Trollopulous Adjusted Session 132 (Machodor #83): The Couch Saga Continues

What Fluid saw

  

Introduction

Scholars of the Trollopulous campaign will remember the Naga-hide couch--and the struggle to claim dominion over it--from the dungeon near Whocaresville, but that's nothing compared to the solid gold couch the party was going after in today's session, the one they hoped to dig out from the buried lair of Acererak Kistomerces. 

     

Timekeeping

This session began on September 18th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until the end of the day (the rocket cycle is a real time saver). Downtime for these characters begins on the 19th.

Player Characters Present

Sever the Wrathful (Level 9 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) 

with henchman Thomas (C6), and Poindexter (M6)

Giuseppe (Level 8 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher)

Fluid the Druid (Level 8 Druid, "Scourge of Trollopulous", former wearer of the Ring of Kings)

Sheamus (Level 8 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) with henchman McScales (Lizardman F5)

Bumblebore  (Level 7 Magic User of Machodor, wielder of the Wand of Paralysation) and Firedrake Familiar O'Malfoy and henchman Gilthaniel (elf F5/M8)

Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax)

with henchmen Cedric (C4)

Downtime

Giuseppe spent his time not thinking about becoming a dwarf and losing his Paladin status. After three days of holding off the mental change into a dwarf (to go along with the physical change last session) Fluid was finally successful in casting Dispel Magic on Giuseppe, and the Paladin was back to normal.

Session Report

The heroes, mostly located in Guarda at the moment, have so many possible actions to choose from that the beginning of the session saw a lot of discussion back and forth. Eventually, a return to the Tomb of Kistomerces was decided upon. I've no idea why, as they'd already cleared the place out...

In reality, and unknown to the players there was a time crunch in play. An NPC party I had rolled up was following they party's trail into the tomb, and would return with the golden couch worth--mega gold machos--if not intercepted this week.

I had determined that there was a 10% chance per day of such a thing, then another roll to determine success. They had been successful.

In an application of what we call the "Burroughs Rule", I'd decided that any encounter in the tomb itself would be with this NPC party. This worked out as a 1/3 chance of happening at the speed the heroes could move thrown the known location; and it came up positive. Then I established they were in the long access corridor before the grand corridor, and rolled for which exact section (just near the branch leading to the false entrance).

Anyway, after a carefully managed approach, the party was advancing down the long access corridor with the many pillars running down the middle of it, when...nothing happened. I had had everyone roll a d6, with a result of a 1 meaning they heard the NPC party going past, with the size of the player's party none of them hearing anything was against the odds. Looks like they were going to be out of luck. 

However, once they reached the grand corridor, I gave Sever a chance to notice the markings on the ground of the other party's passage, since the heavy couch would be difficult to manoeuvre and, thanks to their recent exfiltration, there was lots of broken off plaster to leave prints on. The ranger spotted it and, after some investigation, was able to follow the tracks back up the corridor the party had just arrived from. The tracks ducked down into the side passage with the false door trap, and back out again.

"I think we just missed them."-- Sever

The couch party were moving at 3" a round, and the tracking party were moving at 6". One caught up with the other in the "Shadows" room near the exit, with the PCs at the top of the stairs and Sever shouting for what ever it was he couldn't see--to halt. All hell broke loose.

I figured this would cause a loyalty check within the NPC party, and the result was that their leader and three henchmen kept going with the couch, while the remainder sought to deal with the PCs. The party could hear the voices, shouting in incomprehensible Sidonian, all arguing.

Combat #1: NPC Party

Rounds: 5

Result: Party wins

Highlights: A knight and warrior met Giuseppe and Gurt at the bottom of the star, hoping to hold them there. A cleric cast hold person and got Giuseppe, the Paladin then went on to take double maximum damage from two shots of the knight's 2-handed sword; he was in trouble!

Bumblebore let fly with a barrage of Macho Mandalf's Flying Elbows at the enemy fighter's helmet, he must have felt like he was rung like a bell!

Gurt stepped up to protect his fellow paladin and face off both enemy warriors at once, stabbing left and right.

Fluid, oblivious to the melee and still in crow form, flew past the fleeing and invisible enemy to head them off, stopping just before the "Snake" room entrance. Here he returned to human form, waited, then cast Faery Fire. From my rushed re-reading the spell, I could not see that it would not work on the intended targets even though Fluid could not see them (in fact the spell is specifically designed for it this!). He was rewarded with the image at the top of this report. At the same time as the spell went off, Sheamus, who had used his Hawkman Wristband to go Invisible and give chase, caught up with the group from the other side; and now there were two separate fronts in the battle. The Irishman found that these were lower level henchmen he faced, who dropped the invisible couch and engaged him.

