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Posts Tagged ‘lotfp’

Against the Giants: Session Eleven

24 May

1st to 3rd of Planting, CY 591 (low summer)

While waiting for their delivery of smuggled goods, the resistance fighters decided that their next task would be to investigate the dwarf tomb that they had a map to; to find treasure, and possible magic that would aid them in their fight against the giants. After the goods came in, and were stored carefully away in the Smugglers Cave that was now the party’s home, they head off into the mountains.

It takes two, uneventful, days to reach the site of the tomb; a shallow cave with a stainless steel door engraved with ancient dwarven runes and a symbol of a hammer. Tendrils of purple mist writhed around the edge of the door. Zarkov recognised the symbol as belonging to an ancient, long forgotten demonic dwarf deity known only as The Miner.

Lighting lanterns, they opened the doors to reveal a corridor thick with knee-high (waist-high on a dwarf) purple mist obscuring the floor. Undaunted, but cautious, they entered; sending Corvin ahead with a spear to prod the floor and keep an eye out for traps. At a side passage they paused, turning east into a large room that was also filled with mist. Scenes of ancient dwarf life were engraved and painted on the walls; and hidden in the mist, as Corvin discovered by standing on them, were dozens of bodies that looked like they had recently died; a mix of humans in ancient armour, and defenceless dwarves. At the end, an altar with a pair of golden mining tools, and a chunk of meteorite. Doors lead out. They left it all alone, planning to returning later, and went through the east door into a corridor free from the mist. Turning south they discovered another door, which Ungrid opened to reveal a room with a pool (and what looked like gems glittering inside), while Zarkov and Corvin discovered a library of stone books in a room to the south.

The party spilt. While Corvin and Zarkov checked out the library (Zarkov took a heavy stone book down, and found a catalogue) the rest looked into the room with the pool. Idni poked the gems, tried to pry one loose, and triggered a spurting of inky gas, which put both himself and Halmary into a slumber. Ungrid woke them up with a few slaps and kicks, and they joined the others in the library. After realising that no one else but Zarkov could read the stone books, they decided to check the other room out, and discovered four zombie dwarves had quietly wandered down the corridor: both Halmary and Zarkov fail to turn them, Idni stabs one and Corvin is bit; he backs off, allowing Ungrid and Halmary to move to the front, forming their shield wall. The zombies quickly fall as Halmary crushes the skull of one, Ungrid cleaves one in two, then takes out another, leaving Idni to jab the last through the head.

They investigate the pool room, finding the walls to be layered in lattice runes telling the story of some ancient dwarf’s life. Side rooms hold more of the same, although one also turns out to be infested by vipers, which tries to bite Zarkov; the dwarf just chopped it in half. Another room held a gassy blob that kept changing shape and attacked by spitting black slime; one struck Halmary’s shield and dissolved it, and proved immune to bolts and arrows. They left it alone, and once again stumbled into a wandering group of dwarf zombies; again, turning had no effect, but the zombies fell even quicker, and although Ungrid took a savage hit, Zarkov used their recently acquired Staff of Healing to cure his wounds.

End of Session

# Kills: 8 dwarf zombies; 1 viper.
PCs levelled-up: Ungrid, now level 2 Vaultguard. All except Zarkov are now level 2.

 
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Eternal Empire: Session Twenty-One: TPK!

01 Feb

The Siege of Jainesville

As night fell, the keep was surrounded by hundreds-upon-hundreds of zombies, skeletons and more mobile ghouls. The horde of undead had flooded into the village, destroying all in their path, and laid siege to the keep.

Iral and Wynstan the Hermit stepped back from the summoning circle they had just finished inscribing atop the gatehouse. As Alvis, Gideon, Trustyson, Armis and Tomlison moved along the walls, checking that the supply of arrows was in easy reach of the few archers and doing their best to bolster the flagging morale of the villagers, the two spell-casters began to summon some magical entity; hoping that they could control it long enough to devastate the undead.

Wynstan completed the spell, and a pulsating blob of blood materialised in the centre of the circle; but Wynstan’s concentration slipped, his aged mind losing its grip on the subtleties of his art, and the entity broke free of his control and lashed out at the nearest living creature: Iral!

