The Halls of Mikda-Err

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.

Rats in the Cellar

Before heading out on their next adventure, a pair of the players had decided that they were going to host a party at their Manor House so that the Cavalier character could meet an eligible woman of the appropriate station. I had a week to put it together for the session. At first, I thought, murder mystery! But I have done that before. I have also done the assassin comes to the party. I settled on several mini-adventures that could happen depending on how the guests interacted with the players.

It was all framed by some tiny constructs disguised as gifts that were supposed to cause havoc during the party. But the players saw right through it.

Session 139: Rats in the cellar

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Aldus (human cavalier), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Brovin (human thief, NPC), Ian the squire (human cavalier, NPC), August (human magic-user, NPC).

The members of the company are at home in Edgerton. Elken the Dark, Lakima’s former teacher has requested aid in the City of Veil, but first Lakima has promised Aldus that they will have a party at the Manor.

Alayna and Lakima busy themselves with preparations for a party to be hosted in a week. Lakima has suggested they say that it is a ball in honor of Deleath, the goddess of Spring. A popular god in the City of Veil but barely known here in Valnwall. Alayna sends out invitations being sure to invite several young ladies who are available for courting. Lakima suggests he could go to the City of Veil and get some entertainment to match the party's theme. In a few days, answers begin to arrive in the form of messages and a few gifts from people happy to be invited. There is also a mysterious gift that is delivered to the door of the manor with no name on it indicating a sender. Alayna opens it and finds carved wood figures in the shapes of all of the members of the company and one for herself.

“Put them down, I think this is an attack,” Lakima tells Alayna.

Lakima casts a detect magic spell and the figures glow magically. They are enchanted with some form of magic. Lakima quickly puts them back into the wooden box they arrived in.

“Can I at least keep my figure?” Alayna asks.

Lakima shakes his head and takes it as well. Then he heads across town with his apprentice August to visit Malyn at the apothecary. Malyn examines the figures and discerns that they are constructs of some sort. They need to be triggered by a command word or gesture to carry out their instructions. He suggests burning them all.

Lakima instead leaves the box in his office at the Mages Guildhall (could this cause problems later?).

The next day a number of the adventurers head on the skyship Cloudstealer to the Bridgeway. Lakima greets the custodian who is not happy with the idea of bringing strangers from the City of Veil across the bridgeway. While he is satisfied that the bridgeway gets used he is concerned about what will happen if too many people learn of it. After all, when the goblins found out about the bridgeway they captured it. Lakima agrees to blindfold any guests he invites through the portal.

With that the group heads to the City of Veil. They walk to the city and head to a town square known for its entertainers. There Lakima hires four performers, two musicians, and two singers. The performers are paid extra to be blindfolded and taken on a trip. Living in a City full of mages they do not seem too surprised by this. The group returns through the bridgeway to the Valnwall. Here the visitors from the Great Desert are indeed surprised by the change in the climate. Another surprise awaits them as they are taken on board a flying ship. They ask about the ship and Lakima proudly tells them stories of the Company of the Black Dragon’s exploits.

Finally, the evening of the ball arrives. Aldus is dressed in some of his courtly clothes from his days back in Guildeland. Alayna is wearing a new dress, Eathwund is wearing some casual clothes and Lakima is wearing one of his better robes. Alrix shows up wearing his red regalia armor insisting it is fine enough to observe the proceedings.

The guests begin arriving, Sofrona Ruta from Dolmvay accompanied by her uncle Armand Ruta. Sofrona wearing a dazzling silver necklace. Erica Farnoli is a bright blue dress accompanied by her father Polifo. Fea Barent was escorted by her uncle Eldric Elderwood. Alayna’s friend the young widow Silvia. Natalia Pasca and her father Tylden Pasca are visiting merchants from Uthersberg. Finally, the star of the ball arrives, Novita Torenescu escorted by her older brother Aleksander and chaperoned by her Aunt Magda. Almost unnoticed, the teacher Norine Gayheart arrives and makes her way to the library. Lakima looks quizzically at his wife and she shrugs and tells him she feels sorry for the young mage who was trapped in a bottle for 20 years and now seems lost.

Alayna works her magic as a hostess and soon guests are enjoying singing in the parlor and dancing in the main hall. Erica chases after Aleksander and is rebuffed in favor of the beautiful Silvia. This causes some hurt feelings and an exchange of challenges between Polifo and Aleksander. Lakima defuses the argument with a dance competition that is won by Aldus and Natalia. Lakima takes Aldus aside to ask how he is doing. He suggests Aldus dance with the young Silvia but Aldus only has eyes for the mage Norine. Since Norine seems intent on hiding in the library, Lakima asks his wife for a potion in a glass of wine which he gives to Aldus. Aldus goes to speak with Norine in the library and she accepts the glass. The drink seems to bring Norine out of her depression and soon the two are happily trading stories.

Most of the rest of the guests head to the dining room for a meal. Eldric Elderwood remarks that he cannot locate his niece, Fea. Before anyone can comment, Sofronia cries out and says she has lost her necklace. Lakima immediately starts looking around for Brovin, absent from the party.

“Calm down, I will use locating magic,” Lakima says. Just at that moment Tylden stumbles and picks up a necklace from the floor. He claims he just stumbled across it. Lakima is very suspicious and uses his Medallion of ESP. He discovers that Tylden and his “daughter” are thieves looking to steal from wealthy merchants. Lakima accuses Tylden and tells him to leave immediately. He also takes him aside and tells him to leave town by tomorrow.

The party starts up again. There is more dancing and more singing from the native entertainers from the Great Desert. As Lakima is enjoying some food in the dining room with Alrix he sees Brovin enter from the kitchen. Brovin makes the hand signal for danger and indicates the kitchen. Alrix and Lakima follow him into the kitchen.

In the kitchen they see the maid Elin looking like she saw a ghost. She tells them she heard a loud thump in the cellar and went to check. She heard voices on the other side of the secret doors.

“Someone is in the cellar,” Brovin says.

Lakima tells Alrix to get Aldus who is currently dancing with Norine in the main hall. Aldus comes in and Lakima asks him to get his sword. Alayna enters and asks what is going on.

“Why did you drag Aldus away,” she says, “it is the first time I have seen Norine smile since meeting her.”

Lakima tells Alayna that they might have some, “Rats in the cellar.”

Alrix leads the way down with Aldus and Lakima following. Brovin elects to come down last. In the secret passage, Lakima uses the Medallion of ESP and detects the thoughts of several men who are concentrating on moving a statue of solid gold into a boat.

“Thieves on the other side of the door,” Lakima says.

The door is opened and Alrix leads the way. He immediately casts a magic missile at a thief who turns at the sound of their entrance. They see two more thieves trying to lift a stone statue of a woman into a nearby boat. A final thief waits in the boat.

The first thief recovers from being struck by the magic missiles and stabs at Alrix but misses. Aldus moves up with his sword, but Alrix sends his dancing sword plunging into the thief who collapses.

“Donal, let’s get out of here!” one of the thieves yells.

Lakima summons a water elemental to block the exit to the river. The elemental almost swamps the boat and the man in the boat falls into the water. After some splashing about he manages to make the stone walkway and Aldus places his sword at his neck. Another thief is struck by the water elemental and knocked into the water as well. He does not emerge. The last thief cries out that they give up.

Lakima questions the thieves and finds out that the leader is named Fielding. The leader tells them that Warin (he points at the older man whom Aldus dragged from the water) was once a servant at the Manor and knew about the gold statue. Sure, enough they see a section of the paint covering the statue has been scraped away to reveal the gold underneath. Lakima questions Warin suspecting that the Radu family was behind the heist. But it does not appear that was the case. Warin was the butler to the Radu’s and knew of the secret stash of gold. They thought the people living at the manor would be distracted by the ball and would not notice a little pilfering.

Lakima, very angry that thieves would enter his home takes out the quill of laminae and touches Warin who is turned to dust and sucked into the Book.

“This is what I do with thieves who enter the Manor of the Company of the Black Dragon!”

He tells Fielding that he and his remaining confederate can go but they must dissuade any other thieves from entering this manor – and he tries to place a geas on Fielding but it fails. In the end, the thieves are allowed to go, but they must swim out into the river.

The group pulls the statue into the vault in the cellars then they head upstairs and rejoin the party. Aldus locates Norine again and the two head up to his room on the second floor. Fea is located, she has been getting a tour of the manor by the squire Ian.

As it is early morning now the guests begin to leave many thanking the hosts for an eventful evening.

The next day Domago and Eathwund are filled in on what happened at the Ball. Norine leaves after breakfast. Lakima asks if everyone is ready to head to the City of Veil. They have to return the entertainers and there is the mission Elken the Dark wishes them to undertake.

