asks the bard Robin if he wants to accompany them north. Robin declines the offer telling Carric and Eathwund that judging by the stories they have been relaying they get in far too much trouble for him.

The heroes rent two rooms and spend a quiet night. Although Domago complains to his friends that Lantosh snores very loudly. The next day they have a hearty breakfast and say goodbye to the staff. They turn off the trail and head north following the directions they were given. Just after noon, Carric spots four flying creatures in the sky following them. At first, he assumes hippogriffs but as they get closer he realizes they are large hawks. The large hawks surprise them by diving on the group to attack. Nash maneuvers the wagon, mules, and horses under some trees while Eathwund, Lakima, and Carric drive off the strange hawks, killing three of them. Dag is slightly injured but Domago cures him. Once the attack has been thwarted they continue onward and make it to the homestead by late afternoon. The Northern Hills are just visible on the horizon to the north.

At the homestead Ivo Sommersfeld, the eldest son of the patriarch, greets them. Once he learns they are planning to hunt hippogriffs he becomes very enthusiastic and offers to watch their horses for them while they are hunting. He also tells them where they can find a hippogriff nest in the nearby badlands. They lost a horse to the pair of hippogriffs in this nest a week earlier. They have seen a total of six hippogriffs in the area but the two that have nested nearby have caused the most trouble. Ivo also tells them how the family drove off Red Skull orcs shortly after the homestead was built a few years ago. The group of adventurers set up camp a short distance away and Ivo tells them the family will keep watch overnight.

Despite the homesteaders assuring them, they would be watching for them, the adventurers set three watches of two adventurers each. Early the next morning before the sun has risen while Lakima and Nash are on watch, Carric is roused from his meditation when he hears a voice in his head telling him “Alarm, intruders in the camp!” Carric realizes it's his magical longsword, Everwatchful. He opens his eyes and looks around the camp, but everything seems quiet. Carric gets up and moves to wake Eathwund. That is when he spots a giant raccoon pulling Eathwund’s backpack into the bushes. Carric chases off the raccoon.

A fire is started and breakfast is put on. Ivo comes over to greet them and is told of the encounter with the raccoon. Ivo apologizes for not warning them about the local Dire Raccoons. Following the directions provided by Ivo, the group heads north into the badlands. They maneuver the wagon pulled by two mules into the winding canyons. Eventually, they see the tall butte in the distance and the enormous hippogriff nest atop it. Ahead the valley is blocked by a felled tree. Checking the roadblock they note that the tree was cut down by an ax. Nearby, they spot another felled tree blocking the trail. Carric climbs to the top of a steep-sided hill and observes the hippogriff nest some 300 feet away. He spots two adults and at least one fledgling. Carric climbs back down and lets everyone know. He also scouts past the two fallen trees and spots a cave in the side of a nearby hill. The area in front of the cave mouth is littered with bones of animals. There are also numerous tracks spread through the area left by orcs.

The heroes gather by the wagon and discuss strategy. They decide the cave is definitely an orc lair that should be dealt with first. Dag tells them that orcs are afraid of the sun. So they decide to set up an ambush for after sunset. Carric climbs to the top of the hill again (after one minor fall) and tosses down a rope for Lakima. The two take up position above the cave mouth. Eathwund and Lantosh hide behind the felled pine tree. Dag and Domago set up behind some trees at the other side of the cave mouth. As soon as the sun drops beneath the hills they spot what they take to be a female orc leaving the cave with an iron pot. The orc tosses the contents of the pot in the bushes and heads back into the cave.  It is another few hours of waiting before they see any more activity.

A pair of orcs exit from the cave and mill about. Shortly thereafter six more orcs emerge. The largest orc growls at the others and forms them up. The orcs then beginning marching toward the downed tree. As soon as the orcs approach Eathwund and Lantosh’s position the trap is sprung. Lakima throws darts and Carric fires arrows from atop the hill. Eathwund charges the orcs and attacks with his sword, followed by Lantosh with his polearm. From behind the orcs, Domago and Dag attack with their melee weapons. The fight is brutal and short. The orcs fall in a matter of seconds without managing to land a blow on any of the heroes. After the battle, the heroes check the corpses and do not find anything of value. They prepare to enter the Orc cave on the cliffside.

The Orcs walk into an ambush.

Attack and retreat

When I first started playing D&D in 1982 the traditional play had already moved on from the more tactical to a more full assault mode. What I mean is the modules I bought noted that players might be best served to marshall their strength and make repeated forays against the dungeon. Resting and recovering in between. I can recall that G1: The Steading of the Hill Giant King noted the location of a nearby safe cave where players could recover between forays against the Giants. By the time I started playing the tactic was to enter and burn everything to the ground until the adventure was complete or die trying.

In the 5th edition, there are mechanics like long and short rests that allow for this recovery. Now that I am running a Swords & Wizardry Campaign I find that the players can only make it through a few fights before the wizards are out of spells and the fighters are down to 1/3 hit points. The group then wisely(?) takes a pass on further advancing into the dungeon to come back later (if ever). It can be a little frustrating for a DM. Especially, when you know that the players have broken the back of the dungeon and just need to push on a little more. Of course, the players do not know that. Once the players retreat the DM needs to figure out how the monsters that remain would react. Would they pick up everything valuable and leave for safer climes? Or do they get reinforced and set up roadblocks and traps for the suspected return of the heroes? I am finding I have to do this more often than not. Like this past week's episode. 

