Dealing with Player plans

The session I had this week was all about dealing with the players having a plan. My Swords & Wizardry campaign has a plot going on in the background. The players have interacted with it on occasion but for the most part, they are only slightly aware of it. I hope this will change as they increase in level because dungeon of the month can get boring.

Recently they interacted directly with the plot when one of their NPC party members was kidnapped by doppelgangers. The players did not follow up on the clues but the doppelgangers has a purpose and they were not going to leave the player's characters alone. One ambush on the leader of the party later and they started planning how to get the doppelgangers out in the open. Thankfully the planning for the trap was at the end of a session so I had plenty of time to prepare. They also decided to spring the trap at their home base so I already had the main map ready. It was just a question of creating a few smaller location maps in case they followed up on things.

Everything went off quite well. It is always enjoyable to watch the players take the lead on where they want to go. Since the encounter began at the player's manor house, all of the NPCs for the party were present plus just about everyone they ever interacted with in the town. The Roll20 map of their manor at one point had dozens of tokens moving around on it. It was not as difficult to manage as it sounds.

Session 68: Changeling Ball

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alonso (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Vervork (human fighter NPC), Domago (human cleric NPC), Glason Bosk (human thief NPC), Rune Frost (human wizard NPC).

For two weeks Lakima works on creating the two magical Revealing Portals. During this downtime, his wife Alayna sends out invitations for a Ball to be held at the Black Dragon Manor. She even auditions entertainment. Aashdoshan busies himself with the study and preparation of the Manual of Flesh Golems. The other members of the company take precautions to avoid an ambush by doppelgangers. Always traveling around town in pairs.

The Ball is held after dusk on the evening of Arbel 6th. All of the most important families in Edgerton are invited and most of them have sent their RSVP. In bunches, the guests arrive. Some of the more important merchant families arrive as large groups including retainers who wait outside. Soon the Manor’s Main Hall, Parlor, and Dining Hall are packed with people. Eathwund, Alonso, and a disguised Mimic watch the main door where their man-servant Huntley announces guests. Lantosh and Vervork watch the servant’s entrance. The first excitement occurs when Lantosh catches Nuen of Blackcreek trying to sneak in the servant’s entrance. After a quick word with Lakima, Lantosh tosses Nuen into the street. After speaking with Wynather, the elvish ambassador, Lakima decides to show him the altarpieces they took from Haven – claiming they found them in a hobgoblin lair. Wyanther graciously accepts their return.

All of the party-goers enter through the Revealing Portal that has been placed around the Manor door but nothing interesting happens. That is until the Galvis family arrives. As Lord Galvis steps through the front door he is briefly revealed to be a doppelganger. Eathwund, Alonso, and Lakima immediately react. Lakima casts web over the doorway, missing Lord Galvis but trapping him inside the manor. The rest of his family turn and run away. Eathwund and Alonso attack the doppelganger and kill it with a few well-placed sword thrusts. The commotion at the front door causes a minor panic in the Main Hall. The music stops, some people scream and try to run. But Lakima loudly announces that it is just something they had put in place for everyone’s protection. Everything is okay now.

The dead doppelganger is carried by Eathwund and Alonso across the Main Hall (in front of shocked guests) as Aashdoshan directs them to take the corpse down to the cellar. The corpse is laid out on a table in Aashdoshan’s work area. Alonso heads back up to the Main Hall where Lakima has removed the web. They get back to watching the front door as late-arriving guests continue to enter. The music starts up again and everyone settles down. The ball is a little subdued after that. Lakima discusses the Revealing Portal with the dwarven ambassador who expresses an interest in it. Eventually, the guests begin to leave, some a little earlier than planned.

Meanwhile, Aashdoshan casts Speak with Dead on the doppelganger corpse in the basement. He asks the spirit of the doppelganger three questions and learns that the doppelgangers have taken over Galvis Manor as their new lair. He also learns that only five doppelgangers remain in the gang.

The last few guests are ushered out of the Manor a few hours after midnight. Lakima tells everyone that they need to investigate Galvis Manor immediately – before the doppelgangers have a chance to move to a new hideout. After some convincing, new friends Glason and Rune agree to accompany the group. Aashdoshan brings a skeleton dressed in a hooded robe. The troop of eleven adventurers walks through the quiet streets of Edgerton in the still of the night.

Galvis Manor is a small, two-story building located near the Church of St. Johan. The building is dark with no lights shining out of the windows. Fenris carefully checks the front door and tells everyone that it is locked. Lakima suggests he open it then. Fenris picks the lock on the front door and swings it inwards. The inside of the manor is well-lit by oil lamps, all of the windows are covered with blankets to block the light. In the main hall, a well-dressed woman sees Fenris at the door and screams, “Thieves, intruders, help, help!”

Fenris, Eathwund, Alonso, Vervork, and Lantosh rush into the room to try to prevent the woman from getting away but she darts out of the room into an open sitting area. There they see two of the people they saw at the Manor. Through an open doorway, they also see a man working in the kitchen. The four people snarl and brandish clawed hands at the adventurers, leaving little doubt that they are doppelgangers. There is a furious fight as Fenris and the fighters wade into a melee. Fenris is injured with the swipe of a claw and Lakima yells at him to get back so the fighters can handle things. One of the creatures is killed and turns into the familiar emaciated-looking body of a doppelganger. The rest turn to their true forms. One flees to a dining area and is chased by Lakima’s pet mimic. All four are killed.

Lakima tells everyone to spread out and look for a stair down to a cellar. They search several rooms but do not find any stairs or trap doors leading down. There is a stair leading up to the second floor. On the second floor, Fenris listens at a door and tells everyone he can hear someone pacing. Eathwund flings open the door to the master bedroom and he is startled to see a familiar man pacing in the center of the room – Nevain, Alayna’s father. Alonso and Eathwund advance menacingly on Nevain who cries out his thanks for being rescued. Lakima enters the room and questions Nevain who claims to have been kidnapped and questioned about the members of the Company of the Black Dragon. Uncertain if he is a doppelganger, Lakima tells Nevain to strip off his clothes. Puzzled at first, Nevain complies. His clothes end up in a pile on the bed. Satisfied, Lakima tells Nevain to get dressed and asks him more questions.

Suddenly, a dozen doppelgangers come storming up the stairs from below. Eathwund recovers first and swings his sword at one – and it goes right through it. Aashdoshan shouts out, “But there is only supposed to be five – the dead cannot lie to me?”

Domago declares, “It’s an illusion, disbelieve and they all disappear!” Aashdoshan casts Magic missile, and the missiles harmlessly pass through the doppelgangers. Alonso swings and his sword thrust somehow misses the massed doppelgangers. Slowly, they all begin to question the illusion and it wavers and vanishes. Then a blast of Magic missiles leaves Nevain’s hands and slams into Aashdoshan deeply wounding him.

“Die you vermin!” Nevain yells and waves his hand closing the door to the bedroom and Holding it. A few of the adventurers are caught in the room with him. Lakima calls out, “Don’t hurt him I think they are controlling him!” Eathwund and Alonso strike Nevain with the flats of their blades. Nevain is knocked back toward the bed but recovers and changes his appearance to that of Lakima. “Or maybe not!” Lakima shouts. One more strike from Alonso knocks Nevain unconscious onto the bed. The door to the bedroom has to be smashed to pieces to get it open again.

Lantosh, Vervork, and Lakima search the rest of the second floor finding the real human members of the Galvis family locked in a room. Meanwhile, Alonso and Eathwund search the master bedroom. They find an open chest full of gold coins and a locked desk drawer. Fenris is asked to open the door and he checks it carefully before gasping, “Poison!” and falling dead on the floor. Domago uses his magical tome to neutralize the poison in Fenris’ system. Fenris sits up and tries to pick the lock but his hands are still trembling and he fails. Glason gives it a try and opens the locked drawer quickly with a flourish.

Inside the drawer, they find sheets of paper and some gems. The papers detail the legal and illegal dealings of the Galvis family. There is also a note detailing the location of a magical cudgel in a locked chamber beneath the Church of St. Cuthbert in Edgerton. Finally, there is a strange note:

"I have a task for you, thrall. Meet me at the sewer junction beneath the cold forge and I will give you the details. There are some troublesome vermin that must be removed."

The note is signed with a strange symbol they have seen before. The sign of the Mind Flayer.

Once the gold and gems have been safely stashed away in the Bag of Holding, they let the legitimate Galvis family out of their room. Lord Galvis is questioned. Lakima asks if there is a cellar in the manor but he is told there is not. Lord Galvis laments the ruin that has been brought on his family and business. The adventurers seem unmoved and soon take their leave.