“Can I join you,” Alayna asks, “I want to see the City of Veil”

Lakima agrees and suggests they bring the entire company. Later that day the Cloudstealer heads for the bridgeway with everyone on board. They cross over to the city of Veil and Lakima shows everyone a few of the sights. The entertainers are paid and sent home. Alayna spends some hours in the markets buying colorful clothes and fabrics. Eventually, Alayna feels like she is getting too much sun, and the entire group heads for Elken’s tower. This is a tower he occupied after killing a young mage in a recent duel.

Elken receives them and wants to discuss the tower of Mikda-Err right away. He bows to their superior dungeoneering skills and tells them he will prepare spells that will allow them to get past traps and devices. They must handle any monsters encountered. He does have a lot of instructions when it comes to the blue dragon that guards the entrance.

The tower has no servants and few supplies but it does have a lot of guest rooms. Enough for everyone. Ian, August, and Alayna will be staying in the tower while the adventurers and Elken are exploring Mikda-Err’s tower.

The next day the group makes the short walk out into the desert to the lonely tower.

Reworking an old trope

For many player characters, one of their first fantasy adventures is that old standby, clear the cellars of a tavern of vermin. So I decided to throw that concept at my players' high-level characters. The characters involved were in the level 10 range. The NPCs were lower in level.

I had a short adventure designed to be dropped in any time the players were in their home town. With a few players still away I decided now was the best time to do it.

I also borrowed one of my favorite adventure names, "What's that Smell?" But the adventure itself is entirely original.

Session 138: What’s that smell?

Eathwund (human fighter), Aldus (human cavalier), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Ian the squire (human cavalier, NPC), August (human magic-user) *.

*Lakima’s player played as August for this session.

Eathwund’s evening bite to eat at the Manor house is interrupted by Huntley who shows in Morton Bray to speak with him. Morton is the owner of the Dancing Dragon Inn on the Market Square. Eathwund and Lakima often stayed at the Inn when they first came to Edgerton.

“Eathwund, I need your help!” Morton anxiously tells him.

Morton talks to Eathwund about his troubles as August and Aldus enter the room. It seems guests at the Inn have been complaining about a bad smell in some of the rooms. Morton tried cleaning repeatedly to no avail. The smell seemed to come from the common room fireplace so he had it swept. The smell continued to linger so the houseboy Brenn was sent down to the cellar to check the flue of the fireplace. He returned to tell of seeing light coming through cracks in the wall right near the fireplace ash trap. The next day two workmen were sent down to check the wall. Reporting that the wall was in danger of collapse the workmen started to remove it so it could be properly repaired. When Brenn was sent to check on them, he came back upstairs in a hurry reporting that the men were dead and he saw a giant rat eating the corpses.

Knowing just what to do, Morton went to an adventurer staying at the Inn who had a large bill. Morton asked him to kill the giant rats in the cellar in return for excusing the bill. The adventurer agreed and immediately put on his armor and took up his sword despite being drunk. Morton pleaded that he wait until morning but the adventurer laughed and headed to the cellar. At first, they heard laughter and squealing noises but then they heard human screaming. After a half hour, Brenn went to check and reported a trail of blood leading through the hole in the wall that the workmen had opened.

“And then I knew I had to come to my old friends for help,” Morton said, “You will help me won’t you?”

Immediately, Eathwund agrees to help Morton but Aldus asks about the pay. Morton nervously says he could afford to pay maybe 50 gold per man to clear the cellar. Business was down and he could not afford more. After some arguing Aldus and August agree to help.

“Could you come immediately?” Morton asked.

Eathwund, Aldus, and August went to put on their gear. Running into his squire, Aldus tells Ian to get ready for a fight as well. Four members of the Company of the Black Dragon set out across town following Morton.

“Should I have told Lakima where we are going?” August said.

“Don’t worry, Eathwund and I can handle a few giant rats,” laughed Aldus.

Entering the Inn, Morton leads the troop into the common room. After a few minutes of talking, they begin to notice the smell of something rotten coming from the fireplace. A smell like sour milk and dead rats.

Morton leads them into the kitchen and has Brenn open the trap door to the cellar. Descending they find a clean cellar full of barrels and crates. Two doorways lead off to other parts of the cellar. One leads to a room full of broken furniture a wall with a hole in it and a pile of rubble.

“Look at that!” Aldus says pointing at a large bloodstain on the floor. The hole in the wall is five feet wide but only 3 feet high and at the bottom of the wall. So Eathwund crawls into the next room. On the other side of the wall, he finds the dead adventurer. Soon Aldus, August, and Ian join him. The light from August’s continual flame staff lighting the chamber in an eerie blue light. Aldus tells Ian to go back up to the kitchen and fetch a lantern. While in the kitchen he is met by Alrix who says Huntley told him where everyone had gone so he decided to join them. Ian and Alrix descend into the cellars and rejoin the group.

Meanwhile, Eathwund has examined the body. The body has several large bite marks as expected. But the throat of the corpse is also cut – clearly by a blade. Eathwund points this out to his friends. There are more than just rats in the cellar. As Eathwund rolls over the corpse, two poisonous giant centipedes are uncovered and Eathwund quickly stomps on them killing them. The way out of the room is through a rotted wooden door. Eathwund tries it but finds it is barred from the other side. He slams against it a few times but it does not break. Then Aldus takes a run at the door and slams into it, the bar on the other side snaps, and the door crashes open.

On the other side, they see a large chamber and several doors. In the darkness, Aldus spots three pairs of red unblinking eyes watching him.

“August! Light!” Aldus yells.

August moves to the doorway and Eathwund and Aldus see three wererats facing them with anger in their eyes. A fourth wererat in a doorway then yells something before slamming the door shut. The three wererats immediately attack. The fight is a bloody one, the wererats use claws and slavering teeth to claw and bite at Eathwund and Aldus. Alrix fires arrows from the doorway behind them. After a minute the three wererats are dead.

“Quick the door,” August yells and points at the wrong door. Eathwund corrects him and they kick open the door the wererat retreated through. On the other side, they see a large iron cauldron under a chimney. A fire burns beneath the cauldron and inside is a bubbling morass of green goo. A wererat and a half-dozen giant rats face them. Two more wererats can be seen running through an open door on the far side of the chamber. Aldus charges through the giant rats and attacks the fleeing wererats chasing them into the next chamber. August casts a sleep spell and all of the giant rats fall under the spell. Eathwund runs across the chamber to join Aldus. Alrix follows walking carefully through the sleeping giant rats and fires a stream of magic missiles at one wererat killing it. The other two wererats are killed by the swords of Eathwund and Aldus. Ian stays in the back shining his lantern into the melee.

After the fight, another room is checked and found to be an eating area. Eathwund checks a chamber with a bed and a dresser and he finds some human armor, a mace, and a holy symbol of the Dark Lady. Alrix and Ian have busied themselves killing the sleeping rats. A search of the bodies only turns up a few coins. August uses a large pot of water to dose the fire beneath the cauldron. The contents of the cauldron look like the green cheese Eathwund recalls from their adventure in the Emerald Moon Cheese Factory a few years ago. Aldus suggests dumping the cauldron contents down a trapdoor they find that leads to the sewers. But the cauldron is too big and too hot to handle.

“I don’t think we have the full story,” Eathwund says, “we should follow the trail into the sewers.”

“I know what Lakima would say, that we are done what we were paid to do,” says August, “but I agree let’s see where this trail leads us.”

All agree to descend into the sewers. Aldus takes the lantern and leads the way. Eathwund joins him. The sewers here look the same to Eathwund as any other area of the sewers. Alrix joins them and looks about in disgust. Eathwund tells Alrix about their adventure in the Emerald Moon Cheese Factory and their fight against wererats and their Rat King in the sewers.

“Did you kill the Rat King?” asks Aldus.

“We definitely killed him,” says Eathwund, “we think he was created using magical green cheese from the factory.”

“Maybe that is what they are trying to do again,” suggests August.

The group picks a route through the sewers at random. They do not see any tracks but everything is wet and dripping so tracks would not last long. They cross unsteady iron grates over open sewers in places where they have to cross the channel. After a half hour, they come to a confluence. The only way across is over some unsafe-looking wood boards balanced on a wood post stuck in the sewer sludge. The boards creak alarmingly when the heavy fighters, Eathwund and Aldus cross but they hold. August crosses easily. Alrix unfortunately slips on the wet wood and falls on the board. He does not fall into the sewer but they distinctly hear the board crack.

“What should I do?” Ian asks. The last of the party and the only one not to cross.

Aldus tells Ian to head back to the Inn Cellar.

The group soon finds a wood door in an iron frame in the sewer wall. Pushing the door open they surprise a man sleeping in a hammock in a small chamber.

“What you doing in here, eh!” the man shouts at them.

The man is questioned and claims to be a sewer worker in the employ of the Castellan. Unsure about the man they demand to answer if he is a wererat. The man is indignant. Alrix grabs the man’s hand and cuts his forearm with a normal steel blade. The man howls in protest and cries about the tremendous wound that is weeping blood.