One reason for this is the slow recovery of hit points in Swords & Wizardry from a fight. The Cleric just has a pair of Cure Light Wounds spells per day and resting can only recover 1 hit point a day.

Session 24: Emerald Moon Cheese Co. Part 2

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Carric (Elven Thief), Domago (Human cleric NPC).

Last time the adventurers have broken into the Emerald Moon Cheese Factory and discovered a nest of Wererats. Just as they were thinking of leaving, a number of wererats appeared. As action restarts, we are in the midst of a large melee.

Lakima yells for everyone to get out of the way and casts Lightning Bolt. The bolt arcs across the room striking several wererats in the doorway and in the room beyond as it rebounds off of the wall. When the air clears the heroes can see that only three wererats are still standing and they look badly burned by the lightning strike.

Lightning Bolt!

Eathwund moves forward to attack the remaining wererats followed by the two giant cats accompanying the heroes. Behind Lakima the door to the charcoal room swings open and a pair of humans, a man and a woman, leading a half-dozen giant rats appears. They move toward Lakima. The wizard spots the threat and calls the giant cats back to him to attack the giant rats. The cleric Domago also comes to his aid. Hiding in the shadows near one of the cheese vats, Carric, the elven-thief, fires arrows at the wererats. Eathwund strikes one down and kills a giant rat. Lakima creates one Mirror image of himself.

With all of the attention moving to the rats that have ambushed them from behind, Eathwund finds himself alone defending himself against two wererats. On the other side of the room, Domago strikes the woman, followed by Magic Missiles from Lakima's Wand and an arrow from Carric that finally kills her. The other human looks over the situation and turns and runs away. The giant rats continue to attack but the two giant cats kill two and chase the remaining rat into the charcoal pile. Attention turns to the last wererat that is attacking Eathwund and the heroes work together to kill it.

The immediate danger has passed but several of the heroes are injured (especially Domago). The wererat Kirnon who was charmed by Lakima earlier is still with them but Grendel Orfman ran back up the stairs to the office. Eathwund, Lakima, and Carric check out the room the rats came from and find an open trap door leading down into the cellars. They decide not to investigate. Domago and Kirnon head up the stairs and return with a frightened Orfman. They check another door but find it locked and decide to leave and get the watch. But first Eathwund, Domago, and Lakima drop off the bribe Grendel Orfman gave them at their home. Carric heads over to the Brass Lock Tavern. Once the gold is safely locked away, the heroes lead Grendel Orfman and Kirnon over to the watch station.

Carric enters the Brass Lock tavern and makes his way to the bar. He suggests to the barkeep, Ol’ Pete that he should tell him everything soon if he does not want to get in trouble. Ol’ Pete looks at him like he is crazy. Eventually, after a frustrating conversation, Ol’ Pete asks a bouncer to escort Carric from the tavern. "Don't return, crazy Elf!" Carric stays in a nearby alley to watch the tavern for the next few hours.

Over at the Watch Station, the heroes hand Orfman and Kirnon over to Sergeant Aldemar who inquires about the happenings at the Cheese factory. Once Kirnon demonstrates he is a wererat and works at the factory they get his full attention. Aldemar and seven guards accompany the heroes (less Carric) back to the Emerald Moon Cheese Factory. The guards smash in the front door when no one responds to their urgent knocking. They make their way into the Vat room and are astonished by the number of corpses. Two groups of guards search the remaining rooms in the factory but do not find anything out of the ordinary. The heroes accompany them throughout the search. Once the building has been searched the watch leave posting a guard to watch over it. The heroes return to the Chapter House. Eventually, Carric also joins them.

The next morning their housekeeper Edda finds a dead black cat at the door. The cat is covered in small bites indicative of rats. They take it as a message from the Rat King. Carric becomes concerned that the rats might be spread throughout the town under the floorboards. He spends the morning pulling up floorboards in the Chapter House and checking underneath. At first, he finds nothing, but in the kitchen, he finds a bricked-up entrance under the floorboards. Huntley is sent out to bring back a local mason. Willy Bruch the mason agrees to open up the floor and they discover a damp, debris-filled three-room cellar beneath the chapter house. Willy quotes them a price of 120 gold to repair the cellar properly. Carric impresses Willy on the need to keep any work done in the Chapter House secret.

Eathwund, Lakima, and Domago go to the watch post that afternoon and meet with Sergeant Frans. They ask to see Grendel Orfman. During the conversation, Orfman moans about his business that will be ruined if he does not return to it soon. Especially the wood golems they use for forming the cheese. Lakima asks more about these golems and learns that Orfman has a ring he uses to control them. His grandfather made the golems. He tries to convince Lakima that only Orfman blood can use the ring but Lakima does not believe him. Sergeant Frans takes the ring and gives it to Lakima. Frans also leads them down in the dungeons to visit Bregor Stannon. The man is being kept in the unlit dungeons two levels below the streets. They look in on him and then depart.