The adventurers arrive back at their Manor House and read through the papers they have found. They connect the cold forge mentioned in the note with a disreputable smithy located in the warehouse district outside the city walls. Lakima suggests they leave immediately to check it out. Aashdoshan points out that he is in need of healing. Healing potions they took from a hobgoblin shaman a few days ago are given to Aashdoshan.

The entire group heads out of the town in the middle of the night, they are stopped by a curious member of the town watch. In the warehouse district, they look for an entrance to sewers or tunnels without success. This part of town is not supposed to have sewers. Fenris picks the lock on the door to the smithy and vanishes inside for 10 minutes. When he emerges, he tells them that he has found a trapdoor leading to a cellar. They head through the empty smithy to the cellar. A short tunnel leads to an ancient sewer. The walls are made of old, crumbling bricks. Stagnant water rests in a channel. They follow the sewer in the direction of the river and come upon a rusted barrier of iron bars. There appears to be no way around it. However, after some searching, they find that a latch allows a section of the barrier to swing open. They pass through and continue along the sewer line.

DM has an off night

I followed up what was one of my favorite sessions ever with a very flat session. The last session had a big, bad creature fight in it that almost wiped out the party and ended on a mystery to be solved. This session began with the players confronting the mystery and then choosing (wisely?) to walk away. From there I felt like I was juggling a disintegrating storyline. I did have another short encounter prepared as a bridge to get the players back to their home base.

I modified "Incident at Strathern Point" from Dungeon Magazine 21, written by Matthew Maaske. I only kept the broad outline of the plot. I used a different map and monsters. But the plot was more or less the same. The problem was that it made the session feel like several small incidents without a real high point. I guess you cannot always end a session on a high note.

Next week should be better as the players have chosen what they want to do next to advance the plot which is always a lot of fun.

Session 67: The Faceless Demon

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

The adventurers try to get some rest to heal in the Cavern where they fought the great cave centipede. The three hobgoblins they captured are tied up under guard. After a long rest, Lakima, Aashdoshan, Fenris, Eathwund, and Rune head back into the trapped hallway beyond the great, glowing seal. They force the hobgoblins to go before them – but the hobgoblins are unable to pass beyond the seal. Lantosh is called up to threaten them, but it appears the seal blocks them from going further. The hobgoblins are sent back to the cavern with Alonso and Lantosh guarding them.

Fenris carefully picks his way across the floor of the tomb to stand near the stone coffin. Then Lakima calls him back. Lakima casts Glow Minion and instructs his magical servitor to move to the stone coffin and open the two unlocked chests the rest near it. Once they are open Fenris checks and tells everyone that one chest holds gold coins and the other holds silver coins. Lakima again motions Fenris back. The Glow Minion is giving a large sack and it slowly fills the sack with gold coins. Once the sack is full the minion comes back and dumps the contents in the Bag of Holding. This is repeated until the minion has emptied both chests. Once this is done Lakima instructs the minion to slide open the stone coffin lid. The lid slides across.

“What sort of rescuer are you?” the adventurers hear the puzzling comment. Then a man sits up in the coffin and slowly climbs out into the chamber. Seeing the adventurers, he advances toward them. Lakima tells him not to come any closer. The man appears to be a normal human male dressed in chainmail armor; two longswords belted at his waist.

There is an exchange of questions between Lakima and the man as Lakima tries to ascertain whether why this man is trapped in this tomb. The man announces that he is Nikel Tempest, and waits expectantly. When no one professes to know that name he claims to be a great adventurer who was cursed by an evil necromancer to rest in eternity in this chamber blocked by the seal in the chamber beyond. Lakima states that the seal blocks creatures of evil from passing it – but Nikel claims that is not the case. He asks if they will destroy the seal to allow him to pass. He has been trapped there for more than 100 years.

The three mages, Lakima, Aashdoshan, and Rune Frost confer. While they are doing this Nikel studies Eathwund who stares back at him. Eathwund begins to feel compassion for Nikel who has been unjustly trapped in the tomb. He begins to think he should destroy the seal. Then Eathwund comes to his senses and questions why he was thinking that. He warns Lakima of the compulsion he felt.

Before anything else can happen, Lakima casts Wall of Iron and separates the chamber. Nikel and his tomb are trapped on the other side. The adventurers leave the tomb. Once back in the cavern – Alonso and Lantosh are told what they found. Alonso immediately recognizes the name Nikel Tempest. He confirms that he was a great hero of the north. Famous for fighting giants. He disappeared in a battle against an evil necromancer over a hundred years ago not far from this very tomb. Lakima suggests that Nikel has become undead and that his friends sealed him in this tomb because they could not bring themselves to kill their companion.

Rune shows Fenris how to operate the secret door in the wall and it is sealed shut. Then Fenris goes to work with his tools and breaks the mechanism so it will not be so easy to open it again. The adventurers then gather their gear and force the hobgoblins to their feet. Lakima has Lantosh explain to the hobgoblins that they will be leading the way out and that there had better not be any tricks or traps. Rune has Lantosh ask the hobgoblins about his backpack which was taken from him and holds his spellbook. The hobgoblins appear to know nothing about it. Rune asks the adventurers if they will help him search the tunnels and caves for his spellbook but the heroes tell him that they are just going to leave and that if he wants to live, he should come with them. The entire party makes it through the tunnels without any incidents.

Once outside the hobgoblins are forced to sit down. The heroes see no sign of Glason, who they left outside near the entrance. They do see several sets of tracks leaving the cave that cross over the tracks they made entering the caves. After some shouting, Glason appears from out of some underbrush and hurries over. Glason tells them that a number of hobgoblins left the caves shortly after they entered so he ran and hid. The hobgoblin he was guarding got away. Rune again suggests re-entering the caves in search of his spellbook, but no one (not even Glason) is interested in accompanying him. Lakima tells Glason that if he journeys back to Edgerton with the Company of the Black Dragon, he will loan a spare spellbook to Rune. Rune eagerly accepts the suggestion.

The party locate their horses and travel quickly back to Caster’s Ford. The horses are returned to the horse merchant. They then get a room at the Blue Dragon Inn for the night. Lakima regales the bar with tales of their latest exploits. Later in the day, they head over to several churches of Law to get healing prayers cast on party members.

The next day the extended group of adventurer’s book passage on a riverboat bound for Edgerton – a 2-day journey. After traveling a short distance from Caster’s Ford, they spot a white dragon flying overhead. The dragon stays out of range but circles the boat three times before flying off to the northwest. The adventurers settle in for the rest of the day. The captain tells them that they should reach Strathern Trading post well before dark and he suggests mooring there. After a few more hours they see the trading post in the distance, another ship is tied up to the dock. As they come closer the captain expresses his unease, there is no sign of activity at the post or on the docked ship and no smoke is rising from the chimney of the trading post. The captain brings his boat in alongside the docked riverboat and sends his hand Lilly over to check. She reports back that the riverboat is empty and half unloaded.

Captain Dashmar askes the adventurers if they will check the situation in the Trading post. They agree and Fenris and Lantosh head over to the docked ship first. There are no signs of fighting or struggle. Everything is just quiet. In fact, they take note of the lack of birdsong in the area. Fenris lead the way up toward the stone-walled trading post followed by the other adventurers. Rune and Glason stay aboard the boat. As they near the trading post they see that the narrow windows are shuttered from inside and the two doors are closed. Fenris reports that the door is unlocked and he carefully opens it. Inside they find a dark trading area cluttered with crates, barrels, and shelves of items. There is no sign of anyone around. While the other adventurers spread out around the building, Fenris and Lantosh search inside. As Alonso gets near the building, his intelligent sword Nuldrang informs him that there are demons nearby. He needs to be ready. Alonso hurries back into the building and stops Fenris before he can open the door to the storeroom. Lakima and Eathwund soon also arrive.

