Mysterious Tower

A few weeks ago I ran a session that takes place in a reimagined Mysterious Tower. The published DCC adventure. I used Blender 2.8 to create the Virtual Tabletop maps and I am fairly happy with how they turned out so I thought I would share them on the blog.

Below is the map of the tower. There is also a small dungeon map but it was nothing special.

Outnumbered

Last weekend we had a bit of a struggle with Roll20. After the session, I noticed they had a banner message up on the site letting users know they were working on correcting connectivity issues. For the session, I had a new player who struggled to get a connection to Roll20 and to load their character. Eventually, she had to drop off. Near the end of the session another player lost the connection and had to continue with just voice. The perils of running a game online I guess.

This week's session was a short adventure based on The Bridgeway by Creations' Edge Games. I must have used 7-8 of their short adventures by now. I changed it around a little and created my own maps. The players had to rescue a man from a magical bridge held by humanoids. The adventure includes an army of hobgoblins, goblins, and bugbears camped nearby. My players first thought was to attack the army head-on. Thankfully for the poor GM's sake, they decided not to do that. Managing that battle would not have been fun and really there was no way they could survive. One hundred to one odds are not going to work even if the attackers are level 1.

This is all a lead-in to my reimagined (new maps, new creatures, similar plot) Palace of the Silver Princess. I have high hopes for this adventure as it is one of my favorites.

Session 46: Melee at the Bridgeway

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Alonso (Human Fighter), Lyra (Halfling Thief), Domago (Human cleric NPC), Lantosh (Human Fighter NPC), Fenris (Human Thief NPC).

The Company of the Black Dragon split up the spoils from the Ghost Tower. They then take a few days of downtime. Lakima spends time studying spells. Eathwund oversees repairs on the Morning Lady Tavern. Alonso studies books on the elvish language.

Once they grow bored Lakima goes to the Elven delegation and tells them the Company is ready to take on the mission to save the realm of Elven Realm of Haven. He negotiates a reward of 2,000 gold. Before leaving, Lakima speaks with his fiance Alayna about setting a date for marriage.

The full Company of the Black Dragon set out south on the Duke’s Road following the Dolm river. They take a side trek and stay at McGillman's Inn in Cowfold catching up with the innkeeper and his family. Then set out again until they reach the Corabel stream. The stream proves to be little more than a muddy ditch. But they follow it south into the King’s Wood. Late in the day, they spot a large, ancient stone bridge crossing over the river valley. At this point, the valley is completely dry. As they get closer they spot the campfires and tents of an army of goblins and hobgoblins camped at one end of the bridge.

The Company hobble their horses and leave them with Nash. As they move closer a whistle distracts them. A halfling yells at them from the trees to take cover. They heed the halfling and duck into cover. The halfling introduces herself as Lyra and tells them that hobgoblins, goblins, and bugbears are occupying the bridge. The custodian of the bridge, Esmeralden, sent her for help. She convinces the company to help her rescue Esmeralden.

Lakima puts forward the suggestion that they attack the entire goblin army. Holding them atop the bridge so that not all of the goblinoids can come at them at once. When Lantosh expresses misgivings considering the size of the army they face, Lakima dismisses concerns telling Lantosh that he has powerful magics that can deal with the goblins.

Buoyed by Lakima’s confidence, the adventurers start to advance. They spot two disinterested goblin lookouts stationed at the apex of the bridge. Lakima directs Fenris, Eathwund, and Lyra to attack with missile weapons. Eathwund’s first arrow misses, alerting the goblins, but Fenris puts a crossbow bolt directly into the chest of one goblin killing it instantly. The second goblin runs for the camp but Eathwund puts his second arrow through its neck killing it.

Fenris points out a path leading down the riverbank to a wooden door on the side of the bridge foundation. Lakima tells him to go check the door. Fenris comes back and tells everyone he can hear the sounds of ransacking going on through the door. In a change in plans, the group decides to investigate the bridge first.

The first room in the bridge proves to be empty. But then they enter a corridor with five doorways. Behind the doors, they can clearly hear ransacking. The group decides to open all of the doors at once. The doors are swung open and the adventurers find they have surprised a large group of bugbears ransacking the room. Lakima immediately casts sleep, dropping three of the bugbears. Alonso and Eathwund enter separate rooms and are confronted by multiple opponents. Domago finds himself in a desperate fight with a single, skilled bugbear who nearly kills the priest. Fenris and Lyra fire arrows into the rooms from the corridor while Lakima casts spells. Another door opens at the far end of the hallway and another Bugbear enters the fray. After a long battle, Eathwund counts 12 dead bugbears - but Lantosh and Domago are badly injured. Lakima has Lantosh question a surviving Bugbear who has been charmed with a spell. They pause briefly so Domago can cast healing magic.