Carric spends the day speaking with street urchins in the Low Market. One boy named Maik tells him he knows of an entrance to the sewers near the shop of a man that stuffs animals. He hid in the sewers once to escape the watch. He tells Carric how to find the entrance. Carric suggests the boys help him search the Docks neighborhood for entrances to the sewers but Maik tells Carric that the area is unsafe because it is the territory of a rival named Rofa. Carric then heads back to the Chapter House and meets his companions who are also returning. They decide to go to the Dancing Dragon Inn for dinner.

The next day the adventurers discuss the course of action. Lakima wants to check on the wood golems at the factory. But first, he is looking for some more back up. They head over to the apothecary and speak with Malyn. Malyn examines the ring and tells Lakima that this ring would have been created when the golems were created and should control them. He warns that wood golems are very simple and prone to erratic behavior. He does not offer any magic to help them but does mention that he knows a guy who is a real nasty rat (personality-wise) that could be persuaded to help them. They decline. They then walk over to the nearby Church of St. Cuthbert and let Marta and Abbot Afton know what they are up against. The two priests, unfortunately, do not have any suggestions on how to deal with King Rat.

Meeting with their old friend Marta

They do decide to head back to the Cheese Factory to ensure it is secure. They find it is locked and shuttered. Light from the Continual Light globes still shines through the cracks around windows and doors. A guard is on watch at the front door. They ask to enter and the guard asks them to wait while he goes to get instruction. While they wait, Carric circles the building and finds a rusty, broken, sewer grate just where Maik told him it would be located. The guard eventually returns and lets them in the building. They head straight for the pressing room and after Carric is unable to pick the lock Lakima uses Atanzibar’s Acrid Finger to burn the lock off of the door. Inside is the pressing room and twelve small wood golems each 2 feet tall. Lakima finds he can give them simple commands. But when he tries to get them to follow him out the door he finds the golems cannot leave the building. He takes them back to the pressing room and tells them to wait. The rest of the adventurers do a quick check through the building. They find no evidence that the rats have returned. The trapdoor to the cellars is closed and a barrel is placed over it by the watch. In other areas of the building, they find that the watch guards have cleared out everything. They do find that Orfman’s secret room is undisturbed. Carric opens the chest in the room and finds a spellbook and three bags of gold. Lakima takes the spellbook but tells Carric to leave the gold for Orfman. The elven thief tries to argue that they should take it for safekeeping for the rightful owner. He is unable to get Eathwund or Domago to agree with his logic and they leave the gold in the chest. They return to their House but not before scaring the watchmen by mentioning the wood golems in the factory.

The next day the group sits down to breakfast and discuss their next move. Domago wants to go right after King Rat. But the rest are against it. They decide they need more back-up and pay the town crier and message boards to advertise for some hirelings. Meanwhile, they discuss a jaunt to the Northern Hills in a quest to capture Hippogriffs.

Hippogriffs and cheese

This week's Campaign update is about almost derailing the session with a random encounter involving a pair of Hippogriffs. I had a random encounter right at the start of the session while the players were moving overland with a number of horses and mules. The random encounter involved an attack by a pair of hippogriffs. The players use some good strategy to minimize the potential targets for the attackers and drove the flying horses off easily. Then they immediately started planning how they could capture some hippogriffs for flying mounts. Once they got back to town they set the plan in motion.

If they were going to go after hippogriffs I wanted to at least have a map and some obstacles to the quest prepared. So I steered the group back onto the current plot. My Swords & Wizardry campaign is certainly not a sandbox or open but I do let the players steer the narrative of the story where I can. The format of playing weekly short adventures just does not allow for open play. At least not for my style of play and my obsession with having VTT maps for everything.

Session 23: The Emerald Cheese Co.

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Carric (Elven Thief), Domago (Human cleric NPC).

After an undisturbed night’s rest, the adventurers with their prisoner Bregor in tow set out for Edgerton. If they have no interruptions they should be able to make Edgerton late the next day. The first day traveling in the wilderness passes without incident. They do not see anything more dangerous than a few deer. They make camp for the night again and the night passes.

As they prepare the horses and mules for another day of travel Nash notices that the horses are agitated. He tells the adventurers that he suspects the horses have caught the scent of a predator. They set out and keep a careful eye on the forest.

A few hours into the day Carric spots a pair of large hunting birds in the sky headed in their direction. As the birds get closer they realize they are hippogriffs. Predators with the bodies of horses and the heads and wings of a bird of prey. The hippogriffs start to circle the group and the horses start to panic. Everyone takes cover under some trees and dismounts. Lakima tells Eathwund to give their prisoner Bregor a sword to defend himself. Nash gets the animals under control and keeps them under the trees.

One of the hippogriffs makes a swooping attack but misses everyone. Lakima casts Aztanzabar’s Acrid Finger striking the hippogriff. Eathwund and Carric fire arrows wildly into the sky. After a minute the hippogriffs break off the attack and fly away. Carric climbs a tree and notes that the hippogriffs are headed for the Northern Hills. Lakima and Carric get to discussing the possibility of capturing some hippogriffs either to sell or to use as mounts.

