Trollopulous Adjusted Session 109 (Machodor #62): Terraces, Ruins, and Scales: Lair of the Gynosphynx

"Speak your question and leave your offering."

 

Timekeeping

This session took place on 10/04/2025, and the PCs adventured for 1 day.

Player Characters Present

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

Sever the Wrathful (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) with henchmen Thomas (C4) & Poindexter (M2)

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)

Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator+3, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax) with henchman Solaire (F3) and Anri (M4)

Marty O'Tool (Level 2 Irish Cleric from Brovenloft, wielder of the Mace of St Patrick)

Downtime

During the week player characters had scattered to take advantage of the loot they had won, they dribbled back in over the last few days before this session began.

As commander of the forces at the Ice Castle, Giuseppe was first to hear reports of a something banging on the door to the under world. He gathered a party together and then investigated.

Slippery Pete had finally managed to secure a magical oil from Professor Dorol in Saint Raul, this oil enabled him to return to his previous height. He affected as though there had never been an issue.

Session Report

With Sheamus' player using an alternative character, Marty O'Tool, today; we had to do a little delving into his history. It turns out he was a member of the Machodor Order of the Rising Sun, those brave fellows who had saved the Sun some two year back; but not only this, he had adventured in the River Dungeon, and from there brought back a fabulous weapon versus evil, the Mace of Disruption that he  had dubbed the "Mace of Saint Patrick". In the intervening time he had forgotten that this wasn't just a cool name for his mace.

The tunnel beyond the door appeared pretty much the same as last time, Sever was able to identify the tracks of a large creature, or creatures, moving away; and there were also some small marks on the door. Though they were not deep marks, at more than seven feet height above the floor, they were disturbing. The party formed up and advanced down the tunnel. They made it back to the Ice Cavern and retracted their steps down the terrace there, then discovered that this terrace spilled out onto another heading down and switching back to the east. So there was more than one of these terraces; how many were there, where did they lead? 

Last session I realised that my outdoor scale map should be in yards not feet, but as I had already drawn up the terrace(s) as five squares or fifty feet wide, I figured I could just say the map was yards left to right and feet up and down. Would this confuse me later? Yes, yes it would.

A little later they stopped at a strange ice-over pool. It looks as though there was a depression here that had filled with liquid that had then frozen, and was now a series of icy shards similar to a broken mirror. It gave off a bad aura, to say the least. Slippery Pete, shortly followed by Marty O'Tool, bravely examined the obstacle, though at only 10 feet in diameter it was easily avoided. Both staggered back stunned; but after a few rounds recovered to report visions they had seen.

Marty saw: a vast white plane surrounded by a sea of mist. The vision was terminated by a horrible pale face with two red eyes looking at him.

Pete saw: a tall mountain with multiple connecting terraces leading down onto a vast white plane. The vision was terminated by a horrible gaunt face with two red eyes looking at him.

After some experimentation they decided to leave the pool and continue exploring. They soon found a cave entrance to the north, leading into a series of natural tunnels partially carved out in some areas. 

A well travelled path lead inside.

Heading west into a narrow spiralling corridor, they were greeted by a disembodied voice travelling out of a pit before them: "Who seeks the wisdom of the Sphynx? Speak your question & leave your offering." 

Slippery Pete offered a small gem and asked how he could gain Wisdom. The answer was: "Wisdom comes with time and experience."

Gurt offered a valuable ring asked asked for knowledge of a sage, expert in horse carriages. The answer was: "Seek the man known as Talmarand many miles to the south and west, in the city of Tyre."

Marty offered a bottle of space-cat blood (obtained from that same Traveller adventured way back), he had a good question but the bottle broke, spilling the blood over the floor; the sphynx returned no answer.

They considered all this when there was a scream behind them from Anri:

Combat #1: Dark Creeper

Rounds: 1

Result: Party (Pyrrhic) Victory

Highlights: From somewhere a small creature had appeared, snuck up on the party silently, and tried to pick pocket Anri's magic dagger. This attempt failed, causing general alarm; but, though it was easily dispatched by Sever, as soon as it was dead its body exploded into a searing bright light, leaving two henchmen blinded for over an hour. Happily though, the explosion left behind two gems in its wake.

It was about this point I realised that I had made no effort to describe the voice of the Sphynx (and certainly my range of voices doesn't stretch very far), so I mention that that it had been a sultry feminine voice. The players quickly re-evaluated the situation "Ah, a Gynosphynx!"; but in the end decided that she had treated with them in good faith and to leave her alone.

They returned to the central area of the caves and advanced north and then east, finally sending Slippery Pete forward to scope out a room at the end of a winding cave tunnel. As his Continual Light fell on some detritus at the far end of the room, a number of unhappy looking little furry heads popped up to see what who was disturbing them. Saved from surprise by his dexterity, the thief quickly backed up into the Ranger behind him.

Combat Encounter #2: Vapor Rats

Rounds:  1 

Result: Party Negotiated

Highlights: Not for the first time in the campaign; but rare enough to be noticed, Sever chose other than instant violence in response to potential danger. He cast Speak with Animals and threatened the creatures not to attack. To everyone's astonishment, they creatures responded by turning into vapor then rushing out past the party and going who knew where. 