Back in the shadows room, Cedric cast Hold Person on the enemy knight and fighter, when both failed their saves the complexion of the battle completely changed. Now it was the enemy fighter's turn to take maximum damage.

Sever jumped from the stair in dramatic fashion and attacked the cleric and did her two grievous wounds, but in return an invisible enemy got him with a back stab from where he had been waiting for just such a chance.

I made two big errors here that would have flipped the situation back into a much more even fight, and I was kicking myself later; but I'm not going to say what they were. If by chance something similar happens again, I will heave learned from that mistake...

Fluid saw the enemy caster--who, though illuminated with Faerie Fire was still invisible--cast a spell and he was no longer there. The remaining henchmen were no match for Sheamus and the party emerged victorious. 

When the dust settled, they had kept the knight alive and took him prisoner--after he tried to poison himself; the first use of Slow Poison I can remember and it was to stop him doing so. A follow up Neutralise Poison from Fluid and the prisoner was back to square one.

There was lots of speculation from the heroes over their captive and his party; but, with the couch in hand, they were prepared to call an early end to the delve and head back to Guarda, after gathering the loot from the fallen. All this was a bit of a logistical exercise but it is another tale.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel:  23 Miles

Downtime begins on: Sep/18
Combats: 1
Rooms mapped: 0
Combat rounds: 4
Losses: none

Treasure & Items

Ring (cursed) of Weakness This item totally messed up evaluating the treasure in downtime, and I think this is the first session report I have published before the treasure and XP was decided.

Updated with assignments:

Golden Lounge 25,000gp, or more! Awarding XP for now, gp later depending on developments.

2 * Platemail +1 1600 xp 

Black Platemail 5000gp

Medium Shield +1 250xp

Two-Handed Sword +2 800xp

Longsword +2 800xp

Short Sword +2  4000gp

Flail (footmen) +1 4000gp

Dagger +1 1000gp

Spear +1 or 3000gp

Holy Symbol of Astarte (Evil) & Amulet of Shadows (Evil) handed in to MM for 1000gp

Potion of Healing 200xp 

Monsters

NPC Party 5990xp

52,640 XP & 18,000 GP Assignment

Sever (E) 6,580xp & 2,250gp 

and Thomas (E) 3,290xp & 1,125gp 

and Poindexter (E) 3,290xp & 1,125gp 

Giuseppe (E) 6,580xp & 2,250gp 

Fluid (E) 6,580xp & 2,250gp 

Sheamus (E) 6,580xp & 2,250gp 

Gurt (E) 6,580xp & 2,250gp 

and Cedric (E) 3,290xp & 1,125gp 

Bumblebore (E) 6,580xp & 2,250gp 

and Gilthaniel  (E) 3,290xp & 1,125gp 

Graveyard

Rhoikos (Henchman Magic-User level 4), smashed by a Mummy fist in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Thomas (Henchman Cleric level 6), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Josef Ironbeard (Dwarf Fighter level 1), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126.

Matthias Steelvein (Henchman Fighter level 4), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Sever the Wrathful (Ranger level 9), Killed by two pains in the Annis in session #122. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Anri (Henchman Magic-User level 4), found dead with a ghastly chest wound in the Ice Castle, with her heart missing she was unable to be revived, in downtime after session #122 

Symeon (Henchman Cleric level 2), Only strong enough to wear studded leather, he was torn to shreds by Troglodytes in session #121

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 3) Effected by the Imprisonment spell touch attack from a Styx Devil in session #117. Might not be dead, but is definitely at least six feet under for all intents and purposes.

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 6) killed by a poison needle trap in session #114 RAISED FROM THE DEAD (with a roll of 94!)

Solaire the Fallen (Henchman Fighter (paladin) level 3) killed by Stone Giants acting as catapults in session #114

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 to 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 131 (Machodor #82): In Search of the "Old Greenbloods"

 

Guarda, on the night of the Blood Moon

Introduction

Last session the party completely finished exploring every inch of the Tomb of Kistomerces. With the loot they retrieved it was possible for some of the characters to train, and, as usual when this happens, and with other changes in the roster, the final party selected had quite a different make up.

     

Timekeeping

This session began on September 11th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until the end of the day (the rocket cycle is a real time saver). Downtime for these characters begins on the 12th.