“Quit complaining, it is just a scratch, and now we know you are not a wererat,” Alrix says with a sigh.

The man keeps complaining and demands recompense. August gives him 5 gold to shut up. The man tells them his name is Mott. He works in the sewers. When they ask for a map, he tells them the map is in his head. When asked about strange happenings he tells him he knows when to mind his own business. Eventually, they get him to reveal that he and other workers got word that they should avoid storeroom 5. He assumes that thieves or smugglers are using it. He does as he is told. For another 5 gold he agrees to show them the storeroom.

“Fer 10 gold I would murder my own mom!” he gladly says. Alrix is disgusted but Mott just shrugs. “It is just a saying ‘round here”.

True to his word Mott leads them to storeroom 5. He points it out from a distance then salutes them and runs away. The storeroom is entered and they find it is a small chamber full of wooden crates big and small. As they are discussing which crate to open August points out a door on the back wall of the room hidden by a stack of crates.

Aldus tries the door handle and finds the door is barred from the inside. Aldus drops his shoulder into the door several times but the door and the bar hold. Then Eathwund tries. On the second try, they hear a crack but nothing else.

“Let me try!” August says. Then the slight magic user hurls himself into the door and it flies open, August finds himself stumbling into the open doorway of a large chamber lit by torches. Five wererats glare at him in anger. Four right near the doorway and another one dressed as a priest further back into the room.

August stumbles back out of the way while Aldus and Eathwund quickly rush into the chamber and take up the fight. Alrix yells that he has the priest and he casts a bunch of magic missiles at the wererat priest. The priest yells something magical and poisonous yellow mist pours out of a censer blanketing the entire area. Aldus and Eathwund start coughing and choking while the wererats attack them.

“Oh no you don’t!” yells Alrix and he uses his innate control winds ability to blow the censer onto the floor and blow the poisonous cloud back into the chamber obscuring the priest. He also casts more magic missiles at the priest.

Eathwund and Aldus each take on a pair of Wererats. Eathwund kills one and moves to the other. Aldus is bitten by one but stabs it in the heart while it is gnawing on his wrist. He looks down to see the bite and the broken skin.

“It bit me!” Aldus yells with concern.

August holds back from the fight as he is out of magic spells. But he pulls the Pipes of the Sewers from his pack and begins to play. Soon a host of large rats rush into the chamber from the sewer passages. The rats are diseased and dead looking but August continues to play and hold control over them. The wererat fighting Eathwund also goes dumb listening to the tune August is playing and Eathwund takes the opportunity to kill him.

The last wererat angrily shouts at August, “This is your doing!” and he leaps on August biting him on the shoulder. August briefly stops playing the pipe and the plague rats begin to stir angrily. Then Alrix kills the last wererat with his dancing sword. August again gains control of the rats and he sends them after the wererat priest.

Alrix walks over to the censer lying on the floor and smashes it twice with the sword. The poison billowing out of the censer stops. As the gas clears, they see that the priest was killed a while ago – probably by magic missiles. The plague rats just sit on his on-moving body. August then dismisses the rats back into the sewers.

Under the table, Alrix finds a locked iron chest that he is able to break open. Inside is a pile of coins, gems, and jewelry. The group looks at the mess. Eathwund searches the bodies, which have reverted to their human form in death, and finds a few coins. On the rat priest, he finds a gold holy symbol of a rat and they find a wooden staff. But when Alrix checks they find that the staff is not magical.

“We don’t really know what happened here or what they were up to,” Eathwund asks.

August suggests taking the Rat priest’s corpse back to the Manor House and asking Domago to cast Speak with Dead on it. Eathwund and Aldus pick up the corpse and the group heads back to the cellar of the Inn.

They climb back up into the cellar and find Ian waiting for them. The cauldron has cooled down now so they roll it through the doorway and dump the contents in the sewer. Then they place it over the trap door.

“That will hold them,” Aldus says and gives the cauldron a few shakes.

The group climbs back up into the Inn’s Kitchen and tells Morton Bray what they found. As they pull the corpse of the rat priest up into the kitchen the cook and the maid scream and run away. Morton asks them to remove the corpse right away. The group carries the corpse back to the Inn having one brief encounter with the night watch. Domago checks August and Aldus for lycanthropy. He is only really concerned about the bite August received which is the more dangerous one. He casts cure disease on August and healing on both of them.

“Can you speak to this corpse?” August asks and points at the dead body.

Domago agrees and casts speak with dead. The angry shade they raise answers three questions. The only thing they learn is that at least one wererat got away. The next day Eathwund disposes of the corpse in an alley and then heads to the Town Watch and reports the wererats in the sewers.

“Wererats again?” Sergeant Frans is exasperated but says he will hand out silver daggers to the night watch and they will keep their eyes open for trouble.

A week passes with little to do for the adventurers. Lakima hears Aldus talking about courting some local ladies and he suggests they put on a ball or party at the Manor.

“My wife knows all of the eligible ladies in town,” Lakima says.

Lakima further suggests a ball in honor of a fertility goddess from the City of Veil where he was born. He makes plans to bring in some musicians from that City. As his stories become more salacious, his friends are unsure if he is joking or serious.

“That is not how I recall the Festival of Delaeth being celebrated,” a dry old voice says from the doorway.

They turn to see Elken the Dark standing in the doorway. Looking fitter since the last time they saw him fresh from the prison of Turania. Lakima offers Elken a seat. Elken tells Lakima, ignoring the rest of the group, that he plans to enter the Tower of Mikda-Err and he needs his student’s aid. He is lacking in funds and he needs a suitable bribe from the old blue dragon who guards the entrance. Elken admits that he needs gold and spells if he is to regain his position in the City of Veil as the preeminent wizard. He relates that he had to fight a duel with some pipsqueak of a mage who thought to take advantage of his weakened state.

“I killed him and thankfully he had a teleport spell in his spell book so I could come and visit you,” Elken says.

Lakima tells Elken that he can freely take spells from the Magic-users Guild he has set up in Edgerton. Despite his eagerness to gain spells, Elken is horrified by the thought of a Mages Guild, and of sharing spells.

“Mages should fight duels for their spells, just as we always have!” he declares.

Alrix finally draws Elken’s interest as he notes that Alrix does not have a human aura. Elken suggests Alrix is a demon child. Alrix quickly sets him right and explains some of his powers. Elken listens with interest asking more questions while Lakima looks on with concern. When Elken retires to the guest room Lakima draws Alrix aside and warns him about his master.

“There is a reason why there are no elves in the Great Desert, the mages hunted them until all were gone,” Lakima says. When Alrix asks why Lakima tells him about the production of potions of longevity.

Elken spends a few weeks in the Mages Guild transcribing spells into a new spell book. But he complains that none of the common dueling spells are in the Guild Library. He must enter Mikda-Err’s tower if he is to get the spells he needs. Finally, Lakima agrees to help him – but only after the party he has planned. Elken is annoyed by the wait but agrees. He will teleport on ahead to the City of Veil and await their arrival.

When the player is away

I knew in advance I was going to have some players away for a session of our Swords & Wizardry campaign so it was time to spring an adventure on the remaining players designed for just this type of situation. A short task tied to the campaign that the players could play. I also designed it so that there would be no NPCs. This made for a more relaxing evening for me.

Months ago one of the players signed a demon's contract to get out of a no-win situation. The demon arrived to collect. It also allowed me to wrap up another open thread.

Session 137: The Bargain

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Aldus (human cavalier).

On a clear, cool spring morning members of the Company of the Black Dragon sit down for breakfast in their Manor House. The manservant Huntley enters and tells Lakima that his expected guest has arrived and is in the library.

“Expected?” Lakima says.

Lakima walks over to the library and sees a well-dressed merchant sitting at the head of the table in the center of the room. The nature of the man is immediately apparent as Lakima notices a pair of goat horns growing out of the man’s forehead. The demon welcomes Lakima and says that he has come to lay claim to their contract. Lakima realizes this “man” is the same demon who aided him a month ago in return for a favor.

Lakima asks about the favor and the demon, who says Lakima can call him Gordon, tells him that he needs him to kill an enslaved mage owned by a rival demon in the abyss.

“Time to go, you can bring some of your friends if you wish,” Gordon says.

Lakima excuses himself and goes and speaks to Eathwund, asking him to join him. He quickly fills him in on the task at hand. As they head back to the library, Aldus trails behind them. In the library, Gordon opens a portal to his home level of the abyss. Gordon steps through followed by Lakima and Eathwund.

“Hold up,” Aldus says and leaps through the portal before it closes.

The three adventurers arrive in the abyss. The landscape is barren black rock punctuated by pools of filthy green water. Gordon has transformed into his true form of a Nalfeshnee demon. They stand near a closed gate. Other demons of lesser rank wander about.