Fenris and Lantosh step back as Eathwund and Alonso join them. Alonso opens the door. On the other side, they spot two disgusting Dretch demons searching through the storeroom. Before they can react, the demons release a noxious cloud that fills the storeroom. The heroes step back into the trading post to avoid it. The two dretches then advance out of the cloud toward them. Alonso and Nuldrang rush into the fray hacking away at the demons. Eathwund is hard on Alonso’s heels and also lays in with his sword. Nuldrang sings in triumph as one demon is hacked apart. The demon dissolves into a blackened puddle of slime on the floor. The other demon is struck by Eathwund and then teleports away to appear near Fenris and Lakima outside. Lakima casts Lightning bolt at it and Fenris finishes it off with a crossbow bolt. Lakima tells those gathered outside that they should get back on the ship and get out of the area. He yells at Eathwund and Alonso to join them. Eathwund is the last to turn to leave the trading post. The room lights up with a flash of light and a bang. He smells brimstone in the air. When Eathwund turns about he sees a slathering demon has appeared in the bedroom attached to the trading post. The demon has glistening black skin, long claws, and a faceless head with only a mouth – no eyes or nose. The mouth is enormous and full of long fangs. The demon moves rapidly upon Eathwund slashing away with teeth and claws. Eathwund manages to shove the demon back with his shield. Then Eathwund strikes at the demon. Alonso arrives and joins the battle – Nuldrang communicating its joy at fighting a powerful demon. Alonso manages to strike the demon with his sword twice but is in turn bitten on the arm and clawed once. Lakima arrives and tries to use Charm Monster coupled with his Amulet of Demon control. But the spell fails. Alonso and Eathwund work together and manage to bring down the demon which collapses in a pool of slime. The slime gradually dissolves and disappears. Alonso tells Eathwund that it was a demon known as the Faceless Killer. Capable of assuming human form.

Lakima again suggests they get out of this place and all of the adventurers return to the ship. After learning of the demons, the captain agrees to travel the river south at night. He stations his mate in the bow to call out obstacles. A few miles south of the trading post they hear cries for help from the river. The mate spots a man holding onto a log in the river. The man is hauled aboard. The captain recognizes the young man. He is Adakka, the son of the captain of the ship that was at the trading post. The young man tells them that they were attacked by demons. He got away by jumping in the river. They tell the man that they found no survivors at the trading post.

Early the next day the exhausted group arrive in Edgerton having gone all night without sleep. The adventurers say goodbye to Captain Dashmar and head across town to the Manor House. Glason and Rune are invited along. Once in the Manor house the group tells Domago and Vervork about what they encountered in the north. Later, Alonso takes Glason and Rune to the Chapter House where they can sleep. Eathwund goes to the Sign of the Purple Bugbear to check on his tavern. Lakima heads across town to visit with Malyn at the apothecary.

Lakima finds Malyn is tending the shop on his own. He says he has sent his apprentice on an errand that will take a few days to complete. Lakima tells Malyn about the threat posed by the demons he encountered. Lakima asks Malyn if there are any wizards in the area who could summon demons. “Do you mean aside from you?” Malyn responds. He tells Lakima that he is not aware of any. Malyn is more concerned about the incursion of doppelgangers in the town. To that end, he has created a magic item he calls the Revealing Portal. It will reveal the true form of any creature who steps through it. Lakima asks to buy the secret to creating the portal. They settle on a trade. Lakima is loaned the journal holding Malyn’s research notes, and Malyn is loaned Balutron’s Spellbook.

Lakima leaves the Apothecary shop and heads across town for the Manor House. On the way there he is confronted by three men of the watch who demand he prove he is not a doppelganger. Lakima furiously demands to know if they know who he is. The men seem unimpressed. Then confer and say, “Grab him!” All three watchmen move to grab Lakima, their hands transforming into long claws. Realizing he is under attack by a trio of doppelganger’s Lakima casts Flash, blinding two of them. But the third doppelganger manages to claw him in a vicious attack. Lakima is cut open across his chest and feels his energy fading. Desperate he casts Lightning Bolt, the doppelganger dodges from the bolt but is still injured and it flees into the crowd. The other two, blinded doppelgangers are killed. Before the real watch can arrive, Lakima staggers off to the Manor house. Once there Domago casts a healing prayer on him.

All of the members of the Company of the Black Dragon meet over dinner. Lakima tells everyone of the attack and suggests they all travel in pairs. He also tells everyone he has an idea. He turns to his wife Alayna and asks her, “Do you think you could have the Manor ready for a ball in 2 weeks?” Alayna asks how much she has to spend. Lakima tells her unlimited and Alayna assures him that the Manor will be ready.

Near disaster

This last session was the nearest I have come to a total party kill in all 66 sessions of our Swords & Wizardry campaign. We have had a pair of characters killed to date but for a few moments in this past session, it was touch and go as to whether the characters would survive as the two best melee fighters went down one round apart. The players pulled it off but the brush with disaster was really invigorating for the campaign.

I used an adventure of my own authorship that I quickly wrote the day before the session. I wanted the party to face a challenge while returning from this long detour from the main story.

Session 66: That’s a really big centipede

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

Most of the members of the Company of the Black Dragon have traveled to the Temple of Medamellara, goddess of magic. After charging some of their magic wands they spent the night. The next day they set out on horseback for the town of Caster’s Ford.

Barely a few miles from the Temple they halt as Fenris spots a body hidden in some brush beneath a fir tree. Lakima urges Fenris forward to investigate. He finds an unconscious human who has two arrows in his back. The man is still alive but just barely. Alonso hands a Potion of Healing to Fenris who questions using it on a stranger. Alonso insists and the man is given the potion and soon gasps awake.

The man tells them his name is Glason and he is the scout for a group of adventurers called the Red Banners. Lakima tells Glason he has heard of them – which seems to surprise Glason a little. He asks for their help in rescuing his companions from a Hobgoblin cave. He believes his friends were taken alive. It probably happened yesterday but he is not sure how long he has been unconscious. Lakima asks about the reward for rescuing his companions and Glason offers them 50 gold coins. This does not seem to interest Lakima but Glason suggests the Hobgoblins might have valuable goods that they stole from local merchants.

The party decides to help and follow Glason up the hill through trees and snow. Glason points out a cave mouth in the distance. Tracks in the snow and dirt lead back and forth to the cave and piles of debris rest outside it. While they watch, Fenris points at a fir tree in the distance and tells them that there is a Hobgoblin lookout in the tree. No one else is able to see this. Lakima casts Web at the tree Fenris is pointing at and they see a hobgoblin shriek and then fall into the sticky webs that wrap up the tree. Two more hobgoblins break cover and run across the clearing toward their webbed companion. Alonso and Eathwund intercept the hobgoblins and kill one of them. The other turns and runs for the cave. Lakima casts sleep and drops the fleeing hobgoblin.

Glason expresses admiration for their quick work and warns the party that his group was ambushed a short distance inside the cave tunnel. Lakima mentions that they are the Company of the Black Dragon and Glason immediately lets them know that he has heard of several of their exploits. Lantosh ties up the sleeping hobgoblin and then slaps him awake. Aashdoshan raises the two dead hobgoblins as zombies and has them hold the captured hobgoblin. Lantosh tried getting information out of their prisoner but the hobgoblin refuses to speak. So Lakima casts Parlor Trick and makes it seem that he is inhaling the spirits of the dead hobgoblins. This frightens the hobgoblin into talking. The hobgoblin tells Lantosh that they captured four humans and took them to the Hobgoblin chief.

Glason is left with the prisoner and the party moves to the cave entrance. The zombie hobgoblins are sent ahead followed by Fenris. The cave tunnel descends into the darkness beneath the earth. After about 50 feet they hear voices in hobgoblin call out from the darkness. Lantosh tells the others that the voices are yelling at the dead hobgoblins to get back out on scouting duty and come back at dusk. Fenris points out four hobgoblins on a ledge on the left and six more on a ledge on the right. Aashdoshan casts Stinking Cloud at the hobgoblins on the nearer ledge on the left. The hobgoblins all succumb to the poison and run away choking and gasping. Lakima casts Sleep on the other ledge and traps all six of the hobgoblins. Fenris is sent to climb up the wall and finish off the sleeping hobgoblins.

The party moves forward again until they come to a crossroad of tunnels. From their right, they hear the choking, poisoned hobgoblins stumbling towards them. Eathwund and Alonso attack the hobgoblins with surprise and three are killed quickly. One hobgoblin turns and runs back the way it came. Alonso chases it down and kills it.

The party sets out again, with the zombie hobgoblins in the lead. Lakima tells Fenris to follow them but Fenris complains he cannot see in the dark. So Lakima tells Fenris to take out a dagger and then he casts Glow on the dagger. While following the twisting tunnels they are surprised by an attack from above. Four hobgoblins hurl spears at the adventurers from above and all miss. Eathwund uses his magic armor and steps into the ethereal plane. He drifts up behind the hobgoblins and then returns to the Material plane and attacks. One hobgoblin dies immediately, surprised by the attack. Fenris scales the cave wall up to the ledge and slashes at a hobgoblin but misses. Eathwund kills a second hobgoblin but Fenris is stabbed in his side and begins bleeding badly. Eathwund moves to help Fenris and one of the hobgoblins runs away into the darkness. Fenris is stabbed again trying to defend himself but Eathwund kills the hobgoblin. Fenris slumps to the ground and tries to stem the flow of blood. Eathwund drops a rope down to the rest of the party who climb up. The zombies are left below.

