Once more into the Void Session 23

Once More into the Void Session 23

We had a short session this week. Two players were missing and it felt right to stop after one encounter. It took us 5 rounds and about an hour of real time to dispatch 3 goblins and a pair of giant lizards. Not our greatest hour but a few of the characters did level up to 4.

My character Otrivush Oto was in the background for much of the action so I will summarize the events for the players that were not able to make it before I relate things from Oto’s point of view.

Fumbles and stumbles

Last time, the delvers descended into the dungeon beneath a lonely keep in the mountains searching for the necromancer. Announcing themselves far and wide by loudly battering down a door they had a pitched battle with a number of goblins and an orog.

When this session began the players were “safely” resting behind a locked door in the torture chamber they had found. Oto and Alcor went to sleep while Thyrell, Muah, and Talrek kept watch. Talrek heard whispering outside the door and the latch moved but whoever it was moved on.

The delvers went down the hallway open now because of the smashed doors. Beyond they passed through a few rooms and halls that showed the signs of recent inhabitants. In a pile of broken weapons, Oto found two usable daggers.

In a chamber with a curtained off area, a cleaner bed is discovered. Oto searches and finds a secret door. Beyond the door is a stair down. A “tink, tink” noise of metal on rock can be heard in the distance. Mukah snuck forward keeping to the shadows and entered an enormous rough hewn room. Apparently a recent excavation. The entrance and some ledges at a higher elevation (10 feet above the cave floor) that are connected by rickety planks.

Mukah spots three goblin archers on a far ledge and two giant lizards on the cavern floor. As he examines the area the goblins open fire and one arrow hits Mukah. Mukah and Alcor run down a ramp into the lower level, Talrek, Oto and Thyrell keep to the higher area. One goblin drops down into the lower area and climbs on a giant lizard. Thyrell reduces the number of archers by one by killing one with an arrow. The giant lizard running about lose without a rider climbs up above Alcor and swipes at him.

Alcor moves on across the cavern floor toward the remaining archer. The giant lizard swings at Alcor and misses. Talrek is badly mauled by the giant lizard, he tries to attack but misses and falls off the side of the ledge to the floor below (rolled a 1 to hit then a 1 on his Dexterity save). Thyrell moves up near the lizard after deftly running across the unstable plank. But he promptly loses his footing and swings wide (rolled a 1 to hit).

Oto casts magic missile on that lizard badly hurting it. The next round Tinda races up and rips out the throat of the lizard killing it. Oto cast firebolt at the goblin lizard rider but badly misses and almost hits Mukah who has to dive out of the way (Oto rolled a 1 to hit).

Alcor tries to climb up the slope to attack the goblin archer. But he stumbles and falls back down (rolled a 1). Mukah cleaves the goblin riding the giant lizard completely in half at the waist. Thyrell gets his balance fires an arrow at the goblin archer and it misses completely.

The giant lizard that still has half a goblin on its back flees the chamber down the corrider running into a surprsied Oto. Oto hits the lizard with shocking grasp but only does 1 point of damage. The lizard bites Oto who cries out for help. Thyrell turns and fires an arrow through the lizard’s eye killing it.

The last goblin tries to sneak further into the chamber but Talrek casts sacred flame setting it on fire. Then Alcor finally climbs up on the ledge, tosses a dart hitting the goblin in the head and killing it.

Wrapping up Thyrell did a quick search of the bodies and found 23 silver coins. The delvers moved to a nearby corrider and another stair leading down.

A few goblins should be easy to get past

Goblins and Lizards

Oto stood before the headmaster attempting not to sway. His stomach rumbled a warning. The headmaster continued to write notes in his book but Oto could see Headmaster Toven scowl.

Finally, Toven put down his quill and looked up at Oto with a cold look in his eyes.

“Drunk again, I see,” he said shaking his head.

“Well, Weaponmaster Marcus can work that out of you!”

Oto groaned under his breath. Not the weaponmaster. He hated the drills with staves. Marcus always made a point of making sure Oto left the practice beaten, covered in welts.

