The solution that my players came up with to deal with the fey "grombel" was certainly not something that I had anticipated. But I felt it would work. You could argue that the bellows would not work as portrayed but overall I felt it was clever and allowed it.
After dealing with the stealer of children the players continued on their primary mission to locate the missing Earl of Lockeland who has been taken by the Creature of Rhyl. This adventure was published in Dragon Magazine 55, November 1981 written by Kevin Knuth. It was a winner in a design a dungeon contest. The original adventure was written for Moldvay Basic D&D for levels 1-3. I modified it for Swords & Wizardry levels 6-10 but retained the dungeon map, descriptions, and monster locations. I updated some monsters from the module with more powerful versions. But some were kept the same. It is a peculiar dungeon in that most of the encounters are on the wandering monster table. There are very few location based encounters. The map has a very "In Search of the Unknown" vibe common to the era. The dungeon map is purposely difficult to navigate to make mapping it difficult. Something that does not entirely work in Roll20 play. My players do not map the dungeon as they go. Consequently they went in circles a few times without realizing it.
Session 96: Cold Iron and Abandoned Halls
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).
Lakima gets the attention of the Warder, Arlen Travers, and asks him to bring all of the children to the abbey before it gets dark. Arlen asks if the fey creature is still a danger and when he learns it is he agrees. Lakima also asks for directions to the local blacksmith. Then Lakima explains his plan to his fellow adventurers. He thinks that the fey creature, which he is calling the Grombel, can be trapped in a cold iron box or sphere.
The adventurers arrive at the village smithy and meet Bryan the smith. Lakima explains that he wants the smith to weld two iron cauldrons together to form a sphere. While they talk another villager arrives with news that children need to be taken to the abbey. The smith’s wife and two youngest children leave. Impressed with the importance of the task, the smith agrees to get to work on it immediately. He also points to a bucket of iron nails lying nearby. The adventurers agree to take them to the abbey.
The village is busy throughout the afternoon with rushing villagers moving their wives and children to the stone-walled abbey. The men of the village gather iron pitchforks and stand sentry about the abbey. Some men spread iron nails throughout the grass around the abbey.
The adventurers spend that evening in the chapel of the abbey, keeping a watch. But there are no disturbances. The next morning as dawn breaks, they head over to the smithy. There they find the smith and his eldest son asleep by the forge. Resting near the forge is a strange iron cylinder. Lakima wakes the smith who proceeds to show them how the sphere has one bored hole in it and an iron stopper. Lakima then asks the smith if they can borrow the large wooden bellows used in the forge. The smith is confused but too tired to ask questions. The efreet Khisa is released from his bottle and given the task of carrying the bellows and the cauldron.
The adventurers head into the Tanglewood forest and after a few hours they reach the clearing with the lightning struck oak. The large rock over the tunnel has been moved back covering the hole and the villagers have piled up smaller rocks. Eathwund and Lantosh go to work clearing everything. Eathwund tries to move the large rock but again fails. He then uses the power of his sword Wormbane to increase his strength and he easily levers the stone to one side. One by one the adventurers slide down the tunnel into the earth.
The adventurers make their way through the winding tunnel finding that nothing has changed. Once they enter the final cave they spot the grombel, sleeping on its nest of clothing. Their light awakens the creature and it starts cackling and repeating “grombelgrombelgrombel”. Quickly, the adventurers rush across the underground stream and move to attack. But they are too late, the grombel turns into its gaseous form. Lakima yells for Eathwund and Khisa to take their actions. Eathwund turns ethereal but he finds that the grombel is not on the ethereal plane. Khisa sets down the cauldron and grasps the large bellow. He pumps the bellows inhaling the gaseous mist and then blows it out into the iron cauldron. Lakima quickly places the iron stopper and tells Khisa to melt it into place. The events are over in seconds and everyone pauses and looks about. Have they trapped the grombel?
Although they cannot see him, Eathwund pokes his ethereal head inside the cauldron. But he cannot discern if there is anything inside. Then Eathwund materializes. Everyone starts asking if they have caught the creature. They search but they find that there is no sign of the creature in the caves. Khisa picks up the cauldron and they all climb back out of the tunnels and into daylight. The adventurers arrive in town and head to the blacksmith. The smith is asked to seal the stopper on the cauldron which he does, melting some wire into the gap. They also return his bellows. They then present the cauldron to the Warder. Once Arlen is told what is inside, he suggests giving it to Mother Mills for safekeeping. He arranges for some villagers to take it to the abbey.
Still unsure if they have succeeded, the adventurers decide to stay in town one more night. They return to the Red Smile Tavern. They do meet Sir Angus Goblinbane, the agent of the Lawlord of Lockeland. He seems unimpressed with their exploits. Viewing the grombel tale as “simple superstition.”
An uneventful night is spent sleeping in the common room of the tavern. The next morning, they check with the warder and learn that no children have gone missing. Believing they have solved the problems in Leandra’s Row, the adventurers set out on foot north of the village into the foothills of the Mountains of Time.
The land soon turns into badlands with twisting canyons and mesa. It would be easy to get lost but on the first day, the adventurers find a trail of many footprints marching north. They follow the trail that is leading them unerringly toward the Mountains. On the second day some mountain lions begin tracking them. Apparently only curious as they never come within bow range. That night, Lakima asks Khisa to set up a ring of fire around the campsite. The campsite is brightly illuminated for miles and it does attract the attention of a band of goblins who are quickly driven off. Eathwund charges and kills several goblins and Domago uses the Silver Horn of Valhalla to summon four berserkers who chase after the goblins. The few that survive for more than a minute turn and try to run.
On the third day, the adventurers follow the trail of footprints into a box canyon. The trail heads right up to an entrance in a cliff face. The two iron doors to the dungeon lie open. They lead to a stair headed 20 feet down into a dungeon.
The adventurers descend into the dungeon and find a number of abandoned rooms. Dust and cobwebs cover everything. There is no sign of intelligent life. They do come across a Gelatinous Cube and a Black pudding slime monster but they avoid them. In an abandoned kitchen they find the corpse of a goblin, apparently dead for at least several days. In an octagonal room with four doors, they find a gold statue of a warrior. Turning the statue to face a door causes a rumbling noise that lasts less than a minute. Then one of the doors can be opened. Eathwund and Lakima agree that the room might be an elevator. They try it a few times but the nearby halls appear to be the same.
In one chamber they find a chapel with a demon idol. Lantosh and Domago feel unsettled by the statue and Domago casts Dispel Evil upon it. After that, the altar braziers dim and go out and the feeling of encroaching evil leaves the chamber. They continue searching through the dungeons looking for any sign of the Earl of Locklande or the Creature who kidnapped him.
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