At the same time, the river of walking dead surged against the walls, and from the shadows beyond their torches, several ghouls were hurled through the air by some unseen giants, and nimbly landed on the battlements.

Along the walls the order to fire rang out, and arrows pelted the zombies below. More ghouls rushed forward, intent on clambering up the walls, and were met by a flurry of arrows. Most missed, others found their mark, but the undead kept coming. On the walls, Iral backed away from the Blood, letting loose with a magical missile that scorched one of the newly arrived ghouls; allowing Gideon to push Wynstan out of the way and swing at the blob, which undulated out of reach. Ignatious, merchant and former wizard, followed the elf’s example and sent a tiny bolt of energy unto its hide.

Meanwhile, Alvis stepped up to the ghouls and held forth his holy symbol and, in the name of the Eternal Prophet, demanded the dead to turn aside. Two of the ghouls hissed and spat and leapt from the walls, while the others of the cleric’s party ganged up on another ghoul and started hacking away at it.

Gideon stepped up to the Blood and with a mighty swing of his magical sword, Ghostcutter, sent the entity back to where it came from. Behind him, Alvis continued to repel the dead. On the other side of the gatehouse, Iral levitated a previously placed rock, lifting it into the air, intending to release it moments later. Around the harassed ghoul, Trustyson managed to move behind it, and with a powerful thrust slew the unholy creature. All around them more arrows fired, several zombies fell, and then the ghouls started to clamber up the walls; and from the night several more flew onto the walls, rolling to their feet with a savage hiss.

Father Riggby found himself face-to-face with a ghoul, and tried his best to send it to its final death; but his age and dulled reflexes were his undoing, and the ghoul ripped into his flesh, paralysing him with its unholy touch. The constable, Calhoun, who considered himself a friend to the adventurers who were trying to save the village, fought against another ghoul, but was ripped to pieces. One of the clergy, Auld, screamed as a ghoul tore into him, killing him.

Along the east wall, Tomlinson suddenly found himself fighting for his life; but after all he had been through, he knew how to handle himself and deflected blow-after-blow, pushing the ghoul back to the edge of the battlements. With a hefty kick he sent it stumbling over the wall, where it plummeted to the ground, breaking its rotted skull. Another three ghouls tried to climb the wall, eager to get the lucky henchman, but were knocked back as Iral let his rock fall, smashing the ghouls to the ground.

Atop the gatehouse, Gideon found himself almost surrounded by ghouls. His closest allies, Morris and Morrison Alderberry let loose with their bows, while the fighter quaffed a potion and suddenly doubled in size. He stepped over the dead and landed a heavy blow on a ghoul. Behind him, Alvis’ concentration faltered and the dead were not turned; he backed away, as Armis and Trusyson fired over his head, pelting the dead with more arrows. Another two, wounded, ghouls suddenly fell as Iral blasted them with more magical missiles.

More ghouls hurled onto the battlements, while others swarmed over the walls. One unit of Imperial Soldiers fell to their claws, and poor Ignatious had his throat ripped out. Tomlinson found another ghoul in his way, but swiftly slew it, while all around the keep more arrows flew.

The walls, towers and gatehouse roof were now swarming with ghouls. Horace, farmer and husband, fell screaming; both Iral and Tomlinson managed to fend off their attackers, whilst Alvis turned a couple more ghouls; but then Gideon mistimed his parry, and a ghoul clawed his face and a deep cold flowed over the unfortunate human, paralysing him. Beside him, Morrison died, face bitten off.

Below, where a wagon of burning wood and oil had been set alight to ward off the undead, a ghoulish ogre moved up and upturned the wagon, throwing it against the gates; the fire caught and the gates were ablaze in seconds.

More ghouls swarmed over the walls; others were flung onto the battlements. The zombies and skeletons were now rammed up against the walls of the keep, clawing and beating their rotten fists against the stone.

Alvis uttered a prayer to the Prophet and sent another couple of ghouls fleeing; but it wasn’t enough. A third reared up behind him, clawing his back and paralysing the cleric.

Iral found himself surrounded by three vicious ghouls, was swiftly paralysed, then slowly torn apart.