Gordon explains the task he has contracted Lakima. He has a rival named Viggok who inhabits a Hellfort on the other side of the Ash mountains in the Plains of Soot. Viggok has come into possession of a human wizard who still has his own soul. Probably, a wizard who teleported into the abyss by accident. Gordon expects Lakima to kill or capture the wizard. To aid in the task, Gordon summons a Rat demon named Biter. The diminutive demon will be their guide to the Hellfort.

Gordon explains the deal

The four set out across the rocky wasteland. Biter constantly urges them on telling them they are safe until they cross the magma flow at the edge of Gordon’s realm. It takes 2 hours for them to reach the magma flow. Biter teleports across and looks back expectantly. Lakima complains of the waste of a spell but he casts Luminous Bridge so everyone can cross the magma easily. Now that they have crossed into Viggok’s realm, Biter becomes careful and urges quiet. He leads them up into the low mountains switching back and forth between paths. They soon realize that without Biter guiding them they would have struggled to find the path over the mountains. Once they cross the mountains they see the plains of soot and a ruined hell fort made of black stone in the distance.

Biter leads the right up to within a few hundred feet of the ruined fort. Then he tells them they are on their own. Lakima asks where the mage would reside and Biter just shrugs and then vanishes. The trio decide to make their way up to a partially intact building. Lakima casts passwall opening a passage into the building. Inside they find a cell fit for a human captive. Realizing that this is probably the wizard’s cell, Lakima tells everyone to get comfortable, they will wait for the wizard to return. Aldus looks at a cabinet and asks if they shouldn’t search the place. Lakima shakes his head worried about traps.

After a two-hour wait, they hear the lock of the door being turned. The door opens and two lemure demons enter followed by four more. Aldus and Eathwund both slash at the demons in front. Lakima then casts Charm Monster. Most of the demons are charmed (because of the properties of his pendant of demon summoning) but the two that were already attacked resist the spell. Eathwund and Aldus quickly kill the lesser demons.

Lakima then orders the lemure demons to lead them to the wizard. The demons lead the adventurers into the largest building. Inside they see a large chamber that looks and smells like a kitchen. Another six lemure demons reside here and move to attack. Lakima casts Protection from Evil 10’ radius and the demons are kept away from the group. The lemure demons do make a horrible screeching noise which summons help. Two double doors open and they are confronted by a 12-foot-tall frog demon (hezrou). Aldus and Eathwund move to attack the new danger. Aldus is injured but Eathwund slashes open the demon with his Frostbrand sword. Lakima instructs the charmed lemure demons to join the fight on their side and the demon is vanquished.

This chamber is a hallway with demon banners on the walls. At the far end of the hall are ornate double doors. Eathwund goes to the doors and checks with his comrades. Once everyone is ready, Eathwund shoves open the doors. Inside is a throne room. There is a large table and a golden throne. Seated on the throne is a demon they assume is Viggok and standing by the table is a human wizard. Lakima and Eathwund immediately recognize the wizard as Sazor Stratus (the wizard of the Cloud Castle). He looks thinner and older but it is definitely the wizard whom Lakima sold to a demon months ago.

“YOU!” Sazor yells angrily and then casts a hold person spell at Lakima. But Lakima easily resists the spell.

“Wait, worm,” Viggok says in a loud voice. Viggok introduces himself as Victor and offers to take over the contract that binds Lakima. He suggests they join to defeat a demon he calls Gorgonus. Lakima rejects the offer.

“Then I will kill you,” Viggok says and opens a magical gate to allow a 14-foot-tall crocodile demon (Khavorr) to step into the chamber. Viggok also snaps his claws and the charm holding the lemure demons is dispelled. Lakima responds by casting a fireball. The ball of flame blasts over the two demons but they are unaffected, the wizard on the other hand screams in agony and collapses. The wizard’s smoldering corpse is all that remains. This angers Viggok even more and he moves to attack Aldus. Eathwund moves to block the crocodile demon. Lakima casts reincarnation on Sazor and a bright white light surrounds the corpse. Then a huge demon bug emerges from the corpse and scuttles up the steps in the corner of the chamber. The demons slash away at Eathwund and Aldus and both are hit by claws. The lemure demons also advance. Things are looking very bad for the adventurers.

“Step back!” Lakima yells and he casts Wall of iron in front of his companions. All of the demons are trapped on the other side, for a few seconds. Viggok and the crocodile demon teleport to appear in the hallway behind the adventurers. Once Eathwund and Aldus have formed a protective shield in front Lakima summons an Earth Elemental. The huge elemental begins smashing Viggok. The door to the cooking chamber opens and lemure demons run in and grab the elemental about its legs immobilizing it. The earth elemental is still able to keep Viggok’s attention and Eathwund uses this to his advantage stabbing the demon in the chest. Viggok is killed and the other demon immediately opens a gate and vanishes. The lemure demons are easily dispatched by the earth elemental by throwing them against the stone walls. Lakima then dismisses the elemental.

Lakima uses the vessel of potions to create a healing potion and gives it to Aldus. While drinking the potion Aldus notices a silver bound treasure chest and a pile of tattered spellbooks. Lakima has Aldus pick up everything and drop them into the bag of holding. They leave and head out across the plains toward the mountains. A few hundred feet from the hell fort they are joined by Biter. Biter listens to Lakima recount the events of the fight with Viggok and he questions whether they have completed the contract.

It takes most of the day to get back to Gordon’s realm with Biter leading the way. Lakima tells Gordon that he has fulfilled the contract and wishes to leave. Gordon tells Lakima he disagrees. Taking out the contract he reads it and points out that they have not killed Sazor or captured him. Lakima argues that they killed Sazor and only later brought him back to life. He demands to see the contract. Gordon sends the contract to Lakima who reads it carefully. The two continue to argue. Lakima even threatens to kill Gordon telling him that Viggok told them it would void the contract. Gordon tells him that Viggok lied. The contract would fall to his master Caizel.

“You do not want to owe Caizel a favor!”

Lakima angrily relents and tells his friends he needs to rest to recover spells. They take out their tent and pitch it on the rocky terrain. Lakima peruses the spellbooks they found. He finds that they belonged to human magic users across different time periods and regions. A lot of the pages have been torn out. He does not find anything useful.

After about an eight-hour rest, Lakima memorizes new spells.

“Let’s go!” Lakima says.

The three adventurers set out again across the hellscape. Biter appears and offers to guide them again, for a price. Lakima angrily rejects the demon but Biter persists. Eventually, they agree that in return for guiding them, Biter can have Sazor’s soul.

On the way to the Hellfort, they are surprised by two Hezrou (frog demons). One is killed by Eathwund and the other demon flees when it looks like Aldus is going to kill it. Even Biter aids in the combat.

Biter leads them back to the Hellfort. As they make their way to the main building, they see a giant demon that spots them but they run inside before it can reach them. Inside they confront the bug demon Sazor and a large number of lemure demons. Lakima gets the jump on Sazor and casts disintegrate but the demon resists the spell. Eathwund and Aldus find they cannot reach Sazor because of the Lemure demons so Lakima casts charm monster on them. All but two of the lemure demons are charmed. The ones that are charmed are instructed to grapple Sazor. Eathwund and Aldus kill the uncharmed ones. The Lemure demons grab hold of the many legs of the demon and immobilize it. Eathwund and Aldus attack it and kill it. Biter arrives and quickly absorbs the soul of Sazor Stratus. Biter then appears to grow larger.

“You can call me Cruncher from now on,” the demon says in a deeper voice.

At this moment they hear laughter from the hallway and see the huge demon they saw earlier. The demon laughs at Cruncher, who runs up the stairs to the next level. The adventurers quickly follow Cruncher. They discover that the stairs lead up to a flat roof. Below they feel the walls shaking. They cross the roof climb down to the ground and run off into the plains of soot. The return to Gordon’s region is uneventful but they are confronted with a problem when they reach the magma flow. Lakima does not have the luminous bridge spell memorized. He thinks it over for a while and then casts a wall of iron in the pool of magma creating a five-foot-wide bridge of iron. The group moves across carefully.

Once they reach the gate Lakima insists Gordon send them back. Gordon is happy to do it telling Lakima he is on the path to joining him in the abyss. Lakima tells Gordon he has a plan and then steps through the portal. Despite being in the abyss for 2 days they find only a few hours have passed. Domago asks where they have been. Lakima takes the chest out of the bag of holding and calls for Brovin. The thief spends some time checking the chest and triggers a poison needle trap. Protected from poison he only winces in pain and expresses surprise that the periapt proof against poison actually works. Aldus picks up the chest and repeatedly smashes it with his mace thunderstike until it is bashed open. Fortunately, nothing fragile was inside. They find eight rubies, four diamonds, three pieces of jewelry, and a book bound in a strange leathery skin. The skin completely encompasses the book. The endpapers can be seen but it cannot be opened. Lakima casts an identify spell on it and a demon face forms on the cover.

“Speak the password,” the face hisses in abyssal.