Alonso offers to use his last Healing potion on Fenris but Aashdoshan tells him to save it. He uses his Life Transference spell and cuts himself with his dagger. Lifeforce flows into Fenris completely healing him. Fenris nods his thanks to Aashdoshan. Lakima tells Fenris to be more careful and “Don’t run into a fight next time!”

Fenris sets off in pursuit of the hobgoblin that got away. As the tunnel turns northeast Fenris peers around a corner and waves everyone to silence. Coming back to the group he whispers that a large group of Hobgoblins is waiting at the ready around the corner of the tunnel. Lakima tells everyone to hold back. He moves forward and peers around the corner and sees a number of Hobgoblins. The light from his staff alerts the hobgoblins but before they can advance, Lakima casts Lightning Bolt off the cave wall. There is a crash of thunder followed by flashes of light and a lot of screaming. Then Eathwund and Alonso rush forward. They see three blackened hobgoblin corpses lying twisted on the ground. Another six hobgoblins can be seen retreating north. Alonso and Eathwund rush forward and catch up to the hobgoblins. After a brief exchange of blows in which Alonso is injured, the hobgoblins are killed.

Alonso, Eathwund, Lantosh, and Lakima move down the tunnel quickly looking for more hobgoblins that may have gotten away. Aashdoshan and Fenris hold back and investigate a cave where they find a fire burning in a pit and several sleeping pallets of grass and leaves. Meanwhile, the rest of the group enters a large cave where they find a hobgoblin cooking over a pair of cook fires. The smell of cooking meat fills the cave. Three goblins are also seen helping the cook. The goblins hear the party entering and turn and hiss a warning to the cook. The goblins run toward the fighters and are chopped down quickly. The hobgoblin retreats behind the firepit but he is also killed quickly.

Fenris and Aashdoshan rejoin the group in this large cave. Everyone searches about the cave but not much is found. Lantosh notices a gold armband on the arm of the cook but he has to chop the arm off the corpse to tug it off.

They continue to explore the tunnels and come to a large cave gallery with no exits. After a little searching, they find two tunnels entering the chamber from 12 feet above. Fenris climbs up into one tunnel and scouts ahead. He returns a short time later and tells them that he can see a lit chamber where a hobgoblin and a goblin are waiting. Fenris drops a rope and helps everyone up to the ledge. A short distance down a tunnel they find a goblin and a hobgoblin shaman in a chamber that has several workbenches covered in clay pots and cups. As they run toward the hobgoblin, Lakima shouts out, “take them alive!” But as he finishes that statement Alonso has already stabbed the cowering goblin through the chest. The hobgoblin backs away and tosses a clay ball over the head of Eathwund toward the feet of Lakima and Lantosh. There is an explosion and all of the heroes except Aashdoshan are caught in a ball of flame and smoke. All of them are burned and injured. Eathwund strikes the hobgoblin with the flat of his blade. The hobgoblin casts a spell and heals some of its wounds. But it is not enough and Eathwund cracks the hobgoblin shaman over the head knocking it unconscious.

The group searches the chamber. Lakima removes 3 more clay bombs from the shaman’s bandolier. Gold chains are also removed from around the shaman’s neck. The hobgoblin is tied up and then slapped awake. Lantosh begins to interrogate the hobgoblin in goblin speech but the hobgoblin informs them in crude common tongue that it can speak “man-talk”. The hobgoblin is offered its life for information. It tells them its name and the name of the chief and roughly where the chief’s cave is. The hobgoblin tells them that the chief kept the humans recently captured alive to search the “stonewall” for a secret entrance. The chief is certain there is a large treasure behind the wall. The shaman is skeptical.

They leave the shaman tied up in the cave. Lakima tells him that he should be able to chew himself free in a day or so. Alonso asks Lakima if he wants him to kill the shaman but Lakima tells him they made a deal and should stick to it.

Fenris leads the heroes to the other tunnel on the ledge. The hobgoblin zombies are hauled up to the ledge with ropes. The entire group now moves north and enters a large cavern. Stalagmites and pools of water dot the floor of the cavern. In the distance they see a chasm cutting across the cavern – spanned by a well-built stone bridge. From out of the darkness a human voice shouts, “Look out!” As they move closer six hobgoblins are spotted in the darkness on the other side of the chasm. At their feet is a battered, unconscious human. The hobgoblins spot the heroes but do not advance. Fearing a trap, Lakima tells Aashdoshan to send the zombies over the bridge. They stagger across the bridge and move toward the live hobgoblins. Those hobgoblins swiftly attack and finish off the zombies. Eathwund and Alonso follow over the stone bridge, but the bridge suddenly tips over perpendicular dumping both heroes toward the chasm. Eathwund tumbles down into the chasm but activates his armor and steps into the ethereal plane. Alonso manages to grab the edge of the bridge and pull himself up off the edge of the bridge. Eathwund drifts through the ethereal plane and then materializes amongst the hobgoblins, catching them by surprise and laying into them with his sword ignited in flame.

Alonso tightropes along the edge of the bridge to the other side. Lantosh, Fenris, and Lakima quickly follow. Alonso moves to attack hobgoblins standing near the edge of the chasm, as he stabs and kills one, he kicks it tumbling over into the chasm. Eathwund is surrounded by hobgoblins and kills a pair of them. As Lakima brings his light closer they spot more hobgoblins at the north end of the cavern. They also see that a section of the cave wall is actually carefully crafted stone blocks. Before the stone wall is a large stone throne with a hobgoblin seated upon it. Near the stone wall, they see a human wizard under guard by a hobgoblin.

Alonso fights through more hobgoblins and hears something large and multi-legged down in the chasm moving towards them. Fenris is stabbed by a hobgoblin and retreats to hide behind a stalagmite. Lakima is also stabbed by a spear – he casts a blast of acid at the hobgoblin. Aashdoshan stays on the far side of the chasm and launches two bursts of magic missiles at the Hobgoblin chief. The loud sound in the chasm comes nearer and nearer so that everyone can hear it. Then they all see an enormous cave centipede crawl up out of the chasm. The creature rears back on half of its legs and darts forward grabbing the body of the downed human chopping him in half with enormous mandibles the size of swords.

Alonso kills the last hobgoblin near him and moves to attack the centipede. Several of the remaining hobgoblins flee away from the creature. Eathwund kills one hobgoblin that turns to run right near him. Alonso slashes at the centipede but it proves to have an armored carapace and his sword bounces off it. The centipede turns toward Alonso and clamps onto his waist with powerful mandibles dripping in green ichor. Alonso struggles to free himself and feels a wave of sickness – he passes out unconscious. Eathwund tries to come to Alonso’s aid and strikes through the centipede carapace with his sword. Green fluid spills out of the creature. Aashdoshan casts magic missile again striking the creature. Lakima casts Charm Monster but it fails. Eathwund strikes it again but the creature grabs Eathwund by the arm with its mandibles – the lethal poison enters his system and he loses consciousness.

With two fighters down and things starting to look desperate, Lakima yells at Lantosh to pull Eathwund to safety. Lantosh runs forward and grabs Eathwund’s lifeless body by the arms and pulls him to safety. Fenris fires crossbow bolts but they just bounce off the armored carapace. Lakima yells for everyone to get back and he casts Fireball on the creature. There is an explosion of flame and noise. The cavern shakes and debris falls from the ceiling but the spell is successful and the creature writhes and collapses in a heap. Alonso’s body is also scorched in the fireball.

The cave falls silent other than the noise from the still twitching giant centipede. Lakima gives his last potion of neutralize poison to Eathwund reviving the big fighter. Eathwund blinks and crawls to his feet.

The heroes move to confront the remaining hobgoblins. They find the chief and two of his bodyguards have moved behind the throne and have a firm grip on a human wizard in red robes. Lakima tells Lantosh to tell them to surrender. After a brief negotiation, Lantosh convinces the hobgoblins to drop their weapons. He and Eathwund tie up the three hobgoblins and free the wizard. The wizard tells them his name is Rune. He is the last surviving member of a group of adventurers. Alonso corrects him and tells him that Glason is still alive. When Rune dismisses Glason as useless – Lakima tells him that Glason convinced the Company of the Black Dragon to come and rescue him. Then he asks Rune about the stone wall. Rune tells them that the hobgoblin chief wanted him to open the wall. He figured out how to open a secret door hours ago but did not want to tell the hobgoblin for fear that they would kill him once he opened it. Lakima tells Rune to open the door or he will kill him. Rune looks at Eathwund for support but the fighter just shrugs and glares at him.

