the one with the Wedding

Last week in our Swords & Wizardry campaign came the wedding of the Leader of the Company of the Black Dragon and the alchemist Alayna. I have been thinking about whether to stage some incidents or a full adventure for the wedding for about a month. And I never really had a clear idea of how to handle it. I had nice maps for the Church of St Cuthbert where the ceremony would take place and the Ten Bells (now renamed Sign of the Purple Bugbear) Tavern. So it seemed a shame not to use them. But it also seemed unfair to attack the players on their one chance to relax.

I looked online for any adventures that took place during a wedding and bought a few. But none of them hit the right tone. The best was probably "Wedding Day" in Dungeon Magazine 59. But it was played for laughs and even a rewrite did not seem to hit the right note. So I decided to wing it based on what the players did. I created a couple of sub-plots and let them play out to see if the players interacted with either of them. One involved the bride's estranged father coming to the wedding. Nevain is a notorious poisoner who currently works for the Earl of Calwell. He has many enemies in the city who might challenge him or try to kill him. Another involved a single assassin sent by the last leader of the Veiled Society, Zweis Radu from his exile in the Shattered Islands. I had wedding guests invited from merchant families that hated each other and were prone to start fights. And finally, I had the local gang in the neighborhood of Eathwund's new Tavern try to shake him down for protection.

In all, we got a session out of it and everyone seemed fairly happy with it. During the wedding, I had to handle a lot of NPCs as everyone in town who had interacted with the party was invited to the wedding (see the in-game map below).

Session 53: The Wedding

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alonso (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Domago (human cleric NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC).

Accompanied by Fenris, Aashdoshan the necromancer arrives at a cemetery a mile south of Edgerton. He sees a flickering light in the window of a small caretaker shed. As they get closer he also sees activity in the graveyard. Aashdoshan tells Fenris to flank around covering him and he approaches the grave where two men are brazenly removing a buried body. Aashdoshan raises the removed body as it rests on the ground and his own pair of skeletons. One of the grave robbers screams and flees. The other levels his shovel at the risen skeleton and attacks it destroying it. Fenris fires a crossbow bolt at the grave robber hitting him in the shoulder. As Aashdoshan approaches, this second man runs away.

Aashdoshan directs his skeletons to finish packing up the skeleton on the ground. As they work on this task the caretaker appears with a lantern demanding to know what is going on. Aashdoshan placates the caretaker by paying him his “standard” fee and then departs with several skeletons in his sack. He hides the sack outside the town and returns to the Chapter House.

The next day, Lakima receives a message from Alayna telling him that her father has arrived for the wedding. Lakima heads over to her shop and home. He hears raised voices from outside the door to the shop. Lakima enters and casts Friends on Alayna’s father Nevain. Nevain immediately changes his demeanor and warmly greets his new son-in-law. After Nevain leaves for the Inn where he is staying, Alayna suspiciously asks Lakima what he did.

Alonso heads over to Cromly’s smithy and pays the smith the 2800 gold fee required for the smith to turn the black dragon scales into a suit of armor. Eathwund checks in on the progress at the Tavern. to see if it is ready for the wedding reception. Issac the carpenter tells him that a pair of men tried to run his workman off of the site, claiming there were new owners. He did not believe them. Eathwund pays Issac extra to get the exterior of the tavern cleaned up before the wedding which is in three days.

Over the next few days, preparations are completed for the Wedding of Lakima and Alayna. On the wedding day, the members of the Company travel to the Church of St. Cuthbert, and the guests begin to arrive. Before the ceremony can begin there is a brief scuffle between members of the opposing Torenescu and Vorloi merchant families. But it is quickly diffused. The ceremony is presided over by their old friend Abbot Marta and most of the name families in Edgerton are in attendance.  Once the ceremony is complete both Alonso and Eathwund are forced to intervene when an unknown guest draws a venom-coated dagger and moves to attack Lakima. The man disappears as soon as he is spotted. Lakima calms the crowd with a speech assuring them that they were not the target.

Most of the wedding party moves to the Sign of the Purple Bugbear tavern. Lakima and Alayna open gifts from their friends. Alayna is thrilled with the gift of a magical guardian from the Vorloi family. Lakima accepts a magical arrow from Ennio NeMoren. One of the last gifts opened contains a distinctive Veiled Society cloak - a clear warning. Checking the packaging they find it has no sender name on it. Wine is poured and prepared for toasts but Nevain throws his wine to the floor and warns everyone that it is poisoned. Just then, Grygori Vorloi stumbles to the floor having quaffed his wine early. Abbot Marta prays over Grygori healing him. The guests then begin to leave a few families at a time.

Late in the evening, only a few people remain. Lakima and Alayna have gone to her home. A drunken friend Nash is helped upstairs to a bed. Only Abbot Marta, Lantosh, Fenris, and Domago are in the tavern room watching the servers start the clean-up. Suddenly, one of the servers approaches Domago and stabs him with a dagger. The man then runs out through the kitchen. Fenris goes quickly in pursuit. Marta and Lantosh run to Domago’s aid. Eathwund and Nevain return from the second floor and see the situation. Nevain quickly concocts an antidote to the snake poison that is in the wound and saves Domago from death. Meanwhile, upstairs, Eathwund and Nevain find a dead man lying in one of the beds in the clothes of a server.

Domago is put in a room on the second floor. They learn that the man who stabbed Domago was disguised as the server who they found dead upstairs. The other servers tell them the man was named Ballard. Lantosh and Marta leave. Eathwund spends the night on guard in the tavern room. Early in the morning, he is awoken by someone nailing a dead crow to his tavern door. He examines the crow and finds a message in its gullet. It says “Leave Town”. Nevain arrives and lets Eathwund know that Domago will sleep a while longer but appears to be okay. Nash leaves. Eathwund heads over to the magistrates once Issac and the other carpenters arrive. Eathwund learns that he is the sole owner of the tavern. No one else has made a claim. He also goes to Lawlord Colten Brightmoor to report the incidents at the tavern. Brightmoor listens and agrees to stand extra watch around the tavern. Brightmoor also tells Eathwund about rumors that the old Black Dragon of the cursed marshes has been spotted around the Hillside villages. In that same region, people have been going missing. He tells Eathwund of a bounty on the head of the dragon. Eathwund returns to the Chapter House and tells everyone who is there what he has learned. Aashdoshan pays a visit to Ballard’s home and gifts the widow with some coin.