A search of the rat lair turned up a badly decomposed and mostly eaten body (probably human), along with four electrum pieces and two pieces of jewelry (score!). They gathered these up and after checking the rest of the local cave system, when back outside. The glare, and freezing mist, was still there waiting for them.

They continued on and eventually rounded back onto another terrace, part way down this one they found another entrance into the mountainside. This one was some sort of ruin, before the entrance of which were the remains of two rows of columns, and among them they found the foundations of an old altar. The foundation stone hid a stairwell going down. Slippery Pete led the way and found an l-shaped room beyond a door beyond the landing at the bottom of the stair. He signalled the rest of the party to file in and start taking in the ambience of the place; an archway to the north east, a door in the western most part of the north wall, and a bunch of owlbears piling in from a natural tunnel just out around the corner of the l-shaped room, to the west.

Combat #3: 5 Owlbears

Rounds: 3

Result: Party Win 

Highlights: The creatures came up at the party and go into their faces, but in the end were pretty easily dealt with thanks to the front lines holding them away from the squishier low levels. Giuseppe took the brunt of the damage, while Anri wavered on casting Stinking Cloud, eventually casting Magic Missile. This was for the best, as she could have hit the fighters at the front with Stinking Cloud. (This isn't an old Gold Box game, after all.)

Sever was able to track the owlbears, noting the difference between Indoor & Outdoor tracking he was able to determine they had gone down a level and then outside onto a lower level terrace, that looked much like the ones they had already travelled. Here the trail went cold. They backed up and skinned the Owlbears, and bagged a lot of body parts for various reasons, then proceeded back down to search the lower level again. They gave the first room a good search and found, tucked into a little dead end tunnel, two sacks containing some gold shaped items (yes, that's what I said) and a trap that Slippery Pete was able to foil while Sever watched carefully over his shoulder. After this the retraced their step, secured the door in the Ice Castle, and made downtime plans.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 1/2 Mile

Combats: 2

Combat rounds: 4

Treasure & Items

2,000gp worth of "snow flake and gem" gold figures

4 ep

2 Gems:50gp Tiger Eye,500gp Peridot

2 items of jewellery:3000gp silver head piece with gems, 1000gp silver armlet with gems

total value:6552gp 

Monsters

1 Dark Creeper 119 XP
5 Owlbears 2305 XP

8976 XP & 6552 GP Assignment

Slippery Pete (E) 1122 XP & 819 GP

Sever (E) 1122 XP & 819 GP

 and Poindexter (E) 561 XP &409  GP

 and Thomas (E) 561 XP &409  GP

Giuseppe (E) 1122 XP & 819 GP

  and Bishoy & Tawadros (E)  561 XP &409  GP

Marty O'Tool (E) 1122 XP & 819 GP

Gurt the Green (E) 1122 XP & 819 GP

  and Solaire (E)   561 XP &409  GP

  and Anri (E)   561 XP &409  GP

Graveyard

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 1), reduced to 0 hit points by white dragon breath when climbing down a rope ladder in session #108. Killed not by the fall; but by the sudden stop at the bottom. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

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), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

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

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 108 (Machodor #61); Ice Lizard's (W)reckoning

  

          

There's a lot going on under the Ice Castle

Timekeeping

This session took place on 03/04/2025, and the PCs adventured for 1 day.

Introduction

After getting S ratings in session #57 for bypassing a 'dragon' lair that Slippery Pete had explored, the party were ready to kill those baby white dragons and their larger kin if necessary. However, unbeknown to them, these weren't dragons at all.

Player Characters Present

Sever the Wrathful (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) with henchmen Paul (P1) & Poindexter (M2)

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 F4)

Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator+3, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax) with henchman Solaire (F3) and Anri (M3)

Julius L'Orange (Level 1 Fighter)

Downtime

Having accepted the thankless task of commanding the forces at the Ice Castle, Giuseppe arranged for a caster from Guarda to Dispel Magic on the Wizard Lock-ed door in the castle, saving the party from expending a Knock spell every time they wished to use it. Good work.

I.T. and McScales have been working on the captured sentinel robot head from the PSoD. Although non-operational, they had success extracting some of its memories. They were disturbed to discover what they called the "Liber qui nominari non debet", an audiobook* version of a forbidden tome being compiled by the Old Ones. 

*I didn't come up with that but it made total sense when one of the players said it.

Session Report

The tunnel appear pretty much the same as last time, except for the area of the 'conduit', this was nearly completely gone, mostly likely consumed by Ice Mephits like the ones they had tangled with in session #57. The found no opposition and took up positions to invade Part of these preparations were a rope ladder which Sever now hammered into position.

Earlier I had established the following rules that are relevant to what happened next. If approached in the day time, 1d4 Ice Lizards would be out hunting. Any so doing would be returning in 1d6 turns. Those remaining in the lair might be sleeping or might be awake. That seemed reasonable and low prep, as low Intelligence creatures they had no plan as such to deal with intruders.