“You object to the punishment?” Toven asked raising an angry eyebrow.

Oops, maybe that groan was not in my head afterall.

“Oto get up, get up!”

I groaned and rolled over on the hard, stone floor. I was not back at the Academy in Candlekeep. I was in this stinking, cold dungeon off on a foolhardy adventure. At least my head was clear. Although I could really use a nip of something. I checked my wineskin. Unfortunately, it was dry. Emptied days okay. I groaned aloud this time.

“You rested, Oto?” Talrek asked looking over at Oto. I waved him off. “Yes, I got enough sleep, I was just dreaming of someplace else”.

“Well, while you were dreaming something tried the door to this chamber last night”, Talrek said.

“What did”

“I do not know. I let it be and stayed quiet and it moved on”, replied Talrek.

I nodded, stood and gathered my belongings, taking a swig of flat, unpleasant water.

Thyrell, Mukah and Alcor were already packed and ready to go. Apparently, they had let me sleep in. Even Thyrell’s pet wolf Tinda looked at me in askance. I waved them on and took up my customary position in the middle of the group. Where it was safest.

“Let’s go”

In the hallway beyond the bodies left behind by the previous days, melee were strewn about the floor. Apparently unmoved. The large double door to another hall lay on the floor where they had fallen. I glanced at Mukah who grinned in satisfaction at his handiwork. Motioning to follow him, Mukah moved off briskly down the hall, stepping over the doors.

I paused to unshutter my ever-burning magic lamp. A dim glow filled the hallway. Beyond was an area that looked to be a sleeping area for goblins. Only goblins would sleep in such filth. Straw pallets covered in rags lay on the floor. The smell of urine and feces filled the air. Placing a sleeve before my face I grimly followed Mukah into the hall. Glancing at a table along the wall I could see an interrupted meal of some kind of meat, possibly a rat. Grimacing I rubbed my empty tummy. Defintely something that puts off the appetite.

Mukah waved, “C’mon”. Following Mukah we headed down the hall and into two rooms but there was little to investigate. In what appeared to be a primitive smithy, complete with a forge I found two daggers that looked at least usable. I added them to my pack after offering them to Thyrell who showed little interest in them.

At the end of the hall was another pair of double doors. Exercising caution Mukah listened at the door. Then stood up and loudly said, “Can’t hear nothin!” I grimaced at the noise. But we had already made such a loud statement on entering the dungeon I was certain whatever we encountered would be ready for us. Mukah tried the door but could not open it.

“Should I go get the door opener” Mukah grinned and waved back to down the hall. Presumbedly he meant the wooden battering ram he had fashioned. I remembered the key I had found on the body of the orog the previous day. Reaching into my pouch I pulled out the key and handed it to Mukah.

“Try this first!”

Mukah held the iron key in his hand disdainfully and placed it in the lock. There was a loud click and the  doors swung open. In the next room, there were a pair of cleaner beds and a large, dirty curtain blocking off one corner of the room. Mukah moved cautiously forward and peered behind the curtain. Then his shoulders relaxed and he signaled the all clear. Mukah pulled the curtain back to reveal a bed and table. Looking at the bed I was surprised to see it actually appeared to have reasonably clean sheets on it. As the rest of the group milled about, I walked forward and looked intently at the bed. Something was off. Scratching the stubble on my chin I walked around the bed. There were marks on the floor like the bed had been recently moved.

“Mukah, can you pull back that curtain to give me some room?”

Mukah grunted and grabbed a handful of curtain yanking the entire curtain down and throwing it on the floor.

“Talrek, see the marks on the floor? I think there is a door here”

I turned my attention to the wall behind the bed. Spotting the outline of a door I felt along the stone wall until my hands came upon a small, loose stone. Pushing against the stone to see if it moved I heard a click. Then the door slowly swung open with a low groaning noise. I turned to smile at the rest of the group. Talrek seemed taken aback.

“Beginner’s luck is what it is,” Talrek said.

“After you,” I replied.

