"Who'd be one of our cousins?"
Their patron (in some cases) is now back in Phandalin - and almost in one piece. Despite meeting his death at the hands of the odd shape-shifting creature at Cragmaw Castle, Gundren Rockseeker is alive once more, but Carp, Gryff's cousin, is missing and stories abound through the town of how the undead and orcs in the east are growing bolder - and the adventure continues...
Wolf, a young human fighter, played by Lorne (absent due to illness)
Ellenross, a human rogue, played by Hilton (absent due to overseas trip)
Starring:
Gronn, a dwarven druid, played by Brett
Gryff, a halfling fighter, played by Jason
Ashnurak, a human wizard, played by Iain
DM comments: Sadly we were down to three for this session, but those who were playing and I unanimously agreed to play on with just three players - there were some adjustments in the flow of the game to accommodate, but the party has proved resourceful (and often require extras!) so I had faith in them... hehehe.
Our heroes found themselves in Phandalin. They had recently returned with Gundren's body and, after some scraping and bowing, arranged for him to be resurrected by Sister Garaele, the priestess of Tymora. As soon as they realised he was alive, the rushed to his side...
"Gundren!" cried Gronn (not actual crying, I hasten to add), "it's so good to see you alive".....barely. Gundren was weak from the resurrection and had little strength in him. He offered them all a small cash reward, but supplemented it with a massive 10% of his business once it was up and running. If Wave Echo Cave was half as rich as they thought it was, money would never be a problem again!
After Sister Garaele confirmed it would be several days before he was fit to move any distance, the party began to plot their next move:
After a short discussion (the goblins proved non-aggressive) it transpired they were the newly recruited footmen of the Lord Nothic, Master of the Crevasse (fnaar!). Not long after the discussion ended, they both died without the grins leaving their faces. "Obviously ensorcelled" muttered Ash as they continued moving through the corridors (they remembered the secret door).
As they entered the crevasse cave, the strange voice once again filled their heads (thanking them for the previous supply of fresh flesh, "much better as it was so much wetter"), warning them of his increased power and how they had best leave before it turned nasty. Well, it did turn nasty, particularly when he referred to his latest halfling acquisition as "delicious" - Gryff flew into a rage and charged across the bridge, which collapsed under his feet! (A pretty impressive Dex save took him to the other side) Where he squared off with the Lord Nothic.
Both Gronn and Ash flung spells, with varying levels of success. The creature turned his gaze on Gronn (and this phrase caused much childish amusement) before Gronn also charged the long way around to grapple with the beast. At this stage, things went a little awry for the party. Firstly, just as Gronn got to the Lord Nothic, two goblins charged in behind the party and attacked Ash in the back. Secondly, Lord Nothic critted Gryff, causing quite some damage and making a few eyebrows around the table rise.
As Gronn and Gryff wailed on Lord Nothic, Ash Thunderwave'd his foes and after taking some more hits (and moaning about lack of protection), then hearing more footsteps in the passageway, Ash flung a sleep spell out into the hall, dropping both goblins and his unseen foe in the hallway to the floor.
While this happened, Gryff and Gronn took swipes at the big mean baddie, who had obviously had enough. He struck Gryff with two mighty blows (a 19 and a 20 to add to the 20 from the round before!) reduced Gryff to unconsciousness (and incredulousness). Gronn, starting to feel the burn (from the Nothic's dread gaze), decided to armour up (Barkskin) and health up (Bear Form), ready for a huge climax (fnaar).
Within two rounds, Lord Nothic was dead and Gryff was revived (it was so close to a Total Party Kill!). Gronn put the two unconscious goblins to the sword (well, dagger) and then checked the hallway, where they found Daran Edermath fast asleep!
They descended into the crevasse and found a number of items of interest - a large chest which contained a beautifully maintained magical shortsword (called The Talon of the Black Hawk) and a few potions. Oh and they found Carp's half-eaten corpse. Gryff was beside himself. Ash made the suggestion that Qenelle (Carp's mum) might benefit from the treasure they found here, minus the sword, which the rest agreed with.
They woke Daran on the way out and he confirmed that he'd seen a mysterious black humanoid talking with two goblins in the woods and when they had run towards the manor house, he'd followed them, knowing the party were in there. That was the last he remembered before waking up in the hallway - how odd...
