Author: Stan Shinn (Page 46 of 111)

February 1, Third Age 1331

Part I: Rumors

Marcus returns from his day with the brothers at the Temple of the Lots just as the sun rose on this day.  He reported back that they had very little interest in discussing the relationship between their Lady Goddess and Fortuna, although the correlation is clear to Marcus.

He did learn that there are many pious people Stonehelm, people searching for a little “luck of the gods” in their life.  Marcus also learned that there is a guard house by the shore in Stonehelm and it is said that there “things move in the shadows”.

Part II: Hashar and a Horn Must Go

As our band of adventures extinguishes the night’s fire, Lundie makes the case that Hashar must go.  Lundie tells the story of Hashar’s joy in the desiccation of the wizard’s body from the day before.  Ivamel agrees that Hashar must be released from his promise from Marcus.  Learning of Hashar’s actions Marcus agrees that once we know that we will not be attacked in the castle from other travelers, he will release Hashar from his bond.

As the discussion over Hashar goes on, Quintos feels the strings of the dark evil of the world pulling at him.  It is clear to him that the Horn of Bugbearhalla is the source.  As the party, walks to the castle they discuss how they should dispose of the instrument of evil.  Quintos decides to hold the horn for a few more days until it can be hidden or destroyed.

As the party arrives at the castle to resume their investigation, Hashar reports with glee that no one else has entered the castle that night.  Sadly a young bugbear cub that was charged with late watch was found asleep at his post and Hashar imposed a harsh penalty.  As Marcus took down the young bugbear from his crucifix, Marcus agreed evermore that Hashar’s time with party must come to an end.

Part III: Below The Castle

Our band of adventures form into classic dungeon diving formation and wade confidently down the stairs in to the depths.  At the first hint of ghoulish sounds Marcus blesses Lundie.  It was just the right thing as at the bottom of the stairs, the party finds three bugbears undead and one elf undead.  Marcus yells to hold to the line; Ivamel holds the line ready for action; Ghost Dancer tries to make the creatures glow but to no effect’ Lundie charges then swings and misses, Marcus and Quintos find their marks; then the undead elf and Ivamel exchange blows, Ivamel is paralyzed by the foul creatures undead pallor.  From there the group rallies around Ivamel and quickly dispatches the four undead.  They find loot in the room and share it amongst themselves.

The party winds their way through the rooms below and find themselves in what appears to be a grand bedroom.  As the party searches the room, Ivamel and Ghost Dancer find a secret door at the back of the room, at the same time a ghoul under the bed reaches for Marcus who is able to leap back in time.  As the ghoul appears from under the bed, only Marcus fights back the fear of this creature of undead evil.  Through his fear, Lundie is able to summon the shining light of Moradin; and as the symbol of Moradin shines brightly on his shield the ghoul runs for the secret door and right next to Ghost Dancer and Ivamel.  Encouraged by the shining light of Moradin the rest of the party is able to break their fear.  Ghost Dancer is able to make the creature glow to aid his friends in fighting the ghoul.  Lundie charges, his warhammer glowing with the vengeance of Moradin and strikes the creature a mighty blow as radiant light fills the room as Lundie connects.  Ivamel seeing that the creature is affected and that Lundie could swing again yells out to Lundie to quickly strike again and he does, light again filling the room as Lundie hits again.  Seeing yet another opening, Ivamel quickly thrust his rapier into the side of the ghoul and it disintegrates with a pop.

With the ghoul dispatched, everyone entered the room behind through the secret door and seeing a statue of a giant with a chalice at its feet.  Its eyes started to glow and it came to life; only Ghost Dancer was fooled by this illusion.  With quick thinking by both Marcus and Quintos, they were able to free Ghost Dancer from the mental prison of this illusion.  Marcus as a good friend would do was able to lead Ghost Dancer out of the room and Quintos grabbing the chalice and filling it with water, found the water to be holy and convinced Ghost Dancer to drink from the chalice.  The party destroyed the statue, kept the chalice, and continued down the stairs they found in this room.