Mukah lead the way followed by Talrek, Thyrell and Tinda with Alcor bringing up the rear. To the right was a stone stair leading up into darkness. To the left was a hallway that seemed to lead into a larger chamber. From the left came the sound of metal striking stone.

“Tink, tink, tink.”

Three hits followed by a pause and then three hits again.

We paused for a minute listening. Then Mukah hand motioned that he would sneak forward to investigate. The half-orc moved to the shadows along the wall and advanced into darkness until he disappeared from my vision. After what seemed like a long wait, there was the sound of several arrows being fired, followed by a grunt of pain from Mukah.

“Goblins!”

The clink of arrows hitting stone could be heard in the direction Mukah disappeared. Alcor and Talrek rapidly raced to Mukah’s aid. Thyrell glanced at back at me, hand motioning caution then he to jogged into the darkness followed by his wolf Tinda.

I crept forward cautiously. After about twenty feet I entered a large, rough hewn cavern. I was standing on a stone platform ten or twelve feet above the cavern floor. Some other platforms could be seen in the chamber. They appeared to be connected by a series of makeshift wooden plank bridges. In front of me, I could see Alcor and Mukah had descended to the cavern floor down a wooden ramp. Talrek, Thyrell and Tinda still stood on the platform. Thyrell loosened an arrow into the darkness across the cavern. More arrows flew out of the darkness toward Thyrell but missed.

“Where are they, I can’t see!” I shouted to Thyrell who seemed to be shooting at something.

Talrek pointed into the distance. “There!”

I strained my poor human sight but could only see darkness. An arrow flew out of that darkness and narrowly missed my head. Scrambling back to the corridor I ducked out of range of the unseen archers. Peering around the corner I could see Thyrell release another arrow. A moment later a horrible scream could be heard in the distance.

“Got one,” said Thyrell.

There was the thud of heavy clawed feet from toward the cavern and I saw an enormous lizard the size of a bear climb up on a nearby platform. Its teeth snapping and one front claw swinging at someone below. Thyrell cursed and ran quickly across the thin wooden plank toward the lizard drawing his swords.

To my left in the darkness I could now hear Mukah crying out in furious rage. It sounded like the half-orc had found something to kill. Suddenly, the giant lizard came racing over the wooden plank and bit deeply into Talrek’s side shaking him from side to side. Talrek cried out in pain.

“Telum magicum ignis!” I cried out as three bursts of magic raced from my hand and struck the lizard in the mid-section. It dropped Talrek and reared back eyeing me. I started to edge back further into the corrider. Up the ramp, Tinda’s white form raced like a bolt of lightning and tackled the lizard. Tinda leaped away and the lizard fell lifeless to the floor, its throat torn out, blood spilling in a pool around it. Tinda then ran across the thin plank to follow Thyrell.

Seeing no dangers in my range of sight I moved forward onto the platform again to Talrek's side. Talrek stumbled to his feet, placed one hand on the bloody wound on his side and spoke some words in dwarvish. His hand glowed blue and the wound seemed to seal itself, the blood stopped flowing.

Looking about I could only see Mukah, Thyrell, and Alcor having moved out of my range of sight. To my right, I could see Mukah swinging his longsword widely, like it was a tiny dagger, at a goblin on the back of another giant lizard.

“Ignis Infundere!”

A bolt of fire flew out of my hand. But once I cast the spell I realized I had miscalculated the direction of the goblin. The bolt of fire missed the goblin and also just barely missing Mukah.

Mukah, yelled in anger. But he swung again at the goblin cutting the creature in half. I stared incredulously as the top half of the goblin toppled forward over the head of the lizard and fell to the cavern floor. The lizard went wild racing out of Mukah’s reach and right up to the platform toward me. I turned and ran back into the corrider. I could hear the lizard's steps pounding behind me. Turning I braced against the wall as the giant lizard bared down on me. Its eyes wild with terror. Just as the lizard swung by me I reached out with one hand grabbing a scaly leg.

“Fulgar Manus”, I yelled. Electricity arced from my hand blazing into the lizard. It reared back in pain. But then stopped running and turned snapping its huge jaws at me. I ducked out of its reach.