They returned to town and Gryff gave his aunt the news. Lots of tears, etc, I drew the line at roleplaying a crying halfling woman whose pies were burning in the oven - and besides, I thought Gryff was going to have a breakdown, so I decided to skip over it a bit.
(I thought this section went pretty well, especially considering that the Nothic needed a boost and the vast majority of this part was made up on the spot - none of it came from the module - apart from the name of the bad guy and the map. I did decide on the missing boy at the end of the last session, but the rest was done on the night)
After a rest, the party headed east, deciding to visit Wyvern's Tor first, to investigate the orc threat. Once they arrived, a day later, they quickly found the orcs (thanks to Gronn crit'ing his Survival roll). One orc stood sentry outside a cave. Using his spider form (acquired from Thundertree), Gronn snuck up and poisoned the sentry - much to the disgust of Ash, who felt spider form was gross. Gronn wobbled his massive abdomen in delight at Ash's horrified look (in real life too).
They snuck into the cave and found a larger opening further back which held four orcs and an ogre. The party leapt into action - Gronn flinging some barbed spikes which leapt out of the ground, Ash casting wave after wave of flames into the orcs and Gryff charging headlong at the ogre to nibble his kneecaps before stopping a few feet short when he realised the ground was covered in brambles and thorns from Gronn's spell! He stood impatiently waiting for the ogre to come to him....
After several rounds, the orcs lay dead (at Ash's hands) and Gryff lay unconscious (at the ogre's club - yes, another crit!) and Gronn was bashing away at the ogre. Ash took the glory with some more flamey bits and while Gronn helped Gryff to his feet, Ash made sure to mention how he killed everything in the room whilst blowing on the end of his staff (his words, not mine). There was much grimacing from the others. They found some treasure, as well as some potion bottles containing perfume (which Gronn tested by tasting - yes, dwarves are odd).
After a brief search of the area outside, they concluded the orcs were finished and decided to head for Old Owl Well, where undead had been seen.
They found an old watchtower, next to which sat a brightly coloured tent. A quick recce from Hugin, the raven scout, found little but the stench of death and the party approached the garish tent and threw a rock at it to get the owner's attention. At this, the horrified party heard a chorus of moans and watched on in disgust as a dozen corpses shambled forth from the tower. As they prepared to fight, a short fat man with no hair and a massive tattoo on his face, with a strange red robe on, stepped out of the tent.
With a wave of his hand he stopped the zombies and spoke with the party. It turns out he was a mage from the land of Thay (he said with a flourish) but only Ash knew who he was (and even recognised his tattoo as being one of a necromancer). After hearing that the party had overcome the orcs and the party decided that he posed no threat as long as he was not attacked (he was only there for research, after all), they all sat down for a picnic of fine wines, cheese and bread. Before long, the party decided to scarper, finding it all a little weird.
They headed off to find Agatha and, before long, found themselves bypassing Conyberry and heading into the dark, spooky woods north. After following the trail through a mist-filled series of pathways and clearings, they eventually came across a hut of sorts, built from the roots and branches of nearby trees.
They quickly entered and found themselves face to face with a horrifying visage which had risen up through the floor - after a bit of screeching and threats, the banshee finally gave them a chance to speak and, surprised at their politeness (it could have been fear), even allowed them to live. The party eventually remembered the silver comb Sister Garaele had given them as a present for Agatha and Gryff whipped it out - there was a sharp intake of breath around the room (and a look of joy crossed my face) as the banshee spoke next....
"What is it you want of me, halfling, I will answer one question!"...at that time, I somehow thought back to episode two of this series and Gryff's moment involving Ash's riddle and it was all I could not to wring my hands together in glee.
"Where is the spellbook........(and before I could answer, "It's in Ash's bag!")....of Bowgentle?" asked Gryff (it almost went a little funny as Gronn originally recalled his name as BoJangles). Foiled! I gave them directions to where she had last seen it, over a hundred years before.
"Thank you for the information, " said Gryff as he bowed low, "I'm sure we will use it." he added as he straightened, much to the amusement of the others. The party beat a hasty retreat back to Phandalin before Agatha could change her mind and kill them all.
They returned to town, confirmed their actions to the relevant parties, collected some rewards, and one or more joined a secret society. Then, realising that Gundren was back to full strength, they decided that now was the time to hit the Wave Echo Cave and finally get their hands on the Black Spider!