Player Characters Present

Giuseppe (Level 8 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher)

Fluid the Druid (Level 8 Druid, "Scourge of Trollopulous", former wearer of the Ring of Kings)

Sheamus (Level 8 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) 

with henchman McScales (Lizardman F5)

Bumblebore  (Level 7 Magic User of Machodor, wielder of the Wand of Paralysation) and Firedrake Familiar O'Malfoy and henchman Gilthaniel (F5/M8)

Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax)

with henchmen Cedric (C4)

Downtime

On the night of the full moon, when all the adventurers were sleeping, a red dragon (not Lord Inferno, this one was sinewy, almost graceful, compared to his bulk) appeared in the sky and breathed fire fire all over the town. It was then heard screeching in an unknown language as it sped off to the north east. The resulting fires spread unchecked across Guarda, with three major sites: the market, garrison, and  the residential district near Echellet's villa. The bucket brigades, demoralized by dragon fear aura, were disorganised, dropping buckets or fleeing. Then Giuseppe stepped into the heart of the chaos,  “People ofa Guarda!” he bellowed, “By God’s grace, we will not let our home fall! Stand together, fight the flames! The dragon isa gone, my blade tells me this isa so. Fight for Guarda!" His words galvanised the fleeing people, and their courage began to return. Soon, other adventurers joined in and the town was saved. But what was it all about?

Session Report

The players were not too sure of their goal for this session, and with the caller out for the night, options variedly wildly; but, once they got word of an incident with Giuseppe's troops guarding the Valley of Pillars, they decided to check this out; as it was on the way to anything else they might consider doing.

After they arrived, Bishoy and Tawadros reported that during the week rocks had rained down on their camp from the top of the gorge above, the taciturn dervish fighters had simply moved the camp out of range to await Giuseppe's return.

A note, appended to a large rock, thrown by persons unknown.

This note was enough to spur the party into action. With Sheamus and the rocket cycle in play (the fighter looking for a cash injection for his Chicken Jockey project) they decided to take only those who could be carried (driver plus six passengers) with Fluid taking bird form to make a party of eight.

By making use of the ride, they were able to easily ascend and start making their way south into the gorge as it carved its way into the mountains, over-flying the "covered" areas where the path was not visible from the air. They reached the three-way exit to the large semi-covered area they were familiar with, and here paused to consider; they had previous found evidence of spider activity--webs, in a rubble blocked passage to the south west, and there was a similarly rubble strewn path to the south east. From the air they could see that both areas had openings in the rock above that had not been visible from ground level.

Picking the south east entrance, the adventurers chose to fly right down into the 20' diameter hole leading into what was a (web-less) lair of Huge Spiders. Completely unintentionally, this design turned the cave into the perfect (or nearly so) death trap for a party on a conveyance such as the Rocket Cycle.

As the cycle descended, the cavern widened to about 30' in diameter. Their Continual Light lit up the lair, exposing--and triggering an attack from--nine man-sized spiders. These guys can jumped 30' and surprise on 1-5. By incredible good fortune, even without Sever and his Ranger bonus, the party was not surprised. Never the less they were surround by giant jumping spiders who threatened to overwhelm them, exciting!

Combat #1: 9 Huge spiders

Rounds: 3

Result: Party wins

Highlights: The first round was tied initiative, Sheamus reversed thrusters but was bitten by spiders. I had to think about what would happen to the rocket cycle if he succumbed to their poison, but he made his save and pushed through. Bumblebore, for the first time I think, got off Sleep and three of the arachnids fell back down into their lair, others exchanged blows and were knocked off by the swordsmen. Next round, as they made a safe distance, Bumblebore followed up with a Fireball that neatly accounted for the remaining spiders, and all their treasure.

Out of some desire for completeness, I guess, the adventurers now when back to the other cave, where they had seen webs before and now knew to be more cautious. There was a brief discussion regarding Fluid's ability to converse when in Crow form, and also what signals he should use to indicate danger, and then e flew into what was also a spider cave, while they others watched from above.

Kaboom!

Combat #2: 14 Large spiders

Rounds: 1

Result: Monsters evaporated

Highlights: Crow form Fluid managed to get out of the entrance safely, though pursued by a dozen or so cat sized spiders. Bumblebore had Gilthaniel launch a Fireball down there and blow them all up, this time when they went in to search there was some few coins that had survived the blast, but no other exits.

The way ahead now was all underground, and they new the passaged narrowed and twisted in such as way as to make the rocket cycle a problem. Instead, it was decided, they would just fly over the place and scope another way in; they knew there was an open valley further down if nothing else. This area has taken on a real third dimension to the exploration which is unusual.

They found another opening leading down into a grassy canyon, and exploration proved that it led to the lair of the cockatrice they had seen in a previous session. Various precautions were taken, but the beasts were not home. They found a crudely formed feeding trough, and beyond was a passage leading down. Sheamus tasked McScales with guard duty and left the rocket cycle behind in the grassy canyon.

The passage wound down and down, around until their direction was difficult to gage, finally levelling out into a series of sweeping arc-shaped natural-passages that went a long way further on. One of these led into a 4-way intersection and after choosing a direction they found one that terminated in a cavern . The cavern was dominated by a (obviously magical) pool, being feed by drips from above (was this  magic related to the Tomb of Kistomerces somewhere above?).