That evening Eathwund is again on guard in the Tavern. He is awakened by noises outside and catches a thug trying to set fire to the tavern. He subdues the thug and takes him over to the Chapter House. Lakima arrives and everyone convenes in the common room. Fenris tells them the man he chased from the Tavern lost him. In his opinion, the man is a professional killer. The thug is questioned and threatened with one of Aashdoshan’s skeletons. The man tells them he is in the Wallis' gang (the Emerald Street gang) and they were paid to run Eathwund out of town. Lakima sends the man away with a message for the gang leader Wallis. Later that day a message arrives from the same gang promising no further issues. The local thieves apparently thoroughly terrified of the Company of the Black Dragon.

Lakima and Aashdoshan head over to the Apothecary and speak to Malyn. Lakima tells Malyn he needs a protector spirit for Alayna since he will be leaving town. Malyn asks why and Lakima explains the assassination attempts. Malyn tells Lakima he does not know the Invisible Stalker spell but he does have another ritual in mind - if Lakima can afford to pay for it. A sum is agreed upon and Malyn takes Lakima and Aashdoshan back into the concealed Temple of the Dark Lady. Malyn manages to Contact a Higher Plane and is awarded the answers to three questions. They learn that an assassin has been paid by Zweis Radu of the Veiled Society to kill Lakima (the spell actually uses Lakima’s true name), Eathwund, and Domago. They also learn that the assassin is currently at the Purple Bugbear Tavern.

The Wedding Map

OSR Skirmishes

A few sessions ago I had to run a fairly large fight using the Swords & Wizardry rules. On one side were seven adventurers and on the other side were 30 Lizard Men attacking from multiple directions. This is where OSR rules like Swords & Wizardry really work well. In d20 this would take the entire session. In 5e I think it would be a little smoother but still a few hours. In Swords & Wizardry, we were able to finish the battle in about an hour.

I spread out the Lizard Men ambush to prevent the player magic-users from wiping out all of their opponents with a few well-placed area-effect spells but the wizards still controlled the battlefield. As the players increase in level the magic-users become more and more powerful. Effecting battles with many opponents with area spells like Fireball, Sleep, and Web and also impacting single, powerful opponents with spells like Confusion, Charm Monster, and Lightning Bolt. It means I have to put a lot of thought into creating situations where the two human fighters have an important role.

The adventure this week is a slightly altered version of the Creations Edge Games Swords & Wizardry adventure Swamp of Secrets written by Matthew E Kline.

Session 52: Lizard Man ambush

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alonso (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Domago (human cleric NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC).

The adventurers pole their rafts up to a sandy beach below the rock outcrop where their map notes the Lizard Men lair. As they step off the raft the view of the cave entrance they had spotted earlier is blocked by a shelf of rock ten feet high. Lakima orders Fenris up onto the shelf to scout the cave entrance. Fenris deftly climbs up and moves forward followed by Eathwund and Alonso. As Fenris nears the edge of the shelf he spots a band of Lizard Men just below and before the entrance to the cave. He signals the other adventurers. Aashdoshan climbs up on the shelf and casts a Web spell. The sticky, web strands drop from the sky and cover the large group of Lizard Men. Fenris, Lantosh, and Eathwund fire arrows and sling stones into the entangled Lizard Men. As they all move forward to attack the struggling foes, bands of Lizard Men rise out of the water to their right, and behind them amongst the rafts. Another group pours out of the cave's mouth. In all the adventurers find themselves surrounded on a shelf of rock by at least thirty Lizard Men. Aashdoshan would later remark that the creatures seemed to be lying in wait for them.

Eathwund and Fenris continue to fire on the Lizard Men caught in the webs. Meanwhile, Aashdoshan successfully casts Sleep on the Lizard Men south of the shelf. He also throws his magical dagger but it misses and sinks into the swamp. The Lizard Men sink beneath the level of the water. Lakima moves to the back of the shelf facing the beach and casts Fireball on the Lizard Men rising up out of the swamp near their rafts. The fire blasts through the defenseless Lizard Men and all but one of them are killed.

The Lizard Men that exited the cave mouth split their forces. Half attempt to skirt around the webs and reach Alonso and Eathwund. The other half of Lizard Men swim out into the swamp and begin waking up the Lizardmen affected by the sleep spell.

Lakima spots this action and walks back across the shelf and casts another Fireball spell. This one lands amongst the sleeping Lizard Men and the Lizard Men trying to wake them. All of the Lizard Men are killed instantly.

At this point, only five or six of the thirty attacking Lizard Men remain standing. Eathwund and Alonso leap onto them and attack with swords. Domago finds himself in a struggle with one maddened, burned Lizard Man who slashes him with claws several times. Aashdoshan tries to help Domago but struggles with the tight melee and is also slashed and bitten. Lantosh and Lakima end up rescuing the pair Lakima using expertly tossed darts and Lantosh using his Battleax (Aashdoshan the necromancer is almost killed, showing how magic-users are in melee).

Finally, the battle is over. All of the heroes remain standing - while Lizard Men lie dead and twisted on the beach and floating face down in the swamp. It is all over in a matter of a few minutes. Aashdoshan spends a few minutes trying to find his dagger in the swamp without success.