Lakima gives a potion of invisibility to Fenris and tells him to go find the custodian who is being held captive in the Bridgeway according to their charmed bugbear. Fenris disappears. Growing concerned that Fenris has not returned, the entire group crosses a wooden bridge underneath the main span of the bridge and enters the other foundation tower. Entering the first room they find the nexus room of the Bridge. A strange device in this room controls the magic of the bridge. The custodian can be seen working at the device while three bugbears threaten him.

Lakima immediately casts Confusion on the bugbears. One attacks his fellow and the other charges screaming at the adventurers. Fenris appears beside the custodian pulling him to safety. A door opens and three more bugbears enter the battle. Another battle begins - but this one is over quickly. Lakima casts fireball into the room with the bugbears killing all but one. The other bugbears fight amongst themselves because of the confusion hex. Soon all of the bugbears are dead.

Ezmeralden thanks the adventurers for the rescue and tells them he will remove the controlling rods from the nexus and then they should flee to the Duke’s Road to find help. Lakima questions him and asks if he can use the Bridgeway to transport them to the feywild. Ezmeralden at first lies telling them it cannot be done. But once Lyra vouches for them - he agrees he could do it. But Ezmeralden explains that they would have to cross over the bridge in full view of the goblinoid army. Realizing this would not be a good idea. The adventurers decide to sneak away. They get to the horses and ride for the Dolm river. Once there they consult their map and decide to head for one of the villages of the Hillside villages across the river. They cross at a ferry warning the ferry owner that an army of goblins might be following them.

Across the Dolm river they stop in the village of Tahn and warn the local member of the Duke’s Guard. Word is sent by messenger south to gather a force to attack the goblins. The adventurers make themselves comfortable at the Goose and Feather Inn.

Demons and Djinni

In a recent session, the players in my Swords & Wizardry campaign managed to talk their way around two of the toughest encounters I had planned for the session. The first encounter with a Nymph and a Demon had a 50% chance as written of ending in a fight. The players had to guess which of the two was lying. I was not really happy with how I handled the scene. The scene comes from the DCC adventure Mysterious Tower and as written has a lot of advice on how to run it. But while playing I like to wing it and rarely check my notes. I think I tipped the players off to which was lying. The second encounter was with a djinni guarding a treasure. I expected this would end in a fight but the players were very cautious with the guardian and loath to attack someone who seemed so friendly. The solution they arrived at was not one I had planned out in advance.

Session 45: Demons and Djinni

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Alonso (Human Fighter), Domago (Human cleric NPC), Lantosh (Human Fighter NPC), Fenris (Human Thief NPC).

The players have just traversed the dungeon beneath the Ghost Tower. Trapped by a half-dozen rust monsters they leap through a magic door.

The door in the dungeons under the Ghost Tower deposits Lakima inside a stone-walled chamber with curved walls. Moments later, Eathwund, Alonso, Fenris, Lantosh, and Domago arrive. As they look through the door they see the rust monsters approaching the door on the other side. They quickly slam the door shut. The door is mounted in a stone wall that stands freely in the room a few feet out from the wall. Around the backside of the door is just stone.

The room they have entered is well-lit by magical lanterns. There are a latrine and several crates and empty bags. In the next two chambers, they find more crates, most of which are empty. And they find a circular staircase in the center of the rooms going upward. Lakima surmises aloud that they must be in the tower now.

On the next level, they find the former owner of the tower. The long-dead corpse of a mage lies slumped at a table covered in books. Lakima carefully packs up all of the books on the table and the loose sheets of paper. Nearby they find a kitchen and a bed-chamber. Lakima casts the cantrip Detect Magic and finds several pieces of furniture (bed, wardrobe) that are magical. He is unable to discern the nature of the enchantments. They also find some magic potions in a trunk and a magic staff.

They continue up the spiral staircase until further progress is blocked by a wall of force. An open doorway leads into a large circular stone chamber. In the chamber, they see two force cages. Imprisoned inside each cage is what appears to be elven women. Both women are alive and alert and immediately ask to be set free. They point at a control panel with three levers all in the up position. Each woman accuses the other of being a demon in disguise. After a lengthy conversation with each woman, they decide on which one to free and pull one lever. They choose wisely and the other woman immediately turns into a demon and curses at them. The woman they freed thanks them and tells them if they are here in this place at the same time the next day she will return with a reward. Then she vanishes.

Lakima speaks at length with the demon trying to get it to give him its true name. But the demon refuses. It suggests that if they free it, it will show them the tower’s treasure vault. The demon assures them they will never find the treasure otherwise.