Rune moves a combination of stones and a secret door moves to one side revealing a stone-lined passage. Lantosh reminds Lakima about Alonso who is lying dead on the cavern floor. Lakima takes out the Ring of Wishes and uses the only charge on it to bring Alonso back to life, wording it carefully so that he is free of poison. Alonso weakly gets to his feet and thanks Lakima.

Fenris leads the way down the secret corridor to a room lit with glowing blue magic. The three magic-users Lakima, Aashdoshan, and Rune follow Fenris into a chamber with an enormous glowing circle glowing on the floor. Lakima recognizes a seal designed to hold something in. He also feels uncomfortable around the glowing circle. He asks the others if they feel anything. Rune says no. Aashdoshan does not say anything. Fenris says that the glow gives him the creeps. Lantosh arrives and says that he can feel a wave of goodness from the circle. Eathwund and Alonso stay back guarding the hobgoblins.

Fenris and Lakima move toward a corridor leaving the room. Lakima steps into the hall and feels the stone beneath his feet shift. Four spears fire from the wall and three of them strike the wizard. Fenris pulls Lakima back to safety, “That’s my job boss, what are you doing.”

Lakima waits with the other magic users while Fenris moves down the hallway. Lakima casts Detect magic and notes several spots that radiate magic in the hallway to Fenris. In the distance, they can see a chamber with a stone coffin. Fenris manages to deactivate a spear trap and trigger a pit trap safely. As he nears the end of the corridor, he trips a poison gas trap and quickly retreats. Luckily, the gas is heavier than air and slowly descends into the open pit. After several minutes it is safe to advance again. Fenris enters the final chamber and shouts back what he sees. Lakima detects that a rug before the coffin is magical. Fenris tells Lakima that he is nervous about the coffin, especially with all of the fighters incapacitated. Lakima looks over the tapestries on the walls and the ornately carved coffin and nods in agreement. They all leave the chamber and return to the cavern.

Fenris takes a key off of the Hobgoblin chief and goes to use it on a locked strongbox. Luckily, he finds a poison needle trap and disarms it. Inside the strongbox are bags of gold and silver.

The heroes settle down to rest. Rune asks about his share of the treasure they have found and is rebuffed. He does show them how to reset the bridge trap. A campfire is built to provide some light and heat. After a few hours, they hear several footsteps coming from the south. A voice calls out in hobgoblin indicating that the weapons are repaired. Lantosh tells the hobgoblin chief to tell whomever it is to go away. He does and the footsteps recede away into the darkness. The heroes set watches.

Morganna's Zoo

As I mentioned last post I had to come up with something quick and I did a mash-up of Menagerie and Morganna's Zoo (Creations Edge Games). The Menagerie surprisingly took up an entire session. So this time it was time for the players to enter Morganna's Zoo.

I have also done some additional writing for the Hall of Harsh Reflection. The doppelgangers are not just going to let the Players smash their hideout and get away with it. But as per usual the players made a right turn and decided to return to an old dungeon far from the town and the current plot. With a little scrambling, I managed to pull the old dungeon map out of the Roll20 archive.

Session 65: Morganna’s Zoo

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

After the sun sets the Company of the Black Dragon makes their way to Morganna’s Zoo. Viewing the building they see that it is completely dark, all of the windows are blocked by wooden shutters, and no light escapes. Fenris checks the side door and finds it locked. He then comes around to the main double doors and effortlessly picks the lock opening the doors to the Zoo. As he enters Lakima reminds everyone that they do not want to kill anyone if they can avoid it. They have no proof yet that the Unicorn is being held in the zoo.

Fenris is followed into the zoo by Alonso, Eathwund, Vervork, Lakima, and finally Aashdoshan. They find the entry hall dark and quiet. Fenris moves ahead to the office and then comes back to tell everyone to hide because someone is coming. Soon they can all hear the tramp of someone very heavy on the wooden floorboards. Around the corner comes an eight-foot-tall bear standing on its hind legs and wearing a belt. The bear roars out a challenge in common much to everyone’s surprise. Lakima shouts back, “Knock him out don’t kill him!” Aashdoshan casts Hold Person on the bear just as Fenris stabs the bear in the back. The spell works and Fenris’ attack is not nearly enough to kill the werebear.

Lakima admonishes Fenris that they do not want to kill anyone. Fenris hisses back that “Someone else is coming!” Another Werebear enters the room and spots the heroes and also his prone companion. It roars in anger and runs forward but is caught up in a Web spell cast by Lakima. The web holds the bear against one of the walls.

Fenris leads the group past some of the larger cages containing animals to the office but he finds the door locked and he cannot unlock it. After a quick search of the two werebears, Alonso plucks a key ring off the belt on the werebear who is stuck in the webs. The bear tries to bite him but misses. The keys work on the office door and they search the room. Aashdoshan finds some ledgers detailing the business of the zoo. It is apparent that the zoo does not make a lot of money from visitors. Not enough to pay for the expenses. But he finds no mention of a unicorn.

They head through the main zoo yard causing some of the animals there to roar at them. But they seemly do not alert anymore guards. The door to the main building proves to be unlocked. Inside is a large room with several doors in its walls. In the room, they immediately see a large wagon. Also in the room are barrels of spoiled meat and trunks full of the type of gear hunters would use to capture animals. As they search the room Eathwund listens at a door and hears strange, singing, and snorting coming from beyond and the sound of a blade on a cutting board. Swinging the door open he beholds a wereboar chopping up meat and throwing it into a stew pot. The light from Lakima’s staff spills into the room alerting it and it spins around to see Eathwund standing in the doorway. The wereboar starts shouting, “trespasser’s, help!”

Eathwund, Alonso, and Vervork rush into the kitchen and attack the wereboar using the flat side of their swords to pummel it into submission. Soon the creature is lying stunned on the floor of the kitchen. Some ropes are taken from the back of the wagon and the creature is tied up. But as they are doing that, they hear many footsteps descending from above and approaching another door to the main hall. Just as that door begins to open and they glimpse more werebears, Lakima casts web and blocks the doorway. They hear anger shouting from the other side of the door which thumps several times but the webs hold it closed.

The adventurers continue to search the area finding a bed chamber and a dining hall but soon they have searched the entire floor. Lakima gestures for everyone to get ready but to move away from the door and tells Vervork to burn away the webs holding the door shut with his torch. As soon as the webs are burned away the door is flung open, three angry werebears confront them. Lakima casts Fear on them and two of the werebears turn and run back up a stair to the second floor. The third fights off the effects and charges into the chamber swinging its claws at the adventurers. Alonso and Eathwund confront it and start pummeling the werebear with the flats of their swords. After a repeated battering they finally knock the creature unconscious and tie it up as best they can.

The group heads upstairs and finds some bedrooms. In one chamber the two werebears who fled are found but they quickly close the door upon them. No evidence of a missing unicorn is found. They head back downstairs and start searching for a possible cellar. Eathwund suggests that everyone climb into the wagon, which they do. They push the wagon toward the door and find the outline of a large trapdoor in the floor but no obvious way to open it. Lakima then finds a secret panel in the wall concealing a lever. Once the lever is pulled the section of the floor they found starts to descend. They can hear the clanking and rattling of chains from above. As soon as the platform starts to descend, everyone jumps on it.

The wooden platform slowly descends fifteen feet into a stone-walled cellar. They immediately see another werebear working at a forge and standing near him is the Zoo owner Morganna. She reacts in surprise at their arrival and then yells out, “Kill them!” to the werebear. Lakima shouts out to everyone that “the gloves are off!”

Eathwund and Alonso rush at the werebear which defends itself with teeth and claws. One of the beasts’ swings slashes into Alonso’s arm opening a deep wound. Vervork approaches Morganna, he sees that her right arm is reptilian and ends in large, clawed fingers. Around her neck is a silver, gem-studded collar. Vervork slashes at and hits Morganna. She immediately transforms becoming a six-legged reptile ten feet long with glowing eyes.

Aashdoshan yells a warning, “Basilisk, don’t look at her eyes!”

Vervork misses the warning and looks at the creature, he feels his muscles begin to tighten and constrict but he fights it off and then looks away. The reptile slashes him with enormous claws opening a wound in his leg.

Meanwhile, the werebear is killed by Eathwund and Alonso who have foregone the peaceful approach adopted earlier. As the creature falls it transforms into a burly human. They watch as its eyes open once more and it struggles to its feet. Eathwund looks over at Aashdoshan and sees that it is his doing. Aashdoshan raises the human as a zombie under his control. The zombie then stumbles toward the basilisk. Alonso and Eathwund also move over to help Vervork with the basilisk averting their gaze from its eyes. Even with their gaze averted they cannot help but hit the enormous creature. Soon its blood is covering the stone floor of the cellar. Just before dying Morganna transforms into a hybrid, human-basilisk form and begins to cast a spell – but a dagger thrown by Lakima plunges into her throat and she collapses to the floor dead.

