Mystery of the Blacksphere

With a few local tasks taken care of in their last few sessions, it was time to send the players on another adventure. This one was hinted at at the end of the previous session. I rewrote a classic Dungeon Magazine adventure written by Chris Perkins. Bzallin's Blacksphere from Dungeon Magazine 64 (Sept/Oct 1997). This would be long before he worked at Wizards. The adventure was written as an AD&D adventure for levels 12-15. Converting AD&D adventures to Swords & Wizardry is fairly straightforward. The systems are not that different. But I had to make major changes because of the intended level of the adventure. I believe I have scaled it down properly to be playable by my players whose characters range from 6-9 levels. We shall find out.

In this session, the player who is the group leader could not make it to the game so I split the group early on so that his character was off-screen.

Session 81: Mystery of the Blacksphere

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

At the end of their last adventure, the heroes received a desperate plea for help from the resident mage of the town of Caster's Ford.

Aashdoshan gives Lakima a spare key to the Tower in the Book and then uses one of his other keys to transport everyone who is going to Caster's Ford into the book. Unaware of what is occurring outside their pocket dimension the group settles down in the waiting area of the tower. Fenris busies himself in the kitchen and finds a Potion of Healing in the kitchen supplies. Aashdoshan wanders about the upper floors rearranging the dead he has moved into the tower. After just over a day, Lakima knocks on the door of the tower and is let in.

“We’re here, I have a room in the Blue Dragon Inn in Caster’s Ford”

Lakima tells everyone that they might as well wait in the tower. Except for Eathwund, he suggests Eathwund join him outside in the room so they can keep watches to ensure the book is not stolen. The night in the Inn is uneventful.

The next morning, Lakima, Eathwund, Aashdoshan, Alrix, Domago, Lantosh, and Fenris come downstairs into the tavern room for breakfast. Geflion, the owner, watches the long line of adventurers descend from upstairs with a puzzled look on his face.

“Wasn’t it a little crowded in your room?”

Aashdoshan hands Geflion a gold coin to ease his worries. Then they order breakfast. Lakima asks Geflion while they are being served about the local mage Palderus. Geflion tells them where the tower of the mage is located (a short distance away). Aashdoshan suggests they send a message to Palderus inviting him to meet them in the Inn. Just in case they cannot trust Palderus. After all none of them have met or heard of him before. Geflion tells Aashdoshan that he can send the pot boy to fetch the mage. Aashdoshan tosses a silver to Geflion who pockets it and sends off the boy.

As they are just finishing up breakfast the boy returns to tell them that he knocked on the door of the mages’ tower repeatedly but the only response was from a crow perched beside the door. Aashdoshan takes out some parchment and writes a message addressed to Palderus and gives it to the boy – and he hands the boy a silver.

“He is just going to waste that”, scolds Geflion.

The boy returns a few minutes later. He tells them the door still did not open although the crow mocked him. He says he slid the message under the door. Aashdoshan suggests to the rest of the party that they wait an hour and then go over to the tower. Just as he is stating that an adventurer walks into the Inn and ducks as a crow flies in through the doors behind him narrowly missing his head. The crow circles the tavern room once and then lands in the middle of the table. The crow walks back and forth on the table squawking. Aashdoshan casts detect magic on the bird which allows him to see that it is its true form but it is also magical.

“Come at once, come at once!” it squawks

Aashdoshan calls the crow over to him and tries talking to it but it just repeats bits of what he says to it. Sighing in exasperation he tears a small piece off of a sheet of parchment and writes a tiny note to Palderus telling him to meet them at the Inn. He looks at the crow trying to see if it will allow the note to be tied to its claw when the crow reaches out and grabs the note. The crow flies up in the air and circles the room a few times. Aashdoshan uses a cantrip to open the front door for it and the crow flies out.

“That was unnatural!”, exclaims Geflion.

About ten minutes later an anxious middle-aged mage bursts into the tavern and heads over to the group’s table. He introduces himself as Palderus and shakes Lakima’s hand. He tells them he really needs their help but he cannot discuss it here. He needs to do it in private and he cannot leave the tower unwatched for long.

“Will you please come with me to the tower?”

Aashdoshan asks him to just tell them the problem. Palderus grabs the torn piece of parchment lying on the table and takes out a quill. He writes on it and hands it back to Aashdoshan. The words “annihilation sphere” are written on the parchment.

Aashdoshan asks where and Palderus tells him it is in his tower. There is some discussion back and forth between Alrix, Aashdoshan, and Lakima. Palderus grabs the parchment again and beneath his previous words he writes, “it is growing!”

The urgency now becomes apparent and the entire party of adventurers agrees to follow Palderus to his tower. The “tower” turns out to be an odd six-sided stone structure that is wider than it is tall. Palderus pauses before unlocking the door and warns them where the sphere is located and that they must not touch it. He then lets them in. In one corner of the tower, they see a dull black sphere, seven feet in diameter, seemingly stuck in the floor at its equator. The sphere makes no noise and does not move.