Descending down 20 more feet the group finds a set of hallways, one leading to a natural cavern area.  The group spots what they assume is a magical staff in a small cave that only has an opening that is 2 ½ feet high.  Ivamel tries to fish out the staff with a grapple and rope.  He almost succeeds when the desire to obtain the staff overcomes Quintos.  Quintos crawls into the cave and as soon as he grabs the staff a monster drops from the ceiling dissolving his armor and trying to attack his handsome face.  Marcus pulled Quintos out of the cave, Ivamel rushes over and while using his newly acquired shield to cover Qunitos’ face, slicing the monster in two pieces.  Quintos not knowing the monster is dead releases dark magic with black tentacles reaching out and hitting his allies.  The monster dead, the party licking their wounds, Quintos examining his newly acquired ornate staff; they head back to camp for another night’s rest.

Part IV: Loot

• Ghost Dancer
  • 23 GP
  • 19 SP
  • Shield
• Ivamel
  • 21 GP
  • 16 SP
  • +1 Shield – needing a name
• Lundie
  • 21 GP
  • 16 SP
  • Suit of Plate Armor
• Marcus
  • 21 GP
  • 16 SP
  • Chalice of Holy Water – 1x/day
• Quintos
  • 21 GP
  • 16 SP
  • Potion of Clairvoyance (Audio Only)
  • Blue Dragon Staff – 11 charges

January 30, Third Age 1331

Hashar the Bugbear may be a black-hearted minion of evil, but he’s good to have on your team when you need a magically locked door busted open or an enemy’s body desecrated. More on that later.

Part I: Rumors

Lundie and Ghost Dancer returned to basecamp from their errands, and Marcus sought to commune with Mars at the Temple of the Lots in preparation for the trials that lay ahead.

Ghost Dancer shared with the group some rumors he heard in Nimroth. First, living southwest of Nimroth are a pack of wolves that are supposedly the pets of an evil giant. (With any luck, Marcus can hire him, too.) Second, people say that there is a ruined castle on top of Bone Hill.

Rumor confirmed!

The source also said that the ruined castle was uninhabited.

Fake news.

And, that beneath the castle ruins, a lost treasure waits to be claimed.

The jury’s still out on that one.

Finally, Ghost Dancer shared that he had been to see Sister Sophia at her convent, and had asked her to try to get word to the elf, Arilon, that the party would like to speak with him.

Part II: Marching Order

The party prepared to enter the castle by arranging themselves in Sword Formation. Based on the shape of the sword, however—out of game—the players called it the Freudian Sword Formation.

Freudian Sword Formation!

Back in game, our Freudian formation went up the stairs, discovering a hallway filled with doors. Most of the rooms were empty, and two of the doors were magically locked. Hashar, however, gleefully busted down each door.

Inside one room, a treasure trove of books about the magic arts. Quintos seemed to love the tomes more than the ladies. Frankly, how he caressed and stroked each book made everyone a bit uncomfortable.

In another room, the adventurers found a potion mixing lab. In addition to a spell book sitting on the table, there were eight vials of mystery potions. Daring, brave volunteers from the party each took tiny sips to discern the nature of the potions. Ghost Dancer tried two, Ivamel three, Lundie one, and Quintos one.

There were two potions of superior healing, a potion of heroism, a potion of growth, a potion of animal friendship, two potions that will remain a mystery until someone takes a full dose but they seem cool. And then, of course, there was the potion of age regression. Quintos got that one. Before our very eyes, he morphed from 21 to 16, got acne, and got in trouble for having a messy room. Adolescents are so hard to work with.

Part III: Splat

The last room on the floor was the bedroom of a very vain Magician named Telvar.

This guy. I mean, who hangs a giant painting of himself over his bed?

Of course, behind the painting in a secret compartment was a bag of gems that Quintos discovered.

At ladder led to a trapdoor in the ceiling, but the trapdoor was bolted shot. Hashar tried to bust through but was foiled. Lundie and Quintos both climbed to the door and tried to force it open. All eyes of the party were on them—and away from the window behind them where the vain magician hovered into view and surprised the heroes with a fireball that scorched Hashar, Ghost Dancer, and Lundie for 28 points of damage. The agile reactions of Ghost Dancer and Hashar spared them from half that damage. Lundie’s stout constitution saved him from sure death as he bore the full brunt of the blast.

The party rebounded quickly, pummeling Telvar with spells and weapons. With Ivamel’s hit, the magician tried to hover away from the window and ready another fireball. But in his haste to retreat, he opened himself up to an opportunity attack by Ivamel.

Ivamel hit him! The blow, however, didn’t kill Telvar. The party was sad.

Scene wherein concentration (or lack thereof) became very important!