“Help!”

An arrow flew out of nowhere sinking into the eye of the giant lizard, the lizard stumbled and fell to the ground at my feet its legs still twitching. Looking into the chamber I could see Thyrell giving me a sardonic salute before turning and firing more arrows into the darkness. There was another cry of pain from the chamber that sounded to have come from a goblin.

“All clear”, Talrek shouted. Probably mainly for my benefit.

I walked stiffly back into the large chamber. Adjusting the lamp for the maximum brightness I could see three dead goblins and the dead giant lizard. Only my companions still moved about. Thyrell was busy cutting open a pouch on a dead goblin.

“Hey, we have a few silver coins here” he said with satisfication.

I reached down for my wineskin on my belt. The forlorn, empty bag mocked me for the second time this day.

“Damn”

The Hall of Refuge

Level One: The Hall of Refuge

Brognor’s Hall was built to be a refuge in the wilds during a turbulent age. As such the first level contains a lot of the shops one might find in a small village.

Wandering Monsters (1 on 1d6 check every 3 turns)

(1). Brognor’s Ghost - The ghost of Brognor appears drifting through the floor or a wall and threatens the characters, “Who dares to disturb my rest!” or “These Halls are under my Protection”.

(2). Centipedes, Giant (20): AC 9, HD ½, HP 2, MV 20’, #AT 1 bite, DMG Poison, SA NM, ML 6, AL Neutral. They are easily frightened off.

(3). Rats, Normal (20): AC 9, HP 1, MV 20’, #AT 1 bite per pack, DMG 1-6 + Disease, SA NM, ML 5, AL Neutral. The 20 rats represent 1 pack.

(4). Groaning Noise - a groaning noise is heard from nearby. The source is unclear, it could be wood on stone or the sound of the dead.

(5). Shudder - the walls of the room or hall shudder and some sand falls from the ceiling.

(6). Mysterious breeze - the characters feel a sudden cold breeze. It does not repeat and appears to have no source. Candles will blow out, lanterns and torches flicker.

(1). The Entrance

As has been described earlier, the entrance is an open archway 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide. It opens into a 15-foot long hall crowded with four enormous, weathered marble statues of lions. A charred, bare skeleton lies on the floor. The end of the hall is a stone wall with an enormous pair of doors. The doors are featureless and appear to be covered with gold leaf.

Touching the doors reveals them to be solid. They are magical and not made of gold. If the doors are touched magical, blue, glowing sigils appear on the surface. The doors cannot be forced open physically, cannot be picked open by a thief and are immune to magic spells other than the ritual designed to open them. Characters will also find that magic transportation spells do not allow entrance (teleport, dimension door, wizard eye, etc.). Only the ritual that Nerewin found will open the doors. Once the ritual is completed the doors stay open until pushed closed. Once closed the enchantment resets. They can be pulled open easily from inside.

If the marble lions are examined, a metal tube can be seen in the back of their mouths. Inside the tubes is a residue of soot. This was a magic fire trap but it has long since been emptied of fuel.

The Hall of Refuge

(2). Hall of Refuge

The largest room in the hall. The ceiling is 16 feet high, supported by eleven 2’ in diameter stone columns. The columns do not look entirely stable. Three wooden doors lead from the chamber. There is straw on the floor scattered about and the occasional piece of stone debris that has fallen from the ceiling. Unnaturally, thick spider webs droop from the ceiling and along the walls near the columns. They may not be immediately apparent to characters with poor lighting.

Hidden in the webs are eight black widow spiders who will drop down to attack. Hanging in the webs along the north wall between two columns (5 feet up in the air) is a corpse. If cut down, the corpse is dried out and mummified. It appears to be a human adventurer with a short sword still in his scabbard, 2 daggers and a backpack holding 50’ rope, moldy rations, an empty wineskin and 12 iron spikes. He does not appear to have been dead for very long (weeks). If Nerewin is still with the group this will be most upsetting to him as he assumed he was the first to discover how to enter the Hall. Actually, there are dozens of copies of the scroll he found scattered about the local region.