Detect Magic revealed that even the drips were enchanted

Bumblebore waded out into the pool of glowing water, the magic dissipated, and he...did not reveal what happened, but everyone assumed it was a good thing. This feeling probably led to Gurt trying out the next pool, but it was not a good result for him; he lost one point of Intelligence, making him the dumbest paladin alive. 

The sweeping corridor-like caverns continued on for hundreds of yards. There was a repeating pattern of four-way intersections leading to pools. In one Giuseppe's hammer was turned to solid silver; in another, the remaining half of Bumblebore's staff (he lost half to the Pugface in the Tomb of Kistomerces) was turned into solid platinum.

Finally, the monotony of corridors and pools was broken by the sight of a skeleton--seemingly standing guard--at the next 4-way intersection. It was holding two rusty looking swords and turned towards them as they spotted it at the far range of their Continual Light. 

a very dedicated sentry?

Combat #3: Strange skeleton

Rounds: 3

Result: Party victory 

  

Highlights: Turn undead from both Paladins did the trick, but the fleeing skeleton soaked up a lot of damage as it ran and looked like it could take a real beating, so much so that it threatened to get away from them with its greater speed, but Giuseppe was ready--with his magic armour that grants the power to charge (once per day) at the rate of an unencumbered man--and he managed to catch up and destroy it that round.

Sir Giuseppe of Brovenloft (before)

There was no good loot on the skeleton, just the obvious rusty iron weapons and a helmet. Moving on, they found that the tunnels continued "eastward", repeating the previous pattern of curving away for hundreds of yards before either reaching a cross-road, or terminating in "pool rooms". Finally, Giuseppe decided to try wading into one. It did not work out so well. The magic of the pool he had chosen was Polymorph Other.

I now had to choose how to determine what he was turned into, and decided to roll on the wilderness encounter table, coming up with Dwarf. I then thought that maybe the Magic-user version of Reincarnation would be more appropriate, but actually it turned out that the number I rolled would have ended up as a dwarf either way. I guess it was meant to be. It was great fun to describe what happened and have the players realise what had happened.

 

Can you have a Dwarf Paladin? From the spell description, Giuseppe had a 25% chance per day of becoming a Dwarf mentally as well as physically, so I ruled that he would remain a paladin until the mental change was complete. If somehow he was returned to his normal form before then, he would still be a paladin. He made the first check--and the system shock that went along with it, and then Fluid stepped up to try and fix the problem. Sadly, his Dispel Magic failed.

Though they had been heading gradually eastwards and perhaps were nearing the end of the tunnel system--and finding out what lay beyond--this last setback was enough for the heroes, they retreated back to Guarda, with an amusing pit stop in the Valley of Pillars, where Bishoy and Tawdros found out that their boss now needed to be tied to the saddle to ride Bonecrusher. 

Sir Giuseppe of Brovenloft (after)

Giuseppe hoped that Fluid would have more success with Dispel Magic during downtime.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel:  23 Miles

Downtime begins on: Sep/12
Combats: 3
Rooms mapped: 10
Combat rounds: 10
Losses: none (well, technically)

Treasure & Items

8cp, 6pp

Three and a half feet of Platinum, equivalent to 356pp 

Monsters

9 Huge Spiders 1602 xp

14 Large Spiders 1036 xp

Odd Skeleton 975 xp

5,423 XP &  1,810 GP Assignment

Giuseppe (E) 861 xp & 279  gp 

Fluid (E) 861 xp & 279  gp 

Sheamus (E)  684^ xp & 279 gp 

and McScales (E) 431 xp & 139 gp

Gurt (E) 861 xp & 279  gp 

and Cedric  (E) 431 xp & 139 gp

Bumblebore (E) 861 xp & 279  gp 

and Gilthaniel  (E) 431 xp & 139 gp

^ missed skeleton fight

Graveyard

Rhoikos (Henchman Magic-User level 4), smashed by a Mummy fist in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Thomas (Henchman Cleric level 6), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Josef Ironbeard (Dwarf Fighter level 1), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126.

Matthias Steelvein (Henchman Fighter level 4), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Sever the Wrathful (Ranger level 9), Killed by two pains in the Annis in session #122. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Anri (Henchman Magic-User level 4), found dead with a ghastly chest wound in the Ice Castle, with her heart missing she was unable to be revived, in downtime after session #122 

Symeon (Henchman Cleric level 2), Only strong enough to wear studded leather, he was torn to shreds by Troglodytes in session #121

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 3) Effected by the Imprisonment spell touch attack from a Styx Devil in session #117. Might not be dead, but is definitely at least six feet under for all intents and purposes.

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 6) killed by a poison needle trap in session #114 RAISED FROM THE DEAD (with a roll of 94!)

