Mission to the Mountain

This past week we had a full crew of players for once. Just in time for the adventurers to finally decide to start the mission given to them by the Church of Law (an organization to which they are indebted). I have used a lot of the classic D&D adventures in this campaign. The campaign began with B1:In Search of the Unknown so now I wanted to use S2: White Plume Mountain (sort of). I have taken the basic story of the original and incorporated a few dungeon elements.

Instead of recovering 3 magical weapons stolen by a thief, they are trying to recover 3 holy relics for the church which an evil power plans to use to complete an evil ritual. I have turned it into a large dungeon crawl and this is the largest map I have ever loaded into Roll20. At first, the file size was on the large size but I found that if I blacked out the areas the players would never see (solid rock) the map file size became manageable (I cannot post an image as the players might see it).

Session 90: Mission to White Plume Mountain

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

Lakima remembers that there is still a bronze urn from the tomb beneath the Cairn that he has not checked. He tells his apprentice Brice to reach into the Bag of Holding and withdraw the urn. As soon as the urn leaves the bag in Brice’s grasp an ancient ghost is released. The ghost lets out a wail and then grabs hold of Brice by the throat. Brice manages one choked-off scream before falling dead to the floor. The ghost now turns its attention to Lakima.

Lakima grabs the Soul Cage from out of the Bag of Holding and tries to trap the ghost – but it resists the magic of the cage. The ghost advances toward Lakima arms and hands outstretched.

Downstairs in the main hall of the manor, Domago, Eathwund, Flora, and Lantosh are talking over their latest adventures. They all pause as they hear a ghostly wail from the attic. Then they hear Brice scream in terror. Eathwund is the first to his feet. Grabbing his sword Wormbane, he runs from the stairs to the attic. After a short pause, Lantosh follows him. Domago and Flora look at each other and then they get up and head for the stairs.

Lakima manages to fend off one grab at his throat by the incorporeal hands of the ghost. A moment later Eathwund arrives and sees Brice lying dead in the doorway to the library, nearby he sees the ghost menacing Lakima. He strikes the ghost with Wormbane and using one of its powers he negates the ghost’s resistance to magic. The ghost grabs at Lakima again and misses. Lakima tries using the Soul Cage again and the ghost is drawn into the cage. The cage and the bronze urn are put back in the Bag of Holding.

Domago checks on Brice and finds that the young man is indeed dead. He prays for Brices’ soul to return to his body (raise dead) but it does not work. Domago tells everyone that Brice is gone.

The next day the group starts making plans for a trip to White Plume Mountain to fulfill the mission that the Church of Law has requested of them – to find the three missing holy artifacts. Alayna tells Lakima that she will make them six potions of Extra Healing. Lakima asks Aashdoshan if he will fulfill his promise to come along - he says he is a man of his word. They decide that they will leave on Septem 14. Lakima tells everyone that he has studied the powerful teleport spell to get them to the mountain. But after some discussion, it is agreed that it would be far safer to teleport to the Shrine of Medamellara in the Valley of Heroes. All of the heroes enter the Book in a Tower except Lakima. Lakima takes the Book in hand and casts teleport – arriving safely in the shrine.

At the shrine, they speak briefly with the Priest Toffin. Lakima uses the mana well to recharge his Wand of Lightning Bolts and Aashdoshan uses the same well to recharge his Wand of Magic Missiles. Once they are ready everyone except Lakima gets back into the Book. Lakima releases his Horse in a Bottle and rides to the town of Caster’s Ford on the horse.

In Caster’s Ford most of the adventurers get out of the Book and take rooms at the Blue Dragon Inn. Lakima asks the innkeeper Geflion about local news. The next day they purchase horses from the stables and they ride north into the mountains. On the first day, they are waylaid by three giants demanding a toll. The adventurers confer and agree that the 100 gold coin is worth paying. The giants take the money and allow them to pass. They arrive late in the day at Ethelstan Keep (modeled on the  Keep on the Borderlands). The adventurers stable their horses and take rooms at the local inn. That night they go to the one tavern in the keep and talk to the locals. A traveling priest tells them tales of how dangerous White Plume Mountain is, he claims it is the nesting place of fierce dragons.