“Ahh, Victor” Lakima says. The face vanishes and the book remains closed.

“This will take some thinking,” Lakima says.

Sidequest

As I mentioned in Session #134 one of the players went off on a world-hopping tangent courtesy of the teleport spell. On a trip to find some components for an enchantment, he visited the city where the character was born and discovered his mentor was imprisoned in a nearby city.

I figured it would not be long before he would want to break his mentor out of prison and I had a week to prepare so I came up with a prison map and a map of a secret entrance through a cistern. Then when the session occurred the party decided to use a completely different method to get the wizard out of prison. Not one that I had prepared for so I had to ad-lib a lot.

Session 136: The Hag of Ill Portents

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Aldus (human cavalier), Domago (human cleric NPC), Brovin (human thief NPC).

The adventurers have put an end to the plans of the Twilight Coven and returned to their home in Edgerton. Everything appears to be peaceful and settled.

The next day Lakima heads over to the Red Leatherworks to collect the gloves he commissioned. Eathwund heads over to his tavern and enjoys sitting in the common room listening to the local gossip. The locals to a man are relieved to have finally gotten a good night’s rest. But they are unaware of the actions of the adventurers. Some still think that some evil fate awaits the town.

Lakima also heads over to the glass shop and picks up the special Lens he had commissioned. That afternoon Lakima successfully enchants the gloves to be magical Gloves of Dexterity. He also succeeds with the lens which he enchants with visual magic and christens Lakima’s Lens of Keen Sight.

Once everyone is together over dinner Eathwund tells the table that he would like to check in on the seer Tedeun to see if he still sees a grim fate for the town. The next day, Lakima, Eathwund, and Domago head to Edger’s Hold and ask to see the seer. They are led to the seer who resides in a prison cell beneath the Keep. Old Tedeun is just as crazy as the last time they met him. He rambles on about the dark fate of Edgerton. When he is told that the shadowstone was destroyed he decides that it was his doing through his disciples the adventurers. Growing tired of the ranting of the old man the group leaves.

Lakima asks if everyone is up for a trip to the magical Bridgeway. He wants to see if there is a portal to the towns of the Great Desert. The crew of the flying ship Cloudstealer are assembled and most of the group agree to go. Only Ian the squire stays behind to look after the manor. The group boards the flying ship and heads up and then south. On the way, they pass the flying ship that Lakima enchanted for the Merchant Adventurers’ Guild. Later in the day, they land in the forest gully near the Bridgeway.

Ezmeralden the custodian of the Bridgeway meets with them. When asked he does confirm that he has control rods for the Bridgeway that will open a portal to the three cities of the Great Desert. Lakima asks for a portal to the City of Glass and tells Ezmeralden to re-open the portal so they can return in an hour. The Bridgeway is set and the group travels through to a bridge over a dry channel passing through the City of Glass. Lakima has been here before in his youth and he leads the group to one of the markets. Here they purchase clothing that will disguise the group as merchants with mercenary guards. Lakima also asks the shopkeeper if there are any people from Turania in the City. For a fee, the shopkeeper tells them to go see the clothier, Dods Kory. On the way to the clothier’s shop street urchins beg the group for coins. Lakima stops and hands one brave boy a potion with promises that it will give him riches.

“Wait, is that what I think it is,” says Alrix, “you’re not going to…”

The boy drinks a potion of copper spewing and is soon racked with convulsions as he vomits up copper coins scattering them about. The children all run to pick up the coins. The distraction allows the group of foreigners to make their way across the city without attracting as much attention. They meet Dods who agrees to give them some information.

“Information has a cost,” Dods says.

Lakima tosses the merchant a bag of 100 gold coins. Sufficiently impressed by their wealth, Dods answers Lakima’s questions about Turania. He tells them about Emir Osman Al-Farouk the second. How his grandfather took control of the city from the old Council of Merchants. He tells them of his oppressive rule and about the Order of the Rose – a group of people in Turania trying to overthrow the tyrant. The Order helped to get Dods out of Turania alive after he ran afoul of the Emir. He offers to give them the name of a contact in the Order for another 100 gold. Lakima pays and Dods tells them to seek out the cloth merchant Azad Al-Hakir. He also shows him the secret hand signal of the Order.

With their time up the adventurers return to the bridge and step through the portal. They arrive back in the Kingswood. Lakima now asks Ezmeralden where the portal in Turania opens. Ezmeralden has never used it and does not know. But using the portal viewing mirror they see that it opens on a rooftop near a square. Lakima suggests they wait for dark before passing through. They can see that the sun is setting in Turania even though it is barely noon here in Kingswood.

Several hours later, Ezmeralden opens the gate, and the adventurers step through silently onto a rooftop in Turania. Strange stars light the night. The adventurers quickly make their way off the roof to a side street and then out into a square. Lakima successfully convinces a passing merchant that he is a merchant from the City of Veil. The merchant points them in the direction of a tavern. A guard stops to question them but Lakima convinces the guard that he and Alrix are merchants, and the rest of the company are mercenaries. The guard does question whether there are any magic users in the group. They learn that all magic users in Turania belong to the Order of the Eternal Flame and are beholden to the Emir. Foreign magic users are expected to turn their spellbooks over to the Order for safekeeping while they are in the city.

The adventurers spend a few hours in a tavern before asking about a place to sleep. The mistress running the tavern tells them that Ufa Baba across the street has a room they can use. The group pays for a room from Ufa and stays the night. The next day the group heads out to find their contact. They find Azad Al-Hakir at an outdoor stall near the Fountain of Dolphins. Azad is hesitant to speak with them at first but once Lakima gives him the secret hand signal, he whispers to them to meet him at his home at dusk. He tells them where it is located.

Lakima tells everyone to be on their guard when they head across the city at dusk. They arrive at a modest home and are let in by Azad. His wife serves them some food and drink. Lakima questions Azad about the Order and learns that they are not very successful. They have operated this network of confidents and spies for five years with little success. Lakima assures Azad that now that the Company of the Black Dragon has arrived things will change quickly. They learn that the Order of the Rose has an informant in the Palace of the Emir. They also learn about the location of the prison under the Palace. They ask to see the spy in the Palace. Azad agrees to let them meet him the next day.

The next day Alrix spends some time spying on the palace while invisible. He learns that there are about 40 guards and they change posts every hour. He watches the Palace for a few hours and then returns to their rented accommodations. Meanwhile, Lakima spends some time polymorphed into an old hag and tells children in the market about the Legend of the Princess and the Frog.

That night the adventurers meet Saajid Al-Salameh a servant in the palace. He tells them that he does not have access to the Royal Quarters. Lakima asks him a lot of questions about his access and his knowledge of the location of the Emir’s son (Prince Hamadi). He learns that Saajid enters the palace through a servant’s entrance and that there are no special passes.

“You might not like this,” Lakima states to the group. He pulls out a blue gem on a chain and concentrates on it. Suddenly, Lakima goes limp and collapses to the floor. Domago rushes to check on him. Meanwhile, a change comes over Saajid. Lakima has used Magic Jar to steal the servants’ body. A confused Azad watches as Saajid starts speaking like Lakima and then leaves the home.

“I had better watch over him,” Alrix says and turns invisible.

The pair make their way across the city to the palace. Lakima enters the servant’s entrance while Alrix waits outside. Lakima makes his way through the palace corridors until he arrives in a waiting room. Guards stand before a pair of doors. Several well-dressed men and women stand around waiting. Lakima takes the potion of human control out of his bag of holding and drinks it. One of the guards questions what Lakima is doing but then his eyes go blank as Lakima takes control of all of the men and women in the room.

“Take me to the prince’s chamber,” Lakima commands.

The guard nods in agreement and takes Lakima into a well-furnished hallway. Some guards stationed there give them puzzled looks but they make their way down another corridor and upstairs. Soon they stand before the door to the prince’s chamber. Lakima knocks and then enters. A young boy in noble clothing sits on a bed in the chamber

“Who are you?” the prince says. Before he can do anything, Lakima touches the Quill of Laiminae to the boy’s wrist and he turns to dust and is drawn into the Book of Monsters. The guards stand and look on without concern. Lakima then takes a frog out of his pocket and places it on the bed. This is the polymorphed giant carrion crawler encountered a few days earlier. His task done; Lakima makes his way back out of the Palace leaving the dominated guards behind. Lakima and Alrix make their way back to the home of Azad Al-Hakir.

Lakima immediately uses the Magic Jar to return to his own body. Saajid regains control of his body as well. He immediately shrieks and runs from the home. Alrix follows him for a short distance to make sure he does not run into any trouble. Lakima fills the adventurers in on what he has done. Domago is displeased and Azad appears to be frightened. The adventurers say their goodbyes and leave to return to their rented abode.

