Trollopulous Adjusted Session 104 (Machodor #57); Beneath the Ice Castle

            

The door out of the Ice Castle into the depths below

Timekeeping

This session took place on 27/02/2025, and the PCs adventured for 1 day.

Introduction

Having taken the Ice Castle in the previous session, and then having weathered the worst of the Bandit Mountains' winter months there; the party was now ready to explore the mysteries beneath the castle beyond the Wizard Locked door.

Player Characters Present

Slippery Pete (Level 9 Thief, wearer of the Hat of Disguise and wielder of the Black Dagger)

Sever (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) with henchman Rabbit (1/2 Elf F/M/T 1)

Giuseppe (Level 7 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) with henchmen Bishoy and Tawadros (F5)

Sheamus (Level 7 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) with henchman McScales (Lizardman F3)

Gurt the Green (Level 5 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Longsword+3, rider of Artax) with henchman Solaire (P3) and Anri (M3)

Bumblebore  (Level 5 Magic User of Machodor, wielder of the Wand of Paralysation) and Firedrake Familiar O'Malfoy

Downtime

There were rumours of a sighting over Christmas of the Countess Echellet, dressed in Red flying a sleigh, over Gimmelwald. (The Dragon cult who captured her have  sick sense of humour.)

Troops had been assigned to supply runs to and from Guarda, and these had managed to operate unmolested. However others were not so fortunate. A caravan from the far off city of Tear, who the PCs had run into in session #55, tried to make it all the way to Gimmelwald and beyond, only to be massacred by a surprise attack which had all the earmarks of the Master of Winter.

Session Report

For some time now the guards assigned to it had reported a strange sound emanating from the other side of the Wizard Locked door at the back of the castle. A sort of 'tinkling' sound, as though icicles were falling onto a solid surface and breaking. 

Slippery Pete wanted to listen, and I took a moment to calculate if he was Keen Eared, which I should have done long ago but better late than never.

DMG p.60

Amazingly, Pete has keen ears after all, which as a thief I interpret as being a +10% bonus to his normal thief skill, Hear Noise. However,  at this time, even he could not hear anything.

The players took this in and then formulated a marching order, with all the henchman there was quite of bit of jostling. When they were ready Bumblebore cast Knock. The door opened to once again reveal a cylindrical passage which was also made of the strange ice that composed the castle itself. Previously they had mapped the passage for about 1800 feet, heading mostly straight with a slight downwards incline. Since they had done so they could retrace their steps at 5 times mapping pace.

This image would have been handy to have ready during the session

They moved in and down the tunnel for some distance until their Continuous Light spilled onto a figure ahead of them. The medium sized creature had wings, looked to be constituted of a icy substance itself,  and was apparently biting off and eating chunks from the conduit that ran along the side of the tunnel. large parts of the conduit had been torn down already; was this the source of the 'tinkling' sounds? 

At their approach the elemental creature looked up and noisily spat out its "food" and said something unintelligible; accompanied by a gesture that rendered its meaning easy to guess. 

Combat #1: Ice Mephit

Rounds: 1

Result: Party Wins

Highlights: Neither side was surprised, but the party won initiative and had the creature beaten in one round before it could react. However, he was not alone, and the PCs saw another one taking off at speed down the tunnel away from them.

The players figured that the flying creature was too fast to catch regardless of their actions, so they cautiously continued down the tunnel, prepared for another fight if it should appear. Bumblebore snatched up a piece of conduit the dead ice mephit had been munching on, wiped off the drool and pocketed in within his robes. From here the party ended up going all the way to the end of the tunnel without further incident. As they approached where it spilled out onto a high cliff, they could see that the icy walls had begun to deteriorate to the point that a natural rock tunnel within which it was set was party visible. Atop the cliff they could see they had reached a vast icy cavern that stretched well beyond the limit of their vision. Near the cliff edge was a flat section of ground like a angled terrace running back and down in the opposite direction that soon disappeared into an icy mist that enshrouded the whole area.

Suddenly they saw ahead of them, hovering beyond their reach past the cliff edge and out over the abyss beyond, was the Mephit. The creature was gesticulating in their direction but was also apparently directing other creatures to attack. Looming out of the mist flew for white dragons!

 

Combat #2: Ice Mephit and 4 White Dragons

Rounds: 1

Result: Party Flee

Highlights: The party were not surprised, but they did lose the crucial first initiative. The dragons swooped by in pairs, one pair casting Fear while the other used breath weapons. Before the part could react they had done their damage and flown on back into the cover of the mist. Several party members failed their Fear save, which I incorrectly declared meant that they were off and running before the breath weapons landed, but according to the spell description you don't actually run away until the next round. The breath weapons were not very damaging though so I don't think this made a difference to anyone.  

When the ice dust had settled the players found that Rabbit, Sever's first henchman, was unconscious and within a whisker of death. The non-feared party members grabbed him and headed back up the tunnel to catch the others. They ended up going all the way back to the castle to regroup and get Rabbit stashed away for healing. Once this was done the party returned to he site of the ambush and carefully peered about. I described how the conduit from the tunnel continued up to and over the cliff edge. Slippery Pete peered over and found that it went down and down out of sight in the mist, but there was a small cave entrance visible about 30 feet down and 15 feet away from the conduit.

Bumblebore made Pete Invisible and the thief climbed down and examined the place, finding that indeed it was a lair of some kind and barely making it out with his life (and some treasure, a suit of halfling sized leather armour). He reported back to the party that there were indeed 4 dragon looking creatures in there, but they were much smaller - just babies - compared to the ones they had seen earlier. They had been alert enough to wake up and hit the invisible thief with a breath weapon on his way out, so he wasn't keen to go back in there by himself.