So now it was time to roll and evaluate the results. The d4 came up with 4! I had to second guess myself here for a bit, would they really leave their lair unattended? Well they had some reason to be weary of an attack, their lair had a narrow and difficult to reach entrance. Also, their treasure (though substantial) , was not of much interest to the creatures. So I went with it. The "return time" rolls came up with 1,1,2 & 3. I scribbled down time markers.

10 archers were placed on lookout as Sever climbed down and established that the entrance was clear. Giuseppe came next and sent out a ping of Detect Evil, with no result. The lair itself was 70' away. Time to move in.

With the substantial party of 12 intending to make their way down the ladder one by one, I was now able to count down to when the first two of the creatures would return, with the suspicion that they would not all make it inside first. The countdown ran out with Julius having just made it into the entrance (the party shuffling down the narrow fissure with each new arrival) and Sever's henchman Paul coming down the rope ladder.

Combat #1: 2 Ice Lizards

Rounds: 1 surprise segment and 3 rounds

Result: Party Win

Highlights: From out of the swirling mist two Ice Lizards flew, holding between them a large herbivore they were bringing back to feast on. To add insult to injury, they got 1 segment of surprise; this they used to fling the dead shaggy cow thing into the fissure, right at Julius. Sporting a large shield, I decided that the new adventurer had a 50% chance of looking in the right direction to get it position to help. The dice came up his way and he simply blocked the creature from sliding further into the party.

Paul (Sever's new Paladin henchman recruit) was not so lucky, the other Ice Lizard breathed its frosty breath weapon on him. The Paladin made his save and took only 4 hit points. Good right? Well it turns out he only had 4 hit points. Now, we know that 0 hp is not instant death; but what if you are on a rope ladder? Well, as it turns out, then 0 HP is instant death. The unfortunate Paladin plummeted down out of sight into the mists below. The return fire from Solaire, along with 9 0-level human archers, and Irishman Shaemus, with his current 18:00 strength and a specially bought bow to match, got a solid hit in.

I wonder how he's doing now?

Next round, in the narrow funnel of rock in which the most of the rest of the party were strung out in a long line, the Ice Lizard flew in and its breath weapon got all of them, starting with Julius. I ruled that he had a bonus to his save due to cover from the large herbivore and shield, but he rolled very well and blocked the worst of it anyway. The rest of the party found that they faired better than expected from the blast; but why? Gurt held aloft the now glowing Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, which apparently provided similar protection to a Ring of Warmth, but to everyone within a certain radius. Thank King Vultan for the Old Ones in the PSoD getting their hands tentacles on it in time for the party to take it off them.

With their formation completely around the wrong way and with no means to rearrange themselves, all they could do was advance into the main section of the lair; not knowing that it was unoccupied. Here they started searching for enemies and detecting evil. Meanwhile, outside, the Ice Lizard there flew up and cast Fear: catching Sheamus, Solaire, and the 9 0-level human archers up there. 

The two characters saved; but most of the archers failed, and half of them dropped their bows in fear. Next round all but two would run way. Someone (I think Solaire) caught the little ice dragon with an arrow and, the hit point threshold crossed, it could no long fly and plummeted down to join Paul somewhere below.

With the outer threat gone, Shaemus scampered down the rope ladder and with McScales started tag teaming Ice Lizard #2, trying to subdue it. As a dragon crossbreed, similar to Firedrakes, I've ruled that subdual is possible and they managed to do so before it could get in its own Fear spell.

The danger was over (or so they hoped) and the party inside the lair began a careful search and gathering up of the treasure. According to the rules, after a fight a party needs to rest for 1 turn (searching around can be done in this time, and, given that most of the party hadn't actually fought, I was more lenient), Sever went to retrieve the body of his henchman (kicking out the dead woolly cow absent mindedly as he did so) and Giuseppe positioned himself to guard the entrance. Ice Lizard number 3# was due back part way through this period, so I allowed that Giuseppe would have been in position when it arrived. Sever had disappeared into the mists below and for a change was the one receiving comms in his own channel.

Combat #2: 1 Ice Lizard

Rounds:  1 

Result: Party Win

Highlights: For the first time in the campaign Giuseppe was able to wield his Dragonslayer sword against an actual dragon (of sorts); at least I allowed the bonus to be applied. But does this really count if no one was there to see it? Anyway, the Paladin prevailed and became ever more wary.

Combat #3: 1 Ice Lizard

Rounds: 2

Result: Party Win 

Highlights: Ice Lizard #4 arrived just as Sever was carrying Paul's body back up the rope ladder. At this point I was glad I had a method in place and had a clear conscience over the hard time I was giving them. Giuseppe killed the previous Ice Dragon and finally things were back under control when the new one arrived.

The party gathered up the loot and sent it back with their Dwarf mercenaries (triggering a loyalty check), along with Paul's body, and the party reset to continue forward. They first returned to the scene of the talking tree from session (#57?), but it was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the door or the landing that had been there either, only a shallow nook was remaining. WTH?

They now continued down the terrace into unexplored areas filled with the icy mists. The mists moved and flowed in an unnatural fashon, and each part member started to get a strange feeling about what was going on in their depths. 