The next morning Lakima asks the servants for the latest news. Nothing out of the ordinary is reported. Once they head out into the market, they do notice a larger contingent of guards about and hear that the guards have offered a reward for the location of the servant Saajid Al-Salameh. Displeased with the results Lakima resolves to up the pressure on the Emir. Disguised as the old hag he spreads stories about the market about the frog prince first with children and then adults. He soon attracts the attention of guards who try to question him but he casts sleep on the guards. Alrix, who has been watching Lakima, casts control winds to raise a sandstorm in the town square. He also transforms to his couatl form crackling with lightning and in a booming voice threatens the god’s wrath should the Emir not be removed from power. The square is soon empty of people and the guards run away. Lakima turns one of the sleeping guards into a frog with the polymorph spell. Alrix changes back to his human form and the pair head back to meet their friends. The group heads back to Azad’s at dusk and speaks to him some more. When Lakima asks Azad who heads the most powerful merchant family in town he is told about Anwar Boutras. Lakima resolves to meet the merchant. Azad is confused as to why and expresses his concerns. 

The next day, Lakima polymorphs into an old hag again. He forcefully gains entrance to the Boutras family dwelling and gets a meeting with Anwar the head of the family. Lakima, disguised as a hag, suggests that Anwar will soon be Emir if he is a little patient. The gods are angry with Emir Osman. But once he is Emir, Lakima tells him he must perform an act of mercy to placate the gods. He must free all of the people held in Dar Al-Habs prison. That night Lakima writes out an ultimatum to the Emir on a parchment. Then he conjures a Glow Minion and sends it into the main market square holding up the parchment. Guards soon dispatch the sending and the parchment flutters to the ground. The parchment is picked up and read by the guards.

The next day Lakima again asks for any news and receives none. More than a little displeased Lakima goes to visit the merchant Anwar Boutras again disguised as a hag. He is received immediately and tells Anwar that he needs to prepare to take power. He tells him that the gods will shake down the Emir’s Palace tonight. Alrix who has secretly entered the chamber invisible hears the merchant planning with his underlings. He also learns that the polymorph spell on the carrion crawler was broken. They think that the prince has actually been turned into a giant worm. That night Lakima summons an Earth Elemental and sends it against the Emir’s Palace. The elemental bashes its way right through the wall. Out in the square, the adventurers hear rumbling noises and the explosion of a fireball spell. One of the minarets of the Palace topples into the square. After an hour he dispels the rampaging earth elemental. The group heads back to their apartments.

The next day no one comes with breakfast. The group heads out and finds that the city is a mass of confusion. Merchants talk openly that the Emir’s guards are either dead or have fled the city with the Emir and his retinue. Magistrate Boutras now claims to control the city government. Hired foreign mercenaries are attempting to keep order in the streets for the new regime.

Lakima asks a merchant if the prisoners below the palace have been freed. He is told that this did not happen. Lakima waits until dark and then summons a glow minion again. The glow minion is sent with another parchment to the market where it hammers the parchment into a post. Mercenaries quickly attack and dismiss the minion. But the parchment is found and taken. In the parchment’s message, Lakima has reminded the new leadership of their deal with the gods. The next morning, the adventurers learn that all of the prisoners have been freed. Some locals do not seem very happy about this. Some of the prisoners were dangerous criminals like the dreaded wizard Elken the Dark.

The Company looks for Elken and soon finds him surrounded by guards who are lying prone on the ground in a square. Elken has used a sleep spell on them. He also launches some magic missiles at fleeing mercenaries. Lakima comes forward addressing Elken. At first, Elken does not recognize Lakima confusing him with another apprentice. But he soon recalls Lakima the Grey. Lakima tells Elken that he is the one who secured Elken’s release. He is skeptical so Lakima brags to Elken about his powers and his magic items. This raises Elken’s interest and the magic-user demands that Lakima hand over his spellbook. Instead, Lakima gives Elken the spellbook he took from the Twilight Coven. Elken asks about his tower in the City of Veil and learns it is now occupied by squatters. Lakima suggests Elken come with his friends if he wants to get home.

The group heads to the rooftop and soon the portal opens. They step over an arched “bridge” between two rooftops and arrive back at the Bridgeway. Lakima introduces Elken to Ezmeralden. Then he asks the custodian to open a portal to the City of Veil. Before leaving Elken asks about the location of Lakima’s home. Lakima tells him about the manor in Edgerton. Elken nods and steps through the portal.

“I will be seeing you soon!”

Re-using Dungeons

In session 135 we finished out my Shadows over Edgerton adventure. A short adventure I wrote for which I re-used several previously visited locations. It never would have occurred to me before to re-use a dungeon but now this is the third time the adventurers have entered the Crypt of St. Bethesda. Originally they encountered this dungeon a few years ago when we played through an adventure I had rewritten from the AEG Booster adventure of the same name. Later, I used the now empty dungeon when they were investigating the murder of a maid at the one-player's tavern. A murder that had happened decades earlier. The murderer turned out to be an insane monk who later died and was entombed beneath the church - one of the reasons the church was abandoned.

This time I had antagonists of this adventure use the dungeon beneath the abandoned church as a handy location for their ritual to summon a Nightwalker from the Shadowfell. I also had the adventure come to a close in the cemetery outside of town. A cemetery that had featured slightly in some earlier adventures.

It has the advantage of cutting down on map-making time but that is not the real reason I re-used it. I felt it would make the world a little more real to the players. There is a big dungeon beneath their hometown - someone is going to make use of it.

Session 135: Shades and Shadows

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Aldus (human cavalier), Domago (human cleric NPC), Brovin (human thief NPC).

For weeks the townsfolk of Edgerton have been plagued by nightmares and harassed by shadows at night. The Company of the Black Dragon has traced the source of these nightmares to the crypt beneath the Church of St. Bethesda.

Brovin descends the stairs to the crypt and examines the door while the rest of the company waits above under the looming glare of the statues of St. Bethesda. After a few minutes Brovin returns and says that he cannot get the door open. The group searches the church towers but does not find any other entrance.

“We will have to enter through the abandoned cottage,” Lakima says.

The group leaves the church and makes their way to the boarded-up cottage. Inside a large stone blocks the entrance in the floor to the crypt. Lakima casts passwall and the way is clear. The entire group descends into the familiar dungeon beneath the church. They find the dungeon empty and there is no sign it has been used by anyone since they last entered here the previous summer. Avoiding the garbage chamber at the center of the dungeon they eventually make their way to the Church crypt. The chamber is piled high with debris from the church and several wood coffins have been dumped on top of the piles.

Lakima directs Brovin to check the cellar library when they suddenly come under attack from black-robed and masked cultists. A melee occurs with the adventurers killing six cultists. The cultists fight to the death requesting no parlay even when things turn desperate for them. After the battle, a search of the former crypt of the monks reveals it has been turned into a barracks for the cultists. Unable to find even a hint of the shadowstone, Lakima suggests they open one of the old iron doors to the garbage room. Inside they see an enormous pile of garbage some of which pours out around the feet of Aldus who opened the door. Emerging from the pile of garbage is the biggest carrion crawler they have ever seen. A truly gigantic carrion crawler that is ten feet long. The creature slides down the garbage and attacks Aldus with its many tentacles. Aldus is paralyzed by its touch almost immediately. Eathwund pushes Aldus to one side and takes up the fight with his longsword.

Then Lakima uses a polymorph spell and turns the creature into a larger-than-average frog. He sends the glow minion into the trash to catch the frog and return it to him. Domago examines Aldus and says he thinks Aldus will be fine in about a quarter of a watch. While they wait the glow minion searches through the garbage for anything useful but finds nothing. Aldus finally regains movement.

“Where is that creature!” he shouts, “I want to crush it.”

Lakima tells him that the frog is in his pocket. Aldus demands to be allowed to crush it but Lakima dissuades him by telling him it is his new secret weapon. Now that the entire dungeon beneath the church has been searched Lakima remembers the secret chamber that led to the Abbots’ tomb. Returning to the room where the cultists were staying, he uses the wand of secret doors to reveal the entrance to the abbot’s tomb. The door is opened and three cultists immediately emerge and attack Eathwund. Behind this fight, they can see more cultists and one is summoning a creature from the Shadowfell.

There is a general melee in which the cultists are killed or in the case of one cultist captured by Eathwund. The creature from the shadowfell is also destroyed. Lakima questions the cultist about the location of the shadowstone but he refuses to talk. But with the aid of the medallion of ESP, Lakima sees the location in the cultist’s mind. Realizing what Lakima is doing the cultist tries to kill him but he is held firmly by Eathwund.

“The shadowstone is under a crypt in the cemetery south of town,” Lakima says. He also tells everyone that the Twilight Coven (the cultists) plans to summon the Nightwalker on the night of the new moon in two days.

They take their prisoner and climb the stairs to the church nave. Above six members of the watch are waiting for them and they turn over the prisoner to them. Lakima suggests they get some rest before heading for the cemetery. They have been up all night and they see that the sun is just starting to rise. Brovin suggests they go to the cemetery during the day.