By midday, Carric guides the group to the road into Edgerton. As soon as they get onto the road they spot a cloud of dust headed their direction. Like a number of men on horseback. The heroes push their mounts into a gallop and quickly leave the dust cloud behind. As they enter the town they stop and tell the watch commander at the gate about the approaching men on horseback.

Back in Edgerton now, the group heads to their Chapter House and settle in with a good meal. The small amount of treasure they looted from the Valley is divided up and Lakima takes a necklace to give to his girl. The entire group then heads over to the Apothecary. On their way, they check in with the guards at the gate and learn that the cloud of dust was two men with some cattle headed to market. The guards make fun of the heroes. At the Apothecary, Humbert lets them in to speak with Malyn. The wizard listens to their story and seems unconcerned that his apprentice Cedric did not return. He tells Bregor he will be telling him everything. Bregor refuses, but Malyn notes he can use magic. Bregor tries to lunge at Malyn but the wizard uses Hold Person on him. Then he casts another spell to read the man’s thoughts. He tells the adventurers that the man knows little. Although as Bregor is a citizen of the Ghoul Lands they should take him to be incarcerated by the watch.

They leave the apothecary and Lakima tells them he is going to see Alayna. Carric decides to wander off to check on his underworld contacts. That leaves Eathwund and Domago to take Bregor Stanton to the watch. They drop off the man telling Sergeant Frans that the man is from the Ghoul Lands to the north. Over at the Alchemy shop, Lakima gives Alayna a necklace from his split of the loot and he tells Alayna about the hippogriffs that attacked them. She asks him if he got any feathers. Apparently, they can be used in potions of flying. Carric spots his snitch Ril in the market lifting a purse from a merchant and he follows the thief. He catches up with Ril in an alley and they have a brief talk. Ril has nothing interesting to report. Carric asks Ril to find him a corrupt member of the watch. Ril tells him that it is easy, he knows a man named Bron on the watch who can be paid to look the other way during heists. Carric also learns that Ril’s boss is a thief named Blod. He is a member of the Coin Street gang.

The next day Lakima casts Detect Magic and they discover that the Staff they took from the old female wizard was a Staff of Striking. The longsword that Carric found is also magical and has the properties of an Everwatchful sword. The adventurers talk about what they might want to get up to next. Lakima suggests a trip to the Northern Hills to hunt for hippogriffs. To do it he has an idea he wants to pursue. Lakima heads out on his errand.

Lakima goes to Issac the woodworker and talks to the craftsman about building him a wheeled cart to hold wild animals. Perhaps animals as big as a bear. The man quotes him a price and tells him he will need to enlist the services of a wheelwright and an ironworker. A deal is set and Lakima pays a down payment. Once Lakima mentions that it is for the Company of the Black Dragon, Isaac becomes excited to meet him. He was paying protection to the Veiled Society and now that they have been run out of town by the adventurers his profits are up. He does mention that the Rat King has started moving into this territory. Lakima notes that the Rat King is someone they need to exterminate.

Lakima returns to the Chapter House. Domago is out at church and Carric is off somewhere but he discusses his idea for the wagon with Eathwund. Meanwhile, Carric continues his quest to drink at every tavern and inn in town, keeping an ear open for information. He talks to some ne'er-do-wells in each tavern. He learns something about the chaotic nature of the gangs in Edgerton. At a tavern called The Frozen Crow, he spots a pot boy come in bruised and bleeding as if he has been in a one-sided fight. Edging closer to the bar Carric overhears that the tavern owner, Elas Kelrona, sent the boy over to the Emerald Moon Cheesemaker to complain about some bad cheese that made some guests sick. The boy says that he had to knock forever at the door to be let in. Then a big man told him to get lost and beat him up. The man told him not to come back if he knew what was good for him. Elas loudly says that if he was younger, or his hip was not acting up he would go over to the Emerald Moon and give them a thumping. While he says that he looks meaningfully at Carric and tosses the elf a silver coin. Carric, hands him back the coin and asks a few questions. He does not indicate any interest in the squabble so the tavern keeper offers 4 silver pieces. Carric tells him to keep his money but he will look into it.

Carric heads over to the Mirdton neighborhood where he knows the Emerald Moon Cheesemakers are located. It is right next to the Brass Lock tavern that he had earlier cased. The building the cheesemakers are located in looks like it is several buildings combined. All of the doors and windows are shuttered on the ground floor but he does see light streaming from an upstairs window. He makes note of it and heads back to the Chapter House. Once back he tells his companions what he overheard and saw. He is not suggesting they get involved right away. Hearing them talking about Emerald Moon, their manservant Huntley brings out a wheel of the distinctive green cheese that Emerald Moon produces. They look at the wax paper covering the cheese and see the brand is a cheese shaped like a moon being nibbled on by a pair of rats. Several of them at once surmise this could involve the Rat King. Lakima says that they should investigate but not tonight. They should go tomorrow night. It will give them a chance to pick up a few items.