So, a lair, treasure, and dragons (of some kind). What to do?

faster than Roll20 anyway.

Here we had a bit of a ToTM fail, and so paused while I drew a crappy picture which helped give everyone a better grounding in what was going on. Such things are crucial if players are to be able to make meaningful decisions, and, as always, what might be clear in your DM brain is not necessarily easy to convey over discord. Probably also I was a bit rusty after the Christmas break.

Finally the players, being particularly concerned over the narrow entry and climb down to it, choose not to pursue the lair. Instead they chose to explore the 50' wide terrace leading down into the mist. It was not an easy decision, but I chose to rate them all down for it later. The AD&D player ratings are a bit of a blunt instrument after all. 

The mist reduced reliable visibility to 30' feet, and immediately they could sense something uncanny about it. It seemed to suck the heat and life right out of them. It would be tougher than normal to proceed, at least for everyone but Sever and his Ring of Warmth. They proceeded down and found that the mist was weaker towards the mountain side, and here they could see numerous nooks and crannies' that could be hiding anything. A large opening revealed a natural cavern, and here their continual light stretched far enough to show a threshold, arch, and door, in the far corner from the entrance.

Bumblebore began examining a near by wall; while Pete, still Invisible, scooted forward to check the door for traps. He reached the threshold; but, before he could start checking it something huge (perhaps alerted to his footsteps?) dropped from the ceiling.

Combat #3: Lurker Above * 4

Rounds: 3

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: The leathery mass completely engulfed the small thief, who immediately begun trying to reach his dagger while holding his breath. But this wasn't the only problem, another section of ceiling dropped on the exposed Bumblebore; and, two more sections were moving towards the other players. Next round Bumblebore was also engulfed, but he was holding his Wand ready and managed to Paralyse the Lurker in position, which meant he was still stuck in there. Both guys needed immediate help, but with the melee types free to move, and aided by a breath attack from O'Malfoy, the party emerged relatively unscathed from the battle after just a few rounds.

A little more circumspect but still Invisible, Slippery Pete checked the door for traps and, finding none, opened it. Inside was something very unusual, a tree, with roots embedded in cracks in the floor, sat in a small cavity in the cavern wall that the door had been covering. Within were a number of copper and gold box shaped items; there were also baubles of the same material hanging from its branches.

The party were taken aback by this and very suspicious, but in the end were content to let Slippery Pete pull out the valuables while they stood nearby, ready for anything. After this was successful the party were ready to mess with the tree, but Pete had other ideas.

It turned out the tree could talk!

It described itself as the Tree of Knowledge, and offered information if the party could offer it something in return. There was now much back and forth over what to do, if this thing could tell them about the dragons it would be well worth their time, but in the end the party left without extracting much knowledge first. Maybe next time?

Talking Tree of Knowledge

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 0 Miles

Combats: 3

Combat rounds: 5

Treasure and XP

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 104 (Machodor #57)

Treasure & Items

Gold & Copper boxes and baubles, 12,025gp one box with three gems 2000gp,500gp,10gp

Potion of Speed 200 XP

Leather Armour +1 300XP

Monsters

1 Ice Mephit 250 XP

4 Lurkers Above, Lurker Aboves? Whatever. 8,800XP

24,085 XP & 14,535GP Assignment

Slippery Pete (E) 2804 XP & 1710GP

Sever (S) 2804 XP & 1710GP

 and Rabbit (E) 14 XP & 0GP

Giuseppe (S) 2804 XP & 1710GP

  and Bishoy & Tawadros (E) 1402 XP & 855 GP

Sheamus (S) 2804 XP & 1710GP

 and McScales (E) 1402 XP & 855 GP

Gurt the Green (S) 2804 XP & 1710GP

  and Solaire (E) 1402 XP & 855 GP

  and Anri (E) 1402 XP & 855 GP

Bumblebore (S) 2804 XP & 1710GP

Graveyard

Convess (Pegasus) treacherously killed by a lightning bolt from Usama's henchman wizard in session #94

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 96 (Machodor #56); Taking of the Ice Castle

 

The mysterious Ice Castle

          

Timekeeping

This session took place on 05/12/2024, and the PCs adventured for 6 days.

Player Characters Present

Slippery Pete (Level 9 Thief, wearer of the Hat of Disguise and wielder of the Black Dagger)

Sever (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength)

Giuseppe (Level 7 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) with henchmen Bishoy and Tawadros (F5)

Sheamus (Level 7 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) with henchman McScales (Lizardman F2)

Gurt the Green (Level 5 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Longsword+3, rider of Artax) with henchman Solaire (P3) and Anri (M3)

Downtime

After the battle in session #54 (still to be recorded), a number of player characters and their henchmen trained and went up levels. 

Reports reached Guarda that a merchant caravan had been badly shot up by Ice Storms fired from the Ice Castle that sits across proposed trade route to the south of the Master of Winter's valley. "Something should be done about it."

Path followed in this session

Session Report

The Ice Castle was not just a threat, it was a mystery; previously Slippery Pete had snuck in and surveyed the place, finding a magically locked door at the back of it.

For the first time, the players mustered a force of troops that was almost entirely paid and outfitted themselves. This would allow them to reap the full benefit of any mass battle successes they might achieve (see session #54 report when I've finished it).

Towards the end of a three day march the force reached the vicinity of the Ice Castle unmolested. Here the players schemed and decided to find some sort of back way to approach without risking attack from the long range ice weapons that they feared. They found a previously unexplored valley at the foot of the mountain and dug in.

Having left their men in a safe encampment, the players worked their way up and around the mountain side. Their planning left a little to be desired, and night fell while they were still climbing up to the summit of a shoulder that they hoped would lead down to the outcrop of rock above the Ice Castle. 