Instead, the party uses the controls to lower the barrier blocking the stair. They continue upward and come to a chamber with many magical doors. Some of the doors stand before force cages, some are in force cages and some are against the walls. They experiment opening the doors, two of the doors lead to extra-dimensional prisons. They release an earth elemental which brushes past them and runs down the stairs. Then they release an undead Owlbear skeleton which leaps out of the door and attacks them. Fenris, who opened the door, is grabbed up and crushed in a bear hug. Eathwund manages to smash the skeleton’s arm freeing Fenris. Then he caves in the skeleton’s head and it collapses in a heap of bones. Deciding not to push their luck with any more doors, they head up the staircase and arrive at the highest level of the tower. The level is a larger, round chamber with four open windows to the outside. There is a table, an ever-burning brazier, an empty force cage, and the pages of a destroyed book all over the floor. Nearby they find empty wine bottles. Lakima picks up some of the pages and discovers the contents are the details of a Force Cage spell. Unfortunately incomplete. Fenris comments that it looks like someone threw a temper tantrum here - many years ago. Also on the floor, they see the charred residue in the shape of a summoning circle. Looking outside Eathwund notices that the force barrier around the tower is now gone (their doing) and that a crowd of people is standing outside the tower held back by the town watch.

The party return to the room of magical doors and notice that the distance traveled down the stairs suggests there is another hidden level. Lakima searches the staircase and does not find anything. Then everyone spreads out and searches the chamber of magical doors. Lakima uncovers another magical door hidden behind a secret door. Fenris agrees to open the door while Alonso and Eathwund provide cover. He opens the door into the chamber and they look through the doorway into another round chamber. Across the floor from the door is a pile of treasure. Gold coins are strewn from several sacks stuffed with coins. Several metal chests rest on the floor. As they start to move forward a blue-skinned man appears in a cloud of smoke. The man speaks in a booming voice, “Please do not enter, my friends! I would not wish to harm you.”

They all stop at the threshold of the doorway. Lakima asks if the man is a djinni. The man smiles and says, “Yes I am! Very clever of you. And I believe you are a wizard?” Lakima questions the djinni and learns it was bound into servitude to the wizard he called Nightwind. Nightwind bound him to 1,001 years of servitude guarding the treasure. The djinni is quite pleasant and eventually allows the party to enter the vault under his watchful gaze. He tells them he will not attack them if they do not touch the treasure. Lakima asks the djinni about the wording of the command the djinni was given. He learns that the djinni must stop anyone except Nightwind from taking the treasure. He cannot leave the vault even if some treasure is stolen. He can only leave if more treasure is stolen from the vault then remains in the vault. Lakima tells the djinni that the mage of the tower is long dead. The djinni is not surprised. He expected that was the explanation why the mage stopped visiting him more than 200 years ago. The djinni tells them some of the stories of the tower and how Nightwind became trapped in the tower by accident.

The party steps out of the vault room and back into the chamber of doors. They discuss how to get around the djinni for some time. No one is enthusiastic about attacking the djinni. Lakima announces he has an idea. He summons rats with a cantrip and tries to get them to enter the vault. But the rats just circle him and watch him. Then he tries the Pipes of the Sewers that he found recently. More rats arrive and these ones are able to follow his commands. He sends a pack of rats into the vault with instructions to each pick up a gold coin. Meanwhile, Eathwund opens the magical door to an extradimensional prison. But while at first, it seems to be working the djinni starts to spin and creates a whirlwind of incredible force. Gold coins fly about the chamber slicing through rats and flinging them against the walls. Once the djinni has killed all of the rats he stops spinning and reappears. The vault is now covered in splattered rats which the djinni starts tossing through the doorway. Eathwund hastily closes the door.

They decide to stay in the tower overnight to wait for the elven woman to return and to think of some way of getting around the djinni. In the morning Lakima uses comprehend languages and reads some of the wizard’s notes. He does not find the true names of the demon or the djinni but he does confirm the story. The wizard also writes in his journal of fighting despair and in anger destroying his spellbook. The elvish woman does magically appear. She explains she is a nymph able to dimension jump. The mage captured her hundreds of years ago to test if she could free herself from a force cage. She honors her agreement and gives the party six green cloaks. The cloaks are Cloaks of Resistance. Then she vanishes again.

Lakima asks the party members if they are willing to split the treasure half and half with Malyn the wizard. He knows Malyn will be able to animate Nightwind’s corpse and he believes that will allow them to remove the treasure without being attacked. Everyone votes and only Domago and Fenris are against the plan. Domago expresses how much he does not trust Malyn, and Fenris just does not want to split the treasure. The party now decides to leave the tower. Lakima uses Levitate to gently drop down the outside of the tower from the top floor windows. Once at ground level, he asks the watch guards for 100 feet of rope. He brings the rope back up to the top floor and everyone climbs down.