Black Widow Spiders (8): AC 6, HD 3, HP 20,18, 18, 16, 16, 15, 15, 14, MV 20’ in web 40’, #AT 1 bite, DMG 1-8 + poison, SA F1, ML 7, AL Neutral. Their bite is poisonous, save vs poison or die in 1 turn.

(3). Stables

This chamber is full of the smell of rot. It appears to have been a stable with 3 paddocks along the west wall. There is an enormous pile of dried out hay along the north wall. The leg and boot of a corpse poke out from under the pile near a pitchfork.

The clumps of hay turn to powder if disturbed billowing up and causing fits of coughing to all within a 5-foot radius (-1 to hit). If moved free of the pile of hay, the corpse appears to be that of a human fighter clad in chainmail that is marred by several holes. The corpse also clutches a sword. The human has been dead for many years. If the corpse is searched (touched) its eyes will open revealing sickly yellow eyes staring out at the characters. The creature gets to its feet and will attack. It is an undead wight.

Wight (1): AC 5, HD 3, HP 21, MV 30’, #AT 1 touch or 1 sword+1, DMG Energy Drain or 1-8+1, SA F3, ML 12, AL Chaotic. The wight was a human adventurer and he is still in the habit of attacking with his sword despite the fact that his energy drain is his most feared weapon. Once he is reduced to half hit points he will snarl in anger and begin trying to grab and drain his attackers. The Wight can drain 1 level of life energy with each touch of his bare hand.

The sword is a magical sword+1. The wight also has a pouch that holds 120 gold coins and 3 gems worth 500 gold each.

(4). Market

There are four small market stalls in this chamber. Each is just a table, two walls and a small “roof”, not unlike what you might see in a large town market. One table has piles of moldy blankets lying on it the others are empty. Hidden in between the blankets is a small bag holding a necklace worth 600 gold.

(5). Foodstore

The east wall of this chamber is piled high with wooden crates. Teetering precariously to a height of 12 feet. The crates average 2 feet square. Some of the crates are damaged or are broken open revealing large piles of something that might have once been food.

Hidden in the crates is a colony of giant centipedes. They will attack if disturbed. Combat in this chamber has a 1 in 6 chance per round of causing an avalanche of crates to fall. If this occurs all characters in the room must make a Dexterity attribute save to avoid the falling debris (1-6 damage).

Centipedes, giant (40): AC 9, HD ½, HP 2 each, MV 20’, #AT 1 bite, DMG Poison, SA NM, ML 7, AL Neutral. The bite of a giant centipede does not cause damage but the victim must save vs poison or become violently ill for 10 days. Ill characters move at half normal speed and cannot fight or cast spells. Only 3 centipedes at a time can attack each character in the room. But once killed the centipede attacking a character will be replaced by another until they fail their morale or are all defeated. The giant centipedes will follow characters and continue attacking even if the characters leave the room.

(6). Secondary Market

This room appears to be another market. There are another four market stalls like in area #4. Each of these stalls has moldy debris lying on the floor around them and piled high on the tables. Clothes, common tools (spikes, hammers, nails, saws, etc) and what looks to have once been food. Hiding behind the stalls are three rhagodessa.

Rhagodessa (3): AC 5, HD 4+2, HP 25, 23, 21, #AT 1 leg/ 1 bite, DMG 0/2-16, SA F2, ML 9, AL Neutral. Rhagodessa is a giant insect that looks like a huge, hairy spider the size of a small bear. They have five pairs of legs and enormous mandibles. The front-facing pair of legs end in suckers to grasp their prey. If the creature hits with its leg attack, the victim is considered held and will automatically be pulled to the creature's mouth and struck by the bite attack the next round. The victim can pull free after 1 round by using their full action to do so.

(7). Trapped Hall

The corridor ends in a blank hall. Characters who advance to the last 5 feet of the hall will trigger a natural trap. The hall is unstable and the weight of the character stepping into the final 10 feet will trigger a cave in. The entire final five feet of the hall ceiling will collapse. Stone blocks and debris rain down causing 1d10 point of damage to all within the area.

