Now that the players in my Swords & Wizardry campaign are regularly travelling to the Great Desert I get to use my favorite fantasy campaign climate - desert.
I wrote an original adventure involving the exploration of the Halls beneath a long-dead wizard's tower. The name was inspired by some Swords & Wizardry named spells from I think the Caverns of Thracia. One of the spells was Mikda-Err's Practical Tilt.
The dungeon design came from a doodled map I made in Dungeondraft. I was playing around with a dungeon that was square and filled in most of the empty spaces. Like the dungeons created by old dungeon geomorphs.
Session 140: The Halls of Mikda-Err
Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Aldus (human cavalier), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human cleric, NPC), Brovin (human thief, NPC).
The Company of the Black Dragon has traveled to the City of Veil where they meet with Elken the Dark in his tower to plan the robbing of Mikda-Err’s tomb. The core group of adventurers heads with Elken to the Tower of Mikda-Err.
In the shadow of Mikda-Err’s tower Elken the Dark again goes over the plan. He explains that the old blue dragon Zasien was enchanted by Mikda-Err to protect her halls. He is only to allow Mikda-Err, her apprentices, and their servants to enter the tower. The dragon has chosen to interpret that any apprentice of the servants of Mikda-Err can enter and he allows this as long as they provide a suitable gift. As the apprentice of one of Mikda-Err’s apprentices, Elken believes the dragon will let him pass. Lakima is his apprentice and the rest of the company must pretend to be servants.
Lakima suggests that they may want to fight the dragon and take his legendary treasure, but Elken warns them that the dragon is immune to magic somehow. Many wizards have tried to enter the tower and have died in the confrontation.
As they approach the tower, Elken suggests that Brovin must be blindfolded to withstand the terror that seeing the dragon can provoke. Brovin accepts a blindfold from Alrix and puts his hand on Domago’s shoulder.
The adventurers enter the open doorway of the tower and lay their eyes upon the mature blue dragon who is clearly waiting for them. The large dragon is almost as big as Synastarax – the legendary dragon they faced years ago. The dragon rests on a huge pile of gold and silver coins. Heaps of gems, jewels, and weapons can also be seen in the dragon horde.
“Apprentice Elken the Dark,” the dragon hisses, “we meet again.”
The adventurers feel terror welling up in their souls but all fight off the compulsion to run or throw themselves prostrate before the dragon.
Elken introduces Lakima as his apprentice and the rest of the group as servants and on cue, Lakima produces a gold-plated statue of a dragon which he holds out to the dragon. The dragon reaches out with a clawed hand bigger than Lakima and delicately plucks the statuette from his grasp to examine it.
“This is acceptable,” the dragon hisses and repositions itself back on the dragon horde allowing the group passage to the stairs to the halls below. Elken whispers for everyone to quickly descend.
The group descends a straight set of stairs about 30 feet below the dragon and the feelings of fear subside. Domago removes the blindfold from Brovin’s eyes. The hall is dark so Lakima uses the Staff of Power to cast light on everyone’s drawn weapons.
At the bottom of the stairs, they find a closed iron portcullis. Brovin examines it and tells them that he cannot move it. He points into the large chamber beyond at a lever on the floor and tells everyone that he thinks it is controlled by the lever.
Aldus tests the gate and finds it too hard to lift. Lakima then uses the staff again and casts telekinesis to flip the lever and the portcullis opens. The group enters the large chamber, where they see a sundial that shows a time a few hours after sunrise despite the light from their glowing weapons. A few well-cared-for healthy plants grow out of planters. Finally, they see the statue of a young, bald woman wearing flowing robes.
“I think that is Mikda-Err when she was young,” Elken says.
Lakima asks where they should go now to Elken. There are three doors from the chamber. Elken tells them he has never gotten by the dragon before.
“You came to the tower before?” Alrix asks.
Elken explains that he came to the tower about 40 years ago but he could not get by the dragon because he did not have a suitable gift.
“Well at least he did not eat you!” Alrix says.
Elken nods and says that the dragon can be reasoned with which is unusual for a dragon.
“Not really, we have reasoned with dragons before,” Lakima states.
As Lakima and Alrix walk over to the sundial to examine it they hear a bell ring three times. This puts everyone on edge but nothing happens. Elken asks what they do now. He will defer to the experienced tomb robbers. Lakima pulls out the arrow of direction and asks for the directions to Mikda-Err’s spell books. The arrow does not move. Elken tries casting locate object but it does not work.