In the middle of the night, Gurt, who was on watch with his henchman, was alerted by the strange sensation that a blizzard was trying to enter the cave they had taken shelter in. It was in fact three Yeti; they failed to surprise him.

Combat #1: Yeti

Rounds: 4

Result: Party Wins

Highlights: It turned out that the cave was in fact the Yeti's lair, there were women and cubs hiding in a sub section of tunnel, they had been trapped when the party had chosen this spot; but, now with their males here, the females crept out of hiding to attack from behind. A nasty close quarters fight followed, but the party prevailed. At the back of the cave the party found 6,000 Gold Machos!

Now I'll let you into the method I use for random encounters like this. I generally have a good idea of what is and is not in a given area of the Bandit Mountains, sometimes more exact than others. Naturally, if no encounter rolls were positive we just keep going from the next morning; but, if, there is an encounter in the night I just roll among the available watchers (usually not Magic Users, Clerics, or Thieves if man power is sufficient) to randomly assign who was on watch at the time. I recall a great deal of game time in my youth being wasted on who was going to take which watch of the night. "I'll take the first watch." "Mate leave my watch alone!" etc etc. In a four hour online session no one has time for that.

In this case the encounter was with Yeti, but that is not all; Yeti have a low 10% chance of being in lair and I rolled under the target. This called for some DM abduction; the only conclusion was that the party had un-fortuitously chosen the Yeti lair as their camp for the night!

I can easily imaging a conventional DM prepping this encounter and then ensuring the party found the cave, decided to stay there, and so on; then staging the arrival of the Yeti in the middle of the night. Players can sense this and don't like it.

The next morning was foggy, hampering them as they tried to determine their direction over to the castle. They followed the general slope down while they could, but then was a conundrum. Ahead were a scattering of large boulders, there was no clear direct route to follow, and when they pushed on, they suddenly found a very large "rock" had stepped out in front of them and was barring their way. With unusual creatures, in fact all creatures, I try to describe what the players see, but I'm not great at this, so I usually relent and show a picture eventually.

This creature proved to be the Rock equivalent of a Treant, a Galeb Duhr.

I knew these guys were up there, and had established that they were afraid of the cold magic of the occupants of the Ice Castle and were following orders to prevent anyone approaching from this direction. A random encounter in the area would be with them. The monster manual doesn't say what languages they can speak, so I assumed only that of their alignment. With communication being so difficult, and them being a direct obstacle to the party's objective, I was expecting a fight; which could well have been deadly indeed. What happened next was the most fun part of the session for me.

Fortunately, the party got a good reaction roll, and the Galeb Duhr made an attempt to communicate. And it was off to Slippery Pete's private channel for a discussion. 

DM: "You hear a voice coming from the large boulders ahead, it sounds like... a rock speaking."

Galeb: "Bad men hurt us if we let you pass, return whence you came." 

Pete (The Pious and Humble): "Hail, well met rock friends. Bad men, you say? My companions can help free you from them. Also, how can they hurt a rock?"

Galeb: "Those in the Castle Below have the power of COLD! We fear them using it on us."

Pete (TPH): "So do we. That's why we come from this direction. We mean to extirpate them. Would you help us? (Charisma reaction +10)".

The roll was positive.

Galeb: "You must prove your STRENGTH, send forward your strongest to ME."

Pete: "I will consult with my strongest.."

Soon Sever was walking forward to take on a feat of strength contest with the Galeb Duhr. Seeing the diminutive Ranger, the rock creature was not initially impressed, but when Sever threw a rock many times further than the Galeb Duhr could throw one, it changed its tune. After some further negotiations the rock creature was prepared to help the party. 

Now, I started this session expecting some kind of mass battle to take the Ice Castle; what would these new players bring to the table? Well according to MM2 they can cast Passwall once per round, indefinitely, at the 20th level of magic use. And so he created a path for the party, right through the mountain, directly down to a spot just above the battlements. This path would last just about an hour in case their assault failed and had to retreat. 

The only downside was that the party could not see out from inside the Passwall tunnel; so they leapt out, ready for anything.

Combat #2: Ice Castle defenders

Rounds: 6

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: The defenders had created a checker board like defence system of Glyphs of Warding. They could somehow avoid activating them, while the players could not. The defence was led by a high level fighter and his squad of Spetum wielding assistants; the shoe was on the other foot and party's weapons were dropping all over, sometimes landing on a square they knew must hold a Glyph. They were forced to pull out back up weapons. I though this was cool, but I sensed some frustration among the players. 

Finally the party prevailed and they sought new opponents on the further battlements.

However, the other defenders were now nowhere to be seen, and it appeared they had fled earlier in the battle. Almost as though it was the sort of thing they had done before (they had). Hastily assessing the loot on their defeated opponents Anri went to Identify the sword belonging to the enemy leader; but, alas, it was an Evil aligned sword and she took almost enough damage to kill her. Thankfully for the party's further plans, however, she manged to survive.