Fenris is ordered to lead the way into the cave. He grabs a torch and lights it and leads the way in followed closely by Eathwund and then Alonso. Fenris spots a group of Lizard Men waiting to ambush them on a high ledge above the passage. The Lizard Men are armed with wooden spears. Eathwund, Alonso, and Lantosh rush forward toward the crude stair of rock leading up to the ledge while the Lizard Men hurl spears at them. Eathwund uses his shield to bash away the spears. Fenris moves to a position to cover them with shots from his crossbow. As Alonso mounts the first step up the stair he becomes aware of a dark shape moving further back in the cave.

The cave they are in has a high ledge where the Lizard Men reside tossing spears, and the cave also drops away to a lower area. As Alonso turns to face the new threat he perceived - he sees a Black Dragon raise its head to the level of the area he is on. It opens its mouth and blasts him with a stream of steaming acid that splashes over the fighter burning through clothing and armor. As Lakima is yelling for everyone to get back and he begins to prepare a spell, Lantosh rushes forward to confront the dragon. The Dragon looks down and grabs Lantosh in its jaws, crushing the screaming man and hurling him through the air into a rock wall. With the area clear, Lakima casts the spell Lightning Bolt. The bolt hits the Black Dragon right in its exposed chest and lightning courses down its body. The Black Dragon collapses to the cave floor in a smoking heap.

Meanwhile, Eathwund has worked his way down the group of Lizard Men chopping them down one at a time. He is aided by two skeletons under the control of Aashdoshan. In the melee, both of the skeletons are destroyed but all of the Lizard Men also fall. Lantosh staggers to his feet.

Fenris comes forward with his torch and Alonso checks the Black Dragon corpse. He confirms that the 20-foot long beast is dead. The heroes congregate about the body and begin discussing what parts of the body they can harvest. Aashdoshan pulls out a knife and starts working on removing a tooth. Alonso starts sawing away at a hardened scale. Domago goes to Lantosh’s aid and casts Cure Light Wounds on the badly injured man. After several minutes, the heroes remember their mission and begin looking about for human captives. Fenris finds piles of coins hidden under a bed of leaves. Eathwund notices a wooden door to the north. Eathwund shoulders the door open and finds the six missing miners, battered and hungry but alive. He brings them back to the main group.

Searching through the treasure, Fenris finds a pair of boots and a suit of chainmail. Lakima casts Detect Magic and discovers they are magical (one boot more than the other). In the toe of one boot, they find a potion. Eathwund searches beds of leaves scattered in another cave and he finds a few items including a rotted journal. One readable page in the journal contains The Ballad of Sakatha.

Lakima spends some time convincing the bedraggled miners to carry some of the gold and silver that has been found out of the mine. Eathwund finds another door and opens it. In the chamber is a small ledge over a pool of swampy water. He spots a chest and moves toward it. As he does he feel a strange influence over his mind but shakes it off and quickly leaves the chamber. Hearing that there is a chest in the chamber, Lakima tells Fenris to check into it. Fenris comes back with some rotting sacks and a short sword. He also reports some evil influence in the chamber that he was able to fight off.

With a total of 12 men and 1 woman in the party now counting the miners, the group has a decision to make. They decide to split up. Lakima, Eathwund, and Fenris will remain in the cave. The rest will take the three rafts back to Boggy Bifor’s. Once there they will drop off the miners and return with the rafts to collect their comrades.

The plan almost goes awry as the trio left in the caves is attacked the next day by a small hunting party of Lizard Men. Lakima’s Lightning bolt kills most of the creatures and Eathwund finishes them off. Aashdoshan, Alonso, Lantosh, Domago, and the rescued miners are attacked by a giant snake while making their way across the swamp. Alonso manages to kill it.

At Boggy Bifor’s they are greeted by the dwarf hermit. He askes them a lot of questions about what happened. They send the miners on to Whetwhistle village in boats. Aashdoshan finds an opportunity to confront Bifor alone and accuses the dwarf of warning the Lizard Men that they were coming. The dwarf angrily orders them off his island.

The adventurers collect the heroes remaining in the Lizard Man lair and then return via BIfor’s hut to the river. Once there they signal the village and boats are sent to pick them up. They all head immediately for The Goose tavern. Wexley listens to their story and tells them what he knows about the legend of the Lizard King Sakatha and his Ring of Wishes. They give 150 silver to each of the miners and tell Wexley to use much of the rest to hire mercenaries to protect the mine.

The next day the adventurers return to the town of Edgerton. Lakima checks in with Alayna and gets to work on sending out invitations to the wedding which is just over a week away. Alonso takes some Black Dragon scales to a leatherworker to get them made into a purse. He also speaks to the Smith Cromly about getting a suit of Black dragon scales made. The price of 2,800 gold is very steep and he decides to think about it. Eathwund goes to check into the progress Issac has made on cleaning up the Ten Bells Tavern. He is pleased to see how far it has come. The two main floors are cleaned up and ready to receive customers. He just needs staff and provisions to get things open. He also shows Issac the sign he wants for the tavern. Issac tells him that he can get a sign made for him.

Late one night, after everyone has gone to sleep Aashdoshan and Fenris slip out of the town to the nearby cemetery. Aashdoshan raises his two skeleton friends and sets them to work digging up a grave.

Secret of the Swamp

 Now I am caught up again. So last weekend in Session 51 the heroes planned for a Wedding and learned that the Copper mine they part-own was attacked. Now reduced to 4 players and 3 NPCs the group headed to the village of Whetwhistle to investigate.

I used the Creations Edge Games adventure Swamp of Secrets by Matthew E. Kline. I made some changes to fit my campaign. I am also using some parts from module I2: Tomb of the Lizard King by Mark Acres. This is a 1st edition adventure from venerable TSR.

Session 51: Secret of the Swamps

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alonso (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Domago (human cleric NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC).

The full Company of the Black Dragon spends a few days of relaxation in Edgerton. Lakima goes to the Church of St. Cuthbert to speak to Abbot Marta. He arrives in time for service and waits for it to end. On speaking to his old friend he tells him that he wants to get married in this Church. Marta is happy to oblige and imparts some advice. The date is tentatively set for 2 weeks hence. Lakima heads across town to tell his intended Alayna the news.