Trustyson, a recent member wondering why the hell he had joined them, fell to another and knew no more.

And all around them the ghouls tore into the valiant defenders; the gates fell open and the dead poured in…

…and the siege ended with the death of everyone.

TPK

They all died.
The End.

Just as we were about to call it a night, to continue the siege next week, as we said “one more round”, the battle turned and the PCs quickly fell one after the other.

So, next week, new campaign, new characters and a new setting. I’m going to run my (still uncompleted, but I have a week) Lottery Dungeon, which is ideal for our short sessions and a good dungeon to delve into (or at least it will be, once I’ve finished it).

 

 
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Eternal Empire: Session Twenty

25 Jan

The Journey Home: Part Two

(Part One)

[Day 64] After a restful night in the shrine of St Katherine, the party (consisting of Iral the Elf [L3], Gideon the fighter [L3], Alvis the cleric [L3], Armis the specialist [L1], Tomlinson the henchman [L1] and newcomer Trustyson [specialist, L1]) continue on toward Jainesville and home. They travel on through the night, and arrive just after midnight, unmolested and safe. They head straight to the keep, where Morris (one of their guards) hails them and lets them know that all is quiet.

[Day 65] In the morning they send for the constable and over breakfast tell him about the hordes of undead they have seen heading this way; whilst avoiding telling him that it was their actions that released the evil. He believes them, since they have proven themselves trustworthy, but informs them that the Sargent in charge of the soldiers needs to be told, as this sort of thing technically falls under his jurisdiction. Sargent Norris is told, and doesn’t really believe them but grumpily agrees to send out some scouts; constable Calhoun sends his men out too, knowing that the soldiers are the dregs of the Empire, sent out here to rot. He also sets in motion plans for the evacuation of the village, for all the villagers and ample supplies to be shipped over to the keep at the first sign of trouble.

Meanwhile, Gideon goes out to collect lots of firewood with the three guards (Morris, Dingle and Bart), while Trustyson, Armis and Tomlinson [now played by my Uncle Neil] go into town to buy as many supplies of oil and arrows as they can gather.

By evening the scouts return, but have seen nothing.

[Day 66] In the morning, while Gideon goes off to collect more wood, the rest of the party head down into the temple below the keep, to cleanse it of its evil, using the relic they recovered from Death Mountain. It’s a six-hour ritual, involving lots of chanting and incense, and as it reaches its climax the shadows and evil of the place coalesce into a giant (horse-sized) white fly that immediately attacks Alvis. It is quickly slain, with Tomlinson having the killing blow. The temple is now cleansed.

As evening falls, Alvis takes some barrels of water into the temple, with plans on starting to create lots of Holy Water to use against the coming waves of undead.The scouts return, but still see nothing. The soldiers decide it’s a waste of time and refuse to go out again, but the constable is still willing to believe the party and Iral agrees to go with his men in the morning.

[Day 67] Iral and the constables men go scouting, but return after five hours, having not seen anything. Alvis buys the only warhorse in the village, while everyone else finished what preparations they can and rest.

[Day 68] In the afternoon the constable’s men run up to the keep, clearly terrified. There are literally hundreds of undead coming towards the village, only four or so hours away. The constable starts the evacuation, and over the next couple of hours all the village with as much supplies as they have, gather in the keep. Those non-combatants are sent down into the temple, for safety, while everyone who can fight takes a weapon and stands guard on the battlements and towers. They give the innkeeper, Barney, Alvis’ new horse and give him orders to ride as fast as he can to Appleby, the nearest town, to both warn them and bring back help.

And then they wait.

End of Session

Tallies

Total Kills: 1 monster, 34 bandits, 1 dead man, 9 mosquito-bats, 1 giant spider, 6 ghouls, 1 troll, defeated a party of three adventurers (but let them go free), 1 gelatinous cube, 1 ape-creature, 5 ogres, 1 plant, 1 hideous undead thing, 1 vampire; 1 giant white fly;
PC deaths: 1 (and 1 lost an arm);
NPC deaths: 3 (Bran, Oswald and Geoff)
Shields Splintered: 11;
Total XP: 31,624.