The players searched out any possible hiding places in the castle and then approached the mysterious "bank vault style" door. With Bumblebore away (secret Magic User business), eyes returned to Gurt's henchman, but Anri had memorised Invisibility that day instead of Knock. She set about memorising it for the next day while the troops were brought up to occupy the castle. The next morning Knock did the job and the door was opened. Beyond was a tunnel, constructed of the same strange ice-like material of the Castle itself. The tunnel lead far away and down into the mountain; terminating at a vast icy cavern. There was no sign of the enemy. The players chose not to pursue any further, but to consolidate and occupy the castle for the winter.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 18 Miles

Combats: 2

Combat rounds: 10

Treasure and XP

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 96 (Machodor #56)

Treasure & Items

6000 Gold Machos (in the Yeti lair, how did they get there?)

Evil Aligned Longsword 5000gp (handed in to Minas Mandalf by Sever)

10 suits of platemail, 1 shield, 9 Spetum, 10 daggers

Monsters

6 Adult Yeti 3210xp

3 female Yeti 600xp

3 young Yeti 60xp

3 Level 3 brigands 495xp

6 Level 4 brigands 1480xp

1 Level 7 Brigand 850xp

2 Undead constructs 560xp

Total 7255xp

18,255 XP & 11,000 GP Assignment

Slippery Pete (E) 2608 XP & 1467 GP

Sever (E) 2608 XP & 1467 GP

 army 1/2 share 733 GP

Giuseppe (E) 2608 XP & 1467 GP

  and Bishoy & Tawadros (E) 1304 XP & 733 GP

Sheamus (E) 2608 XP & 1467 GP

Gurt the Green (S, lack of care of henchmen with the evil sword ) 2608 XP & 1467 GP

  and Solaire (E) 1304 XP & 733 GP

  and Anri (S, lack of care with the evil sword ) 1304 XP & 733 GP

Graveyard

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 95 (Machodor #55); Return to the Desert

 

This week I suddenly needed the larger scale map 

     

Timekeeping

This session took place on 21/11/2024, and the PCs adventured for 2 days.

Introduction

After the mass battle of last session (not yet published), the players sorted themselves out a very different party of characters for this week; but there was synergy with the desert related rumour they chose to pursue, as those characters had looked into it way back in 2023. Since that time the area effect by the sudden appearance of the desert  south west of Minas Mandalf had spread all the way up to the Bandit Mountains.

Player Characters Present

Karshe (Level 6 Fighter, bearer of the Military Trident) 

  with henchmen Harlan (Dwf F/T 2/3) Dusty (D3) and Isaac (C3)

Primus (Level 4 Fighter of Machodor, member of the Order of the Rising Sun)

Deadeye Donny (Level 3 Monk of Machodor)

Ignatius the Smiter (Level 1 Cleric of Machodor)

Downtime

• Many player characters were off training to level up
• Sever laid Convess to rest in a ceremony in Minas Mandalf, he is now raising a new mount.

Rumours

• On the night of the last full moon (15 Nov) numerous witnesses claim to have seen the Countess Echellet running through the streets of Guarda. It is claimed she was observed going into the mountains via a trail to the east.
• Refugees from villages and thorps displaced by the encroaching desert have been increasing in number in Guarda. The latest batch (18 Nov) report being chased by little blue men until a strong Pegasus Company force provided air cover. Enquire with the 6th company 4th platoon leader, Ajaxxed, if interested to learn more.

Session Report

A long time has passed since the desert first appeared, and the situation has now festered to the point that it was knocking on the doors of the Bandit Mountains near Guarda. The players dismissed the rumour of a Countess Echellet sighting as a bait, and chose instead to approach the Pegasus 6th Company. With the information provided by Ajaxxed (NPC Pegasus Corps section leader) and a promise from him to keep an eye out and help direct the party to the right spot, they set off. It was a windy day, but at least the wind was out of the east and not blowing sand into their eyes. No one likes that. In the afternoon they reached the indicated place. They carefully crept along the dune to a stone slab, that, when moved, was found to be wedged over what proved to be stairs going down into the ground. 

The party began cautiously, checking for traps on the stairs and the short tunnel beyond, at least until they had entered the first real room. Here they promptly set off a simple-but-effective trap that, while not deadly, made a lot of noise in the confined space of a 40 by 40 foot room. The party waited for something to respond to the noise; but when it looked like nothing was going to, they continued on. At the far end of the room was its only exit, leading north. They went through to find that the passage beyond immediately turned west, where there were stairs going down. There was some joking congratulations about conquering the first level easily, and then the party descended. 

The straight stair terminated at a long corridor, also heading west. Here the corridor was filled with the debris of broken statues and decorative attachments of wall that had fallen, or been torn down, in the past. They began picking their way over the uneven terrain when a set of gooey arms sprang out of the wall to their left, clutching at the nearest adventurer.

Combat #1: Stun Jelly and 20 Xvarts

Rounds, 7: Monsters win surprise for 2 segments, party win,  monsters win, party wins, party wins, monsters win.

Result: Party victory

Highlights: It was a very good thing for Donny that it was Karshe and his henchmen playing today, and not Giuseppe and his, the extra healing kept him alive.

Having no Rangers in the party really cost them here with a surprise roll of 2. I rolled to see which target the Stun Jelly went for; and it chose the unarmoured Monk, missed on its first attack, but the second engulfed Donny and paralysed him (while dealing continuous damage as well). Then, 20 Xvarts, who had been alerted previously by the setting off of the noise making trap, and were laying in wait amongst the rubble, leapt up to attack and threw a net over Karshe and Primus. Both fighters were stuck and got a good pummelling (well, stabbing) from ten of the little guys who were jumping all over them. 

Somewhere at the back was a magic-user xvart with two Magic Missiles, he sent them at Primus. Hit points were dropping everywhere, but once surprise was over the party began to fight back strongly. In the following round Karshe and Primus were able to cut through the net and start up the "multi attacks vs less than one HD creatures" and it was soon over for the xvarts (except for the magic user who got away).

Exploration continued and the party were carefully searching an apparently empty room when Karshe heard something coming from the wall ahead of him.

Combat #2: Thoqqua

Rounds: 2 Monsters win, Monsters win

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: A super heated mini purple worm shot out of the wall right at Karshe and did significant initial damage, fortunately his equipment in the area passed item saving throws from the exceptional heat. 