Eathwund checks on the progress at the old Ten Bells Tavern. All of the workmen have left and the work he ordered is complete. The tavern needs a lot of cleaning work to be done on the inside but the structure is stable and the major repairs are complete. He spends a few hours straightening up the tavern common room.

Aashdoshan spends some time walking about Edgerton - a town he is unfamiliar with. He finds a full cemetery near the Church of St. Aleena. Aashdoshan enters the nearby church and offers his services as a healer. The Abbot asks him a few questions and declines to accept the help when Aashdoshan does not provide information on which god he worships. Aashdoshan later finds a lonely Mausoleum in the shadows of the Keep walls and spends some number of hours working on his collection of bones (in fact the Mausoleum that houses the Everflame from an earlier adventure).

Alonso goes looking for a bookshop. He finds Pages’ Pages - a small bookshop near the Main Square. Alonso asks the owner Jordan if he has a book about Rangers. Jordan tells him they do not have anything on that topic.

Domago spends a few days at the Church of St. Aleena. Lantosh and Fenris spend the downtime relaxing.

Later in the day, Aashdoshan follows rumors of a ghost to the Ten Bells Tavern in Mirdton. There he meets his new friend Eathwund who is the owner of the tavern. Aashdoshan asks Eathwund about the rumors of a ghost and learns about the ghost of Mari Kell. He asks Eathwund if he can stay the night in the tavern and speak to the ghost. Eathwund shrugs and says he does not care one way or another.

Lakima tells Alayna about the marriage date and she is thrilled. She also asks a few questions about the size of the ceremony. Alayna tells Lakima she will invite her father despite their falling out. When last she heard he was a food taster in Uthersberg. So she pays to send a message by bird.

Lakima heads over to Clearwin’s oddities and tries to sell the Elven altarpieces he looted from Haven. Clearwin is reluctant to buy them - being concerned about their providence. He does buy a suit of Elven Chainmail from Lakima for a considerable sum. He also asks Lakima to please take the staff he worked on for Aashdoshan. Clearwin seems inordinately happy to be rid of it. Lakima meets with Naerin at the Elven Estate and gets the payment for the mission to the Feywild.

Lakima meets with members of the Company that evening and splits up the proceeds from the last adventure. Fenris mentions spending a little on better armor.

Overnight Aashdoshan performs a ceremony to contact the ghost in the tavern. Mari Kell appears and answers three questions. Aashdoshan learns that she still haunts the tavern because she wants her killer brought to justice.

The next day a tired looking (isn’t he always tired looking?) Aashdoshan returns to the Chapter House. Lakima presents him with his Staff that incorporates the femur and eye of the Ghoul King. While storing the staff Aashdoshan thinks he notices the eye blink and look at him.

An urgent message arrives from Wexley Windham in Whetwhistle. Their business partner asks for their help. Lizard Men have attacked the mine and made off with a number of miners. The company decides to leave for Whetwhistle that very day.

Eathwund takes care of some business with Issac the carpenter. Lakima has asked him if the Tavern can be used for the wedding reception and he wants it repaired.

The company of seven heroes sets out on horseback for Whetwhistle which is an 8-hour ride away. Shortly before they arrive at the village they are attacked along the road by a small band of Lizard Men. All of the heroes, with the exception of Fenris dismount, and fight. Aashdoshan animates two skeletons to defend himself. Eathwund and Alonso carry the bulk of the melee fight killing several Lizard Men. The Lizard Men attack with crude wooden spears. Lakima casts Charm Monster and enthralls two of the Lizard Men. One walks over to him and tries to spark with him. The other runs away. After a short fight, Fenris is wounded and his horse is killed, but the rest of the Lizard Men are either killed or run away. The one remaining charmed Lizard Man stays near Lakima but he is unable to converse with it so they mount their horses and leave the Lizard Man behind.

Arriving in Whetwhistle the heroes go straight to the Goose Inn. Wexley greets them and tells them about the attack on the mine. Lizard Men attacked at night and killed two miners, and captured another six. Their dwarven foreman survived the attack and described hearing a flying reptile during the attack. Wexley tells them that the Lizard Men have never attacked the mine or Whetwhistle before. They never leave the swamp. Even in the swamps they usually avoid humans. Something must be stirring them up.

They assure Wexley that they will hire mercenaries to protect the mine. They also tell him that they will track the Lizard Men to their lair to get to the bottom of this. Wexley suggests that they start by asking a strange dwarf named Bifor who lives in the swamp.

Wexley provides two boats and the heroes split up and head by boat into the Cursed Marsh. The marshlands are still because of the cold weather. They see only the occasional reptile in the water. They follow wooden marker posts erected in the swamp that lead them directly to Boggy Bifor’s shack.

Bifor greets them enthusiastically. He turns out to be a peculiar, bald and beardless dwarf who lives in a collection of shacks in the swamp. He appears to make his living selling maps, rafts, and battered (used) equipment. He seems surprised by the Lizard Man attacks telling them that the Lizard Men tribes are peaceful. “{If you don’t bother them they won’t bother you!”

Aashdoshan convinces Bifor to teach him a few words in Draconic - the language of the Lizard Men. Words like “Bres’Vak” meaning friend. They also purchase a map to the nearest Lizard Man lair and three rafts. Bifor assures them that the swamp is too shallow for their rowboats. They leave their rowboats with Bifor.

The map provided by BIfor is crude but effective. They navigate by local landmarks like “tree stump shaped like a frog”. It soon becomes apparent that they will not reach the Lizard Man lair before dark so they stop and make a cold camp on an island. Watches are set and they do spot a will-o-the-whisp during the evening but ignore it.

The next day they set out again. Before noon they spot the hill marked as a collection of buildings on the map. A large, rocky hill rises out of the swamp. A cave mouth in the side of it.