 
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Eternal Empire: Session Nineteen

20 Jan
Day 63

After defeating the vampire and picking up some rations (and a spear for Iral), and with new companion in tow (Trustyson, played by my dad), Gideon, Iral, Alvis, Armis and Tomlinson head off on the journey back to Jainesville; fully expecting to bump into undead on the several day trip.

Four hours in, as they are just about to leave the dead forest, this is exactly what happens; but despite being ambushed by a couple of ghouls and their entourage of zombies and skeletons (four of each), they were sent scampering away by the might of Alvis’ turn undead spell he had memorised that morning before setting out.

They travel for another six hours, over hills and skirting the mountains, avoiding the trail left by the hordes of undead. In the distance, on poking over the horizon they spot the ruined gatehouse they saw on their way to Death Mountain. Thinking that it might be a good place to find shelter, as it is getting dark and overcast and they need to rest, they head towards it. Stopping nearby, they send newcomer Trustyson to scout the place out: this he does, finding nothing more than a ruined gatehouse with a loose flagstone inside, leading to something below.

He heads back and informs the others and they all hike over and start to explore, finding a tunnel beneath the flagstone. Leaving Armis and Tomlinson on guard, Gideon and Iral take the lead and head into the tunnel, closely followed by Trustyson and Alvis. They emerge into an old and debris-ridden wine cellar with animal bones scattered about and large piles of dung (some fresh) in the corners. Three stone doors, all half-hanging from rusted hinges and standing ajar lead out. There are no noises they can hear, and the place is damp, musty and a bit smelly.

Through one door they discover a room littered with bones and offal. As Gideon sneaks in to have a look, a large insect with bulbous eyes on stalks jumps out and take a swipe at him with its claws. He swings back, and the others all pile in, mostly missing, but slowly chipping away at it while it scratches a few lines on Gideon’s arm. As they fight, Alvis spots something moving in the room beyond and turns to see a nine-foot long furry snake slithering up: he yells out a warning to Iral, who spins round and lets loose a powerful magic missile [d30 rule] that blows it to pieces! Good shot that elf.

The insect dies soon after, with no one particularly injured. Alvis does a curative spell, and they continue searching. They get Armis and Tomlinson down to stand guard in the wine cellar, in case anything else pops out. Further exploration reveals an old shrine dedicated to St Harriet, patron of soldiers, and a lair full of bones. A stuck stone door leads out of the room, which takes a bit of effort to open. Foul, stale air gusts out and sends everyone but the elf coughing. Inside, hanging from a rusty chain in an otherwise empty room, is a golden bell the size of a head. Trustyson gets on Gideon’s shoulders and uses his turban to muffle the clanger, then unhooks the bell. They stuff it into a sack and carry it back to the shrine; where they make camp, and bed down for the night.

End of Session

Tallies

  1. Total Kills: 1 monster, 34 bandits, 1 dead man, 9 mosquito-bats, 1 giant spider, 6 ghouls, 1 troll, defeated a party of three adventurers (but let them go free), 1 gelatinous cube, 1 ape-creature, 5 ogres, 1 plant, 1 hideous undead thing, 1 vampire, 1 insect monster, 1 furry snake, turned undead (2 ghouls, 4 skeletons, 4 zombies);
  2. PC deaths: 1 (and 1 lost an arm);
  3. NPC deaths: 3 (Bran, Oswald and Geoff)
  4. Shields Splintered: 11;
  5. Total XP: 33,049.
 
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Eternal Empire: Session Eighteen

14 Jan

Player Characters

Iral Darkstar (elf L3) / Gideon (fighter L3) / Alvis (cleric L3)

Henchmen

Aemis (Level 1 Specialist); Geoff, Oswald the Brave, and Tomlinson (all Fighters, level 1).

The Game

Death Frost Doom: Part Three (Parts One and Two, and Three)

With no way out, they decide to head back and deal with the vampire; one way or another…

…but they divert and check out one of the tombs, while Cyris watched them with a smug smile. He even manages to charm Tomlinson, who stands by his new master as Armis [played by my Dad, who is joining us now] checks out the tomb and declares it is safe. Gideon goes in first, seeing just a plain old sarcophagus. As he steps in, some hideous undead thing lands on his back!