After a long rest at their manor house, the company sets out for the cemetery just outside the town gates. They arrive a few hours after noon. They see that the stone ruins of their former Tower in a Book are being slowly taken away to be used as building material. The cemetery is built on a hill and they see two large mausoleums at the base of the hill. Brovin goes over and knocks on the door of the caretaker’s cottage.

The caretaker opens the door but becomes surly once he looks over the experienced adventurers. He accuses them of being grave robbers and demands they leave. When Lakima asks about a crypt with a large chamber beneath it, he tells them they are mistaken.

“I guess we should leave?” Brovin shrugs.

Lakima tells him that once you have saved a town a few times you have a license to dig up a few family crypts. The group heads to the nearest crypt. The name "Marren" is inscribed above the doorway and the crypt is locked and appears to have been undisturbed for a long time. They then head to the Vorloi family crypt. This one appears to have been entered recently. Brovin picks the locked gate and the group enters the large crypt. Inside are a half-dozen wood coffins resting on shelves. One coffin looks like a recent addition and there are a dozen flowers resting on its lid. Brovin reads out the name Lucia Vorloi and Lakima recalls the young noblewoman who was killed by the Veiled Society more than a year ago when they first came to Edgerton. He suggests opening the coffin but Brovin tells him that it is screwed shut. They decide not to open it. The group leaves the crypt and relocks it. They then wander about the graveyard until they arrive at an open grave with a coffin in it. Suspicious they raise the coffin. Inside is a man who appears to have been murdered recently. But there is only dirt in the grave. They replace the coffin.

“Well, we just will have to check the tomb over there again,” Lakima says and points across the field at the first tomb they checked. Brovin unlocks the gate to the tomb and opens the stone doors. Inside they find an empty room and a stone stair that descends into darkness. Lakima sends the glow minion down the steps first followed by Brovin.

The steps lead to a stone chamber with a statue of a guardian knight in the center. Three doors lead from the chamber. As Brovin tries the first door, shadows and shades from the shadowfell emerge from the walls and attack the group. Eathwund tears into the shades with his sword. Domago uses his mace ineffectively. Aldus attacks shadows with his longsword. Lakima throws darts and Alrix throws magic missiles. Even Brovin is forced to fight (with his sword) as the shadows come from all directions. The melee does not last long and the adventurers are victorious. But, Aldus, Domago, and Brovin are all weakened by the deadly touch of the shadows. After the battle, Domago casts Dispel Evil on Aldus returning his strength. He and Brovin will just have to continue on in their weakened state.

The three chambers leading from the room all turn out to be tombs with many burial slots and no exits. Lakima uses the wand of secret door detection and discovers a door hidden behind a fake tomb in the northern chamber. Eathwund opens the fake tomb and the entire door swings open revealing steps headed down another 20 feet. Below they can see flickering torchlight and hear voices.

Aldus suggests rushing them and Eathwund and he run down the steps followed by the rest of the party. They enter a large chamber with bizarre statues lining the walls. In the chamber are just four men. One man is scribing a summoning circle on the floor with a charcoal stick while the other men are scattered about the chamber. Eathwund immediately charges through the summoning circle and slashes the man at work there.

“Ahhh! Nightwalker protect me!” the man yells. Then a horrible creature steps out of the shadows beside him and levels a deathly glare at Eathwund. Eathwund swears he feels his soul lurch but he fights it off.

“It’s a Bodak!” yells Alrix, “avoid its gaze!”

The man retreats from Eathwund and several shadowy creatures step between him and the party. The creatures look like armed men made of shadow. They briefly lose sight of the man but Alrix casts Fairie Fire on him.

Lakima takes out a scroll and casts an anti-magic shield barrier around himself. At a distance of 30 feet, the barrier blocks all magic (in or out). All of the party with the exception of Aldus (off in the corner fighting a thief) and Brovin (hiding on the stairs) are within the barrier. Knowing that he cannot cast through the barrier, Alrix steps out of it just long enough to hurl a fireball at the human cultists and shadow creatures. The human mage opposing them goes down immediately in a blaze of fire. The human cult leader (who they assume is Nalazar Blackhand), survives the blaze and casts healing magic on himself.

Meanwhile, Domago is fighting a losing battle against a man with a flaming sword. Lakima tries to help him by hurling darts at the man who responds but shouting angry curses at Lakima. Lakima continues to throw darts and taunts him. He also hands his wand of lightning bolts to Alrix he uses it repeatedly to destroy shadow creatures. Eathwund keeps the bodak at bay just outside of the anti-magic shield so that it cannot use its death gaze on him or his friends. The bodak attacks instead with a sword but it is not as skilled as Eathwund with the sword and he lands several hits upon it.

First, the thief Aldus is fighting falls, and then Lakima manages to kill the man with the flaming sword with a well-placed dart into his eye. The bodak is killed by a lightning bolt from Alrix. The shadows form a defensive barrier around the human summoner holding the shadowstone. But one by one they go down until the human is killed by an arrow into his chest fired by Alrix. With his death, the remaining shadow creature vanishes.

The aftermath of the fight reveals only four human corpses. There is no trace of all of the shadow creatures. Brovin searches through the corpses and finds gold and silver coins, jewelry, and a spellbook.

“No one will know that we saved the town,” Domago says.

“We will know, and we will be sure to tell people what happened here,” Lakima says.

The adventurers climb the stairs out of the crypt and out into the sunshine.

Teleport

When Session 134 started not all of the players had arrived. So the mage who was trying to find a rare ingredient for an enchantment decided to teleport to his hometown on the other side of the globe. The City of Veil in the Great Desert is a place that until recently had only existed in the player character's back story.

Luckily, I had noticed "Gabriel Pickard's, Appetizer Platter" free maps in the Roll20 assets earlier in the day and noted the desert town map. I grabbed that map and dropped it on a blank page and tossed some Dark Sun tokens I had made onto it. Then I just had to decide how hard it would be for the magic-user character to find the component he needed. To come up with NPC names on the fly I used fantasynamegenerators.com. Once he purchased the component he decided to look up his old mentor. On a whim, I decided his mentor was imprisoned by the Emir of another town. Just like that another adventure hook is set.

The player then teleported back to the starting town and joined the other players in uncovering a mystery that I had hinted at in the past 3-4 sessions. Another short homebrew adventure I called, "Shadows over Edgerton."

Session 134: Shadows over Edgerton

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Aldus (human cavalier), Domago (human cleric NPC), Brovin (human thief NPC).

The Company of the Black Dragon are back in Edgerton but disturbing dreams in their sleep disrupt their hopes of a peaceful rest.

Lakima in the City of Veil

After completing some research, Lakima decides what he needs is some Quickling hair to successfully create the magic item Alrix has requested. Since there is no place in Edgerton where he can purchase this spell component he decides to teleport to the Grand Market (Bazaar) in the City of Veil. In a flash of magic, Lakima arrives levitating in the air above the marketplace in the distant city. Settling to the flagstones he notes that he has attracted a lot of attention. Looking about he spots the sign to an apothecary and casually walks over and enters the shop. Inside, he bargains with the apothecary Ibrahaim Parsa. The apothecary says he can procure the Quickling hair in a few hours but he is skeptical of Lakima. Lakima hands him a 500-gold deposit to convince him. Leaving the shop, promising to return in a few hours, Lakima decides to do some sightseeing in the city of his youth. He is immediately accosted by two city guards. They tell Lakima that there is a tax on foreigners entering the city – they saw his entrance by teleport. Lakima tells them who he is (the son of Malkin the mighty) but at first, the soldiers do not believe him. Eventually, the soldiers are convinced to leave him alone. But one watches him from a distance. Lakima decides to look in on his former mentor, Elken the Dark. However, when Lakima arrives at Elken’s tower, he finds it broken and inhabited by the common folk. Asking about the whereabouts of the mage, none of the people living in the building know. Lakima heads back to the marketplace and looks about until he spots an aged beggar leaning over a short walking staff with his hand out.

“Beggar, do you recall the wizard who lived in that tower over there?” Lakima asks while holding out a gold coin. Before Lakima can react, the beggar grabs the coin.

“I don't know but I know who does. For another gold coin, I can tell you who to ask,” the beggar says.

Lakima hands him another coin and the beggar points across the market square at a cobbler working under an awning. Lakima approaches the cobbler who tells him his name is Haneed Hakimi. Haneed indeed tells Lakima that his mentor is rumored to have traveled to the city of Turania to the north where he sought to earn a reward offered by the Emir to anyone who could create a flying boat. He failed and was thrown in the dungeons beneath the palace.

“I find it hard to believe any prison could hold Elken?” Lakima says.

The cobbler tells him that the prisons under Turania are warded against magic. Lakima thanks the cobbler and gives him a few gold coins. Returning to the apothecary Lakima completes the purchase of a bag of Quickling hair.