Environmental disaster

Another Session report as I try to get caught up. This one from 2 weeks ago. For this one, I had two adventures prepared - one that the players could not really avoid and one that they could and did. It left me scrambling to keep ahead of them. I used a modified version of "Curse of the Web Witch" by Matthew Kline of Creations Edge Games for the Moon Gate and parts of "Darkwood's Secret" by Justin Bacon published by Fantasy Flight Games for the Darkwood.

During this session, the player's wizard used a Fireball spell in a dry, winter forest with the expected consequences. After a few sessions with 5 players, we are down to 4 players again.

Session 50: The Darkwood

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Alonso (Human Fighter), Aashdashon (Human Necromancer), Domago (Human cleric NPC), Lantosh (Human Fighter NPC), Fenris (Human Thief NPC), Slabs (Bugbear NPC), Aron (Human Monk NPC).

After a few days spent resting as guests of Princess Argenta in the Palace of Haven the heroes leave with an elven guide. Naeren Nalil guides them on a long walk through the feywild to the location of a Moon Gate on the tributary of the Farstride river.

On arriving they discover that the woods around the Moon Gate are covered over in huge spider webs. The webs are enormous in size, stretching 30 feet in diameter. Naeren tells them that this is not how the Moon Gate looked when last he passed through 200 years ago (a week ago to the elf). They follow a clear path into the woods are they are immediately attacked by a pair of humanoid spider creatures (ettercap). Lakima and Domago become stuck in a sticky web trap hidden by dead leaves.  Meanwhile, Aron, who was scouting ahead is stabbed twice by an ettercap and then poisoned by its bite. Aron falls to the forest floor unconscious.

Eathwund and Alonso push forward and attack another of the creatures while Aashdoshan sends his skeleton minion to attack it as well. Fenris runs over to help Lakima get free of the webbing. Seeing that Aron has fallen, Aashdoshan moves to his side and enacts a strange magical ritual in which he transfers life-force to the fallen monk. Domago who is still stuck in the webbing tosses Aashdoshan his last potion of neutralize poison. A moment after Aashdoshan finishes the ritual and administers the potion, Aron sputters awake.

The fighting continues with the adventurers pushing the ettercap back into the forest down a side path. The creatures fall to the ground and are killed but let out loud shrieks as they die. Just as the heroes pause to catch their breath they spot several more ettercap coming towards them from the side trail. Lakima yells for everyone to get back and he throws a fireball into the center of the pack of creatures. Naeren can be heard yelling, "Wait! What about the trees!" as the explosion wipes out several ettercap and sends the two survivors limping in retreat over a stone bridge the spans the Farstride river.

Naeren comes up to Lakima and tells him that the fire he has started stands between the company and the Moon Gate. As they watch the fire sputters out for the most part. Some trees continue to smolder.

Aashdoshan sends his skeleton minion further ahead to scout. The skeleton approaches the bridge and the heroes see the two fire-injured ettercap on the other side. They also see numerous giant spiders crawling out from the underside of the bridge. Lakima again hurls another fireball. This one detonates on the far bank of the river with an explosion of flame. The ettercap are incinerated and numerous giant spiders emerge from under the bridge on fire. They are consumed by the flames fairly quickly. The fireball blast also ignites many of the trees of the forest and a forest fire starts to blaze away on the far bank.

Naeren again warns them that the fire is spreading in the direction of the Moon Gate. Eathwund, Alonso, and Aron quickly run across the stone bridge. Ahead of them, they see three giant spiders fully 6 feet long in size waiting for them. The rest of the adventurers soon catch up. As they watch the spiders stay back, blocking their path ahead but seemingly held at bay by the growing fire. Lakima casts a Lightning bolt and one of the spiders is killed. But the remaining spiders retreat into a tunnel of spiderwebs between the trees. Lakima looks at Naeren who nods, "That is in the direction of the Moon Gate!" The heroes move toward the narrow path that the giant spiders have taken. They see a 10 foot in diameter tunnel through the forest wrapped in spider webs. The two giant spiders wait before an eight-foot-tall stone archway that is completely draped in spiderwebs. Glints of gold and silver peak out from the foot of the archway. Lakima cautions against approaching but his charmed Bugbear lets out a roar and runs at one of the spiders. Eathwund quickly follows. The bugbear crushes one spider and Eathwund kills the other. Eathwund lights a torch and starts burning the webbing away from the archway. As he is concentrating on that task he hears the bugbear growl and move past him. From out of the trees emerges a strange, fey creature. Part scorpion, part spider, and part humanoid female. The odd creature slashes at the bugbear and Alonso with sharp claws. Eathwund finishes burning away the webbing over the gate. He can see the stars shining in the gateway. While Eathwund, Alonso, Aron, and the bugbear battle the spider-creature in melee the rest of the heroes use missile weapons. The creature is struck several times before hitting the bugbear with its poisonous stinger. The bugbear collapses to the ground. The fey creature then turns its attacks onto Alonso but the fighter is able to deflect its blows with his two-handed sword. After several tense moments, the creature is finally struck down. They quickly examine the Moon Gate and find dozens of gold and silver spider tokens spread at its base. As the fire is getting closer, Lakima asks Naeren "How do we work the Gate?" Naeren replies that they only need to jump in. Lakima goes first followed by the elf and Aashdoshan. One by one the adventurers step through the Moon Gate. Eathwund comes last hauling the enormous body of the bugbear.

The heroes find themselves stepping out of a similar Moon Gate located in a quiet forest. The temperature is much colder but the forest is much more sparse than the feywild. A familiar sun beams down upon them. Naeren takes a little bit of time to get his bearings. He points out the tall hill on which the ruins of Haven stand. A jumble of rocks for the most part. Then he points out an overgrown road of paving stones. The forest has started to reclaim it but it is still clearly a road. He tells them this will lead them in the direction of the Bridgeway. The adventurers take a moment to reflect and discuss where to head first. They are all anxious to get back to civilization. Lakima and Eathwund point to the road and decide the best course of action is to head to the Bridgeway and portal directly to Edgerton. Aashdoshan tells them he would like to join them. However, Aron tells them this is where their paths will diverge. He has accomplished what he set out to do in breaking the curse on Haven. He has other tasks in mind. Aron takes his leave and heads south. Naeren tells the adventurers he will take them at least as far as the Bridgeway. He has been tasked by his Princess with speaking with the Grand Duke in Dolmvay but the Bridgeway is on his way there.