Sever went to investigate the edge of the terrace and found he could see nothing beyond. When he turned back, a group of strange icy undead looking creatures had been advancing on the main body of the party while he was scouting:

Combat #4: 7 "Ice Men" 

Rounds:  3 rounds

Result: Party Win

Highlights: It turned into a big old unarmed combat fest. Fortunately, after some trial and error I've been preparing a spreadsheet for storing all the variables required for such combat and I finally was ready to use it. All seven "Ice Men" went for grapples but were fended off by the stout front line of Giuseppe, Gurt, and Sheamus. The next round the enemy used claw/claw/bite routines, with the latter giving Giuseppe a nasty nip; the paladin's eyes misted over and he went on a rampage against his allies! This turned into an unarmed combat extravaganza that thankfully ended when McScales threw his net over four battling player characters and Giuseppe was beaten into submission.

Sever retraced the steps of the creatures and found they stopped some 70 yards down the terrace ahead. It was uncanny, as though they had come out of nowhere or had simply been dropped there out of the sky. This was enough for one day, the party retreated to the Ice Castle and locked the door.

Epilogue with Sheamus

DM: You get back to Castle Irish safely. Do you take Polk {Sheamus named him} to show Sarumin (NPC Wizard)?

Sheamus: "Yes"

Sarumin: "This is not a dragon, but an Ice Lizard, a creature perhaps bred from dragons in similar manner to the Firedrake."

Sheamus: "Oof"

DM: He immediately casts Charm Monster.

Sarumin: "Although subdued, that thing is not smart enough to stay that way. It may have attacked me on sight, but it is safe for now.""

Sheamus: "Do you know of any potential buyers?"

Sarumin: "Certainly, if you are interested, I will purchase the creature from you. For the right price."

Sheamus: "800 gold"

Sarumin: "Done!"

DM: Sarumin has a Firedrake familiar, you get the feeling it is not too impressed with his purchase.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 1/2 Mile

Combats: 4

Combat rounds:  9

Treasure & Items

10,000gp in foreign coins extracted from the frozen gore in the Ice Lizard lair,

also 5 items of jewellery:
1. 1800gp wrought gold fertility figure
2. 2500gp thin human figure of jade
3.  8000gp gold cube with gems
4.  3000 silver diadem with gems
5.  300gp wrought gold pin

total value 25,600 gp (not bad! thank who ever allocated treasure type G to these guys)

Flask of an Oily Substance: Seems to provide some benefit against cold. 1000xp

Ice Token (Greater Identified) : BIRD — a token which when activated can be used to drive off any sort of hostile avian creatures or as a vehicle of transportation equal to a roc of the largest size in all respects (1 day duration). Can be used once only. 500xp

Bracers (Greater Identified) of Defence AC 7 1500 xp

Scroll of 4 Magic User Spells (Blink (3), Hallucinatory Terrain (4), Phase Door (7), Charm Plants (7)) 

Monsters

3 Ice Lizards 1020xp
7 "Ice Men"  1890 xp

31,510 XP & 25,600 GP Assignment

Sever (E) 3939 XP & 3100 GP

 and Poindexter (E)1969 XP & 1550 GP

 and Paul (E)  0 XP & 0 GP

Giuseppe (E) 3939 XP & 3100 GP

  and Bishoy & Tawadros (E) 1969 XP & 1550 GP

Sheamus (E)  3939 XP & 3100 GP

 and McScales (E)  1969 XP & 1550 GP

Gurt the Green (E) 3939 XP & 3100 GP

  and Solaire (E)  1969 XP & 1550 GP

  and Anri (E)  1969 XP & 1550 GP

Julian (E) 3939 XP & 3100  GP

Graveyard

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 1), reduced to 0 hit points by white dragon breath when climbing down a rope ladder in session #108. Killed not by the fall; but by the sudden stop at the bottom. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

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 107 (Machodor #60); Finale at the Pizza Slice of Doom

   

          The lair of the Old Ones

Timekeeping

This session took place on 20/03/2025, and the PCs adventured for 2 days.

Introduction

This is something like the 15th session in the PSoD! The players have laboriously pushed forward against all opposition, and recently have engaged some of the creatures the Old Ones who run the place have created. Essentially though, this week is another 'dungeon restocking question' and I answered it with something radical; the rulers of the dungeon have finally had enough of the meddling PCs and have laid an ambush for them, using all of their resources in an attempt to stamp out the interlopers once and for all!

Player Characters Present

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

Sever the Wrathful (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) with henchmen Rabbit (F/M/T) & Thomas (C2)

Sheamus (Level 7 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) with henchman McScales (Lizardman F4)

Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator+3, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax) with henchman Solaire (F3) and Anri (M3)

Karshe (Level 6 Fighter, bearer of the Military Trident) with henchmen Harlan (F/T 3/3) and Isaac (C4)

Downtime

A player character who died last session was buried, while a henchman has developed a phobia of the Pizza Slice of Doom and refuses to ever return.

Session Report

The group sat out a day of rain and prepared for the following day, which was clear. The newly refurbished lift platform at the volcano, now with chains instead of rope, lifted them into position without incident.

The party descended into the PSoD and retraced their steps through the maintenance level, now strangely devoid of life, until they reached the doors of cyclopean stone that led two level two.