The battle had destroyed some invisible clay pots, revealing a big pile of copper coins and a robe that proved to be magical. Once again, a Karshe henchmen filled a gap by casting Detect Magic here. This also had the incidental effect of revealing a secret door or two, and their opening mechanisms as well. One door opened in the south wall onto the corridor that led back to the surface; the other was in the north wall. Initially the party decided to leave it alone. However, temptation proved too strong for Dusty the Druid and he opened it, just to take a peak. Beyond was a small landing with four ghouls looking at him hungrily, and stairs going down. Wait, what was looking at him? Too late! 

Combat #3: Ghouls

Rounds: 1 Monsters win

Result: Party Victory, monsters fled

Highlights: The undead attacked and won initiative, hitting Dusty and Karshe for significant damage. However, both made their saves against Paralysis and fought on. This was useful as Isaac was then able to successfully Turn Undead, which gave the fighter and druid at the front a chance to take out 1 of the creatures before the other 3 sped away down the stairs.

In moments there was nothing left but a very cold draft coming from somewhere down below, in the direction the ghouls had gone. Despite some encouragement on my part, the players felt that they had pushed their luck far enough, and turned for home. After an uneventful night in the desert they made it back to Guarda, with the help of passing Pegasus Riders to guide them. This was not before I made one roll for getting lost, which I insisted on doing because I've never done one before in the campaign and wanted to break that run.

 

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 30 Miles

Combats: 3

Combat rounds: 12

Treasure and XP

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 95 (Machodor #55)

Treasure & Items

3006cp,303sp,4gp,5gp,6pp,

100gp Gem

40 10gp base value gems (from the body of the Thoqqua)

22 10gp,2 12gp,1 15gp,1 13gp,1 8gp,1 7 gp,2 5gp,1 4gp,1 10gp,8 20gp gems: total 459gp

Robe Of Useful Items (Identified for 350gp) 15,000gp

15628xp

Monsters

1 Stun Jelly 189xp

19 Xvarts 171xp

1 Thoqqua 125xp

1 Ghoul 97xp

16,210 XP & 15,278 GP Assignment

Karshe (E) 2947 XP & 2777 GP

 and Isaac (E) 1473 XP & 1389 GP

 and Dusty (E) 1473 XP & 1389 GP

 and  Harlan (E) 1473 XP & 1389 GP

Primus (E) 2947 XP & 2777 GP

Ignatius (E) 2947 XP & 2777 GP

Donny (E) 2947 XP & 2777 GP

Graveyard

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 93 (Machodor #53); The Calm before the Storm

         

So peaceful

   

Timekeeping

This session took place on 07/11/2024, and the PCs adventured for just over 6 days.

Introduction

This was a very strange session that somehow achieved one significant objective for the party, albeit not one that they were very happy about.

Player Characters Present

Slippery Pete (Level 8 Thief, wearer of the Hat of Disguise and wielder of the Black Dagger)

Sever (Level 8 Pegasus Scout Regiment Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Convess)

Giuseppe (Level 7 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) with henchmen Bishoy and Tawadros (F5)

Sheamus (Level 6 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) with henchman McScales (Lizardman F2)

Gurt the Green (Level 4 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Longsword+3, Rider of Artax Ferrum, ) with henchman Solaire (P1) and Anri (M1)

Boduke (Level 2/2 Dwarf Fighter/Thief)

Downtime

There were some repercussions for certain patrons from the Revenant Rain in the last session; for some the living dead were more of a nuisance, but for others it was much more serious. Yet all survived. The players were concerned that their enemies might have stolen a march on them and were intent on another attack.

Session Report

Fully recovered from Halloween, the party the party plotted their next attack from the town of Guarda. 

Sever now had a weather spell, I don't recall ever seeing one getting used, but in this case it proved very useful as they managed to dodge a hail storm by predicting when it would happen. The Pegasus regulars, with Sixtus the company cleric, flew out to Tora Bora and there he cast a Divination spell to determine the enemy's strength. As expected, there were several hundred men in the area, but also a strong force of Druids; something that confirmed speculation about the source of the strange explosives the Durka Durka tribesmen had used on them last session.

Checking on the readiness of the town's forces; one militia unit would take a day to be ready to move out, the other two days. The players decided to wait for the full force to be ready and so they set off with 50 contracted dwarves, 3 ballistae, 50 of their own troops, 200 Guardan militia.

The next part of the session saw a big failure of communication in exactly which section of the map we were talking about, and this required a retcon rendering a certain piece of good luck moot. Unfortunate but always a risk with online play. Anyway, by the 10th they had brought their army to the east of Bora Tora (see the map below) and set themselves up on the west, with some idea that Slippery Pete could sneak in and do something and then the rest of the party would drive the enemy into their own troops. I don't know how that would have worked out, but in the end the day of the 11th dawned and, not inappropriately given real world considerations, a rare weather event derailed everyone's plans.

Blame https://donjon.bin.sh/d20/weather/

Psychic Calm! I consistently use this website for weather in the campaign, and I've always leaned into the rare supernatural events when they come up; but was this going too far?

It was only a few moments before everyone realised that this was the perfect chance to send in a lone hero to try and take advantage of the opportunity. To be honest I never had much hope for Slippery Pete getting out alive again until this turn of events.

As you can imagine, the session became the Slippery Pete show while this was going on, but there was no way to really avoid that and the others were very good sports. After all, Fluid is always an entertaining player!

Not overly trusting of the weather effect in any case, the thief disguised him self as a Talibandit with his Hat of Disguise and also used a precious swig of his Potion of Invisibility to effect entry safely.

Fake map

He managed to find his way through the entire base, at first trying to use the fake map provided by Allo, which of course proved pretty useless. Actually finding his way through the real thing he was able to determine that their former prisoner had probably lied to them. 

On a number of occasions his stealth failed to prevent him being noticed by the defenders, but, with the Psychic Calm in effect, they were not interested in responding violently. Somehow he kept finding his way forward towards his goal.