Their final task before setting out is to bury their Bugbear companion. He may have been placed under a Charm to serve them but many of the heroes profess that they considered the bugbear a companion. A simple hole is dug and the body is placed in it. Aashdoshan draws some ritual marks on the bugbears' forehead. Then Domago wipes the marks off telling the necromancer that the body should not be disturbed. The hole is filled in and rocks placed over the top of it. Naeren seems a little off-put by the placement of a bugbear burial mound in what was once the town of Haven.

Naeren sets off following the trail with the adventurers following him. They march for an entire day through the woods. The road turns into a wide trail and then a narrow path through a forest that gets steadily wilder, darker, and more congested. As evening arrives the Elf calls for a halt and they make camp. Around the campfire, Naeren confesses that the woods have changed dramatically since he last passed through them. For him, it has only seemed a few weeks since he took this trail. But it has in fact been over 200 years. He tells them of his concerns for the state of the forest. The forest is quiet and oppressive. He says that it feels to him like an extension of the Darkwood. When asked for an explanation he tells them that the Darkwood is a small area of the forest where Dark Fey creatures gather and hold dominion. The elves of the Athan Forest (as he calls the Kings Wood) made a Pact with the Dark Fey. As long as they stayed in their part of the forest the elves would do the same and no conflict would occur between them. Now that the elves have been gone from these woods for 200 years it seems that the Darkwood has spread. He warns them that many dark fey creatures inhabit the Darkwood and some of the normal forest creatures are evil and twisted.

They set out again the next day. The trail becomes more difficult. In some places, it disappears from view or other paths overlap it as if the forest is trying to get them lost. Naeren stops frequently to get his bearings. When he is asked several times if they are lost he assures everyone that he knows the way, "Things have just changed!" They have a brief encounter with Assassin Vines in a particularly dark part of the forest with vines choking the trees lining the path. Then they stop again for the night. The camp is set and some downed wood is collected for the campfire. At the end of Lakima and Lantosh's watch, a cold fog begins to move out of the woods. The fog stays low to the ground and is kept at bay by their fire. As Lakima goes to awaken Aashdoshan he spots a bright light drifting through the woods. He warns Aashdoshan and Domago about the lights, "Will-o-whisps! Stick close to the fire and we will be safe." Aashdoshan and Domago watch the lights for several hours but they never move nearer. Eventually, they leave, and the fog dissipates.

The next day they start to make slightly better time. Naeren tells them it should be a day and a half more of travel to reach the Bridgeway. The forest starts to get a little brighter. The path is gone by now by Naeren seems to know the way. In the afternoon while walking they hear something enormous crashing through the woods seemingly following them on a parallel path but they quicken their pace and leave it behind. That night when they make camp the forest almost looks normal. The next day they reach the Bridgeway before noon.

The Bridgeway looks fairly deserted. They see few signs of the goblin army and no sign of their horses. Eathwund knocks on the door and the custodian Ezmeralden answers. The custodian is happy to see them and he calls for their ostler Nash who has been staying at the Bridgeway. Nash tells them he constructed a lean-to shelter for the horses in the woods. Ezmeralden asks them about their adventures in the Feywild and asks how they managed to return. In the conversation, Naeren learns the identity of the Elven ambassador who hired them. He tells them that Wynather is his uncle. Discovering that his uncle is in Edgerton, Naeren says he will join them on their trip. After a pleasant meal Ezmeralden sets the artifact to show the Asboro bridge in Edgerton. The adventurers carefully lead their horses across the bridge and appear at the foot of the bridge in the town. Aashdoshan uses magic to cover their arrival in a gust of wind and dust. But some townsfolk are still startled and a few run away screaming by the sudden appearance of the adventurers.

Naeren asks for directions to the Elven estate and takes his leave for the group. He tells them they will meet again soon. Aashdoshan accepts an invite to the Chapter House of the Black Dragon Company. Arriving at the Chapter house Huntley takes their arrival in stride. He tells Lakima that his apprentice is not in today having told him that he had an errand in the market. Everyone gets settled and Lakima heads over to see his fiancee Alayna. Aashdoshan asks Eathwund about a likely spot to get some tinkering done and he is directed to Clearwin's Oddities. After a little bartering Clearwin agrees to affix the Eye to his new Bone Staff.

Salvation Rides on Dragon's Wings

I have gotten a few (3) weeks behind in posting Session reports. The players finished off the re-mastered Palace of the Silver Princess a couple of weeks ago. We had a new player join the party. The player asked what class would fit the party but I told him to play whatever he wants. NPCs can fill out missing roles. So he decided to play a Wizard. I had a private session with the player to work out how Roll20 works and roll up his character. During the discussion, he asked if his wizard could have some leanings toward a necromancer. I found an OSR Necromancer class online and we made a few tweaks to it to make it work. Bringing in a necromancer, who the player felt would be a generally good but misunderstood individual allowed me to introduce a few elements of a back story I have been trying to introduce for some time. The missing body parts of the Ghoul King. The Necromancer had in his possession a staff with a mummified eye on it that was the source of his spellcasting ability. 

The basic template came from The OSR Library webpage by David Baymiller.  I made some minor changes in spells to fit my Swords & Wizardry campaign.

http://theosrlibrary.blogspot.com/2018/08/necromancer-for-basic-games.html

Necromancer

The class is open only to humans and they must be non-Lawful.

Prerequisites: Int 13+, Con 13+, non Lawful

Class Abilities:

Servitor Undead: 

Once per day Necromancers can raise servitor zombies or skeletons but the total HD of Servitor Undead cannot exceed the necromancer's level. He can replace lost servitors each day if he has the corpses to do so but, again, the total HD of all, yesterday's, today's, tomorrow's, etc cannot exceed his level in HD. The actual ritual to raise the servitors takes one minute per HD raised.