Lakima, Aashdoshan, and Alrix spend an hour discussing the sphere with Palderus, when it arrived (5 days ago), how fast is it growing (10-12 inches per day), and what was Palderus doing when it arrived (reading a book on ecology). They check it from below in the storage cellar and see the bottom half of the sphere. They try tossing a few pieces of wood into it and see them vanish without a sound or trace. As part of the discussion, Palderus mentions a note he found in a forgotten journal that belonged to his master Zallin. He takes the thin journal off of the shelf and reads the passage which theorizes that a Sphere of Annihilation could be made to grow if it has a connection to the void (negative material plane). When questioned about Zallin, Palderus says that he retired 20 years ago to a tower not far from Caster’s Ford in a forest. About 10 years ago the tower was attacked by fiends and no one goes near it now – local adventurers say it is haunted.

Aashdoshan and Alrix take turns trying to move the sphere with their minds. Some stories about spheres of annihilation suggest this is possible but they accomplish nothing. They even try having the entire group think together but nothing happens.

Lakima holds up the journal and says, “I will study this with Palderus, the rest of you see if you can find and talk to Zallin”. On second thought he asks Lantosh to remain in the tower with them just in case of trouble.

Aashdoshan, Eathwund, Alrix, Domago, and Fenris head off on foot west of Caster’s Ford up into the wooded hill’s locals call the Ruvean Forest. After just over an hour of walking, they see the tower poking up into the sky above the trees. The tower rests in the center of a clearing. It looks to be about 60 feet tall. It is 60 feet at the base but tapers quickly to be only 25 feet at the crenelated top. There are a few shuttered windows in the towers but no light comes from them. Near the top of the tower, the walls and roof are caved in from some terrific force. The clearing is disturbingly quiet.

“Leave this cursed place, or face death!” a voice shouts from a second-floor window of the tower. All of the heroes turn to go, but then Eathwund, Alrix, and Domago remember the urgency and they stop and step further into the clearing. Behind them, Fenris and Aashdoshan have turned their backs on the tower and are walking off toward Caster’s Ford.

Alrix walks well into the clearing and shouts at the tower. “We need to speak to Zallin, Caster’s Ford needs your aid!” There is no answer from the tower.

The ground near Alrix shudders and he sees an arm, torso, and head emerge. A zombie digs itself out of a shallow grave. Looking around him he sees dozens of zombies emerging from shallow graves all throughout the clearing around the tower. Eathwund and Domago rush over to protect Alrix. They shout at Fenris and Aashdoshan to come back. Fenris yell back at them, “We are not welcome here, let’s go!”

The zombies continue to move closer. Alrix tries yelling some more at the person in the tower. “Fine, you are making us do this!” He casts a fireball and incinerates four of the zombies. The rest of the zombies keep coming. Domago faces off against six zombies and presents his mace and shouts at them to begone in the name of St. Aleena. Five zombies are destroyed instantly by the power of his faith. At this moment they hear howling from the woods. Six undead wolves rush from the treeline toward the two groups. Three wolves head toward Aashdoshan and Fenris and three head toward Eathwund and Alrix.

Although he is under a compulsion to leave, Aashdoshan decides he does not want to run from the clearing. So, he uses his wand and fires magic missiles at the wolves nearest to him. Domago uses his faith again and turns the wolves near Aashdoshan causing them to flee into the forest. By this time Eathwund has become surrounded by zombies, he slashes through one with his sword causing it to collapse. Another, quicker undead creature reaches out to touch him, instinctively knowing this would not be good – Eathwund interposes his shield and shouts out, “I think some of them are wights, this is not going well!”

Alrix has also become surrounded by undead wolves and zombies. He decides that it has become too dangerous and he shifts into his natural form of a couatl, a 20-foot-long serpent with giant feathered wings. He wraps his form around one undead wolf and crushes it then he bites down on a zombie but finds his poison has no effect on it. Aashdoshan sees the wight trying to drain Eathwund and he casts a magic missile destroying it. Domago runs over and uses his holy presence for a third time destroying the remaining zombies. There remains one wight left which is decapitated by Eathwund.

“Can we go now!” Aashdoshan and Fenris call out from beyond the clearing. Alrix holds up his hands for them to wait. He flies up toward the open window in the tower and is struck by a string of magic missiles. Wincing, he looks in the window and sees an emaciated man holding a wand. The man looks very ill, almost dead. Alrix tries talking to the man again telling him about the sphere of annihilation and the danger to Caster’s Ford, but the man just slams the shutters of the window closed.

Alrix flies over to where the rest of the party has gathered just outside of the clearing. Domago demands to know what manner of creature he is? Alrix changes form again into his human guise. He explains his race and apologizes for not telling his new friends earlier. He tells them his story of how he arrived in the tower was completely true. He just left out a few details. Domago takes the time to cast Detect Evil on Alrix and tells him he is satisfied. He also casts all of his healing spells on Eathwund and Alrix who both got bitten by the undead wolves (and thankfully not poisoned).

The adventurers decide to head back to the town. It is clear to Domago and Alrix that Aashdoshan and Fenris are under a suggestion spell. Eathwund just shrugs.

A few hours later they arrive back in the tower. Lakima asks how it went in the tower and they tell him what happened. Lakima casts dispel magic on Aashdoshan removing the suggestion spell effects. Palderus does the same for Fenris. They confer some more and Alrix tells them that he suspects Zallin may have created the Black sphere. Palderus muses that he may be right but why would he target me? Alrix tells him it just might be someplace he knows well. Lakima notes that if they do not want to have to deal with the mage’s suggestion spell again, they should return before the mage has a chance to rest.