Solaire the Fallen (Henchman Fighter (paladin) level 3) killed by Stone Giants acting as catapults in session #114

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 to 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 130 (Machodor #81): Victory, in the Tomb of Kistomerces

     

Songs were sung and tales were told, marsh mellows were toasted

Introduction

In a bit of a first, the party failed the return to a safe spot (i.e. Guarda) from the tomb at the end of last session. Realising they had no way out of the tomb, the heroes settled into what they hoped was a defensible spot and hunkered down to rest.

Timekeeping

This session began on September 4th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until the end of the day. Downtime for these characters begins on the 5th.

Player Characters Present

Sever the Wrathful (Level 9 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) 

with henchman Thomas (C6), Rabbit (FMT 445), and Poindexter (M6)

Giuseppe (Level 8 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher)

with henchmen Steelvein (F4) and Rhoikos (M4)

Fluid the Druid (Level 8 Druid, "Scourge of Trollopulous", former wearer of the Ring of Kings)

Marty O'Tool (Level 5 Cleric, wielder of the Mace of Saint Patrick)

Snorri (Level 1 Dwarf Fighter from Schloss Ragnar)

Downtime

Either by good fortune or design, they had plenty of clerical magic to summon up food and water, and with no random encounters occurring the adventurers were able to take on the challenge of surviving until next the session. They had troubling dreams, but were these natural or super-natural? In the morning the heroes explored a little bit up and down the corridor in down time. The time was well spent, using Wizard Lock to seal the pit traps, Create Water to wash the poison off the spikes in them, and brute strength to bend back the spikes so they were no longer a threat. While doing so they discovered a secret door in the south of the bottom of the third pit trap. Sever sent his henchman, Rabbit, through Invisible; but the usually reliable--I joking say he's "too good for this party"--henchman came running back in a panic, and was so scared that he could say nothing more than gibberish.

Giuesppe and Marty teamed up to investigate the black altar in the chapel, and were able to achieve some sort of success they improved their sleep.

Later they found strange things occuring, like the spikes in the pits getting repaired over night. They checked the locked door at the end of the corridor and thought they could hear laughter and music coming from some distance behind it. As the days wore on a greater and greater sense of foreboding settled on them.

Session Report

The build up came to a head when the session opened with finishing off the last night of downtime. The hitherto background whispering--something like "A-ser-ur-ak Kist-om-er-ces"--rose to an audible chant; Giuseppe and Snorri were on watch when a hideous creature appeared before them, right out of the walls of the tomb.

Combat #1: Type III Demon

Rounds: 3

Result: Monster fled

Highlights: The monster could not approach in the face of Giuseppe's Protection from Evil, so it used Telekinesis to try and pull Snorri out of safety. Fortunately the paladin was able to grab a hold of the dwarf.

A lot of magic missiles were fired off by the henchmen and we had to apply the magic resistance rules thoroughly. Considering the level difference between 11 and the casters, they all had little chance of success, even with me letting each missile get a separate resistance check, and yet two got through which, when combined with the melee damage were nearly enough to kill it; but not quite.

The demon then won the next round's initiative, and managed to get off Teleport without Error before the party--still in their pyjamas for the most part, could finish it off. I'm sure this denizen of the abyss will forget the whole thing and not hold a grudge. That kicked the session off with a blast, but the pace immediately slowed as caution became the watchword.

The remainder of the night passed without any other issues, and in the morning the party advanced through the narrow crawl space hidden by the secret door in the third pit, and from there went down two sets of stairs. Fluid had cast Detect Magic before bringing up the rear, and he was rewarded with a find--a secret door on the first stair. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the next stairs, the heroes were discovering that the corridor there contained fear gas. Most made their saves, and so it was a bit of a nothing-burger as those who resisted grabbed a hold of those few who had failed before they could run off. If the saving throw results had gone differently it could have been a much more dangerous outcome.

They backed from the corridor and up the stairs to regroup and plan. Through the gas Sever and Giuseppe had seen a door on the southern wall mid way down the corridor, but they didn't want to mess with that right away when it meant standing around in the fear gas to do so. Instead they examined the door Fluid had found. There was no apparent means for opening it; but, as it was magical, they gave Dispel Magic a try. In fact they gave it three tries, but sadly these spells were not able to overcome the magic of the Lich whose tomb this was. Too bad for them.

Now the clever players used Unseen Servant to safely open the door in the fear gas corridor from the safety of the stair outside of its effects; and, lo and behold, the gas dispersed when they did so. The door was easily pushed open and led to a cobweb choked stair--going down into darkness. When the party approached--very wary of the webs--they saw a silver truncheon, or something of similar size and shape, at the bottom of the stairs. Here there was much back and forth over what to do; in the end success was found in Rabbit's flaming sword. Rhoikos then brought up what proved to be a shining silver mace with Unseen Servant (still in effect from earlier). This doughty looking weapon was given to Snorri, and then they advanced cautiously in to the room at the bottom of the stairs. 