(8). Shops

This chamber has two large wooden tables. One three feet out from the west wall and one three feet out from the north wall. Clothes sit in heaps on these tables. Behind the tables are some wooden stools. Some lie on their side.

(9). Market Square

There are four large (4 feet diameter) round tables in this room. One has been pushed up against the northeast door. A pile of stools is also lying on the table against the northeast door. In total there are 14 stools.  It takes 5 rounds to clear the northeast door of the debris.

(10). Guard Room

This room has two bunk beds against the east wall and two wooden tables in the center of the room surrounded by six wooden stools. A backpack rests on one table. Various items have been taken from the pack and spread over the table. On the south wall is a weapons rack with 13 rusty spears still resting in place. In one bunk bed is a skeleton dressed in leather armor. The items on the table are 2 torches, an empty metal flask, 2 packets of dried rations that have gone to mold and a blanket. The backpack appears empty. But there is a secret pocket in the bottom holding 20 gold and a sharp needle coated with poison (save vs poison or die in 1 day). The skeleton looks to be that of a short human dead for decades.

This was an adventurer poisoned by spiders. His companions placed him in this room to recover while they moved on, promising to return.

(11). Grain Store

There is an enormous pile of dried out grain filling the west and north sides of this chamber. Any breeze or disturbance in the chamber causes a choking cloud of the grain to fill the room. If a torch or other open flame enters the chamber, the grain has a 1 on 1d6 chance of igniting and exploding for 2d8 points of damage in a thirty-foot radius. This chance increases to 1-3 on 1d6 if the grain has been disturbed.

(12). Guard Room

This chamber appears to be another guard room. There is a single weapon rack holding six spears and a one-handed ax. A table with three stools and an old, rusty lantern on the table. The lantern is usable but empty.

(13). Guard Hall

The east wall of this room has five wooden bunk beds pointed out into the room. The bunks are just wooden slats, no mattresses remain.

(14). Barracks

There are two tables in the center of this room. Four stools surround each table, two lying on the floor. At each table are two skeletons clad in rotted clothes slumped onto the table. Four more skeletons lie on the floor still grasping spears. Finally there are two pairs of skeletons standing limply at rest holding spears to either side of the west and east doors.

These are undead skeletons under the control of Brognor’s ghost. They are instructed to attack anyone entering the room and to pursue relentlessly. The skeletons are not former guards who died at their post. They were animated from the crypts on level four.

Skeletons (12): AC 7, HD 1, HP 6 each, #AT 1 spear, DMG 1-6, SA F1, ML 12, AL Chaotic.

(15). Warning

There are four pilanths in this room, set on three of them is a stone bust of a humanoid head. A fourth stone bust lies on the floor its nose busted off. The busts depict a human woman with an old, stern face, a human man with a smile and curly hair, a stern elven man or woman it is hard to tell and the one on the floor depicts a gaunt-faced man with with no hair with the exception of thin eyebrows (and a broken off nose). Scrawled on the west wall in chalk is the message, “BROGNOR UNTRUE”.

The broken bust is actually that of Brognor.

(16). Temple

This chamber appears to be a temple. Two full-sized statues of human gods stand against the north wall behind a stone altar. There are two metal candlesticks atop the altar. Four wooden pews sit before the altar blocking much of the room. On closer examination one of the statues has a hand axe stuck to its chest. The statues are living statues and will attack anyone who enters the temple. They will not follow beyond the temple if characters cease attacks.

Living Statues, Iron (2): AC 2, HD 4, HP 30, 26, MV 10’, #AT 2 fists, DMG 1-8/1-8, SA F4, ML 11, AL Neutral. If a non-magical metal weapon strikes a statue it has a chance to become permanently stuck (save vs spells). If stuck the weapon can only be removed once the statue is destroyed.