After Morganna falls, she transforms back into a human woman. Aashdoshan wastes no time in raising her as a zombie. Aashdoshan searches the zombie Morganna and finds a pouch holding sapphires and a key. He tosses the key to Fenris.

Against one wall they spot three iron doors. Fenris listens at one and tells them that he can hear angry snorting sounds. They tell him to open the door and an enraged Minotaur emerges into the room. It gets ready to attack but Lakima talks to it and it is persuaded to calm down with the promise of being freed. Eathwund opens the next door and finds a glorious unicorn wearing a bridle covered with glowing runes. Eathwund removes the bridle from the unicorn. The magical beast bows slightly to Eathwund and then vanishes without a sound. The unicorn has been found and promptly disappears!

The last cell is found to hold a human guard named Ronnick. He is grateful for the rescue and fills the adventurers in on what happened to him. He intervened while on patrol when he spotted the bakers’ son Kendal being tossed in the back of a wagon by some thugs. The thugs knocked him out and he awoke here. He saw Morganna transform the boy into a minotaur using her collar and a long ritual involving a lot of chanting. Aashdoshan is convinced by Lakima to take the collar off of the zombie and to try wearing it. He feels it is magical but he has no idea what it does.

As they ascend back up to the main floor, Fenris having deduced how the lift works, the Minotaur immediately dashes off into the night out the side door. Ronnick is sent to summon the watch and they arrive a short time later. The heroes travel over to the Elvish embassy and are led to meet Wynather. They tell him that the unicorn has been freed and he accepts their story and pays them the agreed amount. They then head back to the Manor house, everyone deciding to stay in the house that night.

The next morning Lakima casts identify on the collar and the bridle. He learns that the collar is the Moonstone Collar but it is only useable by someone afflicted with lycanthropy. The bridle is a Disrupting Harness that is able to block the teleport ability of animals that wear it. Over breakfast, Lakima tells everyone that he plans to travel to the Temple of Medamellara to recharge some of his wands at the Mana Well. Most of the adventurers decide they will go as well. Alonso goes over to the Church of St. Cuthbert and asks Abbot Marta to check him for lycanthropy. Marta listens to his story and assures him that the werebear claw hit he took would not be enough to infect him. He checks nonetheless to set Alonso’s mind at ease and finds he is not infected. Alonso then heads over to Crowly’s and asks about buying a magical longsword. Crowly tells him what level of enchantment he can manage and how long it would take. Alonso decides to buy a longsword at Clearwin’s Oddities instead.

The next day Lakima, Aashdoshan, Eathwund, Alonso, Lantosh, and a somewhat reluctant Fenris set sail on a riverboat bound for Caster’s Ford. They arrive in two days and disembark. As it is late in the day, they head right over to the Blue Dragon Inn. The owner Geflion greets them warmly. Loudly proclaiming to the tavern room that the famous Black Dragon Company always stays at the Blue Dragon in Casters Ford.

Lakima asks Geflion about the news in Caster’s Ford. They have not been here in several months. Geflion catches them up on problems with hobgoblin armies to the north. Lakima then regales Geflion with tales of the company’s recent exploits. Including telling a large crowd that has gathered about the incursion of doppelgangers in Edgerton and even the presence of a Mind Flayer. With the tavern room filling up with the curious, a thankful Geflion tells the company that they stay for free.

The night passes without event, a rare occurrence in Casters Ford, and they rent horses and set out the next day for the Mana Well. It only takes a few hours and they arrive just before noon. They find that the silver dragon Lethnearinos has made repairs and additions to the temple. Statues to Medamellara flank the entrance where they are met by Toffin a priest of Medamellara. He tells them that he “heard the call” and traveled to the temple. They have not had many visitors since he arrived but he has heard of the Company of the Black Dragon and he greets them warmly. Lethnearinos arrives in the form of an elven mage and confers with them about the local events.

In the afternoon Lakima and Aashdoshan risk plunging some of their magic wands in the Mana well and recharge them. They all decide to stay for the evening.

Missing Unicorn

I had to work like mad to create maps and mash-up an adventure for my Swords & Wizardry campaign after the players ended the previous adventure, The Hall of Harsh Reflection, prematurely. But I managed to get it done before the session. The mash-up I created used the plot from the Creations Edge Games Swords & Wizardry mini-adventure Morganna's Zoo written by Matthew E. Kline and added in the Dungeon Magazine Adventure "Menagerie" from Dungeon issue 126 by B. Matthew Conklin III.

Two adventures with similar enough plots that fit well together. I thought I might get one session out of it but it looks like it is going to get me two sessions. After that we shall see if the players decide to pick up the dropped plot again.

Session 64: Menagerie

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

After meeting with Lord Colten Brightmoor, the members of the Company of the Black Dragon rest for a few days. Domago keeps an eye on the recovery of Vervork and Lantosh at the Church of St. Aleena. Their business agent Moffatt sends word that they have an interesting job offer from the Elvish Ambassador Wynather.

Lakima, Eathwund, Alonso, Aashdoshan, and Fenris walk over to the Estate where Wynather resides. There they meet Evenar Wildstride an elven ranger from Haven. Evenar explains that a Unicorn was captured in the woods of Haven and she has tracked the hunters who captured the unicorn to Edgerton. Aashdoshan asks questions about the hunters to which Evenar replies that she never was able to get within a day of those she tracked. She believes the hunters were four men. She lost the trail near Edgerton. Not knowing what to do next she came to speak to Wynather. Wynather suggests that the two humans in Edgerton who trade and keep exotic animals might be the right place to start. These are Morganna’s Zoo and Gwen’s Menagerie. Wynather offers 2,500 gold for the return of the unicorn.

The heroes set out immediately for the Menagerie as the more likely of the two locations to look. The building housing the menagerie is a street behind the Town square not far from the riverbank. When they approach the dark stone building, they see a small crowd gathered in front of the double doors to the building. A man blocks people from entering the building while another man can be seen excitedly running through the crowd urging people to flee.

“Run, the monsters are loose!”

The party approaches the front door and the man on the door initially yells at them to stay back. But once he recognizes them, he eagerly waves them forward. The man, who they later learn is Gwen’s assistant Eigeen, tells them that something happened in the shop a short time ago. Before he arrived for work, Javers (the man running about) burst out of the shop exclaiming that some of the more exotic animals kept there had escaped. Worse yet, Javers told him that the owner Gwen had been turned to stone by a cockatrice.

Eigeen asks the heroes if they will enter the shop and rescue Gwen while being careful to capture but not harm any of the escaped creatures. Lakima begins to state the standard rates charged by the Company of the Black Dragon, but Eigeen anxiously tells them that they will need to work it out with Gwen once she is rescued. He is just an employee. They do get a list of creatures that have likely escaped, a pair of cockatrices, a dark mantle, and three shocker lizards.

Fenris enters the shop first followed by the rest who fan out down the various aisles in the showroom. Eigeen closes the doors behind them. They do not find any creatures in the main showroom but they do spot a petrified man who appears to be a customer. In the back room, they can hear the squawking of numerous birds.

Lakima drops his pet mimic on the floor and motions it ahead of the group as they move through a curtain into the back of the shop. They see a room in shambles with dozens of wooden cages on shelves or lying on the floor. Some of the cages on the shelf have exotic birds in them and some are empty with their doors ajar. On the floor are several larger cages with their doors ajar. In the distance, they see a metal, spiral staircase but the bottom four feet of the staircase are gone. On the floor sitting in a pile of rust flakes is a Rust Monster. Lakima and Eathwund quickly identify the creature as they have encountered some before and they warn everyone.

Lakima sends the mimic ahead of him in the shape of a barrel with four legs. The mimic charges the rust monster which in turn bats at the mimic with no effect. The mimic bites the rust monster several times on one leg driving it back through the room. Lakima yells at the mimic to drive the rust monster into a large, wooden cage that is lying on the floor but the creature steps around the cage.

With the rust monster driven off the group examine the rest of the room. They find the petrified body of the shop owner Gwendolyn near the metal staircase. They also find doors that head outside and a large cart. Suddenly, an octopus-like creature drops from the ceiling settling on Eathwund’s chainmail coifed head. A moment later the area is engulfed in darkness. Eathwund grabs his quarterstaff and tries to knock the darkmantle off of himself. Aashdoshan and Lakima cast glow cantrips that seem to help a little in pushing back the magical darkness. Eathwund does manage to solidly hit the darkmantle and that is enough to dislodge it. The creature retreats up the metal staircase.