They looked at their map of the next level and started giving orders for what they would do when they reached the toxic waste room and the door there that was their goal. However, they never made it that far. The enemy had set up an ambush at the first T-intersection, which the party stumbled onto and were surprised for 1 segment. This was the worst possible start for them and the best for the enemy.

In real time this was probably the longest surprise segment ever, as I had to lay out the full series of events that constituted the ambush. Firstly, at the head of the corridor, just out of sight on the left, was a Shoggoth (the one they had wounded last week, fully recovered and looking for revenge). On their right was another Shoggoth that had been invisible, it became visible as the Old One that was riding it used the Psionic Discipline Mass Domination.

Also in place was a sentry droid, the kind they had seen before that could create a curtain in reality that physically connected two places. Now the robot did so again, in this case the connected spaces were the lair of the Old Ones and the area directly behind the party, there was no escape!

"Battle map"

Instead of the passage they had just traversed, what they could now see behind their formation was a large cyclopean stone room; with some few corridors zig zagging out of it giving the impression the room sat at the center of a maze. They recalled that McScales had told them of the maze when they first met him. The 50' square room was dominated by a huge cube of latticed cyclopean stone. Within this cube was an Old One working at a large control panel 10 feet high (though to make things even more confusing, some characters thought they could see two Old Ones in there! [One of these enemies was using the Psionic version of Invisibility, which can only effect so many levels and creatures at one time]). Outside of the cube were four Mutant Hawkmen, hovering near a large number of metal skull caps connected by cables; some of these held dead Kenku or Hawkmen still strapped into them. At the base of the cube a conjunction of this cabling connected to a much larger Giant Mutant Hawkman standing all of 18' tall!

Now for the Mass Domination: the party were in four ranks of 3, so 12 possible targets for it. As an Old One is an enigmatic eldritch intelligence, I decided to determine targets randomly and abduct the reasoning later. With the psionic point cost being 10 plus the level of the target, targeting lower level characters was both more efficient and more likely to be successful; but on the other hand getting the party's big guns would be more expensive, only slightly less likely, but much more devastating to their chances of victory. The dice came down and the entire rear rank, henchmen Thomas and Rabbit, and also Slippery Pete were effected; along with Karshe from the front rank and Solaire from the second rank. Those effected were ordered to walk through the energy curtain and connect themselves to the skull caps on the other side. They all failed their saving throws and moved to comply. Unknown to anyone at this stage, the third Old One had targeted Sever with Molecular Agitation, this would take a while to get going but would eventually be as bad as a Druid's Heat Metal spell.

imagine the one on the left riding the one on the right

The first proper round saw the party members who could do so moving to react, with the spell casters Anri and I.T in the (now) rear rank opting to cast Stinking Cloud and Spiritual Hammer respectively, and this would have been a very effective combination - had they not been immediately accosted by the flying mutant Hawkmen. Three of these swooped down to grapple the entire rear rank, only Harlan had a weapon ready to attempt to fend them off. However I also allowed I.T. a chance to fend off the grapple attack since the component for his spell is a real War Hammer. Both failed to fend and so all three were successfully grappled and immediately brought back by the hulking creatures, strapped in, and connected to the skull cap contraptions. 

Sheamus and McScales took on the Shoggoth on the left, while Gurt took on the one to the right, and Sever activated his Wings of Flying and flew up to take on the Old One riding the right Shoggoth. This Old One was trying to go invisible again and sure didn't expect anyone to reach him up on his mount. The ranger chopped the eldritch monster in half, but then started to feel a little itch from his armour. The Psionic Domination ceased, however the damage was done, by the end of that round eight characters had been connected to the weird skull caps, and their life forces were being messed with. Some found they lost hit points while others gained them, others gained constitution or lost wisdom. Karshe and Paladin Henchman Solaire even had their alignments swapped! Not only were abilities being exchanged, clearly some part of the energy generated was being siphoned off into the Giant Mutant Hawkman, whose closed eyes above twitching tentacles where its mouth should be, began to open.

The fourth mutant Hawkman went after the flying Sever, and Gurt declared that he had been keeping a Potion of Speed ready to be used at a moment's notice. He wanted to use it and then attack. This flummoxed me, since most of the time players hoard potions or use them out of combat, I felt that doing both was not allowed; but when put on the spot I couldn't see a RAW that clearly says so. I allowed it at the time, and of course the next round someone wanted do the same with a Potion of Healing. There's a lesson there.

Those tied to the skull cap contraptions could now try and break free, but the mutant Hawkmen nearby tried to stop them escaping while the machines recharged. One of these was caught up by the Giant Mutant Hawkman and smashed into the floor with tremendous power; rushed into action by the Old Ones, was the huge creature was out of control?

The slug fest continued on the other side of the battle with a fortunate initiative win for the party; the extra attacks of Sever and Sheamus trumping the Shoggoths and taking them down to a level that they were soon finished off before they could return attacks. Gurt and Sever immediate made for the Giant Mutant Hawkman, incidentally crossing the energy curtain to do so, and just in time before the giant started on the henchmen near him. However the now heavily wounded Sheamus and McScales hung back at the T-intersection, with the former plying his bow (though to little effect).