“That was a waste of a spell,” Lakima admonishes his mentor.
Elken then casts clairvoyance and begins to look through the walls of the chamber and describes the contents of the rooms beyond. At this moment a door to the chamber opens and a large, well-dressed servant enters.
“Good morning gentlemen, I am afraid the mistress is not in,” it says, “would you care to come back at another time?”
As everyone turns to look at the servant, they realize its skin is grey and large stitches cover its face and hands. It is a flesh golem.
Lakima and Elken have a polite conversation with the flesh golem servant who suggests they come back another time. The servant expects Mikda-Err to return but upon being questioned they learn that the servant has not seen Mikda-Err in 130 years.
Ignoring the servant, the group heads through the eastern door. Brovin unlocks it and they head into the halls. Elken uses his clairvoyant sight to tell them the contents behind the walls. He spots another flesh golem and a clay golem. They decide to avoid these constructs. After about a half hour of searching Elken excitedly tells the group that he sees a reading room on the other side of a door.
In the reading room, they find a few beginner texts on magic and an open book on a desk. Elken examines the book with detect magic and quickly slams it shut. He tells them that it is a Book of Life Trapping. Those looking into the book are drawn into it permanently until the magic on the page is dispelled. He saw a demon on one of the open pages. Lakima picks up the book and puts it in the bag of holding. One door from the reading room leads to a small library. The shelves in this room are full of books, scrolls, and even clay tablets. There are spots on the shelves where books are missing. A magically trapped rug at the doorway resists the efforts of Lakima and Elken to dispel it. Lakima is forced to use the pearl of power to regain his spell. The second attempt by Lakima succeeds. As they step over the threshold a bell can be heard chiming.
Once in the library, they spend a half hour searching. Alrix and Elken check the books and take a few. Lakima opens the bag of holding and packs every scroll he finds into the bag. He does not even bother to check them – just grabbing scrolls off of the shelves and putting them into the bag.
As they are searching, Eathwund sees the flesh golem servant walking down the hallway toward the chamber. Eathwund casually blocks the doorway.
“Pardon me, can I get past?” the servant asks. When Eathwund ignores it, it speaks again, “I was summoned to the library.”
Alrix, Elken, and Lakima leave the library hiding the books and scrolls they took. Finally, the servant is allowed past Eathwund. Lakima tells it they are just leaving. The servant tells them they can read the books in the library but they must not take them. Then it gets upset when it spots that the Book of Life Trapping is missing. Lakima tells it that an angry demon appeared and took the book.
The entire group hastily leaves the library and the servant behind.
Lakima tells Brovin to lead them back to the entrance room. He tells the group that they got what they came for but Elken objects. He tells Lakima that he has not found the spells he needs. He feels that the library they searched was for apprentices. Lakima agrees to keep looking but suggests they check the area where the golem came from. Brovin leads the group in retracing their steps. Soon they arrive back at the entrance hall and Lakima leads the way across the room. But as he enters the stone statue of Mikda-Err animates and chases after Lakima hitting him with one of its stone fists.
Aldus immediately blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla and six berserkers appear swarming the stone statue and allowing Lakima to run around the sundial. The berserkers are unable to do any damage to the stone statue but Eathwund strikes it and Alrix hits it several times with arrows. The statue then casts a spell and two more statues form out of thin air. These two new statues are not as well formed but they move to attack Lakima. Lakima casts Mirror image and there are four images of Lakima. The statues quickly strike at the images and Lakima. All of the images vanish and Lakima is punched again.
“Give me some help!” Lakima shouts at Aldus.
Aldus sends four of the berserkers to stand between Lakima and the statues and absorb the blows from the fists of the statues. Meanwhile, the original statue is destroyed by Eathwund, Alrix, and Aldus. As it crumbles into rubble the two copies crumble to dust.
“I could use some healing,” Lakima gasps clutching his broken ribs. Domago places a hand on Lakima’s chest and heals him.
Brovin unlocks the west door from the chamber and they search the small bed chamber of the golem not finding anything. They pass through a room with a statue of an iron warrior but avoid it carefully. Brovin leads them through a component storage room to the locked door of a room Elken tells them is a treasure room.