The party makes their way around the corner of the room and they find a closet full of invoices and receipts. While the rest of the heroes spread out looking for the missing cockatrices, Aashdoshan spends time sorting through the receipts looking for the mention of a unicorn. He does not find any mention of unicorns but does find the receipts for the cockatrices, shocker lizards, and rust monster.

While heading into the back room again they confront the rust monster again. The creature has returned to eating the staircase. This time the mimic is able to push the rust monster into a wooden cage and Alonso leaps forward and locks the cage.

Unable to find anything on the ground floor level, the party decides to continue upstairs. Fenris scrambles up the wall and leaps onto the lowest remaining step of the staircase. The staircase wobbles ominously but Fenris assures them that it is sturdy. He drops a rope for the other men. They climb up into a short hall. At the far end is a globe of magical darkness. Several arrows are fired into the darkness by Eathwund. Most hit wood but one hits something else and the darkness is dispelled. They see the darkmantle splayed out on the ceiling dripping black blood. While they debate whether to kill it, Fenris pins its head to the ceiling with a crossbow bolt ending the discussion.

A door opens into a workshop area in the building. The area is a mess, several items on a worktable have fallen over into a large puddle on the floor. Of greater concern is an enormous shocker lizard eying them from further into the chamber. Although such lizards rarely grow to be no more than 3 feet long, this one is 10 feet from head to tail. Two normal-sized shocker lizards are also spied sitting nearby.

Before anything bad can happen, Lakima casts sleep and all three lizards fall unconscious. Lakima tells Eathwund and Alonso to gather up some cages for the two small lizards. As they move to pick up some cages, Alonso is attacked by an animated chair, and Eathwund by an animated hat rack. Both are quickly dealt with. But the door to the balcony swings upon and strikes Lakima. The two smaller lizards are placed in cages and the big one is tied up. In a nearby room, they find the cause of all of the ruckus. A strange, flying lizard is found trying to break its way out a window. Small objects fly through the air near it (quills, glasses, and the like). A chair animates and attacks Eathwund. He quickly smashes it. Eathwund tries to break the window with arrows but misses. Fenris manages to smash one pane of glass with a bolt and the flying snake scoots right out through the hole and disappears. All of the animated objects drop to the floor.

Fenris, Eathwund, and Aashdoshan start searching the area. Aashdoshan finds the empty remains of some potions on the workbench including an enlarge potion. Eathwund finds 4 salves of stone to skin in a desk drawer. Fenris finds a locked chest but he is unable to open it. Lakima burns the chest open with acid. Inside they find four large bags of gold coins which Fenris puts in his pack. After some arguing, Fenris agrees to put the gold back as Lakima tells him they can get the gold as a reward.

Armed with the salve they head downstairs and restore Gwen to normal health. She is confused at first but quickly takes stock of the situation. She is dismayed at the damage to her shop but eventually agrees to pay the Company of the Black Dragon 3,000 gold if they capture the cockatrices. Gwen tells them some details on how to handle cockatrices and then hurries out the back door to safety.

The heroes eventually find the two cockatrices in the showroom hiding amongst some jars of ointment on a high shelf. One becomes aggressive and flies at Alonso and Fenris, they manage to duck out of the way. The other is caught in a web by Aashdoshan behind the counter. Seeing how well that worked Lakima uses his wand of webs to trap the other cockatrice near the petrified human patron.

They go outside to inform Gwen and ask her how she handles the creatures. She tells them of some leather handling gloves she has in her room. Those gloves are procured and handed to Fenris. But Fenris shakes his head and hands them to Alonso. Alonso puts on the gloves and tries to grab a cockatrice but misses. The cockatrice pecks Alonso on the arm turning him, and the gloves, to stone. Alonso’s petrified body is dragged out of the webs and restored. The gloves are now handed to Fenris. Fenris manages to grab one cockatrice and he puts it in a cage. Before he can try for the second one Lakima comes up with an idea. He sends Eathwund to a nearby smithy to procure a pair of long, metal tongs. These are handed to Fenris and he manages to grab the second cockatrice and secure it. The company yells for Gwen to enter the shop and they show her that they have safely captured the cockatrices. Gwen pays the Company of the Black Dragon the agreed amount. They do ask Gwen if anyone has asked about unicorns but she tells them that she never deals in creatures that large. She has not heard anything but suggests they check with Morganna the owner of the Zoo.

The company heads to a nearby Tavern and enjoys a meal and some drinks. Then they decide to check out the zoo since it appears to be the only lead. They get to the Zoo well before dusk and pay the 1 copper entrance fee. A burly man who gives his name as Galvin leads them on a guided tour. Inside he shows them cages containing stirges, an axebeak, and a giant constrictor snake. In a yard, he shows them larger pens that hold several larger exotic creatures, a leopard, baboon, giant ape, troll, ogre, owlbear, manticore, and a land shark. The Land Shark certainly should be able to easily escape its paddock along with some of the other creatures. But Galvin assures them it is all perfectly safe. They keep the creatures drugged and docile.

After the tour Lakima asks him about unicorns and Galvin says that they have never had a unicorn in the zoo. Keeping intelligent creatures would be wrong he insists. When Lakima points out the troll and the ogre he just shrugs and says they are not really intelligent and besides they are happy here. The party asks Galvin several other questions about areas off-limits in the zoo and about how they acquire the creatures. Galvin proudly proclaims that he is a member of the team of hunters that capture creatures. Satisfied for now the entire group leaves the zoo a few hours before dusk.

Always put the goal at the end

It happened again. The Players in my Swords & Wizardry campaign got partway through a dungeon and then left. I adapted the Hall of Harsh Reflection adventure from the Age of Worms adventure path by Jason Bulmanhn. For the hook I had one of the NPCs in the group get captured by the doppelgangers but I made the classic error of making it possible to rescue him early on in the adventure. They rescued their friend and did not immediately find the Greater Doppelganger lair so they left. They did encounter the Mind Flayer on the way out but that did not seem to pique their interest. So I have a week to write up something for next week's adventure.

All of this being said the scene when the players were confronted by doppelgangers duplicates of their friends went very well and was quite amusing. The players spent about an hour trying to figure it out.

Session 63: Hall of Harsh Reflection

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), Vervork Merwin (human fighter NPC).

The Company of the Black Dragon is in a warehouse near the river looking for their missing companion Lantosh. Clues have led them here. Fenris has been sent to find Domago in the town. After an hour Fenris arrives with Domago. Lakima asks Domago to use the Book of Underwater breathing so they can investigate the shaft they found. Domago reads a page that is destroyed. Lakima feels the effects of the magic on him but the rest are unsure. Lakima tells Vervork to descend the shaft. Once Vervork gets to the end of the rope ladder where the shaft is filled with water he calls up, “What do I do now?” Lakima tells him, “Let go!”

With some reluctance, Vervork lets go and immediately sinks out of sight. The rest follow one by one down into the shaft and sink to the bottom. The bottom of the shaft enters a large brick-lined chamber at least forty feet under the water. It is lit only by Lakima’s magical Staff with an eerie blue light. In the distance, they can just make out a brick pillar rising from the floor out of sight above. There is a metal ladder on the side of the pillar. As they move toward it, a giant octopus appears out of the gloom and attacks. Alonso, Vervork, and Eathwund attempt to fend it off while the others make for the ladder. Alonso is struck by a tentacle but manages to twist free before it can wrap around him. After the octopus is stabbed a few times, it flees into a drain.

Lakima is the first to climb the ladder out into the air on a circular platform. A walkway leads to a doorway in a wall. On the platform is an enormous iron lever. Once everyone has climbed up on the platform, Lakima pushes the lever in the opposite direction. They hear some clanking noises and gurgling. Soon the water level in the chamber begins to drop. After a few minutes, the chamber is almost dry. The barrel that was in the shaft rests on the floor.

Fenris checks out the door and declares is safe, then he opens it and steps through. The door leads to a long hallway with double doors at each end. Four doors along the wall facing them and one beside them. Lakima asks Fenris to check one of the doors and Fenris loudly yells to Lakima that he will check the door. Fenris fumbles at the door for a few minutes then says he cannot get it open (the players did not know it at the time but Fenris has been replaced with a doppelganger). At that moment three doors swing open into the hallway and six identical-looking men rush the adventurers attacking them.

During the fight one of the men facing Lakima laughs and suddenly his appearance changes to that of Lakima! Several of the heroes shout out “doppelgangers!” at the same time. The fight is over fairly quickly and as the men fall and die their corpses turn into grey-skinned, thin, hairless, sexless creatures. although Lakima and Vervork are both injured. Domago uses a Curative prayer on Lakima. Lakima asks Vervork to crack open one of the skulls of the doppelgangers. Vervork is perplexed by Lakima explains that the brains of a doppelganger are an ingredient for potions of ESP. The other doppelgangers are all beheaded and the heads are tossed in the Bag of Holding as evidence for the Town watch.