The big hitters of Karshe (who had freed himself), Sever, and Gurt kept the GMH busy while the others tried to make themselves useful. The most successful of these was I.T. who Karshe ordered to try and do something with the conduits running to and from the cube. Well he did something alright, he disabled the cobbled together power system altogether! The robot sentry head deactivated and crashed to the ground, not incidentally ceasing to project the energy curtain before it did so. To Sheamus' and MsScales' dismay, the rest of the party was now trapped in what ever location the curtain had been connected to. With nothing else to do, the pair grabbed up the nearby loot (including the robot head) and pulled out.

Sever's armour finally became too hot for him to be able to continue the fight. Thinking quickly, and using his super strength, he began tearing the platemail from their supporting straps and hurling it away piece by piece. He now took on the GMH within nothing but his sword and harsh language! 

Meanwhile, the Old One with the Molecular Agitation chose a new target and now it was Karshe who started to feel the heat.

Gurt went down to 0 hp after a GMH claw/claw/bite routine hit, but a miraculously low damage roll prevented it from being worse. Sever and Karshe were able to finish the job and the misunderstood monster that was the GMH collapsed with an enigmatic look on its face, and died in front of them.

Slippery Pete, having wriggled his small body out of the restraints attached to the skull caps, climbed up the cube and began searching for a way in. He found one in time to disrupt the Old Ones in there (he could see the other monsters that was not able to include the thief in the effect of its Psionic Discipline Invisibility). Though the thief's backstab failed to hit, the eldritch creatures soon decided that this was not the time to stick around and fight hand to hand, one utilising Probability Travel for them to escape.

It was suddenly quiet, and while it looked like all the loot in the Pizza Slice of Doom was stashed in the cube, which they rushed lest Slippery Pete started making choice selections, they had no idea where they were or how to get out with the treasure. I was staring down the barrel of having to adjudicate this in downtime! But Sever and Karshe put their heads together and asked I.T. to see if he could manage to jury rig the power projection to the robot sentinel - even for a short amount of time - and with his overpowered Gammaworld mutation he was just able to so by reversing the polarity of the synchroniser (or something). By this time Sheamus had brought the sentinel to the surface near the Irish lift camp. He dropped the thing in horror as it came to life; but then saw his friends racing through the sputtering energy curtain. They made it just before the sentinel stopped working for good, took their loot back to Castle Irish and began counting it out.

Later, when Sever was back at the Pegasus Tower in Minas Mandalf some loose ends were tied up: 

You receive a message from Scout Regiment Commander Erwin.

"Thought you'd be interested in this. Machodor Psi Corps detected two signals entering the astral plane from the Bandit Mountains, squads 1 & 2 were sent to intercept. They report two 'Old Ones' destroyed, no casualties."

 

Just one battle this session, and it was a doozy, though a bit of slog to read through I imagine. If you made it this far, thanks. It was a blast to use multiple Psionic Powers and such powerful creatures together; and yet again the party prevailed, proving they were up to the task. What will happen in the PSoD now that the influence of these eldritch horrors is over, who can say? Certainly, the Irish camp up on top of the extinct volcano will be happy to go home.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 6 Miles

Combats: 1

Combat rounds: 8

Treasure & Items

Chunks of metal of the following kinds and values:

Copper 8000cp
Silver 6000sp
Gold 6000gp
Platinum 200pp

1 floating head robot sentinel (inoperative) 500xp
2 “Rooka Pistol” Hawkman hand-crossbows 1200xp
1 Hawkman Bracer of Invisibility? 1500xp
1 Huge White Gem 2000xp

(“Mesa knows dis one. Me thinks dat’s da Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia!”-- McScales)
4 Rings in a box 1000xp

a great quantity of jewelry:
1. Gold crown set with gems (6000 gp)
2. Gold necklace set with gems (4000 gp)
3. Gold necklace set with gems (5000 gp)
4. Gold necklace set with gems (8000 gp)
5. 2 x Gold pendant set with gems (6000 gp)
6. Gold ring set with gems (5000 gp)
7. Ivory bracelet (200 gp)
8. Ivory brooch (700 gp)
9. Ivory crown (200 gp)
10. Ivory pendant (200 gp)
11. Platinum brooch set with gems (11000 gp)
12. Platinum crown set with gems (6000 gp)
13. Platinum crown set with gems (8000 gp)
14. Platinum ring set with gems (5000 gp)
15. 2 x Silver earrings set with gems (3000 gp)
16. Silver ring set with gems (5000 gp)
17. Wrought gold bracelet (600 gp)
18. Wrought gold necklace (700 gp)
19. Wrought silver and gold earrings (300 gp)
20. Wrought silver and gold earrings (800 gp)
21. Gold brooch set with gems (5000 gp)
Total value = 89,700 gp

Total (not counting magic items) 97,320gp

Monsters

Giant Mutant Hawkman 15850 XP
4 Mutant Hawkmen 8200 XP
2 Shoggoth 18,910 XP
1 Old One 1000 XP
Total Monster XP 43960

 

141,280 XP & 97,320 GP Assignment

Slippery Pete (E) 17,280 XP & 11,449 GP

Sever (E) 17,280 XP & 11,449 GP

 Thomas (E) and Rabbit (E)  8,640 XP & 5,725 GP

Sheamus (E) 17,280XP & 11,449 GP

 McScales (E)  8,640 XP &  5,725 GP

Karshe (E) 17,280 XP & 11,449 GP

  Harlan (E) and Isaac (E)  8,640 XP & 5,725 GP

Gurt (E) 17,280 XP & 11,449 GP

 Solaire (E) and Anri (E)   8,640 XP & 5,725 GP

Graveyard

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

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 106 (Machodor #59); Horror in the Pizza Slice of Doom

   

          

Timekeeping

This session took place on 13/03/2025, and the PCs adventured for 1 day.