In this room, they find three locked chests. Brovin is able to unlock two of them (although he sets off a poison needle trap) and they find gold, silver, platinum coins, and potions. The third chest he is unable to pick so Eathwund smashes it open with his mace. A trapped spectre emerges and lunges at Eathwund but misses the fighter. Domago turns the spectre and it hides back in the chest. Eathwund quickly checks the chest and sees it is empty so they close it up again.
The group is now loaded down with large sacks full of coins. The bag of holding is full and all of their sacks. The group realizes that they will have to drop everything if they get into a fight. In a nearby chamber, they find a book-making and binding chamber. A recently completed book rests on a table. Lakima is unable to cast the read magic cantrip so he gives the Lakima’s Lens of Keen sight to Elken to check the book. Elken checks out the books and lets out a startled gasp. He hurriedly urges everyone out of the room and slams the door shut.
“There was a soul eater trapped in the book to be released when it is read!”
Elken explains that a soul eater is a summoned assassin who can track its victim across the planes. Lakima suggests they be wary of any more books.
The group heads north and then east encountering a stone dragon head with a programmed magic mouth that just keeps asking them where they are going. They find several doors leading north but all of them are locked and Brovin is unable to unlock any of them. Lakima casts Strength on Aldus giving him the strength of a hill giant. Aldus smashes down one of the doors.
They encounter a locked door with two keyholes. The door is made of iron. Brovin tries to unlock the door but whenever he succeeds it relocks.
“It must be magical,” Alrix says.
Lakima casts detect magic and discovers that the entire wall is an anti-magic shell barrier. He waves at Aldus to smash the door down. Aldus hits the door with his shoulder and it does not budge.
“I think the enhanced strength enchantment is blocked by the anti-magic barrier,” Alrix says.
“I guess we need to find three keys,” Brovin suggests.
Aldus smashes open the next locked door they find and he stumbles into a chamber in which three gold-plated skulls with rubies in their eyes rest on three stone plinths. Lakima and Alrix both yell for everyone to back away. But before he can leave the chamber, one of the skulls floats up into the air and casts confusion on Aldus – which he resists successfully. As Alrix moves up to cast a spell, Elken intervenes and casts disintegrate on the skull turning it into a shower of dust. Aldus decides to check the other two skulls despite the misgivings of his companions. He finds they are not animated so he pries the gems from their eyes and tosses the skulls on the floor.
Alrix meanwhile has moved further down the hall and with his dark vision he sees a distant chamber with an open archway. In the chamber, he makes out the form of a stone sarcophagus with the stone form of a lady on the lid
“We have found her!” Alrix exclaims.
Since no one else can see in the dark Alrix explains what he can see. The group then moved up to the chamber. Brovin checks about for any traps. Inscribed on the front of the stone coffin is the name Lucia Drach.
“Who is Lucia Drach,” Alrix says.
Elken tells them that she was a mage who vanished 50 years ago. She lived in the City of Veil with her brother. Her brother was killed in a duel with Mikda-Err.
Aldus levers open the stone lid of the coffin and inside they see the corpse of a woman wearing a red dress. About her neck is an iron key on a thin metal chain. Aldus reaches toward the key and the spirit of a woman rises up from the corpse. The spirit, which looks like the corpse in the coffin, attempts to strangle Aldus. Domago tries to turn it but he fails. Aldus strikes the spirit with his long sword, Alrix fires arrows into it, and Eathwund strikes it with his sword. Under this flurry of attacks, the spirit retreats and then Lakima destroys it with a barrage of magic missiles. Aldus reaches into the coffin and retrieves the iron key.
Elken suggests that the arrow of direction might work in looking for the second key. Lakima takes out the arrow and it does point to the northeast. They head in that direction and encounter another locked door that Brovin cannot open. Aldus smashes down the door into a bed chamber. They find an emptied dresser, a bed, and a writing desk. On the desk are two sheets of parchment covered in writing.
“Don’t touch the parchments!” Lakima commands.
He tells Elken that so far everything left out in the open has been a trap.
“It looks like she left out a lot of traps for eager magic users,” Lakima says.
A hallway leads to a door that Brovin is able to open. Inside is a large chapel. A stone altar is covered with a cloth patterned with leaves. Tapestries depict scenes in nature, a stormy sea, a wind-swept desert, and a forest of tall trees. Alrix casts detect magic and he discovers that the tapestries are magical.