Combat #2: Lich "Acererak Kistomerces"

Rounds: 2

Result: Glorious Party Victory

Highlights:  The monster resisted all spells and took a number of blows without flinching. The silvery mace seemed to be the most effective weapon and the hits from it appeared to really do him in, while the others were just mopping up the last of its hit points.

As soon as the Lich was down there was an eerie silence, that soon was broken by the sounds of rocks splitting and falling--causing dust to fly all over. Dutifully, I started counting to ten, but the players had declared they were fleeing I before got to two. They had the presence of mind to grab nearby treasure, but had to leave the golden couch--too bad. The collapse was expanding to the whole place, from every room they retreated back to and paused for a moment in, they could see dusty plumes from fallen masonry billowing out--almost in pursuit of them. This continued until they reached the Chapel, once the giant lock closed behind them it seemed to be safe--for now. They paused to assess their treasure, it looked pretty good. Amidst the loot was a scroll with a number of first and second level magic user spells. There was also a map that looked like a treasure map. 

The problem from here was: how to get out?

Wizard of Trollopulous 

They back tracked into the grand hall and we had a digressing on Scrolls. All three casters could not cast Knock, so that ruled out spending the time to memorised it, instead they used the just looted scroll on the secret door; finding a 10' cube room beyond. What followed was a very annoying period for the players; but fun for me, as every round spent searching out and finding more secret doors--and ways to open them--saw a random hero take a bolt of magical energy, which appeared out of nowhere, preceded by a high pitched voice of one "Iucounu". "Iucounu Strikes!" "Iucounu Stings!" Etc etc, until the party agreed as one that, if they ever got their hands on this Iucounu guy, it would be a bad time for him. There were about half a dozen small rooms, all connected by secret doors, all with different means of opening them. This might have been fun on the way in to the tomb, but for a party trying to escape it was anything but.

Finally, the series of secret doors ended in a larger room that was some sort of torture chamber. Immediately--as they piled out to avoid another shot from Iucounu--a fearsome many-armed creature appeared that opposed them going further.

Combat #3: Huge Gargoyle

Rounds: 1

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Finding something they could take a swing at after all the Iucounu business, the adventurers charge in, surrounded the hideous monster, and pounded it into the ground.

Fluid pulled a collar--studded with 10 gems--off the creature, and examined them carefully, finding them suspiciously shaped. They also discovered a note: 

Clearly, not of much use on their way out of the tomb.

Having lost many hit points and exhausted most of their spells, the heroes were resigning themselves to camping right here in this room, still unsure how far (or close as it happened) they were from an exit. This proposal proved too much for the Fluid, the druid threw open the door into a corridor leading east, ran down to the end and pulled the door handle there. This last door was stuck on the other side but in his frenzy the "Scourge of Trollopulous" manged to pull it open, and found himself back in the main entrance corridor. They were free!

The brave adventurers had defeated the Lich of Kistomerces, and never needed to return to this horrible place again...right?

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel:  11 Miles

Downtime begins on: 05/Sep
Combats: 3
Rooms mapped: 4
Combat rounds: 0
Losses: none

Treasure & Items

8,007sp

6,008ep

4,002gp

284pp

Jade Coffer 5,000gp

6 Potions of Healing 1,200xp

Begemmed Crown 25,000gp

29 gems 760gp

Scroll with 6 Spells (Erase, Friends, Jump, Protection from Evil; Leomund's Trap, Shatter)*

Gargoyle collar with 10 suspiciously shaped gems. 1,000xp

* XP for these spells is on a 100xp per spell level basis for who ever takes the scroll. Note that the XP accrues whether the character can learn the spell or not, and whether it is written into a spell book or not. Consider what spells might be handy to have on a scroll that you would normally never memorise.

Treasure Map

Monsters

Lich "Acerak Kistomerces" 1000xp

4 Armed Gargoyle (not six, it had a bite and tail attack not extra arms) 3874xp

Type III Demon escaped 

47,660 XP &  39, 586 GP Assignment

Sever (E) 6,355 xp & 5,278 gp 

and Rabbit (E) 3,177 xp & 2,639 gp

and Poindexter (E) 3,177 xp & 2,639 gp

and Thomas (E) 3,177 xp & 2,639 gp

Giuseppe (E) 6,355 xp & 5,278 gp 

and Rhoikos (E) 3,177 xp & 2,639 gp

and Steelvein (E) 3,177 xp & 2,639 gp

Fluid  (E) 6,355 xp & 5,278 gp 

Marty (E) 6,355 xp & 5,278 gp 

Snorri (E) 6,355 xp & 5,278 gp 

Graveyard

Rhoikos (Henchman Magic-User level 4), smashed by a Mummy fist in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Thomas (Henchman Cleric level 6), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Josef Ironbeard (Dwarf Fighter level 1), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126.