The next day, Carric heads to the Low Market and locates some of the young thieves and beggars he met a few weeks ago. He tells them he will pay them 5 silver for two of the meanest alley cats they can find and return to him. A short while later the boys return with two mean-spirited cats. Carric puts on some gloves and gingerly carries them back to the Chapter House. While Carric is away, Lakima heads over to Alayna’s shop and asks her if she can make a Potion of Enlarge. She says she can, but it will cost him. Lakima pays her and she says he can pick up two potions tomorrow. Eathwund comes back to the chapter house with a pair of cages for the cats.

The next afternoon Lakima picks up the two potions. He also asks Alayna if she will still charge him for potions when they are married. She tells him “Of course, I want to run a successful business.” The adventurers prepare and decide to head over to the Emerald Moon cheesemakers around the early evening. Since the Brass Lock tavern is located right beside the cheesemakers they decide to check there first. While the others wait outside, Carric enters and makes his way to the bar to talk to Ol’ Pete the owner (and a well-known fence). He tries to get Pete to hook him up with the big boss. Pete does not seem to know what he is talking about. Carric suggests he needs to meet someone who can move a very valuable stolen item. Ol’ Pete nods and whispers that he should meet Devon. Carric asks how he gets to meet the man. Pete tells him he can arrange a meet in a few days. Carric tells him he needs to see him now but Pete is unswayed. Suggesting he find someone else then. Carric leaves the tavern and meets up with his friends telling them what happened.

The adventurers decide on the direct approach. They circle the Cheesemakers and find a large double door probably for deliveries. It is barred from the inside but Carric manages to lift the bar with a file. They enter the building and find they are in a brightly lit room filled with a mound of charcoal. Light is coming from a continual light globe mounted on the wall. A door leads to another chamber. Carric peers through the crack in the door and sees a large room with enormous brick vats. He also sees two men headed away from them. They wait until the men leave the room and then they enter what is clearly the main part of the factory. Four large vats hold milk that is dyed green and is being slowly turned into cheese. As they look about the room a nearby door opens and two more men enter. The men cry out in alarm and ready clubs and then run toward the heroes. Domago moves to intercept one of them. Lakima casts Charm Person on one man and that puts an end to the fight as the man tells his companion to wait. These are friends. As they approach, still unsure if these are wererats or just guards, Lakima notes that cats are hissing in their cages. He asks the charmed man if he can turn into a rat - and the man says, “Of course”, and then turns into a man-sized two-legged rat creature. The other guard yells out and attacks Domago. Lakima asks the charmed man where his boss is located and the man tells them to follow him up a stair to a second floor. Everyone except Domago, who is busy fighting head up the stairs. Just then, another door opens and the first two guards they spotted enter. The men yell an alarm and run toward Domago. Lakima yells for Eathwund to release the cats and feed them the Enlarge potions. Two enormous cats the size of panthers run toward the guards. One cat leaps on a guard from the staircase. The guards start screaming, “Giant cats!, Help us!” The charmed man runs to the end of the upstairs landing and begins pounding on the locked door at the end of it but whoever is inside does not let him in. Lakima casts Phantasmal Force and adds a 10-foot tall giant cat to the fight. Two of the guards put up a good fight while one runs off for help. One of the giant cats is struck repeatedly by a guards club but eventually, both guards are killed. The charmed guard flees. Domago prays and heals the injured giant cat.

Everyone heads up the stairs to investigate the door which they discover is locked. Carric moves over to examine the lock and hears a voice on the other side threatening him. He is unable to open it. Lakima casts Aztanzabar’s Acrid Finger and keeps up a steady stream of acid on the lock. He hears a scream of pain from the other side of the door as some acid streams through the keyhole. It takes a while but eventually the wood around the lock burns away and the lock falls on the floor. They kick in the door and enter a workshop. Strange, liquids, powders, and cheeses rest on workbenches. A slim man stands before a doorway at the far side of the room waving a long sword in their direction. Lakima tells the man he is outnumbered and should surrender. The giant cats hiss at the man. The man screams and runs into the other room and leaps out a second-floor window to the street below. Eathwund fires a few arrows at him but misses and the man gets away.

The adventurers note another door to the room. This one is unlocked and Carric can hear what sounds like someone sleeping on the other side of the door. They enter and find a middle-aged man with white hair apparently asleep in his bed despite all of the noise they have been making. The man is shaken awake and tells them he is the owner, Grendel Orfman. He asks if they are here to rescue him. Grendel claims that he is the victim of a takeover by King Rat. He volunteers that King Rat is an enormous rat who resides in the sewers below the factory. If the adventurers would be willing to run the rats out of his factory he would be very grateful. Eathwund brings one of the giant cats into the room and it hisses at Grendel. They confront him and accuse him of being a wererat. He admits he has the disease but that it was not voluntary. The rats slowly infected people in the shop. King Rat wanted his shop because the cheese he is making helps King Rat grow in power. Grendel has been experimenting on one batch that only goes to King Rat now. Grendel now offers to buy his freedom. He goes into a secret room behind his closet and hands over 2,000 gold coins. Lakima accepts it on the group's behalf and tells Grendel he can go free if he heads over to the Church of St. Cuthbert for a cure. Grendel eagerly agrees. The other party members are skeptical that Grendel will follow through.