The Captain of the watch arrives and questions them about the tower. The force field is down for the first time in living memory. Lakima tells the captain that there are still dangerous creatures in the tower and everyone should be kept out. They enter the dungeons again via the secret staircase. Lakima intends to raise the force field again. But in the first chamber, they find that the acid trap has completely filled the space between the two force walls. If they lower the first wall the room will be flooded with acid. They decide to return home to rest.

The next day they go to visit Malyn. The mage is not entirely surprised to learn they entered the Ghost Tower. Everyone in town is talking about it. He agrees, after some negotiation on a split of the gold and the magic spellbook that the djinni mentioned was amongst the loot. The entire party returns to the tower with Malyn. Lakima levitates up to the top floor and lowers a rope. Then everyone climbs up - although Malyn also uses levitate. In the wizard’s study, Malyn casts Animate Dead and directs the corpse of Nightwind up to the room of doors. He then sends the animated corpse into the vault and it removes every single item. Once it is done the djinni smiles, laughs, and vanishes. The group lowers the treasure to the ground and then splits it up. A few carts are needed to get everything back to their Chapter House. The local townsfolk take a lot of interest in the proceedings. That afternoon Lakima uses a minor cantrip, Parlor Trick, to make it look like he is inscribing deadly runes on the exterior walls of the Chapter House.

The party takes a well-deserved rest for a few days to heal wounds and recover. Alonso buys an elvish phrasebook and starts to learn some phrases in elvish. Eathwund inspects the progress on the roof of his Tavern. He also hires a mason to shore up the foundations. Lakima spends time in the Library of Antiquity looking for any information he can find on a magical bridge the elves suggested they look for. He does find mention of a bridge over the River Corabel in a history book on the elvish realm of Haven. The bridge is about a two-day’s ride south of the village of Cowfold. He tells the party and everyone makes plans for a journey.

The Ghost Tower

 I don't like to railroad my players. But when you are playing online and you need to prepare maps ahead of time there are only so many options you can give the players. I could go theatre of the mind, or let the players sketch a map on the screen - but I really enjoy making maps. So I try to give the players some options.

This past session started with the players in a Wizard's Lair in the sewers on the town. I knew that the players had already killed all of the monsters in the dungeon and it was just a question as to whether they would find the secret door to the abandoned lair. I was pretty sure this was not going to take long and then the players would get some downtime and start looking for a fresh start. The past few months the players have been involved in several somewhat connected adventures but now most of the loose threads were tied up.

There was still a partially explored dungeon on the one player's recently purchased Inn. But I had a feeling the players were not interested in continuing that exploration. There was a thread from a series of adventures they took part in several months ago - but they had repeatedly not bitten on this thread. So I was pretty sure it was time to start a new story.

In the previous session, we had 5 players. But for this session, I knew we would have only 2 available. Right up until game time there was a new player who wanted to join who had been conversing with me and the other players all week. But he dropped out the day of the session. I had written the introduction to the next adventure as a hook to bring in this new character. So suddenly I found I needed a rewrite. I did the rewrite but I also decided with so few players available it might be a good idea to have a short adventure - one that should take only one session. So I quickly wrote an adventure with a simple map. Using the Ghost Tower location on my town map that the players had never remarked upon before. I figured they could do it in a session (it turns out I was incorrect). I also gave them the hook for the next major story so that they had an option and could pick what they wanted to do.

Session 43: The Ghost Tower

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Alonso (Human Fighter), Domago (Human Cleric NPC), Lantosh (Human Fighter NPC), Fenris (Human Thief NPC).

The party is still in Artanals’ bolthole looking for Lavinia Crane’s spellbooks. But they have run out of places to look. Lakima begins searching the walls for secret passages and he finds one in the wall of one of the caves. Beyond they find some trapped stairs and a cave where it is clear Artanal was living. Amongst the rotted foodstuffs, they find Crane’s spellbooks, a magic pipe, and a small amount of gold. It did not take long for the players to finish off the last adventure.

After leaving the sewers Lakima and Alonso head off to the Chapter House to get cleaned up. Eathwund takes the spellbook to Lavinia Crane with Arthur and Pangs following him. Lavinia gives Eathwund a reward in gold and he gives Arthur and Pangs equal shares. Eathwund also goes and pays Clearwin for the gem they “borrowed” since they no longer have possession of it.

The members of the Company of the Black Dragon take a few days to rest. Then they are told they will be honored in a ceremony at the Castle for saving the town from the blue dragon. At the ceremony, they are honored with the Key to the City (an oversized Brass key). I just threw this in. I had been thinking that after saving the town from an ancient Blue Dragon there should be a reward that brought an increase in Social Status. It also meant I could put the players on edge by putting them in a situation where they could not wear weapons and armor. But I did not throw any conflict at them.