And the session ended.
Ashnurak, a human wizard, played by Iain
DM comments: Sadly we were down to three for this session, but those who were playing and I unanimously agreed to play on with just three players - there were some adjustments in the flow of the game to accommodate, but the party has proved resourceful (and often require extras!) so I had faith in them... hehehe.
Our heroes found themselves in Phandalin. They had recently returned with Gundren's body and, after some scraping and bowing, arranged for him to be resurrected by Sister Garaele, the priestess of Tymora. As soon as they realised he was alive, the rushed to his side...
"Gundren!" cried Gronn (not actual crying, I hasten to add), "it's so good to see you alive".....barely. Gundren was weak from the resurrection and had little strength in him. He offered them all a small cash reward, but supplemented it with a massive 10% of his business once it was up and running. If Wave Echo Cave was half as rich as they thought it was, money would never be a problem again!
After Sister Garaele confirmed it would be several days before he was fit to move any distance, the party began to plot their next move:
- Carp was a priority - only missing for half a day, he couldn't have gone far - and the likelihood was that his disappearance was linked to the "hearings" of the strange creature they'd encountered in the crevasse under Tresendar Manor.
- Sister Garaele had resurrected their friend - and she had also set them a task involving the banshee Agatha, near Conyberry - they were to find out what she did with the spellbook belonging to a man named Bowgentle.
- The orcs and undead in the east were a menace and needed to be investigated.
- Hopefully, by the time they returned, Gundren would be fit and recovered from his ordeal, to show them the way to Wave Echo Cave.
After a short discussion (the goblins proved non-aggressive) it transpired they were the newly recruited footmen of the Lord Nothic, Master of the Crevasse (fnaar!). Not long after the discussion ended, they both died without the grins leaving their faces. "Obviously ensorcelled" muttered Ash as they continued moving through the corridors (they remembered the secret door).
As they entered the crevasse cave, the strange voice once again filled their heads (thanking them for the previous supply of fresh flesh, "much better as it was so much wetter"), warning them of his increased power and how they had best leave before it turned nasty. Well, it did turn nasty, particularly when he referred to his latest halfling acquisition as "delicious" - Gryff flew into a rage and charged across the bridge, which collapsed under his feet! (A pretty impressive Dex save took him to the other side) Where he squared off with the Lord Nothic.
Both Gronn and Ash flung spells, with varying levels of success. The creature turned his gaze on Gronn (and this phrase caused much childish amusement) before Gronn also charged the long way around to grapple with the beast. At this stage, things went a little awry for the party. Firstly, just as Gronn got to the Lord Nothic, two goblins charged in behind the party and attacked Ash in the back. Secondly, Lord Nothic critted Gryff, causing quite some damage and making a few eyebrows around the table rise.
As Gronn and Gryff wailed on Lord Nothic, Ash Thunderwave'd his foes and after taking some more hits (and moaning about lack of protection), then hearing more footsteps in the passageway, Ash flung a sleep spell out into the hall, dropping both goblins and his unseen foe in the hallway to the floor.
While this happened, Gryff and Gronn took swipes at the big mean baddie, who had obviously had enough. He struck Gryff with two mighty blows (a 19 and a 20 to add to the 20 from the round before!) reduced Gryff to unconsciousness (and incredulousness). Gronn, starting to feel the burn (from the Nothic's dread gaze), decided to armour up (Barkskin) and health up (Bear Form), ready for a huge climax (fnaar).
Within two rounds, Lord Nothic was dead and Gryff was revived (it was so close to a Total Party Kill!). Gronn put the two unconscious goblins to the sword (well, dagger) and then checked the hallway, where they found Daran Edermath fast asleep!
They descended into the crevasse and found a number of items of interest - a large chest which contained a beautifully maintained magical shortsword (called The Talon of the Black Hawk) and a few potions. Oh and they found Carp's half-eaten corpse. Gryff was beside himself. Ash made the suggestion that Qenelle (Carp's mum) might benefit from the treasure they found here, minus the sword, which the rest agreed with.
They woke Daran on the way out and he confirmed that he'd seen a mysterious black humanoid talking with two goblins in the woods and when they had run towards the manor house, he'd followed them, knowing the party were in there. That was the last he remembered before waking up in the hallway - how odd...