Introduction

Back to the PSoD. Missing a considerable portion of their strength, could the remaining party members step up? Or would they succumb to new horrors in the dungeon? A session that shows AD&D can do horror quiet easily. This was a really fun session to DM, I was sure the party were overmatched and would be lucky to make it out alive, read on to find out if I was right. 

Player Characters Present

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

Karshe (Level 6 Fighter, bearer of the Military Trident) with henchmen Harlan Makkoi (Dwf F/T 3/3) Dusty (D4) and Isaac "I.T." Tremain (C4, with a Gammaworld mutation)

Ignatius the Smiter (Level 1 Cleric of Machodor)

Session Report

The smaller than usual party made their way up through the morning's snow to the nearby extinct volcano, and from there into the quadrant of crashed Hawkman Sky City known as the Pizza Slice of Doom. Getting back to the cyclopean stone archway that leads into level 2 proper without incident, the party found that the door was again in place. I.T. (Karshe's cleric henchman with a mutation that makes him a technological genius) reported that the skull caps hanging nearby (that Shaemus and McScales had used last session) were active and, if used, would open the door. Of course, the party had another method, having borrowed the ring of Prince Barin from Sever. Avoiding risking the skull caps this time they used the ring to open a door in the stone. Finding that opening the portal was straight forward they stepped into the corridor beyond. Things had changed little, but they had indeed changed, now there was a strange sense of completion to the structure, and a diffuse phosphorescence lit the place in a ghastly green tinge. None of their light sources had their usual effect in the presence of this local lighting, and their overall range of vision dropped to a mere 30', beyond which lurked either monstrous nightmares of eldritch horror, or mere shadows. 

There was only one way to find out which.

They advanced past the site of last session's battle and up to the T-intersection. Here they found that the wall ahead, which blocked what used to be the north exit to a four-way intersection, was now pierced with oddly shaped holes about the size of a fist. Air moved freely back and forth through these holes, causing a strange whistling and piping noise. 

They stuck with the plan: explore beyond the south exit from the toxic waste room; but, as they moved west down the corridor, they had a definite sense of something approaching from behind them. This approaching something was making a noise, a singularly insidious musical piping, which could only be described as:

"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"

Obviously, this was a clear "tell" to anyone well enough versed in Appendix N, but the characters had no reason to be especially alarmed; though they were disturbed enough to choose not to investigate the sound. Instead the party advanced as quickly as possible in the opposite direction, to the toxic waste room's east entrance. Here they found that the "door" (a five pointed arch of stone surmounted by a gem) was again closed after they had opened it last session. They used the ring and upon activation the part of the wall beneath the archway simply dissolved and disappeared, allowing entrance to the room beyond. In addition to be almost instantaneous, this method of opening was silent and so did not hamper their chances of surprising whatever might be inside.

Whereas last session the toxic waste room was still dominated by a silo siting on a metal platform in the center of the room, this week the transformation into cyclopean stone had been completed, and the metal objects were gone. Although the overall dimensions of the room remained the same, internally it now consisted only of a large pool of green (no longer mustard) liquid, with a landing 15' wide running around its perimeter. In the north east corner of the room was a ramp of stone which went down from the landing into the liquid.

As the party moved in they could see a huge amoeba-like creature making its way from the pool and up the ramp. The translucent body just seemed to keep coming out of the liquid, it was at least 20 feet long! They manged to score 2 segments of surprise on the thing. With this advantage they could just about make it to the south exit. What a lucky chance; but would they take it? No they would not.

Combat #1: Shoggoth(s) 

Rounds: 7, 2 Surprise Segments 

Result: Draw

Highlights: The players were aggressive enough to go fully on the attack. Arrows flew, as did the spear of McScales. Sheamus advanced and got the Shoggoth's attention with 3 attacks in the 2 segments and Karshe wielded his deadly trident. Just as things were looking improbably under control, Dusty the druid shouted a warning; another Shoggoth was coming through the open east door! I made him roll a morale/loyalty check, which he passed, and with his pet lizard he tried to hold the monster at the doorway as its bulk started flowing through at him. Meanwhile Ignatius backed away and looked to examine the southern exit.