Matthias Steelvein (Henchman Fighter level 4), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Sever the Wrathful (Ranger level 9), Killed by two pains in the Annis in session #122. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Anri (Henchman Magic-User level 4), found dead with a ghastly chest wound in the Ice Castle, with her heart missing she was unable to be revived, in downtime after session #122 

Symeon (Henchman Cleric level 2), Only strong enough to wear studded leather, he was torn to shreds by Troglodytes in session #121

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 3) Effected by the Imprisonment spell touch attack from a Styx Devil in session #117. Might not be dead, but is definitely at least six feet under for all intents and purposes.

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 6) killed by a poison needle trap in session #114 RAISED FROM THE DEAD (with a roll of 94!)

Solaire the Fallen (Henchman Fighter (paladin) level 3) killed by Stone Giants acting as catapults in session #114

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 to 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 129 (Machodor #80): Stuck, in the Tomb of Kistomerces

A mysterious portal

Introduction

Last session the party scratched the surface of the Tomb of Kistomerces, avoiding death at two false entrances before finding the first main corridor. This week they return for more, and are unable to return! By now I'm sure that the reader may have worked out that this location has a strong resemblance to a certain module. Read on to find out how I have adapted it to the campaign "milloo".

     

Timekeeping

This session began on August 28th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until the end of the day. Downtime for these characters begins on the 29th, not that it will do them much good.

Player Characters Present

Sever the Wrathful (Level 9 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) 

with henchman Thomas (C6), Rabbit (FMT 445), and Poindexter (M6)

Giuseppe (Level 8 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher)

with henchmen Steelvein (F4) and Rhoikos (M4)

Fluid the Druid (Level 8 Druid, "Scourge of Trollopulous", former wearer of the Ring of Kings)

Marty O'Tool (Level 5 Cleric, wielder of the Mace of Saint Patrick)

Snorri (Level 1 Dwarf Fighter from Schloss Ragnar)

Downtime

Not much other than preparation to return to the tomb, Bumblebore trained up a level, his henchman Gilthaniel got a new familiar.

Session Report

The party speed ran their way back to colourful grand corridor that was the true entrance to the tomb, carefully avoiding all the pits found and marked on the map last session. Reaching the archway at the far end, they found that it behaved much he same as last time--when someone got close enough the stones glowed yellow, blue, and orange.

There was some confusion since Bumblebore was off doing wizardly things this week, and no one could remember exactly what he'd done when he had interacted with the archway and the giant evil pug-faced demon carving on the wall. 

Eventually, Sever bent down and touched the "yellow" flashing stone. "Amazing, they're going to get it straight off," I thought, then when nothing happened immediately, Sever gave up on the idea. Maybe someone else touched one more stone, but it was no more effective. Brave Giuseppe volunteered to go through the archway; which he did, followed by Snorri, and I got them to move to an alternate chat; and then there was a general migration (most of) the remainder. 

When the dust settled everyone who had gone through the archway way found themselves squashed into a 10 by 10 by 10 cubic cell, with no apparent exit, the only feature being three levers in one wall. They also soon realised that the full party was not here; at the last second Fluid had stopped short of entering the archway, and Marty stayed with him. The pair proceeded to touch all three stones, in every combination, until they hit on the right one--Yellow Blue Orange. The mist dispersed, revealing a corridor beyond the archway, leading east. However, as they went through, the corridor turned out to be an illusion, and they were teleported to a different place.

I swapped between chats as each group fell to discussing options and didn't need my immediate input, and that worked pretty well; I was concerned about the usual overhead of this splitting the party, and my attention, making the session drag.

Back in the cubic prison, a thorough search found only the 3 levers on nothing else. These they did a little experimentation with, before Giuseppe set all three to "UP", which caused a hatch in the ceiling (previously undetectable according to Gary) to open. Beyond was a narrow crawl way, which Fury explored and found led to what proved to be a magical one-way door, into the bottom of one of the pit traps in the main hall entrance corridor. 

After managing to get out of the pit these players saw the change in the formerly misty archway, and decided to follow what they deemed to be the way Fluid and Marty went. The adventurers walked through and after a tense moment of teleportation, thankfully, the two groups were re-united safely.

Meanwhile, Fluid and Marty had found in the room they had teleported into a broken statue of a gargoyle. The statue had four arms, but one had been broken off and was laying on the floor nearby. In each of the outstretched claws of the intact arms was an small indentation, about gem sized: Fluid placed one of his precious gems in each claw, and when he had placed the third, the stony digits closed and crushed the gems to powder, dumped the grains on the floor and returned to their initial positions. Fluid was just lamenting this event when the others arrived, so he gave up on that line of inquiry as they found an exit to the room. This led through an illusionary wall and into another large hall.