Banish Undead:

Necromancers can banish undead as if they were clerics. A "D" results in the undead either being destroyed or, if the Necromancer chooses, falling under the control of the Necromancer for a number of rounds equal to half the Necromancer's level before de-animating. This does not count against his HD total of Servitor Undead as these are extremely limited.

Spell Casting: 

Necromancers cast spells as per regular Magic-users, but because so much of the Necromancer's studying is devoted to death and the dead, Necromancers have a limited spell list compared to a normal Magic-User.

Necromancer Spell List:

Cantrips: Detect Magic, Read Magic, 

Level One: Drain Life, Charm Person, Hold Portal, Light, Magic Missile, Read Languages, Identify, Shield, Sleep.

Level Two: Continual Light, Darkness, 15' Radius, Detect Evil, Detect Invisibility, ESP, Invisibility, Knock, Locate Object, Mirror Image, Stinking Cloud, Web, Wizard Lock.

Level Three: Cause Disease (cleric spell), Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, Darkvision, Dispel Magic, Fireball, Hold Person, Invisibility 10' Radius, Lightning Bolt, Undead Summoning I, Protection from Evil 10' Radius, Slow, Speak with Dead (cleric spell), Suggestion, Life Transference.

Level Four: Major Drain Life, Charm Monster, Confusion, Dimension Door, Extension I, Fear, Undead Summoning II, Remove Curse, Snake Charm (cleric spell), Wizard Eye.

Level Five: Animate Dead, Cloudkill, Contact Other Plane, Extension II, Feeblemind, Finger of Death (cleric spell), Hold Monster, Magic Jar, Undead Summoning III, Passwall, Telekinesis, Teleport, Transmute Rock to Mud.

Level Six: Anti-Magic Shell, Death Spell, Disintegrate, Ghostly Servitor, Legend Lore, Undead Summoning IV, Project Image, Repulsion, Stone to Flesh.

Level Seven: Cacodemon (cleric spell), Delayed Blast Fireball, Extension III, Mass Invisibility, Undead Summoning V, Phase Door, Power Word Stun.

Level Eight: Clone, Mass Charm, Mind Blank, Undead Summoning VI, Power Word Blind, Symbol.

Level Nine: Astral Spell, Gate, Meteor Swarm, Undead Summoning VII, Power World Kill, Time Stop.

Session 49: Salvation rides on Dragon’s Wings

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Alonso (Human Fighter), Aron (Human Monk), Aashdashon (Human Necromancer), Domago (Human cleric NPC), Lantosh (Human Fighter NPC), Fenris (Human Thief NPC), Slabs (Bugbear NPC).

While the Company of the Black Dragon is busy looting the chapel in the Palace another man is pacing in his room in the Palace. Aashdoshan the Necromancer has made his way to the Ice Palace to meet with Catharandamus. He has learned that Catharandamus has possession of something he wants. Under the pretext of having a tribe of Quicklings that can be hired as mercenaries, Aashdoshan waits to meet with Catharandamus. But he has been waiting a week. As he paces in his room he hears a number of footsteps in the hall. Opening his door he is confronted by a large adventuring party.

The company comes across a human wizard dressed in a hooded grey robe. The man claims to be seeking something that is in the possession of Catharandamus and is willing to show them the quickest path to the audience room where they can meet him.

The group set out together for the stairs to the next level. Before ascending the stairs they see two doors partially blocked by rubble. Aashdoshan tells them that he was warned by the Spriggan guards not to open the doors. Lakima is intrigued and suggests there might be treasure behind the doors. Aron suggests that they have a mission and they should proceed quickly and avoid unnecessary confrontation. Lakima wins out and the group opens one door and enters a large, dark banquet hall. Wooden beams span from the walls and crisscross overhead. Fenris makes his way to the edge of the darkness and is greeted by four High elves having dinner with wine and pork at the end of a long table. Lakima becomes suspicious and casts Detect Magic. He immediately discerns that the elves are an illusion. Looking up into the rafters Lakima sees an enormous green monster with nine tentacles and a huge mouth.

The creature lashes out with eight of the tentacles while hanging from the rafters with the last tentacle. Both Lakima and his charmed bugbear are grasped around the neck by tentacles dragging them off their feet and slowly choking them. Other tentacles strike Lantosh and Fenris. Aron, Eathwund, and Alonso hack away at the tentacles with their weapons. Aashdoshan empties his bag and animates two skeletons to protect himself. As the battle continues Lakima is freed from one tentacle. The bugbear continues to struggle. A number of magic missiles from Aashdoshan strike the creature for the killing blow and it crashes to the ground in a heap. Aron and Fenris search the chamber and find nothing. Fenris even makes his way up into the rafters to no avail.

The company of adventurers continues up the stairs to the next level. Aashdoshan sends his captive quickling Moonswirl on ahead into darkness to scout for the party. The quickling returns and tells him that two Spriggan are standing outside a door. Aashdoshan tells them that the door must lead to Catharandamus’ audience chamber. Eathwund, Alonso, Aron, and Lantosh run down the hall and attack the Spriggan. While briefly surprised, the Spriggan are ready by the time the heroes get to them. One grows to double its height and blocks the hall while the other grows and then bangs on the door urgently. The fighting starts with the heroes concentrating the fight on the first Spriggan. The door opens and a coal-skinned dwarf appears clad in platemail. Then a small, white fox springs out of the chamber and releases a blast of ice from its mouth with a roar. Eathwund, Alonso, and Aron are all blasted with the cold. Lakima tells everyone to get ready and then he casts a spell and lobs a small bead of fire over the Spriggan down the hallway. A second later there is a tremendous explosion. Fire engulfs the hallway. The two Spriggan shrink down to their normal 3 feet of height and collapse to the floor as blackened corpses. The fox is incinerated. As the smoke clears the heroes race into the doorway. They see a dark-skinned dwarf lying on the floor dead and another one that is badly injured that raises a battle ax in defense. Slipping through a doorway they see a purple-skinned dark elf making his escape. Lakima yells for Aron to get after the escaping elf. Eathwund attacks and kills the badly injured dark dwarf with a single blow. Aashdoshan enters the room and glances down the hall to see the body of the dead quickling.