As you can imagine, I had never envisioned this contingency! 

However, Pete did not have completely free run of the place, several times he was nearly killed by viscous traps; including a self-sealing spiked pit trap that filled with water. By pure intuition the Thief opened the door defended by this trap in a way that rendered it ineffective, good stuff.

Real map

With the rest of the party unable to contribute, Pete continued on until he actually met Usama Loot Laden himself, who was taken in by his disguise and let the adventurer go. Finally he found a cell that most likely, until recently, had held the Countess Echellet. The place was empty now, the only item of interest here was a scroll hidden under some bedding.

Soon after this his luck ran out and he fell into a deep pit trap, only his Climb Walls ability allowed him to get back out with a few HP left. Retracing his steps out of the underground complex, Pete returned to the party with the scroll while the Psychic Calm was still in effect. This was just as well as, upon attempting to read the scroll, he became Confused. Given the supernatural weather, the confusion effect was fairly harmless, but otherwise could have been very dangerous if others had tried to read the scroll as well. 

When he was back to normal, however, there was something he could read at the bottom of the scroll; scrawled in the hand of Usama's magic-user; "You are too late, the precious countess has gone to the dragon cult." 

There were groans of disappointment over the chat, but they resolved to make the culprit pay dearly.

The next morning dawned grey and overcast, but the weather was otherwise normal. The players were pretty cranky at events which had taken up a large part of the session without getting to kill anything (much less the enemy they sought). Their army was right at hand on the other side of the mountains, but success was far from assured if they advanced up them. However, they also didn't want to just march back to Guarda empty handed again either. The compromise was to move the army north just a few miles into a small blind valley, where, for many long months without anyone investigating closely, a rumoured village lay. Finding here that although the place had been destroyed by a passing tornado, the position itself was relatively defensible, they moved in in force.

Session 53 Map

However, the village was not actually abandoned at all, the remnants of a Gnoll tribe (whose men folk were swayed to follow Usama, until he betrayed them) were ready to vent their long frustration and man-hatred; they poured out of caves at the base of the steep mountains at the back of the valley to attack. The mass battle that followed was quick and brutal. In the aftermath the skies darkened, and, when rain began to fall on the vulture covered bodies, the party decided that smelly Gnoll caves were preferable to being outdoors when it was known that druids were about.

Mass Combat #1 : 400 angry Gnoll feminists

Rounds: 3

Result: Party wins at the loss of some militia.

Highlights: Sever's Ranger bonus prevented the Gnolls from achieving surprise, and they went on to loose initiative on consecutive rounds. Sheamus blasted with his rocket cycle to good effect.

 

 

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 20 Miles

Enemy Bases mapped: 1

Combats: 1

Combat rounds: 3

Treasure and XP

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 93 (Machodor #53)

Treasure & Items

2787 ep

2010 gp

8 Gems:  100 gp Obsidian. 500 gp Garnet. 500 gp Spinel. 350 gp Coral. 50 gp Obsidian. 5 gp Blue Quartz. 35 gp Tiger Eye Agate. 100 gp Rhodochrosite. Total 1640gp

Potion of Speed 200xp

Potion of Clairvoyance 300xp

Philter of Glibness 500xp

Potion of Ventriloquism 200xp

Potion of Fire Giant Strength 650xp

Total 6893xp 5043gp

Monsters

400 Gnoll females/pups 6053XP

Mass Combat adjustment 400HD vs 350HD = 100%;  

Scale 1/20

(6/20 [PC force component] + 2/20 [PC kill component] = 8/20)

12,946 XP adjusted to 5178 XP

5178  XP & 5043  GP Assignment

Slippery Pete (Level 8, E) 690 XP & 630 GP

Sever (Level 8, E) 690 XP & 630 GP

 army 1/2 share of gold 315 GP

Giuseppe (Level 7, E) 690 XP & 630 GP

  and Bishoy & Tawadros (Level 5, E) 345 XP & 315 GP

Sheamus (Level 6, E) 690 XP & 630 GP

  and McScales (Level 2, E)  345 XP & 315 GP

Gurt the Green (Level 4, E)690 XP & 630 GP

  and Solaire (Level 1, E)  345 XP & 315 GP

  and Anri (Level 1, E)  345 XP & 315 GP

Graveyard

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 92 (Machodor #52); Halloween & Brovenloft 2024

        

Dire Hail

   

Timekeeping

This session took place on 31/10/2024, and the PCs adventured for 1 harrowing day.

Introduction

The players were obviously intent on pushing on with their mission against the Talibandits of Usama Loot Laden; but it was Halloween and the last week of Brovenloft, and I rolled a supernatural weather result for the 30th of October. This meant something! The deeds of the past returned to haunt the player characters, and a few patrons as well. If you've read previous session reports (Machodor #46 onwards), you might be able to anticipate what lies ahead.

Player Characters Present

Sever (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Convess)

Giuseppe (Level 7 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) with henchmen Bishoy and Tawadros (F5)

Sheamus (Level 6 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) with henchman McScales (Lizardman F2)

Gurt the Green (Level 4 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Longsword+3) with henchman Solaire (P1) and Anri (M1)

Boduke (Level 2/2 Dwarf Fighter/Thief)

Downtime

• In the wake of an aborted attempt to raid his lair and rescue the Countess Echellet (NPC), the Talibandit leader, Usama Loot Laden (Patron) had a message posted on the noticeboard in the town square in Guarda. It read: "If you come sniffing around where you're not wanted again, I'm handing the countess to the Dragon Cult. PS: and killing all the other prisoners while we're at it. Signed U.L.L. PSS: DURKA DURKA"
• Gurt penned a reply that Sever carefully dropped into the vicinity of Bora Tora without getting shot down again. "Provide us an alternative to sending you to the bosom of your prophet, where there is naught but weeping and gnashing of teeth, and we may take it. Elsewise you are manstealers and murderers at minimum, guilty of kidnapping or killing a war maiden and her subjects, crimes for which you have forfeited your right to live. We are willing to allow you to go free and let the Most High God to see to your rewards in his providence rather than by our hand should you set the captives free and allow us to collect and extract with them under the banner of the white flag of truce." That told him! I'm sure this won't come back to bite the PCs (I say writing 3 months later).
• Right after Sever returned to Guarda on the afternoon of the 30th of October, Dire Hail fell from the sky; followed by a chilly rain, and then a thick cold fog on the morning of the 31st.