They all head down to the shop floor and they ask Grendel to tell them which vats have the Rat King’s cheese in them. He tells them it is just the one. Eathwund goes over and opens the sluice on the vat and the bubbling green cheese streams across the floor and down a drain. As they point Grendel out the door, the guard who got away returns with reinforcements. They look past the wererat and see a horde of angry ratlings approaching.

Heroic Maps Black Mountain Hideout

I needed a map for my online campaign for some caves under a hill on which a cenotaph stood. I did not have time to create one in Blender so I purchased one of the VTT maps put out by Heroic Maps. They are really good quality and they include a version designed for VTT play. I made a couple of really minor changes to the map to fit my needs but otherwise, I used it as is and quickly wrote an adventure around it.

I think I still prefer creating my own maps but when you are in a pinch for time this works. Also, they serve as good inspiration. They do not come with any notes - you just look at the map and decide what will fit it. I used it for Session 22 of my Swords & Wizardry online game using Roll20.

Session 22: The Necromancer

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Carric (Elven Thief), Domago (Human cleric NPC), Crispin (Human Magic-user NPC).

Last time the players journeyed to the standing stones known as the Nine Men, ostensibly to deliver the wizard Malyn and the Black Ring to a person claiming to be his former mentor and Necromancer Mourne. The players are taking part in a double-cross bringing an imposter and a fake ring.

The players leave their hireling Nash with the horses and mules and descend down large stone steps in a tunnel under the hill on which the Nine Men stand. It actually appears to be more than five adventurers, the wizard Lakima has four Mirror images with him. At the bottom of the steps is a wooden double door that is barred on the opposite side. Carric uses a metal file from his thieves’ tools to push the bar up and out of the way. It clatters to the ground. The doors creak open revealing a charnel pit. Human and humanoid bones litter the stone floor of a cave. The walls are dark grey and covered in soot. A bubbling tar pit in one corner of the cave. Lakima tells young Cedric to use the Mirror Image Scroll he gave him. Cedric uses the Scroll and two more images of Cedric appear. He also asks Cedric how the black ring works. Cedric tells him he can animate the dead.

Moving past the bones they come to another wooden door. This one is a single door and it is held closed by a simple latch. Carric listens at the door and hears tar bubbling on the other side. Opening the door they see a long tunnel leading to another door at the edge of their sight. Two tar pits bubble in the chamber. As they watch a bubble in one pit burst and sprays hot tar over a 15-foot area. The group confers and Lakima and Carric agree they will wait for a tar burst and then run past the pits. The plan works and they get past the bubbling tar that seems to burst at regular intervals of time.

At the next door, Carric listens and hears the guttural language of ogres. He warns everyone and steps back. Eathwund and Domago move to the front and shove the door open. They see a large cave. A group of three ogres is seated around a rough plank table eating what looks like a large turkey. A stack of barrels is located behind them. Carric quickly sneaks into the chamber and hides in the shadows. The ogres take no notice of the heroes, the noise of the door opening being masked by the bubbling tar pits.  Growing impatient, Lakima shouts at the ogres from the doorway. One turns to look and spots them. It shrugs and goes back to its food seemingly unconcerned with their presence (the ogres are used to the men working for the Necromancer coming and going and they cannot tell them apart).

Lakima shouts some more asking questions about the man they are chasing and about the necromancer. The ogre responds in simple common that it does not care and does not know of any necromancer. Carric steps out of the shadows and into the line of sight of the ogres. The ogres see the elf and  immediately jump to their feet, “Elves, you not friends, you food!”

The three ogres move to attack but there is only enough room for two of them to get at the heroes. Eathwund and Damago move forward to block the ogres. There is a flurry of blows and both Eathwund and Damago are hit by clubs wielded by the ogres. Eathwund staggers to one knee badly injured but he manages to stand and stay in the fight. Domago casts Bless and Lakima casts Strength on Eathwund. Still, the fight continues to go badly. Eathwund and Domago are hitting the ogres but the ogres are not weakening. Meanwhile, both of the heroes are getting pummeled. Lakima casts Lightning Bolt and both Ogres in the fight are burned and fall dead. The third ogre is badly burned and turns to run shouting at the top of its lungs as it approaches a door leaving the cave. At this moment Carric leaps out from the shadows and stabs the ogre from behind killing it. The ogre's lifeless body topples to the floor in front of the door. Eathwund moves up to the door.

Carric listens at the door. He hears heavy footprints approaching. He reports this and the door is yanked open. A pair of surprised ogres are standing on the other side of the door. One of the ogres says something and then glances down at the dead ogre at Eathwund’s feet and the bloody sword in his hands. The ogre roars and ducks beneath the door lintel attacking Eathwund.