The statues are identifiable as two human deities of the local region. In the Stillwater campaign these are Estus (god of hope and refuge) and Toses (god of the mountains). The hand axe is a magical Hand Axe +1 of Returning (if thrown it returns to the user magically on the same round). The candlesticks are made of bronze and are worth 5 gold each.

(17). Office

This chamber has two desks facing the entrance and four stools. On the far (south) wall is a cabinet of many small drawers (16). Six drawers are pulled out, and eight lie on the floor.  The remaining 2 remain in the cabinet. Both are locked. They can be forced open or a thief could pick the lock. One drawer holds 12 sheets of blank parchment (fine quality a mage could use them). The other drawer conceals a trap. The drawer has no bottom and there is a clear glass bottle in the drawer containing a green liquid. If the drawer is forced open or picked and pulled open quickly, the bottle will fall to the floor and break open. The liquid will turn to gas and flood a 10’ in diameter area. The gas causes 2d6 choking damage.

(45). Cistern

Detailed in Level Three.

Level One Map

Brognor's Hall Introduction

Brognor’s Hall

This is a low to mid-level OSR adventure using the Labyrinth Lord Rules. Designed for adventurers between levels 4-6. I have placed the location of the dungeon in hex 0917 of my Stillwater Further Afield hex map. It can fit into any wilderness area on the edge of civilized lands.

History

In the past, over five hundred years ago, the Wilderlands were overrun with the hordes of the Ogre Lords. Unlike the bestial and primitive ogres encountered in Stillwater valley at the present day, the Ogre Lords were intelligent and could use magic. They enslaved all of the goblinoid races and controlled the Wilderlands. Eventually, they were overthrown by an army of humans and elves working together.

As the Ogre Lords were in retreat the first trails through Stillwater valley opened up. It was a time of grave danger for travellers. Along this road, a legendary hero known only as Brognor built a Hall in an outcrop of rock. This hall had but one entrance and was magically sealed from any attack. In times of trouble, the local villagers would flee to Brognor’s Hall and safety. It was besieged and held out on two occasions. When the Legions of the Ogre Lords were finally defeated the Hall was abandoned. As the last Guardian of the Hall left it was sealed shut in case it would be needed again.

It was said that Brognor’s ghost continued to protect the Hall from all evils.

The Sealed Door

Introduction

A scribe from Pirn named Nerewin has come to the village of Padoton. He has put up notices in Padoton and villages as far away as Stillwater requesting the aid of adventurers. Nerewin wishes bodyguards to take him to Brognor’s Hall.

Nerewin has found a scroll in Pirn detailing how to open the doors to the Hall. Nerewin also found a scroll detailing several magic items that are stored in the Hall and should still be there since the Hall has been sealed. Primarily he is looking for a Tome of Reason. An artifact that is said to increase the intelligence of the user. Nerewin has reached an impasse in his studies as a mage and feels this will bring him to his full potential.

Nerewin

The Adventure Begins

Nerewin can be found at the Brass Hilt Inn in Padoton. He is dressed in the simple robes of a scribe or mage. Usually, he is in the main room of the Inn surrounded by opened scrolls busily taking notes. His head is shaved except for a single top-knot drawn into a long mane.

Nerewin is looking for able adventurers to take him to the rock of Brognor’s Hall. He has copied a map of the location from a scroll at the library of Pirn. He asks for accompaniment only to the Hall. The pay is 600 gold total for the group. Once he reaches the Hall he plans to enter alone. The money is being held by the Innkeeper in Padoton. Nerewin will sign a letter releasing the gold once he reaches the Hall. If the adventurers wish to wait for Nerewin to exit the Hall he will pay another 400 gold to return with him to Padoton.

Nerewin (Mage 5) Str 12, Dex 8, Con 13, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 16, AC 9, HD 5, HP 13, MV 30', #AT 1 stave, DMG 2d6, SAVE M5, AL Neutral.

Equipment: Dagger+1, Staff of Striking (8 charges)

Spells: Floating Disc, Magic Missile, Continual Light, Invisibility, Dispel Magic.