Lakima tells Fenris to check the double doors at one end of the hallway. Fenris yells at Vervork to guard the doors at the other end of the hall. As Fenris bends over to examine a door, Vervork lets out a yell and falls through a trapdoor in the floor in front of the other set of doors. Everyone rushes over but they see an empty 10-foot-deep pit with smooth walls. Eathwund yells Vervork’s name but there is no answering yell. Lakima casts Detect Magic and discovers that the floor of the pit is an illusion. So, Alonso throws a rope down and it falls right through the floor. He feels a tug on the rope and soon Vervork climbs up passing right through the floor of the pit. Vervork questions them why they did not answer his yells for help? Lakima tells Vervork that he fell into a pit hidden by a powerful illusion.

Fenris announces that the double doors are safe and he pushes them open revealing a large meeting room. A pair of tables are covered in books, scrolls, and parchment. They see a large map of Edgerton on the wall. With just a brief glance through the papers, they find lists of guild members at the leather workers guild. Some prominent members are circled. They decide to gather up all of the books and scrolls and stuff them in the bag of holding.

The party leaves the chamber and heads down the corridor to check one of the last doors. Fenris nervously tells them that the door is safe. Eathwund opens the door and steps into a brightly lit chamber. Three torches of blue flame hang from the ceiling of an octagonal room. The walls of the room are lined with huge metal mirrors. In the center of the room, manacled to four chairs are Lantosh, Vervork, Fenris and Eathwund. Each has a gag over his mouth and is struggling to move and speak. Eathwund steps into the room and stops in surprise. The rest of the heroes walk into the room and all look in amazement at their fellow heroes. None of the four men chained to the chairs are wearing weapons or armor. All of them look exactly like their counterparts. Alonso looks to Lakima and asks what they should do. Lakima shrugs and thinks it over. Aashdoshan asks Domago if he can raise the dead (intimating that they kill the possible doubles). Domago looks at Aashdoshan in surprise and gives him an emphatic “NO!”

After a few minutes of discussion, they decide to ungag Lantosh. Lantosh immediately starts telling them what happened to him. That he was knocked unconscious in the street and brought here. The creatures taunted him by changing their appearance to look like him and like friends, members of the watch, and other adventurers. After he had been here for a short while they brought in Eathwund, Fenris, and Vervork one at a time and chained them to chairs. They asked him a lot of questions about the Company of the Black Dragon but especially about Aashdoshan. Whether the necromancer had a collection of body parts, where he came from, his background. Lantosh tells them that he did not divulge much, other than to say that Aashdoshan collected a lot of body parts. This statement gets a laugh out of some of the heroes.

The group of heroes is still puzzled about who to trust. Lakima tells his pet mimic to tell him who is a doppelganger. The mimic seems puzzled. It sniffs at the bound men but does not do anything. Lakima asks Aashdoshan if he has a mind-reading spell, but the latter does not. The other three men are ungagged and each insists he is the real hero. Aashdoshan tries questioning Fenris about things only the two of them would know but the bound man seems to know all of the answers. Lakima tells them that doppelgangers can read thoughts to they will not be able to discern who is real with questions.

Finally, Lakima tells Vervork to strip naked. When questioned by Vervork, Lakima says that he figures if he is a doppelganger the clothes will disappear if they are taken a short distance from his body. They cannot be sure the doppelgangers did not steal some of the duplicate’s equipment but he is sure that the underclothes are probably generated by the peculiar mimic ability of the doppelgangers. Vervork is finally convinced to do it and strips down. Then when nothing happens says, “See, now can I kill this double?” Lakima nods.

Vervork puts on his pants and picks up his sword. He advances on the chained version of himself in the chair. But as soon as he gets near the Vervork in the chair slips easily out of the manacles and defends himself. Lakima yells, “that’s the doppelganger, kill him!”

Then the Eathwund and in the chair also leaps up and attacks the other Eathwund. Eathwund faces off against Eathwund. The Eathwund double immediately duplicates Eathwund’s equipment and it is impossible to tell them apart. Fenris and Lantosh tied in the chairs struggle at the manacles but are unable to get out. Lantosh yells, “Look out behind you!” and Lakima turns to find Fenris attempting to stab him in the back. Fenris yells, “Die stupid human!” but misses.

The room with the mirrors is the scene of a brutal short battle. Several of the heroes are injured but after a minute there are two dead doppelgangers lying on the floor. Lantosh yells to be unchained. Now certain that they have worked out who is a doppelganger and who is human, they unchain Lantosh and Fenris. Fenris tells them he was ambushed at the Frozen Crow Tavern last night and brought here.

Lakima tells Vervork to start smashing mirrors. Vervork turns and smashes the one nearest to him and finds a secret passage. Fenris is given a dagger by Alonso and darts down the secret passage to a door. He declares the door safe. They tell Lantosh and Fenris to stay at the back of the group since neither has their weapons or armor.

Alonso opens the door and they find it opens into a chamber that appears to be a maze. The inner walls making up the maze are floor-to-ceiling metal mirrors. The exterior walls are brick. Vervork walks a short distance forward and is cut off from the rest of the group as a mirror wall suddenly springs up between them. Lakima tells everyone to pair up so they do not get separated and they head off into the maze looking for Vervork. They find him fairly quickly. The group continues into the maze. Lantosh is handed a torch so they have more light sources. As they get deeper into the maze, they are attacked by three doppelgangers who begin the attack looking like twin men but soon change their appearances to that of Alonso, Lakima, and Fenris. Two of the doppelgangers are killed but the third disappears behind a mirror wall that suddenly springs up. Aashdoshan pauses the group while he raises the two doppelganger corpses as zombies. They search for the third doppelganger but are unable to find it so they head on until they find another exterior wall. Checking for secret doors they find one that leads into the Meeting room they ransacked earlier. They then decide that since they have found Lantosh they should head out and report what they found to the Lawlord of Edgerton.

As Lakima and Eathwund step into the flood chamber they see a new hallway open on one of the walls at the same height as the platform (40 feet above the floor of the chamber). In the hallway are two male drow holding small crossbows. They immediately start firing bolts at the heroes on the platform. Eathwund grabs his short bow and fires back at the drow. After a quick exchange, they see a third figure in the hallway, a dark-robed humanoid with a squid-like head and tentacles around its mouth. Alonso shouts out, “Look out! Mindflayer!” Then the mind flayer uses its mind blast on all of the heroes. They feel a wave of pressure in their skulls but most of them fight it off. Vervork pitches over face first unconscious onto the platform. Lakima tosses a Javelin of piercing to Eathwund who throws it and misses hitting the brick wall. Then Eathwund throws the Javelin of lightning and also misses. Aashdoshan casts web into the darkness. Then Lakima casts Lightning bolt at the center of the darkness. The veil of darkness falls and they see two dead drow stuck in webs.

Vervork recovers the Javelin of Lightning and he and Eathwund clamber into the barrel. Lakima tells his mimic to form itself into a second barrel and Alonso and Domago reluctantly clamber into him. Lakima throws the lever and the chamber soon starts to fill with water. The heroes float in barrels or by treading water and slowly ascend back up the shaft to the rope ladder.

Back in the warehouse, they debate whether to summon the guard but Fenris tells them that there is not a lot of guards outside the town gates. So, they leave and report to the Watch Station, unconscious Vervork is carried along by Eathwund and Lantosh.

First, the heroes head to the Watch Station, but they are nervous to turn over their evidence to the watch. So, they demand an audience with Lord Brightmoor at the citadel. After a short wait, they are granted a meeting. Lord Brightmoor examines some of the books they found with concern. He sends for a Priest of St. John to pray to see if anyone in the chamber is evil (and possibly a doppelganger). Aashdoshan discretely steps just outside the range of the spell. Assured that no one is a doppelganger, Brightmoor asks what their next move will be. Will they descend back under the town to confront the Mindflayer. Lakima lets the lord know that this will be an expensive task. Lord Brightmoor is not happy by that and does not offer a reward. He tells them that he will hire another group to take care of the problem and then dismisses them.

Aashdoshan and Domago take Vervork to the Church of St. Aleena where the unconscious hero is revived with no ill effects other than a bad headache. Lakima takes the doppelganger brain to his wife Alayna. She is horrified by the mucky brain at first but once she is told what it is she eagerly grabs hold of it and heads to her workroom. The rest of the heroes settle down at the Chapter House for now. Lakima mentions that he might go do some research on doppelgangers at the Library of Antiquity.