Lakima stepped back out into the afternoon sun and decided to try and find Shani Essa his sweetheart from when he was an apprentice. Locating the corral that her father Jehan used to sell camels from Lakima finds a middle-aged woman working there. When he asks her about Shani he is surprised to discover he is speaking to his former sweetheart. Several years under the hot sun have aged her. Shani tells Lakima about her troubles. Her father is an invalid and needs daily medicine to calm him. She asks Lakima for some gold for old times' sake. Lakima gives her a small pouch containing 200 gold. Shani also tells Lakima a few more details about Elken’s downfall. He tried and failed on his first attempt to enchant Emir Osman’s reed boat. The Emir derided him and Elken did not hold back when letting the Emir know what he thought of him. He has been in prison for 15 years.

Lakima teleports to the marketplace of the City of Turania. Immediately he arrives floating in the air above the marketplace. Turania is similar to the City of Veils but with fewer towers and larger slums. The people seem more downtrodden. There are more slaves visible in the street and more armed guards. As Lakima descends to the stone pavement three guards call out and approach him.

“You are under arrest, foreign wizard!” a guard shouts.

Lakima tells them who he is and warns them not to anger him. The men approach with magic-negating manacles. Feeling he has warned them Lakima casts the Death spell and instantly kills all three guards and three locals who happen to be standing too close. Lakima settles to the ground and looks about. Local people are screaming and running from the marketplace in all directions. After a few minutes, a large group of guards approaches him (twenty men). The men keep a respectful distance.

“I wish to speak with the Emir,” Lakima shouts, “I have a gift for him!”

The guard leader approaches Lakima and tells him he is under arrest. He can meet the Emir after he is put in shackles. Then Lakima notices a man approaching who appears to be a mage or priest accompanied by two bodyguards. The man attempts to cast a spell but Lakima absorbs it with his Rod of Absorption. He notes that it was a clerical spell. Tired of dealing with the guards of Turania, Lakima teleports back to the Manor House in Edgerton arriving in the late evening hours and all the household is asleep.

Meanwhile in Edgerton

Earlier that same day, Eathwund decides to spend the day at the Sign of the Purple Bugbear. Business is doing well, though there are some fights in the neighborhood between ill-tempered locals who have not been getting much sleep. Alrix on the other hand does some investigating. He heads to a local bakery and buys some pastries and asks the dwarven baker if he is having trouble sleeping. The dwarf tells him that he is not but he has noticed a lot of his human servants are complaining of nightmares. Walking back to the manor through the main square, Alrix notices some local fortune tellers preaching that the end of the world is nigh. Those travelers from outside the town whom he speaks with tell him that they did not have nightmares until they entered the town. Back in the manor, he finds Lakima is not around. Alrix is not alarmed figuring that Lakima is either off somewhere or he is locked in his study in the attic.

Eathwund stays at the tavern until late in the evening. After midnight he heads home to the manor. While passing through the main square he hears a scream and decides to investigate. He comes upon a guard of the night watch desperately fighting a shadow. Another nearby guard lies on the pavement. With a few swift blows with his sword, Eathwund kills the shadow and it vanishes. The watch member thanks him for saving him, but it is too late for his compatriot. Eathwund stays long enough to speak with the night watch commander and then he continues home.

The next day, Lakima has returned and he speaks with the other members of the company over breakfast. He does not reveal where he has been, only that he has procured the needed Quickling hairs. Alrix tells him of what he has learned and Eathwund speaks of the shadow he encountered. Lakima, Eathwund, Alrix, Aldus, and Domago go over to the apothecary to speak with Malyn. The seemingly young mage seems uninterested in the nightmares plaguing the humans of Edgerton. He tells them that whatever it is the wards around the Temple of the Dark Lady protect him. Lakima asks Malyn to investigate but it takes a promise of a favour before Malyn agrees. The group then head to the nearby Church of St. Cuthbert and speak with Abbot Marta. Marta cannot add anything to what he told them previously about having a vision of something evil beneath the city. Eathwund tells Alrix that the city is built on ruins and graveyards. There are all manner of dungeons and tunnels beneath the streets. The group then goes to the Red Leatherworks and Alrix pays the owner 180 gold for a pair of gloves sewn with the Quickling hair. The leatherworker promises to have the work done in two days.

That evening Alayna informs everyone that she has created sleeping tinctures that should allow the user to get a good sleep free of nightmares. Only Aldus decides to use it. Lakima and Eathwund have nightmares that evening. The next morning breakfast is interrupted by Sergeant Frans of the Watch who tells them that shadow hounds chased townsfolk through the streets last night killing six. He asks for help. Lakima asks the sergeant where the attacks occurred.

“We will be waiting there tonight,” Lakima assures him.

Sergeant Frans also tells them about a fortune teller named Tedeun who has gained quite a following. He claims to know what is causing the nightmares and is prophesizing the end of the world. That day the company heads to the main square to see this prophet of doom for themselves. They see an old, but energetic man speaking from beneath an awning in the main square. A small crowd of townsfolk gathered around him. The people are kept in line by a pair of thugs who appear to be members of a local street gang. Nearby, four town guards are taking in the proceedings. Lakima tells Aldus and Eathwund to get them an audience. The two fighters advance and clear a path through the crowd. The thugs at first try to look intimidating but quickly scoop up their earnings and runoff. The fortune teller himself seems unaware of their approach. He offers to read Lakima’s fortune. The man appears to be crazy and has trouble staying on topic. He often veers off on a tangent or sees something that is not there. But he does tell them that the Twilight Coven has a shadowstone with which they will plunge Edgerton into the Shadowfell. He whispers in Lakima’s ear that the holder of the shadowstone is a man named Fulraid. He also tells them that they should seek out Zekar Fester. He warns Alrix that he foresees his death within the next week should events remain unchanged.

Lakima suggests they go to the Library of Antiquity to investigate some of the names they have been told by the madman. Tedeun becomes more agitated as he talks to them and begins shouting so the guards take him into custody. At the Library, one of the Librarians suggests they consult books in the Hall of Legends. The Head Librarian Dellik immediately recognizes the name Zekar Fester. He is the author of a book entitled The Tome of Shadows. The book is a treatise on the mythical realm of Shadow. Which is sometimes confused with limbo or the lands of the dead. Lakima asks to be allowed to take the book home for study.

That afternoon Lakima studies the book, while other members of the company take afternoon naps to prepare for a long evening. As night falls, they head over to the Marketplace, the scene of yesterday’s deaths. There are a lot fewer people on the streets than normal and several shops have closed up for the evening. A few members of the night watch come by to speak with the company. Nothing happens for hours. But about three hours after midnight they hear the shrill whistle of the watch coming from Mirdton.

Following two guards who are rushing to the Low market they continue on until they hear sounds of fighting and the baying of hounds. They arrive in Mirdton Square and see two guards fighting a pack of shadow hounds guided by two shadows. Eathwund and Aldus immediately plunge into the melee destroying hounds and shadows, while Lakima summons a glow minion. The bright light of the minion drives back the shadows. Lakima follows up with magic missiles. Alrix uses his longbow and then spots two figures dressed head to tow in black. The two men are watching from the shadows. As the shadow hounds and shadows begin to lose the fight the men turn and leave.

Alrix transforms to his true form and flies above the rooftops to get ahead of the two men as they are traversing an alley. Alrix calls for them to halt but the men immediately draw swords and move to attack. The fight is over quickly, Alrix bites one man killing him with poison and constricts the second man until he passes out. Back in Mirdton Square, the shadows have all been killed and all four guards have been saved. The company heads off in the direction Alrix went followed by two guards. They arrive just as Alrix has taken one guard prisoner and killed the other. Terrified of the flying serpent, the guards have to be calmed down to keep from running away.

Lakima puts on the Medallion of ESP and listens in on the man’s thoughts while they question him. When asked where the shadowstone is now he sees an image in the man’s mind of the crypts beneath the Church of St. Bethesda. When asked about the leader he sees a normal enough-looking man and hears the name Nalazar Blackhand. After the questioning is over they turn the man over to the guards.

“The Church of St. Bethesda again,” Lakima says in exasperation, “I need to find the owner and buy this ruin.” He waves at the looming ruins of a church rising up behind them.

Eathwund tells Alrix about some of their adventures beneath the church, fighting ghouls, a wormwraith, thieves, and the ghost of an evil abbot.

The church is securely boarded up and several entrances are bricked shut. They head around to the main entrance and Lakima tells Brovin to open the doors. Brovin looks about then shrugs and gets to work with his crowbar. During the loud dismantling of the boards over the door, two members of the night watch appear to ask what is going on but seeing who is demolishing the door they move along. After about a half hour Brovin gets one door open and the group steps inside the nave of the church. It has changed little from the last time they entered. Moonlight shines down through holes in the ceiling. The two enormous statues of St. Bethesda frown down upon them. The stair to the cellar appears clear of rubble.

It is time to descend to the crypt again.