A cloud of smoke issues from the altar and forms into the shape of a man wearing fine clothes. The man smiles at Aldus bearing fangs and then lunges at him. Alrix shouts out a warning that this is a vampire. Then Alrix fires two arrows into the vampire. Eathwund hits it with his sword. Aldus staggers back and blows the Silver horn of Valhalla. Five berserkers appear and pummel the vampire. They do not do any damage but the vampire is buried under a pile of flailing limps. Then the vampire turns to smoke and reappears beside Brovin attempting to bite him. Brovin is too quick and ducks out of the way. Lakima and Alrix both hit the vampire with darts and arrows and the vampire turns to smoke again only to vanish seemingly into the altar.
The berserkers vanish. The heroes surround the altar and examine it. They find a pair of holes in two sides. The holes look like areas used to move the altar. Lakima suggests that the vampire resides in a hole under the altar. Aldus tries moving the altar but it is too heavy. Eathwund checks behind the tapestry behind the altar but he does not find anything. Lakima asks Domago if he has holy water but he does not.
“How can you not have holy water?” Lakima asks Domago in exasperation.
Elken asks Lakima to use the arrow of direction again. The arrow points directly at the altar.
Lakima then conjures up an earth elemental and instructs it to tear apart the altar. The elemental rips the top off of the altar and they see the vampire resting in a coffin-like cavity inside the altar.
Aldus asks how they kill it and Domago explains that they need to drag the vampire out into the sunlight. Lakima threatens the vampire to give up the key. The vampire opens its eyes and produces the key from a pocket. Then it turns to smoke and disappears.
The group is led by Brovin back to the iron door with two locks. Brovin takes the keys and tries them one at a time opening the door. Inside they see a strange metal coffin made of copper and decorated with silver. Inscribed on the wall above the coffin is a message in common:
Here lies Mikda-Err,
Master of the Mystic Arts,
A wielder of power beyond compare.
With every spell, a universe did dance,
In the realms of magic, she took her chance.
Her incantations whispered in the night,
Brought forth wonders, filled with light.
Through ancient tomes, her knowledge grew,
A sorcerer of skill, forever true.
She shaped reality with a wave of her hand,
In realms of night, she'd often stand.
Though her mortal form now rests in peace,
She lives on, and shall never cease.
“Wow!” Aldus exclaims after reading the message.
The heroes position themselves about the coffin as Aldus shoves back the lid. Inside they see the emaciated corpse of a bald woman resting on satin pink sheets. She is wearing a blue gown. In a niche rest a black-covered book and a white-covered book. Near her feet rest an iron coffer and a wood box.
“The Black Book of Mikda-Err!” Elken says excitedly and he reaches for the book.
A ghost-like form rises up out of the corpse and surveys the group then it lunges at Domago grabbing him on the shoulder. Domago cries out in pain.
“Its touch is ice!”
Alrix immediately casts a magic missile striking the shade. Lakima backs away and throws darts at it. He sees Aldus raising the horn of Valhalla.
“Don’t blow the horn, use your mace!”
Eathwund strikes the shade with his long sword and Aldus puts down the horn and strikes with his thunderstrike mace. The lich tries to grab Domago again but he stumbles back from it. He desperately tries to banish the undead shade but he feels its incredible power and fails.
Aldus then strikes the shade with his mace and he uses its lightning strike power. There is a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning and the shade vanishes.
“Did we destroy it?” Aldus asks.
They hear distant female laughter.
“Quickly. Before it returns!” Elken yells and grabs the black book, “I claim this one!”
Lakima calmly picks up the white book and directs the others to grab everything else. Alrix grabs the wood box and the iron coffer. The entire group then quickly leaves the chamber. Brovin leads the group down halls leading south. Pausing for a moment he points at a door at the end of a hall.
“I think that is the way out!”
Aldus runs ahead of Brovin and smashes through the door with his giant strength. They find themselves back in the chamber with the sundial. The chamber is quiet and empty. The portcullis leading out is still open. As they run across the room, Brovin comments that the remains of the statue they fought are gone.
The group runs up the stairs and into the chamber with the blue dragon. Feelings of terror again wash over the group. Brovin, who in his haste did not put on a blindfold, squeals in fright and runs out the doorway into the desert outside. The rest of the group follows as the blue dragon lazily lifts its head to regard their retreating forms.