Eathwund manages to hold the single ogre in the doorway. The second ogre is unable to attack. But only Eathwund has room to get in the fight and it starts to go badly for Eathwund. Eventually, Eathwund manages to press the fight to the ogre and it retreats into the next cave. The second ogre can now get into the fight and it moves up. Both Eathwund and Domago are able to get onto the attack. Carric dashes up and spears the ogre while Lakima throws darts. Both ogres fall dead. By now the heroes are all badly injured and Eathwund has to consume a pair of Healing potions.

The group splits up and searches the chamber but they find only stolen human supplies. Nothing of real value. They head north into another chamber with bubbling tar pits. The incessant smoke starts to get to their eyes making vision difficult. Carric opens another door and sees another cave with a bubbling pool of tar in the center. They decide to turn and go another way. Carric leads the way down the tunnel and steps on a tarp covering a pit trap. As the tarp tears and drops him into the pit, he manages to grab the edge and pull himself up. Carric climbs out of the pit and makes his way to another door. Listening at the door he hears movements and the rattling of chains. The rest of the heroes skirt around the pit in the floor and stand by this door. Carric opens the door and they see a small cave. In the cave are seven animated skeletons. Some of the skeletons are manacled to the wall with chains. Domago tries to turn undead and a few of them run from his sight. Others attack but Eathwund makes short work of them. All of the skeletons are destroyed by Eathwund with some help from Domago. Lakima and Carric have a discussion and convince themselves there must be a secret door in the chamber but they are not able to find any sign of one.

Since this appears to be a dead-end, the group heads back to the door leading to the chamber that was filled with thick smoke from a tar pit. Two more exits leave this chamber. Carric spots something shiny on the other side of the tar pit and goes to investigate. He finds an unsheathed longsword that is strangely clean with no sign of rust. The hilt of the sword has been shaped with the form of an unlidded eye on both sides. Cedric offers to cast Detect Magic and does so. He detects that the sword is magical, both improving the welder's skill and some sort of hidden watchfulness.

They head to the right and open a wooden door into a small cave that is clear of smoke and refreshingly cool. Eathwund checks the floor and finds some tracks made by a man who was running. They take the time to rest in this chamber and those whose eyes were red and sore manage to recover. Once the rest is over, they head north through another door. They enter another cave with a bubbling tar pit. The wall to their far-right is bricked up with stone blocks. Carric is immediately suspicious and locates a secret door but he cannot figure out how to open it. Everyone searches for a trigger with Lakima finding a floor stone that can be depressed. The stone wall slides open to one side.

Carric motions for everyone to wait and then silently, and carefully moves into a hallway beyond. The passage is man-made with stone block walls and floor. On the floor, he spots metal chaos symbols that he is immediately suspicious of and warns the others. Then he sees a tripwire crossing between two stone skulls on either wall about one foot above the floor. Carric points it out to the other adventurers still waiting at the secret door. He continues down the hallway and spots another tripwire. Just then two men emerge from around a bend in the hallway and fire arrows at Carric, missing.

Eathwund charges down the hallway to Carric’s defense and Carric retreats toward the secret door. Unfortunately, Eathwund’s sword sheath snaps one of the tripwires, and a gout of flame blasts both he and Carric. Still, a burned Eathwund manages to reach the two men and attack. One of the men appears to be a tall warrior and the other looks like the man they chased from the stone circle on the hill above. The warrior moves forward and strikes Eathwund with his sword. Eathwund groans and falls to the floor unconscious. Domago and Carric race forward to defend their fallen companion followed closely by Lakima. While Carric keeps the warrior at bay, Domago pours his last potion of healing down Eathwund’s throat reviving the fighter. Carric stabs the other man and that man turns and runs away. The warrior yells, “Kert, get back here!”

Eathwund and Domago move in on the man but he backs away. As they follow around the turn in the hallway they see the smaller man has returned and is helping the injured man. Domago and Eathwund advance on them. Seeing that he cannot get away, the injured warrior pushes the man he called Kert away and tells him to flee, “I will hold them, get help!”

Kert vanishes down a side passage and a door can be heard opening. Domago and Carric try to get around the wounded warrior but he blocks them. So with Eathwund they all attack the man and kill him. After the fight, Lakima tells Cedric to use the Black Ring on the man. Domago bristles with anger, “Blasphemy!” Cedric uses the ring anyway and animates the corpse of the warrior into a zombie. They send the zombie through the door that the man Kert had passed through. They do not find Kert in the room beyond but they do see five bedrolls, several crates of supplies, and a large traveling trunk. In the trunk, they find a lot of clothes and some basic weapons.