Next round Dusty's pet lizard was squashed by a Shoggoth pseudopod, and Dusty himself was hit by another which nearly killed him; however he had bought the party enough time to finish off Shoggoth #1. The next round's initiative would be crucial, with Shoggoth #2 only part way through the doorway, Sheamus, the wily Irish Fighter, declared that he would use the ring to close the door. Now with a normal door this would be useless, but this was not a normal door (as I had plainly set up without ever considering this outcome). It was around now that we all had a flashback: 

Way back in 2023, Trollopulous characters saved the Sun by climbing onto the outside of the Metamorphosis Alpha style ship in which their world resides (spoiler, I guess, it's a long story) and defeating some fell creatures out there. Those creatures were also Shoggoths, two of them, and before the party could don space suits and got out to fight; loyalty checks for henchmen were rolled. Well, Karshe and his henchmen had been there, and Karshe's player reminded me that Dusty had not only failed his check and refused to go out and fight, he subsequently witnessed several hirelings get smashed to smithereens. Two Shoggoths at once was a deadly affair indeed. Run a long enough shared campaign and cool call backs like this will happen. Karshe and his henchmen characters hadn't been played much since then; but they were well suited to the PSoD, I.T. had even brought back a Laser Carbine as a souvenir.

Returning from the flashback, Ignatius reached a trap in the floor before the south exit (which had been patiently biding its time there for many sessions). The trap turned the floor into a sliding ramp, and the cleric slid helplessly down into the green liquid in the pool. Yikes! 

Next round the party did win initiative and Sheamus closed, or re-materialised, the door; right on the Shoggoth before it could follow up and move into the room. This resulted in the front part of the creature getting shaved off and dropping in a quivering mass to the floor. Did this kill the rest of it? They had no way to know, but for now had other concerns.

Dusty might have been still having a flashback, and, now with his pet dead - reduced to a smear on the floor - I had him make another morale check; and this one he failed.

Ignatius found that within the liquid he had no buoyancy, he slid right down to the bottom of the pool and could not resurface. Not daring to try and breath, he instead waded towards the ramp at the opposite corner of the pool as fast as he could. He started moving along while the rest of the party tried to rig up a way to scoop him out. This latter plan was quickly shelved; just as Ignatius started climbing out, another Shoggoth exited a sub-level tunnel from the north east that spilled out into the pool right below the ramp. The horrific creature surged up at the cleric and hit him twice. It was good night for poor Ignatius (and we'll never know what effect the green liquid may have later had on him had he survived).

not a bad try from grok.

The battle continued as the Shoggoth confronted the front rank, Dusty hid in a corner, Harlan tried his best without making much of a dent; but I.T. was there with his laser carbine (that unfortunately he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with) and healing spells that were sorely needed as time went on. The fresh Shoggoth #3 was unable to consistently lay damage on a single opponent, but instead spread it across Karshe, Sheamus, and McScales. If this luck held they might just survive. With a final initiative win, they indeed prevailed. 

Getting their collective breath back, the PCs considered the situation. They were battered, should they push on? With a body to recover and a terrified henchman, it seemed an unlikely option. But on the other hand, no one wanted to go back and tell Sever they had not even got beyond the toxic waste room. Their spirits were raised somewhat when they notice that the body of Shoggoth #3 had dissolved, its remains running down the ramp back into the green pool; in its wake a number of glistening gems were left behind. The treasure tipped the scales in favour of getting out; but, could they do it?

While this was discussed I decided to work out what was going on with Shoggoth #2, it was still alive certainly, but would it wait at the same door, or move, or what? I rolled the dice and determined its plans, then waited to see what would happen next.

Karshe managed to coax Dusty into casting what he hoped was a game changer: Stone Shape.

The idea was to create another exit from the room, one that should be clear; but, with the area effect of "three cubic feet, plus one cubic foot per level" the spell was not up to the task. Never mind, instead they created a peep hole wide enough to stretch through the east wall (incidentally confirming that the cyclopean stone was not just a façade, but went all the way through) and so determined that the corridor beyond was clear. Having established this, for some reason they then chose to leave via the north exit. The door opened and...SURPRISE, a truncated and pissed off Shoggoth #2 was waiting for them.

it was now personal for Shoggoth #2

Combat #2: Shoggoth #2 again

Rounds: 2 with 1 Surprise Segment

Result: Party escapes

Highlights: The surprise segment could have easily resulted in another death, but somehow the monster didn't quiet manage it. Had I been more on the ball a Shoggoth overbear would have been on the cards, I justified this later as reflecting that the creature was nearly as surprised as they were. After another crucial initiative win Sheamus shut the door on the monster for the second time, and they party quickly staggered back across the room and out the east door.

The haunting fluting sounds were behind them as they hustled back the way they had entered, it was hard to tell just how far away the sound was, were they escaping or was it gaining? In the end they were able to evade pursuit and get back to the outside, and from there home to Castle Irish. Things could have gone worse.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 6 Miles

Combats: 2

Combat rounds: 9

Treasure & Items

6 Gems, 6121gp

Monsters

2 Shoggoth 18,700 xp

24,821 XP & 6,121GP Assignment

Sheamus (E) 6205 XP &  1530 GP

 McScales (E) 3103 XP &  765 GP

Karshe (E) 6205 XP & 1530 GP

  Harlan (E) Dusty (S) and Isaac (E) 3103 XP &  765 GP

Graveyard

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by a double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

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