A few days later their old companion Carric visits. He tells them that he needs to get out of town in a hurry. He does not explain exactly the reason but he does tell them that if any elves ask for him they should indicate he went east. Carric leaves them a parting gift. The scrawled journal of Kurt Marshman the right hand of the last Thieve’s master of Edgerton. In the journal, Kurt details how he and the guild master Tinian entered the Ghost Tower. Kurt writes that he trapped Tinian in the tower, leaving him to die. Carric had planned to use the journal to get into the tower himself. But he now has a pressing need to get out of town.

Lakima and Eathwund discuss attempting to get into the Tower with their companions. The Ghost Tower is a local monument. An eighty-foot tall tower that has defied all attempts to enter for as long as anyone can remember. The owner of the tower is long forgotten. Local history says that it was built on the west bank of the river before the town existed.

While planning to enter the tower the next day the party is visited by a group of elves. The elves are led by an Elven ambassador named Wynather. They came to Edgerton guided by a prophecy that declared that the salvation of the lost elven city of Haven rested on “dragon’s wings.” The coincidences of the name of the Company of the Black Dragon and their dealing with the dragon Synastarax convinced Wynather to come and see them. He also asks after Carric and asks if they know of his whereabouts. Lakima mentions that he heard the elf had headed east. Wynather eventually asks the company if they will aid the elves in saving the elven realm of Haven. Once the capital of an elven realm in what is now the King's Wood. It was thought to have been destroyed. But they have discovered that it is trapped in the feywild on the winter side of the realm. The company takes a vote and the decision is to help. The elves leave and Fenris chides them for not setting a price.

The next day Eathwund, Lakima, and Alonso scout out the Ghost Tower. They find that the tower is encased in an impenetrable Wall of Force. But from the journal they know there is a secret entrance to dungeons beneath the tower. While they view the tower some local guards let them know that the keys to the tower are kept in the local guard tower. As friends of the city, they are welcome to borrow the keys and see if they can accomplish what hundreds of thieves and adventurers seemingly have not been able to do. Enter the tower.

Later that day the entire company comes back to the tower. Fenris finds the secret staircase exactly where the journal noted it would be. It leads down to the dungeons. In the first chamber, the exit is blocked by two walls of force. Pulling a lever drops the first wall but the second lever raises the first wall again and they find themselves trapped between two walls of force as acid begins to spray from pipes in the wall. Several of the heroes take damage from the acid spray. The acid begins to flood the space between the two walls and things begin to look desperate. Lakima searches and finds a hidden lever that raises the second wall. They scramble out of the trap. Then a third lever is used to raise the second wall. The acid continues filling the space between.

Acid Trap

The passage leads to another room that looks very similar to the first. They see two walls of force and two levers. In the center of the chamber, the corpse of the master thief Tinian lies just where Kurt abandoned him. Two keys are needed to drop the second barrier and the keyholes are 10 feet apart. Tinian died with the keys to his escape but was unable to turn them at the same time to drop the barrier. The party drops the first barrier. Eathwun and Lakima turn the keys at the same time and the second barrier drops. They exit the chamber and enter a corridor.

In one direction is a small room that appears to be a dead end. A large stone face is mounted on the wall, its mouth gaping open. In the other direction is a long corridor. While the rest of the group waits, Lakima asks Fenris to check the stone face. Fenris enters the chamber and an iron door drops down in the archway behind him. The door proves to be impossible to open. They hear some pounding from the other side and then silence. Lakima casts Aztazibar’s Acrid Finger (I did this spell wrong. The duration is 1 round per level of the caster) and burns a hole in the door but it is too late. Suffocating gas pours out of the chamber and they spot Fenris’ curled-up body on the floor. Lakima drags the body from the chamber and as they watch, the Phoenix Charm around Fenris’ neck vanishes. Fenris coughs and then breaths again as the powerful one-time magic of the charm returns him to the living.

A far more cautious group continues down the corridor. They find a series of pit traps. Some of the traps are open and some are cleverly hidden. While climbing over the traps, Alonso falls in twice. Falling ten feet and landing on metal spikes. Badly injured Alonso manages to climb out of the pits both times after he is tossed a rope. Eventually, the party makes it past four sets of pit traps and they come to another room with a stone face on the wall. A single chest rests in the center of the room. Two alcoves are blocked by force fields. Once holding back a group of reptilian monsters and the other hiding the door to the tower. On the wall is another lever but this one is locked with a noticeable keyhole.