As Gideon shrugs it off, slashing into its desiccated corpse with his magic sword– Ghostcutter, which both harms and attracts undead– Armis and Alvis enter the fray, leaving Iral to get his bow out, aiming for a clear shot. Quickly turns out that only Gideon’s magic sword can harm it, so the other keep is distracted as he cuts into it again and again. It falls dead (again), and Gideon’s minor wounds are healed by some divine magic.

Cyris is getting weary of their constant delays, and starts to threaten them. They initially ignore him, opening another tomb only to be attacked by a ghoul, which is quickly dispatched. They find some loot, then Cyris grabs Tomlinson and gets ready to kill him (oddly, the charm still holds). They reluctantly agree to help him get out, seeing no other option. The vampire takes them to another tomb, wherein another undead monster lurks, but is commanded by Cyris to keep an eye on the party. On the lid of the coffin inside is an oath, and the vampire explains that speaking that oath makes any deal binding. He threatens them again, and all but Tomlinson (charmed anyhow) and Alvis (who made himself invisible to undead and is keeping out of the way) make their oaths. Cyris mentally commands the swarming undead pounding on the doors to back off, and gets in his coffin. Gideon and Iral pick it up, and everyone heads out into the main dungeon.

There are hundreds of the walking dead. Child zombies, skeletons of priests and commoners; more than they imagined. The hordes part for them, then follow them as everyone makes their way out to the entrance shaft. Using rope and magic, they haul the coffin out into the night. Alvis goes first, and sees that not only are there lots of undead about (some fighting others), but that their camp with their horses, supplies and their loyal henchmen (Oswald and Geoff) are all dead.

They head north, carrying the coffin carefully and slowly, the undead going south under the vampire’s command. Alvis takes off ahead of them, to warn the nearest town and doesn’t stop until he reaches it just before dawn. The others make camp just after midnight, feeling somewhat disheartened.

At the nearest town (a small market town called Fallows Tor) Alvis wakes the local clergy and tells him everything. Being a cleric of the Prophet has some advantage, and soon the entire town is woken and preparing to evacuate. He then gets some holy water together, and grabs forty-winks while he waits for the others to catch up.

Next day, the rest of the party carry the coffin to the town, but despite Cyris telling them it is far enough and that they can stop, they carry on. As soon as they reach the town, they feel the binding oath come to an end.

So they put the coffin in front of the local church, in broad daylight, and armed with holy water, spells and Gideon’s magic sword, they open the lid and expose Cyris to the sun.

They gain initiative and unleash everything they have: Iral fires off a magic missile, Armis pours holy water on the vampire, while Gideon swings his sword. Tomlinson, still charmed, defends his master and attacks Gideon. The vampire, smouldering under the sunlight, tries to fight his way clear, but it is no good. A powerful magic missile hits him hard [d30 rule for damage], followed by a final and finishing blow from Armis [another d30 roll].

The vampire dies, turning to dust.

Now all they have to do is get home before 13,034 undead reach it.

End of Session

And a horde of undead have been released (see, Paths of the Dead).

Notes: I decided to let them have a go at the vampire, and with some quick planning and good use of house-rules, they slew him. I was considering using him as a nemesis, but the hordes of undead are enough to work with. Fun session.

Also, they are now joined by a new PC: Trusyson, my Dad’s new character, a Level 1 Specialist (and ‘son’ of his original D&D character, way decades back; who was a halfling, and Trusytson is a human, so what does that tell us?)

This Monday: a journey through undead infested lands ;)

Tallies

  1. Total Kills: 1 monster, 34 bandits, 1 dead man, 9 mosquito-bats, 1 giant spider, 6 ghouls, 1 troll, defeated a party of three adventurers (but let them go free), 1 gelatinous cube, 1 ape-creature, 5 ogres, 1 plant, 1 hideous undead thing, 1 vampire;
  2. PC deaths: 1 (and 1 lost an arm);
  3. NPC deaths: 3 (Bran, Oswald and Geoff)
  4. Shields Splintered: 11;
  5. Total XP: 31,549.

Now day 63 of the campaign.

 
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