They heroes carefully looked up and down this hall, noting the many and varied creatures depicted there and the multicoloured spheres they held. Marty was certain the first bit of clear space to his left held a secret door, and he was right! Rabbit confirmed the cleric's hunch, but they could not find a means of opening the door (none of the casters knew Knock). Next they seized on a Hydra figure with a black sphere at its feel,  and were rewarded by finding another illusionary wall hid a low crawlspace passage. This passage appeared to be proof against Continual Light, so they followed Rabbit and stationed Snorri in the rear, and relied on their infravision. Luckily there was nothing nasty in there and the crawl space went away east, before doubling back and down into the earth to go underneath the hall way, and finally terminated at a what they soon found to be another secret door. This opened into a strange sight, a chapel.

The chapel was familiar to Fluid--who among them was the most knowledgeable about the city of Trollopulous--as it was an imitation of, or at least heavily influenced by, the Street of Gods. The door through which they had crawled was adorned with a mural of the "marsh gate". A path of stones meandered through the chapel, past rows of pews (within which were traps and treasure) marked with symbols of the many and varied gods, up to a black obsidian altar with a raised dais beyond--and other things that were all red herrings. Behind all this on the far wall was some sort of magical depiction of a slowly running river. 

Spooky

If this chapel was some sort of homage to the Street of Gods in Trollopulous, then the altar--situated at the river end--was clearly a likeness of the temple to the Gods of Trollopulous; a slab of black obsidian, with reliefs of skeletons around the perimeter, and a partially open door at its base.  Within the doorway could be seen coins of different makes, like those donated by passers by at the real temple. Fluid was able to sheepishly describe all this and then the druid kept as far away from it as possible, "searching the walls", he was as surprised as anyone to actually find something there; an "O" carved into the stone with a small slot below it.

Apart from the obviously chapel related items, there was also another stone archway, similar to the one that had teleported them earlier. The archway was also filled with mist, this time an 'exciting' orange colour. On the floor in front of the archway was a skeleton laying flat out with its arm stretched, apparently pointing to it. Snorri did a lot of experimentation with this skeleton, and the altar, all without being able to conclude anything useful.

Though Fluid was able share his knowledge about the place; it didn't provide much of hint what to do to advance from here. Various things were inserted into the slot but nothing happened. The adventurers consulted their rubbings of the cryptic message they had noted last session, but could not glean an answer from them (at least not one they liked).

Snorri really wanted to run through the archway to see what would happen, but cooler heads prevailed, and finally Sever sacrificed his Ring of Warmth in an attempt to open the slab door by placing it in the slot below the "O". This worked, but destroyed the ring forever, and they had no other magic ring among them.

Beyond the slab, which they found closed a few turns later but could be opened from the other side just by pushing on it, they found a corridor leading to a series of easily opened doors protected by pit traps on the other side. Once again Feather Fall prevented these traps from being anything more than an annoyance. With Find Traps, and the druidical equivalent, to call upon they continued on, and, after the third door and pit trap was bypassed, the corridor turned right. From there it went a long way before terminating in a thoroughly locked door.

The exception that proves the rule.

It now dawned on the adventurers that they had no idea how to get out of this place, and they had explored themselves to near exhaustion for a full day. Could they survive with 1:1 time in this Tomb? Well, it was decided, they were going to try.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel:  11 Miles

Downtime begins on: 30/Aug
Combats: 0
Rooms/Corridors mapped: 8
Combat rounds: 0
Losses: none

Treasure & Items

8cp

8,007sp

6,008ep

4,002gp

6pp

Monsters

none

0 XP &  GP 0 Assignment

Graveyard

Rhoikos (Henchman Magic-User level 4), smashed by a Mummy fist in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Thomas (Henchman Cleric level 6), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Josef Ironbeard (Dwarf Fighter level 1), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126.

Matthias Steelvein (Henchman Fighter level 4), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Sever the Wrathful (Ranger level 9), Killed by two pains in the Annis in session #122. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Anri (Henchman Magic-User level 4), found dead with a ghastly chest wound in the Ice Castle, with her heart missing she was unable to be revived, in downtime after session #122 

Symeon (Henchman Cleric level 2), Only strong enough to wear studded leather, he was torn to shreds by Troglodytes in session #121

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 3) Effected by the Imprisonment spell touch attack from a Styx Devil in session #117. Might not be dead, but is definitely at least six feet under for all intents and purposes.

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 6) killed by a poison needle trap in session #114 RAISED FROM THE DEAD (with a roll of 94!)

Solaire the Fallen (Henchman Fighter (paladin) level 3) killed by Stone Giants acting as catapults in session #114

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 to 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