The chest is about to explode

Fenris fails to open the locked chest so the decision is made to smash it open. Lantosh smashes the chest with his ax and there is an explosion that injures Lantosh, Alonso, and Eathwund. A key is tossed across the room. Fenris uses the key on the lever and instead of unlocking the lever the forcefield blocking the monsters rises. The creatures rush out at the adventurers. Lakima casts Charm Monster on one of them successfully. The other monsters rush at the heroes with antennae waving at them. Eathwund strikes one with his magical sword and is horrified when the sword crumbles into shards of rust. The creatures are the dreaded Rust Monsters of legend. Alonso quickly backs away from the creatures. Lantosh attacks one with a staff. Lakima tosses a 10-foot pole to Eathwund. Lakima rushes over to the ominous stone face and reaches into its mouth. In the darkness, his hand finds a key. Running back to the lever he uses the key and it unlocks the lever. Then he pulls down the lever lowering the forcefield that was blocking the door. He grabs for the handle on the door -- and vanishes!

Eathwund, Alonso, and the rest desperately try to keep the rust monsters at bay. Fenris yells that Lakima has vanished. With things looking desperate, first Eathwund and then the rest of the heroes grab the door handle and each vanishes. Teleported somewhere else in the tower?

I used Dungeon Crawl Classics #3: The Mysterious Tower as the basis for the adventure. I removed the original location and just kept the dungeon. I also completely redid the maps.

New Players

If you look down to the Session recap below you will see that it lists five players and no NPCs. A rare night off for the Gamemaster. Well not actually. I found I was working double duty trying to juggle everyone’s expectations. In our last session of Swords & Wizardry, we had the regular three players and two players who asked to join for a session. As it happened, we were halfway through a mystery adventure taking place in a town so it was easy to add people. Since it was an investigative adventure there was no need for the player’s hirelings to tag along. So, it was just the five players.

The two players who joined had indicated they were fairly new to Roleplaying and only familiar with D&D 5th edition. They struggled with the concept when their characters had the option to take the lead and question a suspect. I think they were looking for an investigation roll to direct them. I ended up ad-libbing a chance encounter with an old acquaintance to get the investigation back on track.

In the end, they thanked me for the session but said it was not for them. They were more comfortable with the D&D 5th edition rules.

Session 42: Clues and alligators

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Alonso (Human Fighter), Arthur (Elven cleric), Oliver “Pangs” (Human Thief).

Lakima, Eathwund, and Alonso of the Company of the Black Dragon have spent a few days trying to locate an adventurer named Nerick for the Church of St. Cuthbert. The abbot of the church was paid to cure Nerick of Lycanthropy. During the search, they discover that Nerick’s old adventuring companion Germad has been murdered.

The trio of heroes leave the murder scene and Lakima says he wants to follow up on the clue of a strange gem in Germad’s journal. But Alonso suggests they should check in on Lavinia Crane - the last surviving adventuring companion of Nerick. Lakima agrees although he is a little suspicious of Lavina. They walk to Eastgate and head down the dirt street to Lavina’s abode. Outside the home, they spot two young men standing awkwardly by the gate. As they approach one of the men asks if they are going in to see Lavinia. Lakima asks what it is to them. One of the men introduces himself as Arthur and volunteers that he and his friend Pangs have been sent by Ward to investigate the robbery of the mage’s house. He explains that the mage is paying protection money to Ward a local gang leader. Ward told Arthur Pangs to earn their keep and figure out who robbed the mage - certainly, no one in Ward’s crew was responsible. Arthur invites himself to follow along with the party.

Lakima knocks on Lavinia’s door and the mage opens it and immediately accuses him of stealing her spellbooks. Once she calms down, she accepted their explanation that they were not responsible. Lavinia explains that last night while she slept someone entered her home through the roof in the foundry and made their way into her living area and stole several spellbooks. She offers a reward to the party to find her spellbooks. Lakima tells her that if he finds the spellbooks he wants no reward from her. The ongoing animosity between the two mages continues.

The party with two new companions’ heads over to Clearwin’s Oddities. Clearwin’s assistant Gerfold Blim is working and immediately goes to get Clearwin when they ask to see him. Clearwin immediately remembers the gem that Germad sold to him. It is not of great value but it has an odd imperfection that looked like a closed fist so he put it on display in his “oddities” room. He offers to show the gem to the party. Lakima offers to buy it at first but the negotiation does not go far. When Lakima shows the sketch of Nerick to Clearwin he does not recognize it. But his guard Tanner does recognize the image. Tanner says a man matching the description was in the building the day before. He watched the man closely because he was acting suspiciously. The man seemed annoyed with the crowd of people who were in the shop and eventually left.