Carric moves to a door to the south and listens but hears nothing. He opens the door and they let the zombie pass through. Immediately, the zombie is blasted by a magic missile and collapses in a heap. Carric and Eathwund rush into the next room and come right on top of an older man wearing chainmail, holding a sword and a shield. Just behind the man is an old robed woman holding a staff. Nearby, they see a pair of wooden double doors and the man Kert before them. Before they can attack, the woman chants words of magic, and a sticky, almost impassable web fills the room trapping Eathwund and Carric. Domago tries to help and also gets trapped in the sticky strands. Standing in the doorway, Lakima casts Charm Person on Kert and convinces him to attack the old woman. The older man tries to stop Kert but the sneak thief gets past him and stabs the woman. Lakima also casts magic missiles at the woman from his wand. The old warrior attacks Eathwund who is caught up in the webs. Kert stabs and kills the woman and Lakima yells at him to attack the warrior. Kert turns and shouts, “Sure, I was just working for these guys” Lakima also goes around to the back of the webs and casts Aztazibar’s Acrid Finger. The stream of acid burns through the webs and strikes the old warrior. The warrior moves over to the double doors and pounds on them, “Talmea! Let me in. We are under attack out here!” But the doors remain closed.

Realizing the situation is hopeless, the old warrior drops his sword and surrenders. He volunteers little information about himself or who is beyond the doors. But Kert tells them it is the necromancer Talmea Pak on the other side of the doors. He also tells them that the older man is Bragor Stannon, the leader of a group of Adventurers from Makaar Mor. Searching the man they find some loot and a Writ of Adventuring issued by a Baron Raalston of Makaar Mor. The warrior they killed earlier, the old woman, and the old man also all have a strange black mark on the inside of their right wrists. Lakima asks Kert about it and the cheerful thief proudly shows them his unmarked wrist. Lakima asks Cedric to animate the dead body of the old woman. Domago looks shocked. But Cedric tells him he does not want to use up the Ring's charges on an old hag. Bragor looks at Cedric in surprise. “That is not the Black Ring! And you are not Malyn!” He yells it out through the door, “Talmea, they are imposters!” They decide to tie up Bragor and open the doors. Carric finds the doors are latched from the other side but he manages to jiggle the latch loose and open the doors.

The double doors open into a large chamber, a 20-foot square metal chaos symbol lies flat on the stone tiles in the center of the floor. Stone skulls decorate the walls. Several dark alcoves lead off from the chamber. On the other side of the chamber, they see a throne decorated with human skulls. The young woman they met at the standing stones sits on the throne smiling at them. The woman waves them into the room. “Welcome, I am Talmea Pak, and you are imposters!” Cedric winces on hearing that. “You are not Malyn!” She points an accusing finger at Cedric. Cedric sort of half-waves and steps behind Domago.

Lakima steps into the center of the room and then accuses Talmea in turn. “You are not the Necromancer from the letter! So if we are all here on false pretenses we might as well go our own ways.”  Talmea considers this and smiles, “You may go. Leave immediately and unhand Kert and Bragor.”  Lakima tells Talmea that they could kill her. She laughs at his bravado and motions to his right, and an enormous black bear steps menacingly out of a darkened alcove and paces towards them. “Easy Chambra,” she says, “Now you see who is in danger here.”

Lakima agrees to withdraw, and they start to back out of the room taking Bragor with them. Kert races from the room and down the hallway. Then, Talmea casts a spell and the room is dropped into darkness. Only Eathwund is outside of the darkened area leading Bragor the prisoner. They hear the bear pacing through the darkness and a roar followed by a yell of pain from Domago. Lakima and Carric stumble out of the darkness into the hall. They see Eathwund and Bragor but Kert has vanished. Cedric and Domago do not appear at first. Then Domago stumbles from the darkness bleeding from a fresh claw wound to the shoulder. The heroes back away from the darkness, they can hear the bear thudding about in the dark. Lakima asks for a torch and Eathwund pulls one from his pack. Lakima lights the torch and waves both the torch and the Continual Light Staff into the darkness but both cannot penetrate the magical darkness. Just then the bear lunges out of the darkness. Eathwund races to block it from killing Lakima. Lakima drinks a potion of animal control and settles the bear. Lakima spends some time trying to give directions to the bear. He sends it back into the darkness to kill Talmea but nothing happens and it does not return.

Lakima shouts Cedric’s name a few more times and then gives up. The adventurers confer and decide to leave the dungeon. They head back to the secret door and find it closed but opening it from the inside proves fairly easy. They then make their way back through the caves and out into the sunlight. Even with the valley covered in smog, it is much brighter and clearer outside than in the caves. A short distance away, Nash is waiting with their animals, unharmed. He sees how battered and bleeding they are and nervously asks after Cedric. Lakima tells him Cedric was eaten by a bear. They put Bragor on a horse, still tied up, and then head out of the valley. On the way they see skeletons moving about aimlessly, no longer under control apparently. Lakima asks Bragor if the old woman controlled the skeletons but he shakes his head and says, “Talmea”.

On the ride out of the valley to a campsite, Carric talks with Bragor for a while. The man is now a little more forthcoming. He tells Carric he is part of an adventuring company from the Kingdom of Makaar Mor to the north. Carric learns that he is from the area beyond the Valen Peaks that is thought to be a wasteland full of undead. It is known as the Kingdom of the Ghouls to people on this side of the peaks. Lakima asks about the name and Bragor calmly talks about the rebirth as undead that comes to all people in Makaar Mor. The undead creatures live among them. All beholden to the King Lorrgan Makaar. Once they are out of the Valley they make camp. The sun is still well up in the sky but everyone agrees that a rest is needed.