Brognor's Hall

Arrival at Brognor’s Hall

The Hall is a short journey from Padoton, a mere four miles. The terrain is rough and hilly climbing toward low, worn down mountains. In the foothills before the mountains is a tall outcrop of rock and the entrance to the Hall.

The entrance is an open stone arch ten foot wide and twenty foot tall at the base of the hill. Stone pillars stand to either side of the entrance. Several steps lead up to it.

Nerewin will suggest the adventurers make camp here. It will take him several hours to open the doors to the Hall. Nerewin takes his bag of scrolls and a lantern and will enter the Hall. There will be yelp of fear from Nerewin followed in a minute by a shout telling the adventurers that he is okay and there is nothing to worry about. If a player insists on accompanying Nerewin he will see a 15-foot hall ending in a pair of shiny, gold doors. In the hall are four, simple white marble lions weathered with age. Lying on the floor before the door is a charred skeleton that is only bone with no flesh still attached.

The door looks to be covered with gold leaf but to the touch, it appears to be a solid object and probably not gold. As soon as the door is touched magical runes appear across its surface glowing with a blue light.

There are no handles, keyholes or latches on the doors. The hinges are not visible but the doors fit so smoothly there are no cracks. No amount of damage whether physical or magical seems to alter the doors. They can only be opened by chanting a short magic ritual.

Nerewin has a copy of the ritual but it will take him hours to get it correct and the doors to swing inward.

What Happens Next

Nerewin has not asked the adventurers to join him because he foolishly believes the Halls are empty and safe. More importantly, he is afraid the adventurers will steal valuable relics from him.

If the adventurers insist that they join him, Nerewin will reluctantly agree and then slip away at the nearest opportunity to search for the Tome on his own.

If the adventurers agree to wait for Nerewin to return, he will tell them it should not take more than a few hours. Then the adventurers will wait in vain as Nerewin never returns. The doors are still open so they can go in search of Nerewin.

The adventurers could also return to Padoton and collect the reward, assuming they remembered to tell the absent-minded Nerewin to sign the contract. Nerewin will never be seen again.

Up Next

Next I will detail Level One of the Hall. The Halls of Refuge.

The Vault of Arik

Occasionally I like to post maps I hand drew back in the 1980s when I first started playing Dungeons & Dragons (Basic Edition).

This one has been sitting in an unused map folder for more than 30 years.  I probably drew it around 1983 but I am not certain.

I ran a long campaign during High School and University with the same group of friends. The first adventure was (B3) The Palace of the Silver Princess.  In this adventure the object is to keep an evil entity known only as Arik from entering the prime material plane My players learned of Arik and stopped him, acquiring his ruby sword in the process (not usable as a weapon).  Later in the campaign, I had the players encounter agents of Arik in a Haunted House adventure. After that, I wanted to have them travel to Arik’s prison and put a stop to him for good. That is how this map came about. The prison/lair is on a rock outcrop in a lake of lava. I never used the map.

The players got side-tracked by other adventures but continued to carry Arik’s ruby sword around with them for years. Eventually, I did write a final confrontation with Arik which we played through when the players had reached 9th level.  It was a very different concept then the prison map shown here. A dimension-hopping series of published TSR adventures (an Adventure Path before they were cool). They were all very heavily re-written to fit the story.

The Vault of Arik

Retro Blue Map Nightmare

Approaching the entrance to Brognor's Hall.

This time I am posting a map concept that occurred to me recently. A four-level dungeon where the levels interconnect culminating in a top level (level 3) split into three areas only accessible from the level below.

Your basic mapping nightmare for players. Especially if the GM does not tip the players that each stair is actually a change in level and not just a minor change in elevation. I have put only thirty feet between each level in the dungeon. So ceilings should be twenty feet at most. Average ceiling height is likely eight to ten feet.

I am calling it Brognor’s Hall and I do believe I am going to stock it because I have already come up with an idea for the plot.

(Edit: Corrected the map for an error. Room 45 should also be in level 2. As correctly pointed out by an alert Google+ user. Turns out this map can also confuse the map maker).