Aron chases the elf down a hallway and through a secret door into a throne room. The elf grabs a large red gem off of the throne and holds it up to Aron brandishing a dagger. Aron sees that a red glow emanates from the gem. As he enters the gem’s light he feels a life-sucking cold wash over him. He staggers back and calls out a warning too late as Eathwund and Alonso also step into the cold aura and are similarly affected. Lakima and Aashdoshan join the other members but stay back from the red glow. Aashdoshan tells Lakima that this is Catharandamus the Lord of the Palace. Catharandamus yells for the heroes to stay back or he will “kill her”. They surmise that Princess Argenta must be trapped in this gem. Lakima nods at Aashdoshan and begins to prepare a spell. Lakima casts confusion on Catharandamus and a moment later Aashdoshan casts tap knocking the gem to the ground. Catharandamus is stunned and stands limply. Aron and Alonso drag the unresponsive elf out of the field of the room. The gem is left on the floor in the throne room. Making their way back to the audience chamber they securely tie Catharandamus to a wooden chair. Lakima tells everyone that they will need to wait a few hours for the effects of the spell to wear off so they can question the elf.

Aron spends the time searching the area. In a messy bedroom that must belong to the elf, they find a fine suit of platemail armor. Aron finds a secret door leading into a small chamber. Inside a trapped chest sits on a table. Aron discerns the trap and disables it. Inside they find bags of gold, silver, and gems. They also find a black staff with metal ends that appears to be constructed from a human femur bone. Aashdoshan claims that this is the item he has been searching for and asks to take possession of it. He declares that he asks for no other treasure. Since no one else seems interested in the staff Lakima tells him to take it.

They head back into the audience chamber and find that Aashdoshan has lined up all of the recently killed dark fey creatures on the floor of the room. Aashdoshan busies himself with the creatures carefully marking runes on their foreheads with chalk. Domago longs on disapprovingly and then asks what the necromancer is doing. He does not receive an answer.

While they wait in the room they hear footsteps in the hallway. As they stand quietly there is a knock on the door. They wait and there is another knock. Eventually, whoever is in the hallway walks away. Slowly, Catharandamus comes to his senses and throws off the effects of the confusion spell. He demands that he be released. Lakima questions Catharandamus about the curse that was placed on Haven. At first, the elf refuses, but when threatened by the bugbear he relents a little. Telling them that My Lady’s Heart is the source of the curse. A gift from the Winter Queen. He warns them that if any harm comes to him the Winter Queen’s anger will be frightening to behold. He also laughs when they ask how the curse can be broken. He tells them they lack the power to defeat magic created by the Winter Queen. When asked about the sun sword or a harp he tells them he does not know what they are talking about. Since they are not getting anywhere they decide to continue exploring. Lakima asks Catharandamus where the quarters of the princess are located. He points in the direction.

First, they need to deal with the gem, My Lady’s Heart. Aashdoshan sends one of his skeletons to put it in the treasure chest they found. The skeletons succeed but are destroyed in the process. But the deadly glow of the gem is contained. They search through the Princess’ apartments which appear to have been abandoned for 200 years. In a sitting room, they find a magic cup that swings. It repeats the same riddle over and over:

Three crystal notes, One Dragon of Red, One Shining Sword, all will smash My Lady’s Heart, and lift the curse from Haven.

Listening to the message carefully, Lakima suggests that it might mean that any of the three methods will break the curse. That they need not find the sun sword or the harp.

The adventurers travel back down to the dungeons and locate the cave with the red dragon in it. As they peer around the corner into the cave they see the red dragon gazing intently back at them. Aashdoshan has his last skeleton walk into the cave bearing the chest which it then opens. The dragon does nothing. So Aashdoshan has the skeleton advance toward the dragon. As the red glow strikes the dragon it angrily roars and breaths fire incinerating the skeleton and the wooden chest. They hear a high-pitched tone and suddenly a beautiful elven woman lands on her feet near the charred remains of the skeleton and chest. The dragon rears back in surprise. The elven woman screams when she sees the dragon and turns to flee. Lakima yells for her to run to them.

The elven woman makes it safely to the group of adventurers and collapses in their arms. She tells them she is Princess Argenta of Haven. She has been trapped in a gem in a dreamlike state for hundreds of years. The adventurers answer her questions about who they are and what has happened. They hear a number of elvish voices and see elves emerging from the cave where the statues were stored in large numbers.

The elves escort the adventurers to the throne room where even more elves await. Looking out the windows they see that summer has returned. The snow has melted. The trees are blooming and the river is no longer frozen. The princess thanks them and asks them to stay for a short time so they can be properly rewarded.

The heroes are put up in some rooms on the first floor of the palace. They learn from Mirabilis, a court wizard, that Haven has been reclaimed by summer. All of the winter fey creatures have fled. At a feast held in their honor the Princess rewards each hero with 1500 gold coins. She apologies for the small amount telling them that they have found that most of the treasury is gone. What’s more, many of the artifacts of the palace have been ransacked. Even the silver and altarpieces were stolen from the palace chapel. Argenta promises to have Miribilis find them a way back to the Material plane.

Argenta asks Lakima about the ring he wears, telling him she gave it to Kragor NeMoren many years ago. Lakima allows the Princess to incorrectly assume that he is a descendant of the man she loved so many years ago. After being honored by the elves for three days, Mirabilis comes to them and tells them that there is a nearby Moon Gate that they can take back to the material plane. It is located a few hours from the palace on the summer side of the border in the feywild.