The blow, on the other hand, did break Telvar’s concentration, which suddenly terminated his flying spell. And that was when Telvar the vain Magician dropped from sight and plummeted to his death several stories below. The party was happy!

The group plundered his magical robe, a powerful item from the Second Age, for Marcus. The group also prevented Hashar from desecrating the magician’s body. High on victory, the adventurers decided to bust through the barred door on the first floor.

Quintos used his cantrip to bludgeon the door open. Behind it was a room with stairs going down into the dank dark. Halfway down the stairs, Ghost Dancer stopped the group and said, “I can hear what sounds like the undead moaning and shambling down there. Either that, or the stirge-jerky I ate at breakfast isn’t reacting well with my tummy.”

What will happen next? What terrors await the party in the catacombs beneath Bone Hill? Is the rumor true—is there really a great treasure below the ruined castle? Or is the only reward waiting for our heroes…certain death?

January 29, Third Age 1331 — Midday

(Quick recap of the Feb. 23 game)

Stealing up on the castle at Bone Hill, the heroes found themselves ambushed, much in the way they had ambushed the Bugbear patrols the day before. Due to some great alertness, the heroes were not caught flatfooted, and prevailed over their enemies, largely due to the incomparable heartiness of the halfling barbarian Ragnor taking a beating from the bugbear chieftain. Hashar fell in battle but later recovered, but he still smarts from the taunting his former bugbear allies had in calling him ‘Traitor!’ during the battle.

Hashar, Servant of Mars

January 28, Third Age 1331 — Midday

As if the name of the place, Bone Hill, wasn’t enough, the sighting of the two bugbears raises new concerns about what forces might lie in wait inside the old keep. Unwilling to risk kicking the proverbial hornets nest without more information, the party begins scouting the surrounding area. Fortune works in their favor and they find find a perfect spot to ambush the two patrolling bugbears.

Thanks to his military training, Marcus is able to orchestrate a text book ambush. With Marcus’ and Lundie’s exceptional close quarters combat prowess, Quintos’ precise magic, and Ghost Dancer’s…eccentric…approach to the bardic ways it goes better than any could have expected with both bugbears going down before they knew what happened. The bodies are dragged off into the creepy woods and buried.

Afterwards, they party does some more scouting of the area and comes across a larger bugbear patrol. With one wearing heavy armor, one looking very much like the mage type, and 6 others this patrol looks much more threatening. Perhaps wisely, the party chooses to wait in silence as the second patrol passes by. Fortune is a fickle thing, however, and Marcus, Lundie, and Quintos are ambushed themselves by some foul undead bat like creature. Quintos is quickly bitten and paralyzed leaving Marcus and Lundie to fend for themselves. They win the day when Lundie sends the evil creatures fleeing in terror of him and his brave little pony. Quintos recovers and, luckily, the patrol passed by none the wiser.

Undaunted, the party restarts their efforts to fully scout the area. Yet again, another patrol is spotted. This time there are only four, and the party returns to it’s previous ambush spot. Once again the ambush is a resounding success. This time the party acts quickly to revive some of the bugbears, one at a time of coarse, hoping to garner some information about the strength of this bugbear garrison. The first revived, Grumpsh, proves useless and is sent to meet his maker a second time. Hashar, the second revived, proves much more useful and surprisingly interested in Marcus’ comments on Mars. Through a brilliant use of the good cop/bad cop strategy Ghost Dancer and Marcus learn much about the remains of the bugbear garrison. As an added bonus, Hashar is intrigued by Mars and shares he has only one chief care, making money. This opens the door for the party to “recruit” him and recruit him they do.

As night falls, Quintos and Ghost Dancer volunteer to attempt a night scout of the castle to see if they can get closer. Near the castle Quintos was not “pondering” women and ale and so he was atypically alert. He manages to notice they are being followed. After a brief game of cat and mouse, the two attack their pursuer. It goes down quickly. Curiosity gets the better of Quintos and he goes to closely examine the mystery assailant. Poking it with a stick earns him more than he bargained for as the undead creature quickly strikes out at him. Again, Ghost Dancer and Quintos end the creature. This time, however, they decided to burn the thing and quickly retreat to the parties camp.

Will this new bugbear ally prove worth the trouble? Has Marcus manage to break the curse of going down in every fight? Has Quintos learned his lesson about poking things with sticks? Will the information gained from Hashar prove true or will it prove false and cost the party their lives?