Session Report

Discussion in the Guardan villa of the still missing Countess Echellet was interrupted by a knock at the door. Aston, the butler, had a message for the adventurers from Garrison Commander Sheffield, asking them to come to his office at their earliest convenience. When they did so he recounted a story of being attacked by a dead man, who had pulled himself out of a grave to do so as the commander crossed the square from the Cathedral. An old sergeant then regaled them with a tale of something similar that had happened years before, Revenant Rain, he called it. 

  "Any spot that rain landed where there had been a killing, or the body of a man killed, strange creatures resembling the fallen took form and went to seek revenge." Speaking of the attacker, the sergeant continued to explain that Sheffield had sentenced that man to death, and, because the dead man was a murderer buried in the un-consecrated part of the grave yard, the overnight rain had effected him, with Sheffield his target.

The players sat back and you could almost hear them thinking over the discord chat: "What have we killed recently?" "How far back does this effect go in time?" "How wide in area?" "Was this sergeant nuts?"

Now I threw everyone a curve ball by declaring that this situation was a "Sudden Braunstein"; they could choose to play through the scenario as a party in the normal fashion, or they could each take roles in the town of Guarda: such as the Militia Captain, the Bishop, and of course the Garrison Commander himself. The party then would be a non-player faction that could be influenced by the players but not directly controlled. Some of the players were intrigued at this idea, and I probably undersold it by not mentioning up front that some of the roles included the local Dragon Cult cell leader, and an undercover Talibandit. Anyway, I think in the end it was about 60/40 in favour of playing it normally (with one player always completely opposed to Braunsteins); so that's what we did. For sure the idea was a bit undercooked, but was the first Battle Braunstein less so? At some point it would be interesting to redo this scenario as a Braunstein, but that is probably unlikely to happen now that the moment has passed.

EDIT: It struck me that I should delve more into my idea of these Revenants. The basis of course was the Fiend Folio entry, but, given the situation and numbers involved (usually only one is encountered),  I watered down their powers somewhat by lessening their fear effect. See the FF for more details of these creatures.

Page 75/76 of the Fiend Folio

As the players discussed this and made a decision, reports came in of locals sighting figures of a similarly pallid and corpse like description of the man who had attacked Sheffield. These were seen pulling themselves out of collapsed rubble left from the Talibandit/Gnoll attack some weeks ago, and then starting off in the direction of the mountains. As they had not received a proper burial, they too had been effected by the Rain. The party hit upon the idea that by following these poor victims, who had risen to seek revenge on the Talibandits, they might be able to find a new way into the Bora Tora defences.

They made hasty preparations to depart, but with the ground still covered in inches of skull shaped hail, as well as the thick fog, movement wasn't going to be easy. They decided that their dwarf and human troops and siege wagons were too unwieldy to bring, and so the party set off on their own (though with a considerable number of henchmen it must be said). Only Giuseppe's holy warhorse, Bonecrusher, with his magic horse shoes, was completely at ease in the terrain. Sheamus had risked bringing the Rocket Cycle along (always under the threat of it suddenly ceasing to fly) and so was able to hover over the ground with slightly more difficulty. Even with these advantages they had only slogged east a few miles when a dozen or so figures appeared out of the fog ahead of them. They looked familiar, not to mention hostile; once the party were close enough to be seen the creatures' eyes lit up with the desire for vengeance, and slow shuffling turned into a purposeful charge. The party set about dealing with them as though this was no big deal.

A few weeks of being dead had done
nothing for their appearance

Combat #1:  "Night Owl" Revenants

Result: Party flees!

Highlights: 

None of the party's attacks had lasting effects on the enemy. Both Paladins found their turn undead powers to be ineffective, which jibed with their guesses about the nature of Revenants, but I guess they had to try.  The players quickly realised that standing and fighting was not an option in this case. 

They beat their way back to town, but there was no time to rest. From out of the desert, a huge force of little blue revenants had reached the walls and were threatening to breach them by climbing over themselves as living siege ladders. A desperate combined unit of militia, garrison, and Pegasus riders were holding them back for now, but that was all they could manage as the creatures were likewise immune to normal damage. The party jumped in and we resolved this as a mass battle.

Combat #2: 300 Xvart Revenants

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: The creatures from the desert to the west of Guarda wanted revenge on the Pegasus Corps Archers, who had been killing them by the bushel for weeks on end. Sarumin (NPC Wizard) cast Wall of Fire on the little blue buggers as the party held the walls to the town.

The lesson of Fire was not lost on the players, they now knew how to kill these revenants. The question was, how to apply it? They really missed Bumblebore, who had just levelled up and learned Fireball; and his familiar O'Malfoy, who could breath fire. Instead, with plenty of men on hand to help, the town was stripped of anything that would burn and the troops applied pitch and cloth to the various weapons available, as well as fire bombs for throwing. 

Once they were happy with this the party took up a position at the east wall and waited. Sure enough, soon the Night Owls were approaching for round #2.