They returned to town and Gryff gave his aunt the news. Lots of tears, etc, I drew the line at roleplaying a crying halfling woman whose pies were burning in the oven - and besides, I thought Gryff was going to have a breakdown, so I decided to skip over it a bit.
(I thought this section went pretty well, especially considering that the Nothic needed a boost and the vast majority of this part was made up on the spot - none of it came from the module - apart from the name of the bad guy and the map. I did decide on the missing boy at the end of the last session, but the rest was done on the night)
After a rest, the party headed east, deciding to visit Wyvern's Tor first, to investigate the orc threat. Once they arrived, a day later, they quickly found the orcs (thanks to Gronn crit'ing his Survival roll). One orc stood sentry outside a cave. Using his spider form (acquired from Thundertree), Gronn snuck up and poisoned the sentry - much to the disgust of Ash, who felt spider form was gross. Gronn wobbled his massive abdomen in delight at Ash's horrified look (in real life too).
They snuck into the cave and found a larger opening further back which held four orcs and an ogre. The party leapt into action - Gronn flinging some barbed spikes which leapt out of the ground, Ash casting wave after wave of flames into the orcs and Gryff charging headlong at the ogre to nibble his kneecaps before stopping a few feet short when he realised the ground was covered in brambles and thorns from Gronn's spell! He stood impatiently waiting for the ogre to come to him....
After several rounds, the orcs lay dead (at Ash's hands) and Gryff lay unconscious (at the ogre's club - yes, another crit!) and Gronn was bashing away at the ogre. Ash took the glory with some more flamey bits and while Gronn helped Gryff to his feet, Ash made sure to mention how he killed everything in the room whilst blowing on the end of his staff (his words, not mine). There was much grimacing from the others. They found some treasure, as well as some potion bottles containing perfume (which Gronn tested by tasting - yes, dwarves are odd).
After a brief search of the area outside, they concluded the orcs were finished and decided to head for Old Owl Well, where undead had been seen.
They found an old watchtower, next to which sat a brightly coloured tent. A quick recce from Hugin, the raven scout, found little but the stench of death and the party approached the garish tent and threw a rock at it to get the owner's attention. At this, the horrified party heard a chorus of moans and watched on in disgust as a dozen corpses shambled forth from the tower. As they prepared to fight, a short fat man with no hair and a massive tattoo on his face, with a strange red robe on, stepped out of the tent.
With a wave of his hand he stopped the zombies and spoke with the party. It turns out he was a mage from the land of Thay (he said with a flourish) but only Ash knew who he was (and even recognised his tattoo as being one of a necromancer). After hearing that the party had overcome the orcs and the party decided that he posed no threat as long as he was not attacked (he was only there for research, after all), they all sat down for a picnic of fine wines, cheese and bread. Before long, the party decided to scarper, finding it all a little weird.
They headed off to find Agatha and, before long, found themselves bypassing Conyberry and heading into the dark, spooky woods north. After following the trail through a mist-filled series of pathways and clearings, they eventually came across a hut of sorts, built from the roots and branches of nearby trees.
They quickly entered and found themselves face to face with a horrifying visage which had risen up through the floor - after a bit of screeching and threats, the banshee finally gave them a chance to speak and, surprised at their politeness (it could have been fear), even allowed them to live. The party eventually remembered the silver comb Sister Garaele had given them as a present for Agatha and Gryff whipped it out - there was a sharp intake of breath around the room (and a look of joy crossed my face) as the banshee spoke next....
"What is it you want of me, halfling, I will answer one question!"...at that time, I somehow thought back to episode two of this series and Gryff's moment involving Ash's riddle and it was all I could not to wring my hands together in glee.
"Where is the spellbook........(and before I could answer, "It's in Ash's bag!")....of Bowgentle?" asked Gryff (it almost went a little funny as Gronn originally recalled his name as BoJangles). Foiled! I gave them directions to where she had last seen it, over a hundred years before.
"Thank you for the information, " said Gryff as he bowed low, "I'm sure we will use it." he added as he straightened, much to the amusement of the others. The party beat a hasty retreat back to Phandalin before Agatha could change her mind and kill them all.
They returned to town, confirmed their actions to the relevant parties, collected some rewards, and one or more joined a secret society. Then, realising that Gundren was back to full strength, they decided that now was the time to hit the Wave Echo Cave and finally get their hands on the Black Spider!
And the session ended.
No comments:
Post a Comment