The next day Domago asks that they visit the local priest Dunwoody. His abbot suggested he could learn more about the local area from the priest. Dunwoody takes them into his confidence once he learns of their mission. He confirms that no one has returned from a trip to the mountain. He also warns them that a flock of wyvern has been seen circling the mountain.

The adventurers set out on foot for the mountain and arrive on the slopes in the later afternoon. They follow the directions that Dunwoody gave them and arrive at a steam vent on the side of the mountain. They have to climb up to a ledge to reach it. Alrix changes into his true form of a feathered serpent and flies up onto the ledge. Fenris and Flora are sent on ahead into the tunnel from which the steam is venting. The tunnel is dark and soon Fenris is forced to stop as he gets further from the entrance. Flora hears voices talking quietly up ahead somewhere but she cannot understand them. She returns to the group and Lakima gives her a packet of the Dust of Disappearance. She doses herself and disappears. Flora goes back into the tunnel and passes Fenris. At a side tunnel, she spots two hobgoblin sentries. She goes back and collects Fenris. The two thieves silently sneak up on the two sentries. Flora kills the one hobgoblin quickly and silently, but Fenris misses and the other hobgoblin turns to run – only to be cut down by Fenris and Flora. They return to the entrance and get the rest of the party.

The adventurers continue through the tunnels, Alrix slithering along at the back of the group the tunnels are only ten feet in diameter but his form fits easily with his wings pulled tightly to his body. A short distance from where they fought the sentries, they spot a half-dozen hobgoblins in a cavern preparing for a war party. Alrix casts the fireball spell and all of the hobgoblins are killed. The spell does make a lot of noise. The group pauses amongst the dead hobgoblins to decide on the best direction to get to the three relics. Lakima pulls out the Arrow of Direction and questions it but the arrow just spins on his fingertip. Alrix suggests that the relics must be shielded from locating spells.

“Okay, let's go north,” Lakima says and points at a dark tunnel heading north.

“Is there a reason for north, or did you just choose randomly?” Alrix asks.

Lakima incorrectly says that going north would lead deeper into the mountain.

The group heads north with Flora leading the way. Her elven dark vision allows her to guide them through the maze of tunnels. Only Lakima carries a light and it is his glowing magical staff. After a half-hour of walking through caves, Flora spots more hobgoblins ahead in a cave. She signals that she can see five or six of the creatures. Lakima suggests that Lantosh and Eathwund charge into the chamber ahead of the group. They should be able to make short work of hobgoblins.

Eathwund and Lantosh agree and they rush as quietly as possible into the cave. Alrix slithers down the tunnel right behind them. They see six hobgoblins conversing with a seventh hobgoblin who appears to be a leader. The leader sits on a rock in front of several banners. Some of the banners appear to be captured human standards. Lantosh heads left and Eathwund heads right. On his right, Eathwund notices a large pile of dirty furs. Just then the pile of furs roars to its feet – it is a 15-foot-tall Cave Bear! Alrix meanwhile had slithered across the chamber to attack the hobgoblin leader.

Lakima, Domago, and Flora also soon join the adventurers in the cave. Alrix constricts about the Hobgoblin leader squeezing him tightly. The Cave bear slashes at Eathwund and misses. A few hobgoblins hack at Alrix’s long body hitting him. Lakima casts the Charm Monster spell on the Cave bear and brings it under his control. He directs it to attack the hobgoblins. Within moments all of the hobgoblins except the leader are dead. The hobgoblin leader cries out that he yields. The Cave bear chases hobgoblins out of the chamber but Lakima calls it back.

Alrix, Lakima, and Lantosh interrogate the hobgoblin. Lantosh acting as translator. They learn that the hobgoblins are mercenaries hired by a group of Black Choke slavers. The slavers reside somewhere deeper in the tunnels. The hobgoblin claims that he does not know where. He asks to ransom himself with a silver elven earring. They do take the earing but continue with the questioning. A search of his belt pouch reveals a number of small trinkets and 8 somewhat rotted human ears. The hobgoblin leader claims that these are used as currency amongst goblins. He did not personally cut the ears off of humans. The hobgoblin also tells them that there are trolls in the caves and a wingless dragon. He claims that there are other more dangerous creatures deeper in the tunnels. Once they are satisfied that he has nothing more to tell, they tie up the hobgoblin.