Lakima tells Clearwin that a magic-using werewolf will be looking for the gem. He then explains to the party that he believes the gem is a magic jar and the man Nerick they are looking for is actually likely the mage Artanal. As an aside, I was a little surprised that the players playing Lakima had figured out the plot so quickly. I was worried they would get through the adventure, kill Artanal and never work it out. Artanal was the name of the mage whose ruined tower Nerick, Lavinia and Germad had plundered. Lakima tells everyone that Nerick is probably in the gem right now. Clearwin looks carefully at the gem and tells Lakima he does not see anyone in the gem.

Clearwin suggests they hide in his storeroom and surprise the werewolf when he shows up to steal the gem. They talk about this and decide to go with the idea with a few additions. Lakima is concerned that the werewolf will not be surprised because it will be able to smell them. So, he suggests spreading something strong smelling like urine around the shop interior. Clearwin gives a loud no to that idea. And he becomes concerned about a fight in his shop, demanding no destructive magic. Lakima, Eathwund, and Alonso go to the local tanner to look for something strong-smelling. The confused shopkeeper agrees to give them a wooden bucket of foul-smelling liquid used in the tanning process. Lakima applies the liquid around the outside of the shop.

That evening as the shop closes Eathwund, Alonso, Lakima, Arthur, and Pangs take positions in the shadows of the Display room. Arthur and Pangs are anxious to establish that they need to get the spellbooks back. Well past midnight - when everyone is thoroughly tired they hear the front door to the shop (which they locked and barred) swing open with a clatter. Moments later they hear a voice calling out from the main chamber of the shop. Then Nerick appears in the doorway spots, everyone but Arthur, and demands to know who they are and what they want. Lakima tells him that he knows who he is. Nerick/Artanal does not deny it. He accuses them of putting up the wanted posters with his likeness around the town.

Suddenly, from behind the man, Arthur leaps from the shadows and tries to grapple himl. But Artanal jumps out of the way. Then Artanal casts a magic spell and everyone with the exception of Lakima is magically slowed. Eathwund and Alonso slowly move toward Artanal. Lakima grabs the gem out of the display case and hurls it across the room. The gem strikes the side door and clatters down onto the floor. Artanal casts another spell and vanishes - only to reappear by the door. Artanal grabs the gems and moves to the door. But before he can lift the bar blocking the door, Lakima casts Confusion on the mage, rendering him helpless. As an aside can we talk about how powerful the Confusion spell is! No immediate saving throw regardless of the victim’s level. The victim does get a save at 1d12 minutes less the caster’s level.

Lakima walks over and plucks the gem out of the mage’s hand. Clearwin comes to the door to the room and takes in the strange scene. Finally, the slowed party members are freed from the spell and return to regular speed. Clearwin tells the party how impressed he is that they captured the man without damaging anything. He also comments that the man does not look like a werewolf. Lakima asks if they can take the gem. Clearwin is less than pleased but lets them take it once Eathwund signs for it. Lakima heads out into the Market Square and hides the gem under an empty barrel making sure it is far enough away that they will not be in danger of possession through a Magic Jar spell. But as it turns out Artanal is so confused by the spell he cannot answer any questions or tell them anything intelligible. They securely tie-up Nerick/Artanal and gag him.

They decide to take Nerick/Artanal to the Church of St. Cuthbert. Lakima, Arthur, and Pangs take Artanal to the church while Eathwund and Alonso go looking for the gem. It takes them a few tries to find the right barrel. But they find the gem.

It is well past midnight but the church is never locked. They enter and bang on the door until someone arrives and takes them to Abbot Marta. Lakima tells Marta that they have found the man he sent them to look for - but there is a catch. The body belongs to Nerick but the body is possessed by a mage called Artanal. Lakima asks Marta if they can exorcise the spirit of the mage out of the body. Marta agrees to try. Helped by Afton, the retired former abbot, the two priests chant over Nerick’s body for hours but are not successful.

Lakima tells everyone he has another idea. He takes the gem and Artanal over to the Apothecary. The sun is just coming up and it takes a while before Malyn’s apprentice comes to the door. The apprentice is concerned about waking his master so early but is eventually convinced. Malyn arrives looking as young as ever. Lakima explains that the gem is a magic jar holding the soul of the man standing with them. In the body is a mage’s soul. Malyn agrees to cast dispel magic on the magic jar. After he casts the spell, everyone sees two sparks of life exchange between the gem and the body. A confused Nerick awakens tied up with a rope. The adventurer apparently not remembering his months spent trapped in the gem. He confusedly asks who they are and where he is. Lakima tosses the magic jar gem to Malyn and says “It’s your problem now!” The party leaves the shop.