Combat #3:  "Night Owl" Revenants

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: The party found that their improvised fire weapons were very effective. Properly prepared, this time they dealt with the enemy handily. 

No sooner had the sounds of battle died down before the guards at the north wall, running away in panic, paused to report a massive creature with many heads approaching. The party grabbed new flaming weapons and threw themselves into the battle before it could cross the wall into the town.

Combat #4: 11 Headed Hydra Revenant

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Gurt faced down his nemesis and this time came out on top. Sheamus' player reminds me that he made good use of the Rocket Cycle's weapons to blast a number of its heads in one go. Did I count that as fire damage? I guess I must have but I forget now. Anyway, the creature managed to inflict significant damage before it went down, leaving the players considering more efficient methods. Perhaps they were already contemplating the battles to come?

Once again utilising the large amount of man (and dwarf) power at their disposal, the party began digging huge ditches at the approach to both the north and east walls; these were filled with flammable materials and much of their available pitch. With time on their side (though they didn't know it) they were able to complete their preparations. Now if I'd been a prepper I would have known precisely how much pitch and the like was available, and a true shortage may have added to the tension; but not knowing this I had to wing it, and it seemed to me that in a town of over 5000 souls there would be plentiful supplies.

With the pits available and the PCs ready with flaming arrows and pots of oil, the next two battles were brief and gruesome.  

Combat #5: 20 Durka Durka Tribesmen

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Fortunately, the enemy's strange combat capabilities linked to magic acorns & pine cones were not to be seen in this battle.

nasty

Combat #6: 100 Dragon Cult Warrior Revenants

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Only 10 warriors made it out of the pit and scaled the wall, and the party made short work of them.

 

Flammable material was starting to be short in supply, what could come next? When would it stop?

Giuseppe got a mysterious message that this phenomenon was connected with the Altar in the Valley of Pillars, east of Guarda. No one questioned the Paladin further about his source, and they raced east again to investigate. Sure enough, when they arrived they found the old abandoned altar now sat at the centre of a swirling vortex; with evil power going in one direction and some other force being draw into the other. Throwing caution to the wind and themselves into the vortex, the PCs found themselves spinning through the ether until they ended up, elsewhere.

The elsewhere was Brovenloft! 

Specifically, in the bowels of a decrepit but still formidable stone castle. The party found they could follow the trail of energy down a long, many-alcoved corridor to a set of double doors. These doors featured the likeness of a strange fanged-creature wearing a dark suit. The doors were defended by tall doughty guards.

Combat #7: 6 Sweetums Guards

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: It started well for the guards with their charge and longer weapons (halberds) giving them first strike, but it quickly went bad for them from there.

 

The doors were cleared of traps and then thrown open; the party found themselves at the threshold of a crypt of some kind. In the middle of the room a dark cleric (the revenant version of Malric the Grim, who they had killed with the Night Owls some weeks before) had been raised to perform an evil ceremony upon a stone bier. Where a body would have lain were only scraps of bone placed around various pieces of jewellery. A golden spike was driven into the stone, in about the location where a heart may have been located of the body was whole. The vengeance energy drawn through the altar on the other side of the vortex in the Bandit Mountains flowed into the bier at this point; and was some form taking shape there? The party resolved to attack now and ask questions later, but the cleric was defended by a small army of felt-warriors. In addition he had many spells of protection, the party advanced right into exploding glyphs!

Combat #8: 20 Sword-Care-bears & A Cleric 

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Lack of air cover proved fatal for the cleric who had thought he was safe behind Glyphs of Warding and 20 warriors. Sever unfolded his Wings of Flying and made a dive attack, ending the caster's life for the second time in a matter of weeks.

With the interruption and abrupt cessation of the ritual, it was clear that the process of re-vivination (if that is what is was) had been spoiled; and, further, that the energies keeping the vortex open would quickly dissipate, leaving the party trapped here if they did not hurry. They immediately grasped the situation, as well the golden spike and jewellery from the top of the stone slab, and made a run for it. The characters made it out just before the vortex closed with the shriek of planes of existence disconnecting; and, elsewhere*, other active revenants returned to ashes.

Usama's Halloween

*Postscript: It was not only the party and the people of Guarda who felt the effects of the Revenant Rain. Even the Master of Winter was troubled by the undead, but he did not have as much trouble as Usama Loot Laden.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 26 Miles

Other Planes travelled: 1

Combats: 8!

Combat rounds: so many, theatre of the mind or bust.

Addendum: This idea was great for a low prep Halloween session, why not try some Revenant Rain in your campaign?

Treasure and XP

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 92 (Machodor #52)

Treasure & Items

6000 gp Goblet

1200 gp Clasp

3000 gp Golden Spike

6000 gp Bracelet

Monsters

13 Night Owls 325 XP

300 Xvarts (Mostly killed by Sarumin's spell) 

20 Durka Durka Tribesmen 880 XP

100 Dragon Cult Warriors  2950 XP

6 Sweetums Muppet Guards 1420 XP

12 Sword-Care-bears 600 XP

5th Level Cleric Malric the Grim 500 XP

22,875 XP & 16,200 GP Assignment

Sever (Level 8, E) 3050 XP & 2160 GP

Giuseppe (Level 7, E) 3050 XP & 2160 GP

  and Bishoy & Tawadros (Level 5, E) 1525 XP & 1080 GP

Sheamus (Level 6, E) 3050 XP & 2160 GP

  and McScales (Level 2, E) 1525 XP & 1080 GP

Gurt the Green (Level 4, E) 3050 XP & 2160 GP

  and Solaire (Level 1, E) 1525 XP & 1080 GP

  and Anri (Level 1, E) 1525 XP & 1080 GP

Boduke (Level 2/2, E) 3050 XP & 2160 GP

Graveyard

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39