Arthur asks how they are going to find Lavinia’s spellbooks now. Artanal who took the books is trapped in a gem, Nerick has no idea what happened to his body. Eathwund asks Nerick if he had any places he stayed in town. Nerick mentions his cottage and wife Cindal. Lakima tells everyone that he is tired and is going to bed. Lakima leaves. Eathwund, Alonso, Arthur, and Pangs take Nerick over to the Church of St, Cuthbert. Marta takes Nerick in hand and tells him they will cure his lycanthropy the next full moon. While Artanal had control of his body he paid for the cure.

Saying goodbye to Marta, Eathwund asks Arthur if he could get information on Nerick/Artanal’s comings and goings from her boss Ward. Afterall they already know that the thief Somblett who is in Ward’s gang was also taking money from Artanal. Arthur and Pangs agree to try. Eathwund and Alonso wait nearby. A short time later Arthur and Pangs return but they just shrug when asked if they learned anything. This part of the adventure was a little perplexing. The two new players had a chance to ask questions and get an important clue. Ward did know where the man he assumed was Nerick had been hiding because Somblett followed him. But the players when confronted with Ward could not work out how to speak with him. Ward told them to get out and find the spellbooks.

Eathwund and Alonso then decide to check out the nearest Inn. The Bishop’s Rest. The same inn where they discovered a few days earlier that Nerick rented a room for a few days. As they enter, Eathwund spots a familiar face, Nuen of Blackcreek. The young scoundrel who their former companion Carric was trying to straighten out. Eathwund recalls that Nuen married an innkeeper’s daughter. He goes over to Nuen and describes Nerick to him. Nuen does not recall seeing him. They ask the waitress they were talking with a few days earlier about Nerick and she helps Nuen remember. Nuen tells Eathwund that his buddy Somblett was hanging out with Nerick. Nuen knows where Somblett stays so he sends the kitchen boy to get him.

Somblett arrives at the Inn and is immediately on guard. A few days earlier the party had interrogated him when they found he was tearing down their wanted posters. At first Somblett guards his secrets but once he learns Nerick robbed Lavinia he admits he followed Nerick and saw him go to a hideout in the sewers. Eathwund gets directions to the hideout. He discovers that the sewer entrance Nerick used is near the Low Market where they entered the sewers once before many months ago when fighting the Rat King.

Eathwund and Alonso are tired out from being up all night so they tell Arthur to meet them the next morning. Then they head to the Chapter House and go to sleep. The next day Eathwund and Alonso tell Lakima what they learned. Lakima is interested enough that he agrees to come along. Arthur and Pangs soon appear at their door.

They head over to the Low Market and use the sewer entrance to go into the sewers. Eathwund is able to find the secret entrance to the hideout fairly quickly. Arthur takes the lead and heads through a crack in the sewer wall into a rough-hewn tunnel. A strong foul smell fills the air. They soon learn the source as they come to a deep cave full of brown sludge. Swimming about in the sludge are several alligators.

Alligators in the sewers - not just an urban myth.

The party stands on the edge of the cave a few feet up over the sludge and alligators. Several ideas are tossed about but no one is very enthusiastic to climb down into the sewage and fight alligators. They search the area and find only a few signs that someone has come this way, a muddy boot print and an iron spike hammered into the floor. Lakima suggests that Somblett might have been lying and is laughing at sending them on a wild chase for nothing. They ask Pangs if he is willing to climb around the obstacle but the thief remains quiet. Eathwund fires some arrows into one of the alligators and the blood attracts another alligator to kill it. This gives Arthur an idea, the day before he had purchased several rat meat treats, He throws one of the rat meats into the corner of the cave and the alligators swim after it. The party members then throw several rat meats into the far corner and the alligators are all lured away.

Arthur is the first to jump into the sludge. He splashes around in it and tells everyone else to jump in. They do and then Lakima yells at them to get moving. The party quickly wade through the waist deep sludge across the cave and up a passage until they climb out into a dry cave a few feet above the level of the sludge. In this cave they spot a wooden skiff with a pole leaning on it. Across the cave an exit is partially blocked by a large rock.

The party squeezes past the rock and passes down a tunnel. The air gets steadily colder. Then they see an enormous multi-coloured lizard 15 feet long. The creature is resting unmoving on a sheet of ice. They enter the cave and the lizard stirs and breathes out a cloud of cold mist. It slowly gets to its feet and moves to attack. Eathwund, Alonso, and Arthur hack away at the creature. Eathwund activates his ring and his sword lights up with fire. This seems to do a lot of damage to the creature. The creature tries to get at Eathwund but he keeps it at bay while they all hack it down.

After the battle with the lizard, Arthur checks out some brown mold that seems to be radiating cold. He reaches down and picks up some mold and puts it in his pocket - and then he collapses to the ice unconscious. Alonso drags Arthur to safety and uses his last healing potion to save him.